Approved in super-quick time: the latest update for Quick Calendar. This version runs the same code as the Mac version and has the exact same features in the iOS14 widget.
That means, new in this version is the ability to pick the first day of the week. Previously it always picked the day your system’s locale suggested, and that’s still the default. But now you can change it.
This was basically the number one feature request. Embarrassingly it only didn’t make it into 1.3.0 because of a silly off-by-one error. Anyway, better late than never!
Hope you like it. You can download it from the App Store now.
If you’ve been following along to the earlier happenings in the world of Quick Calendar, this new version should not be a Big Sur-prise (sorry).
Earlier this year I migrated the Watch app from its old watchOS foundation to an entirely new SwiftUI base. I don’t normally talk much about the internals, but this time it’s important. I was able to use exactly the same code to build the widget for iOS and iPadOS 14. Again, I’ve been able to use exactly the same code to build a new widget for macOS 11.
There’s currently feature parity between the iOS and macOS versions of the widget (or will be when version 1.3.1 for iOS is released). So you get multiple sizes. You get the ability to change the “today” highlight colour. And you can change the week start day from your calendar default — this is probably the number one feature request.
What I’m talking about here is a completely new widget for macOS 11 (and above). You’ll need to update your Mac to the latest release to make use of this new widget. Quick Calendar still comes with the “old” widget, unchanged from the previous version.
The software is currently with Apple for review. I’m hoping that it will be available for download at the same time as Big Sur itself.
Quick Calendar 1.3.0 is currently with Apple for review. You can think of this as the iOS 14, ipadOS 14 and watchOS 7 release.
Quick Calendar’s iOS 14 widget
If you saw the tweet, you’ll realise that this release didn’t entirely go to plan. The whole Apple developer community were wrong-footed by the new versions of the operating systems launching with less than a day’s notice. Fortunately, this release was almost ready.
The “original” notification centre widget is largely unchanged, but there is additionally a new one that’s supported only in Apple’s newest operating systems. It’s based on the same foundation as the Watch app that arrived in version 1.2.
You can place your widgets on the left side of your iPad screen, alongside your app icons or on the very left screen of your iPhone. Quick Calendar’s widget comes in three sizes: one month, two months and four months.
One of the most popular requests I’ve had since launch has been for the ability to change the “today” highlight colour. The new widget has this ability. If you press-and-hold the widget, it flips over to reveal the available options.
I’ve been using this widget myself for over a month now and I like it! I hope you do too. I should be available to download in the App Store shortly.
The way that Yummy talks with Pinboard is using what’s called an API, an application programming interface. Pinboard’s API is based on the now-defunct Delicious bookmarking site, now also owned by Pinboard.
Why am I telling you all this? The funny thing is, the Pinboard API is not very good for syncing your whole collection of bookmarks with a third-party app. Of course, this is the whole raison d’être for Yummy.
Since 2008, Yummy has gone through a few iterations of its synchronisation code. In the very early days, it was limited by both the hardware and the software of the time. The slow, single-core CPU of early iPhones, plus the lack of memory, meant that some approaches just wouldn’t work reliably. Plus I had to make it sync with both Pinboard and Delicious.
Yummy 3.4.2 represents the latest update. It’s the fastest version yet and is more efficient, taking less of a toll on your battery life.
There are also a few bug fixes and minor improvements that most people won’t notice. I guess that’s the theme of this release!
It’s now with Apple for review and hopefully will be available to download very shortly.
Quick Calendar 1.2 had a completely new Apple Watch app. Written in SwiftUI, it presents the future of the Watch app and the widgets on all other platforms. It looks better and is much cleaner and more future proof than the old version.
Custom highlight in Quick Calendar Watch app
Sadly there was also a bug: it didn’t update to the “current” date, always highlighting the date it was first launched rather than today. Version 1.2.1 fixes that.
But that’s not all.
Since we’re talking about the “today” highlight, version 1.2.1 also gives you the ability to change the highlight colour. This is probably the most common feature request, so I’m happy to be able to include it now!
The update has just been submitted to Apple and should be available to download shortly.
This new version of Quick Calendar for iPhone, iPad and Watch can be thought of as a taste of the future. In practical terms that means:
Fix for the Watch complication
All New Watch App
Let’s start with the app. The new version looks better, has better visual affordances and offers a better foundation for the future.
watchOS Quick Calendar
The “look” isn’t purely about aesthetics. It makes better use of the very limited available space, and the highlighted date is much clearer. It always bothered me that there were no clues about how you could move between months. Both swiping and turning the crown worked but not everyone found them. Using a simple list, a familiar interface convention, fixes that1.
Finally, the foundation. It’s now written in SwiftUI, the latest Apple technology. The neat thing is that it’s possible to use the same code on all platforms, from the Watch all the way to the Mac. The goal here is feature parity for all versions.
The complication has bugged me (pun intended) for some time. In hindsight, I was probably overthinking it.
You can update complications basically in two ways: on a schedule or when something happens. The schedule seems like the obvious one: we know when the next day starts, right? But what happens when I step from a plane and into a new time zone? The date might be different. So rather than take the “easy” route, previous versions of Quick Calendar attempted to update the complication periodically. This works for a day or two but then watchOS says “you’ve used up all your time” and doesn’t run it again. In short: it took a week to test every change I made! And nothing helped.
Version 1.2.0 takes a different approach. It generates a timeline, allowing watchOS to update the complication without any further intervention. That pretty much always works. If you ever find yourself in a new time zone and with the complication showing the wrong date, you can force a refresh by opening the app. As I say, easy in hindsight.
Apple approved this very quickly, so it’s already available to download.
A current limitation is that you can’t go back to a previous month. Long story short, this is a limitation of SwiftUI. I’m looking to see if there are workarounds. ↩︎
There are three things in this release: a fix, an improvement and a new feature.
The most visible change is that Yummy 3.4.1 supports Dark Mode.
Yummy: Dark mode
For most screens, this is supported automatically. There is one exception: the bookmark list view. In the olden days — that is in 3.4.0 and earlier — you could switch between having a white, green, red or blue background to help distinguish between accounts. This option is still present and is unchanged in the new version. If you want to use automatic dark mode, go into the settings screen and switch the background colour to “Default.”
The fix is for the tip jar feature, which was broken in 3.4.0. I have not changed any code. Submitting a new version will allow Apple to review it properly which, for reasons unknown, they didn’t last time.
In iOS and iPadOS 14 there’s a new notification when an app programmatically “pastes” from the clipboard. Earlier versions of Yummy had a coding error. The logic looks like this:
Get contents of clipboard
If “copy URL from clipboard” is enabled and the thing on the clipboard is a URL then
Present “New bookmark” screen
I’m spelling it out like this because I want to be clear that nothing nefarious was going on. Anyway, the new version improves that logic by only reading the clipboard after checking that the “copy URL from clipboard” option is enabled.
If “copy URL from clipboard” is enabled then
Get contents of clipboard
if the thing on the clipboard is a URL then
Present “New bookmark” screen
In order to effectively support dark mode, the minimum supported version is now iOS and iPadOS 13.0. I appreciate that this is a big jump since 3.3.x but most users are already on newer versions.
The update is now with Apple and should be available to download shortly. Enjoy.
Despite its public image as an engineering discipline, there’s an awful lot of art in writing software. As with any art, there’s often a lot of experimentation and not all of it pays off.
Yummy 3.4 is both less and more than it was originally intended. Many new features ended up on the cutting room floor. Some were good ideas that just didn’t work well. Some turned out not to be possible. Some were too ambitious. Some will hopefully return, others will not.
Anyway, it’s now with Apple and should be on your device shortly. Here’s what you can expect.
Full-text search, multi-account support and site status checks now come as standard for everyone!
Instead of the upgrade for the “pro” features, we now have a “tip jar.” While there’s no obligation to contribute, if you’d like to recognise the longevity of Yummy and the fact that there have been over forty free updates across a dozen versions of iOS, now you can
Slightly tweaked visuals, fitting in with modern iOS conventions better
A “Popular Links” widget for Notification Centre
Type multiple tags in the share extension
Removal of 3D-touch support, replaced with the iOS13-standard long-press shortcut menus
Support for all the recent iPhone and iPad devices
There are also some “behind the scenes” changes that you shouldn’t notice but you never know.
Yummy now no longer stores your password. It used to be stored in the iOS KeyChain, a place that Apple provides for just this kind of thing. It’s secure and Wandle Software has never had access to it. Now, Yummy doesn’t even store it. Instead, Yummy converts it into an API token and stores that instead (also in the keychain). You can also enter the API token directly if you prefer. If you logged in using a previous version, Yummy converts your password into a token and deletes your password from your device
Experimental support for “low data mode.” In short, if enabled Yummy no longer does site status checks and other high-bandwidth activities
This is a kind of embarrassing release for two reasons.
First, the bug that gets fixed should never have made it out of Wandle HQ: the Watch complication would never update. Apple changed the way background updates worked and… I didn’t spot it. Because I tend to have a new development version every day when I’m working on it, I didn’t notice that it didn’t update.
Second, while I fixed it pretty quickly and tested it, I actually forgot to submit it to Apple. Doh. This was mostly because it now worked on my own watch.
But, as an added bonus, I added a small update: the complication now works on more watch faces.
The iPhone and iPad versions are completely unchanged, except for the version number.
Anyway, it’s now with Apple and should be available to download shortly.
As the new version of Apple’s mobile operating system heads to iPhones around the world, you’ll be pleased to know that an update of Quick Calendar compatible with it is already available for download.
As you can gather from the version number, it’s a very small update. There are basically two changes.
First, it works with Dark Mode on the iPhone. And the iPad, but the public version of iPadOS won’t be out for another week or two.
Second, I enabled the “works without iPhone” option on the Watch app. Due to a lack of test hardware, I’ve not been able to test it but in theory it should work. Let me know if you try it successfully!
It’s been 
Anyway, it’s now with Apple and should be on your device shortly. Here’s what you can expect.