Lori M Olson 
FITS — Featured in the School 🎓
I recently learned, yet again, that “nothing much happens over Christmas” is more true than even I had imagined. This was as a result of learning how many people had not seen my epic YouTube series The 12 Days of Mobile App Tech Christmas. This is twelve ultra-short-information-dense videos on all the tech you need to successfully launch your mobile app magnum opus.
Fortunately, the quote in this issue (see below) is particularly true: mangling the sentiment of Syrus’ poetic words to suit my own narrow purposes, the best time to have watched these videos was when they first dropped a while back. If you had — just think! — you’d pretty much be done by now. That said, the second best time to start is right now!
Your greatness awaits!
TALK — Talk of the Tech 🗣️
It seems like Amir and the gang never take a break — certainly not for Christmas, at least. On Slack (posted on Christmas Day, no less) he let us know RubyMotion 9.2 has been released. Meanwhile, over on the Discord he announced that DRGTK 5.15 and 5.14 had dropped.
Does this man and these folks ever rest?
GAME — All Things Gaming 🕹️
What with the bone-chilling -30C cold snap we’ve had here recently, there’s no mistaking we’re locked in the vice-like grip of another prairie winter. If that’s the case for you, too, and you’re lacking inspiration for your next game and need a new hook, why not make your next project seasonal!
For example, here’s what Jupiter Hadley of PocketGamer’s found in this realm with her Top 15 Best Winter-Themed Mobile Games on iOS and Android.
Now can we rapidly move onto the Top 15 Best Spring-Themed Mobile Games? This winter thing is already getting pretty played.
SPOT — Spotlight On 🔦
It’s been said the best gifts are handmade. If that’s true we’re really not sure why a Passoni handmade titanium bike hasn’t shown up yet. It’s been on the Christmas list year after year after year. Can’t these people take a hint?
After going straight to hell for that comment, it’s important to note we were reminded of this by a recent post to Discord. In it, Luomo said that they had made (by hand, presumably) a video game as a birthday present for their brother. Well it started out that way at least, but the project ran six months late which meant it came in really handy as a Christmas gift instead.
Better late than never!
APP — All Things App📱
Assuming a critical mass of customers actually pony up the $3,499 for the Apple Vision Pro goggles — is the jury still out on that? — then adapting your app to visionOS could be high on your list of priorities.
Fortunately, Stuart Varrall wrote an excellent article intended to help you do just that: Adapting an App to visionOS. It’s just what the doctor ordered. Which is what you’ll have to be — or a lawyer or internet millionaire or professional gambler or whatever — to afford the aforementioned goggles.
TWIL — This Week [We] Learned 🤓
Ask ten people their opinion of the Medium platform and you’re likely to hear ten vastly different answers. However, the one thing these folks might well agree on is the ‘clean layout by default’ aesthetic Medium embraced early on. While they have made a few tortured twists and u-turns along the way, it’s still a good place to make your copy look good in the shortest possible time with minimum effort.
As such, taking some guidance from Medium Engineering with respect to typography is likely a good strategy. Spoiler alert, though: the title of the article is Typography Is Impossible | The Practical Guide to Why Laying Out Type Never Quite Does What You Want. Not exactly reassuring but at least they ought to know the best way ‘round ‘impossible’.
The Cliff Notes version (which is also kind of a spoiler alert): Never change fonts mid-project unless you plan to re-assess and potentially re-design every screen element.
HAHA — And They All Laughed (or Cried) 🎭
The quick guide on why we can’t estimate properly. We laugh because it’s funny but also because … it’s painfully true?
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“It is better to learn late than never.” — Publilius Syrus, 85–43 BC