Trying to parse the significance of Jeff Dean leaving Google after 26 years, and Demis Hassabis stepping into a new role as chairman of DeepMind. Is this a shakeup, or just that everyone is ready for a change? Sounds more amicable than the usual AI executive reshuffling.

Tragic reporting from Bloomberg about how safer TikTok algorithms were withheld from some users so TikTok could A/B test engagement: "Chase’s account was stuck in a so-called filter bubble, an online echo chamber that p... https://www.manton.org/2026/08/05/tragic-reporting-from-bloomberg-about.html

Good news that the iPhone announcement will likely be an in-person live event. It’s past time. And it’ll be a more personable way to introduce John Ternus.

Micro.blog mission, short recap: https://www.manton.org/2026/08/05/microblog-mission-short-recap.html

I had missed that mastodon.cloud is shutting down. While its active user base has been shrinking, it still has a lot of total users and millions of posts. There’s still no way to migrate posts between Mastodon servers. (Mastodon posts → Micro.blog and some other fediverse servers works.)

Wavelength 2.0 for iOS seems hung up in Apple app review. It has been a few days. In the meantime, I have plenty to work on, but I’d love to ship it this week. 🤞

Austin landmark.

OpenAI shared some text messages and emails to support their side of the Apple lawsuit. OpenAI opens with this: "Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest deta... https://www.manton.org/2026/08/04/openai-shared-some-text-messages.html

Lots of recent work on the apps is rolling out. A new version of Sunlit today that has a bunch of design improvements and fixes. And the brand new Wavelength (our app for podcasting) is ready on Android, with iOS hopefully to follow soon. Micro.blog includes podcast hosting at all plans. Crazy.

I made a change today for new users to essentially require setting the “about me” text for a Micro.blog profile. After you confirm signing up, you’ll get this page with some random profiles. I hope that it’ll help with discovery in the future and also weeding out non-humans more easily.

AI news without using X: https://www.manton.org/2026/08/03/ai-news-without-using-x.html Experimenting with AI to help find and summarize news instead of going to look for it.

Updating the Mac app today with some improvements including a Scheduled tab and little indicator for scheduled posts.

While testing search, I stumbled on this blog post I wrote in 2013 about iOS 7 design. One of my favorites. But if I were to write a post like this about iOS 26 and Liquid Glass, what would it even say? I don’t think I could come up with a cohesive narrative for it.

Watched: Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Enjoyed this one. I was always more of a Spider-Man and X-Men comics fan back in the day. 🍿

This new app status page I created this weekend really highlights the madness of maintaining a suite of apps. 13 separate native app releases. 8 code bases.

ℹ️ Latest app versions

Micro.blog includes a suite of complementary native apps for iOS, macOS, and Android. You can find them all on the download page. This page will also be updated automatically with the latest versions, whether there is new development in the queue, and any pending submissions to the App Store and Google Play. App Platform Current version Upcoming release Micro.blog iOS 3.7.3 Android 3.0.1 Mac 4.0.3 Epilogue iOS 2.5.1 Android 2.5.1 Inkwell iOS 1.1 Android 1.1 ...

help.micro.blog

“Your father didn’t believe in revenge.” “Yeah, well, I do.” — Dune: Part 2

New poll has James Talarico up 5 points. From the Texas Tribune: "Since Paxton locked up the GOP nomination in late May, polling of the contest has found a neck-and-neck race with neither candidate able to break 50%. But TPOR’s p... https://www.manton.org/2026/08/02/new-poll-has-james-talarico.html

Doing a little work this morning, fixing bugs. It’s a 10-minute All Too Well kind of playlist morning. 🎶

Little purple flowers popping up.

We have so many apps now, I’ve created yet another page with a table of apps across platforms and the current versions. The key improvement is it automatically updates with info from App Store Connect about whether there’s a new version in the queue.

ℹ️ Latest app versions

Micro.blog includes a suite of complementary native apps for iOS, macOS, and Android. You can find them all on the download page. This page will also be updated automatically with the latest versions, whether there is new development in the queue, and any pending submissions to the App Store and Google Play. App Platform Current version Upcoming release Epilogue iOS 2.5.1 Android 2.5.1 Inkwell iOS 1.1 Android 1.1 Mac 1.5.1 Micro.blog iOS 3.7.3 Android 3.0.1 M...

help.micro.blog

I’ve been working on cross-platform mobile apps so much recently, had a funny moment while improving some things in Sunlit where I thought, “But how is this going to look on Android…” It’s not! iOS-only Swift app.

404 Media on book scanning: https://www.manton.org/2026/07/31/media-on-book-scanning.html

I’m submitting Wavelength 2.0 to Apple and Google today. I blogged a few screenshots earlier this week, and I think it has turned out really well. It’s also open source on GitHub.

Manton Reece

manton.org

Reuters says that three months after the Australian ban, “8 in 10” teenagers are still using social media. It’s still very early, so I don’t think we need to read too much into it yet. There has been a shift: "Children’s conti... https://www.manton.org/2026/07/31/reuters-says-that-three-months.html

Rewatched Dune: Part Two tonight, and hoping to start reading Dune Messiah soon, before the new movie comes out.

Apple is still drowning in cash. One thought after looking at the numbers: services revenue gets its first quarter-to-quarter dip in several years. Don’t worry, ads in Maps will fix this. 🤪

Friend is certainly a unique product that some people will hate, but I find the decisions fascinating. Each device is randomly assigned a voice and personality that you can’t change. Is it a real product or an experiment? I guess both!

Friend

Your new roommate is waiting.

friend.com

Wired has a story about the new Friend 2.0 pendant and its creator, Avi Schiffmann: "That analog component is important to Schiffmann. He says he doesn’t have an internet connection in his home. He listens to music on a record player. He’s shooting a documentary about himself on Kodak Ektachrome."

The New Friend AI Pendant Can Now Talk Back to You

Avi Schiffmann has a new version of his controversial AI companion. It’s more expensive, and you can’t change its personality.

wired.com

This video posted on X about OpenAI’s mission is very good. Feels personal and real. Jason says: "i wanted to capture what it feels like to work here, what our mission means to me, and why you should join us." OpenAI should run some ... https://www.manton.org/2026/07/30/this-video-posted-on-x.html

Jason Snell getting ready for Apple’s quarterly results later today, when Tim Cook will appear on his 90th financial call for Apple: "That’s more than two decades of talking on the phone once a quarter to financial analysts. He’s probably earned a break."