Fun

The saying goes that all work and no play made Jill a dull girl. Like any cliche, I think there’s a nugget of truth to that saying, but the reality of it goes much deeper. If we’re so focused on work and productivity that we neglect the parts of ourselves that require leisure and enjoyment, then dullness is going to be the least of our worries.

I’ve been working really hard lately. I don’t say that begrudgingly at all. The church is in a really pivotal time of transition, construction, and (God willing) growth, and that puts a great deal of demand on the staff. The past couple of months have been a nonstop barrage of deadlines and projects that are finally starting to culminate into something we can show the world. It’s been good, but it’s been a lot.

In the midst of that heavy workload, I’ve found myself seeking outlets for leisure. It started off unintentionally, but once I noticed it, I realized that this search was something I really needed to prioritize. My subconscious was telling me that if I was going to push myself so hard at work, then I needed to up my game when it came to recreation.

That’s manifested itself in several ways, each of which I’m really thankful for. Since the weather’s been nice, Katherine and I have been able to take Winter for walks most days. This isn’t just a fun way to spend time together; it’s also good for us physically. I went for a jog last week, too. (It hurt.) Before bed just about every night, we pull up a game on Apple Arcade and play for a few minutes. Scientifically, it may not be the best way to wind down, but I actually find it relaxing.

I’ve been trying to keep my creative side happy, too. Of course, writing here always brings a sense of fulfillment. And for fun, I’m always coming up with new ideas for things I could make, including this silly video of me playing a video game:

I’ve never done anything like that before, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it was a thrill to create, and I’m happy with the way it turned out.

You might think I’m a nerd for finding these sorts of things fun, and that’s okay. Everyone has their own definition of what fun is. But whatever it is that you enjoy doing recreationally, it’s important that you spend time doing something you that brings you joy—not for work or a side hustle or any other productive reason. Just for yourself.

Maybe you like hiking in the great outdoors. Maybe you like action movies. Maybe you like dancing or acting or axe-throwing or photography or computers or any number of other things. Whatever it is that you find fun, make sure that you take time out of your schedule to relax and enjoy it. It might seem like a waste of time, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

We are hardwired to need recreation. Yes, we have an innate desire to be productive, too. But contributing isn’t enough. We also have to have fun. If we work 24/7 and never take time to enjoy ourselves, we’re going to become burned out. But if we take time for leisure activities, we’ll actually be more prepared to get back to work and do our best when the time comes.

And the harder we work, the harder we need to play. I don’t mean energy-wise. Some people even consider napping a fun hobby. (Not me.) But if you find yourself in particularly stressful or tiresome life situation, as many of us do right now, then you are in an even greater need for a recreational outlet. It sounds counterproductive, but it’s true.

We aren’t our full selves if all we do is work. It’s just not how we’re made. We need fun in order to be the best, healthiest, most fulfilled people we can be—to be who we’re meant to be. Recreation is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and it’s something I’ve been trying to be more intentional about even as my workload has gotten heavier. I believe it’s made all the difference.

What about you? What role does leisure play in your life? What is the thing that makes you feel relaxed, happy, and light? Have you found it yet? If you haven’t, I’d encourage you to look for it. And if you have, I say lean into it. You need that hobby in your life, so don’t be ashamed to make time for it. I promise you’ll be better for it in the long run.

That’s all for me this week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll talk to you again soon!

Feeling Behind

Do you ever feel like you’re falling behind? I certainly do. To be honest, it happens more often than I’d care to admit, and I’ve been feeling it a lot here lately.

There are healthy ways and unhealthy ways to deal with feeling behind. Right now, as I’m taking on a lot of extra responsibility for a major project at the church, I’m trying to properly cope with these feelings as they come. And that’s something I’ve had to learn to do.

Here are a few things I try to keep in mind when I feel like I’m falling behind.

Don’t blame yourself.

My first inclination when I feel behind is to look for what went wrong. How could I have avoided this? What did I do to put myself in a situation where I feel this way?

But the truth is that we aren’t always at fault. We live in a demanding world. Even the most organized, on-top-of-it people get overwhelmed sometimes. Things come up, priorities have to be managed, and there are only so many hours in a day. The fact that we feel ourselves falling behind doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s our fault.

Sure, there are times when we procrastinate and put ourselves in a bad spot. And in those situations, we can choose to beat ourselves up. Or we can choose to learn from our mistakes and do better next time. I prefer to avoid the blame game and go straight to the productive part of getting myself out of the situation.

Our culture teaches us that our value comes from our work, and so when we fall behind, we tend to feel guilty. But there is no shame in admitting where you are and trying to find the best way forward. Wasting energy on a pity party is counterproductive, so it’s best to just skip that part.

Stressing out won’t help.

Another thing that isn’t going to help you catch up: stressing out. Again, this is a natural response to feeling behind, but it’s an urge we have to fight. Because when our energy is spent on stressing and not on solving, we fall deeper into the trap.

How do we avoid stressing out in stressful situations? That’s easier said than done. But I’ve always found it helpful to make a plan. I write out everything I need to get done and organize it on a timeline. Then I break those big tasks down into subtasks that help me form concrete, actionable steps. And then I get started.

Focus and organization are my antidotes to stress. Yours may be different, but I believe that we all have them at our disposal. We just have to figure out what they are.

I find it helpful to focus on the details. You might be more a big-picture person. Maybe the vision of what you’re doing excites you and gives you the passion you need to avoid stress. Maybe you’ve got a mantra that keeps you centered. Or maybe you just need a warm beverage to help you fight off the nerves.

Whatever it is, find what keeps you out of the stress zone and use it to help you as you try to get caught up.

The only way out is through.

And of course, then there’s the part where you actually solve the problem. This may not be the case for everyone, but I generally find that the hardest part of any project is just starting it. Especially when I’m feeling behind, I dread getting into something because I don’t know how I’m ever going to get out of it.

But I always find that it’s not as bad as I’ve made it out to be in my mind. Once I get past the stress and self-blaming and actually do the thing, I feel so much better because I’m making progress.

The only way to overcome that falling behind feeling is to catch up. The only way out is through. And as much as you may dread that process, it’s the only thing that’s going to make you feel any better.

So when you’re feeling behind and you don’t know what to do… just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect, at least not at first. It doesn’t have to be this gigantic thing you’ve made it in your head. At the end of the day, it’s your job to get done what you’re behind on. So do it. I promise you’ll feel much better once you’ve got the ball rolling.

That’s what I’ve got for you this week. I know these reminders are simplistic, but often it’s the simple things that trip us. That’s how it is for me, anyway. So I’m trying to use these reminders to avoid getting tripped up in the peripheral stuff and focus on the tasks at hand.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to run and get caught up on some things. Maybe you do, too. Now’s your chance, so don’t waste it! Let’s leave that falling behind feeling in the dust—if not forever, at least for now.

Snack Adventures

I’ve always had a weird obsession with junk food. For me, it’s not so much about eating these foods, though I do of course love that part. What I really enjoy, though, is keeping up with what’s new in the junk food/fast food world, trying things out, and finding trends in what all of these companies are doing as they seek new ways to enable our slow but steady self-destruction.

It doesn’t really matter what the category is. Candy bars. Hamburger joints. Ice cream flavors. Soda companies. (Have you seen the number of different Mountain Dew flavors out there?) I try to keep up with them all. And when I hear about something new and interesting, I just have to try it for myself.

I’m not the only person out there who does this as a hobby. In fact, there’s a whole ecosystem of Twitter feeds, blogs, Instagram profiles, and even podcasts dedicated to the latest products, tests, and announcements. People make a living off of reporting on and reviewing junk food products. Dream job much?

I have some all-time favorites, of course. Here are a handful of them:

• When I was in college, I travelled to Indiana one summer for work, and I discovered Mello Yello for the first time. It was just coming back into production after being discontinued for years, and it hadn’t made it to my part of the country yet. The first time I saw the Original Smooth in my local Walmart, I couldn’t contain my excitement; I bought every case they had.

• The Doritos Locos Taco was on my radar for a very long time before I ever tasted it. For at least a year before its national release, I kept up with reports about the stores that were testing it and rumors of when it would finally spread nationwide. I was not disappointed when I finally got my hands on one (and then another, and so on).

• In seminary, I figured out that Trolli sells all of its new products to 7-11 gas stations first. Fortunately, I lived across the street from one, so every time they came out with the latest gummy treat (octopi, sloths, even gummy hands), I knew where to find them. 😋

• Dunkin’ Donuts used to be my second office. I’d set up shop there every morning and work for a couple of hours. I became such good friends with the baristas that they would show me their calendar of upcoming, unannounced flavors and even let me try them early. I once went home with a whole jug of Brownie Batter syrup!

• A couple of years ago, I stopped at a McDonald’s in the middle of nowhere on a trip that I barely remember. What I do remember, though, is that this particular McDonald’s was testing a new menu item: Chicken McGriddles. I had to try it, and it was amazing. The savory chicken and sweet, syrupy pancakes mixed together to make the perfect breakfast sandwich. When I got home, I tried ordering it again with no luck, and so I patiently waited for McDonald’s to do the right thing and share this beautiful invention with the world. They finally did just last month, and I’ve already had three of them. Best. breakfast. ever.

• If you think the most exclusive flavor of Mountain Dew out there is Baja Blast, you would be mistaken. I’ve discovered the hidden gem of the MD line, and it’s called Berry Monsoon. Available exclusively at Sam’s Club cafés, you can’t buy this flavor in cans or bottles, only by the fountain cup. But that just makes Berry Monsoon MD that much more precious.

Back in my bachelor days, I spent a significant amount of time researching and tracking down the latest junk food innovation. It was a really fun waste of time and potential. But when Katherine and I got together, my priorities changed drastically, and I figured that those days were gone.

Until one day when we had a few extra minutes before she had to get back to work from lunch and I awkwardly blurted out, “There’s this new Hershey’s bar I’ve been wanting to try. Mind if we stop at this gas station real quick?” I couldn’t totally read her reaction, but she agreed to stop, so I went with it. We went into the store and after a couple of minutes of searching, I asked the clerk if they had the new candy bar. They didn’t.

At that point, I probably should have given up. Katherine hadn’t been my girlfriend for very long, and I still wasn’t sure that my quirkiness wouldn’t scare her off. But against my better judgment, I turned to her and asked if we could try a different gas station across the street. 🤦🏽‍♂️

I still don’t know if her response came from a place of actual interest or if she was just trying to humor me, but either way, Katherine said yes. We went in search of the candy bar to another store, and we found it. Prize in hand, I took Katherine back to work, and we unwrapped the Hershey’s Gold bar and each had a bite. (It was terrible.)

That was our first snack adventure together, and it turned out to be the first of many. Even though my wife doesn’t totally nerd out about every new product the way I do, we have discovered a mutual interest and a unique way to enjoy time together. I think that’s pretty special.

Nowadays, I don’t spend as much time reading blogs about the newest flavor of Oreo. I don’t taste test every new thing that comes out. I’m trying to take better care of myself (and my wallet), so I eat a lot more salads at home and a lot fewer of whatever Taco Bell has come up with this week. Priorities change. I’ve changed. But that doesn’t mean my hobby has to die.

We still have our snack adventures. I believe we always will. Just this weekend, Katherine and I were invited by her aunt to try out the new Wendy’s breakfast menu. It was great! But what was even greater was getting to enjoy my dumb hobby with someone I love. That beats Berry Monsoon Mountain Dew any day.

When You Hit a Wall

What do you do when you’ve hit a wall? When you’ve tried all you can, and nothing’s working? When it feels like no matter what you do, it still isn’t enough?

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s work, school, relationships, or another area of life, each of us has come to a point where we just don’t see a way forward. And that is a difficult place to be.

So what do we do in these situations? Do we give up? Think of a different approach? Keep trying the same old tactics? It’s not always easy to know what the right step is.

I’ve been reading the book of Acts recently, and I’ve been inspired by the stories of the early church and the many, many obstacles these amazing brothers and sisters they overcame. In the face of resistance, hatred, and even persecution, they persisted in their faith, and they found a way to share the good news of Jesus across the world.

One of those early followers was the apostle Paul. In between starting countless churches and writing a good portion of the New Testament, Paul travelled all around, sharing the gospel with anyone who would listen. He had experienced Christ in a life-altering way, and so he made it his mission to introduce Jesus to as many others as he possibly could.

Paul had a playbook. His typical approach to sharing the gospel in a new town was to worship at the synagogue and tell people about Jesus there. At that time, Jesus-followers were almost all Jewish, Paul included, and so he saw the synagogue as his primary platform for telling people about Christ.

This was met with mixed success. At times, people responded to Paul’s message and became fellow believers. He would develop deep bonds with these new converts and help them start churches out of their homes. Then, when circumstances forced him to, he’d move on to the next city, entrusting the church to carry on the work he’d started there.

Other times, though, Paul didn’t make any headway at the local synagogues. He was even sometimes met with hostility. Acts 13 tells the story of one particularly tense encounter Paul had at the synagogue in Antioch. I’ll let you read it for yourself, but here’s a quick summary:

Paul and his partner Barnabas travel to Antioch to share the gospel there. After first hearing the message, the people seem interested and ask the men to return to the synagogue the following week. But upon their return, Paul and Barnabas are met with resistance and insults that inhibit them from preaching any further.

In other words, they hit a wall. They had been trying to share the gospel with this group of people and seemed to be making progress, but all of a sudden, they found themselves facing a barrier that they could not overcome.

What was Paul to do? He knew that he had been called by God to share the message of Christ’s love with others. He’d even felt led to the city of Antioch. And yet, nothing was happening.

That’s when he decided to regroup. In Acts 13.46, Paul says to the people at the synagogue, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

The word “Gentile” simply means anyone who is not Jewish. Basically, Paul told the people who rejected his message that if they didn’t want it, he would take it elsewhere to those who would be willing to receive it. And in turn, he began bringing the good news to people who had never heard it before, people who weren’t even considered potential converts up to this point.

I imagine that most people reading this fall into the Gentile category. And if you’re a Gentile believer reading this (like me), then you have transformational moments like this one from early church history to thank for your hearing the message. This is one of the earliest instances of the church embracing Gentiles, and I for one am so thankful for that!

When Paul realized that he had hit a wall, what did he do? Well, he didn’t give up. Instead, he used this opposition as an opportunity to discern what God had for him next. And in doing so, he began taking the gospel to a whole new group of people and welcoming them into the family of God. I think that’s pretty amazing.

Throughout the book of Acts, we see the early Christians come up against resistance. But they didn’t get upset. They didn’t give up. And they didn’t blame God (or the devil) for the positions they found themselves in. Instead, they chose to use these moments to reevaluate and ask God what they should do next. Often that was something totally unexpected and new.

What if we took the same approach? Where would we be if we chose to see opposition not as a curse, but as an opportunity for discernment? How different would our lives looks if we searched for wisdom when we hit a wall rather than giving up? It seemed to work pretty well for Paul; maybe we should do it, too.

I’m trying to see things that way now, looking for God’s hand even in the more difficult aspects of life. I don’t believe that God wants us to suffer, but I do believe that God uses those times to form us into who we’re supposed to be and lead us to where we’re supposed to go. But that can only happen if we’re looking for direction in the midst of opposition.

How about you? Have you ever had a similar experience when you felt like you were up against a wall? What do you think of this idea of using resistance as an opportunity for discernment? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences below.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog post. I hope that you found it helpful, or maybe even that it made you think a little differently. I’ll talk to you again soon!

My Apple 2019 Report Card

Last week, famed tech reporter Jason Snell released his annual Apple report card based on his survey of 65 “Apple watchers.” The report included an average of these individuals’ ratings of the company on a five-point scale in several important areas. As you might imagine when thinking about such a large, consequential company, opinions on the report card varied wildly, and Jason did a great job of summarizing the various views. I really enjoyed reading them and thinking through where I stand on each of these topics.

Many of those Jason spoke with are people I highly respect and avidly follow to keep up with Apple news. Of course, I wasn’t included on his list of prominent voices in the tech community, but after listening to Jason’s podcast episode about the survey, I was inspired to fill out the report card myself.

These are just my opinions on the state of Apple coming out of 2019 (not that anyone asked for them). If you’re a fan of the company like I am, I hope this article will help you stay on top of what they’re up to—and maybe even inspire you to share your own thoughts. And if you don’t know anything about Apple, let this be your chance to start learning about one of the most impactful companies in the world.

Here’s my Apple report card for 2019.

Mac

My Rating: 2 | Average Score: 3.6

I almost gave the Mac an N/A rating this year. To be honest, I’ve been moving further and further away from using the Mac in both my personal and professional lives ever since I got my first iPad Pro in 2017. Sure, I still have to unlock my office iMac every once in a while for something very specific, and I rely on Macs to run our worship services at the church, but in my day-to-day life, I do almost everything on a different platform now.

Surprisingly, I don’t even own a working Mac anymore. My 2016 MacBook Pro (the first with the infamous butterfly keyboard) is currently unusable due to a failed logic board, and I’m not even sure that I’m going to fix it. That’s how unimportant the Mac has become in my life.

The other reason I give the Mac a 2/5 for 2019 is that changes to its software this year pushed me even further away from wanting to use it. I really liked the High Sierra update in 2018 and enjoyed using it when I had to. But last summer’s release of Catalina was nearly unbearable for me with all of its bugs while offering me few benefits, and I’ve refused to install it on any of my work computers. I’ll stick with 2018’s software, thank you very much.

Sure, there are still some great Macs out there that work really well for a lot of people’s needs. And Apple did release a couple of notable new Macs this year: the 16-inch MacBook Pro with a new, more reliable keyboard and the beastly Mac Pro. But neither of these devices appeals to me because they’re more powerful and expensive than I need. I honestly don’t know when or if I’ll ever buy another personal Mac, and so it just isn’t that important to me anymore.

Sorry, Mac, but it’s a giant, “Meh,” from me. We’ll see if the rumored update to the smaller MacBook Pro or maybe even a new MacBook Air might change my mind this year.

iPhone

My Rating: 5 | Average Score: 4.0

The iPhone 11 was supposed to be the most boring update of all time, but as last quarter’s record sales numbers indicate,it was actually a huge hit. That’s because Apple took an already amazing design and refined the two features that people care about the most: camera and battery life.

The camera on my iPhone 11 Pro is like none other. I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with the ultra-wide lens and seeing what cool shots I can get. Of course, I can alway trust the standard lens to catch a nice, quick photo in a pinch, or I can zoom in with the telephoto when I need to. The iPhone takes incredible pictures that you just can’t get from any other phone, and users love it.

And then there’s the battery. I switched from the Xs Max to the regular-sized 11 Pro, and I’ve been impressed by the battery life on this little thing. It still lasts as long as my old phone, which was much larger, getting me through the day with no trouble. My wife stuck with the Max size on her 11 Pro, and she can’t even put a dent in that thing’s battery in day. These things go forever.

Even the non-Pro iPhone 11, which includes only two camera lenses and a slightly inferior display technology, is a great buy. It comes in at a very competitive price with all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from an Apple flagship, and in a bunch of fun colors. (I’m really jealous of my mom’s purple one.)

The 2019 iPhone is new standard to beat. Sure, the design changes have become less drastic, but that’s only because it’s hard to improve something that’s already this good. I’m sure that there will be a more substantial shift in the look of the upcoming iPhone 12, but it’s going to need more than just an updated design to top what the 11 accomplished in 2019.

iPad

My Rating: 5 | Average Score: 3.9

The iPad Pro is my favorite computer ever. Period. I’ve been a diehard fan of it since I got my first one in 2017, and the 2018 update with Face ID and smaller bezels only made it that much better. I love my iPad, and I do everything on it—including all my work for this blog.

The iPad Pro didn’t receive a 2019 update, but that was mostly because it didn’t need one. The 2018 model is still powerful, modern, and way ahead of its competition. It’s all the computer one could have needed last year.

But that’s not to say there weren’t any changes on the iPad front in 2019. I’d say there were two. First, Apple spread out the iPad lineup to fit every need and price point. They revived the iPad Mini, bringing it into the modern era with a processor update and Apple Pencil support. And they made the base model iPad an even more appealing offer with a bigger screen and support for peripherals like the Smart Keyboard and Pencil, all without moving its ridiculously low starting price. There truly is an iPad for everyone now, and if you haven’t checked out the lineup in a while, I’d suggest you do.

Secondly, on the software front, Apple made a huge decision that will impact the iPad’s trajectory forever. Instead of running iPads on a modified version of the iPhone’s software, Apple decided to give the iPad its own operating system: iPadOS. This means that we’ll hopefully be getting significant, dedicated iPad software updates every year. The iPad’s development is no longer tied to the phone’s, but running right alongside it, and that excites me.

It’s hard to imagine that the iPad line could get any better, but Apple is going to try this year with new iPad Pros rumored to be coming very soon. I might have to hold off on upgrading, though. This one I’m writing on now is still serving me just fine.

Wearables

My Rating: 5 | Average Score: 4.6

Wearables is a relatively new category in the Apple world, but it’s one that we’re going to be hearing more and more about as the company invests in new devices that keep us connected and help us stay healthy.

For now, wearables consists of two product lines: Apple Watch and AirPods. It’s a little weird to call either of these two “product lines” because until 2019, they were just singular products. But in the case of both Watch and AirPods, Apple again expanded their offerings this year and brought these wearable technologies to more people than ever before.

Apple Watch was the gift this holiday season, thanks to the company’s decision to sell their Series 3 models for an extremely competitive price. Previously, getting into the Apple Watch world cost over $300, usually closer to $400. But because the Series 3 is a little older and cheaper to produce, the entry price dropped to $200 this year, and that made it a possibility for so many new people. Of all the Apple Watches the company sold this quarter—and they sold a lot—75% of them were to people who had never owned Apple Watch before. Wow.

And for those who wanted the bleeding edge in smart watch technology, there was the Series 5 with its smaller bezels and always-on display. Who knew that people who wore watches would actually want to use them to quickly check the time? I’m still on the Series 4 and it’s serving me well, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t tempted by the latest model’s new screen. Maybe next year.

As far as AirPods go, they literally can’t make enough of them to meet demand. Not only are the classic AirPods selling like hot cakes, but the new AirPods Pro are sold out everywhere. When my dad wanted to purchase a pair as a Christmas gift, I had the challenge of tracking down the only pair in a 150-mile radius. It was fun. 😁

It’s been tough year for me headphones-wise. My original AirPods from 2017 finally wore down to the point that I couldn’t use the daily anymore, so I swapped them out for the Powerbeats Pro, made by Apple subsidiary Beats.

They were great, but then in October, the company released both the AirPods Pro and the Beats Solo Pro on the same day, and I couldn’t resist. For the full story, you can check out my blog post on it, but to sum it up, I loved the Beats Solo Pro but couldn’t wear them comfortably, so I switched to the AirPods Pro. I couldn’t be happier with them. They’re portable, they last forever, and the noise cancellation is astounding for a device so small.

Needless to say, wearables are going strong. Mine make my life better every single day, and I can’t imagine going without them.

Apple TV

My Rating: 4 | Average Score: 2.7

I was surprised by how low the average score on the Apple TV was this year. Sure, some people complain that the remote is hard to handle and that the TV app is difficult to navigate, but there’s no way the Apple TV deserves a rating this harsh.

Let me put it this way: The Apple TV is the best way to watch television, hands down.

To put that statement into context, no TV interface is perfect, and most them frankly stink. But out of all of them, Apple’s stinks the least and lets you watch what you want with the least trouble out of all of them.

I think part of the problem is that TV is in a time of major change right now. The streaming wars are just ramping up, and no one has totally mastered how to bring the internet into the living room just yet. But I’d say Apple is pretty darn close.

When I turn on my Apple TV (using my phone as the remote, of course), I have access to all of my streaming services, purchased content, music playlists, podcasts, photos, and even most of my favorite mobile games. I can tell Siri what I want to watch, use the device’s universal search to see if the show I want is available on the services I’m already paying for, or jump into my cross-service Up Next queue and get to the latest episodes right from the home screen.

It requires a little bit of setup, but if you take the time to get the Apple TV tuned properly and learn how to use it, it’s the ideal way to experience TV. My mom has a smart TV that she uses all the time, but when she came to visit me and saw me use the Apple TV interface, she immediately asked, “How do I get that on my TV?” Nothing else comes close.

Sure, I have a few complaints: I wish Netflix would integrate with the device’s Up Next queue, though that’s not really Apple’s fault. I wish there was a way to turn off suggestions for shows and services I don’t pay for. And I wish that every streaming service was offered as an official Apple TV channel, because that experience is just so smooth. But all in all, I’m pleased with the Apple TV, its quality, and the way it lets me sit back and just enjoy the show.

I have an Apple TV box on every TV I use, both at home and at work. It’s just the best TV experience, and it’s well worth the money for something I use and enjoy so much and so often.

Services

My Rating: 5 | Average Score: 3.7

2019 was the year Apple made its big push into services. Traditionally, they have made most of their money by selling computers and phones, but in the future, more and more of the company’s revenue is going to come from these recurring services that customers subscribe to and pay for on a regular basis.

When I first heard about this shift in the company’s strategy, I was unsure. I think it’s natural to have a certain amount of skepticism toward subscription services. Are they really worth the money we’re being asked to put into them every month? That’s difficult to judge. Plus, it was hard to imagine what these services would be like before they actually came out.

Now, though, I’m convinced. With one minor exception, I think that Apple’s services are great values, and I use most of them myself.

Apple Music has been around for a while, and it’s a no-brainer. The thing that held me back from music streaming for so long was my carefully curated library of songs I had purchased over the years. I didn’t want to lose them. When Apple Music came along and offered the ability to integrate streaming and my library together, I was immediately hooked, and I’ve been a subscriber ever since.

I got the Apple Card soon after it came out this summer, and I love it. It’s a beautiful card, but I hardly ever have to use it because it allows me to pay with my phone via Apple Pay. The daily cash back and the ability to pay on any schedule (which for me is multiple times a day) are a nice touch. My only complaint is that I can’t add Katherine as an authorized user yet. Once they add that ability, it’ll be perfect.

Apple Arcade is the service I’ve used the least, but when I take the time to play the games on it, I really enjoy them. It’s nice to know that every one of them is high-quality, ad-free, and devoid of in-app purchases. It’s a worthwhile investment for anyone who likes mobile games or has kids who play games on their phone.

Apple TV+ has really surprised me. I didn’t think I would even bother watching it, much less like it, but Katherine and I have watched nearly every show available on the service at this point, and we love them all. TV+ has become a must-have in our house, and we will gladly pay the $5/month subscription once our free trial runs out this autumn.

The outlier here is Apple News+. The magazine subscription service is confusing and impractical, unfortunately. I hope that Apple can refine New+ into a valuable, ad-free news source, but for now, I don’t think it has much value unless you’re one of those people who really loves magazines.

Overall, Apple services have been on point so far. I’m hoping to see some sort of bundle come this year to simplify my budget a little bit, but either way, I’m a happy subscriber, so Apple gets top marks from me.

HomeKit

My Rating: 3 | Average Score: 2.8

My smart home makes me feel pretty dumb sometimes. I’ve gone all-in on HomeKit at my house, and the experience ranges from mildly convenient to downright frustrating. It’s not the magic that I always imagined it would be.

The pieces are all there: I’ve got my lamps, my most-used lights, my fans, my doors, my thermostat, my TVs, and my sound system all smarted out and loaded into the Home app. I’ve created scenes for when I wake up, go to bed, come home, and leave the house. It’s all automated, and in theory, it should be great.

But in reality, the whole thing is quite inconsistent. I don’t know if it’s a problem with Wifi technology or with the Siri smart assistant or if smart home technology just isn’t ready. But it feels like about a third of the time I try to do something with my smart home, it fails. And often, it will work but lie and say that it failed. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I spent 2019 tinkering with the smart stuff, trying to get it to all work properly, and for the most part, it does. As long as I stick to my regular routine and don’t poke anything, the house performs as expected. But it feels like the whole thing is held together by thread and could shut down at any minute. That’s not the kind of reliability you want when it comes to something as important as your house.

To be fair, this problem isn’t exclusive to HomeKit. All smart home platforms have their issues, and Apple’s is the most private and secure of all of them. But the company really needs to invest some time and money into getting this thing right, and recent rumors and job listings seem to indicate that that’s the direction they’re going. Maybe my rating will be higher in this category next year.

One last HomeKit-related note: The HomePod smart speaker is amazing. In doing my research before buying one, I read that everyone who buys one ends up buying more, and that’s been true for me. I now have three: one in my bedroom and two in my living room. They’re great for music, podcasts, and watching TV. I’m hoping 2020 brings us a chapter HomePod Mini so that I can put one in every room of my house.

Hardware Reliability

My Rating: 5 | Average Score: 3.9

Apple’s hardware is as good as it’s ever been. The iPhone 11 is the most well-built phone I’ve ever seen. iPad design is in a great place. Apple is slowly but surely fixing its unreliable keyboards on the MacBooks. And have you seen how cool the Mac Pro looks (not to mention how functional the design is)? It was a great year for Apple hardware.

Software Quality

My Rating: 2 | Average Score: 2.7

Software, on the other hand, was a mess. Both iOS 13 and macOS Catalina had convoluted, bug-ridden rollouts that have left a bad taste in the mouths of Apple’s users. Adoption rates are getting better as the bugs get worked out, but these updates are nowhere near the no-brainers that 2018’s operating systems were. Here’s to hoping that Apple learned their lesson and will focus on software reliability before releasing anything new this year.

One more complaint on this issue: Apple promised that we would be able to share calendars stored in iCloud with other users this summer, and that feature is still nowhere to be seen. I need it! Please, Apple, get this one shipped soon.

Developer Relations

My Rating: 3 | Average Score: 3.4

As a non-developer, I can’t really comment on this topic other than what I read in the news and hear on podcasts. Apple has put so much money into the app economy through its app stores and made space for companies and careers that never would have exited otherwise. In that sense, they should be applauded.

On the other hand, 2019 was the year that some of Apple’s policies were seriously called into question on a grand scale. Spotify is officially suing the company for discriminatory app policies, claiming that Apple holds a monopoly over the software marketplace on its devices. We’ll see where that goes, but the idea of breaking the app store monopoly has become quite popular in the tech world as of late.

Also, it seems that Apple did a poor job of providing developers the tools they needed to adopt the latest technologies released this year. Documentation for Mac Catalyst (the tool for porting iPad apps to the Mac) and SwiftUI (a new, simpler app development workflow) were either missing, vague, or downright wrong. This has led to poor adoption of the technologies and a general consensus that they are dead in the water.

Apple relies on developers to keep its app stores relevant and lively, so they need to prioritize them a little more, or there could be a reckoning on the horizon.

Environmental/Social/Societal Impact

My Rating: 3 | Average Score: 3.3

It’s hard to argue that Apple hasn’t done a lot of good for the world. Specifically, their efforts in environmental-friendliness and accessibility have had a major impact across the industry, and I think they deserve credit for it.

However, 2019 was a tricky year for Apple when it comes to international politics. Between the Hong Kong protests, Russia-Ukraine land dispute, and U.S.-China trade war, Apple found itself in a middle of a many hotly contested issues. And a lot of Apple customers were not big happy with the way the company handled these situations.

It’s tough trying to do international business in a world with so many competing interests, and Apple has to toe a lot of lines. But for a company that claims to have such strong principles, they seem to be willing to make compromises so long as they benefit the bottom line. Maybe that’s just good business, but for people like me who value integrity, it can definitely hurt a company’s reputation.

I gave Apple a three because I still think their impact is a net good for the world. They’re pushing accessibility and privacy as human rights, which I am completely on board with. And I try to understand that some of their international decisions are complicated, even if I don’t necessarily agree with them. But Apple should be doing a better job of consistently applying their principles to these situations, even if they result in a loss of profits. That’s what an ethical company does.

Wow, that was a lot. I didn’t realize I had so much to say about Apple in 2019, but I hope this gives you a snapshot of where the company is and how I feel about what they accomplished last year.

I’d love to hear what you think. Are you an Apple fan? How do you think they did in 2019? And if you’re not an Apple user, what is it like watching all of these things happen from the outside? Do you think we’re weird for caring so much? Let me know in the comments or on social media.

If you got this far, thanks for reading my Apple report card for 2019! It was really fun to put together. I’ll see you next week for something different. Until then!