basicappleguy.com launched four years ago, on April 21, 2020. Today marks the fourth anniversary of basicappleguy.com First, I want to extend my sincere thanks to all the readers of this blog, those who interact with me online, and those who use these wallpapers. The verve to put in the effort I do into this site is fuelled in part by knowing there are many people you get a lot of joy and appreciation for what I've been able to produce over the years. Steve Jobs, over a decade ago, said it best: "There's lots of ways to be, as a person. And some people express their deep appreciation in diff ..read more

A minimal, whimsical, and clever list maker for iPhone. Clear is a minimal but deceptively well-equipped list-making application for iOS. Initially released in 2012 (not a typo, over a decade ago), the app has recently received a complete 2.0 overhaul with a fun collectible business model, an elegant and simplistic design, and an intuitive & playful user interface. I've used it as my lightweight list-maker for the past few months and wanted to share my thoughts on this lovingly crafted iPhone app. Clear 1.0 launched back in 2012 as a cross platform application for Mac, iPad, and iOS. It ..read more

The 2024 Commander Tee is a much more minimalistic spin on my annual tee. New year, new Commander. I've been releasing an annual Commander t-shirt in the early spring ahead of WWDC for four years now. In 2021 & 2022, the design comprised various products arranged in the shape of the Command Symbol, and in 2023, it formed in the negative space of the surrounding products.  A history of the Commander Tee. Top Left: 2021; Top Right: 2022; Bottom Left: 2023; Bottom Right: 2024 For 2024, I decided to go in a much more minimalistic direction. The new 2024 Commander is composed of over a h ..read more

A collection of minimalist gradient wallpapers inspired by the list-making app Clear. Introducing a collection of vibrant gradient wallpapers to compliment Clear, the minimalist list-making app for iOS. When the developers behind Clear approached me about collaborating on a weekend event that included a collection of Apple-inspired icons and themes inside their app, I wanted to make sure I could contribute in a small way. I've always loved the simple terraced gradients used across Clear and used those as the main design inspiration of these wallpapers. I experimented with a few different shap ..read more

A luscious and playful wallpaper collection. Introducing Glassy, a vibrant new wallpaper collection for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. If you'll let me get all softhearted and mushy for a minute, this wallpaper meant a fair bit for me to make. Throughout the tail end of 2023 and the start of 2024, the pressures at work continued to mount. Significant staffing shortages coincided with pressures from leadership to remain busy at all costs or face the potential of job cuts overwhelmed me. Work and a surge in family stress began to chip away: work by day and family by night. Then, a wave of illness ..read more

A new dedicated Sports app from Apple has landed. On Wednesday, out of left field (baseball reference), Apple introduced a new iOS application: Apple Sports. Available initially in the USA, UK, and Canada, the app includes real-time scores, play-by-play, and boxscore information for nearly a dozen leagues, including NBA, NHL, and several Football leagues, including MLS, Bundesliga, La Liga, and more. The press release also states that in the near future, it will include scores from leagues, including the MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA, and hopefully, more to come. I love the app idea. It's a ..read more

I didn’t care for Apple’s abstract take on the rolling hills of Sonoma, so I made my own. Introducing Better Sonoma. Apple announced macOS Sonoma back at WWDC23 in June. In keeping with the motif that began with Big Sur, Apple has shipped each new macOS release with a unique abstract landscape wallpaper. And while I loved the wallpaper bundled with Big Sur and was lukewarm on those that shipped with Monterey and Ventura, I didn't care for the one that came bundled with Sonoma. Maybe it was the heavy reliance on Nickelodeon Slime Green as the predominant colour on this wallpaper, but it never ..read more

I haven't seen it. I’ve never touched it. Why do I want it? Image Credit: Apple Apple announced Apple Vision Pro, a $3,500 headset, at WWDC23 last June. Heralded as a technological marvel, Vision Pro is an incredibly ambitious first step into the world of what Apple is calling Spatial Computing. Why Do I Want it? What Does It Do? I wrote this article because my wife wanted to understand my excitement about this product. But when she asked why I wanted it, I struggled with an answer. I had seven months to ponder this simple question since the announcement of Vision Pro, and the best I could co ..read more

Gentler Streak, Day One, and Endel are three indispensable apps for me heading into 2024. I strive to ensure that all the apps I carry around add value throughout my day. I hate having fugly apps freeloading on my device that take up space and serve an annoyingly narrow purpose (looking at you, Microsoft Authenticator). With the new year upon us, I want to highlight three applications that, for me, are the cream of the crop in terms of the value they bring to me on a daily basis: Gentler Streak, Day One, and Endel. Gentler Streak A compassionate approach to closing your rings and improving y ..read more

Introducing Mosaic: A minimal abstract gradient wallpaper developed for the new Wireframe skin across the !Boring Suite of applications. Introducing a collection of minimal mosaic wallpapers for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The origin of these wallpapers began in May of 2023 when I released Feels Like Spring, a wallpaper based on the pattern of a mosaic-like logo used on some Apple gift cards. But after I had released that wallpaper, I continued expanding the pattern and created a massive 10211 x 18767px canvas. For one reason or another, that wallpaper laid dormant until Andy of Not Boring Sof ..read more