iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Watching the Giro dell’Emilio 🚲 and remembering our brilliant trip to Bologna a few years ago Walking down the hill from the Basilica was hard enough, let alone riding up it 5 times

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 7h

My new passport has arrived, disappointing colour (and looks black to my eyes rather than blue)

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 02/10/2026

Android Play Store reviews getting slower and slower My latest Yeltzland update - which is a good one too - has been waiting for 6 days and counting, the last one took just as long Android reviews used to be very quick, but this is like the bad old days of Apple reviews ☹️

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 30/09/2026

Surprisingly nice evening in #Hexham (if you can avoid the midges 🪰)

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/09/2026

A scene from “The Last of Us” or around the back of old Robbs of Hexham?

001

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 26/09/2026

Needing fresh content to test the cross-posting app I’m working on So here’s a sleepy pie from yesterday 😴🥧

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/09/2026

Very bright moon on the way home tonight And despite my best efforts, I can see the weeds are back in abundance down the side of our house again #LifeFindsAWay

001

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 21/09/2026

Been back at work today after a lovely two week break, so nothing really of interest to say However I did want to test out posting from the updated #tapestryapp (my favourite social media app by far), so here goes …

010

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 20/09/2026

Been trialling having a herb garden in our front yard this summer Mixed results to be fair, as it’s been maybe too hot this (every?) summer, but against all expectations the chillis came out pretty well 🌶️🌶️🌶️

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 20/09/2026

Really happy with switching to the new Siri Modular face on my Apple Watch Having the Smart Stack as the main complication is very nice, especially as it seems to be doing a good job of surfacing relevant widgets most of the time

Screenshot of my Apple Watch using the new Siri Modular face

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 17/09/2026

Made some big improvements to my Pixagogo TV app - should be live in the next day or so Looks loads nicer now, and has much improved the logic for loading images when not locally cached (so improves the rotation of which pics are shown) More about the app here: bravelocation.com/pixagogo-…

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 16/09/2026

Staycation day in Newcastle today Coffee in One Up on Dean Street, then delicious Spicy Tofu Loaded Fries at Bao Down in Grainger Market Then finally got to see The Odyssey at The Gate, enjoyed it a lot despite the length

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/09/2026

Watching Forever Home on Channel 5, mainly because it was shot in Hexham a while back Just seen Denise Welch drive past the top of our road (and past Hilary walking home), which is SO exciting 🤣 www.imdb.com/title/tt39319550

imdb.com

www.imdb.com

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/09/2026

Started the long run through updating all my apps to support iOS/MacOS/tvOS 27 I’d put it off this year as not much exciting to add Mostly so far fixing new warnings the updated compiler has found, and potentially supporting the new massive widget size, but frankly a bit bored already 😴

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 14/09/2026

Went to Northumberlandia for the first time in about 15 years. Somehow kinda less impressive now the grass has grown Then had a delicious brunch at Gran Caffe Lollo in Morpeth, and a walk along the river on an unseasonably sunny day 😎

Hash Brown, Halloumi and Poachies on top

020

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 13/09/2026

Glorious weather for the #GreatNorthRun today We headed to the other side of the Tyne to Whitley Bay, and the lowest tide I’ve ever seen there Also coffee and cake at Dil & The Bear inside the #WhitleyBay Metro station

051

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 12/09/2026

So I’m working on an app (probably just for myself!) that makes it easy to share Mastodon posts on BlueSky and other places So if you are seeing this on BlueSky and it’s all gone badly wrong that’s the reason!

100

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 10/09/2026

Staycation Day 7 - mostly keeping out of the rain, but I did manage to haggle with Virgin Media to cut our broadband costs by £40 per month 🎉 Mostly due to BT finally rolling out full fibre in Hexham rather than because of my negotiating skills, but I’ll take the win

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 10/09/2026

If you are having trouble with the fixtures in the iOS Yeltzland app, try updating it in the App Store Had to fix some issues semi-related to the spam issues the website has been having recently I _think_ the Android version is fine (let me know if it isn't)

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 07/09/2026

Staycation day 4 (day 3 was a day of rest!) A brief trip to Edinburgh, and visiting a few Outlander filming locations on the way up (Midhope Castle aka Lallybroch and Blackness Castle aka Fort William) Then a rare chance to get some food via Uber Eats (don’t get such modern things in Hexham!)

030

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 05/09/2026

Staycation day 2 - early kickoff match day at SJP Looking out for Adrian today, who was dressed for all weathers! Mixed performance, just about deserved the draw despite an awful referee, and great to catch up with friends over a few beers in the toon after the game

020

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/09/2026

First day of our staycation, and a very blustery drive across the moors to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle 💨💨💨 Went to the Vivienne Westwood exhibition to get some ideas for my winter wardrobe

010

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 31/08/2026

More Peter Rabbit spotting in Newcastle, this time in Ouseburn and along The Tyne Some spectacular skies today

010

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 25/08/2026

Beginner’s error made by me on LinkedIn Was trying to see if anyone I knew had Ruby on Rails experience and was looking for a few weeks work Now being spammed by all sorts of randoms despite me clearly saying I would only recommend people I know Forgot it’s not actually a network any more ☹️

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

First Match Day of a new era (for me as well) I was one the unbelievably lucky 250 members (out of 50000 applicants) who won the season ticket ballot at Newcastle in the summer 🥳 Big game today as well against Liverpool 🤞⚫️⚪️ #nufc

370

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

Some snaps from yesterday’s day trip to Dumfries

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 16/08/2026

Never seen the River Severn so low in Bewdley At least they’ve finally finished the flood defences! #Bewdley #Drought

People enjoying the summer on the banks of the Severn in Bewdley

011

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/08/2026

🎶 It’s got a Spoons and an Asda… 🎶 Planet Halesowen looking resplendent tonight

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/08/2026

Always enjoy being at Wetherby Services on match day seeing all the fans of different teams wearing their tops on their way to a game I’m on the way South to see the mighty Yeltz in their first home game of the season 🤞

020

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 08/08/2026

The leaves are already starting to fall off the trees in Tyne Green in Hexham The weather is less autumnal though!

Walking under the trees in Tyne Green in Hexham

000

Reposted by John Pollard

Taylor Payne @taylorpayne.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I feel a mix of sad and grateful. Sad that Eddie couldn't find a way to keep going and turn things around and grateful that he said yes to the job and gave me 5 of the best #NUFC supporting years of my life and the trophy well all yearned for. Thank You Eddie, for everything 🖤🤍

1936

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 25/07/2026

More Peter Rabbits from around the toon

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 19/07/2026

A glorious (if blustery) day for a walk down The Tyne from Tynemouth down to the North Shields Fish Quay and back

The path from Tynemouth down to North Shields Fish Quay

042

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/07/2026

Testing out how well the new Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 works in my Sideboard app in making summaries Not really sure if it’s just being funny - or is terrible - but I enjoyed the description of the game tonight

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 14/07/2026

Year of living dangerously - decided to risk putting the iOS 27 public beta on my phone Seems fine so far, Siri working so much better (no 3rd party app access yet though) Phone still very hot though as it’s doing all the re-indexing 📱🔥

000

Reposted by John Pollard

Taylor Payne @taylorpayne.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

If there's ever an asteroid heading towards earth threatening to wipe out the human race I think we just send Dan Burn out to head the thing back past Jupiter...#NUFC

710717

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 11/07/2026

So I made a new app It’s called “Quick Add” and self-styled “The fastest way to add reminders (maybe 😀)” I also wrote about why I built it bravelocation.com/Introducing-Quick…

bravelocation.com

Introducing Quick Add

The fastest way to add reminders (maybe 😀)

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 06/07/2026

Game for the ages that. So glad I got back up 🥱🛌⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/07/2026

Well that’s not something that happens everyday! Getting favorited by John Siracusa on Mastodon Evidence here for the doubters: mastodon.social/@yeltzland/11686076…

010

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/07/2026

Yet another spurious App Store rejection. They didn’t like a button to grant access to reminders being called “Grant Access” as that doesn’t respect the users. Changed it to “Continue” Mac App has exactly the same text. That was accepted of course So tired of this nonsense #RejectedByAppReview

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/06/2026

Guard animal collection in our front yard coming on nicely

110

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/06/2026

Testing out cross-posting to Bluesky and Mastodon from Talrik Was pondering building something simple myself to do this, but hoping this will do the job 🤞 talrik.com

100

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 19/06/2026

In a miserable Glasgow for work, so had to go to my favourite burger place - Bread Meats Bread Went for the Vegan Philly, didn’t disappoint 🍔 Really hope they come to Newcastle soon 🤞

140

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 07/06/2026

This is my sometimes annual post on WWDC Eve, on what I’d like to see this year from Apple’s developer conference 🔲 Much improved on-device LLM developer functionality 🔲 MCP support in Siri 🔲 Full support for reminders in EKEventKit 🔲 Improved SwiftUI on Mac bravelocation.com/WWDC-2026-Wi...

bravelocation.com

WWDC 2026 Wishlist

My hopes for the coming year in the world of iOS development

111

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 24/05/2026

Remarkably calm North Sea today at Whitley Bay

011

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 16/05/2026

Ducks out in force on the streets of Hexham today

010

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 09/05/2026

I just updated my Sideboard app to now support Teams meetings, so you can quickly open the call direct from the app My current contract does involve the occasional Teams meeting, which inspired me to finally add support for it More details on Sideboard at bravelocation.com/sideboard

bravelocation.com

Sideboard

Sideboard is an iOS, iPadOS, Mac, watchOS and visionOS app designed to summarise your upcoming meetings and enhance your productivity

000

John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/05/2026

Some shots from today’s Bank Holiday wander from Marsden Rock to the Souter Lighthouse and back

Marsden Beach and Tynemouth in the far distance

000