Work Smarter, Not Harder with TextExpander (Sponsor)

I love it when tools I use every day want to sponsor MacSparky.com. A case in point is this week’s sponsor, TextExpander. I use that application every day. I am currently working on a complicated transaction where we have a pile of exhibits, all with absolutely crazy names. So I made quick TextExpander snippet to rename the files. It inserts the date, puts in a transaction code, and even moves the curser to exactly the right place for me to type in a brief description. It took me about a minute to make the snippet and it saved me at least an hour. Just another day with TextExpander.

TextExpander makes you more productive. With the ability to add tokens for dates, get fill-ins from the user, and even run AppleScript, it is way more powerful than you’d think. With TextExpander you’ll see your snippets everywhere. It syncs between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Windows PC instantly.

They’ve got free snippet groups for all sorts of folks including job recruiters, freelancers, airport codes, brand names, and more at the TextExpander website (or you can download some of mine).

TextExpander even lets you run AppleScripts. For example, I use TextExpander to auto address emails with Apple Mail.

Best of all, with TextExpander you don’t have to work alone: TextExpander for Teams lets you manage and share snippets with your coworkers or the entire company. Use this link to get 20% off. 

More Apple Stores Closing During Pandemic

As COVIC-19 comes roaring back, Apple is closing Apple stores in multiple states (including my home state, California). All of the work Apple has done to improve the online Apple Store experience over the last few years is paying off for them. Thus far, Apple has been paying its retail employees during these shutdowns. I know that is not true for a lot of employers and this is one area where I think we are all glad to see Apple spending its money.

I can’t help but wonder what the long term effects of this pandemic will be on an already suffering brick-and-mortar segment of retail sales. Microsoft announced plans to shutter its retail stores permanently last week and while I don’t think that will be the case for Apple, I’m not sure anyone else in retail sales is safe at this point.

The Paperless Field Guide Second Edition Is In Production

I am currently hard at work on an all-new second edition of the Paperless Field Guide. I am already deep in production and pleased with how it is coming out. While the curriculum is pretty thorough, it isn’t in stone just yet. If you’ve got ideas or problems you’d like to see solved with a new Paperless Field Guide, please send me an email (david@macsparky.com) with a subject line “Paperless Ideas”. While I can’t include everything, I promise to read your emails and consider them. It looks like the new Paperless Field Guide will release in late August/early September.

As part of this, I’ll be taking the old version down from the Apple Book Store. (If you already purchased it, you will still have access.) I can’t wait to share the new version with you.

Mac Power Users 542: Beta Tales

It's beta season, and on the latest episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I have reported for duty with reports of new features and general thoughts on macOS Big Sur, iOS and iPadOS 14, as well as watchOS 7. Plus, a brief announcement about something coming in July.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don't have to worry about that anymore. 

  • Cotton Bureau: Shop graphic tees, hoodies, and more. Use MPU10 for 10% off.

  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!

Walking and Chewing Gum

Steven Sinofsky, formerly of Microsoft, had an interesting Twitter thread a few days ago that was complimentary of Apple and its ability to ship their own Apple silicon. I read through the thread, and at one point he explains the sort of focus it takes for a company of Apple’s size to pull this off.

Then later, he makes a point that hit me right between the eyes.

Within hours of Apple announcing that they were moving all Macs to their own silicon within two years, I was on a podcast whining about the lack of a share button in Apple Mail.

I get Sinofsky’s point, but I don’t have any regrets whining about the Mail app, iOS tag support, or any of the other friction points I face every day as an Apple customer that could be solved with better software.

Make no mistake, this week was monumental in the evolution of the Mac. There is a reason that after so many years the macOS now goes to number 11. Apple silicon Macs are going to change the way we use our Macs significantly. I’m not sure if any of us appreciate how much these changes will resonate into the platform’s future.

Still … it sure would be nice if Apple added a share button to Mail on the iPhone and iPad.

The Touchscreen Mac

Every year, it is fun to look at the announcements from WWDC and look for the breadcrumbs that lead to new Apple hardware. Often signs exist pointing to new features, hardware, and screen sizes. You just have to look for them. That’s why many folks are looking at this week’s WWDC announcement and thinking that touchscreen Macs are on the way.

For years the argument against touchscreen Macs was that macOS made no concessions for touch, and trying to navigate an operating system made for a tiny mouse pointer with your big meaty finger would be madness.

But then there is the new macOS Big Sur. It seems to be made, if not explicitly, for touch, at least to be touch-friendly. For instance, just look at this Big Sur Apple Mail toolbar. (You can click to expand it). The toolbar is taller, the icons are bigger, and more spaced out. To get more room for these finger-friendly icons, they removed the search bar and replaced it with the magnifying glass icon. When you click (tap?) it, it expands for a full search bar. While space is nice, this takes it to an extreme if you are only using a mouse pointer.

Also, take a look at menu bar items. They are spaced out more than ever before. Again, that extra space looks nice, but it seems extreme if you use a mouse, yet just far enough to make selecting menu items with your finger possible.

The other bit of news that makes me think we’ll get a touchscreen Mac is that with the new Apple silicon Macs, they will natively run all iPhone and iPad apps. Think about that. You will be able to load any number of the millions of iPad and iPhone apps on your Mac, but the apps would (as matters currently stand) require a mouse or trackpad for interaction. None of those millions of apps were built with the idea of mouse input in mind, and it is going to be an odd (if not outright bad) experience. In the Platform State of the Union presentation, Apple made a show of using a mouse to play an iOS game on a Mac, but it all felt a little too precious.

So my theory is that at least some (if not all) of the Apple silicon Macs will be equipped with a touchscreen. That will let you run iPad and iPhone games as they were meant to be. The Big Sur user-interface changes will make it possible for you to navigate around your Mac with your meaty fingers. While macOS isn’t getting that bottom-up redesign for touch, Apple is hoping the changes they made will make it good enough for users to combine touch with mouse or trackpad when driving these machines as a traditional Mac.

I’m not the only one thinking about touchscreen Macs. Stephen and I discussed it on this week’s Mac Power Users episode just hours after the Keynote. Jason Snell wrote about this idea at Macworld and its potential long-term implications for the Mac. Nevertheless, don’t be surprised if when the new Apple silicon Macs start shipping later this year, they have touchscreens.

Get More Productive with Tomato 2 (Sponsor) 

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The reason the Pomodoro Technique is so popular is because it takes almost no effort to implement and immediately delivers real productivity. If you're going to use the Pomodoro Technique on your Mac, I recommend Tomato 2, this week's sponsor. Just like the Pomodoro Technique itself, Tomato 2 is easy to use and delivers immediate results.

What I like about Tomato 2 is the way it remains simple but adds flexibility. Pomodoro Technique purists insist you need to work in 25-minute bursts, but I prefer 45-minute bursts. Tomato 2 can do that. Tomato 2 also gives you feedback about how many Pomodoro sessions you finished charted out over your week.

Need a little help resisting distractions? Tomato 2 can also block those websites that get in the way of your productivity. I've tried several Pomodoro apps over the years, and Tomato 2 is the best I've ever used. Check it out.

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IOS 14 Back Tap for Camera and Flashlight

I couldn’t help myself and installed the iOS 14 beta on my iPhone. There are a lot of nice new features, but one obscure one is Back Tap. This new accessibility feature lets you trigger Accessibility functions by tapping the back of your phone two or three times. It also can trigger a Shortcut. So I made some simple shortcuts to trigger the camera and toggle the flashlight and added them to Back Tap triggers. Here is a video showing how it works.


Focused 102: Analog Productivity with Brad Dowdy

The Pen Addict Brad Dowdy joins Mike and me on this week’s episode of Focused to explain how he struggles to stay focused and discovers that he is a time blocker. We also get very nerdy about pens and paper toward the end.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

  • Blinkist: Read 3000+ books in 15 minutes or fewer. Start your 7-day free trial.

  • Focus@Will: Personalized focus music to help you get stuff done. Get 60% off.

Some Initial Thoughts on the 2020 WWDC Keynote

It’s Keynote day, and Apple had more announcements than I expected during a global pandemic. So here are a few thoughts following the 2020 WWDC Keynote:

  • It was dense. There was a lot of information pushed out in those two hours. There were no fluffy demos (and no AR demos). Lots of signal. Little noise.

  • I was surprised at the format. I didn’t expect it to start with Tim in an empty theater, but as the presentation moved along, I liked it.

  • Lots of new faces among the presenters as Craig Federighi served as the second-tier master of ceremonies. I didn’t realize that I stress for those people on stage. I know how nerve-wracking that can be. Having everything canned made it easier for them … and me.

  • The big type on screen slide is a new look for an Apple Keynote.

  • The video zooms in between segments started cheesy, but then grew on me. It also makes me want to visit the new campus someday.

  • Still iOS, not iPhoneOS.

  • App Library makes a ton of sense, but this is one where the devil is in the details. Apple has told us before it will let the device sort things for us with mixed results.

  • I can’t wait to get my hands on the new iOS / iPadOS widgets. But am I the only one who looks at them thinks about the classic Mac widgets?

  • I can’t make up my mind about the Siri announcements. My problem with Siri isn’t that it can’t answer obscure questions. My problem is that it often doesn’t recognize when I dictate my wife’s name. I’ll need to see the beta.

  • Nice improvements to Messages, but I think there is room for more here. Also, it wasn’t clear later if the Mac version finally has feature parity with iOS and iPadOS yet. It’s closer.

  • So, does the “iPhone as key” feature now mean a BMW 5 Series is an iPhone accessory?

  • Maybe the new Keynote drinking game word should be “privacy”.

  • App Clip is a big help to developers. You can get their apps and spend money without installing their apps.

  • It looks like iPad widgets, though more customizable, are still relegated to the left side of the screen.

  • The new Apple Pencil features look killer. I’ve wanted to use the Pencil in this fashion since before there was an Apple Pencil. I can’t wait to try this feature. The test will be if I can sit in a comfy chair with an iPad, Apple Pencil, and Siri dictation and be productive.

  • The AirPods team continues to crush it.

  • I did not see the Mac UI redesign coming at all. My initial reaction is positive, but I’ll need to use it. It is interesting how Apple hardware and software continue to march toward a standard look. Hopefully, they can do that while still leaving the Mac to be a Mac.

  • The Apple silicon transition was masterfully handled. They got us excited about the potential of these new chips while also allaying our fears. Also, did you notice they never said the word “ARM”?

There is still a lot more to unpack in the days to come. Overall, I saw a lot more from Apple today than I expected. As I push the “publish” button on this, I’m about to watch the State of the Union presentation and press the “install beta” button on my iPad.

WWDC Coverage

Buckle up, gang. It’s WWDC day, and starting today at 10 AM Pacific Apple is going to be showing off its latest changes for the Mac, iPad, iPhone, and all of its other hardware. I particularly like WWDC because I think Apple needs to do the most work on the software side. Today we’ll get a good idea for the next year. I’m most keen to hear about ARM-based Macs if the rumors are true.

How to Watch

Apple streams the keynote through its developer website. You can also watch it on the Apple TV. If you want to go that extra mile, in the afternoon, they do a separate presentation called “State of the Union” where they get deeper into the technical side of the new improvements. You can also see that through the developer website.

Regardless, I’ll be watching both and covering them here and we’ll be releasing a special episode of Mac Power Users later today. Stay tuned.

The ElevationHub

ElevationLab is one of my favorite makers of tech gizmos, and I own many of their products. Today I pre-ordered their latest addition, the ElevationHub. It is a small gizmo that plugs into the Apple USB-C laptop chargers and includes a pass-through USB-C, an additional USB-A port, an SD Card Reader, and a bit of velcro that lets you wrap and hold a cable around the charger. It’s all very clever and I’m in.

Fantastical 3.1 Releases and New Videos

Today Flexibits released a major update to Fantastical with version 3.1. This is the “working from home” update with a bunch of new features aimed at people surprised to find themselves working from home:

Time-Based Calendar Sets

Calendar sets have always been a cool feature. Now you can have them trigger automatically at a specific time of day.

Better Conference Calling

Fantastical’s Zoom integration is excellent. You can add a zoom call straight from the app. With this update, Fantastical can now auto-detect conference calls with several popular conferencing services, and it adds a one-click “join” button to your calendar (and your menubar) as the event approaches.

And More Improvements

They also added new Mac appearance options customized for both light and dark mode, added iMessage stickers, and made several other improvements and optimizations.

This is a free update for Fantastical subscribers. I made a few videos for Flexibits showing off the new features. Below is one, but you can find several more on Fantastical’s website. I like the way Flexibits has continued to release features of consequence since the app launch. I am using both the new time-based calendar sets and zoom integration daily. Learn more about Fantastical at their website.

If you subscribed to the Fantastical Field Guide, these new videos are also now available in the course for viewing and download.

Last Call for Introductory Pricing on the Photos Field Guide

I have been thrilled with the warm reception for the Photos Field Guide. I didn’t know what to expect, releasing it during a pandemic, but the feedback has been excellent, and customers are writing to tell me how much better they are at taking, organizing, and finding their photos.

Now that all of the transcripts and the ePub are in place, it’s time for the last call on introductory pricing for the Photos Field Guide. The price will go up to $29 later this week. If you want in on the discount price, now is the time.

Mac Power Users 540: Subroutine in the Brain

On this Mac Power Users’ feedback episode, Stephen and I talk more about email and working from home, but also get into what it takes to make a MacSparky Field Guide and some weird problems we've recently encountered with our tech.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don't have to worry about that anymore. 

  • Setapp: More than 180 powerful apps for your Mac. Try it free for a week.

  • The Intrazone by Microsoft SharePoint: Your bi-weekly conversation and interview podcast hosted by the SharePoint team

  • DEVONthink: Get Organized — Unleash Your Creativity. Use this link for 10% off.