Join us for the latest episode of Automators. Rose and I take a closer look at Keyboard Maestro, the Swiss army knife of automation for the Mac. Get $5 off my new Keyboard Maestro Field Guide until the end of July with code "AUTOMATORSKM".
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
Creative Next: The new podcast future-proofing creatives.
Kourosh Dini wrote a post about glueing together two of my favorite apps. How could I not link this?
When I made my video a few weeks ago about the problems with dictation on the Mac and mobile devices, I was aware of some new changes coming with iOS 13 and Catalina concerning the accessibility voice control but hadn’t dug in deep enough. Since that time, I have installed some betas, and now I realize why Nuance is abandoning Apple.
The feature is called Voice Control, and it is pretty remarkable. It works very similar to Dragon on the Mac. It allows you to dictate text and control your device with your voice. It does not run on a timer so you can speak as long as you need to. It has its own custom dictionary (although as I write this, it does not seem to be working) and even uses many of the same commands that Dragon uses. Best of all, starting in September, it will be on everyone’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
I’m writing this very article with it.
This is more than a simple voice to text dictation tool. It does that with all of the above bells and whistles. But you can also use it to navigate the cursor around your text and make corrections, open applications, and otherwise control your device. If I were to talk to someone at Apple, I presume they would say this is primarily an accessibility feature than a dictation feature. However, in the few weeks I’ve been using it, I believe it does both pretty well. I like it so much that I have canceled my Dragon Anywhere subscription that I talked about just a few weeks ago.
You enable the new feature under the accessibility panel. You can toggle it on and off with your voice using the commands “wake up” And “go to sleep”. I’ve also added the accessibility panel to my control center so I can swipe down and tap a button.
Is this as good as Dragon on the Mac was? Probably not. But it’s close enough. And I expect once a lot of people start using and the Apple artificial intelligence fires up, it will only get better with time.
The new voice control feature is a significant upgrade to voice to text dictation on all Apple devices. It’s going to be baked into everybody’s device without any subscription or additional software, and if you want to start writing text with your voice, there is no better time to start than September. See the below demonstration video to get a better idea of how it works.
The Top10VPN website has an interesting examination of free VPN applications (via Josh Centers at Tidbits). I have never used a free VPN (Virtual Private Network) service because I always suspected they weren't quite on the up and up. It appears my instincts on this are good. When it comes to Internet security, nothing is free.
Joe Buhlig is writing again. Joe is a friend and one of the most intentional people I know. I have already signed up for his new newsletter, The Weekly Impulse. I look forward to reading it.
This week, MacSparky.com is sponsored by NotePlan. With NotePlan, you get serious work done. It helps you spend less time planning and more time doing. It lets you track your work and get things quickly out of your head, so you have the headspace to be creative—that's what brains are made for. Find out how!
NotePlan is a daily planning tool in bullet-journal style for pros, combining a calendar with plain-text markdown notes and embedded to-dos, all in one place.
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With NotePlan, you can:
Write markdown to-dos embedded into your daily notes and organize them using simple formatting like headings, bold, italic, links, etc.
Capture important things in projects notes, which are not attached to a date, and schedule them from there into your calendar.
Integrate with iCloud calendars and reminders.
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Plan out your work for the upcoming days, and during the day, add to today’s note to extend your short-term memory and micro-manage yourself.
See events and reminders from your calendar along with your to-dos and notes on one page, so you have the whole context.
Keep track of things by adding quick notes to your to-dos and tagging the results so you can find them easily.
Good news! NotePlan 2 on Mac OS recently launched. Check it out.
Simone de Rochefort is a video producer and podcaster at Polygon and co-hosts Rocket on Relay FM. On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, she walks Stephen and me through the process of creating videos at Polygon, from the writing process to capturing game footage, editing, and more.
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.
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This week’s home screen features Michael McGuinness, a podcaster and geek who loves his iPhone. Michael's show, the Mikez N Brodz Podcast, ranges from technology to productivity. So, Mike, show us your home screen.
What are some of your favourite apps?
I really like the Headspace meditation app. I heard about this on the Focused podcast (#65) and have been doing it 90 days straight (just got a badge!). I also use the AutoSleep and AutoWake apps by Tantsissa. AutoWake allows me to set a wake alarm and be gently woken based on my sleep cycle. AutoSleep has a great sleep tracker, even if I forget to wear my watch (monitors iPhone movement). I would have to say that, overall, Fantastical would be my most used app as it works on all of my Apple devices. I can easily add new events (adding reminders is so easy), and I print off the daily view to allow me to plan my day really easily.
Since macOS Mojave introduced Dark Mode, I have been using Apple Notes as my default app for any text. Sure, it’s not the most feature rich, but for me, it is just so easy to start writing. And as I have to capture lots of conversations in my job, I need something that I can quickly launch and sync everywhere with limited fuss. I do have to say that in writing this Q & A, I have started using Ulysses for more focused writing. It really is a step up.
What app is your guilty pleasure?
This would have to be my sports app: NRL (National Rugby League). On a recent Focused podcast, I heard how Shahid Kamal Ahmad removed all of his “infinity pools”. For me, this was email. I kept my NRL app but don't use it as an infinity pool. I remember saying to myself, “I am going to do more than just listen this time. I am going to take action.” So I removed all traces of email from my phone and have not looked back. If I really need to, I can get to them easily enough.
I use Overcast for all of my podcasts, I had set up different playlists, but I mostly use the "All Episodes" playlist to just view and look for the ones I want to listen to. I used to be a big fan of Mac Power Users, though I have reduced this a bit now as I did find it was making me feel that sometimes I needed the latest Apple gear to take advantage of the advice given.
I listen to personal development podcasts like Focused, The Life Coach School Podcast and BookWorm. I always have a place for the Automators podcast, though. I got the referral via the newsletter from Career Tools when the podcast launched late last year.
What app makes you most productive?
For macOS, my number one app has to be Alfred. I really can’t live without this, and it's the first thing I install on a new Mac. (Yes, I still do a clean install for every new major release of macOS. Call me crazy, but I just love a clean install and the feeling nothing has been carried across from the past). I have scripts that I can fire with keywords, and I use it to launch the Fantastical parser to add reminders as I mentioned above. The snippets feature suits my needs really well. I have been tempted to go to something like TextExpander, but for the cost, I just can’t justify it.
The Headspace meditation app is something I use each morning in the car before I walk into the office. It helps me clear my mind and get ready for the day. I also use Focus@Will on my Mac at work (using a 30-minute timer mimicking the Pomodoro Technique), and then just counting the amount of these I get done in a day. My most productive app is to actually not use an app at all—that's right, close them. Quit email (only view three times per day: morning, lunch, and before leaving for the day). Close any social media. Put my phone on Do Not Disturb. (There are some great Siri shortcuts for this). And remove anything that might distract me. This is all in my 30 minutes focused time. If I do get distracted, perhaps a thought, I write it down to action later.
What app do you know you're underutilizing?
Firstly, in regards to hardware, due to the fact I've only got an iPad mini 1, there are many apps that I can no longer run or access. I have heard a lot about the latest iPad Pros and how good they can be. In my current job, I drive to and from work, but if I needed to use public transportation, I think this would be a purchase I would make very quickly.
I was using the Togge app for a while. I really liked how it allowed me to track my actual time spent on tasks, instead of just planning what I would do. I found keeping it up to date was harder than I expected, and I haven’t used for a while.
I also really enjoy working on automation. I have some things set up in IFTTT and Zapier, but I really could use this a lot more to do things that would bring more value, like posting the episodes for the Mikez N Brodz Podcast.
How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?
Mostly for podcasts when in my car and general texting. I really don’t use social media on it. After listening to a few other podcasts around the danger of phones getting in between families, I am actively trying really hard to reduce my phone usage, especially when at home with my family. If I am in a place where I just want to use my phone to pass the time while waiting, I use the Kindle app to read or undertake some writing in something like Drafts (just loving the speech-to-text feature).
I have been into Siri Shortcuts. I have a few solid ones now that I use everyday, like when I leave work, it sends a message to my wife, based on GPS, the estimated time to get home. Though other than these core ones I use, I don’t do much more. However, iOS13 will dramatically change this.
I must be getting better. I notice that each week, screen time alerts are showing that my phone usage is going down. I’m really proud of myself for reducing this and spending that time on things that matter, such as connecting to my family and getting other important stuff done.
Overall, for anything that is shiny and new, this can become a time sucker. I have found writing down what I want to achieve and then just focusing on those tasks works much better than just blindly going through the app and looking for things to do.
What Today View widgets are you using and why?
I really just use Siri Shortcuts. It's the most efficient place to run them from. While I do have a lot of other apps on my Today View, I have just never connected with any of the apps this way. It could also be because my iPhone 6 Plus can be quite slow to load these.
What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?
I think the best feature is that for really anything you can think of, there is an app for that. Having music on the go makes a big difference, and I have to say being able to listen to podcasts in my car on the way to work is a life changer, so much that it was one of the inspirations to start the co-hosting of the Mikez N Brodz Podcast. The one thing that makes me recommend an iPhone/iPad to others is they are really just so easy to pick up and start using. Sure, they are more expensive than other phones, but you do get what you pay for.
In my experience, they also hold their value really well. When it comes time to sell, I always get a fair price. Another good thing is that while Apple continues to roll out updates for old devices, there is not much of a need to replace them until they stop or get really slow (aka why I still have my iPhone 6 Plus). This means the total life span out of a device is really about four to five years. I think is a wonderful return on investment.
If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?
For me, while I like Apple a lot, I think that their competitors are doing a better job moving products at the local electronics store. When I see their catalogues, they are full of everyone else's stuff with maybe one page of Apple products, if at all. I have also heard of issues with stock not being available and then buyers getting frustrated and just getting another company's product.
While I know Apple produces quality products and they hold their resale value, the cost to entry for the average person is just too high. I have a lot of Apple devices that I need to replace, but when I look at the prices for a like-for-like replacement, I just can’t justify it (that’s why second hand can be so attractive). I am aware they are trying to do this with entry level iPads and iPhones, but for me to replace my MacBook is over four thousand dollars (AUD), which is a lot of coin. My employer has also now stopped allowing us to buy Macs due to this, so I am not the only one questioning the price (which means I know I have to hold onto my 13″MacBook Retina until it dies).
Do you have an Apple Watch? Show us your watch face tell us about it.
Yes, I have a Series 1, and I love it. My main uses are Apple Pay, Activity Tracking and Sleep Tracking. I use the Modular watch face as with AutoWake app in the bottom left, which does require the complication to be on the active watch face. CARROT Weather in the middle and extra alarms along with the activity rings.
I have tried the Siri watch face, but it doesn’t really give me the info I need. See what happens in watchOS6. It looks like my watch will get the update—feeling very fortunate.
I wear my watch all day, put it on charge when I have my shower in the early evening, and then back on just before bed. Works well and gets me through the day easily.
I am still surprised how excited some people get at the bar when I use my watch to pay. “Did you see that he used his watch to pay," says random person waiting at the bar.
What's your wallpaper and why?
I have a nice black background that looks like a leather couch (direct link to image). I use it because it has a nice clean dark look that I really find great on the eyes, and it's just simple. I find this much better than a picture. Can’t wait for iOS13 dark mode though.
Anything else you'd like to share?
I just wanted to give a shoutout to David for the opportunity to write my Q & A. I actually had to go through a bit of a journey in writing it. It was one of those things I wanted to get to, but it always fell down the list of my priorities. Today I set a new intent to just work on personal tasks first thing, and I was able to finish this. Even using my stand up desk, which is one of those things I have but don’t use enough.
At the start of 2019, I created the Mikez N Brodz Podcast, which covers technology, personal development, and career advice. This is all with my good friend and co-host, Brodie Greig. It’s been a great journey so far, and we are coming up on our 10th episode, which is a big milestone for us. Overall, this is just two friends catching up, talking about areas that interest them, and it happens to have some structure to it while being recorded.
– – –
Thanks, Mike!
I’ve got some news on my upcoming plans for Field Guide releases.
Following WWDC this year, and after getting my hands on the new iOS and iPadOS beta installations, it was plain to see that Siri Shortcuts, now called “Shortcuts”, is a lot more than just a fresh coat of paint. The team at Apple fundamentally changed (and improved) Shortcuts so that this year we will be getting something way more powerful and useful than we had last year. Rose Orchard and I talk about this at length in the latest episode of the Automators.
This new version looks and acts differently than the previous version. It quickly became apparent that I cannot simply update to the existing Siri Shortcuts Field Guide, so I’m starting from scratch with a brand new Shortcuts Field Guide, iOS 13 Edition. It’s already in production and coming out great. I’m on track to release the new edition on iOS 13 launch day. It will be a separate purchase, but I will have a discount for folks who bought the prior edition of the Siri Shortcuts Field Guide.
Like Shortcuts, Apple has also substantially improved Photos and photo management since I released the original Photos Field Guide, so I’m making an entirely new edition of the Photos Field Guide as well. Like Shortcuts, I’m doing the new Photos Field Guide entirely from scratch, and it will feature all the latest and greatest features. My outline is very ambitious in that I also hope to cover capturing photos and videos with your mobile devices in addition to managing and editing them. This one will ship after iOS 13 and Catalina are released, but not too long after.
This is the first time I’ve pre-announced upcoming Field Guides. If you are interested in either of these titles and have topics you would like me to cover or questions you would like me to answer, now is your chance to become a part of the process. Send me a note. I can’t promise I will reply to every email, but I will definitely be reading all of them. I would love your help in making the next Field Guides even better.
Mike and I are sick and tired of being sick and tired, so in this week’s episode of Focused we’re sharing some things we've learned about managing energy. We discuss staying positive, Mike continues his digital bullet journal experiment, and I spend some time "researching" the perfect notebook.
This episode of Focused is sponsored by:
Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code FOCUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
Hover: Get 10% off any domain name — extensions for anything you’re passionate about.
This week MacSparky is sponsored by BetterTouchTool, the Mac App that gives your input devices superpowers. While Apple makes some excellent trackpads and mice, the built-in gestures are just a taste of what you could do with those devices. With BetterTouchTool, you can completely re-design your Touch Bar, configure various Magic Mouse and Trackpad gestures, define keyboard shortcuts, bind standard mouse buttons, use the Siri Remote with your Mac and do tons more.
BetterTouchTool offers many actions to automate various tasks on your Mac. These can be assigned to any input-device trigger you choose. Additionally, it contains some handy features like window snapping, a clipboard manager, a screenshot editor, and much more. It even includes a free iOS app to control your Mac and trigger actions remotely. If you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro, this app is an absolute game changer.
There is lots of news with BetterTouchTool. Recent updates let it run just fine on the Catalina beta. There is also a new dock widget for the Touch Bar and soon (hopefully next week) we’ll get a fancy new calendar widget on the Touch Bar. Also, you can now join the BetterTouchTool Community at community.folivora.ai to learn how to get even more from BetterTouchTool. Users have shared some amazing presets there, including some very advanced custom Touch Bar setups that you should check out.
BetterTouchTool comes with a 45-day trial after which you can choose between a license that includes all updates for two years and a lifetime license.
BetterTouchTool has been around for nine years, and I've been using it the entire time. With BetterTouchTool, I can make my Mac dance. You should too. MacSparky readers can purchase BetterTouchTool for 15% off at checkout by using the coupon code MACSPARKYBTT for a limited time. So don’t delay. Go to folivora.ai to learn more and take advantage of the special limited-time, 15% discount on BetterTouchTool.
Safari isn't the most popular browser on the planet, but its focus on speed, security, and privacy set it apart from the competition. This week on Mac Power Users, Stephen and I get into the pros and cons of the application, and some of its unique features.
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.
Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
Pingdom: Start monitoring your websites and servers today. Use offer code MPU to get 30% off.
Shawn Blanc is accepting applications for his next live Focus course in Atlanta. Shawn is one of my favorite speakers/writers leading the charge about how to focus your attention in a world increasingly full of distractions. If I lived closer, I’d attend.
In the latest episode of Automators, Rose and I throw caution to the wind and install iOS and iPadOS betas on everything. There are crashes and updates, all in the name of finding out just how impressive the new Shortcuts really is.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
Away: Thoughtful luggage for modern travel. Get $20 off a suitcase with promo code AUTOMATORS.
TextExpander, from Smile: Give your productivity a boost with TextExpander. Get 20% off your first year.
I talked about planning wallpaper recently on Focused. I’ve been doing this for a few months now and find it a good way for me to keep my big projects rolling. All of these items are already in my calendar. I know these dates in my head. I think about these plans all the time. Nevertheless, the reason I go to the trouble of putting this on my desktop is to give me a nudge when I need it most. As part of my monthly review process, I open the file, delete the past month, move the others around, and add a new month to the end so I’ve got an updated planning wallpaper heading into the new month. I have multiple monitors but just keep this on my iMac, center screen.
The quote at the top is from my friend, Merlin Mann on one of his podcasts. (I have no idea which one.) I first saw it in a wallpaper designed by Chase Reeves (but I can’t find it anymore). Regardless, it still inspires me when I’m feeling the resistance. Merlin does have a knack for words. I used a chisel because I felt that was the tool that best represents the sentiment. If you wanted to modernize it, a jackhammer could also work. Grin
Several folks asked me to share the wallpaper so here is a version of it. I’ve included the OmniGraffle project below. If you spent a little time on it, you could recreate something like it with Preview, but it’d be more work. Rather than make this a full sized desktop wallpaper, this is actually much smaller. I just center it on the screen and then, on my Mac, match the background color of the rest of the desktop to match the background of the text. Enjoy.
AgileBits has released a nice update for 1Password for Mac that includes a redesigned 1Password mini and an improved new user interface that is focused on getting your information out of 1Password quickly and efficiently.
I also like that they are pushing into machine learning to analyze the web pages you’re on to in order to make the best suggestions for what items you’ll need to complete on that page. For instance, if you’re finally ready to make the commitment and buy those shoes in your cart, 1Password mini has your address and credit card information ready for you. And lastly, they’ve got an improved password generator.
This week MacSparky is sponsored by one of my favorite applications, OmniFocus. Grown up task management is the key to staying on top of your projects. These days we have more commitments than ever and we need powerful tools to stay on top. That is why I use OmniFocus. It is so much more than just a task manager with built in tools to manage project review and tags giving you so many ways to capture and manage your tasks.
The Omni Group even now has a web-based version that lets you access and modify your data from any computer with a web browser. I use this app every day. It is how I’m able to keep my act together. Do you need a little help? Try OmniFocus. I don’t know how I’d get by without it.
A few days ago, MKBHD posted a video explaining how he is using his iPad Pro with the beta iPadOS installation to replace his laptop. That has always been my play. I still use my iMac every day on my desk, but I like the idea of being able to work on the iPad when I go mobile. It is early days, and the beta is still a work in progress with many bugs, but I think this release is going to tip a lot of people toward the iPad as mobile device lifestyle. There a lot of reasons but two that particularly stand out are file management and the new Safari.
File Management
File Management using the latest operating system works a lot better. You can now create folders when you save files, and there are now multiple categories to sort and organize your files. While it’s not up to all of the features that you get with the Mac’s Finder, it has most of what you need. The new release does not address tags, so if that’s important to you, you may still need a laptop. However, for most garden-variety file management, the iPad is up to the task, although a bit slower.
The New Safari
I cannot understate the value of a desktop class browser on the iPad. With the installation of the beta, all of my trouble spots on the Internet that traditionally did not work on the iPad immediately started working. That includes Google Docs and Sheets, my banking website, Squarespace, and all the other fiddly sites I could never get to work on my iPad. Indeed, since installing the beta, I have yet to find a website that doesn’t work.
There’s a certain amount of delight that comes with using the iPad. That usually comes with a trade-off in that things may take slightly longer. Regardless, you will be able to get real work done on your iPad with this new release and you just may find it replacing your laptop come September.
Tyler Stalman is a photographer, videographer, YouTuber, and small business owner alongside his wife Ania Boniecka. Oh, and he loves gear … maybe too much, as he confesses to Stephen and me on this week’s episode of Mac Power Users.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!
The Omni Group: We're passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Away: Thoughtful luggage for modern travel. Get $20 off a suitcase with promo code mpu.
Yesterday Apple announced Jony Ive is leaving to form his own company. John Gruber’s take is excellent. This is the kind of subject that John just nails. The only thing I’d add is the same advice I tell everyone when a perceived “irreplaceable” person leaves a job. Everyone is replaceable. The big question is whether Apple still considers design with the same priority it did before. It’s arguable that ship sailed when Steve Jobs died. Either way, the sky isn’t falling.