I’ve been running Apple’s beta software this year and I keep forgetting it’s there. And that got me thinking. This is the smoothest beta cycle in years. Apple shipped one genuinely big new thing, Siri AI, the one we’ve all been waiting on, and…
Continue reading →This Week in the Labs — July 24, 2026
It’s been another busy week in the MacSparky Labs. Below you’ll find the week’s new videos and podcasts, a few of the conversations happening in the member community, and what’s coming next week. Most of those links lead straight into the Labs community on…
Continue reading →Claude Cowork Made My Quarterly Review Better
My friend Jim Eagar wrote up how he uses Claude Cowork for his quarterly review, and it’s a great read. Jim’s been doing serious work on the intersection of reviews and AI, and he’s making real progress. The part I want to underline is…
Continue reading →A New Home for the Field Guides
The MacSparky Field Guides have moved. They used to live on Teachable, and now they live inside the MacSparky community on Circle. First, why I did it. For years the Field Guides sat on Teachable, off on their own little island. They worked fine,…
Continue reading →Aerial Photographer of the Year 2026
Jason Kottke pointed to the 2026 Aerial Photographer of the Year winners, and I’ve been staring at them ever since. I don’t think we give aerial photography enough credit as an art form. When people talk about serious photography, they reach for portraits and…
Continue reading →Turn Any iPhone Into a Dumb Phone
There’s a trend of people buying intentionally dumb phones. Sometimes it’s for a kid who needs a way to call home but not a portal to the whole internet. Sometimes it’s an adult trying to claw back their own attention. I understand the impulse.…
Continue reading →Talking AI Agents With Michael Whalen
I recently guested on composer Michael Whalen’s Podcast, the Artist Expansion Podcast, where he coaches musicians and composers through the business side of a creative life. Michael’s own credentials are no joke. He’s a two-time Emmy-winning composer with something like 900 TV and film…
Listen & read notes →Omni Group Building Toward MCP Support
Ken Case posted the Omni Group’s Post-WWDC Roadmap Update a few weeks ago, and one line jumped out at me. The Omni Group is now planning “first-class MCP support,” likely built through Omni Automation or App Intents. Case explained the team had been watching…
Continue reading →The Old Site Didn’t Look Like Me Anymore
Over the last month, I moved the MacSparky Labs and Field Guides over to a new home in Circle. I’ve spent a lot of time on that space. Colors, tone, the little details that make a place feel like somewhere instead of just software. Then I’d click back…
Continue reading →This Week in the Labs — July 17, 2026
It was a fun week in the Labs with a lot of meetups. We started with the Saturday meetup, which was wide-ranging, and then we had a deep dive with the Pathfinders on Thursday that dug into the new beta software. On top of…
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