One police department in Colorado is now sending out a free AirTag with your automobile registration. The kicker is it has a sticker that you can put in your window explaining that police can track the vehicle.
I’m curious as to whether or not this will result in a decrease in stolen cars. I used an AirTag on my bicycle but had never thought about leaving one in the car. Obviously, people are doing this. There’s even an active market on Amazon for warning stickers.
I’ve been fiddling with my input devices and have made a few changes. Here’s my final lineup for 2025.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
The current rumor via Mark Gurman is that Apple Mail will get the expected redesign and update with macOS 15.4 beta and the upcoming iPad 18.4 beta. I sure hope so.
While I’ve found the rudimentary email filtering they added on the iPhone useful for mail triage, I don’t think it can be judged until it’s on the Mac, at least for me. Apple Mail has long been overdue for an update and it’s nice to see some progress made.
While you’re at it, Apple, two requests:
That is all. For now.
Our iPhones are always with us, making the Home screen very valuable real estate in our lives. On this episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I share our Home screens and Focus modes and how our devices help keep us on track.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
Inspired by my friend Nick Milo, I’m trying a new experiment: using a shared horizontal calendar in Freeform to track Field Guide production over the whole year. Here’s what it’s all about and how I built it.… This is a post for the Early Access and Backstage MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
In a few weeks, I’ll release the new 2025 edition of the Productivity Field Guide, where I blend ancient wisdom for life’s big questions with modern techniques for tactical execution. One key topic we explore is block scheduling, and something important I’ve learned from my students is that traditional block scheduling isn’t for everyone.
That’s perfectly fine. What I’ve discovered is that there’s a gentler approach that can work for almost anyone. Instead of overhauling your entire calendar, start with just one nagging task. You know, the substantial one that keeps slipping off your to-do list.
The approach is simple: Open your calendar app of choice and find a significant block of free time, perhaps next Tuesday afternoon. Make an appointment with yourself – not a quick 30-minute slot, but a substantial three or four hours where you can dive deep and make real progress. Label it clearly, and if you share calendars, mark yourself as unavailable. This time is sacred.
This simple practice works magic in two ways. First, you’ve transformed that vague, anxiety-inducing task into a concrete commitment with a specific time and date. You can release it from your mental burden until then. Second, you’ve carved out and protected that time; it’s now as important as any client meeting or medical appointment.
The key is showing up for yourself. When that scheduled time arrives, honor it as you would any other commitment. If something truly urgent arises, don’t just let the appointment vanish, reschedule it. The work either gets done in its allocated time or finds a new home on your calendar, but it never simply disappears.
I’ve shared this gentle approach with many people who were initially resistant to full-on block scheduling, and they’ve found it remarkably helpful. It works especially well for those daunting tasks that feel overwhelming. Something about placing them on the calendar diminishes their power. You’re no longer avoiding them; you’ve created a concrete plan to tackle them.
Remember, this isn’t about becoming a productivity machine. It’s about creating space for what truly matters. Sometimes, this minimal approach to scheduling is all you need to move forward.
As for the upcoming Productivity Field Guide, I’m excited to offer two versions: one including the videos, book, and course materials, and another that adds a 12-week webinar series. I’ll have a lot more news on this soon. I can’t wait to share these resources with you and hear your thoughts.
I printed this iPhone stand several months ago, and I’m mixed about it. On the one hand, I find it really attractive. On the flip side, I cannot reach the iPhone’s buttons while it’s in the stand. The jury’s still out.
In this week’s episode of The Lab Report: Is TikTok really going to shut down? a TSMC chip factory in Arizona, Sparky tells us about several Apple product rumors, and the Skeleton Crew is back as a fun media recommendation.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
This hasn’t happened since 2015. We are exiting a world where there is one dominant search engine. AI search is the new thing (even though most people don’t realize it yet) and there is plenty of competition emerging. I expect a big push from Google on using Gemini for search…soon.
ChatGPT can now handle reminders and tasks. They’ve added a specific model for this purpose: “4o with scheduled tasks”. And if you ask it to give you a reminder at a certain time or create a task list, it’ll do that for you.
I didn’t see this coming. I think we’re going to see a lot of action in the LLM space as they start interacting with external apps as agents. Putting tasks in ChatGPT feels like a step in that direction.
In order to use this feature, you’ll need a paid account. Currently, you can only run 10 active tasks at a time, so this feels a lot more like an experiment than anything else.