I’ve continued to grow my holiday “Yule” playlist on Apple Music. If you’d like an overwhelming amount of holiday jazz, here you go. My latest addition is an album from the Phat Cat Swingers, From All of Us to All of You, that has a distinct swing band/rockabilly feel. It’s an album that can really make you tap your foot. I listen to this playlist throughout December every year. Just press “shuffle” and let it rip.
Apple Display Rumors
Rumors around an Apple-branded display are heating up. 9to5 Mac reports on a reputable leaker that reports display panels are in development for Apple from LG for 24 and 27 inch Apple Displays along with a 32-inch panel including Apple Silicon for a successor to the Pro Display XDR. I have no insider knowledge, but if I were a betting man, I’d say any Apple Silicon in the new Pro Display XDR would address more I/O with more USB-C ports.
In my mind, Apple’s failure to get a quality consumer-priced display to market is the most prominent hardware miss in the immensely successful Mac lineup. They have so many great laptops now (and the M1 Mac mini) that would benefit from a quality, sub $6,000 Apple Display. This product can’t come soon enough.
Automators 91: Focus Modes, the Showdown
In this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I dive into Focus modes, how we use them, and of course, how we automate them.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
- TextExpander, from Smile: Communicate smarter. Get 20% off.
- Hunter Douglas: Get your free Style Gets Smarter design guide.
- In Good Companies, from Cadence Bank: Guiding you through the lifecycle of a business, from start to sale. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
MacSparky Studios Update (Holiday 2021 Edition)
After COVID started I got evicted from my prior studio space in the house (so my daughter could turn it back into her bedroom). I’ve updated my studio page with new my gear and lodgings.
A Few Notes on the iOS 15.2 Release
Apple released a new update to iOS that’s got some noteworthy features. Here are a few points of note:
Legacy Contact
This is my favorite new feature. You can now set a person as your legacy contact. That gives them a secret access key so that they can (upon proof of your death) access your data. I made a video explaining how to do this. I know it’s morbid, but you should do it today.
Hide My Email
You can now create one-time email addresses in the Apple Mail app. You can only use this feature when sending to a single recipient since the random email is tied to that person.
Macro Mode Manual Control
There is now a setting to let you disable macro mode if you don’t want it to automatically kick in. It’s located at Settings > Camera > Macro Control.
Music Upgrades
You can now search for a specific song from within a playlist. Amen. They also launched the Apple Music Voice Plan, for which I am pretty skeptical.
iPad Gesture Update
You can now set separate actions for a swipe from lower-right and lower-left corners. I’ve got Quick Notes in the lower right and Screenshot in the lower left. Just go to Settings > General > Gestures.
iPhone Parts and Service History
You can now see the service and part history for your device under Settings > General > About.
App Privacy Report
The App Privacy Report (located at Settings > Privacy > App Privacy Report) got a serious upgrade. You can now see exactly what your apps are up to and when. This will make sussing out offending apps very easy. I want this now for the Mac.
Setting Up Your Legacy Contact Screencast
The Legacy Contact feature that shipped with iOS 15.2 is grim, but smart. It only takes two minutes to set up and I made a screencast to show you how it works. No excuses not to set it up right now!
Daylite: The Only CRM App Made For Your Mac (Sponsor)
Daylite is an award-winning CRM and productivity app made exclusively for your Mac, and it’s now Monterey ready! Daylite goes beyond the essential CRM experience or project management tool for small businesses. Daylite is the only Mac-focused CRM and productivity app that seamlessly integrates with Apple devices and most of the built-in Apple apps and features, like direct Apple Mail integration, so you and your team can capture all email communication in one place.
That means you can create opportunities, appointments, and tasks in Daylite right from your Apple Mail. Daylite empowers small businesses by improving team efficiency and making collaboration easy—everything is organized, searchable, and accessible (even offline). You and your team can easily access information and use smart lists to segment data tailored to your specific client story. You can manage and share everyone’s schedules, project status, and next steps, all done in Daylite.
If you live by the mac, you’ll love Daylite. Start your free 30-day Daylite trial today!
It Lives!
The MacSparky.com site update is complete. The SSL certificate is in place. All is good again. Once again that new RSS link is:
And now back to our regular programming …
Website Transition and New RSS Link
I have been busy with a skunk-works project to transition the website to WordPress for the last several weeks. I’ve been a happy customer of Squarespace for years, but I am looking to add some new features as we move into the new year, and I needed a bit more flexibility. The website’s look will remain the same (except for a few minor tweaks). Nearly all of the changes are happening under the hood. Regardless, I’m about to push the button, and this will be the last post going out through the old system.
New RSS
Once the publication goes live, there will be a new RSS Feed:
https://www.macsparky.com/feed
We are trying to automatically direct the old feed to the new one, but you never really know about these things. If you don’t get any more posts after this one in your feed, the auto-direct didn’t work, and you will need to re-sign up above.
I can’t wait to roll out some new features with the new site.
Last Call for 2022 Focused Calendars
The Focused wall calendars are pretty great and January is just a few weeks away. It’s not too late to get one for yourself. I’ve already got mine mounted and hung on the wall.