On this Mac Power Users feedback episode, Stephen and I go through some listener email, revisit note apps, and discuss remote troubleshooting iOS devices.
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9to5 Mac did some sleuthing in the latest Big Sur beta and found references to the TrueDepth camera system currently found on some iPhones and iPads. Specifically, there are references to “PearlCamera”, which was Apple’s internal code name for the TrueDepth camera.
It makes perfect sense that they would add Face ID to Apple silicon Macs. They have already built it into very similar chips currently shipping on iPad and iPhone, and people would love to have Face ID on their Macs, just like everything else Apple makes. Indeed, you could argue it will be more useful on a Mac since I rarely am sitting at my Mac wearing a face mask. All that said, I would be shocked if Face ID shows up any time before Apple starts shipping Apple silicon Macs.
Pushcut released another update with some nice new features including the ability to add images to your notifications and play your own sounds. I have a great idea for a sound I could add to mine. I’ve heard from several readers asking if Pushcut is still relevant with the upcoming iOS 14 changes. You bet it is! Pushcut goes way further than the built-in Shortcuts automation features.
Last month I wrote about my attempt to abandon Dropbox. I had a few good reasons for that. First, I don’t like the way Dropbox installs itself on my Mac. Dropbox goes way beyond a typical Mac application with its install, including an entirely separate file manager. Second, Dropbox prices are going up while my usage is going down. So it seemed like a good idea to see if I could get by without it for a few months and hopefully make the right decision about renewal.
Well, I’m keeping it. But not for the reasons you are probably thinking.
iCloud Drive and sharing have not failed me. On the contrary, they have worked better than I expected. I have kept a lot of data on iCloud, and I have not had any show-stopper problems. I am currently working on a new edition of the Paperless Field Guide. I am running the entire editing workflow through a series of shared iCloud folders, and it has worked exactly as expected. Granted, there is still plenty of work to do with iCloud Drive, but it is working well enough to handle sharing when I am in control of sharing.
The trouble is those instances where I am not in control. For example, I have many clients who have never heard of iCloud Drive and do not own Macs. They have, however, all heard of and installed Dropbox. When you work in a service industry, adopting a technology that requires your clients to change their technology never works. Also, I make three separate podcasts that invite guests who also sometimes do not have access to iCloud. In the end, I am keeping Dropbox—not for myself but for others.
Somewhat related, I did not install the Dropbox app on my laptop but instead use their web interface when I need to access my Dropbox storage. It cuts me out of a lot of automation, and it is generally slower, but I can avoid its intrusive install this way.
All that said, Dropbox still has many features that sure would be nice in iCloud, like a much better implementation of version history and deletion recovery. I was hoping we would get some more functionality for iCloud Drive this year at WWDC, but we didn’t. I was hoping I could throw Dropbox overboard. One less service and one less thing to pay for sure sounded nice.
As part of my studio’s relocation from my bedroom to a more centralized location in our home, screensavers are now on my radar. My Mac is just sitting there. Why not have it display something beautiful while I’m away? For the last few months, I was using a screensaver consisting of favorite family photos, which is nice, but I also wanted a simple clock.
It turns out finding a simple clock screensaver for your Mac is not as easy as you would think, but ultimately I found an excellent one: the Padbury Clock. Named after its designer Robert Padbury (a former Apple designer), the Padbury Clock looks precisely how you would think a clock designed by a former Apple designer would look.
If you like the look of the Padbury Clock, there is a similarly themed countdown timer that uses the same simple design to countdown to a specified date. I have also installed that one and will be using it in the future as well.
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Mike and I cover a lot in this week’s episode of Focused, ranging from my attempt at a sabbatical, to sleep, to productivity in virtual reality.
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Brett Terpstra’s Markdown Service Tools are one of my favorite things that Brett has made, and he recently issued a significant update to version 3.0. In addition to adding more browser support, this version updates the underlying code to the MultiMarkdown binary, giving you more functionality. They are also now saved as Quick Actions, so some will show up in your Finder. If you write in Markdown on a Mac, you will want these tools.
I wrote last month about my preparations for a sabbatical week. That week was last week, so it is time to report in. While I often try things out “publicly” through the various podcasts and this blog, this one felt the most controversial.
I had a lot of folks who wrote to me, explaining I was either brilliant or a complete idiot for trying to take a week off. Honestly, a lot of them got into my head.
On the MacSparky side, my preparations paid off. Between getting ahead in some areas and a little behind in others, I had almost no obligations as MacSparky last week. I didn’t have the planning and recording blocks for field guides. My schedule for podcasting was light too. As someone who lives by calendar blocks, it was pretty strange looking at a calendar with empty blocks in it. That was nice. It has been a long time since I have had that much breathing space, and I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I had it.
The challenge, as I wrote in my prior post, was on the legal side. I represent a lot of people, and they sometimes need my help unexpectedly. Those occurrences are weekly for me, and there is no way to plan for them. My solution to this problem was just to accept that there would be some things I needed to handle. I didn’t completely shut out the world. Every day, I checked in with the law practice at the end of the day. However, I did try to have ground rules for the legal work that I would allow to intrude on the week. Specifically, I decided that I would only take on legal work that was both material and urgent. A few clients had requests that could wait, so I explained to them that I was taking the week off, but I would get it to them early next week. They were all completely fine with that. Indeed, one client was quite complimentary and wanted to know more.
There were a few client matters, however, that were both material and urgent. As a result, I spent several hours last week getting that work done. I didn’t begrudge the clients or the work at all. I still had way more time off last week than I normally would.
All that said, I had way more downtime than usual, but I wasn’t able to completely disconnect. In hindsight, it wasn’t a sabbatical week so much as a stop-and-take-a-breath week. Getting off my usual treadmill for a week, however, gave me some insight:
I have been working too hard. I need to get better at building in some more fun time during the usual workweek.
My “urgent and material” test for client work needs to continue into my daily routine, even on weeks where I am not slowing down. Too often, I put myself in a pickle by overpromising turnaround times on work that is neither urgent nor material.
Hyper-scheduling works. As soon as I removed the blocks from my calendar, my production went straight to hell. That was by design last week, but if I did it every week, I would not be able to pay for my shoes anymore.
I was expecting that by having so much downtime, I would have some brilliant flash of insight about how I could better run my business or about the meaning of life. None of that happened. The impact on me was more subtle but positive.
I pushed hard two weeks ago to get as much done in advance as possible. I am glad I did. I will be re-entering the stream this week, not desperately behind as a result.
I can’t help but feel a bit of a fraud as I report in on this “sabbatical”. All I did last week was lift my foot off the gas long enough to catch my breath and spend less time at the grindstone. Nonetheless, it did inspire me to work more on this. I am going to build these slow weeks into my schedule going forward, though I am not exactly sure how often, or what I will call them. Maybe I can get better at this with practice and experience. Either way, I am lucky enough to love what I do for a living, so strapping back into the rocket ship feels fun, not dreadful. And for that, I am genuinely grateful.
I run Dark Noise from my iPhone to my HomePod a lot. It’s a great background noise app with an intelligent design made by Charlie Chapman. (Charlie was a guest on Automators a few months ago.)
Charlie’s now released version 2 of Dark Noise with several new sounds – Rain on Tent is my favorite new one – plus the ability to mix sounds so you could have wind and rain if the mood strikes you. Additionally, this new version will sync your settings between multiple devices, adds iPad cursor support, and adds even more app icons.
As before, Dark Noise has excellent automation support. I have several Shortcuts that involve context setting, and several of them start up a Dark Noise sound as step one—my congratulations to Charlie on an excellent release. If you haven’t already, go check out Dark Noise.
