Apple’s Troubles and MacSparky Coverage

Lately, Apple has been dealing with several percolating problems. Governments, at home and abroad, are interested in their business practices. Troubles between the United States and China are now threatening Apple’s business in one of its biggest markets. Big and small developers are now finding ways to exert pressure against the existing App Store model.

I have had several readers/listeners write in asking me to cover these topics more, but to be honest, I’m just not that interested. For those Apple enthusiasts who are worried, settle down. Apple has more money in the bank than most banks have money in the bank. They have a lot of smart people in control, and given Apple’s size, this scrutiny is expected (and probably appropriate). I do feel like it is going to get uglier before it gets better for Apple, but eventually they will figure it all out.

I am much more concerned about all of the families that have lost loved ones and all of the people out of work due to this pandemic than the troubles of a $2 trillion company.

My coverage on this blog, the podcasts, and Field Guides all try to lean more toward the how-can-I-help-you-to-get-your-work-done-and-enjoy-life-more category of Apple stories. That’s not changing.

TextExpander for Teams FTW (Sponsor)



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This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander. TextExpander is my text replacement weapon of choice for so many reasons. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and it can run scripts. But did you also know you can run TextExpander with your team?

With TextExpander for Teams, your team can do more with the same resources: Less repetition, fewer errors, and greater consistency will have your team feeling like they’ve hopped off a bicycle and into a Ferrari. With your team on TextExpander, you can keep your most important text consistent, accurate, and current. You can also work faster and smarter with TextExpander abbreviations not only for text, but also fill-in fields, dates, and more. 

I have been a TextExpander for Teams subscriber now for two years. My virtual assistant and I share a TextExpander library that makes things like branding and customer support so much easier. One of our snippets includes a web link that changes monthly. My assistant updates the link and it syncs to our shared library, so when I use the snippet, it just works!

So if you have a team, get TextExpander, which works on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad. Best of all, with this link you’ll get 20% off your first year and make me look like a rock star. Go check it out today.

GoodNotes Releases Collaboration Update

I’ve been noodling a lot lately with digital journaling tools. In doing so GoodNotes quickly rose to the top for me in the “draw words on an iPad” category. The app is reliable, has an excellent ink engine, and, most of all, the developer has thought through the digital writing workflow better than any other app I tried (including Apple Notes).

With GoodNotes, it’s easy to mix drawing and writing. It’s also easy to write in a magnified view while the words simultaneously appear in a normal size on the page behind it.

And with yesterday’s version 5.5 update, GoodNotes is now also able to collaborate. While I’ve often used online collaboration tools with text in apps like Google Docs and Apple Notes, it had never occurred to collaborate with GoodNotes. The new feature works just as if you and a friend share a piece of paper across a desk. The pen strokes don’t show up in real-time but instead with a delay that, in my tests, were as fast as 20 seconds and as slow as 40 seconds. That’s not bad, considering what is happening. Think of this more as a shared note than a shared whiteboard.

What I like best about this feature is that it falls more in the category of “in addition” than “essential feature”. I use GoodNotes because it is so good at what it does. Now, also, I can collaborate.

Teaching Effectively with Zoom



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A friend of mine, Dan Levy, is a Harvard professor and a pretty swell guy. Dan is passionate about teaching and recently released a new book called Teaching Effectively with Zoom (Amazon link). I read the book over the weekend and found it useful, not only for teachers but anyone trying to convey information over Zoom these days. I’m doing a Keyboard Maestro webinar later this week (still room left!), and I’ve already incorporated several of Dan’s ideas into the presentation.  

Mac Power Users 550: The World of RSS



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RSS can bring news, blog posts, and even podcasts to you, without needing to visit a bunch of different websites. This week on Mac Power Users, Stephen and I talk about the rise of numerous RSS services, the apps we’ve seen over the last few years, and share how this web technology makes our lives better.

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. 

  • Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month.

  • Indeed: Get a free $75 credit to boost your job post.

  • Hover: Make a name for yourself. Get 10% off any domain name.

Ulysses, A Remarkable Writing Tool (Sponsor)


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For years now, I’ve been using Ulysses for all of my serious writing projects, and I’m pleased to have Ulysses back as this week’s sponsor. One of the things I like about Ulysses is that despite its many years of development (they recently released version 20), the Ulysses team is always looking for ways to make it better and willing to “go big” with changes if they can help their users with the hard work of writing.

A great example of this is the recent changes they’ve made to the outline navigation tools. It has been relocated to the Mac’s dashboard, and it’s entirely new on iPhone and iPad.

It’s now one view that combines your outline, bookmarks, annotations, and links. I just wrote a lengthy legal document using these tools, and they are a marked improvement over the prior system. You can learn more about this feature over at the Ulysses blog. I’d add that you may want to keep up with the Ulysses blog since they not only advise on using Ulysses but also offer some great general advice to help make writing easier.

I’m invested in Ulysses. It just makes writing easier. For so many years, I wrote in apps that were about word processing, not writing. Ulysses is a writing app in every sense of the word. Go check out Ulysses today and start using an app that can help you make your words better. They’ve even got a special offer for MacSparky Readers.