I’m pleased to welcome back PowerPhotos as the year-end sponsor at MacSparky. Apple has made a lot of progress with Apple Photos over the last few years, but if you use it for any length of time, you’ll also realize the app is missing a lot of the tools you need to truly manage your large photo library.

That’s where PowerPhotos comes in. If you have photos scattered across multiple libraries that you want to merge together, have a library that you want to split up because it’s gotten too large, or want to get rid of duplicate photos, PowerPhotos can help you get your photo collection back in order.

PowerPhotos gives Apple Photos the tools it needs, but Apple didn’t provide. With PowerPhotos, you can work with multiple Photos libraries and store them wherever you want, including on an external drive or a network drive. You can also split up your giant library into smaller ones by copying photos and albums with a simple drag and drop, preserving metadata such as descriptions and keywords along the way. Or, if you already have multiple libraries, use PowerPhotos to merge them while weeding out duplicates along the way. PowerPhotos also features a powerful duplicate photo finder, a browser to let you see your photos without even opening up Photos itself, a multi-library search feature, and more.

PowerPhotos has all those tools you’d want for Apple Photos but Apple will never add. As we head toward the new year, why not take control of your Photos library with PowerPhotos? You may recall an app from the iPhoto days called iPhoto Library Manager that gave you a similar set of tools. PowerPhotos is by the same developer, and it’s just as reliable.

So go check out PowerPhotos today.

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NetNewsWire was my first RSS reader, and I have to admit I had little hope for it ever making its way to the iPhone and iPad. However, after a circuitous path, NetNewsWire is back in the hands of its original developer, Brent Simmons, and now you can sign up for the NetNewsWire iOS beta.

We recently had Brent on the Mac Power Users. During the interview, Brent explained how the application has wound up back with him, and he’s released an open-source Mac version. This iOS version will also be free, and he has several smart folks helping him develop it. I’ve always been a fan of Brent’s design aesthetic and playing with the beta today I can see his imprint. The app currently supports RSS feeds on your phone, through Feedbin, and Feedly. You can sign up for the NetNewsWire for iOS beta.

This week MacSparky.com is sponsored by TextExpander, the easiest way to start automating your work on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. TextExpander is a text replacement tool with attitude. With it, you can type a phrase like “ccell” and it will automatically fill in your cell phone number. But TextExpander is so much more than that.

Using TextExpander, you can have it automatically create the date and time. For example, when I get client inquiries about meeting, I just type “xmeet” and TextExpander creates a whole paragraph of text including using the current date and prompting me for suggested meeting dates.

But TextExpander can still go deeper. It can use the contents of your clipboard to auto-fill in snippets. It can press keyboard keys, like the tab key, to automate filling in forms on the web or creating an email. You can get it for yourself and your team members so you can share snippets with your team members. 

I’ve done so much with TextExpander over the years that I even have a page of snippets I’ve created that you can download ranging from movie to reviews to conference calls. One of my personal favorite groups is foreign thanks where you can say thank you to people in most language. Sending an email to a French friend, just type “french thanks” and TextExpander gives you “Merci”. It’s like your own, personal translator.

To learn more, head over to TextExpander.com and let them know you heard about it at MacSparky in the “Where did you hear about us” field.

There is a lot of talk lately about the benefits of adding a routine to your day. Mike and I have been covering this off-and-on throughout the year on the Focused podcast. Marina Koren, from The Atlantic, isn’t sold, but adding some routine has made a difference in my focus and general happiness. For me, however, the real pay-off isn’t the morning routine but instead the afternoon one. Building time in my schedule at the end of the day to do an email and task audit, and set up and plan the next day always pays dividends. I don’t always do it, and every time I skip over the afternoon shut down (like today as I’m about to go see a space movie), I pay the price the next day.