Give Yourself the Gift of Automation with TextExpander

Today people are starting to think about holiday gifts but why don’t you give yourself a gift this year. The gift of automation. One of the easiest ways to get started with automation is by getting TextExpander installed on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. TextExpander is a text replacement tool and so much more. With TextExpander, 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 talk with someone on the phone related to the day job and want to keep notes about the conversation, I just type “xdts” which, in my head, means date and time string. Then TextExpander automatically creates something like this, “2019-11-29 08:12”. If I need to put the full date in a letter, I just type “fdate” and TextExpander puts in the current date, like this, “November 29, 2019”.

But TextExpander goes much 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. 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.

Some Nice Black Friday Deals

I’ve stumbled across several Black Friday deals that I think MacSparky readers may like:

There is a lot more out there but these are the ones that stood out to me.

Digging the Cellular Apple Watch

I’m on vacation this week (Aloha!) and as a result, spending a lot of my time doing things – like swimming in the ocean and jumping out of airplanes – that aren’t very friendly to iPhones.
This week I’ve come to appreciate the cellular radio in my Apple Watch. I initially bought it because I do lots of hikes and bike rides without a phone and wanted something that could give me a life-line “just in case”. It occurs to me this week, however, that the cellular Apple Watch is also useful if you just lead an active life.

With the cellular radio, I’ve been able to call my wife while snorkeling, text her from the plane right before I did my first skydive, and generally stay in contact with the rest of the world when otherwise I wouldn’t be able to.

While I still think the number one use case scenario for the cellular watch is for emergencies, I would add “a connection for an active life” as number two.

A Follow Up Point about Battery Life

Somewhat related, the series 5 Apple Watch started out with some significant battery issues that got better with recent software updates. However, using it to track extended ocean swims and hitting that cellular radio have been destroying my battery. With me starting most days at 7 AM, twice now I’ve had it go into low power mode by the end of the day. At this point, I’ve got a new habit that when I take an afternoon nap (it is a vacation after all), the watch goes on the charger.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my geek family. In the United States, we all like to take a moment on this day (between eating turkey and taking naps) to reflect on things we are thankful for. My friends in this community are very high on my list. I wish you and yours the best today.

SuperDuper is Catalina Friendly


Dave Nanian, of Shirt Pocket Software recently announced that his well-respected backup utility, SuperDuper, is good-to-go on Catalina. I always appreciate Dave’s blog posts concerning updates. He has a new post concerning this update and it helps to get the perspective from someone working with the file system updates and Dave always functions as the canary in a coal mine. 

With Catalina, your drive is divided into two separate volumes, a system volume and a data volume. These changes were made for security reasons, but created a ton of work for guys like Dave Nanian. Reading about how much work he put into this new version validates my purchase of his app.

If If you don’t have a way to mirror your drive (you should!), my SuperDuper recommendation remains in effect.

Focused 87: Nerds Like Us, with Myke Hurley



Focused Artwork.jpeg


Relay co-founder Myke Hurley joins Mike and me on the latest episode of Focused to talk about the power of yearly themes, becoming more intentional, and working with other humans.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code FOCUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

  • UpHabit: The app that makes connecting with people you care about part of your routine. Try it for free or take advantage of 25% off for new subscribers.

iOS 13: Maybe Too Much Awesome?

We’re now seeing reports of Apple trying to slow things down in future software releases to avoid the bugs and multiple patches we’ve been getting with iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. This signals a pendulum shift we’ve seen many times before between conservative and aggressive software releases. We need go back only a few years to see that the very stable, but relatively conservative iOS 12 release followed on the more aggressive (and buggy) iOS 11 release the year before. In terms of new features, this year was awesome. I argued earlier that it was just the right amount of awesome but given the number of patches we’ve had, maybe it turns out it was a little too much awesome.

Either way, I expect things will be dialed back a bit next year so they don’t have so many patches. I continue to believe that Apple should be pushing the envelope. As things stand, particularly with iPad, the software has not matched the hardware and there still is plenty of catching up to do.

Mac Power Users 511: 2019 Developer Roundtable



Mac Power Users Artwork.png


Ken Case of the Omni Group, Greg Scown of Smile, and Dave Teare of AgileBits join us on the latest episode of Mac Power Users to talk about Apple’s year and the changes it brought for developers. Then, a conversation about app subscriptions, venture capital funding, and more.

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.

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • Linode: High performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

Automators 37: Mac Maintenance and Management Magic



Automators Artwork.jpg


In the latest episode of Automators, Rosemary and I set our sights on Mac maintenance and how to automate it, from clearing your trash to managing duplicates and even handling those pesky .ics files. Nothing is safe from our automation!

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure and anonymous VPN service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

  • Flatiron School: Launch a career in tech with Flatiron School’s modern curriculum paired with one-on-one support from dedicated Career Coaches, all just in 15 weeks.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

The New MacBook Pro Keyboard Initial Impressions and Thoughts

I had the opportunity to spend some time typing on the new MacBook Pro Keyboard. As someone that uses the iMac Magic Keyboard on a daily basis, I can report that it feels identical, with slightly less travel. The initial tear down reports they are built exactly the same. That’s good news on the reliability front. I beat up on my iMac keyboard often and I’ve never had a problem. I was perfectly comfortable typing on the new laptop keyboard and I fully expect Apple to be moving this new laptop Magic Keyboard down the line soon.

A few interesting bits stand out for me in the responses to the release of this new MacBook Pro Keyboard. First, is the general fixation on it. It seems nearly all the initial reviews are centered around this new Keyboard. iFixit related it to Stockholm syndrome. I disagree. I think the reason for this reaction is closer to the boiling frog. As, year after year, the broken keyboard stories kept piling up and Apple kept making more MacBooks with the latest butterfly keyboard iteration, all of our frogs got well and cooked. A real turning point for me has been the way so many of our MPU guests start out their interview with a recitation of the number of keyboard repairs they’ve needed. The fact that this new keyboard is using a tried-and-tested keyboard released a lot of tension about Apple and the way they make things. But not without a cost.

My second observation is that most of the reporting about the new keyboard has been qualified by some variety of, “I really like this change, but we’ll have to wait and see if it is more reliable.” If you look at MacBook reviews in years past, before the butterfly keyboard, there are no such qualifications. This whole mess over the butterfly keyboard has cost Apple a degree of trust and it is going to take some time for them to recover. Not only that, we still aren’t out of the woods here because a lot of the butterfly keyboard Macs are still in circulation and many are still being sold. This bad keyboard reputation is going to linger for years as those butterfly keyboard machines remain in circulation.

All that said, given that these new keyboards are built the same way the iMac Magic Keyboard is put together, I fully expect them to be just as reliable. If you are in the market for a laptop that is anything but the big MacBook Pro, I’d encourage you to hold off until the new keyboard makes it to your machine of choice.