Checking In On The Shortcuts Update

I am still in the honeymoon phase with the iOS 13 updates to Shortcuts. As I explained in a recent newsletter, I am in the process of recording an entirely new Shortcuts Field Guide. I’ve already recorded over 50 videos, and I have quite a few left.

This update to Shortcuts is way more than I expected. There are new triggers, actions, and the overall programming paradigm has been simplified, making it easier than ever for anyone to create automation on their iPhone and iPad. The last few betas removed some of the more interesting automatic triggers, but I understand they will be coming back. Regardless, if you have any remote interest in automation on your iPad and iPhone, you’re in for a treat in September.

Today while working with the new Shortcuts, I was pondering the state of affairs a few years ago when Apple first bought the Workflow application. At the time I thought there were two possibilities: they’d bring it into iOS but remove it’s more powerful elements (like they did with Siri) or they would scrap it entirely and re-distribute the very talented team to other projects.

Honestly, it never occurred to me that they would incorporate Workflow into the operating system and vastly improve its capabilities. Even if the thought had occurred to me, I would have bet you a lot of money that they wouldn’t then double down a second year to make it even easier to use and more powerful.

I have always believed that automation is something everybody should be able to master and use. These improvements to Shortcuts are paving the way for just that. These devices we carry in our pocket do not need to be an interruption in our lives. With the kind of automation Apple is democratizing with Shortcuts, we can get our work done faster and get on to the more essential things of life, like making art (however you define that), playing with their children, and, of course, taking naps.

Focused 79: Reclaiming Margin, with Shawn Blanc



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The Focus Course founder Shawn Blanc is back and on this week’s episode of Focused, he’s talking about the importance of margin, how it gave him the space he needed to work through a personal crisis, and life lessons learned from his orange 1984 Jeep CJ-7.

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.

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

Get Organized with OmniOutliner (Sponsor)



This week, MacSparky is sponsored by OmniOutliner. The latest version of OmniOutliner for Mac, iPad, and iPhone is a great example of just how much the gang at the Omni Group cares about making the best productivity software. This app is so much more than a just a beautiful outliner. It’s got automation, distraction-free mode, filters, slide-in sidebars, gorgeous styles, and more.

Often, people throw seemingly random bits of information at me. In those cases, it is my job to organize it, make sense or it, and then make that information work for my client. This is where, for me, OmniOutliner is essential; it makes order from chaos. I often share these outlines with clients so that we can collaborate on getting things right. Clients love them. They love the way it organizes complex information. They also love they way it looks. To an extent, I view OmniOutliner’s gorgeous-looking outlines as just one more thing that distinguishes me from others in my field.

OmniOutliner is both pretty and powerful. Best of all, with their new Pro and Essentials versions, it is priced so that anyone can have the best outliner available for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Head over to the Omni Group today and try it for yourself.

Mac Power Users 494: Our Home Offices



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On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I talk about our home offices: how they are setup, what equipment and furnishings are used, and, of course, what nerdy toys are around. Then, we discuss the pros and cons of working from home.

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.

  • The Omni Group: We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.

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

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

Automators 29: The Dark Dungeon with Adam Tow



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On the latest episode of Automators, Rose and I talk to Adam Tow, creator of MsgFiler and writer of a few amazing Shortcuts automations. From having photos taken on his DLSR automatically shared to him via iMessage, to playing text adventure games with Shortcuts, there is plenty of automation fun to be had!

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

Good Times at Macstock 2019


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I spent the weekend in Illinois attending the Macstock conference. Macstock started out as a group of friends getting together following the demise of Macworld, and over the years it has grown into a conference and social event that includes about 200 people having a good time talking about AppleScripts, Shortcuts, and debating the finer merits of the very best text editor; in other words, they are my kind of nerds, and it is a lot of fun.

It took me several years to make it to Macstock, but I finally made it there last year and had a great time.


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This year, Stephen Hackett and I had the privilege of recording episode 500 of Mac Power Users in front of a live audience at Macstock, and it came out great (although it won’t drop for a few weeks now). I also gave a talk falling somewhere between nerdy tips and hippy-style productivity. Best of all, I got to catch up with some old friends and make several new outstanding ones. Also, northern Illinois gave me more mosquito bites in two days than I’ve had in the last 10 years.

Just a few highlights:


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  • With a call out to the room something akin to asking for a doctor on an airplane, Stephen sprang into action like a nerdy superhero, replacing RAM and a drive on an aging iMac. In order to do so, he had to peel off the screen, pull every part of the machine out, and then put it all back together. He did that on a lunch table.

  • Mike Schmitz (co-host of Focused) crushed a presentation on Ulysses and taught me a few tricks.

  • I made a friend who recently played percussion on a symphonic performance of the Harry Potter score.

  • I made another friend who came from Perth, Australia, to nerd out with us.

  • Best of all, when we finished recording episode 500, we received a standing ovation. That was a moment I will cherish forever.

Flying home, I couldn’t help but reflect that this was an outstanding use of my weekend, and if they put on another one next year, I’ll be there.


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Stop Hating Email with SaneBox (Sponsor)



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This week’s MacSparky sponsor is SaneBox, the email tool that everybody could use. You may have heard about some of the innovative new email features like inbox auto-sorting, deferred email, and reply tracking. The trouble is that early implementations of those features were all app-specific. You had to switch to a different email client that you didn’t necessarily like to get those features.

SaneBox fixes that. SaneBox has all of those cool new email tools (plus many more), and it works with just about any email client. Over the last few years, I have been jumping between iOS email clients trying to find the right app for me. Throughout this process, my one constant has been SaneBox because no matter which email client I’m using, I can still get auto inbox sorting, deferred email, reply tracking, and a pile of additional email tools via SaneBox. The service gives me the freedom to try and use any email client that tickles my fancy. SaneBox makes Apple Mail feel like a bad-ass email client and that is saying something.

There is a lot more to SaneBox, but in addition to all of that, SaneBox gives you email client freedom. To learn more head over to SaneBox and sign up today. Using the links in this post, you’ll even get a sweet discount.