Unlock Your Productivity With TextExpander

This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander, the application that saves me time every day. TextExpander works everywhere you type, improving your productivity and accuracy no matter what apps you use.

You may think of TextExpander as a way to quickly type your address or phone number but it is so much more. I use it to run AppleScripts, draft legal contracts, and everything in between. With TextExpander, you can easily insert text snippets in any application from a library of content created by you and your team.

I’ve talked on my podcasts about my Date and Time stamp TextExpander snippet I use all the time to date/time stamp notes on my Mac. Here it is if you’d like to create it in your copy of TextExpander. I use the the snippet “xdts” to trigger it.


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Whether you use it on your own or with your team, TextExpander makes you more productive. TextExpander is available for macOS, Windows, iPhone and iPad, and Chrome. Head to this link to get 20% off your first year. 

Focused 78: Changing Defaults, with John Zeratsky



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John Zeratsky had the dream job at Google but left it all to write a book, Make Time, and reset his defaults. Join us for the latest episode of Focused to hear about John’s journey and how resetting your own defaults can make all the difference.

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.

  • Blinkist: Read 3,000+ books in 15 minutes or less. Start your 7-day free trial.

Mac Power Users 492: All of the Ks



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In this MPU feedback episode, Stephen and I talk about a borrowed MacBook Pro and a Catalina meltdown, Voice Control and Dictation in iOS 13, and answer a few listener questions about iOS file storage and justifying a Mac to a boss who doesn’t get it.

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.

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

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

Voice Control is a Game Changer for Voice to Text Dictation Apple Devices

When I made my video a few weeks ago about the problems with dictation on the Mac and mobile devices, I was aware of some new changes coming with iOS 13 and Catalina concerning the accessibility voice control but hadn’t dug in deep enough. Since that time, I have installed some betas, and now I realize why Nuance is abandoning Apple.

The feature is called Voice Control, and it is pretty remarkable. It works very similar to Dragon on the Mac. It allows you to dictate text and control your device with your voice. It does not run on a timer so you can speak as long as you need to. It has its own custom dictionary (although as I write this, it does not seem to be working) and even uses many of the same commands that Dragon uses. Best of all, starting in September, it will be on everyone’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

I’m writing this very article with it.

This is more than a simple voice to text dictation tool. It does that with all of the above bells and whistles. But you can also use it to navigate the cursor around your text and make corrections, open applications, and otherwise control your device. If I were to talk to someone at Apple, I presume they would say this is primarily an accessibility feature than a dictation feature. However, in the few weeks I’ve been using it, I believe it does both pretty well. I like it so much that I have canceled my Dragon Anywhere subscription that I talked about just a few weeks ago.

You enable the new feature under the accessibility panel. You can toggle it on and off with your voice using the commands “wake up” And “go to sleep”. I’ve also added the accessibility panel to my control center so I can swipe down and tap a button.

Is this as good as Dragon on the Mac was? Probably not. But it’s close enough. And I expect once a lot of people start using and the Apple artificial intelligence fires up, it will only get better with time.

The new voice control feature is a significant upgrade to voice to text dictation on all Apple devices. It’s going to be baked into everybody’s device without any subscription or additional software, and if you want to start writing text with your voice, there is no better time to start than September. See the below demonstration video to get a better idea of how it works.

Get Serious Work Done with NotePlan (Sponsor)



This week, MacSparky.com is sponsored by NotePlan. With NotePlan, you get serious work done. It helps you spend less time planning and more time doing. It lets you track your work and get things quickly out of your head, so you have the headspace to be creative—that’s what brains are made for. Find out how!

NotePlan is a daily planning tool in bullet-journal style for pros, combining a calendar with plain-text markdown notes and embedded to-dos, all in one place.

Your notes are saved in simple human readable text files, so the data is always safe and accessible in your iCloud Drive—not hidden away in some online database.

With NotePlan, you can:

  • Write markdown to-dos embedded into your daily notes and organize them using simple formatting like headings, bold, italic, links, etc.

  • Capture important things in projects notes, which are not attached to a date, and schedule them from there into your calendar.

  • Integrate with iCloud calendars and reminders.

  • Focus on your tasks thanks to a distraction-free, minimal design.

  • Customize NotePlan by choosing from a set of light and dark themes.

If you have a turbulent schedule and tons of things to keep track of but never enough time, NotePlan is perfect for you. Save time planning and never let anything fall through the cracks:

  • Write meeting notes on a given day without worrying about where to save it or how to structure and format it.

  • Use NotePlan anywhere offline, like an airplane, and let iCloud Drive sync your data once online again.

  • Plan out your work for the upcoming days, and during the day, add to today’s note to extend your short-term memory and micro-manage yourself.

  • See events and reminders from your calendar along with your to-dos and notes on one page, so you have the whole context.

  • Keep track of things by adding quick notes to your to-dos and tagging the results so you can find them easily.

Good news! NotePlan 2 on Mac OS recently launched. Check it out.

Mac Power Users 491: Working Hard in the Gaming Industry, with Simone de Rochefort



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Simone de Rochefort is a video producer and podcaster at Polygon and co-hosts Rocket on Relay FM. On this week’s episode of Mac Power Users, she walks Stephen and me through the process of creating videos at Polygon, from the writing process to capturing game footage, editing, 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.

  • eero: Never think about WiFi again. Get $100 off.