Getting Back on the Mechanical Keyboard Train

Lately, I’ve had the itch to try a mechanical keyboard again. It has been many years since I last used one but every time I start to think about pushing the button to order one, I get cold feet because I don’t like the idea of a USB cord, or they look too big, or something else.

This week I stumbled onto the Keychron K1 keyboard. Keychron is a company I’ve never heard of before and I may have made a mistake, but their new mechanical keyboards push all my buttons. (See what I did there?)

The Keychron K1 keyboards are Mac friendly, with the expected command button and the function row has glyphs very similar to Apple’s there is even a dedicated screenshot key (which presumably macros Command-Shift-4) and separate keys to activate Siri and Dictation. The keyboard is Bluetooth so there is no cord and it can, with the push of yet another button, jump between my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The switches are half height blue switches and the whole thing just looks damn sexy with keys that seem to float.

I’ve ordered the 87-Key Mac variant. I’ll report back when I actually have one on my desk.

The Questionable Fate of the AirPower

It seems like that just about every time we write off the Apple AirPower, the charge-everything-in-one device announced but never shipped, rumors start up again about it going into production. Again we are hearing it is back from the dead. While Apple watchers love to talk about the AirPower, I have to wonder if anyone actually cares. How many people: a) have a need for one gadget to charge all their Apple devices (iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch),and; b) are going to pay Apple sized prices for a charging mat?

I hope Apple does perfect and ship the AirPower, if for no other reason, so we can start talking about it. Regardless, I can’t help but think in the overall scheme of things, AirPower is small potatoes.

Attending Podcon

I’m hitting the publish button on this post as I am about to board a plane for Seattle to attend the Podcon conference. The decision to attend came pretty late in the process for me but one of the main reasons I’m going to Podcon is to meet up with friends, old and new. If you are attending Podcon and see me shuffling around, please say hello. If you’re not attending, check out my Instagram feed (@macsparky) the next few days. I plan to publish some fun stories as I deal with Podcon.

If you are attending, Rosemary and I will be recording a live episode of Automators on Saturday February 19 at 11 AM. We’ll also be live-streaming that episode through Twitter so even if you’re not in Seattle, check our Twitter feeds (here’s mine) tomorrow before 11AM PST. We’re also doing a meetup, which is sadly fully booked but going to be a lot of fun tomorrow.

GoodNotes 5

There is a pile of applications that claim to turn your iPad into a virtual notebook but none of them, in my opinion, do that as good as GoodNotes, which just released version 5.

The best thing about the new version is the improved ink engine. I have always felt that GoodNotes had the most natural writing for the iPad. This new version only increases their lead. You can even see how the ink changes as you lift the Apple Pencil off the screen. I spent some time with the GoodNotes team at WWDC last year, and they explained how much time they had put into making the app feel more like writing on paper, and it shows. It’s still plastic on glass, but in every way they can improve on those mediums, they have.

That’s not all. With this new update, GoodNotes has added additional file management tools. There’s a new folder system where you can nest folders to organize your notes easier. Finding access your notes gets easier with other improvements as well. There’s a favorites view to help you get to the most important notes. You can now also start a new fresh note instantly upon launch. This isn’t as convenient with the Apple Notes app (which is baked into the operating system) but as instant as you are going to get with a third party app and, once you get rolling, the GoodNotes ink engine runs circles around the Apple Notes pen.

There’s a lot more new features, but they’ve also improved some of the older features. Traditionally, GoodNotes has one of the best paper selections to write on. They’ve got it all with multiple colors and styles (grids, lines, music).

GoodNotes 5 is $7.99. If you purchased GoodNotes, version 4 for full price, the upgrade to version 5 is free. If you paid a discounted price for version 4, you can get the new version for the difference. If you’re the type of person that likes to bring a pad of paper and a pencil into a meeting but iPad curious, GoodNotes may work for you.

First Impressions of the Apple iPhone Smart Battery Case

Well that didn’t take long. Ordered yesterday and arrived this morning. I explained why I ordered the case yesterday. Here are some photos of the new case in action and a bit of commentary. Click on any image for further detail.

In the box …

Opening the Box

Lots of Words …

With iPhone XS Max installed

Battery Status

End View

Side View

Properly Adorned

The New Apple iPhone Battery Cases

Screen Shot 2019-01-15 at 5.08.59 PM.png

Today Apple released battery cases (in black or white) for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.

It has been a long time since I used a battery case on my iPhone. (I am pretty sure my last battery case fig my iPhone 3GS.) The reason I gave up on them is that when you get a new phone, the battery case is of no further use to you.

Nevertheless, I ordered one of these. I’ve got a lot of travel over the next six months, and it sure would be nice to carry an extra charge when I am out of town. With the iPhone XS Max model, this new battery gives you talk time up to 37 hours, Internet use up to 20 hours and video playback of up to 25 hours. The other way I justified it is that when I ultimately hand this phone down to someone in my family, they will inevitably be less interested in charging their phone than I am. This battery will serve them well.

A nice feature of this battery is that it is Qi-certified. That way I can set it on my Qi charger and charge the battery while it is in the case. Ultimately, I expect this will be the battery I use for trips to Disneyland and trips out of town, but not my everyday case. If you are wondering, after way too much consideration, I bought the black one. I think a MacSparky sticker will look nice on the back.

Work Faster with BetterTouchTool – Sponsor

This week MacSparky is sponsored by BetterTouchTool, the powerful little app that lets you customize your Mac’s input devices to match and improve your workflow perfectly. Apple gave us these great trackpads and mice, but they’ve never really let us use them to their full potential. BetterTouchTool does that. With BetterTouchTool, you can completely re-design your Touch Bar, configure various Magic Mouse and Trackpad gestures, define keyboard shortcuts, bind standard mouse buttons, use the Siri Remote with your Mac and do tons more.

BetterTouchTool offers many actions to automate various tasks on your Mac. These can be assigned to any input-device trigger you choose. Additionally, it contains some handy features like window snapping, a clipboard manager, a screenshot editor, and much more. It even includes a free iOS app to control your Mac and trigger actions remotely.

Recently, the BetterTouchTool Community was begun, which you can find at community.folivora.ai. Users have shared some amazing presets there, including some very advanced custom Touch Bar setups that you should check out.

BetterTouchTool comes with a 45-day trial after which you can choose between a license that includes all updates for two years and a lifetime license.

BetterTouchTool has been around for nine years, and I’ve been using it the entire time. With BetterTouchTool, I can make my Mac dance. You should too. To celebrate its 9th birthday, MacSparky readers can purchase BetterTouchTool for 15% off at checkout by using the coupon code MACSPARKYBTT for a limited time. So don’t delay. Go to folivora.ai to learn more and take advantage of the special limited-time, 15% discount on BetterTouchTool.

Mac Power Users 465: The Mighty Mac mini

Introduced as a low-cost way to switch to the Mac, the Mac mini can now be found working quietly as home and office servers, hosting files, media, backups and more. Join Stephen and me on the latest episode of Mac Power Users to find out more about how the Mac mini stacks up.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

Luna Display: The only hardware solution that turns your iPad into a wireless display for your Mac. Use promo code POWER at checkout for 10% off.
Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!
The Omni Group: We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Jazz Friday: The 1959 Project

I’ve really enjoyed a new website, The 1959 Project, that chronicles the jazz scene in 1959. During that single year some of the great jazz albums, like Kind of Blue and Time Out were recorded. It also was the beginning of the end for jazz as a mainstream popular music. Each day there is a new post about something amazing happening. It’s a great jazz education if that’s your thing. Also, here’s an interesting article on the back story of the website (and related documentary film).

The Focused Podcast

Today marks the release of the Focused Podcast (formerly Free Agents). The Free Agents has had a great run but Mike and I discovered that we were increasingly talking about productivity and increasingly our audience included people more interesested in productivity than free agency. So we shifted the show and now it’s call Focused. The subtitle, “Life is about more than cranking widgets”, really means something to me.

So much of the talk about being productive is about life hacks and dumb nonsense like “5 ways to become more productive in 3 minutes”. Focused isn’t like that. Mike and I don’t have all the answers. Instead, we are more like motivated fellow travelers. We’ll be bringing research and knowledge of our own personal successes and failures. We’ll also be bringing in interesting guests to help everyone along. Today the first episode released. We’ve already got several more in production. If you never listened to Free Agents because that was not your thing, I’d encourage you to give Focused a try. I’m really proud of it. Also, just look at that gorgeous artwork.