This episode focuses on hyper-scheduling and how to turn your calendar into a productivity weapon. Mike and I also continue the conversation about digital minimalism and share a few of our favorite books.
This episode of Focused is sponsored by:
FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.
Hover: Extensions for anything you’re passionate about. Grab a .ME domain for $9.99.
MOO: Custom business printing and design. Use promo code PRINT15 for 15% off.
Pixelmator Photo, the latest application from Pixelmator, is out. This iPad-only application is a powerful photo editor that allows you to manage and edit RAW images right on your iPad. Like other Pixelmator products, Pixelmator Photo includes tools to make one-tap improvements to your photos and more precise tools to make adjustments to individual attributes of your photos.
Pixelmator’s something extra is the inclusion of machine learning based photo editing. The application has a machine-learning enhancement that allows you to fix your image with the touch of a button. Pixelmator has now fed their algorithm over 20 million professional photos. More often than not, the machine-learning enhancements are better than my own attempts to tweak a photo with the precision tools. I had never seen the ability to use machine learning to crop your images. If you didn’t take the time to frame your image correctly before, now you can let the robots do it for you. This works better than you think it would.
The application also ships with a collection of hand-built presets. These allow you to apply several black-and-white and color filters to your images.
Most impressive about the new application is the repair tool. If you have something on your image you want to remove, swipe the repair tool over it, and Pixelmator fixes it for you. What makes this interesting is the breadth of the repair tool. Watch this video to see what I mean.
Pixelmator Photo sells for $5 but has an introductory price of $4. If you want to edit photos on the iPad, this is worth it.
Guilherme Rambo at 9to5 Mac seems to have some good sources in Cupertino. He recently published a long list of expected iOS 13 features that focus on productivity. The list looks good. I was sorry to see no mention of improvements to the Files app though.
Journaling can be an excellent way to collect your thoughts and reflect on the events of the day. Join us on this week’s episode of Mac Power Users as Stephen and I talk about how the journal app Day One makes it easy to do so with your Mac, iPhone, iPad, 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.
Warby Parker: Quality eyewear at a fraction of the usual price. Order your FREE home try-on kit today.
Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
The Teaser …
The Star Wars Celebration Panel on Episode Nine …
In this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I interview the mysterious internet legend Dr. Drang. We talk about Python, Perl, and AppleScript and dive into regular expressions, Shortcuts, Drafts, and Keyboard Maestro. Then, we show how you can combine all of these in various different workflows!
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
Luna Display: The only hardware solution that turns your iPad into a wireless display for your Mac. Use promo code AUTOMATORS at checkout for 10% off.
TextExpander, from Smile: Try the new release with the visual editor. Get 20% off your first year.
This week MacSparky is sponsored by BetterTouchTool, the Mac App that gives your input devices superpowers. While Apple makes some excellent trackpads and mice, the built-in gestures are just a taste of what you could do with those devices. 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. If you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro, this app is an absolute game changer.
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.
One of my favorite Better Touch Tool gestures lets me quit the current app by pinching with my thumb and two fingers. Whenever I want to shut down a bunch of apps, and my hand is on the trackpad, there is no faster way.
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 2should too. 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.
Today Jason Snell released his iMac review. I like this review for several reasons. First, he reviewed a high-end iMac, not the entry level machine as people so often do. Second, Jason uses an iMac Pro daily.
I’m often asked by readers and listeners exactly where the cutoff point is between the high-end iMac and the low end iMac Pro. With Jason’s insight and familiarity with both machines, we finally have an excellent resource. In addition to the performance trade-offs, Jason also covers some of the new technologies included in the iMac Pro which still have yet to make their way down to the iMac line. Those differences are substantial. I explained how I love my iMac Pro at length on my gear page. I still feel the same.
Jakob Haq, a musician and YouTuber from Sweden who creates, edits, and publishes all of his content with his iPhone and iPad, joins us on this week’s episode of Mac Power Users.
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.
Bombas: The most comfortable socks in the history of feet. Use this link for 20% off.
Hover: Extensions for anything you’re passionate about. Grab a .ME domain for $9.99.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple Music is now bigger than Spotify with 28 million subscribers. If that’s true, it doesn’t surprise me. Apple has a considerable advantage in that it is baked into iOS, works with Siri, and just more convenient for iPhone owners.
I thought it would be a good time to check in on Apple Music since I haven’t written much about it since it initially launched. We’ve enjoyed a family subscription ($15/month) since launch. Everyone in my family loves music and, oddly, we all listen to different kinds of music. As a result, we have downloaded a lot more music than we would have if we were paying for tracks and we are getting our money’s worth on Apple Music.
I haven’t used Spotify, but I know its users are big fans of the recommendations. I don’t feel the same rabid love for Apple Music recommendations that my Spotify-wielding friends profess. Still, the suggestions are good. No longer does it throw artists at me from my kids’ playlists. (Sorry Hannah Montana.) The recommended playlists are a good assortment of artists I already love, artists I’d like to hear more, and artists I’ve never heard of before but are nevertheless in my wheelhouse. I like Apple’s recommended playlists and their A-Lists, where I’ve found several new interesting artists. I also like the easy ability to share tracks, as I’ve often done here.
While the user interface has improved over the years, there is still room for improvement. For instance, the buttons across the bottom of the music app are too opinionated. I’ve never listened to Beats 1 and don’t use radio stations. Nonetheless, some of the most valuable real estate in the user interface is taken up with a Radio button. Those buttons should be customizable.
Radio button .. why are you there?
By far, my favorite Apple Music feature is the depth of the catalog. I’ll frequently think of some obscure album and, more often than not, have it playing in minutes. Just a few weeks ago I woke up with an old Chuck Mangione song, Carousel, in my head. The song was recorded in 1975 and the last time I heard it had to be in the 70’s. Nevertheless, Apple Music had Carousel playing throughout my house in minutes.
