The Waterfield Air Porter

I’ve been doing quite a bit of travel lately for fancy lawyer-related business. Usually I just take a backpack on trips, but it doesn’t really look good in the business meetings where I have to wear a suit. So, of course, that gave me an excuse to get a new bag. I ended up with the WaterField Air Porter Carry-On Bag, and I’m quite happy with it.

The Air Porter is a leather and canvas bag from WaterField, the same team that makes most of the bags I buy. They are based out of San Francisco, and they always nail the little details. The Air Porter is no different. In this case, WaterField actively solicited customer input while they were designing the bag, and the result is something that makes travel easier. By combining WaterField’s ability to make a bag with active customer feedback, we get a really nice travel bag.

The Air Porter has two zippered compartments. The large compartment has lots of space and pockets. The smaller compartment is for storing a laptop or tablet (or both) and features an extended zipper that makes it easier to deal with airport security. A nice small touch here is the way the laptop pocket dips on each side, making it easy to plug your Mac in for a charge while it is still in the bag.

There is a separate zipper for the main compartment that feels pretty roomy, considering the size of the bag. It has several pockets and space for files, books, and even the Air Caddy (explained below).

All of the WaterField bags use gold fabric on the inside, which makes finding things a lot easier compared to the standard black interiors found in most bags. I own several WaterField bags, and it baffles me that other manufacturers don’t do this. It’s so obvious once you try it. Finally, there is a flap for an accessible slot on one side good for holding things you need quick access to in the airport, and the other side has a fabric panel that will attach your AirPorter to your carry-on luggage handle. There’s also a padded strap so you can put it over your shoulder.

The bag’s size, 15 x 10.25 x 4.5 inches, is travel-friendly. The bag easily stands and its height upright (10.25 inches) fits perfectly under the seat in front you and, because it is standing, your feet can still fit under the seat. That alone is a huge improvement over traveling with a backpack.

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.52.40 AM.png

One of my favorite things about the Air Porter is that it is actually two bags. For $20 more you also get the Air Caddy. The Air Caddy is a zippered pouch made to hold an iPad (10.5 inches or smaller) and a few other bits, such your mid-flight granola bar. The Air Caddy fits in the main cargo area of the Air Porter, but when you board your plane, the power move is to slip it out and drop it in the seat pouch. The combination of the Air Porter and the Air Caddy makes boarding a plane much easier. Just slip out the Air Caddy, put it in the seat pocket, then slide the Air Porter under the seat, and you’re good. I like this system so much that I’m going to be using the Air Caddy when I travel with my backpack instead of the Air Porter. The Air Caddy is also useful for other things. For instance, I’ve taken to using it to carry my iPad, journal, a few pens, and snacks and throwing it in my bicycle pannier on days that I’m getting around by pedal power.

I like the Air Porter so much that I’ve been using it for the day job even when not traveling to the airport. It looks classy and efficiently holds my stuff. I also like its relatively compact size on a day full of meetings.

The Air Porter comes in a few looks including ballistic nylon, leather, or canvas, and options in shades of brown and black. It’s a great bag. You should check it out.

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.52.05 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.51.58 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.52.18 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.50.40 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.50.02 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.50.20 AM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-24 at 7.51.40 AM.png

Mac Power Users 427: Creating the iPhone Field Guide

I wrote a new book: the iPhone Field Guide. In this episode, we discuss my latest project, the process of creating a multimedia book, the state of iBooks Author, and more.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? Now you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Save up to 20% using this link.
SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!
Timing: The automatic time-tracking app for macOS. Use this link to save 10% on your purchase.
Mack Weldon: Smart underwear for smart guys. Get 20% off your first order with the code MPU.

My iPhone Home Screen, 2018 Edition

It’s been awhile since I shared my home screen and since I finally shipped my iPhone Field Guide, this seemed the right time to share my iPhone home screen, 2018 edition.

Since getting the iPhone X, I’m still in love with the OLED display. I like it so much that I’ve been keeping a pure black background on my home screen since the iPhone X first released.

The top row is my folders of apps. I’ve been using this system for some time, and I still think it’s the best, at least for me. Each folder has a verb for its name: Make, Learn, Fix, Play. Any app that doesn’t make the home screen cut goes into one of these folders. I just ask myself what I’d do with the app and put it in the appropriate folder. I use Siri or Spotlight to find most apps, not on the home screen but having this rough sort helps. I also really like keeping my phone to just one screen.

The second row has some Apple Fundamentals: Phone, Mail, Safari, and Maps.

Occasionally I swap out the Mail app for a third party client like Spark or AirMail. The trouble is, they are never quite as stable for me as Apple Mail, so I usually end up going back.

Likewise, when I travel outside of California, I’ll often replace Apple Maps with Google Maps, but Apple Maps works for me in California.

The next row includes my essential audio apps: Overcast, Audible, Music, and Sonos.

In the past several months I’ve tried out several alternatives to Overcast just to see what’s out there. I wanted the Apple Podcast app to work because I love the idea of kicking off podcasts with my voice, but that was a bust. Moreover, Overcast keeps getting better. The latest update rewinds the podcast a few seconds any time you pause or stop, which helps me get back into the swing and I like the way Overcast works with CarPlay.

I’ve been a subscriber to Audible for years, and I used to keep the app in a folder but moved it to the home screen this year, and I think it will stay. Finally is Sonos. I’m hoping that AirPlay 2 will allow me to easily stream to Sonos from the Apple Music App. As much as I like my Sonos speakers, I’m not a big fan of the Sonos app.

The fourth row has my social apps: Messages Twitterific, Slack, and Unread.

I switched from TweetBot to Twitterific in December, and I like it. I’m not sure it’s better than TweetBot, but I was ready for a change. This week in response to the Twitter’s threatened further moves against third-party apps, I tried to use the official Twitter app for a few days. Ugh. Twitter is definitely a better experience with third-party apps. Slack is home screen worthy and Unread remains my favorite RSS app.

The fifth row includes productivity apps: Ulysses, Notes, Dragon Anywhere, Workflow.

When I first put Ulysses on my home screen, it was just an experiment, but I find myself opening the app and writing in it often. I’ve flirted with Bear, but Apple Notes still is my place for reference notes. Dragon Anywhere and I are at a difficult point right now. Some days it works amazingly well. Other days it doesn’t. With a $15/month subscription, I feel like it should be more consistent. Nevertheless, it remains on the home screen.

And then there’s Workflow. My beloved.

Interestingly, my dock has all third-party apps in it: Fantastical, Drafts, and OmniFocus

Fantastical runs circles around the native calendar app. I wrote this week about Drafts 5. Finally, I’m running the beta of OmniFocus 3 and digging it. I’ll be posting more on that next week.

I also find apps through the Today View. The Siri recommendations are pretty good. I’ve been using Headspace lately, and I’ve even given it the right to give me limited notifications. Because I normally meditate at the same, it gives me an appropriate notification at the right time to get mindful and I don’t have to dig for the app.

What I’d Change

I often ask home screen guests about the one thing they would change about the iPhone if they were in charge. I’ve got a few.

First, I’d do whatever it takes to make Siri work better, faster, and more consistently. Siri is a great idea that needs better execution, now.

Next, I’d open the iPhone up more to allow users to change default apps, for instance substituting Chrome for Safari. I’d also put in place whatever resources are necessary to make the Workflow-as-part-of-iOS project awesome and the envy of all non-iPhone users.

My Apple Watch

For a hyper-scheduler such as myself, the Siri watch face is ideal. A lot of people don’t realize it, but you can turn on and off individual components of the Siri watch face to make it work for you. I’m using Drafts as my single complication because it’s so damn handy.

My Lock Screen

I’ve currently got a home-made inspirational quote lock screen. That’s not usually my thing but someone made this wallpaper from a Merlin Mann quote years ago and it does inspire me. The trouble with the above-linked wallpaper is that it is too hard to read with 50-year-old eyeballs so made my own version and spread on the Futura Bold extra thick.

That Blank Space

I like having empty space on my iPhone home screen. A lot of people think its nuts, but I like the way it looks and should we like the way our stuff looks?

And a Shameless Plug

I did a whole section in the iPhone Field Guide on Home Screen layout. I’ve shared several of the pages below. It’s fun reading, and maybe it’ll even tempt you to check out the whole book. Enjoy.

Free Agents 45: Like Going Back to High School

My home workspace gets invaded by teenagers, Jason reprises his old commute and learns to appreciate the ability to work from anyplace, and a listener reminds us of a classic technique: making promises that your future self has to keep. Join us for the latest episode of Free Agents.

This episode of Free Agents is sponsored by:

Timing: The automatic time tracking app for macOS. Use this link to save 10% on your purchase.
Freshbooks: Online invoicing made easy.

Big Update for Drafts

Screen Shot 2018-04-18 at 7.17.52 AM.png

Drafts, one of my favorite utilities for the iPhone just got a big update to version 5. For some of you, that’s all you need to hear. Download the new version and subscribe. For the rest of you, let me explain a bit further.

Drafts is an iOS app that does two things remarkably well:

It lets you capture text.
It lets you process that text.

Capturing Fast

Unlike any other text app, Drafts doesn’t require you to open a new file, create a new email, or do any other process before you start writing. Instead, when you open the app, you get a blinking cursor and a blank screen. Just start writing. That makes Drafts the starting place for just about any text I write on iPhone or iPad, including these very words.

Drafts doesn’t just let you type, it also lets you dictate, and through some smart programming, it gets around the usual 45 second Siri Dictation timer. With Drafts, you can dictate as long as you want to Siri Dictation and it just keeps going.

One of the nice things about Drafts is that because you go straight into writing, you don’t even have to have a clear decision about where the text will end up when you start writing. Maybe these words will end up an email, or an OmniFocus task, or a Ulysses project, or something else entirely. It doesn’t matter; I just need to write.

Processing Text

Once you’ve finished writing your precious words in Drafts, then you get to decide what to do with them. There’s a lot of options. If it’s possible to add an integration for words to Drafts, the Drafts developer has added it. (Not many people realize it but Draft’s developer, Greg Pierce, was instrumental in the original development of URL scheme-based automation on the iPhone.)

You can do simple things with your text, like send it along to another text editor, send it as a message or email. You can also go deep down the rabbit hole.

One thing I love about Drafts is using it to send an email. This way, I don’t have to go into my email application and get tempted away by the siren song of the inbox. Instead, I write and send the relevant email and then get back to work.

One of my favorite productivity hacks is to go into Drafts on the iPad and just dictate through 5-10 writing tasks on my plate every day. It lets me eliminate all the process steps while I’m doing the hard work of getting words out of my head and on the page. Then later I process all those words using Drafts’ automation tools. I get more work done this way, faster.

Drafts also has one of the best implementations of an Apple Watch app. I keep it on my Siri watch face, and if I’m walking down the street, I just press the button and dictate into my watch to capture the draft for later processing. (Here’s a Drafts power tip: enable the app badge to show for any unprocessed tasks.) Also, it uses iCloud to sync your text to all your iOS devices.

For me, Drafts was a game changer. It’s one of the few apps I vividly recall loading for the first time, realizing how useful it is, and audibly saying “yes!”. It’s the poster child for apps that uniquely grew out of the App Store for a touch-based interface.

Drafts is in my dock.

Screen Shot 2018-04-18 at 7.20.54 AM.png

About Drafts 5

With Drafts 5, Greg rewrote most of the code to make it faster, more efficient. He also added a bunch of features. Most of the features I discussed this far come with the free version of the app. If you want to go deeper, there is a pro version for $2 month or $20 a year that includes additional features including:

The ability to create an unlimited number of customizable actions. These are helpful. For instance, I have one called “Sparks Prime” that lets me send a text message to key members of my family very quickly. In my mind, that is there in case we ever have a significant earthquake an I want to get a message out before the networks get flooded and go down. These days, however, I just use it to send pictures of cute puppies.
Themes and Icons. There are a bunch of themes, and now you can set the icon color if that’s your thing.
You can add saved workspaces
Get even more powerful workstations.

These are all great features but for me, the best reason to pay Greg $20 a year is to ensure Drafts continues to exist and flourish. I use this app every day, and I don’t want to lose it.

If you’ve never used Drafts before, I encourage you to download the free version and try it out. If it grabs you the way it grabbed me, I’d further encourage you to subscribe.

I’ve made a few screencasts for Drafts 5. Enjoy.

OmniGraffle, Graphics Software for Mortals – Sponsor

This week MacSparky is sponsored by OmniGraffle, by the Omni Group. OmniGraffle is the diagramming and graphics tool made for people that don’t have the time to get a degree in diagramming and graphics. It’s a powerful application that is also easy to use. In other words, it’s an application made by the Omni Group.

I initially bought OmniGraffle to make simple diagram-style graphics for use in presentations during trials, but once I realized how easy the application is to use, I found all sorts of uses for it. I often use the iPad version to diagram relationships as clients describe them to me during meetings. I’m a visual thinker so seeing things in diagram form help me understand better (and clients are always impressed).

I use OmniGraffle to make our family holiday card. I use Omni Graffle to design stickers for the rubber storage bins we put in the attic. I’m getting a new office later this year, and I’m currently designing that in OmniGraffle. I even use OmniGraffle to design the covers of my books. The iPhone Field Guide cover was made in OmniGraffle.

If you believe you don’t have a single graphic artist bone in your body, you should download the OmniGraffle free trial and check it out for yourself. What you’ll find is that the application does most of the hard work for you. They even have extensive online-based stencil libraries, making many projects as easy as drag and drop. They’ve got versions for Mac, iPad, and iPhone so no matter which Apple platform you prefer, you can make beautiful diagrams and graphics with OmniGraffle.

My latest OmniGraffle project. Click to enlarge.

Mac Power Users 426: Workflows with Andy Ihnatko

Writer, photographer, geek, and all-around nice guy Andy Ihnatko joins us this week, while Katie attempts to avoid electrocution.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

Ulysses: The ultimate writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Get 3 months free.
Eero: Never think about WiFi again. Use code MPU for free overnight shipping.
Gazelle: Sell your iPhone for cash at Gazelle!
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.

CarPlay’s Unsurprising Success

Strategy Analytics released a report explaining how happy car owners are with Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto in their vehicles. This is hardly shocking.

Several months ago I put an after-market CarPlay device in my Ford and it is better than Ford’s previous built-in system in literally every way. When it comes to placing the air conditioner knob on the dashboard, car manufacturers are aces. However, they have never been good at operating systems and user interface design. Apple and Google both have people that are far better at that issue than anyone working for a car company and it shows.

With CarPlay the voice commands actually work and my iPhone operates as the brains for my dashboard giving me better maps, better audio, and the ability to listen to text messages without me taking my eyes off the road. Since installing CarPlay, I now keep my iPhone inside the center console, plugged into a lightning cable and powering the CarPlay from a place where I can’t even access the phone, making things safer to boot.

With all of this success, Apple still has a ways to go and I hope they continue to put resources into making the best possible CarPlay they can. I believe number one on their priority list should be the ability to use third-party navigation apps. Ford is working with Waze on that now but I think it’s in Apple’s best interest to make that as easy as possible for everyone, including Google. Maps.

Announcing the iPhone Field Guide

Today I’m pleased to announce my latest MacSparky Field Guide is available for purchase from the iBooks Store, The iPhone Field Guide.

I’ve been working on this book for a long time and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

With the iPhone Field Guide, you’ll learn to get the most from your iPhone with this media-rich book that is sometimes user guide, sometimes opinionated app recommendations, and sometimes iPhone sensei. This book was built entirely in iBooks Author and includes all of the multimedia goodness including screenshots, photo galleries, and video screencasts all engineered to make you an iPhone power user. There are over 50 screencasts adding up to over two hours of video instruction, 450 pages, 44 chapters, and over 65,000 words to help you learn how to squeeze every bit of awesomeness from your iPhone.

The material is accessible to beginners and power users alike with a thoughtful, fun, and systematic approach to iPhone mastery. Moreover, this book is beautifully designed and a joy to read. This is the seventh book in the MacSparky Field Guide series.

The book looks great on the Mac and iPad but, because it is about the iPhone, there is a separate scrolling mode for the book making it fully consumable on your iPhone. The video screencasts are even formatted to display on your iPhone.

I’m offering the book at an introductory price of $20 but that is going to go up later so if you are interested, check it out now. I’m really proud of this book and I hope you dig it.

The (Red) iPhone

Screen Shot 2018-04-11 at 7.40.42 AM.png

The new Product (Red) iPhone looks pretty nice. I like the black bezel much better than last year’s version with the white bezel. Still, a few thoughts occur to me.

1. Why is this only on iPhone 8? It seems it would have been easy to make a red glass panel for the iPhone X, right?

2. Why in April after all the true believers bought their new phones months ago? I wish they would have released this back with the initial iPhone 8/X launch.

Someday I’d like to hear the story why Apple doesn’t do more iPhone colors in general. They used to regularly sale iPods with a lot more color options than they sell the iPhone and I always thought the iPhone would eventually get there, but after ten years, I’m assuming the lack of color options is a deliberate choice.