This week MacSparky is sponsored by SaneBox, the email service that adds power features to any email system. With SaneBox at your back, you add a powerful set of email tools that can work in just about any email client. SaneBox will automatically sort your email for you, defer your email to a more convenient time, set reminders, and automatically forward email. 

One of my favorites is SaneReminders. With SaneReminders you can copy (or blind copy) an email to some time period at SaneBox.com. For example, 1week@sanebox.com. SaneBox will then keep track of that email and, if you don’t get a reply in a week, SaneBox will send you a reminder. This is a great way to keep track of email related tasks.

I use this feature a lot. So often I need to keep track of matters through email before they raise to the level of an OmniFocus project. SaneReminders are perfect for this. I send the email, activate SaneReminders, and SaneBox does the rest.

You can also use this system to send your future self time-sensitive reminders. For example, you could send an email to Feb14.2pm@sanebox.com with the subject line, “Buy Valentine Gift for Sweetheart” and SaneBox will send you the reminder at the designated date and time. SaneBox explains reminders further on their website.

Best of all, because you’re a MacSparky reader, you can get $10 off. Try SaneBox today.

I’ve spent the last 24 hours playing with my silver iPhone X and occaisionally making a few notes. Here they are:

• Face ID is the real deal. I already like it better than Touch ID. I’m not the first person to say this, but it reminds me of the original iPhone where there was no authentication at all. You just lift the phone up and start working. Security almost becomes a non-event. I’ve tested it in the dark, outside with the sun at my back (and front), with sunglasses, and with a hat. It just works. I’m letting my beard grow for the week to see what happens but I fully expect it to continue working fine. The only failure I’ve encountered is when the phone is held upside down, which isn’t really fair but easier than you think given this buttonless flat piece of glass.
• 1Password and Face ID together are kind of awesome. It does feel like living in the future.
• The longer screen makes sense. I spend a lot of time in apps that list data, like Notes, OmniFocus, and Fantastical. The extra vertical space is useful. Some apps handle the extra space (and notch) nicely. Others don’t, but it’s too early to call anyone out. The conscientious developers will figure out the best UI for the new display.
• Speaking of the notch, I don’t like it. When I’m in an app that has a dark user interface, I don’t notice it. When I’m in a light colored app interface, I think it looks terrible. Edge-to-edge everywhere else really makes the notch stand out. All that said, I’m glad Apple didn’t wait until they could bury the sensors under the screen to make this phone. As much as I don’t like the notch, I’m willing to live with it in exchange for all the other stuff the phone can do.
• After years of buying Space Gray, this year I went Silver. There are a few reasons for that. First, the silver phone still has a black bezel in front. (I wasn’t a fan of the white bezel.) Second, those stainless steel edges look damn fine next to my stainless steel Apple Watch. It kind of reminds me of the original iPhone. (Catching a theme here?)
• Looking at an iPhone sans home button is jarring. After 10 years of seeing the same face on my phone, it still looks like something got cut off.
• The new gestures do not take long to internalize. It’s kind of remarkable to me how quickly swiping up for home screen became second nature. I’m still not sold on having to go to the right ear to swipe down the control center. I’d have preferred a long swipe up from the bottom. Swiping left or right on the home bar lets you switch between apps. That is easily best app switching gesture Apple has provided us to date.
• Reachability is taking a back seat. You have to go to accessibility preferences to turn it on and the gesture, swiping down at the home bar feels awkward to me.
• The OLED screen looks great but it is not on the same level as the transition from non-retina to retina screens. After just a day, I don’t notice the OLED as much as I thought I would
• Coming from the 7 Plus, the new camera system is better. This is particularly true with the 2X lens, which now also includes image stabilization and lets in more light. Indoor shots have improved. I took several test photos on my walk this morning and the iPhone continues to take better pictures. The biggest upgrade is the selfie camera, that can now take a pretty great portrait-style selfie. There’s a gallery below.
• The sleep/wake button on the right is bigger and more prominent than I’ve ever seen it on the iPhone.
• The iPhone X sounds excellent. I turned up the volume all the way, and the iPhone X speaker is fine for podcasts, audio books, and – in a real pinch – Dexter Gordon.
• It’s too early to report on battery life. This thing has been hot and sucking down battery since I first turned it on. That’s typical for someone like me that has his entire life stored in cloud services. I expect things will calm down in a few days.
• Carrier authorization when I was first setting things up was a mess. This also reminded me of the first iPhone.
• Transitioning from a Plus size phone down to the iPhone X has been interesting. I like the way the smaller phone fits in my hand, and I’d forgotten about that feeling after using the bigger phone for the last two years. Despite physically being nearly the same size as the standard phone, the screen is nearly as big as the Plus size screen, which almost makes you feel like it is bigger on the inside. I’m worse at typing on the smaller on-screen keyboard but, overall, I’m looking forward to carrying a smaller phone.
• Overall, I like the iPhone X. I guess there is no surprise in that. It’s not going to change the world in the same way the original iPhone did, but after so many years of evolutionary updates to the iPhone, it’s kind of nice to have something a little more revolutionary.

We had a lot of clouds last night. This is a slow shutter shot with the iPhone X on a tripod using ProCam.

Some flowers with portrait mode.

Here is a non-tripod based Live Photo with the long exposure effect.

Portrait mode outdoors.

Selfie portrait mode. Note how good it does with the background blur. As they say … a face for radio.

John Voorhees (Twitter) joined MacStories in 2015. He is an editor and regular contributor to MacStories and the Club MacStories newsletters, co-hosts AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, with Federico Viticci, and handles sponsorship sales for MacStories and AppStories. John is also the creator of Blink, an iOS app that creates links for the iTunes Affiliate Program. So John, show us your home screen

What are some of your favorite apps?

My Home screen is organized to put my most-used apps within easy reach. I’m left-handed, so that means the lower left corner of the screen is where my most heavily used apps live.

If I’m mobile and using my iPhone, you can bet I’m listening to podcasts or music. My daily podcast player is Overcast because I love its Smart Speed feature, but I also use Castro, which added amazing drag and drop support with iOS 11. 

Apple Music has come a long way since its early days. I’ve found that the algorithmic playlists are much more closely aligned with my tastes than in the past and I’m a fan of the new social features. Every few days I find myself browsing through what friends are listening to, which is a fantastic way to expand your musical horizons.

My iPhone is also all about communication. Messages is the primary way I chat with friends and family, so it gets the coveted first position in the dock. 

Slack is where conversations with MacStories team members happen. It’s where we plan the Club MacStories newsletter, post links to interesting news stories, and coordinate article assignments. 

Airmail can be a little buggy at times, but its customization and third-party integrations can’t be beaten. I keep it just out of easy reach and don’t use badges because I don’t want to be dipping in and out of email constantly, but I also need to have it readily available.

Tweetbot is always close by too. I don’t view Twitter as the productivity sink that most people think it is. It can be if you let it, but at least half of the time I spend in Tweetbot I consider research because it’s where I find leads on apps to cover on MacStories. That said, it’s also where I kick back to joke around with my friends as a break from work.

Most of my Home screen consists of work-related apps. Blink is an app I built that I use for creating iTunes affiliate links to the apps I write about. I keep up with the latest Apple and tech news with Inoreader, a highly customizable RSS reader and save stories I find interesting in Pocket for reading later and linking to on MacStories or our weekly Club MacStories newsletter. Other research material is stored in DevonTHINK To Go or Apple’s Notes app. I’m in Safari on and off all day, so it’s in my dock as is my task manager, Todoist, which is where all my work and personal tasks go. I’ve tried many task managers and always come back to Todoist because it’s so easy to get tasks into it and to collaborate with others. My ‘Bidness’ folder is full of ‘money’ apps for my banks, PayPal, Stripe, TransferWise, and Xero to name a few. 

What app makes you most productive?

Ulysses is the app that I spend the most time in each day whether it’s writing for MacStories and Club MacStories or preparing materials for AppStories. I don’t use it frequently on my iPhone, but for quick edits and rough drafts in places where I don’t have my Mac or iPad, it works in a pinch. The two other apps that make me most productive on my iPhone are Working Copy, which we use to share and collaborate on writing projects with the MacStories team, and Workflow, which automates the setup of each week’s Club MacStories newsletter.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?

It varies depending on whether I’m in front of my Mac. If I’m on my Mac, my iPhone gets used to respond to text messages or run a Workflow, but if I’m away from my Mac, my iPhone gets used whenever I’m not occupied by another task.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad.

My favorite feature of the iPhone is the ability to work anywhere and stay in touch with others. Before I left my day job as a lawyer, I ran every aspect of my side hustles from my iPhone. I also have friends who are scattered across the globe who I’m lucky if I see once a year. Whether we’re catching up on what each other has been doing or collaborating on a project, the iPhone is the glue that connects us. 

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?

I’d start by bringing inter-app drag and drop to the iPhone. I understand why Apple chose to limit dragging items between apps to the iPad, but apps like Castro and Bear have demonstrated the power of in-app drag and drop on the iPhone, which would be even more powerful if there was a way to drag items between apps.

Today Apple had its quarterly earnings call. Jason Snell covered it with his usual aplomb at Six Colors. There are a few bits that stood out.

The iPad Continues to Grow

iPad growth is up 11%. After so many years of decline, that’s good news. I always believed in you, iPad.

Services are For Real

Services have grown to 16% of Apple’s overall revenue. It was $30 billion in 2017. That is a lot of services. Hopefully that means Apple continues to improve iCloud.

Big Days Ahead

Apple is expecting between $84B and $87B in sales in the next quarter. That’s nuts. It seems like just a few years ago that Steve Jobs was astounded about Apple being a $50B per year company.

There’s a lot more, including many pretty graphs over at Six Colors.