On the latest episode of Free Agents, I talk about a big birthday and Jason is learning the value of embracing a lull. My wife went back to work and I talk about the changes that creates in working at home and Team Sparky continues to expand.
Overcast versus Apple Podcasts
For years I’ve been using Overcast as my primary podcasting app. However, I have recently upgraded my car stereo to an Apple CarPlay stereo and purchased an Apple HomePod. Because of this, I was interested in using the Apple Podcasts app again, primarily because of its Siri integration. So for the last few weeks I’ve been using Apple Podcasts, but this morning I switched back to Overcast. Here are a few reasons why and things I learned along the way:
Siri Integration is Useful
Siri integration works pretty swell with the Apple Podcasts app. If I say, “Hey Siri, play podcast Mac Power Users,” it starts right up and plays the most recent episode (usually … see below). That worked both with my HomePod and in my car. Starting a podcast with your voice is pretty great. I had no instance where Siri played the wrong podcast.
However, Siri got the right podcast but the wrong episode a couple of times. For some reason, it would start playing last week’s episode instead of this week’s episode. The first note on this is that despite talking to Siri at length, I never figured out how to tell Siri to change to a different episode. If I said, “Next episode,” it played the next older episode. But when it started lower in the stack, I couldn’t figure it out. When I checked in the Podcasts app, the current episode was available, and Siri just started one further down in the stack. I never worked out how to fix this with Siri-initiated playback. This happened twice in the two weeks during which I listened to approximately 20 podcasts.
Regardless, Siri integration remains, in my opinion, Apple Podcasts’ killer feature. I sure hope Apple expands Siri to let third-party audio sources, such as podcast players and music services, use this feature. It would make Siri a lot more useful to a lot more people.
The Apple Podcasts App Needs Work
I hadn’t spent serious time with the Apple Podcasts app in several years, and while it is better, the Apple Podcasts app is still kind of a mess. It shows your subscribed shows, but it doesn’t easily let you set playlists. The controls, once you start a podcast, are not intuitive. When I tried to set the play order of multiple podcasts, it gave me constant dialogue boxes. Synchronizing my play position between devices was also slower than I expected for an Apple application.
Apple Podcasts also doesn’t include a lot of the additional features you find in third-party podcast players such as Overcast’s ability to remove dead air between speakers and more granular ability to change the playback speed of the podcast. (The Apple Podcasts app can speed up or slow down just at increments of 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, and 2x.)
There were also some strange choices made by Apple Podcasts while playing podcasts through a CarPlay device. The next track and previous track buttons on Overcast let you skip forward or backward 30 seconds on the podcast that is playing. If my mind drifts and I miss something good, I like the ability to easily rewind. Apple Podcasts uses those buttons to skip to the next podcast or entirely back to the beginning of the existing one. I realize that is a design choice, but for the way I listen to podcasts, it’s the wrong one.
We Need AirPlay 2
I often listen to podcasts while doing trivial work at my desk. With this experiment, I was spoiled by listening to podcasts through the HomePod, triggering them with Siri. They sound so much better. Switching back to Overcast, I tried to AirPlay from my phone to the HomePod and found it a lousy experience. I don’t mind the few seconds delay in establishing the connection. What I couldn’t stand was the way it would occasionally drop off and cut off the audio. This made podcasts unlistenable from Overcast to the HomePod. It looks like I’m back to the Overcast website on my Mac until AirPlay 2 shows up.
Overall
Starting your favorite podcast with Siri is a great feature, and I took to it quickly. However, all the other baggage that came with the Apple Podcasts app ultimately pushed me back to Overcast. While going through the experiment, I asked myself what were the minimum features I needed from the Apple Podcasts app in order to stick it out. I think I could have put up with the loss of Overcast Smart Speed and even lived with Apple’s goofy decision about CarPlay implementation. The real dealbreakers for me were the user interface in the Apple Podcats app combined with the occasional problem with it playing the wrong episode of a show.
Ultimately, what I’d prefer is for Apple to expand Siri for third-party audio apps so we don’t have to make these kinds of choices.
Alto’s Odyssey Ships
While I’ve never been a particular fan of endless runner games, Alto’s Adventure really grabbed me. I’m certain it’s the iPhone game I’ve logged the most hours playing. There is something special about it because it’s fun and challenging while at the same time … for lack of a better word … peaceful. The graphics and music are both wonderful. I find it very relaxing snowboarding and jumping. Even when I crash, it doesn’t feel so bad.
Today we get the sequel, Alto’s Odyssey. I’ve only spent 15 minutes with it but it’s just as fun and relaxing as the original. The gameplay is very similar but it looks like there are additional features as I get deeper and I’m looking forward to slowly unlocking them all.
Alto’s Odyssey is easy to pick up and doesn’t require you to make in-app purchases to enjoy. Control is just one finger on the screen. Give it try.
The Physical and Fiscal Benefits of the Apple Watch
Apple’s new Close Your Rings website is a good message and an excellent way to sell the Apple Watch. While I’m not particularly excited about any app using game theory to push my buttons, for the Health app I’m willing to make an exception. I’m more aware of my activity since I started wearing the Apple Watch than I’d ever been before. It’s because of those rings that I bike most places, often wake up an hour early to go on a hike, and even occasionally find myself marching up and down the stairs in my house in the evening just to make sure I get those extra 10 minutes of elevated heart rate. Don’t believe me? Look below.
Not only does this help my physical health, it also helps Apple’s fiscal health. Several times I’ve told friends about how I use the Apple Watch to track fitness, and it often ends with them nodding approvingly while saying something like, “Hmmm”. Then the next time I see them following a birthday or big holiday, they are wearing their very own Apple Watch.
The Hyper-Scheduling Experiment
For the last month, I have been conducting an experiment with more deliberate scheduling of my time. For lack of a better word, I have been calling it hyper-scheduling.
Historically, I have kept two things in my calendar: 1.) appointments and 2.) big rock-style projects. For example, if I’ve been meaning to write a certain complicated client contract for a few days and it wasn’t getting done, I would set aside several hours in my calendar specifically for that project.
With this hyper-scheduling project, I have taken that to a different level. For instance, here is my schedule from a few days ago:
6:00 – Shower, shave, and meditate
7:00 – Bicycle to Starbucks
7:20 – Write Smith contract
9:20 – Review email and social media
10:00 – Write Field Guide
11:00 – Bicycle to bank, market, and home
11:45 – Lunch
12:15 – Capture “Flags”
13:00 – Legal Work
15:00 – Field Guide screencasting
17:00 – End of day email audit
17:30 – Daily shutdown
21:00 – Jones call
A few of these require further explanation.
- I have a cool bike that I use for most of my local transportation. Anywhere within five miles of my house, I am probably biking. (Hooray for California!) I have to build that time into the schedule. All the pedaling also helps me fill my rings.
- Flag capture is the process of knocking down flagged tasks in OmniFocus. Every day I have 5-10 tasks that I have flagged to make sure I get done.
- “Legal Work” is me working through OmniFocus tasks in my legal perspective that are not flagged. I don’t truly hyper-schedule time in that block of time for each specific task I’ll work on. When I set up the day, I am not even sure what I will be doing during that time except that it will be legal work. I just have a block set aside to make calls and get non-critical client work done.
- One of the biggest advantages of this practice is the commitment I am making to spending time on the next MacSparky Field Guide. Before I started this experiment, there never seemed to be time to work on my books. Now it is built into the schedule.
- Shutdown is a whole thing I do (which I will write about another day). Relevant to this post is that as part of that shutdown, I hyper-schedule the next day so I can wake up and hit the ground running.
- Normally after I do the shutdown, I am done for the day. On this particular day, I had a conference call with a client in India so I had to get back on my horse later in the evening.
- Not all of my days are this ideal. Some days I spend driving all over Southern California meeting clients or going to the dentist. The system still works on those days too.
After doing this for a month, I am sold. The extra work involved with planning the day gets paid off with interest in productivity the next day.
A couple of things I have learned along the way with this experiment is to make sure and set up my schedule the night before. I am pretty sharp in the mornings, so I want to spend that time on client or creative work, not scheduling. Also, there is nothing wrong with setting a block of time as a commitment to types of work as opposed to a specific task, such as generally getting client work done as opposed to a specific client project.
Another thing is to accept that despite my planning, none of this is carved in stone. If a client calls in with a true emergency or I find out a friend is in the hospital, I can blow the daily plan up fairly easily. Because of the planning, on this day I knew I had about 45 minutes of flagged must-do tasks. If something came up, I would know that I need to find 45 minutes in the day to deal with the flags, and the rest could be scratched.
Most people who have thought a lot about calendars and planning preach that you must put space between events on a highly scheduled day. That is probably good advice, but a month in, I still haven’t done that and I am not feeling particularly bad about it.
The Omni Group in 2018 (Sponsor)
This week, MacSparky is sponsored by the Omni Group. Did you know that the Omni Group is going to do some amazing work this year on all of the Omni apps that you love? Ken Case recently did his 2018 Roadmap post, and we have a lot to look forward to:
OmniFocus 3 for Mac and iOS
Tags … check.
Manual sorting … check.
Flexible scheduling … check.
Improved notifications … check.
Updated design … check.
Collaboration … check.
OmniFocus for the web … check.
OmniFocus 3 is easily my most anticipated new software app of 2018.
OmniGraffle
They recently released the 7.6 update for Mac that makes using Stencils easier than ever. I use Stencils often in OmniGraffle when building diagrams, and you should too. Later this year, they will be releasing an update that makes improvements to diagramming tools.
OmniOutliner
We just got OmniOutliner 3 for iOS last week. It’s great!
OmniPlan
There are several updates for OmniPlan in the works. There will be a new “Project Summary Inspector”, and they are making improvements to the “Publish & Subscribe” sync functions.
JavaScript-Based Automation
Best of all, the Omni Group is pushing forward with its JavaScript-based automation tools across the board with its apps. Using these tools, you will be able to automate these already powerful apps with your own custom scripts, which will work in both Mac and iOS versions. Dust off your JavaScript chops, ladies and gents. This will be fun.
This is why I love Omni Group apps. As powerful as these apps are, the Omni team never rests. Go check out the Omni Group today and make sure to read the full 2018 Roadmap.
MPU 418 – Workflows with Rose Orchard
Rose Orchard joins us this week to discuss her transition from teacher to master automator including creating workflows, maximizing efficiency on Mac and iOS. We discuss the Sonos One and the Apple HomePod, travel tips and more.
Sponsors Include
- PDFpen from Smile With powerful PDF editing tools, available for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, PDFpen from Smile makes you a Mac Power User.
- The Omni Group We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
- Sanebox Stop drowning in email!
- Fracture Bring your photos to life.
Farewell Interact
This week Greg Pierce announced the end of life for Interact, my favorite Contact management app for iPhone. Reading Greg’s post, the reason isn’t primarily financial but instead difficulties and bugs with iOS contact management frameworks. I never had trouble with Interact and use it several times a week. However, I also keep all of my contact data in iCloud so I’m hardly an edge case.
I spent some time trying other third party contact apps following the announcement and none of them impressed me. If there is a silver lining, Greg concluded his post saying he’s putting all his time into Drafts 5. Since I happen to be writing these very words in Drafts, that makes me pretty happy.
The HomePod Table Tattoo
This story about people’s HomePod leaving a ring on their table is kind of crazy. How did Apple, a company that’s been shipping home electronics since the beginning, ship something that can damage your furniture? If they did know this was possible, they should have addressed it. If they didn’t know about it, that’s even more concerning. I’m probably making a bigger deal out of this than I should, but I expect more from Apple.
I don’t know how big (or small) of a problem this is but the pictures are damning. I’ve had mine on my wooden desk for a week, and there is no sign of a ring but I like this desk, and I don’t want to damage it. If you are coaster shopping, you can go crazy with something like the Pad & Quill solution or you can just cut out a piece of firm cardboard, or use an existing coaster. Ultimately, I spent $5 on a cork plant coaster from Amazon that should do the job.
Photo: John Chase, Wirecutter
OmniOutliner 3 for iOS
This week the Omni Group released OmniOutliner 3 for iOS. It’s a worthy update that brings a lot of new features to iOS including password protected outlines, an improved slide-in inspector, focus & section lists, printing and pdf support, and some great looking themes. The update also gives you an iPhone X-friendly design.
The update came out this week. I was able to easily transition using my OmniPresence outlines.
I’m most excited about this upgrade’s inclusion of the new Omni Group scripting language into this new version. I can now design scripts to build template and script-based outlines and run them on either Mac or iOS.
The Essentials version is $10, and the Pro version is $40. However, if you have OmniOutliner 2 installed, the Pro upgrade drops to $20. The new version is worth the upgrade.