Ulysses, a Noteworthy Addition to the iPad

A few years ago I first noticed Ulysses emerging from the dearth of text editors on the Mac. Except for Scrivener, there just aren’t many writing applications that give a writer the types of tools that can help them elevate their game.

Ulysses for Mac stands out and the Ulysses team, for lack of a better word, “gets it”. They have a vision for a writing application that is not a Scrivener clone but yet still follows that same vein of writing tools that ignore things like micro-adjustments of underline thickness in favor or organizational tools that focus on making the words themselves better.

I started using Ulysses on my Mac and was really impressed not only with the initial vision but the developers’ continuous, innovative march. What I really wanted, however, was a way to use Ulysees not only on my Mac but also on my iPad.

Today we got Ulysses for iPad.

The application takes advantage of iCloud to keep keep all of my bits of text organized in its unified library where I can obsess over my precious words and later create PDFs, web pages, and even ePubs with a few taps.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve been waiting for an app like this since Steve Jobs first sat in that comfy chair to show us the iPad. Finally, big-boy writing projects can move easily between the iPad and Mac.

Ulysses provides a focussed writing experience with the necessary bits, like footnotes and links, but not the fiddly bits that are so good at getting between you and your best words.

I’ve been using the beta and find it to be a great fit not only for my big projects but even my smaller ones. I’m just so impressed with the power and versatility that Ulysses provides without the messy, intrusive interface that so often shows up in apps with this much muscle.

And best of all, for me, is that the iPad and Mac versions have nearly identical features so I can easily jump between platforms and continue to get work done. The application even supports Handoff so the jump is seamless.

There is a lot more I could say about Ulysses for Mac and now iPad. I am going to cover it in more detail in the coming months. For now, my advice is that if you’re looking for something more from your writing tools and spend your time on the Mac and iPad, head over to the app store and pick up Ulysses for the Mac and for iPad.

MPU 245: My Neighbors Think I’m Completely Insane

In episode 245 of Mac Power Users, Katie and I discuss Smart Folders with guest Joel Anderson. We also follow up on texting workflows, managing large scans and OCR quality, journaling, compare Launch Center Pro and Workflow, talk about monitoring your home network usage, help a listener assemble media for a family legacy project, and discuss the Apple Watch. Also, Katie judges me on my colored Hue lights.

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Find Files on Your Mac with HoudahSpot 4

Several years ago I was walking the floor of Macworld Expo and met Pierre Bernard. Pierre is one of the legions of smart, indie software developers that chooses to ply his trade on the Mac.

Pierre showed me HoudahSpot and explained that this application was like Spotlight search on the Mac if the Apple engineers were allowed to turn it several notches up. That was years ago and Pierre is still plugging away at making HoudahSpot the best application for finding files on your Mac. A few weeks ago, he released version 4.

While Spotlight has improved a lot since then, it still makes you jump through hoops to find files. HoudahSpot has a simple interface that lays the search criteria out for you before you start searching.

HoudahSpot can find files by name, text, content kind, author, recipient, pixel count, and many more search criteria, all of which can be mixed and matched on a single search. You can also specify which folders to search or which to exclude. There simply is no faster way to ferret out files on your Mac.

You can save frequently used search criteria as snippets to use again in the future. The app even has templates to get you started with commonly used searches, like photos or “long lost files”.

One feature, that feels a bit like witchcraft is “Find by Example”. Drag a file from search results (or from the Finder) onto a search criterion. HoudahSpot then matches the file properties and looks for other, similar files. It’s nuts.

There is a lot to like with the 4.0 update. I also just think it’s pretty great that after all these years Pierre can still pay for his shoes by making high-octane search tools for my Mac. Download the trial at the website and see if you don’t get hooked. Also, check out the online user guide and HoudahSpot tips blog for more ideas about how to use it.

Lawyerist Interview

I did an interview with Sam Glover, proprietor of the Lawyerist website, a few days after striking out on my own about going indie and my favorite Mac tools in the day job. Sam is a clever guy and I thought the show came out great.

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Thoughts on Today’s Apple Event

There have been a lot of hardworking journalists putting out a lot of great content about today’s Apple event. I’m in bed sick and instead wrote down some medicated thoughts and now I’ve decided to publish them here. What could go wrong?

Watching the China store opening I was struck by the question of how a company instills so much devotion and emotion in customers over a new retail store opening. I think the answer is in delight.
Doesn’t HBO coming to Apple TV feel like the tiny hole in the dike that could pull the whole thing down?
I felt like the whole Apple TV bit was sort of a tease. Apple TV still needs an overhaul.
700 Million iPhones. That’s 700,000,000.
At the next Apple event or earnings call, every time Tim says “customer sat”, I’m going to have a shot.
As technology becomes more ingrained in our every day life, using our iPhones for medical research makes so much sense. Also, open sourcing this is wonderful.
The new MacBook is very sexy. My current laptop is three years old. I’m currently in the reality distortion field so I’ll have to sit tight for a week or so.
The way Apple managed to customize the battery to fit every nook and crany of the MacBook is brilliant. It almost seems as if they poured the battery in.
One port. In the future we will look back on one port as a bold step (like USB in the iMac) or the 2015 equivalent of the round mouse. They didn’t mention that getting to VGA or HDMI requires a $79 adapter.
It’s pretty interesting that the new MacBook does not have build-to-order configurations. There are two configurations. Pick one.
I’m pretty curious about how hot the new fanless MacBook gets. I’m looking forward to the in-depth reviews.
I really like San Francisco, both as a city and as an Apple Watch font.
The Apple Watch’s friends list UI changed since the initial watch announcement. I’m not sure the tap targets in the old version were big enough or ever intended to ship.
Tim Cook was much less awkward with Christy Turlington than with Bono. I wonder if they practiced. That may also be because health and fitness are clearly some of Tim’s favorite subjects.
Remember how we all bemoaned Kevin Lynch and his Flash post? I’m eating crow today because I thought he did a great job demoing the Apple Watch in a usual day. That was the best Apple Watch demo yet.
I’m going to have so much fun screwing with my nerd friend’s watches and “Hey Siri”.
18 hours of battery life is good enough if that holds true. This is another one I’m looking forward to seeing real world experiences but Apple has given more detail than I expected and it’s promising.
The 42mm Sport Watch plus the leather loop band will cost $550. The Stainless Steel version with the leather loop band is only $150 more. I didn’t expect them to be that close.
Did you notice how there was no slide with the number $10,000 on it?
Overall, Tim carried a lot more of the load in this presentation than he has in the past. He’s not Steve (who is?) but he also seems to have found his groove in front of an audience.
Wow. I can hardly wait for April.

MPU 244: When Bad Things Happen

Over the years Katie and I have heard from lots of listeners with tales of woe about Apple devices getting broken, stolen, and dunked in water. This episode gives you the low down on what to do in dark times.

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Apple Watch Anticipation

Tomorrow Apple is having their “Spring Forward” event to discuss further plans about the Apple Watch and, hopefully, a few other new and shiny things. There’s been a lot of speculation lately about pricing. I’m sure looking forward to that being over. How much they may charge for that gold watch is purely academic for me and probably 99% of everyone else reading this. Unless the stainless steel model is remarkably close to the aluminum model (which doesn’t make much sense), I will be purchasing an aluminum Apple Watch. I know myself well enough to know that when the tech gets better in a year or two, I’ll buy a new one.

All that being said, I sure am looking forward to getting one of these things. Lately I’ve found myself spending time at the Apple Watch website and re-watching the original videos when it was unveiled. I’ve also been wearing my Pebble watch again since last October and find that the ability to get notifications on my wrist with my phone in my pocket is really convenient. It will be even better with the Apple Watch that has much deeper ties into the operating system than Apple would ever permit Pebble.

While I am pretty stingy about which notifications I let through on my phone, those that do come through are absolutely essential. For example, I set notifications for nearly all of my appointments. If I don’t have my phone reminding me, there’s a good chance I will miss it. Because I often stack meetings together, this requires me to take my phone out of my pocket while I’m in a meeting when it inevitably goes off to tell me I have to get to the next meeting. Doing this by just glancing at my watch makes a lot more sense and is a lot less intrusive.

Likewise, I ultimately gave up on the iPhone 6 Plus earlier this year when I was in an elevator and got a message that I could not read because I couldn’t unlock my phone with just one hand without risking dropping it. That problem completely goes away with an Apple Watch.

Also, Apple Pay without taking the phone out of my pocket seems like a pretty good idea. While I wish more vendors supported Apple Pay, I find myself gravitating to those that do and use it several times a week.

There are a lot more good reasons to use an Apple Watch including the ability to track fitness, communicate easier, and (hopefully) turn on the lights in your house once HomeKit gets sorted out.

Because I’m an iNerd, there’s no way I can avoid buying one of these things. I will also be watching the event tomorrow and look forward to learning more. While Apple has been teasing the Apple Watch so far, I suspect after tomorrow’s announcement, the media blitz will really begin.

Jazz Friday – Tivoli

Dexter Gordon is most famous for the way he plays his tenor saxophone. He was also quite accomplished, however on the soprano saxophone. In 1986, Dexter starred in a movie about an aging jazz musician in Paris in the 50s. The movie was called ‘Round Midnight and did very well. Dexter received an Academy award nomination for his role. (It was also what my wife and I watched on our first date.)

There was so much great music in this movie that they made two soundtracks. My favorite is the second, The Other Side Of ‘Round Midnight.

I used to have a jazz playlist that I often used whenever I was playing with my girls when they were little. I have a vivid memory of playing with my oldest daughter on a windy day with this song playing in the backyard. As a result, I smile every time the song comes on my playlist.

Setting aside my own sentimentality, Tivoli is a sort-of rolling waltz with Dexter Gorden pushing through the melody on his soprano sax and getting the solo just right. Cedar Walton on piano plays a brilliant counter point to the melody and Mads Vinding on bass does this trick as the song gets rolling where he holds the tempo back just ever so slightly, like reigning in a comfortable horse on a country stroll. Tivoli is a really great song and a nice start to your weekend. You can get it on iTunes here.

Home Screen: Kevin Wild

This week’s home screen post features Kevin Wild (Twitter)(website). Kevin writes about technology at the Hungry and the Foolish. Kevin was nice enough to share his home screen. So Kevin, show us your home screen.

What are some of your favorite apps?

It’s hard to narrow it down!

I love Day One for keeping my journal. VSCOcam is the best camera app I’ve found. I’ve downloaded virtually every podcast app available, but nothing beats the thoughtful UI of Overcast. Reeder stores all my RSS feeds and lets me keep up with our ever-changing world. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to be more organized; Scanbot lets me turn all of those pesky paper receipts into a digital library. Slack is quickly becoming invaluable for keeping up with my work colleagues.

Oh yeah, I can’t forget Tweetbot!

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

I’d have to say it’s Plex. I have my entire media library stored on an external HDD which runs the Plex software. I love being able to access it remotely when I have some downtime. It’s almost like Netflix, but with better content.

Also, Catan.

What is the app you are still missing?

I’m writing my book, Turnover, in Ulysses and would love to edit it using an iPhone app. I noticed they recently announced an iPad app, so hopefully an iPhone version is on the way.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

I have purposely avoided keeping track, but I’d have to say I use it more than I should. iPhone separation anxiety is a real. One thing I’ve done recently to reduce my iPhone usage is deactivate all my push notifications (save for the Messages and Phone app). It’s helped me reduce distractions and stay focused on the task at hand.

What Today View widgets are you using and why?

I don’t use the app itself, but I love the Fantastical widget and how it lets me quickly check into my schedule for the day. Yahoo! Sports is key for keeping up with my favorite teams. I also love the Clear widget although (ironically) I don’t use the app itself either. I simply enjoy the random quotes it pulls up every time I check Notification Center.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone?

The camera by far. I purchased a DLSR a while back, but still end up using my iPhone as my main camera. It’s hard to beat the combination of quality, ease of use and portability. Add in a amazing app like VSCOcam and I can’t think of a better all-around camera to have in your hand.

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

I’d improve the App Store by offering a better search function, free trials of paid apps, and optional paid updates.

What’s your wallpaper and why?

I know it’s dull, but I prefer to have simple pattern-based wallpapers for my home screen. I’m obsessed over how my wallpaper contrasts the app icons.

On my lock screen, where there are no app icons to contrast, I have a picture of my wife from our honeymoon in California.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’d love to connect with anyone interested in discussing Apple or technology in general. You can keep up with me on The Hungry and Foolish (my blog) and contact me on Twitter (@Kevuhnn).

Thanks Kevin.