I fell down this delightful rabbit hole giving the full history of the screen saver. There is a lot more to those flying toasters than you’d think.
Continue reading →Focused 223: Solving the Actual Problem, with Ian Byrd
Ian Byrd is back on Focused to talk about flexibility, focus traps, and finding balance. This episode of Focused is sponsored by: Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOCUSED.
Listen & read notes →Simple Scan: From Documents to PDFs in Seconds (Sponsor)
Scanning apps on iOS have taken a turn for the worse. Many have become bloated with features. Monetization schemes have multiplied. That’s what Greg Pierce (maker of Drafts) realized when he wanted to scan a document to a PDF. The good news is that…
Continue reading →A First Look at Apple Invites
I’ve done some project planning scripts in the past but folks have been asking about doing it with Reminders. Here you go!… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Thunderbolt 5 Devices
As Apple increasingly moves to Thunderbolt 5, some interesting devices are emerging that take advantage of this new interface. A couple that stand out, both from OWC: the OWC Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 Drive (in 2- and 4-terabyte capacity), the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub. There’s also the CalDigit…
Continue reading →Local Mail Sorting with Apple Mail
The Opal C1 Webcam is meant to be the webcam everybody actually wants to use. It\’s got tons of software features and a better lens system than anything you\’d find in most (all?) other webcams. It\’s time for me to kick the tires…
This is a post for MacSparky Labs Tier 2 (Backstage) and Tier 3 (Early Access) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Mac Power Users 783: Managing Notification Frustration
🚨 Breaking News: On this episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I dive into Apple’s vast sea of notification settings. We also cover best practices and where Apple has gotten things wrong. Open this alert to hear more! 🚨 This episode of Mac Power…
Listen & read notes →The Six Colors Report Card
I enjoyed reading (and participating in) Jason Snell’s annual Six Colors Report Card. It’s a nice barometer of how Apple is viewed from the outside by people who spend a lot of time thinking about the question.
Continue reading →The Lab Report for February 7, 2025
In this week’s episode of The Lab Report: A new app from Apple, Vision Pro turns One, still no 18.4 beta, and Sparky wraps up another year on the planet.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
Sparky’s Email Machine
I recently came up with an interesting shortcut that writes an email for you combining ChatGPT instructions and a few regular expressions. It sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Check out this video and see for yourself.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?