On this episode of Automators, Rosemary and I are joined by Tim Stringer to look at his automations and discuss the core principles of automating.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
Yesterday the announcement went public that we’ll be wrapping up the Automators podcast, with our last episode being released on Friday, November 15.
It’s strange for me to be closing down a podcast; I’ve never done that before. Indeed, it took me a long time to come around to the idea of shutting down Automators, but I do believe it’s for the best.
We are ramping up the content on Mac Power Users so there is increasing overlap between the two shows. Moreover, Rose and I both have a lot of irons in the fire, and that show requires a lot of work to prepare.
As I’m starting to think about 2025, I want to focus on the MacSparky Labs even more, so something had to give. Of all my commitments, Automators seemed the right one to give up. I know this is disappointing for some of you, but I will continue to cover automation topics in the Labs and on the Mac Power Users podcast as well, and I hope you can understand.
Now that the iPhone 16 has been out for a while, I’ve heard from several listeners and readers who are unhappy with the Camera Control on their iPhone 16 model. Specifically, many of you get accidental triggers or accidentally get into the photos settings when you only want to take a picture. I’ve got to admit, it hasn’t been that hard for me. I like the advanced features, but if they drive you nuts, you can turn them off.
Go to the Settings app, Accessibility, and you’ll find Camera Control. Under the Controls Gesture section, toggle off both Light-Press and Swipe. That’s it. You’re good. Now, Camera Control activates the camera and takes a picture, nothing more.
I know Apple continues refining the Camera Control’s sensitivity with software updates, so I recommend turning the advanced features back on occasionally to see if they get easier to use for you. They are pretty nice.
I’m pleased to announce that the Focused Wall Calendar for 2025 is now on sale. We’ve been collaborating for years with the NeuYear calendar people, and it is, in my opinion, the best wall calendar on the market.
Mike and I spent a lot of time adjusting it over the years to get it just right. A couple of the features that I love:
You can buy it now. (whispering) Mine is already on order.
There are a lot of great time-tracking applications out there, but one of the absolute best for Mac users is Timing. That’s because it is a native app on your Mac with a bunch of built-in automation. You don’t have to worry about pushing buttons to reset timers. The app pays attention to what you’re doing and gives you a report later.
Along those lines, Timing received an update recently that includes AI-generated summaries of your day. It gives you a concise view of what you did throughout the day and is entirely automated. I just started using the feature, so I need to spend a bit more time before I can recommend it. However, I thought the mere inclusion of the feature was noteworthy. If you’re interested in time tracking and haven’t looked at Timing lately, you should.
This week, MacSparky is sponsored by SoundSource, a utility I use daily. The problem with the Mac’s native sound controls is that they are designed for people who need them once every few years. If you need to adjust your sound settings more than that, you need SoundSource.
Whether you listen to podcasts, rock out with music, or stream video, SoundSource is for everyone who uses audio on their Mac. SoundSource gives you per-app audio control, letting you change the volume of any app, and route individual apps to different audio devices. Mute your browser, or send music to one set of speakers and everything else to another.
Want to improve sound quality? Use SoundSource to apply effects to any audio on your Mac. Boost volume levels, add an equalizer, and even apply advanced Audio Units. SoundSource also provides fast access to your Mac’s audio devices, so there’s no need to dig around in System Preferences when you need to adjust things.
Oh, and one more thing…if you have a DisplayPort or HDMI device that fails to offer volume adjustment, SoundSource can help there too. It gives those devices a proper volume slider, and the Super Volume Keys feature makes your keyboard volume controls work as well. Neat! All this power is available right from your menu bar, with SoundSource.
SoundSource, like all of Rogue Amoeba’s audio capture apps, has recently been updated to be easier to install than ever before. Gone are the restarts and system settings adjustments that used to be necessary. Now you can be up and running in under a minute.
Through the end of October, MacSparky readers can save 20% off any purchase from Rogue Amoeba, with coupon code SPARK20. Learn more and download a free trial on the SoundSource site.
And don’t forget, SoundSource is from Rogue Amoeba, which is the authority for sound processing on your Mac.
I finally got around to trying Widgetsmith 7 for iOS 18, which is a significant improvement from the previous version. Widgetsmith, the leader in the customizable Home Screen app genre, expands its feature set with support for Control Center, Lock Screen, and Home Screen customization. The new version of the application takes full advantage of these new features and brings a bunch of customization that I expect Apple would never include.
In many ways, this reminds me of the old days when we would all customize our Mac computers with apps like this. You can choose from Widgetsmith’s Icon Pack or import your own to customize your iPhone’s look and feel.
If you’d like to take your Home Screen customization to a new level, check out Widgetsmith 7.
Stephen Millard joins Mac Power Users to talk about some of his favorite Mac apps and the role of automation.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
Rumors are we will get a new iPad mini later this month. The seventh generation iPad mini looks to have several nice improvements with better specs, an A18 chip, and hopefully support for the Apple Pencil Pro. But overall, it’s going to be the same iPad mini.
So many people in the MacSparky Labs have asked me about Apple releasing an iPad mini Pro. The iPad mini is a perfect mobile device for many folks, but they’d like just a bit more power and features as you get with the iPad Pro in the other sizes. Why not make one with the best possible screen and the improved “Pro” design aesthetics?
I’m sure Apple has researched this and, for whatever reason, decided not to make one. But I can tell you that among the MacSparky Labs folks, an iPad mini Pro would be popular.
I often hear from listeners and readers looking for a research solution in the Mac ecosystem. My favorite app for this, without a doubt, is DEVONthink. DEVONthink is the most professional document and information management application for the Mac. It’s the one place for storing all your documents, snippets, or bookmarks, and working with them.
The integrated AI engine assists you with filing and searching, while the extensive search language includes advanced Boolean operators.
DEVONthink features a flexible sync system that supports many cloud services — or lets you synchronize over your local network — with everything securely encrypted. This gives you the choice for whichever syncing works best for you!
It has Smart rules and flexible reminders that let you automate all parts of your workflow and delegate boring, repeating tasks. Let DEVONthink automatically organize your data with rules you define!
DEVONthink’s AppleScript dictionary is one of the best on the Mac. There’s no part of DEVONthink that can’t be automated. Extend DEVONthink’s functionality with your own commands by adding them to its Scripts menu. Even templates can have scripts inside and you can set up new documents with data from placeholders, or inserted using your own AppleScript code.
DEVONthink just continues to get better. In the latest update they improved PDF annotation, Evernote import, Markdown functionality, and added even more AppleScript and JavaScript automation.
I find DEVONthink’s combination of innovative features and automation support irresistible. Interested? MacSparky readers can get a 20% discount on DEVONthink.