Post Category → not-labs

New iOS Accessibility Features

Apple is pre-announcing features again as we head toward WWDC. This time it is several new accessibility features:

Assistive Access

This feature addresses users with cognitive disabilities, combining and simplifying the communication features into a single app and adding other features, like an emoji-only keyboard.

Personal Voice and Live Speech

This feature is for people suffering from disabilities that impact their ability to speak. (They specifically call out ALS.) With Personal Voice you can train your iPhone to generate a voice that sounds like yours. There are a bunch of security implications for this, but Apple has the bases covered.

Magnifier App

This is getting several improvements, making it easier to interact with text labels and allowing the phone to announce text on each button.

Voice Control

There are better guides to help you set it up, and now the inclusion of phonetic suggestions for similar-sounding words.

Over the years, I’ve heard from many readers/listeners with disabilities praising their Apple devices. I think this is one of those things Apple always prioritizes. A few years ago, a shareholder suggested Apple could get a better return on investment by backing off accessibility features. His response: “When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI.”

As we head into WWDC and it increasingly looks like Apple will announce the new headset, expect them to be clearing the decks with more announcements like this.

The Dell 6K Monitor

Dell first promised this monitor (dubbed the Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor (U3224KB)) at CES. Now we’re getting more details with a promised release in the first half of this year. Priced at $3,199 ($2,559 at launch), it comes in at about half the price of Apple’s Pro Display XDR (with the stand). The tradeoffs are:

  • Color quality: This is not the same reference spec as the XDR.
  • Build quality: The XDR is a beast.
  • Beauty: To me, the big lens on top of the Dell is ugly. (This is admittedly subjective.)

In addition to the price difference, you also get a built-in webcam and speakers. And that price difference is significant. Compared to the Pro Display XDR, you’ll have enough money to buy a well-specced Mac to go along with it. It is worth considering if you are looking for a 6K monitor (I LOVE mine). Ars Technica digs it.

Mac Power Users 692: State of the Platforms (Spring 2023)

With WWDC just three weeks away, Stephen and I are using this episode of Mac Power Users to take a look at Apple’s various platforms and take stock of where things are in the spring of 2023.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • TextExpander: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander.
  • SaneBox: Stop drowning in email!
  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
  • CleanMyMac X: Your Mac. As good as new. Get 5% off today.

Raycast Pro

This week popular extensible app launcher and the new kid on the block, Raycast, released its pro version. Historically the application has been free for individual users, with a paid version for teams. That’s now changed. For $8/month (paid annually), you get a Pro version that includes all of the features you get historically with the free version, along with their AI text generation engine, cloud sync, custom themes, an unlimited clipboard, and a promise for new features in the future.

The price feels steep for that feature set. That said, there are a lot of people who love Raycast. Paying for the tool helps guarantee its future existence and evolution. 

I don’t feel like I’ve given it a fair chance. I’ve tried it several times, but I keep returning to my beloved Alfred. So I’ve decided to experiment and signed up for a few months of the Raycast Pro. I’ll be kicking the tires and reporting back. Stay tuned.

SaneBox: Reduce the Noise (Sponsor) 

All of the emails in your inbox want your attention. But do they all need it? And do they need it right now? No, and you can cut down on the noise with SaneBox, MacSparky’s sponsor this week. 

With SaneBox, you can reduce the volume. SaneBox creates folders and moves unimportant emails there.  A folder for distractions. A folder for newsletters. A folder for CC’d emails. Initially, you’ll train SaneBox and their powerful A.I. will filter these non-urgent emails out of your inbox. Cut down on the noise and focus on what you need to. SaneBox will summarize the emails that didn’t make it into your inbox into a digest and you can deal with those emails when you’re ready to.  

Interested in a quieter inbox? You can give it a spin by signing up for a free trial, and you’ll get a $10 credit you can use towards a SaneBox subscription. Reduce the noise of your inbox, and be more productive every day with SaneBox.

Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad

For many years we’ve been asking for them. Now we are getting them. Apple explains these apps are designed for a “touch-first” interface. Interestingly, while we’ve been waiting for these apps on the iPad, very credible pro-level video and audio apps have already established themselves. Both apps will release on May 23. I’m looking forward to seeing how they work.

Separately, it is curious that Apple will release these apps before WWDC. Could that mean Apple’s dance card is already full for the WWDC Keynote? If so, we may get more interesting announcements in the weeks leading up to WWDC.

Focused 177: The Care and Feeding of Technology, with Mike Rohde

Mike Rohde is back on Focused to talk about the role of analog and digital tools in maintaining creative focus. 

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Indeed: Join more than three million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • Zocdoc: Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free.
  • NetSuite: The leading integrated cloud business software suite. Get a special one-of-a-kind financing offer: no interest, no payments for six months.

Mac Power Users 691: Workflows with David Rosenthal

David Rosenthal is a world-renowned keyboardist, musical director, synthesizer programmer, and composer. At the heart of his work is the Mac, and on this episode of Mac Power Users, we talk about his background, career, gear, and more.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Never forget a password again.
  • NetSuite: The leading integrated cloud business software suite. Get a special one-of-a-kind financing offer: no interest, no payments for six months.
  • Indeed: Join more than three million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • Fast Growing Trees: We keep you growing. Get 15% off your order.