Simon Støvring is on Automators again to talk to Rosemary and me about the automation developer’s journey, productivity on the Vision Pro, and Shortcuts support in apps.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
With the iOS 17.4 update, the Podcasts app from Apple now has the ability to create transcripts of podcasts. This is great news. For years, people have asked me to add transcripts to the Mac Power Users and my other shows, but the problem has always been that it is cost prohibitive. With the explosion of artificial intelligence over the last year or two, that is no longer the case. And not only that, it’s built-in to the app, so we don’t even need to produce it ourselves.
A couple nice features is that the transcript is searchable and tapping on an area of the transcript jumps the audio to that point.
This is a really nice update to Podcasts. Is it going to be enough to pull me away from Overcast? Probably not. But I’m at least going to take a serious look.
It’s time for the Lab Report, covering this week’s Apple news, rumors, and more… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
This Deep Dive is all about time tracking. David shares how he does it, and shows the apps he uses to get it done.… This is a post for the Early Access MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
I’m thrilled to once again have Flexibits’ fantastic calendar app as a MacSparky sponsor. I am definitely a calendar power-user and I use Fantastical every day at MacSparky HQ and I keep being blown away by how much it can do for me.
This is one subscription that gives me great value, and I’m happy to keep renewing. Flexibits published a nice video recap in December so you can see for yourself all the hard work they put in. For me, some features really landed and continue to make managing my calendar events and Zoom calls a breeze:
Openings and Proposals links got a lot better and I can now add contact details in the URL link.
Live Activities — for those of us with a Dynamic Island-equipped iPhone, seeing your upcoming Fantastical event in this prime spot is so handy, and you can get right to it with a tap.
In June, the Quarter view was added to the Mini Window on Mac. This is my favorite view in Fantastical and one that I’m convinced they added just for me.
With iOS 17 came interactive widgets, and SmartStack and StandBy widgets, too. Fantastical was ready, and took advantage of these new features in September. I use widgets all the time. They also made the Apple Watch app so much nicer and easier to use.
I could go on and on…but I think you’re getting it: Fantastical has never been better, and if you’re wondering whether it’s right for you, head over there now and give it a spin! Managing your events, tasks, and meetings has never felt as good.
Paletro is a simple utility that helps you find any menu item in the app you’re in. Just invoke it with a shortcut (⇧ ⌘ P by default) and type part of the command you’re looking for. … This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
I recently watched David Greelish’s documentary, Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa. It’s a love letter to the Apple Lisa. For those who’ve never heard of Lisa, it was Apple’s original attempt to make a graphical user-based computer. While not a commercial success, the lessons learned with Lisa made the Macintosh possible.
Highlights for me in the documentary:
Greg Pierce (the guy who makes Drafts) released a handy little scanning app for the iPhone that does just that. It simply scans and saves documents. Here’s a short tutorial on how it works.… This is a post for the Early Access and Backstage MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
On this Mac Power Users feedback episode, Stephen and I check in with the Vision Pro, discuss plumbing super powers, the mysteries of AppleCare, and more.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
This week, we got the news that Apple canceled its Apple Car program (Project Titan). Apple spent the last ten years poking around the edges of making cars and, according to Bloomberg, got to a critical decision point recently and decided to pass.
I’m relieved for several reasons:
My big point, however, is that first one: I don’t know how they could build out the car business and retain their current focus on the Apple products I like most.