Author: Matthew Cassinelli

Categories
Gear

Get High-Quality Mac Accessories with Elgato’s Black Friday Sale

If you’ve ever been interested in customizable keys for your Mac, boom arms for your streaming or podcasting mics, a teleprompter for video calls and recording, or high-quality lights you can control from an app (plus much more), Elgato’s Black Friday sale is your chance to invest in new gear at a more-affordable price.

With sales of 15% up to 30% on select products, you can get the Stream Deck, Wave Mic Arm, and Prompter, plus everything below on sale for this weekend only. Here’s what’s newly on sale, not including all the discounts from their early Black Friday pre-sale1 – I use all of these except the Pro mic arm (because I already gave the LP version):

My personal favorite though? The Prompter + Key Light Mini + Cold Shoe combo, a $379.99 bundle for only $199.99.

I’m also happy to answer any questions on social media if you’re unsure of anything – nobody wants to buy something they won’t use, so I can always help assess what’s right for your setup.

I’ve also been sharing posts on my site throughout this year as an Elgato Partner, so check out these stories from today’s products on sale:

Check out all the sales on Elgato’s site for Black Friday and the week before, and check out my blog tag for all my Elgato posts.

P.S. If you’re reading this after Black Friday, you can use my Elgato Partner code ZZ-CASSINELLI for 5% off at checkout.

  1. My partner discount code can’t be combined with existing deals, but these discounts are already larger than what I’d have saved you at full price. ↩

 

Categories
Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Comixology from Amazon shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Comixology shortcuts for reading comics using Comixology from Amazon and the Kindle website.

Use these to manage your library, find new comics to buy, and check out Comixology Unlimited:

  • Show my Comics library: Opens the Kindle library on the web to the Comics tab where you can see your full list of comics available to read.
  • Show my Comics notes and highlights: Opens the Amazon highlight notebook for all Kindle highlights, including from Comics.
  • Search for Comics on Amazon: Asks you for a search query, then forms it for the Amazon search results URL with a filter for Comics applied.
  • Open Comixology store: Opens the Amazon storefront for Comixology, their comics store and subscription service.
  • Show my Comixology cart: Opens the main Comixology home page and shows the Basket so you can see the total items in your cart and check out.
  • Show Best Sellers for you: Opens the “See More” link on your personalized Comixology storefront curating Best Sellers for you based on your collection.
  • Show this week’s new releases: Opens the New Releases tab in the Comixology section of the Amazon website.
  • Show New Release top sellers: Opens the “See More” link in the New Releases section of your Comixology home on the Amazon website where you can see comics curated for you that are top sellers.
  • Discover a comic series: Opens the “See More” link from your curated Comixology homepage to the “Discover a new comic series” page on Amazon.
  • Show comics inspired by browsing history: Opens to the curated page on the Comixology storefront where you can see recommendations based on pages you’ve visited on Amazon.
  • Manage Comixology Unlimited collection: Opens your Amazon profile to the Digital Content management page for Comixology Unlimited where you can do things like delete comics or add them to collections.
  • Show Comixology Unlimited preview: Opens the Amazon preview page for Comixology Unlimited so you can read about the experience, see what’s available in the collection, and manage your account.
  • Sign up for Comixology Unlimited: Opens to the Subscribe page for Comixology Unlimited so you can start your free trial and agree to sign up after 30 days.
  • Manage my Comixology account: Opens the Amazon website to the Comixology account management page, where find links to your library or the Kindle app and connect your Amazon/Comixology accounts as needed.

Check out the folder of Comixology from Amazon shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

 

Categories
Apps

Apple reveals 45 app and game finalists for the 2024 App Store Awards »

From the Apple Newsroom:

Every year, Apple honors the very best apps and games of the year through the App Store Awards — a recognition of exceptional user experience, design, and innovation from developers across the world. With 45 App Store Award finalists across 12 different categories, these apps and games have helped users accomplish more, be more creative, and better connect with friends and family. This year, the App Store Awards include a new Apple Vision Pro category, highlighting stunning achievements in the world of spatial computing. App Store Award winners chosen from this distinguished group of app and game developers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Excellent set of apps.

Next year, I want to see one of my clients’ apps in this list after building an Apple Intelligence integration for them… ??‍♂️

View the original.

Categories
Gear

Elgato’s Pre-Black Friday Sales Are Live

For anyone in the US, the folks at Elgato have their pre-Black Friday sale live starting today – you can get discounts from 13% up to 30% on products like the Wave Mic and Arm, Key Light, or Stream Deck Mk. 2.

Here’s a full list of discounts – I have tried and utilize everything here in my setup in one color or another, except the Video Capture cable (only because I simply haven’t needed it):

If you’re curious about Elgato gear, check out my Elgato tag here on my website to see past posts where I share tips and tricks.

P.S. If you’re reading this after Black Friday, you can use my Elgato Partner code ZZ-CASSINELLI for 5% off at checkout.

Categories
Guest appearances Podcasts

Clockwise 581: Visit That Like a Time Period with Dinosaurs

On Wednesday, November 20, on the Clockwise podcast, I joined hosts Dan Moren and Mikah Sargent with guest Kathy Campbell to talk about:

How we deal with physical media, the most tech heavy restaurants we’ve patronized, tech that ended up disappointing us, and the social media networks of yesteryear that we’d bring back.

Check out Clockwise in Apple Podcasts or listen to the episode below:

Categories
Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Bluesky shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Bluesky shortcuts for accessing the different parts of the Bluesky social network.

Use these to switch to different tabs in the app or on the web, access your Lists, and open any profile:

  • Open Bluesky Search: Opens the Search page on Bluesky where you can enter your query, find suggested accounts, and discover new feeds.
  • Open Bluesky Home: Opens the Home feed on Bluesky so you can see your Discover & Following feeds, plus any pinned Lists.
  • Open Bluesky Chat: Opens the Chat tab of Bluesky so you can see your messages, start a new chat, and change your chat settings.
  • Open Bluesky Notifications: Opens the Notifications tab of Bluesky so you can see mentions, follower requests, and engagement such as likes and reposts.
  • Open Bluesky Feeds: Opens to the Feeds tab of Bluesky, showing My Feeds and the Discover New Feeds section.
  • Open Bluesky Lists: Opens the Lists tab of Bluesky, showing your user-created lists and letting you create a new one.
  • Open from my Bluesky lists: Given a dictionary of Bluesky List names and unique IDs (from the URL), this prompts you to choose from your lists and opens it to the feed view.
  • Open my Bluesky profile: Using your username, opens the link to your profile on Bluesky.
  • Open my Bluesky followers: Using your Bluesky username, opens the link to your Followers list.
  • Open my Bluesky following: Using your Bluesky username, opens the link to the list of people you are Following.
  • Open a profile on Bluesky: Using a given username, opens the link to any profile on Bluesky.
  • Open Bluesky settings: Opens Bluesky to the Settings tab, letting you manage multiple accounts, change basic settings, and adjust advanced account settings.

Check out the folder of Bluesky shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library and follow me on Bluesky.

Categories
Links

PSA: An iOS 18 bug is why our favorite ‘Apple Frames’ shortcut broke »

From 9to5Mac:

Do you ever frame screenshots inside Apple device frames? Then you’ve probably used Federico Viticci’s ‘Apple Frames’ shortcut. Unfortunately, the shortcut has been broken in recent months, and now we know that an iOS 18 bug is the cause.

Federico shared this with me a few betas ago and it’s still not fixed… ?

View the original.

Categories
Gear

Back Up Your Stream Deck Profiles (And Access Them With This Shortcut) »

From @elgato:

This is your friendly reminder to back up your Stream Deck profiles. ?

Here’s how: [Video]

Even if you’re not using the new Action Sharing, backing up your Stream Deck profiles is just good practice – I will back up my entire setup regularly, plus individual profiles as I finish or update them.

I’ve also long used my shortcut “Open Stream Deck Backups” to quickly access the folder on macOS as well, since I found myself not remembering the location of the default destination where these are saved.

View the post, get my Stream Deck shortcut, check out the folder of Stream Deck shortcuts in my Shortcuts Catalog, and get the Stream Deck from Elgato.

P.S. You can use my Elgato Partner code ZZ-CASSINELLI for 5% off at checkout.

Categories
Apps

Amazon Introduces Automatic App Shortcuts for Quick Access to Destinations

Amazon recently added App Shortcuts support to their iOS and iPadOS apps, making an “Open Amazon” action available in Shortcuts and automatically generating 14 App Shortcuts you can use with Siri and Spotlight.

Screenshots combined side-by-side showing the Open Amazon action with no destination, then the list of destinations, and then one where the destination is selected.

The “Open Amazon” action contains a parameter where you can select the Destination you want to open – Amazon offers the following destinations:

  • Search
  • Your Orders
  • Cart
  • Today’s Deals
  • Buy Again
  • In-Store Code
  • Your Lists
  • Inspire
  • Your Account
  • Amazon Lens
  • Amazon Fresh
  • Whole Foods Market
  • Pharmacy

When making this “Open Amazon” action available, Amazon has preconfigured their App Shortcut so that Shortcuts automatically generates an instance of that App Shortcut for each destination, making it available in Spotlight, Siri, and Shortcuts as soon as the app is installed.

That way, rather than asking you which destination to open each time, you can specify a destination up-front with your trigger phrase and jump right to that page in the Amazon app – try saying “Open Today’s Deals in Amazon” (if you have the app installed) and it should immediately work, without any extra setup.

Screenshot of the top three App Shortcuts for Amazon.
Screenshot of the top three App Shortcuts for Amazon.

When you search in Spotlight for Amazon, you’ll also see the top three results displayed as App Shortcuts for Spotlight – you can see icons for Search, Your Orders, and Cart.

Screenshot of an individual App Shortcut result for “Your Orders” shown as a Top Hit in Spotlight.
Screenshot of an individual App Shortcut result for “Your Orders” shown as a Top Hit in Spotlight.

Going further, searching for any specific destination will return the App Shortcut for that instance of the action – tap it and you’ll be taken into the correct spot in the app as well. Plus, all the parameterized versions of the App Shortcut will be available via search, not just the first three.

Finally, if you check the Amazon section in the App Shortcuts category of the Shortcuts app, you’ll see the a larger list of App Shortcuts available to select from and run – Amazon makes everything up to “Your Account” available here. Tapping on those lets you create a custom shortcut, plus use Add to Home Screen to put that destination onto your Home Screen.

I’ve taken a moment to create individual custom shortcuts for all the possible destinations and have made the folder of Amazon app shortcuts available in my Shortcuts Library – that way anybody can download them to change the trigger phrase, add it to their Shortcuts widget, or create a custom icon of their choosing.

Get the Amazon app shortcuts in the Shortcuts Library, and get the Amazon Shopping app from the App Store.

If you already have the app installed, try searching for “Amazon” and look for the App Shortcuts in Spotlight; try triggering one with Siri as well.

 

Categories
Shortcuts

New in the Shortcuts Library: Amazon app shortcuts

I’ve just added a new folder to the Shortcuts Library — my set of Amazon app shortcuts for launching into Amazon’s iOS and iPadOS apps using the native actions provided by Amazon.

These are automatically available as App Shortcuts if you have the Amazon app; I made these so standalone versions are available, and you can use these to add them to your Shortcuts widget:

  • Show Amazon home: Opens the Amazon homepage, which redirects to the main page of the app when opened on mobile.
  • Launch Amazon to Search: Opens the Amazon app to the Search field, bringing up the keyboard automatically so you can type your query right away.
  • Open my Amazon orders: Opens the Amazon app to the Orders page so you can track upcoming packages, search through past deliveries, and start a return.
  • Open my Amazon cart: Opens the Amazon app to the Cart tab so you can what you’ve added so far, check the subtotal, and find items saved for later.
  • Show my Wish List on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app to your main Wish List within the Your Lists view.
  • Show my Amazon account: Opens the Amazon app to Your Account so you can see previews from categories like Your Orders, Buy Again, Keep Shopping For, and other account details.
  • Open Today’s Deals on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app so you can find Today’s Deals in the For You, Lightning, and Can’t Miss offers categories.
  • Show Amazon videos: Opens the Amazon app to the Inspire tab, where you can watch videos from Amazon creators about products related to you.
  • Buy Again on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app to the Buy Again section where you can repurchase past orders, check Subscribe & Save options, and filter by Deals, Favorite Reorders, and “Get it with fast delivery.”
  • Show my In-Store code: Opens the Amazon app to the In-Store Code that can be scanned for deals at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go stores.
  • Show Amazon Lens: Opens the Amazon app to the Amazon Lens, where you can use your camera to scan barcodes and find pantry, health, & beauty products.
  • Show Amazon Fresh: Opens the Amazon app to the Amazon Fresh page where you can order groceries for local delivery.
  • Show Whole Foods on Amazon: Opens the Amazon app to the Whole Foods Market page where you can find and order food from your nearby store.
  • Show Amazon Pharmacy: Opens the Amazon app to the Pharmacy page where you can find medications and refill prescriptions.

Check out the folder of Amazon app shortcuts on the Shortcuts Library.

Categories
Gear

Action Sharing Lets You Share Individual Stream Deck Actions (Like Shortcuts) »

From @elgato:

With Action Sharing, you can now share individual Stream Deck actions without needing to export an entire profile.

Learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=lfJHLuD1ES7GzGCB&v=8Ij-a635OEo

[Video]

Action Sharing is a game-changer for my Shortcuts Catalog. I’ve never been able to nail down the workflow for updating shortcuts that I’ve added while also sharing them with members, since it required updating at the folder/profile level.

Now, I can attach Stream Deck actions directly to each shortcut!

I’ll have to spend some time updating my workflow, but this may make the difference so I can finally release everything in full.

View the post, watch the video, and get the Stream Deck from Elgato.

P.S. You can use my Elgato Partner code ZZ-CASSINELLI for 5% off at checkout.

Categories
Gear

You Can Now Trigger Any Action With A Dial On The Stream Deck + »

From @elgato:

You can now turn your Stream Deck + dials to activate any Stream Deck action.

Here’s how to add page switching actions to dials so you can turn between pages:

[Video]

This is welcome improvement for the Dial actions, which had seen limited developer adoption.

This will still take some consideration for some use cases, though, since there’s left, right, and click options for each Dial – plus thinking through what happens as you continue to spin.

View the post.

Categories
News Shortcuts

What’s new in Shortcuts for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, macOS 15.1, watchOS 11.1 and visionOS 2.1 »

From Apple Support:

This update includes enhancements to the Shortcuts app across all platforms, including many updated or new actions and an expanded set of App Shortcuts available in the shortcut editor.

New actions

App Store

  • “Open Page” is now available on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

Control Center

  • “Show Control Center” shows and hides Control Center on iOS and iPadOS, which can be triggered from Action button, Apple Pencil Squeeze, Back Tap, Home Screen, Widgets, and more

Finder

  • “Get Info” is now available on macOS

Health

  • “Open Data Type”, “Search in Health”, and “Open View” are now available on iOS and iPadOS
  • “Open Sleep Schedule” is now available on iOS

Messages

  • “Check In” starts a new Check In session in Messages on iOS, and watchOS

Shortcuts

  • “Move Shortcut” and “Rename Shortcut” are now available on all platforms

Spotlight

  • “Search” initiates a Spotlight search on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

Text

  • “Trim Whitespace” removes whitespace characters from text on all platforms

Tips

  • “Open Collection” is now available on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

More

  • “Convert to USDZ” is now available on macOS

View the original.

Categories
Apps Shortcuts

Ulysses Adds Action Button & Control Center Shortcuts Alongside Table of Contents & Writing Tools »

From Ulysses’ v36 release notes:

  • You can now launch Ulysses from the Action button found on the latest iPhone models.
  • “New Sheet” will launch Ulysses into a new, empty sheet in your Inbox.
  • “Last sheet” will open the last edited sheet.
  • “Search” will launch Ulysses directly into Quick Open.
  • These actions are also available via Control Center on iOS 18.1.

Very excited to see these new actions – I got a chance to talk with the Ulysses team at NSSpain and have been eagerly anticipating these.

These actions join the new Table of Contents feature and updates to support Apple Intelligence Writing Tools.

View the Release Notes on Ulysses’s site.

Categories
Apps Links

Instapaper (Finally) Adds Tags for Better Organization »

From @Instapaper on Threads:

Introducing Tags for Better Organization!

Tags are a great way to organize your articles with increased flexibility over folders, and are now live across all platforms.

Instapaper will continue to support both Folders and Tags to organize articles, and we’ve made it easy to convert folders into tags.

I’m super excited for this – my biggest problem with Instapaper long-term was that any effort I spent organizing items into folders was lost once they went into the archive. Here’s a post from 2015 where I mention it, for example.

Now, I can tag & organize stories in the best read-it-later format available – Instapaper.

Plus, they’re adding a new multi-column view, seen here:

View the full thread.

Categories
Apps Links

Just Announced – Cyberpunk 2077 Coming to Mac! »

Cyberpunk 2077 and its spy-thriller expansion Phantom Liberty will be coming to Mac. Taking full advantage of Apple silicon and advanced technologies of Metal, the world of the dark future is available to Mac gamers for the very first time. Players can enjoy advanced features like path tracing, frame generation, and built-in Spatial Audio for even more immersive gameplay and stunning visuals.

Available early next year on Macs with Apple silicon, the Ultimate Edition will launch on the Mac App Store, GOG.com, Steam and Epic Games Store.

Looking forward to this – and glad to see another AAA game come to the Mac. Hope it’s a tipping point for the platform.

View the update on the Cyberpunk website.

 

Categories
Links

Stephen Robles’ 15 NEW iPhone Shortcuts: Auto-Reply Texts, Wallpapers, and Transcribe Podcasts »

From Stephen Robles on YouTube:

Unlock the power of automation with 15 new iPhone shortcuts! Learn how to automatically reply to texts, change wallpapers, and even transcribe podcasts with iOS 18. I’ll walk you through automating spam text replies, setting custom wallpapers based on Wi-Fi, and more.

? Get the Shortcuts

Download and Transcribe Podcast Episode

Photo Wallpaper from Album

Switch Wallpaper and Focus

Play Music Station

Overlay Logo on PDF

Open Folder

My Recording Video Process

Record Audio and Add to Note

Chapters ➡

00:00 Introduction

00:33 Auto-Text Replies

01:51 Auto Reply STOP to Spam Texts

02:59 Vacation Text Responder

04:58 Change Wallpaper on Wi-Fi

06:24 Random Photo Wallpaper

09:08 Open Files Folder

09:43 Toggle Control Center

10:24 Record Audio and Transcribe

11:55 Apple Music Stations

13:06 Overlay Logo on PDF

16:12 Recording Video Scene

16:49 Alert by Email Sender

18:10 Select Audio Device in Car

19:13 Toggle Alarms by Location

20:18 Download and Transcribe Podcast

24:27 HUGE Announcement!

View the video YouTube.

Categories
Gear

Elgato’s Wave Desk Is A Secure Stand That Works With Your iPad »

From @elgato:

Tiny and mighty. ?

Wave Desk Stand can carry up to 2.2lbs so you can mount your mic, iPad, camera, and more with ease.

iPad, you say? Ordered. And I’ve had this Delkin tablet bracket for the longest time that I’ll use to mount mine to this.

View the post and get the Wave Desk Stand from Elgato.

P.S. You can use my Elgato Partner code ZZ-CASSINELLI for 5% off at checkout.

 

Categories
Links News

Apple Intelligence will support German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, and Vietnamese in 2025 »

From TechCrunch

Additions to Apple Intelligence include English (India), English (Singapore), German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and “others” yet to be announced.

The feature will launch in American English, when it arrives as part of the iOS 18.1 update. The company previously announced that localized English support for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. will arrive later in 2024, with support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming in 2025.

For anyone counting, that’s 16 other countries besides the default U.S. English version.

View the original.

Categories
Links

Shortcuts Now Supports Spatial Photo and Video Capture »

From Tim Chaten on mastodon.world:

You can also now build Shortcuts that get you right into Spatial Photos or Videos!

Great new additions to the Open Camera action in Shortcuts.

View the post.