Category: Links

Quick thoughts that link out to other sites

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How to Open Threads Profiles from Mastodon and Twitter Directly in the Threads App »

Federico Viticci of MacStories:

Instagram just rolled out Threads, the company’s new text-based social network that’s been advertised over the past few weeks as an alternative to Twitter. I’m trying out Threads (you can find my account at threads.net/@viticci) and in the process of setting up the list of people I want to follow, I immediately run into an annoying issue that I fixed with a shortcut.
[…]
However, when I click on profile URLs from the popular app Ivory, I get an error because the app thinks I clicked on a Mastodon profile URL:
[…]
It’s not any better on the Twitter website: after logging in with my account and clicking on some profile URLs, I was presented with Threads webpages that do not have a Follow button at all:

Federico solves the problem with OCR and, of all things, Back Tap – and it works really well.

View the story on MacStories.

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Send Your Feedback to Apple About App Intents

Michael Gorbach, engineering manager on the Shortcuts team:

For those that have adopted App Intents in their apps, or are considering it: What are the main frustrations / limitations you have hit? FB numbers are great, but in this case not required!

Now’s the perfect time after 2 developer betas and the public beta on the horizon – if you have something to voice to Apple about App Shortcuts, now is the time!

View the post on Mastodon.

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How to build an App Intents Spotlight integration using Shortcuts »

Antoine Van Der Lee on his blog SwiftLee:

App Intents have been new since iOS 16 and offer a programmatic way to service your app’s content and functionality to Siri and the Shortcuts app. New in iOS 17 is the option to surface App Shortcuts integrated into Spotlight, making your app’s functionality even more discoverable.

App Intents are the engine behind many features like Widgets and Live Activities. By using them smartly, you’ll create a reusable framework for your app’s functionality. For example, the App Intent we’re creating for Spotlight Shortcuts could be reused for interactive widgets

What a great walkthrough – here’s the sections:

View the full post on avanderlee.com (via Justin Ferrell).

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ShortCircuit provides customized ChatGPT experience in a premium app »

Joe Fabisevich on Mastodon:

After 10 days of App Store rejections I’m so excited to say, Short Circuit is finally in the App Store! 28 days ago I started built a prototype of Siri powered by ChatGPT, and was immediately drawn to the idea of a premium-feeling iOS, iPad, and Mac app for ChatGPT. This amazing technology deserves a good user experience, and we gave it one.

Partnering with @Soroush to make that happen has been a dream, and I’m so excited to share Short Circuit with you.

Make sure to check out features like the Side Chats, the multiple Personality profiles you can add, and custom level of Creativity in your responses.

Read the full thread on Mastodon and get Short Circuit on the App Store.

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Fantastical gets updated Shortcuts actions »

Jason Snell for Six Colors:

Flexibits just released Fantastical 3.7.9, which adds a bunch of new Shortcuts actions, including the ability to filter events from a given Calendar Set in a given date range, and the ability to generate a simple schedule for a given day.

Read the post on Six Colors and get the Fantastical update (via Zsolt Benke on Mastodon).

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LaunchBar adds improved Shortcuts support »

From the LaunchBar release notes for v6.17 back in April:

Improved Shortcuts Support
* If a shortcut accepts files as an input, it’s now possible to send those files to the shortcut via Send-to (select a file in LaunchBar, press Tab, select the shortcut, hit Return).
* Shortcuts are now displayed with the icon that has been defined in Shortcuts.app

Get LaunchBar for Mac.

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Detail: A Modern, Machine Learning-Powered Approach to Video »

John Voorhees for MacStories (line breaks added for emphasis):

The sources above are the component parts of what Detail calls Scenes, which can use one or more sources to create a single-view Scene or a Combo Scene that comes in five different layouts.

That allows you to mix and match camera sources with screen-sharing sources and even other scenes into one composite video.

The result is a flexible system that can be easily adapted for video interviews, tutorials and help documentation, video conferencing apps like Zoom, and more.

Moreover, you can set up multiple scenes in advance and switch among them using keyboard shortcuts or Apple’s Shortcuts app.

I’ve had my eye on Detail for Mac for some time, and their latest Detail Duo for iPhone/iPad is intriguing too. Over on Mastodon, John and I had this back-and-forth about the update:

Continue reading “Detail: A Modern, Machine Learning-Powered Approach to Video »”
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Portal’s Mac app helps users focus with immersive backgrounds and audio »

Ivan Mehta writing for TechCrunch:

Productivity-enhancing app Portal has launched a Mac app. The company helps users regain focus and become more productive with immersive backgrounds and natural sounds.[…] Portal for Mac has more than 80 environments to choose from, which include high-quality looping videos captured by the company’s own team.

Further on:

Users can control the sound and motion or change the background through the menu bar icon too. Given that Portal is a native Mac app, it integrates with Siri Shortcuts as well.

I’m a huge fan of apps like Endel for its generative audio soundscapes – Portal looks like an interesting visual version of the same concept.

View the full story on TechCrunch.

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How to Use Custom File Names for Screenshots on an iPhone »

Yash Wate for MakeUseOf:

Apple uses a default naming scheme for all kinds of image files, including screenshots, on the iPhone. But for many of us, this isn’t ideal.

Thankfully, there’s a trick to get around this and use custom file names for your screenshots on the iPhone. It involves setting up a shortcut in the Shortcuts app.

View the full story on MakeUseOf.

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If Apple wants its headset to win, it needs to reinvent the app »

David Pierce for The Verge (line breaks added for emphasis):

If you squint a little, you can see the larger vision here. Apple imagines an app ecosystem in which data flows freely between devices: you take a picture here, edit it there, share it over there, save it in that place, all with a few drags and drops.

It wants to make apps work between and across your devices.

You should be able to access your apps and the data inside them from just about anywhere on your device.

In Apple’s wildest dreams, apps aren’t each their own universe; they’re like stars in a solar system, each one part of a larger coherent thing.

Sounds like App Intents to me.

Read the full story on The Verge.

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7 ways Apple is already a major player in AI »

Mahmoud Itani for XDA:

Siri Shortcuts is a prominent example of how Apple has already deployed some major AI features. This offering works by offering recommendations based on your location, app usage, habits, time of the day, and more. So, for example, iOS has learned about my commuting habits and surfaces the playlist I typically stream when on the go at the relevant time of day.

Similarly, if you have an upcoming flight in your Calendar app, then the trip number and its updates will surface in Spotlight Search. Additionally, Apple Wallet may surface your saved boarding pass when the time comes. That’s not to mention that Maps could suggest directions to the correct airport, and Weather may display the forecast of your destination.

Siri Shortcuts can appear in the Notification Center, Spotlight Search, Siri Shortcuts widget, and other locations. After using your device for a while, you will notice the system suggesting all sorts of different actions and useful information based on your usual habits.

View the full story on XDA.

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Tasks to-do app gets major update with collaboration, more »

Felipe Esposito of 9to5Mac:

Tasks is one of my favorite to-do apps, and it has evolved a lot since I first wrote about it here on 9to5Mac. This week, Tasks was updated to version 3.0, which comes with a new design for the iOS app, a completely rebuilt macOS app, and new features like Tasks Cloud and collaboration

Plus, the goods:

Tasks has everything you expect from a great iOS and macOS app. It supports Dark Mode, drag-and-drop gestures, mouse and trackpad, multiple windows on iPad, and more. The app is even optimized for iPhone models with larger displays, featuring a two-column landscape layout. There’s also support for Siri Shortcuts, widgets, and Time Sensitive Notifications.

Congrats to developer Mustafa Yusuf on the big launch!

Get Tasks on the App Store and read about the update on 9to5Mac.

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How to Enable iPhone Orientation Lock for Specific Apps »

Darryl Dsouza for MacObserver:

When you enable iPhone Orientation Lock it prevents the device from switching to landscape mode every time you tilt it. However, Orientation Lock does not turn on and off based on the apps you’re using. Moreover, iOS doesn’t even provide an option to set up Orientation Lock separately for individual apps. And, this gets really frustrating because you have to access the Control Center and toggle it on and off depending on the app.

Fortunately, you can set up automation through the Shortcuts app that will automatically toggle on or off Orientation Lock based on the app you’re currently using.

View the full story on MacObserver.

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Apps Links

Track time in the Dynamic Island with Timery’s updated Shortcuts actions

@Timery on Mastodon:

Timery 1.5.3 is available! This update has four new Shortcuts actions and several small improvements & fixes!

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1425368544

What’s new in Shortcuts:
• Start Recent Timer
• Find Recent Timers
• Export Saved Report
• Start Live Activity

What else is new:
• Improvements to reordering saved timers
• Easier-to-tap time-adjustment buttons
• More project colors for paid Toggl accounts
• Fix for exporting reports on Mac
• VoiceOver improvements

Here are some more details […]:

Developer Joe Hribar of Timery has revamped some of the Shortcuts actions for his app to activate the Live Activities feature, which begins a timer in the Dynamic Island if you have an iPhone 14 Pro – neat. 🤓

Check out the thread for more on the update and get Timery on the App Store.

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Use This Automation To Protect Your iPhone If Stolen While Unlocked

Diego Jimenez on Twitter:

I made a quick Automation to protect my iPhone if someone steals it while unlocked:
If they turn on Airplane Mode (Find My), it asks for a passcode.
If wrong… it automatically locks the phone 🔒, turns ON all connectivity 📡 + Low Power Mode 🔋, and shares its current location📍

This is a clever use of the newest “Lock Screen” action available in iOS 16.5 – it’s a Personal Automation set up for the Airplane Mode trigger.

If your phone is already locked, a thief can’t get in to disable Find My; but, if your phone is grabbed out of your hands after entering your passcode, this shortcut will reverse any attempts to wipe the device, plus fully lock them out while enabling you to continue tracking it.

View the demo video on Twitter and check the ongoing thread for the latest version.

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How to Automate Your Life With Apple’s Shortcuts App »

Lance Whitney for PCMag:

You probably spend a lot of time on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac running one task after another after another across a variety of apps. Think how much time you could save if you automated those tasks or combined them into a single action. You can do all that and more with Apple’s Shortcuts app.

This resource covers all the basics of Shortcuts – like how to run a shortcut, create a shortcut, create an automation, add shortcuts to the share sheet/widget/Apple Watch, and how to find shortcuts online.

Read the full story on PCMag.

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Apps Links

Elsewhen: Time zones, translated »

Zach Knox, replying to my post about Discord timestamps:

I would also highly recommend Elsewhen, which has a shortcuts action to do exactly that apps.apple.com/us/app/elsewhen… (though of course learning how those timestamps work is still quite valuable!)

Zach is totally right, I’d forgotten about Elsewhen for Mac, iPad, and iPhone – a handy utility from developer Benjamin Cardy that shows a visual representation of the Discord timestamp formats.

Plus, Elsewhen includes another great feature for actually laying out alternate timezones for specific countries, for making announcement posts like I do with my streams:

Continue reading “Elsewhen: Time zones, translated »”
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Apps Links Shortcuts

Zenitizer, a clean and simple meditation timer »

@Zenitizer on Mastodon:

Dear Fediverse 👋 Zenitizer launched on the App Store today 🚀🥳

🧘 Clean & Simple Meditation Timer
🎵 Soothing Sounds
❤️ Apple Health Support
🪄 Siri & Shortcuts Support
⭐️ Goals and Streaks
👀 Glanceable Widgets and Apple Watch Complications

1️⃣ Download: zenitizer.app/install

Congrats to developer Manuel Kehl on his launch last Thursday. 👏

Get Zenitizer on the App Store.

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90 Moments Testing Final Cut Pro for iPad Live

Last Thursday, I streamed a live test of Apple’s new release of Final Cut Pro for iPad for about 2 hours, covering:

  • learning the interface
  • marking Ins/Outs while importing
  • fine edits with the jog wheel
  • workflow considerations,
  • and much more

Overall, I added 90 chapter markers at each significant moment in the stream, so jump into the video and skip around to the bits that you’re interested in watching – I had some genuine moments of joy while discovering new features, like this one:

Here’s the full list of chapters:

Continue reading “90 Moments Testing Final Cut Pro for iPad Live”
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Shortcut to set Alarms for today’s Calendar events »

Twitter user @LoriTira shared this shortcut for set Clock alarms for today’s Calendar events:

The shortcut looks at all the upcoming events for the next day and repeats through the list, subtracting 5 minutes from the start time and setting your alarm so you have time to get ready before the meeting starts.

As someone who doesn’t often have meetings and doesn’t need to check their calendar every day, I could see this being useful as a daily Automation to alert me to the occasional call I might’ve missed on my schedule.

Get the shortcut from LoriTira’s tweet.

P.S. Add additional Filters to add more criteria, like specifying only a certain set of Calendars or “Is Not All Day” events.