MacStories Unwind: Shortcuts and the Stream Deck, a Tweetbot Update, Lots of Music Recommendations, and a Tech Documentary

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind:

MacStories

Club MacStories

  • MacStories Weekly
    • A tip for simplifying Shortcuts and Alfred integration
    • Federico’s Obsidian shortcuts for appending text and webpage links to a section of his Dashboard note
    • Details on how John is using the Stream Deck,
    • An interview with BetterTouchTool developer Andreas Hegenberg

AppStories

Unwind

AppStories, Episode 249 – More iPhone, iPad, and Mac Tips→

This week on AppStories, we dive back into our favorite iOS and iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey tips.

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On AppStories+, John is back home, which means we’re resuming our normal routines, John covers the gear relied on while traveling to Rome, and Federico shares his first impressions of the M1 MacBook Pro and Shortcuts for Mac.

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Apple Announces Self Service Repair Program That Will Provide Customers With Access to Tools, Parts, and Manuals

Apple announced today that its customers will be able to order tools, parts, and manuals to make repairs to iPhones, and later, M1 Macs beginning early next year:

Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, Self Service Repair will be available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022.

The initial phase of the program will focus on the most commonly serviced modules, such as the iPhone display, battery, and camera. The ability for additional repairs will be available later next year.

Repair materials will be offered in a new store:

The new store will offer more than 200 individual parts and tools, enabling customers to complete the most common repairs on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.

Also, the company will offer a credit toward new part purchases when used parts are sent back to encourage recycling.

It’s excellent to see Apple expanding customer repair options. As the company notes in its press release, the number of authorized repair providers has expanded in recent years, but not everyone has easy access to existing alternatives. More repair options also address complaints that Apple’s devices are too hard to repair, although there remains room to make more kinds of repairs easier. Still, today’s move is a step in the right direction and one that will be interesting to follow in the coming year.

Getting Started with Shortcuts for Mac and the Stream Deck

The Stream Deck has been a favorite of Mac users who are into automation for a while now, but the device’s utility has grown substantially for a couple of reasons. First, you can use the Stream Deck to run Shortcuts, which expands the device into an entirely new realm of automation.

Second, the Stream Deck opens up new ways to approach all automation on your Mac that aren’t possible with any single Mac app, allowing you to mix and match different kinds of automation in one interface. It’s a powerful combination that unlocks the ability to organize the automation tools you use to fit with the way you think and work.

To get you started, I’m going to cover:

  • What the Stream Deck is and how it works
  • The many ways to run your Shortcuts from the device
  • Approaches for organizing your shortcuts and other automations with the Stream Deck
  • An alternative to the Stream Deck

Let’s dig in.

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Tweetbot 6.6 Gets Support for Creating Polls, Limiting Who Can Reply to Tweets

Tweetbot 6.6 supports creating polls and limiting replies to your tweets.

Tweetbot 6.6 supports creating polls and limiting replies to your tweets.

For the past two months, I’ve been using Tweetbot as my primary Twitter client again. This started off as an experiment to see whether switching to a third-party client with timeline sync would improve my daily use of Twitter, allowing me to miss fewer tweets and catch up on my timeline (I’ve always been a completionist) at my own pace. The experiment has been successful, but, curiously enough, it also made me appreciate the design and power-user features of Tweetbot all over again.

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CleanMyMac X: Make Sure You Can Trust Your Mac [Sponsor]

In these uncertain times, the only person who we can truly rely on is ourselves, more specifically, you and your computer. But can your Mac help you reach your goals? Is it in good enough shape, fast, and organized?

To be sure, you need CleanMyMac X from MacPaw. It’s the ideal decluttering app for Mac.

CleanMyMac X isn’t just one tool, though. It’s an entire suite of powerful utilities designed to tune up your Mac:

  • It includes 49 tools to find and delete invisible junk.
  • It removes junk that’s slowing your Mac down, so it always runs at its maximum speed.
  • It organizes disk space, too, showing your large hidden folders.
  • It can free up tons of space, so your Mac never runs into storage issues.
  • It’s also the perfect tool to get your Mac ready for macOS Monterey too.
  • Finally, it fights Mac-specific malware and adware.

There are a lot of other Mac cleaning utilities available, but CleanMyMac X stands out with its award-winning, elegant design that makes it a pleasure to use every day. In fact, in 2021, CleanMyMac was honored with the Red Dot Award and the UX Design Award. It’s so enjoyable to use, and you’ll be discovering new ways to optimize your Mac each time you run this app.

Moreover, CleanMyMac X is notarized by Apple, so you can use it with the confidence that it’s safe.

MacPaw has a special deal just for MacStories readers. For the next four weeks, you can purchase the app for 5% off by using this link. So, get started today with CleanMyMac X to make sure you can trust your Mac.

Our thanks to CleanMyMac X from MacPaw for sponsoring MacStories this week.