John Voorhees

5430 posts on MacStories since November 2015

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
@[email protected]
@johnvoorhees.macstories.net
voorhees@macstories.net

Apple’s 2022 Environmental Progress Report and a Tour of Daisy, the iPhone Recycling Robot

Yesterday, Apple released its 2022 Environmental Progress Report, detailing the progress the company has made in how much of the materials in its products are recycled. According to Apple’s press release, nearly 20% of the material in its products are recycled, and it more than doubled the use of recycled tungsten, rare earth elements, and cobalt.

To celebrate Earth Day, which is Friday, April 22nd, Apple also announced tie-ins in its Maps and App Store apps, as part of its Fitness+ and Apple Pay services, and at retail stores. In addition, the company is featuring Earth Day editorial content in Apple News, Apple Books, Apple Podcasts, and the Apple TV app, along with an interactive augmented reality experience on Snapchat to learn about Daisy, the company’s recycling robot.

Another way to learn about Daisy the robot is in this guided tour by Sara Dietschy, who was given access to Apple’s Texas Material Recovery Lab, where the robot can disassemble up to 1.2 million iPhones per year:

Having followed the Apple’s original robot Liam, and now Daisy, over the past several years, it was fascinating to get an up-close look at how Daisy works.

Automation April: Never Forget to Stop a Timery Time Tracking Timer Again

I’ve been using Timery to track my time using the Toggl time tracking service for several years now, and although I’ve gotten better at remembering to stop timers, I still forget sometimes. That’s why I built Stop Long Timer, a shortcut that periodically checks if you’ve had a timer running for a long time and volunteers to stop it. If you decline, Stop Long Timer offers to leave you alone for a while so you can wrap up whatever you’re doing.

Stopping a timer that’s been running for a certain period is the easy part. Timery has an action to check the duration of the current timer and another to stop a timer. What I wanted, though, is something more flexible because sometimes a timer has been running a long time because I’m deep in the middle of a project. In that case, I don’t want to stop the timer. In fact, I don’t want to be bugged again either. That part of Stop Long Timer is a little more complex and is a good example of how you can save data outside a shortcut to use as a reference point.

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AppStories, Episode 270 – Our Latest Automation April Shortcuts→

This week on AppStories, we dig into the collection of shortcuts that we’ve released during Automation April so far, including Federico’s Split View Presets and Cleanup Twitter Link and John’s Timestamped Notes and myTunes shortcuts.

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[Subscribe here.](https://www.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

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On AppStories+, Federico and John give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at judging the Automation April Shortcuts Contest, reflect on how much has changed as MacStories turns 13 and AppStories turns 5, and explain how they deal with app overload anxiety.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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Last Week, on Club MacStories: A Space Wallpaper Shortcut, Developer Interview, Utilities to Extend Shortcuts, and Giveaways

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 316

Up Next

On Tuesday at 12:30 PM Eastern US time, we’ll hold our second Automation April live Shortcuts workshop in the Club MacStories+ Discord community.

AppStories - Ep. 270 - 45 minutes

Our Latest Automation April Shortcuts

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 270 - Our Latest Automation April Shortcuts

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44:37

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John dig into the collection of shortcuts that they’ve released during Automation April so far, including Federico’s Split View Presets and Cleanup Twitter Link and John’s Timestamped Notes and myTunes shortcuts.

Read more