John Voorhees

5626 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

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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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.

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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

‘Next Step’ Shortcuts Utilities

The more you use any Apple system app, the more likely you are to start bumping into its limitations. That’s as true of Shortcuts as it is any other app. There’s a lot that can be done with Shortcuts but push it hard enough, and you’ll inevitably start wishing you could do things that it...

App Debuts

Federico

GoodTask Just in time for Automation April, GoodTask –my Reminders client of choice – received a big update to version 7.0 that has completely reimagined the app’s integration with Shortcuts. All previous Shortcuts actions have been deprecated and replaced by modern actions that support parameters and picking lists of items directly inside Shortcuts. For...

Interesting Links

Federico

At 512 Pixels, Stephen Hackett takes an in-depth look at the history of Apple’s external LCD displays. (Link) Dorico 2.2, the music notation app, got an update to its iPad version that allows direct access to the device’s file system, as explained in this story by Robby Burns. (Link) 1Password 8 for iOS and...

MacStories Unwind: WeCrashed and Wet Leg

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

This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico recommends WeCrashed on Apple TV+, and John has had the new Wet Leg album on repeat since its release a week ago.

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Federico’s Pick:

John’s Pick:

Apple Announces Winners of Its Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge

In January, Apple announced what has become its annual ‘Shot on iPhone’ photography contest. This year, the challenge presented to photographers was to take macro shots using the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Here’s what Apple has to say about the winners:

Today, Apple is announcing the 10 winners who highlight the global and diverse community of iPhone photographers, with finalists from China, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and the US. Their stunning images will be featured on apple.com, on Apple’s Instagram (@apple), and on billboards in select cities.

The winning images were picked by a panel of expert photographers that included Anand Varma, Apeksha Maker, Peter McKinnon, Paddy Chao, Yik Keat Lee, Arem Duplessis, Billy Sorrentino, Della Huff, Kaiann Drance, and Pamela Chen.

The image above, ‘Strawberry in Soda’ by Ashley Lee, was taken in San Francisco and is my personal favorite. The photo’s bright colors and the crisp bubbles offset against a dark background convey an energy that really sets it apart. Every photo picked by the judges is unique and stunning in its own way, though, so be sure to check out the winners in Apple’s press release and be on the lookout for them on Apple’s Instagram account and on billboards.