I’ve used RSS sync services for years. The one I’ve used most is Inoreader, but I’ve also used Feed Wrangler, Feedly, and Feedbin. Most recently, I’ve been using Inoreader, which offers a long list of features layered on top of traditional RSS for pro subscribers. In addition to using the service to follow around 300...
Starting the New Year with New Shortcuts, Workflows, Apps, and More
Federico
AppStories Episode 258 - Starting the New Year with New Shortcuts, Workflows, Apps, and More
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This week, Federico and John look back at their MacStories Starter Pack coverage last week, digging into the themes and details of each of the stories they wrote and the ways you can incorporate everything into your own workflows.
Interesting Links
TfTHacker has an excellent walkthrough on creating an Obsidian widget using Simon Støvring’s app Scriptable. (Link) When you hit a wall on macOS with Shortcuts, AppleScript and the Terminal are often the way to solve the problem, as Jason Snell explained on Six Colors this week. (Link) Joe Danger is a classic iOS game...
Take Control of Your Matter Queue with MatterBot
As part of the Starter Pack event yesterday on MacStories, I shared the backstory of my experiments with the so far still-unannounced Matter API. Matter, the relatively young read-later service we’ve mentioned a few times on Club MacStories and AppStories, has been working on an API behind the scenes that will allow clients to...
App Debuts
Tweetbot Following a 6.8 update that added a new profile view and more icons, Tweetbot received a big 6.9 update that has brought even more icons and a variety of new widgets. You can now keep an eye on tweets that are performing well with a Tweet Stats widget, see how many followers you’ve...
MacStories Unwind: Brooklyn 99, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima, Director’s Cut
This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico shares his favorite season of Brooklyn 99 and Horizon Zero Dawn, which he’s been playing in advance of the release of Horizon Forbidden West, and John explains why Ghost of Tsushima, Director’s Cut is so good on the PlayStation 5.
Federico’s Pick:
John’s Pick:
MacStories Rewind
MacStories Starter Pack: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands
Editor’s Note: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Apple Music’s tools for discovering new music could be better. A lot has been written about the problems, which I’m not going to rehash here. Instead, I’ve got a long list of tips, apps, and workflows you can use to discover new music now.
I’ve collected these apps and tips over many thousands of hours of listening and written about some of them here and for Club MacStories members before. However, this is the first time I’ve gathered and expanded those tips and workflows in one comprehensive story.
Apple Q1 2022 Results - $123.95 Billion Revenue
Apple has just published its financial results for Q1 2022. The company posted revenue of $123.95 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook said:
“This quarter’s record results were made possible by our most innovative lineup of products and services ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are gratified to see the response from customers around the world at a time when staying connected has never been more important. We are doing all we can to help build a better world — making progress toward our goal of becoming carbon neutral across our supply chain and products by 2030, and pushing forward with our work in education and racial equity and justice.”
Expectations for Q1 2022 and the Year-Ago Quarter (Q1 2021)
Apple didn’t provide guidance for Q1 2022, but going into today’s earnings call, Yahoo Finance reported the following analyst expectations::
The consensus mark for earnings is currently pegged at $1.89 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days and indicating 12.5% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Graphical Visualization
After the break, we’ve compiled a graphical visualization of Apple’s Q4 2021 financial results.
MacStories Starter Pack: The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300 Is Perfect for Anyone Whose Paperless Workflow Still Starts with Paper
Editor’s Note: The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300 Is Perfect for Anyone Whose Paperless Workflow Still Start with Paper is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
I’ve had a couple of different Fujitsu scanners over the years. In the early days, I used my scanner a lot. It helped me cut down on the paper in my life, which was great. However, over time, I found myself using my scanner less and less as banking, taxes, bills, and other paper-heavy areas of life became increasingly digital. As time wore on, and I found myself rarely, if ever, turning to my library of scanned documents, I also realized I didn’t need to scan and keep as much as I’d thought.
So when Fujitsu sent me their latest ScanSnap iX1300 scanner to try, I was skeptical. I wondered if there was still a place for scanners in the home or whether the many excellent scanning apps available on the iPhone and iPad were good enough. For most people who don’t need to scan more than a few pages of paper ever so often, I think apps or a scanner built into a home printer are adequate. However, if you run a business with workflows that involve paper, you’re working from home in a paper-oriented industry, or you simply find yourself needing to digitize paper documents regularly for whatever other reason, the iX1300 is an excellent choice.
The S1300i is a little smaller, but as a practical matter, you need more space or yere will be paper all over your floor.
What’s fascinating to me about the ix 1300 is that it’s actually slightly bigger than the ScanSnap S1300i model that I already owned, but I would never have guessed it. That’s because the way the two scanners work is quite different, which makes a considerable difference in how much space they demand. However, that’s not the only edge the newer iX1300 has, so let’s take a closer look at what sets it apart from its predecessor.