MacStories Weekly: Issue 193
Shortcuts Corner: Search YouTube, Preview Folder Contents, and Play Recent Music Albums
As I explained in today’s issue of MacStories Weekly for Club MacStories members, we’re bringing the newsletter’s Shortcuts Corner section to the site, with a twist: in this series, you’ll find simpler shortcuts that you can download for free, and which will be added to the public MacStories Shortcuts Archive; you’ll also get a preview of an exclusive shortcut available today for Club MacStories members.
In this week’s Shortcuts Corner, I share shortcuts to quickly launch a search query in the YouTube app, preview the contents of a folder in iCloud Drive, and start playback for one of your recently played albums in the Music app. Let’s dive in.
Connected, Episode 262: The Ghost of Bilateral Charging→
On this week’s episode of Connected:
There’s a lot going on: new iPhones, the new Apple Watch, iOS 13.1, Shortcuts updates and more. That’s not to mention the Galaxy Fold, iCloud woes and whatever Amazon has announced.
You can listen below (and find the show notes here).
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Home+ 4 Released with Refreshed Design and iOS 13 Features
What Apple’s Home app lacks in flexibility and power-user features, Mathias Hochgatterer makes up for with his similarly-named app Home+ 4. The app, which adds a ‘+’ in its name with this update to avoid confusion with Apple’s app, is as capable as ever, but with a reimagined design that adopts new iOS 13 features and adds even more flexibility for automating your HomeKit devices.
Introducing MacStories Shortcuts Icons: 300 Custom Home Screen Icons for Your Shortcuts
Update: October 18, 2019: MacStories Shortcuts Icons has received its first free update, which adds 50 new icons to the set. You can read more here.
I’m thrilled to announce MacStories Shortcuts Icons, a set of 300 custom icons for shortcuts added to your Home screen, designed by the MacStories team.
Here’s the short version of this story: the set contains 300 Home screen icons, it has been specifically designed with Shortcuts users in mind, and it works on both iPhone and iPad. It’s available today at $14.99 and you can buy it here.
If you’re a Club MacStories member, check your member area for a discount code first: for you, the set is 33% off, so you can purchase it at $9.99.
You can find a complete preview of MacStories Shortcuts Icons’ 300 glyphs here..
With these icons, you’ll have more options than what is provided by default in the Shortcuts app for Home screen icons. There are no workarounds, no hacks: our icons can be installed using a native feature of Shortcuts supported in the just-released iOS and iPadOS 13.1.
And here’s the best part: MacStories Shortcuts Icons will keep the original colors of your shortcuts, so you’ll be able to create Home screen shortcuts that are consistent with the app, yet unique and personal. MacStories Shortcuts Icons is the first Shortcuts-specific icon set to support this.
Here are actual examples of my iPhone and iPad Home screens, which I updated using MacStories Shortcuts Icons:
We’ve teamed up with our designer Silvia Gatta for this set, which is the first product we’re launching under the new MacStories Pixel brand.
We spent months crafting MacStories Shortcuts Icons with attention and care for the Shortcuts community, and I’d love for you to check it out.
Now, let me share a few more details on how MacStories Shortcuts Icons came to be.
Drafts 15 Review: Multiwindow, Shortcuts, and More
One of my favorite things about Drafts is its quick adoption of the new OS features that come year-over-year. Not only are they quickly adopted, but they are well implemented, carefully considered, and provide increased capability for both existing and new users alike.
This year with the release of iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina, Drafts gains an updated look, improvements to the interface and navigation, full iPadOS support, and greatly improved Shortcuts integration. While this may not seem like a big list, I can assure you that the new features of the app are fantastic, and have made a monumental improvement to my daily workflows.
Let’s dive in to what version 15 of Drafts has to offer.
Things Adds Multiwindow, iOS 13 Dark Mode, Shortcuts, New Share Extension, and Reminders Import
Today as Apple releases iPadOS into the world, Things 3 for both iPad and iPhone has fully updated to add multiwindow functionality on iPad, integration with iOS 13’s system dark mode, shortcuts with parameters, a share extension that introduces key new functionality, and finally a new Reminders Import feature for moving easily all your reminders into Things. There’s a lot to explore, so let’s dive in.
AppStories, Episode 131 – Shortcuts and Third-Party Apps→
On this week’s episode of AppStories, we explore what the changes to Shortcuts mean to third-party apps, who’s using them, and what it all means to users.
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AppStories Episode 131 - Shortcuts and Third-Party Apps
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Adapt, Episode 9: Shortcuts – What’s New in iOS 13→
On last week’s episode of Adapt:
On iOS 13 release day, Federico and Ryan kick off a series covering everything new in the updated Shortcuts app. Afterward, Ryan outlines his efforts creating an image for MacStories sans-shortcuts.
You can listen below (and find the show notes here), and don’t forget to send us questions using #AskAdapt and by tagging our Twitter account.