Posts tagged with "featured"

HomeKit Gadgets: The MacStories Team Collection

John: Everyone on the MacStories team is deep into HomeKit devices. For me, smart home gadgets tick all the boxes:

  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Automation

It’s really as simple as that.

However, as fun as HomeKit devices can be, they can also be frustrating. The best accessories fit comfortably into your household, making life a little easier but falling back gracefully to a simple solution for anyone in your home who isn’t interested in automation. It sounds easy, but it’s a tough balancing act that few companies get right.

We’ve all tried our share of HomeKit and other smart home devices. Some have worked out, and others have fallen by the wayside as failed experiments. Today, we thought we’d pool our collective experience and share with you the MacStories team’s favorite smart home gadgets.

We have a lot of ground to cover, so this story will focus on indoor gadgets. Soon, we’ll shift our focus to the great outdoors.

Table of Contents

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Obsidian Shortcut Launcher 1.1 Brings Support for File Properties and Backlinks

The updated Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with support for passing document backlinks to Shortcuts.

The updated Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with support for passing document backlinks to Shortcuts.

Two years ago, we released Obsidian Shortcut Launcher, a free plugin to trigger shortcuts from Obsidian with the ability to pass input text to Apple’s automation app. In case you missed it in January 2022, here’s how I described the plugin:

With Obsidian Shortcut Launcher (or ‘OSL’), you’ll be able to trigger any shortcut you want from Obsidian, passing along values such as the text of the document you’re working on, its name, text selection, and more. Obsidian Shortcut Launcher is free to use and works on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Obsidian Shortcut Launcher is the result of weeks of planning and work from me and Finn Voorhees, and it has created an entirely new dimension in how I use Obsidian and Shortcuts on a daily basis.

I’ve been using Obsidian Shortcut Launcher every day for the past two years, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to integrate my favorite text editor and note-taking app with Shortcuts. I’ve built launchers to publish articles to WordPress, upload images, perform backups of my iOS reviews, and a lot more. You can read more about my examples and find a usage guide for the plugin in the original story.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that we’re releasing version 1.1 of Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with two new integrations: properties and backlinks.

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Vision Pro Chronicles: My Custom ‘Dual Knit Open’ Setup for Maximum Comfort and Awareness

My custom Vision Pro setup. [This is the stand](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1679187530/dock-for-apple-vision-pro-apple-vision) I'm using.

My custom Vision Pro setup. This is the stand I’m using.

Vision Pro Chronicles is a MacStories series about our journeys with the Vision Pro. In this series, we’ll explore the potential of visionOS as a brand new platform in our workflows and personal lives, share how we’re using the Vision Pro on a daily basis, and cover interesting apps and accessories for the device.

You’ll be shocked to learn that I’m not using the Vision Pro in any of the default Apple configurations.

After two months spent testing a variety of different options for bands, straps, and other “mounting” solutions, I’ve found my ideal setup. It looks somewhat ridiculous at a glance, and it’s not for everyone, but it allows me to use the Vision Pro for longer sessions.

Most importantly, it helps me enjoy the Vision Pro more.

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Understanding the DOJ’s Antitrust Complaint Against Apple

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice, 15 states, and the District of Columbia sued Apple for alleged federal and state antitrust violations. Apple issued an immediate response, and before anyone had time to read the DOJ’s 88-page complaint, the Internet was overrun with hot takes.

However, the thing about lawsuits – and especially big, sprawling, high-stakes ones like the DOJ’s – is that they’re the proverbial tortoise to the Internet’s hare. Barring a settlement among the parties, the case against Apple isn’t likely to go to trial anytime soon. Add to that appeals, and this process is going to take years, not months.

So, since we have plenty of time, I thought I’d kick off our coverage at MacStories with a look at the DOJ’s complaint and its legal underpinnings, along with some observations on what’s going on and what you can expect to happen next.

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Apple Frames 3.2 Brings iPhone 15 Pro Frames, Files Picker, and Adjustable Spacing

Apple Frames 3.2.

Apple Frames 3.2.

Today, I’m releasing version 3.2 of Apple Frames, my shortcut to put screenshots taken on Apple devices into physical device templates. If you want to skip ahead, you can download Apple Frames 3.2 at the end of this story or find it in the MacStories Shortcuts Archive.

Version 3.2 is a major update that introduces brand new frames for the iPhone 15 Pro line, improves the reliability of framing screenshots from devices with the Dynamic Island, and, perhaps most importantly, extends the Frames API with new configuration options to give you even more control over framed images.

Let’s dive in.

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Ruminate Joins MacStories

2015 was a busy year. At the beginning, I released an app, and at the end, I joined MacStories. In between, Robb Knight and I started Ruminate, making it the longest-running thing I currently do.

Ruminate began on a sunny day at a Chicago country club.

Ruminate began on a sunny day at a Chicago country club.

I remember the show’s origin well. I was still working at a law firm in Chicago and was sitting outside on a warm summer day at a compulsory work outing, where most people played golf. I, however, was planning my exit from the world of law, working on a long list of project ideas and soaking up some sun. That’s when Robb, who I’d gotten to know online over the previous year or two, contacted me to say, ‘We should do a podcast,’ which is perhaps the most 2015 thing he could possibly have proposed. I was a little hesitant at first, but I was ready to try anything that might help me quit my job, so with that, Ruminate was born.

You can subscribe to Ruminate using the buttons below:

What I’ve always loved about Ruminate is its casual, low-key vibe. We’ve covered serious topics like content moderation on social media, but there’s always a healthy dose of our latest online discoveries, weird snack food, and videogames, too. It’s a mix that I think makes the show fun and entertaining, while offering some food for thought about the web from two very online people.

That time I encouraged people to tweet at Robb, so the tweets would show up on a huge screen in the middle of his graduation ceremony.

That time I encouraged people to tweet at Robb, so the tweets would show up on a huge screen in the middle of his graduation ceremony.

Some of you may wonder why Ruminate is joining MacStories after so many years on its own. It’s a good question. My motivation is to reach more listeners and mix things up a little to keep the show fresh and interesting.

Now is the perfect time for a show like Ruminate to broaden its audience, too. Centralized social media has splintered, ActivityPub and federation are on the rise, and AI is upending online media companies that rely on Google Search. Those factors have left many people ready for a smaller, indie web built by humans instead of big companies or AI bots.

Robb and I have covered topics like RSS, static websites, micro-blogging, and the many amazing online projects we come across for years. Those things never really went away, but suddenly, people are ready for their tech lives to get weird again, whether it’s the hardware they use or how they spend time on the web. Robb and I are here to bring the weird web to your podcast player every two weeks, just like we’ve been doing for years.

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RoamPod: Exploring the Untapped Potential of a Portable HomePod mini

A couple of months ago, my partner and I were contemplating purchasing a Bluetooth speaker for the bathroom. We both like to listen to podcasts and music while in the shower, and using our iPhones at maximum volume outside of the shower booth was getting old.

Here’s the thing, though: Bluetooth speakers aren’t great. I tried a bunch of small portable Bluetooth speakers. The JBL Go 3, in particular, was pretty good. It has a decent sound, it’s small and easy to move if we want to use it in other rooms, and it’s waterproof. Unfortunately, when it comes to connectivity, the JBL Go 3 was no exception in the sea of similarly-priced portable speakers: you often have to re-pair your iPhone, and that becomes especially painful if you’re sharing the speaker with your partner like I am. I really didn’t want to go back to this life of spending two full minutes to pair my iPhone every time I’m headed for the shower. We would only end up giving up on it and going back to blasting our iPhones at maximum volume.

In the end, I had a suggestion for my partner: what if we used a HomePod mini instead?

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Club MacStories Sample: BetterTouchTool Tips, Vision Pro Shortcuts, a Task Manager Review, and the Effect of AI on the Internet

We often describe Club MacStories as more of the MacStories you know and love reading on this website. That’s an apt shorthand for the Club, but when you’re being asked to sign up and pay for something, it still helps to see what you’re buying. That’s why every now and then, we like to share samples of some of what the Club has to offer every week.

So today, we’ve made Issue 408 of MacStories Weekly from a couple of Saturdays ago available to everyone. Just use this link, and you’ll get the whole issue. You can also use the links in the excerpts below to read particular articles.

Everybody in the Club gets MacStories Weekly and our monthly newsletter called the Monthly Log, but there’s a lot more to the Club than just email newsletters. All members also get MacStories Unwind+, an ad-free version of the podcast that we publish a day early for Club members. All Club members also have access to a growing collection of downloadable perks like wallpapers and eBooks.

Club MacStories+ members get all of those perks along with exclusive columns that are published outside our newsletters, access to our Discord community, discounts on dozens of iOS, iPadOS, and Mac apps, and advanced search, filtering, and custom RSS feed creation of Club content. Club Premier builds on the first two tiers by adding AppStories+, the extended, ad-free version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered a day early, as well as full-text search of AppStories show notes, making it the all-access pass for everything we do at MacStories.

To learn more and sign up, you can use the buttons below:

Join Club MacStories:

Join Club MacStories+:

Join Club Premier:

Issue 408 of MacStories Weekly, which you can access here, starts with two excellent tips from Niléane on how to use BetterTouchTool to remap the Mac’s yellow and green ‘stoplight’ buttons. Like a lot of tips and workflows we share, Niléane’s was inspired by a similar technique Federico employed a couple of weeks before:

Two weeks ago, in Issue 406 of MacStories Weekly, Federico shared a tip for BetterTouchTool that resonated with me. Just like him, I am used to minimizing my windows instead of hiding them, which can be annoying since minimized windows no longer come up when you Command (⌘) + Tab to their app’s icon…

…after poking around in BetterTouchTool for a few minutes, I realized that the app allows you to change what the red, yellow, and green window buttons do. As a result, I was able to make it so that the yellow button will actually hide a window instead of minimizing it to the Dock.

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Vision Pro App Spotlight: GameTrack Updated with Built-In Cloud Streaming

Late last week, Joe Kimberlin released GameTrack 5.4, an update to the iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS versions of the app that enables new ways to access your favorite games and navigate the app’s UI. Of course, the Vision Pro version of GameTrack is completely new since the last time I wrote about the app, too. So, let’s take a closer look at the latest iOS and iPadOS updates, as well as the visionOS version, which has become one of my favorite media management apps for Apple’s headset.

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