Category: Links

Quick thoughts that link out to other sites

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Links

25 Apple Vision Pro Secrets & Hidden Features from Andru Edwards

Good set of Apple Vision Pro tips from Andru Edwards on YouTube:

Here’s your key to unlocking the full potential of the Apple Vision Pro secret features. Get a look at a bunch of hidden features that Apple has seamlessly integrated into this device. From discovering quirky Easter eggs in various Environments to mastering the use of spatial audio in FaceTime calls, these Apple Vision Pro tips and tricks will change how you use your Apple Vision Pro.

You’ll also learn how to effectively utilize the unique gesture controls, optimize your device for the best viewing experience, and much more. Don’t miss out on the bonus feature at the end, showing you how to get the perfect fit with the solo knit band vs dual loop band.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Apple Vision Pro Secret Features

00:18 – Apple Vision Pro Environment Easter Eggs

00:50 – Apple Vision Pro Environments Have Different Sound Profile

01:14 – Change Volume of Environments

01:33 – Apple Vision Pro Apps Will Stay Where You Leave Them

02:25 – Transport Apps

02:46 – Bring Apps With You

03:07 – Touch Vision Pro Apps

03:39 – Apple Vision Pro Pinch and Hold Gesture

04:09 – How to Force Quit Apple Vision Pro Apps

04:30 – Apple Vision Pro Light Seal Cushions

05:11 – Increase Apple Vision Pro FOV

05:47 – How To Enable Apple Vision Pro Guest Mode

06:32 – Mirror Apple Vision Pro Display

06:58 – Fast Charge Apple Vision Pro

07:29 – Free iTunes Library 3D Upgrades

08:19 – Apple Music Mini Player

08:58 – Make A Better Apple Vision Pro Persona

10:28 – Apple Vision Pro Personas Work In Several Apps

10:44 – How to See Your Own Apple Vision Pro EyeSight

11:17 – Separate Volume Settings in Apple Vision Pro

11:36 – Use Mac Keyboard u0026 Trackpad with Apple Vision Pro Apps

12:04 – Solo Knit Band vs Dual Loop Band

I knew you could AirPlay to Mac displays, but I’ve never had an iPad or iPhone open while trying to share my view – perhaps there’s a convoluted solution for live-streaming here where I film my iPad screen showing what I’m doing in visionOS…

View the video YouTube.

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Links

Shortcut Buttons For Apple Vision Pro Puts Floating Automations In The Space Around You

Finn Voorhees, developer at Detail and creator of apps like Unsqueeze and Castaway, has announced an app for Apple Vision Pro called Shortcut Buttons. The app, available now, lets you place a floating tile for a shortcut in your spatial computing environment and run it instantly – how freaking cool is that?!

According to the site, here’s what Shortcut Button is for:

Shortcut Buttons is great for placing relevant automations nearby when working on notes, calendars, tasks, and other productivity apps. You can avoid switching over to the shortcuts app running in iPad compatibility mode and instead just tap a small nearby button, similar to how you might run a shortcut from the Shortcuts widget on iOS/iPadOS.

Shortcut Buttons is also useful for setting up home automation shortcuts in relevant places. Easily dim the lights or order food when watching a movie, or start a timer when cooking in the kitchen.

With Shortcut Buttons, you can place as many shortcuts as you want, which will anchor-in-place in your spatial computing environment, making it easy to launch your shortcut from anywhere, just by looking at it.

Plus, you can style your Shortcut Buttons according to your preferences, making sure they fit into your environment nicely.

Particularly useful will be the clipboard access, which will let you copy something in visionOS and send it to the Shortcut Input of your shortcut – while browsing for recipes in your kitchen, you could easily copy one and send it to your Recipes list with your Shortcut Button floating over the countertop.

The History view is also incredible, because most Shortcuts users run the same shortcuts over time – this will be super handy for your most-used shortcuts on Apple Vision Pro.

Shortcut Button is available for Apple Vision Pro for an up-front price of $7.99 – a small fee that’s certainly worth it for such a perfect spatial computing utility.

Check out the Shortcut Buttons site, get Shortcut Buttons on the App Store, and view the launch post on Mastodon.

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Links

YouTuber Personas Take FaceTime Call on Apple Vision Pro

Shared alongside with their videos today, YouTube creators iJustine, MKBHD, and Brian Tong appeared in a FaceTime call together to discuss Apple Vision Pro – or, should I say, their Personas did?

On Justine’s page, she posted a video of the call as the three demo their Personas, generated from scans taken with Apple Vision Pro, where Marques Brownlee says:

The faces are impressive… I think…

It’s very, very… it’s just at the edge of uncanny valley. I know what you guys look like so I know they look like you…”

The effect is almost unsettling, and yet obviously them – it’s sort of like a previous generation video game character version of each person.

Brian Tong says:

I feel like this is a 9/10 to how we actually look

And Justine agrees, continuing:

It’s pretty good. And also skin tones too, because all three of us have very different complexions and I feel like it actually (laughs) It actually did a pretty good job.

Marques continues:

Every single time I’ve gotten on a FaceTime call with this, it’s the same reaction of “Whoa!” Like, “This is weird…

And I realize I’ve gotten used to it, and I think after a while everyone using this is just going to get used to using it after getting over the initial “Holy crap, look at this thing.”

View the video clip or watch the segment in Justine’s full video.

 

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Links

Joanna Stern wears Apple Vision Pro on Live TV

Joanna Stern, journalist at The Wall Street Journal, made a live TV appearance today while wearing the Apple Vision Pro on CBNC’s The Squawk on the Street:

“I think this is a Apple die-hard product right now.”

@WSJ columnist @joannastern joins @SaraEisen and @CarlQuintanilla to break down her review of Apple’s new headset: the Vision Pro. $AAPL

Iconic.

Check out Joanna’s review (web, YouTube), which stands out among the list of early reviewers, and view the video on CNBC.com or X.

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Links

PSA: Test your App Shortcuts via Siri on Apple Vision Pro

From Emmanuel Crouvisier , developer of CardPointers:

PSA: Test your App Shortcuts via Siri on Apple Vision Pro if you’re shipping on Friday.

A bunch of things don’t work, including NavigationLink, GroupBox, and more, resulting in the “McDonald’s box of death”.

Once you’ve tweaked them though, they feel so great.

As for the “McDonald’s box of death,” Emmanuel describes it in another reply:

Haha yellow box with the red slash across it. What you surely saw with your widgets when iOS 17 came out and didn’t have the widget background stuff set.

View the full thread, plus learn about Cardpointers on the web or get it on the App Store.

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Links

John Gruber: “The Vision Pro”

Gruber being Gruber, for Daring Fireball:

For the last six days, I’ve been simultaneously testing three entirely new products from Apple. The first is a VR/AR headset with eye-tracking controls. The second is a revolutionary spatial computing productivity platform. The third is a breakthrough personal entertainment device.

A headset, a spatial productivity platform, and a personal entertainment device.

I’m sure you’re already getting it. These are not three separate devices. They’re one: Apple Vision Pro. But if you’ll pardon the shameless homage to Steve Jobs’s famous iPhone introduction, I think these three perspectives are the best way to consider it.

I also like this bit:

You can do seemingly crazy things like put a VisionOS application window outside a real-world window.

Read the full post on Daring Fireball.

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Apps Links

Ulysses Writing App Adds New Home Screen and Lock Screen Widgets »

From the Ulysses v34 release notes, quoted via 9to5Mac:

Widgets on iOS:

  • Better late then never…
  • Open projects right from your home screen.
  • Create new sheets right from your home screen.
  • Both actions are also available for your lock screen.
  • There‘s even a dedicated Inbox widget, which works similar.

I’m very, very, very appreciative of these initial widgets—check out my Writing widgets in the post header image—and have even sent detailed feedback to the team asking for more access to Groups (since I don’t use Projects) 😇.

View the story on 9to5Mac and buy Ulysses on the web or get it the App Store.

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Links

Blackbox: Rebooting an Inventive Puzzle Game for VisionOS »

From the Apple Developer blog:

If you’ve ever played Blackbox, you know that Ryan McLeod builds games a little differently.

In the inventive iOS puzzler from McLeod’s studio, Shapes & Stories, players solve challenges not by tapping or swiping but by rotating the device, plugging in the USB cable, singing a little tune — pretty much everything except touching the screen.

“The idea was to get people in touch with the world outside their device,” says McLeod, while ambling along the canals of his Amsterdam home base.

In fact, McLeod freed his puzzles from the confines of a device screen well before Apple Vision Pro was even announced — which made bringing the game to this new platform a fascinating challenge.

I briefly had the chance to talk with Ryan at WWDC after it was announced he’d been developer for the device in early access, and it got me thinking about how Shortcuts could work in spatial computing – fascinating to consider.

This image of his notebook from the story is very cool to look over in particular.

View the full story on the Apple Developer site.

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Links

Apple Vision Pro Early Unboxings and Reviews

Apple Vision Pro is available this Friday, which means the typical Tuesday-before set of pre-release reviewers are sharing their thoughts – some are unboxings, while some are full reviews.

Here’s the set of reviewers that got early access (listed in order I came across their links):

  1. Nilay Patel of The Verge: Web | YouTube
  2. Marques Brownlee/MKBHD: YouTube
  3. Justine Ezarik/iJustine: YouTube
  4. Brian Tong: YouTube
  5. Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal: Web | YouTube
  6. Scott Stein of CNET: Web | YouTube
  7. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide: Web | YouTube
  8. Todd Haselton of CNBC: Web
  9. Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies: Web
  10. John Gruber of Daring Fireball: Web

View the Apple Vision Pro on Apple’s website.

Update: Included Carolina Milanese’s coverage, which I initially missed.

Update to the update: Included John Gruber’s coverage, which was published after this was released.

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Links News

Apple Debuts Contingent Pricing for App Store with Structured and One Sec

Today on X, the team from Structured announced that Apple had allowed them to partner with the team from One Sec on the new contingent pricing in the App Store, a feature announced in December that allows subscribers from one app to unlock discounts in another:

Apple chose us together with @onesecapp to be one of the first to offer the new contingent pricing 🏷️. As a subscriber to Structured or @onesecapp , you unlock a special 30% discount for the other app. Check your AppStore!

In a follow-up post, they clarified the qualifications:

The offer applies only to the yearly plan and while you are an active subscriber.

This partnership makes a lot of sense – Structured is a daily planner designed to help you focus on what’s important in your day, and One Sec is designed to help you take breaks when you open apps like social media apps from muscle memory; both are made by indie developers who want to help you be mindful about your time.

The apps actually already have a native integration making it easy to set up One Sec automations from within Structured – now the partnership extends financially both to the customer’s benefit, as well both the developers.

See the post from @Structuredapp, and check out Structured and One Sec in the App Store.

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Links

Podcast Mention — Magic Rays of Light: Ep. 106

My thanks to Sigmund Judge and Devon Dundee for mentioning my Netflix shortcuts on their podcast Magic Rays of Light (who recently joined MacStories.net – congratulations!) – find the segment in Chapter 7 around 36:23 (and my mention around 38:00):

Sigmund and Devon share their experiences with Apple Vision Pro preorders, highlight Apple Original war drama series Masters of the Air ahead of its debut this weekend, and break down all of the Apple FYC news in the wake of BAFTA and Oscar Awards nominations.

They’re basically referencing my post from Mastodon in regards to the Bloomberg article on “YouTube and Spotify Join Netflix in Not Launching Apple Vision Pro Apps” where I cheekily said:

I sure wish there was some sort of, say, shortcut to help you access these resources in lieu of apps

Check out Magic Rays of Light in Apple Podcasts, get my Netflix shortcuts, and listen to the episode below:

Continue reading “Podcast Mention — Magic Rays of Light: Ep. 106”

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Apps Links

Day One Introduces Shared Journals »

From the Day One blog:

Introducing Shared Journals—a new way to bring your stories and memories together with those you cherish most, with the same privacy and security you expect for your journals.

What an excellent, deep feature from Day One – I’m glad to see this level of development continue with the company in the hands of Automattic, the developers behind WordPress.

Read the full article.

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MacStories Surveys Popular Apps Currently Compatible With Apple Vision Pro using Shortcuts »

From John Voorhees at MacStories:

As it turns out, it’s possible to tell if a developer has opted out by using App Store API endpoints. So, with a little help, we built a shortcut to check some of the most popular apps on the App Store.

They haven’t shared the full shortcut, but that just means I’ll have to poke around myself to see if I can find my way… 👀

Read the full article.

 

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Links Tips & Tricks

Tip: Upload High Quality Media on Threads With This Setting »

From @Threads:

Thriendly tip ✨ To upload images and videos here at the highest quality possible, head to Settings, then tap on “Account” > “Media quality” > “Upload highest quality.”

Use my shortcut Open Threads Settings to quickly access this page as needed, plus your Notification options and your Likes, plus Privacy controls.

View the post on Threads.

Continue reading “Tip: Upload High Quality Media on Threads With This Setting »”

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iOS 17.2 Includes 50 New URL Schemes You Can Use in Shortcuts on Your iPhone »

From Justin Myers at GadgetHacks:

First, there are schemes for the new Journal app and Journal’s settings:

open | moments://
open | prefs:root=JOURNAL

And two for the new Contact Key Verification for iMessage setting:

highlight | prefs:root=APPLE_ACCOUNT#TRANSPARENCY
open      | prefs:root=APPLE_ACCOUNT&path=TRANSPARENCY

The article also covers new URL schemes for Accessibility and other settings added in iOS 17.2 – make sure to check out the full list and make a shortcut if you utilize these features.

View the full article on GadgetHacks.

 

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Guest appearances Offsite Podcasts

Guest spot — Rich On Tech: Emergency phone setup & smart holiday shopping

On Saturday, November 18, I had the pleasure of joining KTLA’s Rich DeMuro as a guest on Rich On Tech to talk about Shortcuts – my segment starts around 53:00:

Rich discusses iPhone 15 Pro impressions, using shortcuts on iPhones, Wi-Fi tips, and answers listener questions about laptop batteries, cleaning PCs, and using eSIM cards.

Check out Rich On Tech in Apple Podcasts or listen to the episode below:

Continue reading “Guest spot — Rich On Tech: Emergency phone setup & smart holiday shopping”

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Links

13 Easy YouTube Shortcuts for Creators and Viewers »

From Stephen Robles on YouTube:

Stephen’s set of YouTube shortcuts are great, taking advantage of YouTube’s web URL to redirect across the app. Plus, the RSS feed ones go even further for creators.

Watch the video on YouTube.

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Gear Links

Apple posts full video “Behind the scenes: An Apple Event shot on iPhone” »

Apple has posted a behind-the-scenes video to YouTube for yesterday’s Mac keynote, which was entirely filmed on an iPhone 15 Pro Max:


The video demonstrates the breadth of potential for iPhone as a primary camera, especially when supplemented with all the normal filmmaking gear that’s used to accompany every other “real” camera when shooting.

I think this line from the video sums up the point: “One of the most exciting and interesting things to see is how not different it’s been on set” – definitely me want to integrate the iPhone more thoroughly in my own video setup.

Watch the video on YouTube.

 

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Guest appearances Offsite Podcasts

Guest spot — iPad Pros: Shortcuts 7 with Matthew Cassinelli

On Thursday, September 28, I had the pleasure of joining Tim Chaten as a guest on iPad Pros to talk about:

Matthew Cassinelli is back for our 6th annual catchup on what’s new with Shortcuts! Shortcuts 7 is now available for iPadOS 17, iOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma! If you want to listen to our past episodes; check out episodes 41, 42, 58, 90, 91, 122, 149, and 151.

Check out iPad Pros in Apple Podcasts or listen to the episode below:

Continue reading “Guest spot — iPad Pros: Shortcuts 7 with Matthew Cassinelli”

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Links News

Apple touts how to “Get More Done With Shortcuts” on macOS Sonoma »

From the Mac App Store:

By letting you automate frequent or cumbersome tasks, Shortcuts has become a productivity favorite on Mac.

Send a stock response in Mail, open every note with a specific tag in Notes, or switch on your smart light bulbs. You can also automate across multiple apps to, say, batch-edit photos, move text from your writing app into a page-layout app, or open every app and document you need to start your workday. You can even choose how each window is rearranged. […]

And with desktop widgets in macOS Sonoma, you can add any shortcut—or folder of shortcuts-to your desktop for instant access. Just click a shortcut in a widget to run it!

Later, in a section titled “Access your shortcuts everywhere”:

For quick access to any shortcut in macOS Sonoma, add a Shortcuts widget to your desktop: Control-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Edit Widgets; then drag a Shortcuts widget to the desired location.

I’m seriously loving widgets on the desktop so far.

Read the story on the Mac App Store.