jimmylittle

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to random

#ios17 #iPadOS17 and #macOS14 Feedbacks I'm filing… 🧵

jimmylittle, 5 months ago to random

Moving my @obsidian vault to Obsidian Sync and off of iCloud. I never really had any issues with iCloud, but I’m looking for ways to support Obsidian’s development.

Their sync service is fast (I can see edits in near-real-time across devices) and E2E encrypted. It’s also wildly overpriced for what it does. It basically only syncs text files for $8/mo with a 10GB data cap, which is really worth about $3/mo. No server side processing, no API. Just file sync.

jimmylittle, 5 months ago to random

The iPad mini is my go-to travel iPad. I don’t even consider my 12.9” Pro for travel anymore.

I’ve drilled a hole in the case and stuck a MagSafe magnet thingy to the back of the iPad. Now the mini can use a MagSafe PopSocket and a MagSafe tripod mount. It’s glorious. The iPad mini should 100% have MagSafe on the back like the phones do. Charging, battery packs, accessories would all be great on this thing.

The mini paired with a Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad makes a nice little writing setup.

MagSafe PopSocket on the back of an iPad mini
iPad mini on a MagSafe tripod mount
iPad mini on a tripod stand with a portable keyboard

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to random

Trying out #watchOS10 and I’m not convinced wasting the entire side button on Control Center is a good idea.

It’s a major usability regression over launching the Dock, at least in my use cases.

I was a heavy Dock user, keeping my 8 most used apps there, one tap away. Now, I don’t see a way yet to keep a quick-launch set of apps handy…

jimmylittle, 3 months ago to random

SCENE: Me, looking at the home page of the App Store on my 12.9" iPad Pro:

"oh neat, a sports app from Apple, this looks interesting"

<downloads app>

"uhhh..."

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to AppleInc

How is Apple’s #AppStore search still so bad?

Typing in the exact name of an app, and selecting it from the auto-complete dropdown list in the search bar, gives me the results pictured. (And I’m totally OK with search ads here, but none of these are ads!)

“Fin- budget tracker” in the search bar, and I have to scroll past Mint, YNAB, and Monefy to see the one I LITERALLY JUST PICKED FROM A LIST. 🙄

image/jpeg

jimmylittle, 26 days ago to random

I generally use 2 web browsers. Chrome for work, and Safari for personal. I like keeping bookmarks/history/passwords/etc separate.

I’m going to switch to @arcinternet for the month of May for work stuff. Importing everything from Chrome was a breeze, and all the Chrome extensions I need work in Arc.

I will not switch my personal stuff from Safari, though. The iCloud-synced tabs, history, tab groups, Reading List, etc. are all part of my daily use, and can’t be replicated yet.

jimmylittle, 3 months ago to random

I started thinking about this a bit more, and I really think it could be pretty great. With the “focus engine” that lets AppleTV hop between click targets, one could easily pop around a screen of widgets and select music/podcasts, photos, next tv show, etc. And a simple scroll down could bump you into the current AppleTV UI. Let’s do this, Apple!

(apologies for the quick mock-up, just a Keynote with some Figma stock icons. I have to get these things out of my head) https://hachyderm.io/@jimmylittle/111834930371024851

video/mp4

jimmylittle, 4 months ago to random

Is there anyone that can explain the Costco Free Sample people to me?

What would make a presumably pretty well-off person give up 5-10 minutes of their day waiting in line for a free cracker?

Is there some psychological name for this?

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to random

Trying to use iCloud/Apple Passwords on my work machine (tough to install 1Password there)

Am I bonkers or is there no way to use the Apple Password system in Chrome on Mac? There’s a Chrome extension for Windows, but not Mac?

This seems really limiting. I can’t use Safari for some intranet sites at work, and don’t want to use Chrome’s password vault.

cc: @rmondello

jimmylittle, 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago) to random

I’ve completely stopped using Apple’s “Hide My Email” feature. I tried for a few months, but iCloud’s Junk/Spam filtering is hot garbage. I know I can turn off any generated email address at any time and all, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

Check out the screenshot. I deleted all Junk YESTERDAY, and today there are 675 messages that I get to delete again. I don’t have this problem with Gmail. Back to using my Google address for all the web signups, I guess.

Or maybe Sanebox. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

jimmylittle, 8 months ago to HomeKit

Nine years into #HomeKit and you still need a third party app to “turn this light off after 20 minutes”

jimmylittle, 2 months ago to random

I’ve been time-boxing for a couple weeks now (I used to time-block from tasks, now I time-box for outcomes).

It’s taken a little tweaking, but it’s really helped me get focused. The key for me is building in Flex Time for when things go off-plan or letting my mind wander on YouTube or social media, and building in specific times of the day to deal with Slack/Telegram/Email.

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to random

We are now 17 versions into iOS and there is still not a share sheet in the Mail app.

jimmylittle, 4 months ago to random

I work with teams in several time zones.

I use Mac desktop widgets to build a “world clock”, and I love it.

I would love it more if Apple made digital versions of the City Clock that I could set to 24h time.

screenshot of the options for Clock widgets on Mac Desktop. There are no options for Digital clocks other than local time.

jimmylittle, 6 months ago to random

I would love a SlideOver kind of thing on Mac. I like taking interstitial notes in Obsidian as I go through my work day, but always having it visible is distracting. If I could replace the “swipe Notification Center in” gesture with a “swipe {this app} in” gesture, I’d be thrilled.

Currently faking it by keeping Obsidian in its own Space that a 4-finger swipe to, but on an ultrawide monitor, that’s a long trip.

Are there any apps/utilities that can accomplish this?

jimmylittle, 8 months ago to Shortcuts

When I went back to the office last year, I broke down my big home-office setup and use my 4K TV as a monitor in my home office when I need it. The only problem I’ve had is macOS does not support HDMI-CEC, so the tv doesn’t turn on when I wake the Mac.

@KeyboardMaestro and #Shortcuts to the rescue!

A one-step Keyboard Maestro macro that runs a Shortcut when the computer wakes up, and that one-step Shortcut turns on my (HomeKit-enabled) tv/monitor and light bar.

Screenshot of Shortcuts app with one “control Home” action enabled.

jimmylittle, 4 months ago to RSS

OK, #RSS nerds!

Is there an iOS/Mac RSS reader that syncs (via web or iCloud, I don’t care) that has Safari Reading List as one of the “read later” or “save for later” options?

I love ReadKit, but any time I want to add to Reading List, I have to open the article then save it. I just want to send it straight there from a button or swipe or whatever.

jimmylittle, 10 months ago to random

I don’t think I’d ever use Meta’s #Threads (though I am an Instagram user, so I’m screwed privacy-wise anyway…), but I’m glad it’s coming.

Making the Fedeverse accessible to “normals” and finding a way to monetize it is essential.

As much as we all love the ideal decentralized experience we’ve had the last couple years, Mastodon (and the Fediverse at large) will not survive long-term on admins volunteering to run servers for Patreon donations. It’s unsustainable. 1/2

jimmylittle, 3 months ago to random

I wonder what the reaction would be if Apple dropped all this #DMA core technology fee nonsense and just went back to charging for software upgrades.

I’m old enough to remember paying $9 a year for iOS upgrades.

jimmylittle, 3 months ago to random

I spent about 20 minutes last night updating some CSS on the ol’ blog. Nothing has really changed except now when I break down a #Shortcut into steps, the table has a nice Shortcuts-themed background to set it apart from the text of the page.

jimmylittle, 3 months ago to apple

Just accidentally discovered that command-space Spotlight is in #visionOS 1.1 beta. :hamster_dance:

jimmylittle, 29 days ago to VisionPro

I really like my #VisionPro and still use it all the time, but I think Apple missed the boat a bit. The Meta Raybans are a more practical face computer.

If Apple had created sunglasses that had a decent camera, Apple Music/Podcasts, and Siri built in for $300, it probably would have been a massive success.

jimmylittle, 11 months ago to random

Honestly, I’d like this #watchOS10 widget view to just be the watch face.

jimmylittle, 8 days ago to random

This is fucking genius. https://mastodon.social/@agiletortoise/112288917057014294