Michael Miller

DIFF Action in Drafts

TIP: If you write longer bits in Drafts, this DIFF action is super handy. Lets you compare the current draft content to previous versions in the draft’s version history and see additions and deletions!

I detailed in my post about my week only using an iPad how much I love the app Drafts from Agile Tortoise. While writing an editing that piece, I used the app’s built-in version control features as I went through the writing and editing process.

I wish I would have know about the DIFF action from the Drafts Action Directory when I was writing such a long piece. Once again, I’m continuously impressed with how good this app is.

Thoughts After My iPad Week

As I wrote last week, I spent the last week without my MacBook Pro as Apple replaced my battery. This was a blessing in disguise, as it gave me an opportunity to experience my month-old iPad Pro as my go-to device.

With a little help from my friends

As I mentioned in my previous post, uploading to WordPress was quite the challenge. I was using this Shortcut from MacStories’ lovely Shortcut directory, but I was getting an authentication error from WordPress every time I ran the action. After consulting the fine folks over at the forum for the great Relay FM show Automators, I learned that an app-specific password was required when multi-factor authentication is enabled on the WordPress account. Once this problem was solved, posting a blog to WordPress was actually easier on the iPad than the Mac, so much so that I’m currently searching for a macOS solution to bridge that gap.

Fun with Shortcuts

Over the past few years, I’ve spent a little bit of time messing around with Shortcuts and its predecessor, Workflow, but I could only get so far on an iPhone-sized screen. Having the 11″ iPad Pro gave me more screen real estate to take full advantage of Shortcuts. On the iPad, there is a sidebar that allow for easy dragging and dropping of actions into the Shortcut, so you can scroll through various actions while still looking at the Shortcut.

I spent some time tinkering with a few of my own Shortcuts, one of which takes advantage of Todoist’s API by collecting all of the tasks completed within a set period of time. Beyond building my own Shortcuts, I tinkered with a few of the MacStories team’s creations, modifying them for my specific needs and preferences.

For example, I prefer to archive my blog posts in Dropbox with the following file naming convention:

yyyyMMdd_PascalCaseTitle

The MacStories Shortcut defaulted to using just the title as the file name, which went against the grain of how I already have my Markdown files from BBEdit on the Mac organized. By using the Current Date variable in Shortcuts with a customer format, the title of the exported file exported file is automatically prepended with the properly stylized date.

To solve my problem with the title casing in the file name, I turned to the Text Case app, which Federico Viticci used in the original MacStories Shortcut to stylize the H1 markdown heading in title case to be posted to WordPress. After the post is published to WordPress, an action from Text Case converts the H1 heading it previously converted to title case into Pascal case before being saved to a predetermined Dropbox directory ¹.

I think that this sort of customizability is the true beauty of Shortcuts, though it may be applicable to any sort of scripting or programming. Federico made a Shortcut that works for him and the MacStories team, but with a little elbow grease, I am able to make it into something that better suites my needs. I’m excited to continue playing around with Shortcuts and find out about how much it can truly accomplish. With changes to Shortcuts coming to iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, there is a definite upward trajectory for Shortcuts users.

Drafts is an essential app

I’ve been a casual user of Drafts since developer Agile Tortoise released Drafts 5 in early 2018, but as a Mac version went into beta and was eventually released, and I got my iPad, I became more of a power user, though I am nowhere near the likes of Rosemary Orchard or Tim Nahumyck. One of my favorite features is the ability to make custom Workspaces, a powerful tool that allows you to control how Drafts are grouped. Workspaces can be created by choosing which tabs a group should filter. For example, my current Workspaces are Inbox, Blogging, Journaling, Networking, Social, Task Management, and Work, but as I wrote previously about Shortcuts, the beauty lies in how malleable this feature is and how it can be used for your specific needs.

A lot of Drafts’ power comes from the action directory, a hub where users can upload actions, mostly related to JavaScript and Shortcuts scripting, to share with the community. I’ve found quite a few actions that I can use in my workflow, particularly those related to social media. Through Drafts actions, I can post to various forms of social media without actually visiting the sites. My favorite of these is a tweet storm action that creates a thread on Twitter without the fuss of doing it manually.

When I first got my iPad, I used 1Writer for blogging before switching to iA Writer a few weeks later. Once I started using the iPad as the main tool in my writing workflow, Drafts became indispensable, and now that I have my Mac back, I think this cross-platform solution will remain my weapon of choice ².

How iPadOS 13 will change everything

One of the weird things about my current iPad setup is that I feel as if everything is subject to change. With iPadOS 13 coming in the fall, I am going to need to relearn a lot habits I’ve created in the past month or so to optimize my workflow with the platform’s latest and greatest capabilities.

For example, my home screen layout will likely change drastically once I install iPadOS 13. One of my biggest pet peeves with the iPad at the moment is the way the app layout changes between landscape and portrait modes, but the new operating system will thankfully fix this nitpick. I’m also excited to play with the option to add widgets to the left side of the home screen in landscape view. This will be particularly helpful for apps with widgets like Shortcuts, Todoist, and Drafts.

On a less superficial scale, iPadOS 13 builds upon its current paradigm with improvements to multitasking and slideover. For my own needs, the change to slide over allowing easier switching between apps will be a welcome addition to the way I use my iPad for both productivity and entertainment.

More than any of these other improvements to the iPad comes simply from the name of its new operating system, iPadOS. In the past, we’ve seen Apple focus on the iPhone in some years and the iPad in others. The iPad might receive paradigm-shifting updates one year, but essentially nothing the next. Now that we have iPadOS in the pipeline, I think those days are coming to an end. The name iPadOS is a promise to iPad users that the platform will receive continued updates that will drive the platform forward, both for users who see the device as just a tablet and those, like myself, who seek more out of their iPad.

I’m not going to stand here and pretend that I am going to abandon my Mac for the iPad wholesale. I mean, there was a reason why I spent the time, money, and effort to get my MacBook repaired. I am, however, keen to seen how the iPad will evolve and improve my workflows, not only on the iPad but across all of Apple’s platforms. With version of iPad apps coming to the Mac this fall with macOS Catalina, developers are incentivized now more than ever to invest in the iPad. I don’t think that the iPad is the computing solution for everyone, but I think it can be an incredible tool for many users, myself included.

To get the Pascal Case action to become available in Shortcuts, I had to go into the Text Case app and add it as a Siri action. This is the same situation for adding any text alterations being made by Text Case into a Shortcut. ↩
As always, I reserve the right to change my mind. Heck, I could be using Ulysses and singing its praises this time tomorrow, but even then, Drafts holds a special place in my heart. ↩

Apple Public Beta Season Begins

From MacRumors

Apple today released the first public betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to its public beta testing group, giving non-developers a chance to test out the software ahead of its upcoming fall release.

Despite the fact that word had the new public OS betas dropping in July, Apple released public betas for macOS Catalina, iOS 13, and iPadOS 13 today. In the past, I’ve opted against installing any new operating systems until it’s out of beta, with the caveat of installing the latest version of macOS on an external hard drive. With that said, I can practically hear the redesigned iPad home screen call my name.

Speaking of macOS, Jason Snell of Six Colors had a good article about the macOS Catalina beta in addition to a length conversation on the latest episode of Upgrade.

Google Discontinues Pixel-Brand Android Tablets

From Computer World

Google’s decided to step away from its self-made tablets and focus instead on the laptop form.

When Google announced the Pixel Slate, I was excited, but that was quickly dulled when the reviews for the lackluster product hit. It seems that Google took the hint, deciding not to make any more tablets.

As Google’s statement to Computer World notes, they will continue to make Pixel phones and their premium lines of Chromebooks. This means that people who want a stock Android experience out of a tablet are out of luck, with only options from Samsung and other OEMs available.

I’m not sure what the best device for Android users who want a pro-level tablet experience is, but I have the sinking feeling that it might be an iPad Pro. Microsoft’s Surface line might be another viable option, but the app experience for Windows (outside of the desktop and laptop ecosystem) isn’t nearly as vibrant as the iPad’s.

I recently had this conversation on Twitter with tech YouTuber Erica Griffin. She uses an Android phone with an iPad as her tablet/laptop of choice, and I’m inclined to agree with her.

My Upcoming iPad-Only Week

After about a month, I finally brought my 2015 MacBook Pro to the Genius Bar to get a Service Battery alert diagnosed. I figured that it would require a new battery, but I didn’t consider the possibility of the computer needing to be sent for repair.

With that said, for the next week, I will be without a Mac laptop by my side for the first time in over three years. I’m not thrilled about it, but it does give me the opportunity to use the 11-inch iPad Pro I bought last month as a laptop without the safety net of my MacBook.

I’m currently using an Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard to make my iPad work as a laptop, a common setup by those who do so. During the first week or so of using my iPad, I used it almost exclusively in this quasi-laptop mode, but quickly slowed down after my wrists began to hurt while typing. I’m still trying to find a way to do this that isn’t an ergonomic discomfort.

Even though it is caused by an unwanted and expensive inconvenience, but I am still excited to see how the iPad life treats me until I get my Mac back. I’m interested to see how I grow has an iPad user, and where I find any shortcomings after using macOS. If publishing this post is any indication, this should be quite the experience.

Jason Snell & Myke Hurley Draft a Home Screen

Episode 250 of Upgrade from Relay FM

After a brief commentary about Twitterrific 6 and the difficult world of App Store pricing, we kick off the The Upgrade Summer of Fun by building the official Upgrade iPhone home screen. 28 apps will be picked! Four will win coveted spaces in the dock! Rules will be invented on the fly! Also, we explain what a draft is.

Upgrade was the first Apple-specific podcast I discovered, and it might actually be the show I’ve listened to the longest. In the time since, I’ve become quite particular about the arrangement of apps on my home screen, in no small part due to another Relay FM show co-hosted by Myke Hurley, Cortex. In Upgrade’s annual Summer of Fun, Jason and Myke drafted a home screen, the latest in a series of many drafts, and it’s some damn good nerdy listening.

Twitter gives details on Catalyst app

From Twitter

We are excited that Project Catalyst will enable us to bring Twitter back to the Mac by leveraging our existing iOS codebase.

I’m not a regular user of Twitter’s iOS apps, particularly the iPad app, but this news is exciting to me as a Mac user. While the iPad app in it’s standard views uses too much white space for my taste, the version used in Slide Over, which is essentially an iPhone-sized app, could actually be palatable.

I might not use the Twitter app in this manner, but it does give me ideas on how I’d like to use other iOS apps on the Mac, namely Apollo, Todoist, and Overcast.

Panic announces Playdate handheld gaming system

From Panic

Today, after more than four years of work by a small and talented team within Panic, we are extremely excited to introduce Playdate, a brand new handheld gaming system, arriving in early 2020.

As much as it pains my early high school-aged self, I’m not much of a video game person. Other than two or three triple-A titles per year ¹, I mostly stick to driving games these days, along with the occasional indie darling.

One of my favorite indie games is 2016’s Firewatch, developed by Panic and Campo Santo. After more than twenty years of software development and a few years of game development, Panic enters the hardware arena with the Playdate.

The hardware for the Playdate is some of the most unique design I’ve ever seen. I mean, a hand crank? Entering the bespoke gaming hardware market is a bold move, but if anyone can do it, it’s Panic

Panic already has a few stalwart indie developers signed up for their 12-week game release schedule, including the great Zach Gage.

THe Playdate starts at $150, and at that price, I am going to make a concerted effort to pick one up as soon as when it releases in 2020.

2018 was Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption 2, and 2017 was Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. ↩

Steve Troughton-Smith’s Overcast Marzipan Experimentation

From Steve Troughton-Smith on Twitter

Marco very kindly let me marzipanify @OvercastFM and rob him of the chance to be the first person to see Overcast running on the Mac; thank you @marcoarment 🙏 Even on Mojave, at this early stage, this makes me incredibly excited for WWDC

I’ve said it before, but Steve is the best type of madman. My only complaint is that the titlebar sticks out and doesn’t seem very Mac-like, but Benjamin Mayo quickly chimed in with a design tweak that fixed it.

I think I speak for all of the Apple nerds when I say, “Is it WWDC yet?”

MacStories Debuts Shortcuts Archive

From MacStories

After several months of work, I’m pleased to announce the MacStories Shortcuts Archive – the official repository for shortcuts I’ve created over the years (including when they used to be called “workflows”) and which have been updated, tested for the Shortcuts app, and collected in a single place.

I am a huge fan of the work Federico Viticci and his team do. To have all of this collected in one place is a boon to the iOS automation community.

If this sort of thing gets your attention, I can’t recommend the premium Club MacStories membership enough. Their weekly newsletter is a staple of my Friday afternoons.