TextExpander removes the repetition out of work so you can focus on what matters most.
Say goodbye to repetitive text entry, spelling and message errors, and trying to remember the right thing to say.
When you use TextExpander, you can say the right thing in just a few keystrokes.
Better than copy and paste, better than scripts and templates
TextExpander snippets allow you to maximize your time by getting rid of the repetitive things you type while still customizing and personalizing your messages.
TextExpander can be used in any platform, any app, anywhere you type.
Take your time back and increase your productivity,
We already know from Apple that they will miss the September announcement
Prosser thinks the event will happen the week of October 12th and also that there will be a staggered release of devices
Many think the iPhone 12 could come first, followed by the Pro versions later
If accurate that could mean pre-orders would happen on October 16th, with iPhone 12 shipments possibly starting the following week
iPhone 12 Pro models might ship some time in November
In addition Prosser believes Apple will roll out Apple Watch Series 6 and an updated iPad model the week of September 7th.
This does seem a little odd, for the Apple Watch, since it is typically anno unced along side the iPhone.
Then we did see Apple post a “test” stream on YouTube that was quickly pulled with a September 10th date
That’s a Thursday, so that date would be odd too.
Ming Chi Kuo claims that adding 5G to the iPhone this year will significantly increase the build cost for Apple though he doesn’t expect Apple to pass all of the cost to the consumer
He thinks support for sub-6GHz will run Apple about $75/unit and millimeter wave support $125/unit
To help offset the 5G costs Apple is looking to save on other components by putting more pressure on other suppliers for a good deal
One component Kuo notes is the battery printed circuit board.
The higher costs could also help explain why it’s been rumored that this years phones will lack some of the typical accessories like Earpods and a charging brick.
Rumors out of the supply chain are hinting at an iPad Air 4 update for 2021
The design is expected to adopt the Smart connector and transition from the Lightning connector to USB-C
It will reportedly have an 11-inch Liquid Retina display with reduced bezels and storage between 128GB to 512GB
Oddly the report claims the updated device will be priced about USD $150 higher than the current model
It also mentions an iPad Pro update that could arrive next month, which could be the iPad that Prosser is eluding to for September
Apple TV+ News
Apple signed a new first-look deal with Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions
That means Apple will get first shot to develop both film and TV content from Sikelia Productions for their streaming service
Apple is already working on bringing Scorsese’s next film, “Killers of the Flower Moon” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro to their service.
Apple signed a series order for an animated version of Harriet the Spy, based on the book series from the 60’s
The series will be animated by Titmouse Animation Studios and executive produced by the Jim Henson Company, Rehab Entertainment and 2 Friends Entertainment
Voices will include, Beanie Feldstein, Jane Lynch, and Lacey Chabert
Apple’s first look deal with Idris Elba’s production company seems to have bore fruit
They are set to produce an untitled spy romance film for Apple TV+
Apple also announced new music talent search reality show called “My Country"
The show will be produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company
Apple’s PR say, “ ‘My Kind of Country’ will revolutionize the music competition genre with a fresh, new documentary sensibility.”
Filming resumed today on the second season of "For All Mankind,"
When the shutdown happened they were just two episodes away from finishing season two.
Apple also ordered a second season of the new TV series Ted Lasso.
The first season just premiered on Apple TV+ about a week ago and features Jason Sudeikis from SNL as a US college football coach who get hired to coach a premier soccer team in England.
“Apple One” bundled services
In a report from Bloomberg they say Apple is working on a number of bundled service plans to launch along side the iPhone in October
Internally the bundles are being referred to as Apple One
They note that there will be several tiers
A basic package with Apple Music and Apple TV+
A version that includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade
A version with Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple News+
And then finally a top tier that also bundles in iCloud storage and services
The idea is to offer packages that would give customers a better deal than subscribing to the services individually.
They say the bundles would support family sharing for up to 6 members
And that they are looking to offer saving of between $2-5/mo.
The piece also mentions Apple working on a new fitness service that would include virtual classes.
Gurman says the service is codenamed “Seymour” which is something that Mac Rumors reported on back in March, but they said it was a free app with guided fitness lessons.
They also say Apple is looking to bundle some service in with hardware purchases.
For example offering a free year of Apple Arcade with the purchase of a new Apple TV
Apple has also rebranded Beats 1 to Apple Music 1
In addition they launched two new “stations”.
Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country.
The “Epic” App Store Battleroyale
Unfortunately this story is now too big to ignore
Epic, the game company behind Fortnite and Infinity Blade, doesn’t like paying Apple and Google the 30% cut for in-app purchases
They also want to be able to have their own game store (for their own streaming gaming service) on iOS. Something Apple currently doesn’t allow.
This past week they asked Apple for an exemption (a 'side letter’) to allow them to use their own in-app purchase system, when Apple said no, they added to the app anyway (via a server side update).
Apple promptly pulled the app from the App Store and Epic immediately filed a lawsuit and launched an online campaign including a parody video of Apple’s iconic 1984 ad.
Apple only pulled it for new installs
If you already had Fortnite installed it’s still there (with the alternate payment system).
Now Apple is also threatening to revoke Epic’s developer license if they don’t remove the in-app purchase system from their App.
This would have a possible collateral damage effect on other iOS game developers who use and rely on Epic’s Unreal Game engine.
It’s gonna get really messy and complicated
I don’t like lawsuits nor talking about them much.
Epic for sure orchestrated and calculated this knowing exactly how Apple (and Google0 would respond so they could kick off their lawsuit and get a LOT of press coverage
They also timed it well with Apple, Google, and others being calling in by congress to testify on ant-competitive behavior.
Apple also had a smaller dust-up with Wordpress that was resolved quickly
Basically Wordpress’ app had some help pages that linked to some of the pricing info for their paid .com plans
Having links to your site promoting paid services outside of the App Store without having an in-app purchase option is a violation of Apple’s TOS
Wordpress agreed to remove the links and the app will stay on the App Store.
Regardless of who you think is right, Epic for sure created a situation that they knew would get their App pulled. It’s not clear, though they had to suspect it, that they ever thought Apple might pull their whole developer license.
Apple’s expanded indie repair program
Apple has expanded their Independent Repair Provider Program to include Macs
MacRumors was able to get some of the details
Qualifying repair shops can gain access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and training starting August 17
The program covers all Mac models
The program is limited to out-of-warranty Mac repairs
Examples of components eligible for repair include the display, logic board, and top case, the latter of which includes the keyboard, trackpad, speakers, and battery
Participating repair shops must have Apple-certified technicians perform the repairs
Participating repair shops are not permitted to offer whole-unit replacements for Macs
Participating repair shops cannot ship Macs to an Apple repair center
They also noted their is a new parts price list and while some components have gone down in price others have gone up. Some up to hundreds of dollars, like 13-inch MacBook Pro displays.
Sponsor: Linode
Linode
Instantly deploy and manage an SSD server in the Linode Cloud. Get a server running in seconds with your choice of Linux distro, resources, and choice of 10 node locations.
They just opened their newest datacenter in Mumbai, India.
Built using their most up to date hardware and our Next Generation Network backbone, Linode allows you to comply with in-country data protection requirements while taking advantage of all Linode’s technology and tools.
They are giving all new Maccast customers a $20 credit.
More than just hosting. With Linode you have all the options and choices to build a server with the services and features you need
Whatever your requirements you can build it on Linode - Dedicated CPU, distributed applications, hosted services, websites, and Continuous integration and continuous delivery environments.
Featuring native SSD storage, a 40 Gbit network, with industry leading processors
Pick from any of their 10 worldwide data centers
Pricing is simple with no surprise fees. Your pay just for what you use with hourly billing across all of their plans and add-on services
Their new cloud manager features a n improved user interface which makes managing your Linodes and upgrading your plan even easier.
Visit: linode.com/maccast to set up your first Linode and get a $20 credit.
Feedback, commentary, opinions
Case of the missing icon
Play comment from Neil
That does seem really odd. Since you already mentioned all the troubleshooting you’ve done and you’ve checked things like Restrictions. I would say your best bet is to remove and re-install the app
I know you mentioned not being able to do this from the App Store, but luckily there is a feature in iOS that can help here.
“Offloading” the app. This removes the application from your iOS device, but retains the data.
To Offload:
Go to Settings > General
Tap on iPhone Storage
Scroll down the list of apps to find Google Maps and then tap on it.
Tap on “Offload App”
Then tap “Offload App” to confirm
When I presented this solution to Neil he wrote back to say that he tried it an it didn’t not work.
What he discovered though is that he has 15 pages full of apps and folders
Well really more than 15 pages, but iOS will only display 15 pages
Somehow his Google Maps icon got moved from the first page and landed in app “purgatory” outside the 15th page of apps
Once you start moving apps into folders or deleting apps the apps will emerge one at a time in alphabetical order.
I’m guessing this is one reason for the new “App Library” in iOS 14
This webpage is using significant memory
Fernando wrote in to describe something that is happening to him in Safari when visiting Facebook
While using the site he is continually get the warning: “This webpage is using significant memory. Closing it may improve the responsiveness of your Mac.”
He dismisses the warning, and is not noticing any issues with his Mac, but the message will come back.
Is there any way to suppress this warning somehow? Perhaps via the command line?
Let’s first talk about about the “why” this is happening
Typically it is because of scripts, like javascript, running on the site. If there is a lot of it, say for ads, ad tracking, and videos (like on Facebook), this can eat up your system resources which might impact other apps.
Another thing that can eat up resources are extensions and plug-ins.
Also sites that have video, especially auto-playing video or ads
There is a related and similar warning that you may also see
“This webpage is using significant energy. Closing it may improve the responsiveness of your Mac.”
For similar reasons sites that are using a lot of your system resources could have an impact on your battery life.
As far as I know there is not a way to suppress these warnings, but you might be able to do some things to prevent them.
Use an ad blocker to block the ads and tracking scripts
Safari > Settings for this Website…
Can control which sites are blocked by going to Safari > Preferences > Websites
Click on “Content Blockers”
“When visiting other websites:”
Turn on for websites that are heavily using ads or trackers
Turn off, stop auto-playing videos
Safari > Settings for this Website…
Set to “Never Auto-play”
Safari > Preferences > Websites (global)
“When visiting other websites:” set a default option.
Allow all, stop media with sound, never auto-play
Check if you have a lot of 3rd party extensions installed and turn off any you don’t need or use (these often use Javascript on al the pages you visit)
Go to Safari > Preferences > Extensions
Allow Safari to stop plug-ins to save power
Go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced.
Check “Stop Plug-ins” to save power
Clear your Browser cache
Go to Safari > Clear History
OR… Enable the Develop menu by going to Safari > Preferences > Advanced and selecting Show Develop menu. Then, click on the Develop menu bar and select Empty Caches.
Setting “Hourly” reminders
This one is an odd one and maybe a bug in iOS 13.6.1? Not sure how far back it goes.
Rick noticed this one
You can ask Siri to set a recurring reminder for something repeating hourly
Say like “Wash your hands” every 4 hours.
But, if you open the Reminders app and try and do it manually there is no “Hourly” repeat option
Add new reminder
Tap the “i” icon
Toggle on “Remind me on a day”
Tap “Repeat”. No “Hourly” option.
Tap “Custom” and it only has “Daily” for the most frequent frequency
Interestingly, if you edit an “hourly” reminder set via Siri the options are there.
You can also set Hourly reminders manually on the Mac (at least in macOS Catalina 10.15.6)
Why “Archive” files
Andy wrote in to ask about “archiving” (compressing) files on the Mac and about the differences between the built-in “Compress” option and using 3rd party apps
First the “why"
To save space on your Mac
Also good for sending or sharing large files.
Using “Compress” on the Mac
Select a file or folder
Right+Click or Control+click and choose “Compress [name]”
This will create a “Zip” file
Some file types will compress more than others
JPEGs already have a certain amount of compress, so compress less than say a large text file.
Different apps might offer different kinds of compression algorithms and different algorithms will result in more or less compression
Remember StuffIt? It’s actually still around.
What is nice about ZIP is it’s lossless and standardized.
Proprietary apps might require the app to be able to unarchive that file type.
With storage prices coming down these days I feel a better way to “archive” your files is with media and online backups. You could compress it to fit more stuff, but it’s really probably not necessary.
Just be sure to keep multiple copies or really important data. And at least one “offsite” backup
