Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Omzig42 linked to a helpful video showing how to fix a broken first-generation HomePod. I’ll certainly be tucking this away for when mine inevitably fail. (Link) Ethan put out a call for a specific type of watchOS complication that can show two custom health metrics. (Link) This...
Sill is Yet Another Way I’m Curating My News Intake
I wrote a few weeks ago about how I’m dealing with my tech anxiety by changing my approach to tech news. The following week, after the U.S. election, I applied that same philosophy to world news. A downside of this change is that there are a few stories that I feel have passed me...
HomePass 2 Brings a New Design, Maintenance Features, and a Freemium Model
Back in 2020, John opened his review of HomePass 1.7 in this way:
My HomeKit setup started out simple enough with a few Hue bulbs, but over time, it has grown to include security cameras, door sensors, electrical outlets, and more. As the number of accessories connected to my network grew, so did the hassle of managing them.
I know this is the case for many people, myself included. There seems to be an ever-growing selection of third-party apps for HomeKit, and developer Aaron Pearce has released some of the best. Where other apps add more functionality and, thus, complexity, Pearce has focused on simplicity and pure utility. The best example of that approach has always been HomePass.
A New Tool from Trakt Prompted Me to Update My Letterboxd Shortcut
I’m sure many of you have experienced this: you spend hours sweating over a problem only for someone to come along with an easy solution that takes a fraction of the time and significantly fewer tools. Well, it happened to me this past week. If you’ll remember, a couple of issues ago, I wrote about...
Bluesky, Black Friday, and Big Ideas
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Our Black Friday channel has launched for the year. Head there to share or find some great tech deals. Niléane had a great tip for bridging your fediverse account with Bluesky. “I have so many ideas for this now.” ? Do you have any questions about the...
The Farm, a Clean Desk Setup, and a Prank
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Federico went to the farm! Mariken shared their new, very clean desk setup. Did you fall for this? Louise got a delivery of some huge speakers. Want to join the Club MacStories+ Discord?Upgrade toClub MacStories+ or Club Premier, then visit theAccount page....
Weather Up: The Interactive Weather Widget I’ve Been Looking For
After several years of non-interactivity, widgets became interactive again last year in iOS 17. What we mostly saw emerge were widgets with buttons – either huge, chunky buttons like on the Shortcuts widget or small buttons like on the Reminders widget. Those are great and all, but some developers decided to push those boundaries. The...
Bongos, Map Comparisons, and Projectors
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: FlohGro asked some questions about replacing a home TV with a projector. Of course, Sigmund had lots of great advice. Federico had a short message for the Discord this week. Niléane shared a nice side-by-side comparison of the road markings and other details in Apple Maps vs....
Going Blindly Into Python Scripts to Move TV Time Tracking to Sequel
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about technology in general, but one area where I have a real weakness is coding, scripting, and the like. I’ve played around with it before, but despite some attempts to learn languages like SwiftUI, my efforts have always petered out. That meant the challenge my wife gave me this week...