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AppStories, Ep. 291 - 54 minutes

2022 OS Preview: watchOS 9

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 291 - 2022 OS Preview: watchOS 9

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53:35

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, John is joined by Alex Guyot to talk about Alex’s MacStories origin story and walk through all of the changes coming to watchOS this fall as part of the MacStories Summer OS Preview series.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Concepts - Infinite, Flexible Sketching.
  • Trade – Save Big, Support Small Roasters. Get $30 off your first order.
  • Memberful – Monetize your passion with membership.
  • Sourcegraph – Universal Code Search. Move fast, even in big codebases. Try it now.

watchOS 9 Preview

[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

Subscribe here.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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MacStories Unwind: Penguins, Prey, and Mario

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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16:39

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind, John recommends a CNN documentary called Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World and is joined by Alex Guyot who kicks back with Prey, the latest installment in the Predator movie series. Plus, John shares his current Game Boy Mario obsession: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

John’s Pick:

Alex’s Pick:

  • Prey on Hulu in the US

Bonus Pick:

Photo Editor Acorn Adds Deep Shortcuts Integration

Photo editors are the perfect fit with automation tools because, so often, there’s a set of edits, filters, transformations, or file exports that you want to apply to multiple images. Many apps come with some sort of built-in batch processing tool, which is great, but supporting automation opens the door to integrating users’ photo editing processes with system features like Finder and other apps.

Earlier this year, Pixelmator Pro added deep Shortcuts integration, which opened up a long list of the app’s functionality via Shortcuts, enabling shortcuts like the machine learning-based super resolution one that Federico shared during Automation April. More recently, that app has been joined by Acorn, a Mac app with a long history of supporting automation with AppleScript and JavaScript support, as well as Automator actions.

With the release of version 7.2 at the end of July, Acorn added its own deep catalog of Shortcuts actions for users, including actions to:

  • Create images from the clipboard
  • Crop, rotate, flip, trim, and resize images
  • Apply individual filters and presets
  • Change the color profile of photos
  • Search for text in images

There’s some overlap with what can be done with other apps like Pixelmator Pro, but not as much as you might think. By combining Acorn’s actions with other system and third-party app actions, extremely sophisticated workflows that would take substantial time to complete one image at a time can be reduced to running a single shortcut, which, of course, is what Shortcuts and other automation schemes are all about.

Acorn is available directly from Flying Meat Software for $20.00, 50% off the regular price. The app is also on the Mac App Store for $20.99.

AppStories, Episode 290 – How iOS and iPadOS 16 Are Affecting Our Lives→

This week on AppStories, we consider how iOS and iPadOS 16 are affecting our work and personal lives.

Sponsored by:

  • Kolide – Nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here.
  • Setapp – More than 240 powerful apps. Try it free for a month.
  • Sourcegraph – Universal Code Search. Move fast, even in big codebases. Try it now.
[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/plans)

Subscribe here.

On AppStories+, Federico is experimenting with Lock Screen widgets as app and shortcut launchers.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

Permalink

Apple Podcasts Marketing Tool for Social Media Released

Apple has released a free web app that lets podcasters create artwork and links to promote their shows on Apple Podcasts. The app offers several customization options that should appeal to a wide variety of creators who want to market their shows on Apple’s service. Still, there are a couple of limitations worth keeping in mind.

Apple's tool offers several options, but the marketing messages are limited to a predefined list.

Apple’s tool offers several options, but the marketing messages are limited to a predefined list.

At its core, Apple’s tool makes it easy to generate promotional artwork in several predefined sizes along with links that can be posted to social media to promote a show, an episode, or an Apple Podcasts channel. Six size choices cover the standard artwork specifications for most social networking services. By default, the artwork is generated with a purple gradient that matches the Podcasts’ app color scheme, but you can change it to whatever you like.

Shows that offer Apple Podcasts subscriptions can promote bonus content and other perks to users.

Shows that offer Apple Podcasts subscriptions can promote bonus content and other perks to users.

There are several messaging options tailored to whether a show is free or offers a subscription version.

There are several messaging options tailored to whether a show is free or offers a subscription version.

The tool also provides several predefined messages that are applied to the artwork, the number of which depends on whether a show is free, paid, or free with a paid option. Shows that rank among Apple Podcasts’ Top Shows have the option of promoting their rankings too. However, there is no option to craft your own marketing message for the artwork, which is a little disappointing but not surprising.

Promotional art comes in multiple sizes for different social networks, and URLs can include affiliate parameters.

Promotional art comes in multiple sizes for different social networks, and URLs can include affiliate parameters.

The app generates full and shortened URLs, too, with the option to include affiliate parameters if you participate in Apple’s affiliate linking program for services.

Apple’s new marketing tool for social channels works well and generates good-looking artwork with minimal effort, making it a nice option for anyone with limited time and resources. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the tool is limited to Apple Podcasts. The messaging options are limited too. You’ll need a different solution if you’d rather promote your podcast’s own website, another podcast directory, or use a marketing message not offered by Apple. Still, because such a large percentage of many shows’ audiences listen using Apple Podcasts, the company’s new tool is an excellent way to reach those listeners and potentially grow that segment of your audience.

Last Week, on Club MacStories: Deleting Significant Locations from Your iPhone, the Rumored Pro Apple Watch, and Tech RSS Feeds

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

MacStories Weekly: Issue 331

Kolide: The Fleet Visibility Solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux That Can Help You Securely Scale Your Business [Sponsor]

Device security is a lot like Mount Everest: it’s tough to scale.

When you’re a small company dominated by engineers, you can keep up with fleet management with nothing more than trust and a spreadsheet. But once you start to hire marketers, designers, and the rest, the number of laptops balloons and the line between “work” and “personal” devices gets fuzzy. 

But fuzzy isn’t going to cut it. You have to prove you’ve got device security under control to close deals with customers, pass a third-party audit, and prove you’re ready for acquisition or an IPO. 

At this point, you start looking for a tool that will give you visibility across all these devices. And you have two options. 

Option one is an MDM, which acts as the puppet master for your whole fleet, forcing compliance through intrusive agents. But for all an MDM’s power, it still can’t answer your most nuanced questions. And when it comes to Linux devices? Good luck with that.

Your other option is Kolide. 

Kolide is an endpoint security solution that gives IT teams a single dashboard for all devices, regardless of their operating system.

Kolide can answer questions MDMs can’t. Questions like:

  • Do you have production data being stored on devices?
  • Are all your developers’ SSH keys encrypted?

  • And a host of other data points you’d otherwise have to write a custom shell script to learn about.

Want to see how it works for yourself? Click here for a free trial, no credit card required, and let us show you what we’re all about.

Our thanks to Kolide for sponsoring MacStories this week.

AppStories, Ep. 290 - 49 minutes

How iOS and iPadOS 16 Are Affecting Our Lives

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 290 - How iOS and iPadOS 16 Are Affecting Our Lives

0:00
48:41

↓

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John consider how iOS and iPadOS 16 are affecting their work and personal lives.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Kolide – Nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here.
  • Setapp – More than 240 powerful apps. Try it free for a month.
  • Sourcegraph – Universal Code Search. Move fast, even in big codebases. Try it now.

How iOS and iPadOS 16 Are Affecting Our Lives

[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

Subscribe here.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Instagram