56: Bringing the Power of AppleScript to Mortals

This week on the podcast, Joe is out sick so Joshua takes over. Our special guest, David Sparks, and Joshua talk about MacSparky Field Guides, highlighting a few updates to OmniFocus but primarily discussing Hazel. Then, the guys dig a little into the Workflow app to contrast automation for iOS and ‘macOS’ as we know them (note this episode was recorded before WWDC16).

This week on the podcast, Joshua and Joe and special guest, Sean Doran, discuss their wish lists for iOS 10 and macOS, expected to be announced at WWDC (just around the corner). Sean’s a smart user experience designer in Columbus, Ohio, who can appreciate the finer details of Apple software platform. We think through the future of Siri, icloud backups—if ever such a thing should exist—and the relentless push to refresh Apple’s products.

Joe Darnell and our special guest, Lee Peterson, discuss new design changes afoot in iOS 9. Apple Music is rumored to receive a ‘simpler’ and more friendly interface in iOS 10 (X?). We debate how we feel about the design of Apple Music in iOS 9.3 and where we’d like it to go from here. Also, we talk about Instagram’s redesign; how will it influence communities and change what we think of Instagram’s brand? Listen and find out.

Joshua is out of town, so Joe has our special guest, Tim Smith, to discuss RSS reading, standing/sitting desks, healthy habits, Joe’s new iPad Pro (9.7), and podcasts in alternate universes.

This week on Techtonic, Joshua describes his first days with Amazon’s Echo, ‘The Woman in the Box’. She is far more responsive than Apple’s Siri, which disappoints us for reasons. On a good note, the Echo is showing promise and is useful for many scenarios at home. After Echo talk, Joe reviews his new iPhone SE. Why did he want to down-grade from his 6S, and what does the SE offer people that are ready to embrace a small phone?

Our special guest this week, Daniel Jalkut, discusses MarsEdit, developing apps for Mac and iOS, and the difficult choices that independent app developers all face over the course of their careers.

Joe Darnell, Joshua Peiffer and our special guest, Joe Caiati, discuss a video by James Rath about Apple products’ accessibility features. Afterward, the guys break down what Apple device is best suited for specific contexts, but more specifically, the implications of using different combinations of Apple products — from the iPhone to the iMac to the Apple Watch. For example, life is very different with a Mac and iPhone than an iPad Pro and Apple TV. What’s the ideal combo?

Joe, Joshua and special guest, Micah Pogue, discuss the apps on their home screens, how they use their apps for productivity and entertainment, and their app layout organization philosophies.

This week, our returning guest, John Livingston, discusses more features and experiences with his and Joshua’s iPad Pros. Joshua shares troubleshooting issues for his Retina iMac 27”, and Joe reviews his new MacBook (early 2015), and whether it makes a good 15” Retina MacBook Pro replacement.

Joshua and our special returning guest, John Livingston, review the iPad Pro. How is it shaking up engineering for John? Has it replaced Joshua’s MacBook Air in everyday use? What apps do the guys use to manage files and markup documents? All this and more in our iOS/iPad for professionals review.