Hartley Charlton, writing for MacRumors about an M1 iMac mod making the rounds:

First, the iMac‌ was disassembled and the display’s “chin” area was cut off, with the edges being ground into the same shape as the top. A new rear casing with an enlarged area for the logic board and ports was created digitally and 3D printed for testing, before being machined out of aluminum and anodized. The iMac‌’s components were then placed into the new housing, with some added measures to mitigate increased thermal constraints.

This thing doesn’t look bad, but does it look better? I’m not convinced. As many have pointed out, the iMac’s “chin” is part of its iconic design. Otherwise it just looks like a monitor.

It sure is clever, though, and it looks like they didn’t skimp on the details.

Linked

I love seeing how other people use their devices. Everyone does it a little differently. So Apple’s latest ad, The Greatest, showing off accessibility features used by people who actually use them to live their lives — not just in testing for product reviews — was fascinating. As Steven Aquino aptly put it, for this ad, “[…] the salient point is Apple is overtly advertising a disabled person’s basic humanity.”

It was striking when the screen went black for a couple of beats for viewers to get a sense of the utility of Door Detection. And went the sound cut out while the baby wailed, showcasing Sound Recognition.

I’d say it sits deservedly among Apple’s best ads.

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UPDATE (2022-12-03): Apple followed up today with a couple of YouTube shorts going more in-depth with two of the people in their ad. Willie shows us how he navigates his Mac using facial expressions. And Scarlet keeps track of cooking multiple breakfast ingredients with Sound Recognition.

Both are engaging peeks at other ways folks live their lives. And, might I just say, their houses/sets and clothing styles are on point! 👌

Linked

You know how on iOS and iPadOS when you highlight text, you get that little popover menu with Copy, Paste, and Share buttons? Super helpful, right? What if I told you that you could get that same functionality, plus more, on macOS as well?

Great news: You can, with PopClip!

Bad news: If you try to get the most out of PopClip by integrating it with Shortcuts, it crashes.

Good news: I’ve got a workaround to fix it.

First, a Bit of Love for PopClip

I’ve been using PopClip, developed by Pilotmoon Software, for years. It costs a cool $15.99 on the Mac App Store, and I’ll tell you, it’s worth every penny. I’d gladly pay that amount in an annual subscription to keep using it.

Even before we get to the, well, extensive Extension library to power up PopClip, you get a bunch of functionality with the vanilla installation. Not only are there the staples like Cut, Copy, and Paste, but you can also fire off a web search from your highlighted text, open links, look up a definition, and correct spelling mistakes just by highlighting some text.

But don’t skip on clicking through the menu bar app to its puzzle piece tab, which brings up the list of PopClip extensions you have installed. There you can rearrange or remove existing extensions (pencil icon) and visit the extension library to download actions for additional functionality (plus icon).

And there are some wild things you can do with these extensions. Things like applying a ROT13 cipher to your text, having your computer speak out the selected text, creating calendar entries, sorting lists alphabetically, or bookmarking a URL with Pinboard. In fact, I just downloaded another new one that I’ll use all the time for writing blog post metadata: Timestamp, which inserts the current date and time in a variety of formats right from that popup menu.

I’ve installed the following:

• Online Thesaurus (look up synonyms)
• Title Case (convert text to Title Case)
• Copy as Markdown (convert rich text to Markdown)
• Convert Markdown to HTML
• Slugify (convert text to a web-worthy URL slug)
• Parcel (add tracking numbers to my deliveries app)
• Drafts (send text to the Drafts app)
• Things 3 (create a new task in Things)
• Pocket (save a URL to read later in Pocket)
• and now Timestamp

Some of these replicate functionality that I’ve built into shortcuts. But when you want to fire off a shortcut with some selected text as the input, Extension Snippets are where you want to look. The guys at MacStories have written extensively about building Extension Snippets, so I won’t rehash the whole process here. But I will say that it’s amazing how you can install your own extensions simply by highlighting some properly syntaxed text.

For example, this text:

#popclip
name: Copy as Affiliate Link
icon: symbol:bag
requirements: [urls]
shortcut name: Copy as Affiliate Link

creates an extension that runs my affiliate linking shortcut, complete with a custom symbol, and only when a URL is selected.

Pilotmoon provides thorough documentation on all the syntax options.

But Here’s the Thing…

It’s no secret that I love Shortcuts. So when there’s a roadblock to using them, I find it frustrating. PopClip promises smoother access to text-based shortcuts, but this bug is a real showstopper. You see, for months, whenever I’ve run a shortcut from a PopClip extension, PopClip gets stuck in an endless spinner. A less vibrant spinning beach ball. And none of its vast functionality can be used until PopClip is entirely quit and reopened. At least the shortcut does run while PopClip stalls.

The Fix

As I said, I’ve dealt with these crashes for months. I run my URLs Menu shortcut¹ multiple times per Mac session. So, each time, I have to click the PopClip menu bar app, select Quit, and then relaunch it from Alfred to get any popups to show again.

It finally occurred to me today that I could create an automatic kicking machine to get PopClip back into gear by using Shortcuts itself. The method really couldn’t be more straightforward. At the end of any shortcuts that I run with PopClip, I’ve added three actions:

1. Quit App (PopClip)
2. Wait (2 seconds)
3. Open App (PopClip)

Here they are in a standalone version:

Get the ‘Restart PopClip’ shortcut →

Technically, I sometimes add a fourth action, the ‘If’ action, which checks to confirm that it’s being run on a Mac, and then does the quit/reopen dance. Otherwise, it skips those actions entirely.

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I hope that Pilotmoon will eventually put out an update to fix this bug. Running shortcuts with Extension Snippets is an advertised feature, but the stalling out isn’t listed as a known issue. Perhaps there’s something weird going on with my Mac specifically, but I’ve tried the published troubleshooting steps, including uninstalling PopClip and starting fresh. And, yes, I did reach out to the developer to let them know about the problem.

However, with my duct-tape fix in place, I can leave the spinner behind and get on with using two of my favorite Mac apps in tandem. Like feuding brothers, they sometimes giveth and sometimes taketh away. But right now, they just giveth.

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UPDATE (2022-12-02): In some truly fantastic turnaround time, PopClip developer Nick got back to me with great news:

I have been doing some work on this and I have a beta version (linked here) that may solve the problem.

I can confirm that every shortcut worked properly with no crashes in my tests! PopClip only shows the spinner while the shortcut runs, then resolves when it’s complete and continues to work as normal afterward.

I’ll continue to use my workaround until the update ships in the production version of PopClip (which I’m told should be soon). But you’re welcome to read the changelog and try the beta version ahead of time yourself.

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UPDATE (2022-12-06): The latest update to PopClip, which fixes this issue, was released to the Mac App Store today. I’ll keep the Quit/Wait/Open technique in mind for future apps troublesome apps.

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1. Here’s the iCloud link for ‘URLs Menu’, but it primarily serves as a launcher for other web-related shortcuts.↩︎

Shortcuts Tips Apps Favorites

Folder Peek is the latest (free) little app from Sindre Sorhus. It’s so smack-me-in-the-head useful that I’m surprised something like this isn’t already a mainstay in the menu bar app-o-sphere. It puts a folder in your menu bar — any folder! — which can be drilled down into and even has file actions. I’ve put my Blot folder up there for super easy access from anywhere on my Mac.

Sorhus only makes superb apps, so all the polish and customization options you’d expect are there. You can give each folder a custom SF Symbol and show the folder name, or not. I particularly like that it provides inline (but dismissible) tips on how to get more out of the app.

Its Mac App Store summary describes it well:

Think of it as an alternative to Dock folders, just more powerful and customizable.

I use Dock folders and stacks for several go-to projects, but Folder Peek is so much faster. In the Dock, you have to click around to navigate the folder, but Folder Peek lets you drill in further with just a mouseover. About the only thing you can’t do, as compared to Dock folders, is drag and drop a file onto it.

Oh, and you gotta love that icon.

(Via Matthew Cassinelli)

Apps

If you’re like me and think this tiny translucent orange wall charger by Case-Mates is one of the coolest things since sliced bread the best iMac, you’ll want to grab it right now. It’s almost 50% off at $18.50 on Amazon, down from the original price of $29.99. (Make sure you choose the cheaper seller.)

It folds. It’s 30W Power Delivery. It’s USB-C. And it looks like this:

Perfect for the nerd in your life, especially if they’re you.

Mark Gurman writing in his Power On newsletter:

I think the iPad line should eventually look like this: 

• iPad SE (entry level): This would be today’s $329 iPad geared toward education users or, eventually, the new entry-level iPad once Apple is able to make it for $350 or less. That might take time since the company isn’t going to sacrifice its margins. 
• iPad and iPad mini (mid-tier): Apple would need to merge the features and specifications of three iPads—the new entry-level model, the Air and the current mini—and then offer that product in both standard and mini sizes.
• iPad Pro (high end): This would be the iPad Pro of today, but ideally with some significant improvements. 

I like the logic of this lineup. The middle of the iPad line is too muddled at present. And I long for the days when the iPad mini felt like it had equal footing with its larger sibling. The current mini is great (and technically even better than the newest 10th-gen iPad in some ways), but it shouldn’t feel like a one-off model. It should progress alongside the “mainstream” iPad.

Linked

A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ Such good shots came out of this year’s comedy wildlife photo contest! I love all the smirks. These are going to make for some great memes. [Link - comedywildlifephoto.com] (Via The Verge)

2️⃣ Jason Snell spells out how Apple uses the same tech for iMessages, all remote push notifications, and now Live Activities, and explains how that means even free in-flight Wi-Fi can keep you updated with those features. [Link - Jason Snell // sixcolors.com]

3️⃣ In the wake of Elon Musk’s hostile and chaotic takeover of Twitter, this video of Steve Jobs sharing his vision and the core values for Apple when he brought the company back from the brink of collapse is like a glass of ice water in hell. Looking from the outside, Musk’s approach has been akin to a bull in a china shop, whereas Jobs’ was more like a honed Samurai sword. One exudes confidence and competence, the other…does not. [Link - The Apple Vault // youtube.com] (Via MacSparky)

4️⃣ BasicAppleGuy returns with more incredibly detailed schematic wallpapers for the iPhones 14 and 14 Pro. [Link - BasicAppleGuy // basicappleguy.com]

5️⃣ The Slopes app by Curtis Herbert is nothing short of amazing for skiers and snowboarders. Detailed tracking, nearby friends notifications, beautiful design, thoughtful features. It’s got it all. [Link - Slopes // apps.apple.com]

6️⃣ I mentioned The Rookie with Nathan Fillion a few weeks ago, but I didn’t mention that it’s a wildly engaging show. It follows Fillion’s character who is a man starting his second career as a rookie cop for the LAPD. He and the other rookies do, well, cop stuff. But the character development is top-notch, and I can’t help but watch whenever my wife has it on. [Link - The Rookie // hulu.com]

7️⃣ And here’s a new blog I’m following, written by Jonathan Ruiz, with an excellent name: Thermal Corner. It’s a personal blog with a tech focus, which is my jam. Good writing so far, and the site has a great design. It’s also, if I’m not mistaken, built on Blot. [Link - Jonathan Ruiz // thermalcorner.net]

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Trust Click

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Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know.

7 Things

It’s Thanksgiving, once again, here in the U.S. and I just wanted to take a moment to say “thanks” to HeyDingus readers out there, and all those who inspire me. I was mostly offline for a few months there, but I’m really appreciative of everyone reading the site. I do it mostly for me, but knowing that anyone is enjoying my work is a big motivator. I get a huge thrill anytime someone reaches out on Twitter or email with a comment or suggestion. So if you’re one of those folks, you get an extra thanks! 😉

Moving to a new home and starting over with a new community is always a bit scary. It was really nice to have the familiarity of this corner of the internet, which has always been warm and welcoming, to return to this year. I hope that you’re also surrounded by friends and family — online or in-person — this season.

Thanks again. 🦃

Benjamin Mayo, back in October:

Over the last week, 9to5Mac has noticed that Apple Support articles have begun being updated to refer to “laptops” or “Mac laptops,” instead of notebooks.

At the risk of also sounding cranky, I always liked the term “notebooks”, too. “Laptop” might be the industry term, but Apple so often marches to the beat of its own drum that I’m surprised that they relented on this. And laptops don’t always go on laps, so it’s not a particularly more descriptive word. Notebooks always sounded just a little cooler than laptops — it’s a notably analog term for a high-tech computer — but with a non-pretentious, Mac vs. PC ad sort of vibe.

In any case, it looks like Belkin didn’t get the memo for their new iPhone mount:

Linked

The gift-giving season is upon us. And if your family is like mine, that means everyone is scrambling to add things to their wish lists before big shopping sales events.¹ A few years back, I got everyone to switch from sending Word documents and emails to using shared Reminders lists, and for the most part, it’s been a huge success. Everyone has the same up-to-date list, fewer duplicate gifts are given, and it removes a lot of friction from the whole thing.²

However, something unexpected happened after the iOS/iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 updates this year. I started seeing notifications for every item added to these lists. In fact, I was getting notifications for items added to any shared list.

It turns out that these notifications are a new feature enabled by the updates. You can choose to get a notification when items are added, completed, or both. The problem is, I didn’t decide to get them. It was turned on for adding items by default.

So, here’s the tip. If you’re getting annoyed by a deluge of Reminders notifications you didn’t ask to receive, you need to head to the Reminders app and delve into the Collaboration menu inside each list to change the setting. First, tap the Collaborate icon in the upper right of the list, then tap ‘Manage Shared List’, and there you’ll find the new switches for ‘Notify When’.

I actually appreciate these new options and plan to keep them enabled for several specific lists. For example, it’ll be helpful to know when my wife adds something to our family task list rather than having to remember to check it regularly. But I wish the new defaults, and, importantly, where to change them, were communicated better. It’s possible there was a blurb about the notifications on the Reminders splash screen after updating, but there are so many of those screens after major updates that I tend to blaze past them. It’s not a huge deal but defaults matter, and perhaps having the notifications turned on for just new lists would have been better than changing all the existing ones.

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1. Bonus Tip #1: Add items throughout the year! I save all kinds of cool products that I find to a bucket in Raindrop.io and then periodically move the most pertinent ones to my actual wish list.)↩︎

2. Bonus Tip #2: If you’re an Amazon Wish List user, you can still play along. Just add a task with the URL to that Amazon list to the top of your Reminders wish list. Having it saved to one place — the Reminders app — alongside everyone else’s lists is really nice. And then you can also mix in items that aren’t available on Amazon to the main lists.↩︎

Tips