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Jonathan Reed

Contributor

Mastodon: @jonathanreed@techhub.socialEmail: jonathan@macstories.net

Jonathan is a graphic designer at DesignStudio. As well as being a long-time Apple user he is a huge film and television aficionado and is very interested in the intersection between the two mediums and technology. He lives in London with his wife and daughter and is writing his bio in the third person.

Creating Open Window Reminders with Pushcut

SHORTCUTS CORNER

Get help and suggestions for your iOS shortcuts and productivity apps.

Shortcuts Essentials

Creating Open Window Reminders with Pushcut

I don’t want this to come as a surprise, but human beings tend to forget things. Obviously, some are worse than others. I happen to be one such person. One area in which I’m a bit forgetful is around the home. I leave lights on, music playing, and, sometimes, the windows open. HomeKit automation can help solve the first issue, and leaving music on is often a pretty nice habit. However, leaving a window open can result in a cold room or even a security risk.

Installing a small contact sensor is a way of alerting yourself of open windows or checking their status. You can then easily connect that to HomeKit. Unfortunately, HomeKit can only alert you when a sensor opens or closes. I needed to be reminded to close a window a certain length of time after it was open.

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Stereo Alert Sounds, 35-year-old Augmented Reality, and More Black Friday Deals

SPOTLIGHT ON CLUB MACSTORIES+

Highlights of the latest Club MacStories+ happenings.

Stereo Alert Sounds, 35-year-old Augmented Reality, and More Black Friday Deals

Among the highlights on the Club MacStories Discord:

With Black Friday officially starting today, many retails and brands have been doing great deals. We have a Black Friday channel for sharing the best Apple-related tech deals with other members. Feel free to post an offer if you think people will like it.

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Attempting to Make StandBy More Useful

MACSTORIES EXTRAS

More stories for Club members.

Attempting to Make StandBy More Useful

StandBy was one of the banner features of iOS 17, and while there was some initial excitement for the feature, the enthusiasm seems to have tailed off. Indeed, I’ve heard several people, from podcasters to members of our own Discord, say that they tried to make it work, but ultimately, it didn’t bring much benefit to their routines.

I’ve recently found myself in the same boat. I like the idea, and while it’s clearly a precursor to a HomePod with a screen, the limited number of widgets and text size has put me off a little. But something about the feature made me want to try and make it work. My most common use is on the bedside table, where I display the date and time, plus a couple of HomeKit scenes. They work well as a pair, creating a helpful screen for when I’m in bed or when I wake in the morning.

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Kompressor Is a Promising Image Exporter with Excellent File Size Control

MACSTORIES EXTRAS

More stories for Club members.

Kompressor Is a Promising Image Exporter with Excellent File Size Control

A couple of weeks ago, Lachlan posted a link to a new app, Kompressor, on the Club MacStories+ Discord. I checked it out, and to my delight, I discovered a fantastic little app that can batch export images, giving you visual feedback on the file sizes as you adjust its settings.

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the file processing and features, I’ve got to acknowledge the UI of this app. It’s fantastic fun, and in a world where apps tend to look very same-y – for better or worse – it’s refreshing to see.

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So Many Thoughts on the Ai Pin, Note-Taking Apps, and A Reddit App

SPOTLIGHT ON CLUB MACSTORIES+

Highlights of the latest Club MacStories+ happenings.

So Many Thoughts on the Ai Pin, Note-Taking Apps, and A Reddit App

This week on the Club MacStories Discord, members were talking about Niléane’s excellent menu-bar weather shortcut, discussing reference vs. work file organization, and of course, comparing podcast players.

Among the other highlights:

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Staying Up for Apple Events, Free Meditation, and Scanning Apps Galore

SPOTLIGHT ON CLUB MACSTORIES+

Highlights of the latest Club MacStories+ happenings.

Staying Up for Apple Events, Free Meditation, and Scanning Apps Galore

This week on the Club MacStories Discord, members were weighing up the pros and cons of Apple’s new Journal App, sharing some great outdoor photography, and welcomed special guest Stephen Hackett to a Live Town Hall to discuss the new M3 Macs.

Among the other highlights, Bitomule wanted to know about using Home Assistant to trigger Focus modes with Apple TV actions. Of course, Sigmund was already deep in the weeds testing this.

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Creating a Letterboxd Review Shortcut With the Joys of RegEx

SHORTCUTS CORNER

Get help and suggestions for your iOS shortcuts and productivity apps.

Shortcuts Essentials

Creating a Letterboxd Review Shortcut With the Joys of RegEx

As many of you know, I love movies. My favorite place for logging and reviewing movies, as well as creating lists, is Letterboxd. It’s a wonderful community of film lovers that I highly recommend should you be inclined.

Something I’ve started doing since creating a Mastodon account is sharing the short reviews I write when I log films. Previously, when I was on Twitter, the character limit meant sharing any review longer than a couple of sentences was impossible, but Mastodon has a much longer limit. It’s undoubtedly true that I could share the link to my review, which would still show a nice preview image and the star rating, but I like to show more context to a rating, so having the text of my review in the toot was essential to me.

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HomeKit Rules to Live By

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

HomeKit Rules to Live By

I’m always looking at my HomeKit setup, re-evaluating its efficiency, and trying to identify holes to fill with new accessories and automations. After this week’s Discord Town Hall, where Federico, John, and I discussed our setups and what we’d recently been doing to them, I thought I’d share the HomeKit rules I live by and a couple of bonus tips.

As mentioned in the Town Hall, I’m considering being more adventurous, but for now, I think these are great when looking at your HomeKit setup.

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Apple Event Time Zones, Fire Drills, Automation Fun, and 17.2.

SPOTLIGHT ON CLUB MACSTORIES+

Highlights of the latest Club MacStories+ happenings.

Apple Event Time Zones, Fire Drills, Automation Fun, and 17.2.

This week on the Club MacStories Discord, members were discussing delving into the many updates in the iOS 17.2 beta, working out lots of automations, and trying to decide if it was worth staying up past bedtime for next week’s Apple Event.

Among the other highlights:

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