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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.

415 — April 27, 2024

Rescuing an Epic 7,500-Track Playlist from a Broken iPod

MACSTORIES EXTRAS

More stories for Club members.

Rescuing an Epic 7,500-Track Playlist from a Broken iPod

The story behind this heroic rescue mission started a long time ago at my local barber. I always look forward to getting my usual short back and sides there, not just to feel tidier with myself, but mainly because of what can only be described as the most epic playlist ever.

Every time I go, I hear different music – some familiar, a lot unfamiliar, but all incredible. The diversity of the playlist is beyond compare, containing everything from Radiohead to Sly and the Family Stone to Beirut to João Gilberto and countless more.

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414 — April 20, 2024

Apple’s CarPlay Needs To Go In For a Safety Check

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

Apple’s CarPlay Needs To Go In For a Safety Check

Almost two years ago, at WWDC in June 2022, Apple unveiled the next version of CarPlay, their popular standard for mirroring certain apps onto your iPhone’s car infotainment screen.

I remember watching it and thinking, “This looks very cool, but won’t it be super distracting for the driver?” The fact that no cars on the road have enabled the new CarPlay has allowed it slip from my mind, but recently, it’s come back into my thoughts. This was triggered by the recent 10th anniversary of CarPlay’s launch and the announcement last month by the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) of new rules that cars will have to follow in order to receive a five-star safety rating. These rules include using buttons for certain essential functions of a car, like turn signals and hazard lights.

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413 — April 13, 2024

Some CAPS Inspiration

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

Some CAPS Inspiration

It’s been a few weeks since Federico introduced his Contextual Apps Plugin System (CAPS) in Issue 409 of MacStories Weekly , and I detailed last week how I tried to replicate the functionality on my Mac. This week, I’m returning to the OG CAPS on iPhone with some examples of contextual shortcuts I’ve been launching from various apps and how you might be able to use them or their overall ideas to enhance your iPhone Action Button. Before you dive in, be sure to read Federico’s articles on MultiButton and CAPS.

Music

Adding the currently playing song to a playlist in Music (left) and adding the current song’s album to MusicBox (right).

I’m still trying to listen to more albums this year. Sometimes, though, it’s tough to triage songs I like from auto-generated radio stations and curated playlists on Apple Music. And even though MusicBox is an excellent utility for saving albums to listen to later, all the tapping involved can sometimes make me not bother (which is really a ‘me problem’, not a MusicBox problem).

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412 — April 6, 2024

Mac MultiButton: An Action Button for the Mac

MACSTORIES EXTRAS

More stories for Club members.

Mac MultiButton: An Action Button for the Mac

I know I’m far from the only one, but ever since the Action Button was introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve been a little obsessed with playing around with its functionality. First, I started using it with quick action menus, taking my previously created ‘Lock Screen Launcher’ and moving it to the Action Button. This worked great, but I still wanted more advanced functionality.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, that ‘more functionality’ came from Federico when he introduced his MultiButton shortcut, which allowed for a second shortcut to be triggered with an additional press of the Action Button. Federico recently updated this shortcut to integrate with a new tool he created: Contextual Apps Plugin System (CAPS). You can read all about CAPS in Issue 409 of MacStories Weekly, but the TL;DR is that CAPS allows you to alter which shortcut runs when you press the Action Button depending on the app you currently have open.

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411 — March 30, 2024

A Love Letter to SF Symbols

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

A Love Letter to SF Symbols

I’ve always loved collections of small, useful icons and symbols. The charm or utility that can be gained from something as small as 32x32 pixels is often extraordinary. So it goes without saying that I really love Apple’s SF Symbols. I frequently spend time at my job putting together icons on grids, and there’s something hugely admirable about the beautiful craft and diversity on show among the over 5,300 symbols in the collection.

I’m sure everyone reading this is aware of SF Symbols, but have you ever looked through them all before? Honestly, the design team at Apple that created them should all be given a pay rise – or at least a substantial Apple Gift Card. The collection is extensive, and I love that there are so many alternatives for symbols of the same type.

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