Google apps will stop certain tracking to avoid the iOS “Allow Tracking” prompt

With iOS 14, Apple is requiring app developers to tell users about and have them opt-in to tracking. Google today announced that “when Apple’s policy goes into effect, it will no longer use information (such as IDFA) that falls under ATT for the handful of our iOS apps that currently use it for advertising purposes. As … Continue reading Google apps will stop certain tracking to avoid the iOS “Allow Tracking” prompt →

Firefox 85 adds supercookie protection. What about Safari?

In technology news today Mozilla announced that it has added built-in protection from supercookies to Firefox 85. “Firefox now protects you from supercookies, a type of tracker that can stay hidden in your browser and track you online, even after you clear cookies,” Mozilla explains in a blog post. “By isolating supercookies, Firefox prevents them … Continue reading Firefox 85 adds supercookie protection. What about Safari? →

No Switching!

Do you know what one of the hardest things to do is? To not be switching apps all the time. Especially writing, todo, and notes apps. Switching to the latest new shiny thing is unproductive and can be expensive. Here’s an interesting thread about the subject over on Talk - Mac Power Users: Resolving to … Continue reading No Switching! →

Notes and more to Devonthink

The year has just begun. A few days ago I published my Essential Mac Apps story and guess what? I'm making changes. I wrote that I'm using Apple Notes for all my notes. Last week I began to have regrets. The reason, I'm uncomfortable having my notes in a proprietary database system. I started considering … Continue reading Notes and more to Devonthink →

Maestral: An open-source Dropbox client for Mac

Dropbox has taken a lot of heat from users lately. They aren't happy with the app that's now part of the Dropbox install. Like me, most users would like to have the Finder integration only. That said, I only have a couple of Dropbox folders that I would like to have on my Mac but … Continue reading Maestral: An open-source Dropbox client for Mac →

My 2021 Essential iOS Apps

Every year towards the end of December I evaluate the apps that I’ve been using and what I will use for the next year. I find that writing this out helps me better evaluate the apps that best fit my workflows. Once I complete my evaluation, I summarize it in a post on this blog. … Continue reading My 2021 Essential iOS Apps →

My 2021 Essential Mac Apps

Instapaper Mac app falls short

On November 11 Instapaper announced that a Mac app is available in the Mac App Store, thanks to Apple’s Catalyst technology. As a long-time Instapaper user, I was excited to hear this. Now that I’ve used the app for a few days it’s nothing more than a basic reader and lacks almost all the features … Continue reading Instapaper Mac app falls short →

Thoughts on Reeder 5 and iCloud feed sync

Updated June 9, 2021: Reeder 5 iCloud feeds sync revisited It’s now rock solid! It is so good that I’m leaving Feedly behind. I have had no issues with time-outs and in my opinion sync is just as fast as Feedly. - - - - - - - - - With Reeder 5, the option to … Continue reading Thoughts on Reeder 5 and iCloud feed sync →

UPDATE: iOS 14 has Zuckerberg/Facebook running scared

I’ve been working on an article about the iOS 14 privacy feature that has Facebook and other advertisers running scared. Facebook acknowledged that Apple’s upcoming iOS 14 could lead to a more than 50% drop in its Audience Network advertising business. (Doesn’t that just break your heart) Today to my disappointment, Apple is holding off … Continue reading UPDATE: iOS 14 has Zuckerberg/Facebook running scared →

Is an iA Writer subscription coming to an App Store near you?

The two most popular markdown writing apps on Mac and iOS are iA Writer and Ulysses. Ulysses is a subscription and iA Writer is a purchase. When Ulysses went subscription many users got pissed, me included, and moved to iA Writer. I got over being pissed at Ulysses and today I use both apps. Not … Continue reading Is an iA Writer subscription coming to an App Store near you? →

My thoughts on Ulysses 20 Revision Mode

Ulysses 20 - Ulysses Blog We added an “advanced text check” to revision mode, which offers informed suggestions on capitalization, punctuation, semantics, redundancy, style and typography. We partnered with LanguageTooler for this, a fellow German company which develops the magnificent LanguageTool Plus. As a matter of fact, we fully integrated LT Plus into Ulysses, so … Continue reading My thoughts on Ulysses 20 Revision Mode →

Copied clipboard manager app is back

After more than 2 years without updates, what was my favorite clipboard manager app Copied is back. I used it on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The great thing about it was that it synced across all my devices using iCloud. Not many clipboard managers do that. With this update, it will become my main … Continue reading Copied clipboard manager app is back →

Bitwarden for Mac browser extension exposing passwords in clipboard managers

While using Alfred’s clipboard manager the other day I noticed passwords in the clipboard history. My first thought was how is this happening. I immediately went into Alfred’s Advanced Clipboard History Settings to make sure that I had added Bitwarden to the Ignore list and yes I had. So I figured this has to be … Continue reading Bitwarden for Mac browser extension exposing passwords in clipboard managers →

GoodLinks for read-it-later

I have been trying a new read-it-later and bookmark manager app GoodLinks by Ngoc Luu the developer of 1Writer. In my opinion, GoodLinks is one of the best read-it-later apps out there. The reading experience is excellent. Articles and reading position sync between devices via iCloud. And best of all it’s a one time purchase … Continue reading GoodLinks for read-it-later →

FoodNoms food tracking app

As you will recall I had gained a couple of pounds over the winter and wanted to lose them. Once I had done that I wanted to maintain a specific weight. For me, the easiest way to do this has always been tracking calories. Calories in and calories out. What I've found after doing this … Continue reading FoodNoms food tracking app →

Hey controversy from a user perspective

As you have probably seen this past week, there has been a lot of controversy over the Hey.com email app being rejected from the Apple App Store. Here’s some background on what the brew haha is about. The Verge Apple is threatening to remove Hey.com from the App Store if the ambitious new email service … Continue reading Hey controversy from a user perspective →

A couple of newsworthy items

I ran across these two articles in my RSS feed yesterday and thought that they were worthy of sharing. Apple releases new COVID-19 app and website based on CDC guidance Bug in iOS 13.3.1 and later keeps VPNs from encrypting traffic, but there's a simple workaround - 9to5Mac

Ulysses continues to have iCloud sync issues

I was looking at Ulysses reviews in the App Store today and noticed several recent reviews with complaints about iCloud sync issues. This is not a new issue. It has been an ongoing issue for several years. It’s the main reason that I no longer use Ulysses. I would think that Ulysses would do something … Continue reading Ulysses continues to have iCloud sync issues →

Raindrop.io for bookmarks

For the last several years I’ve been using Devonthink Pro for bookmarking. With the introduction of Devonthink 3, which is a paid upgrade, I decided to look for a different bookmark app/service. Why? I didn’t want to pay the upgrade price and I wanted a truly cross-platform app. Devonthink is a great app and is … Continue reading Raindrop.io for bookmarks →