New tool generates more useful Mastodon link previews in Messages

Just the other day, I was lamenting one of my big frustations with Mastodon—that links to posts, unlike tweets, don’t display nicely in Messages. Instead you get a preview that shows the poster’s profile image and their name, rather than the actual text or image of the post itsel … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 487: A Trebillionty Menu Bar Apps

Whether we spec up our Macs, our philosophy on menu bars, what we use for pointing devices, and our screen sizes of choice.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 428: The Cobra System

New Apple hardware and our not-so-long wait for Ivory is over.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Downstream 36: Commercial Inception

Netflix shows Disney how CEO transitions happen, as Reed Hastings is elevated to chairmanship and Greg Peters becomes co-CEO. Julia has analysis of Netflix’s earnings report, we discuss streaming Oscar nominees, and we answer your amazing letters!… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Tapbots’s Ivory client for Mastodon launches for iOS, iPadOS

Sometimes when the universe force quits a Twitter client, it launches a Mastodon client. Rising from the ashes of the recently departed Tweetbot, developer Tapbots has officially launched its much-anticipated client for the federated social network, Ivory, for iPhones and iPads.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple’s privacy push extends to retail (and Nick Mohammed)

As a part of Data Privacy Week, on Tuesday Apple announced a privacy-themed session at its retail stores and released a video highlighting privacy features in iOS. The video, which the company post… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 443: Core Variations

Jason’s spent most of the last week with an M2 Max MacBook Pro, so it’s time for his full review. We also discuss the M2 Mac mini and the second-generation HomePod. And what does the fu… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

M2 MacBook Pro and Mac mini, live!

New Macs are here. We’ve got ’em. Join Jason and Dan at approximately 2pm PT / 5pm ET on YouTube for a live look at the new hardware, and we’ll answer your questions!… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple ID security key support added in iOS 16.3, macOS 13.2

With today’s release of iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura 13.2, Apple added yet another additional security feature, allowing users to secure their Apple IDs with hardware security keys. If you̵… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Hi Dock lets you tweak your Mac’s Dock for multiple displays

As someone who’s recently been spending more time with a MacBook Air both hooked up to an Apple Studio Display and on its own, I’ve definitely noticed that what works in one setup isn’t always the best answer for all display configurations.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Clay – A Beautiful Relationship Manager for iOS and macOS

  People make us laugh, challenge us to improve, support us when things are tough, and celebrate with us once they get better. They’re core to our personal and professional success, but being more generous, more responsive, more conscientious with them?… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

2023 MacBook Pro Review: More of the same, in a good way

Here’s what the new M2 MacBook Pro is not: new. Yes, it’s powered by a new generation of Apple silicon, but it’s very much the same laptop that was updated for the Apple silicon era in 2021.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

M2 Mac mini Review: Whatever you want it to be

In 2005, when Apple first introduced the Mac mini, it was a carefully designed, strategic product: a low-cost computer aimed primarily at luring customers from the Windows PC hegemony with the promise that they could save even further by using all of their existing accessories, t … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: Non-events (Member Post)

This week answered the philosophical question: what if they held an Apple event and nobody came? Even if it was because nobody was invited. And speaking of not invited, some favorite apps have been uninvited to the Twitter party.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Twitterrific is gone ↦

Sean Heber of The Iconfactory makes the death of Twitterrific official: Since 2007, Twitterrific helped define the shape of the Twitter experience. It was the first desktop client, the first mobile client, one of the very first apps in the App Store, an Apple Design award winner … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple releases Lisa source code ↦

Hansen Hsu, Curator of the Software History Center at the Computer History Museum, in a press release: The release of the Apple Lisa was a key turning point for the history of personal computers. W… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 486: Stop Trying To Take My Job, Robots

Whether we’re using AirTags and other item-tracking tech, how we have (or haven’t) used ChatGPT for work, our thoughts on a touchscreen Mac, and the discontinued tech we’d like to see revived.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 427: Basement Tim

New Macs and defunct apps.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple announces the second-generation HomePod

The HomePod…lives! In a surprise announcement on Wednesday, Apple announced the second-generation HomePod with support for spatial audio, smart home automations using Siri, and a slightly refined design.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Phishing for clues ↦

TidBITS’s Adam Engst does yeoman’s work in breaking down what looks suspicious about emails with annotated screenshots: I’ve been examining phishing attempts for so long that it’s hard for me to imagine what might fool someone else, so I wanted to share some recent attempts that … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

How many Home updates does it take to turn off a light bulb? (Member Post)

You may be surprised to discover that inside each of these buttons is a different button.At some point, when I was reconstructing the automation that turns on and off the floor lamp in my living room for the third or fourth time, it dawned on me that I was sold a bill of goods re … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple announces M2 Pro and M2 Max-powered MacBook Airs, Mac mini

As expected, Apple on Tuesday took the wraps off updates to its MacBook Pro and Mac mini lines, featuring as their centerpiece the new M2 Pro and M2 Max processors. The MacBook Pro update is basica… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 442: Zombie Arms and Toaster Fridge

Does the report that Apple may build a touchscreen Mac laptop mean that the futures of the Mac and iPad are about to converge–or is nothing much really going to change? Then Jason and Myke th… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

The end of the Twitter client era ↦

Last Thursday evening, Twitter shut off API access to many of the most popular third-party Twitter client apps. It’s an unsurprising, but ignominious, end. Here’s The Iconfactory’s Craig Hockenberry, who thought up the now-disabled Twitterrific app and materially contributed to f … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: The king of content

The Apple headset cometh (but later-eth), Eddy Cue wants to sell you some hot Apple content, and get your dirty fingers off my screen! Headset-ing into 2023 If Apple has its way, 2023 will be the year of the Apple headset.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

The Real Secrets of iOS and Accessibility

To change text size for notifications, open Control Center’s Text Size option on the Home screen or Lock screen,and choose Home Screen Only.There’s a joke I tell a lot: if you encounter an article whose headline includes the words “secret features” and “iOS”, chances are you’re a … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Gurman: Apple working on touchscreen Macs ↦

Bloomberg’s very reliable reporter Mark Gurman says that Apple is working on touchscreen Macs: Apple Inc. is working on adding touch screens to its Mac computers, a move that would defy long-held company orthodoxy and embrace an approach that co-founder Steve Jobs once called “e … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

A look at per-app accessibility features in iOS (Member Video)

Starting in iOS 15, you can adjust accessibility settings on a per-app basis. Here’s a quick walkthrough of how the feature works and why you might want to use it.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, podcasts, and commun … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 485: Comfortable in My Overkill

Our overpowered tech devices, the return of personal blogging, the last time we took our tech in, and the Apple services we subscribe to.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Tapbots shares road map for Mastodon client Ivory’s development ↦

If you’ve spent any time at all over on Mastodon, you’ve probably heard about Ivory, a new client for the social network from Tweetbot developer Tapbots—probably in the context of “Man, they opened like two thousand new testing slots for the Ivory beta and they were all gone with … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 426: Receipt for Funyuns

It’s all headsets now.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Downstream 35: Streaming Scrooge

It’s a new year, so it’s time to consider the lessons of 2022 and make some predictions for streaming trends in 2023. Plus: was “Glass Onion” a success for Netflix? Is your … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Eddy Cue celebrates 2022 in services ↦

Apple SVP Eddy Cue, in a post on Apple’s Newsroom site: 2022 was a groundbreaking year for entertainment. At some point over the past year, you probably discovered a new app, a new song, a new TV show or movie, or game.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 441: Qi2: Qi Harder

As the new year begins, reports about Apple’s forthcoming headset product arrive to confuse and perplex us. We also discuss a potentially quiet year for the rest of Apple’s product line, the fundamental dignity of a circular pizza, and a handful of things we cared about at CES 20 … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

This Week in Apple: Physical challenge (Member Post)

This week Apple would like you to get physical (HARD PASS) while we take pity on the lost souls at CES and look aghast at Apple AR headset rumors.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, podcasts, and community.. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Kolide

My thanks to Kolide for once again sponsoring Six Colors. Kolide takes a different approach to endpoint security and fleet management. It’s all about helping customers meet compliance goals by enlisting the support of their end users with a structured, message-based approach.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

When two calendars are not better than one

Speaking of Shortcuts, last weekend my pal Lex Friedman (who just started his own consulting business!) asked me to see if I could help him solve an automation program. Lex wanted to use this short… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Create visual feedback for running Shortcuts

Earlier today, I was complaining to Shortcuts expert Matthew Cassinelli about how there’s no really good way to view progress of a running Shortcut on macOS. Yes, the Shortcuts menu item in t… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Apple launches AI narrators for some audiobooks ↦

Your next audiobook from Apple may not be narrated by a human. Leyland Cecco, writing at The Guardian: Apple has quietly launched a catalogue of books narrated by artificial intelligence in a move that may mark the beginning of the end for human narrators.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Scott McNulty’s replacement for Dark Sky ↦

‘Tis the season for people to replace the Dark Sky weather app, as Dan did with Carrot Weather. Our pal Scott McNulty downloaded a dozen weather apps in order to find the one that was right for him: It is important to know what I’m looking for in a weather app, so you can figure … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Tuning in to the Channels app

The Channels AppleTV app is excellent. Though I had heard a lot about Channels from various people–mostly Casey Liss–I never really thought it would be relevant to me. Channels is a ser… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 484: Help, I Can’t Dock!

The frustrating tech we own, our tech-related goal or theme for the new year, the tech we’d buy if money were no object, and our thoughts on and usage of Apple’s MagSafe technology and the upcoming Qi2 standard.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 425: 2400 Baud

Chi 2, the Apple headset rumors and editing a note live on the air.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Miss Dark Sky? CARROT Weather has you (cloud) covered

January 1st, 2023 has come and gone, and with it the demise of my weather app of choice, Dark Sky. Goodbye, old friend, you will be missed! But when Apple closes a door, it opens a space on your ho...(sixcolors.com) | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Upcoming Qi2 standard to be based on MagSafe ↦

The Wireless Power Consortium: WPC member, Apple®, provided the basis for the new Qi2 standard building on its MagSafe® technology. Apple® and other WPC members developed the new Magnetic Power Profile, which is at the core of Qi2.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Miss Dark Sky? CARROT Weather has you (cloud) covered

January 1st, 2023 has come and gone, and with it the demise of my weather app of choice, Dark Sky. Goodbye, old friend, you will be missed! But when Apple closes a door, it opens a space on your ho… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 440: Apple Bricked My House!

It’s a new year, and Jason has made his fearless predictions about what will happen in 2023! (Myke has questions.) We also consider the fate of the iPhone Plus, discuss Apple pausing its HomeKit architecture roll-out, and pour one out for Dark Sky.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Kindle Scribe review: Big, beautiful, and… buttonless?

I like big books, and I cannot lie. Trade paperbacks and hardcovers are my preferred format when it comes to physical books. Admittedly, they do not offer the best reading experience anywhere other than in a nice comfy chair.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago