(Podcast) Clockwise 479: Beyoncé Beyoncé Beyoncé Beyoncé Beyoncé Beyoncé

Annual streaming music retrospectives, our favorite thing about niche software, whether child us would be blown away by today’s tech, and our pitches for social media networks.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Automate This: Audio archiving via Shortcuts

This one not-so-simple shortcut removed 62 percent of the data from this folder! Earlier this week Dan wrote about building an automation to archive a bunch of podcast projects. I’ve been usi… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Downstream 32: Disney Bobs

Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger is back in! What does this mean for the future of Disney? We don’t have the answers, but we have lots of questions!… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 420: Classic Toots

Don’t @ Tim Cook.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Redirecting Mastodon links via a shortcut ↦

Like many people, I’ve been exploring Mastodon while being concerned about the future of Twitter. But federated social media is tricky, especially when it comes to simple things like replying to a post made by someone on a different server.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 435: OS 8, Not So Great

John Gruber joins Jason on Upgrade for the first time. Topics include eWorld, Apple’s iPhone production problems in China, FIFA and Qatar and the World Cup, the reasons behind Apple’s sports ambitions, BBEdit, regular expressions, Perl and Python, MarsEdit, nanotexture displays, … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Kolide: You Don’t Have to Spy on Your Employees to Keep Your Company Secure

“If you build a dystopian and cynical security program born out of fear, mistrust, and suspicion, then you will inevitably make your fellow-employees your enemies.” That’s a quote from Honest Security, Kolide’s mission statement and North Star.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Creating a smart On Air sign with an e-ink display

Ever since I moved into my new house a year ago, I’ve been looking for a fun way to designate when I’m recording a podcast. Yes, I could just close the door to my office—but sometimes when I do, I’m just working on something where I don’t mind being interrupted.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

Automate This: Archive a bunch of sub-folders

Sometimes you stare down the barrel of a stupid, repetitive task and think: hey, my time’s worth more than this! Then you spend longer than the original task would have taken to create an automation for that task.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 1 year ago

(Sponsor) Magic Lasso Adblock: YouTube ad blocker for Safari

My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. Magic Lasso Adblock is simply the best Safari ad blocker for your iPhone, iPad and Mac. As a native content blocking extension,… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Take Control of Photos, Third Edition ↦

The third edition of my book Take Control of Photos has been released! If you bought a previous edition, you should’ve gotten an email with options to upgrade to the new edition. If not, ther… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 419: OK Bloomer

Social media is great.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 478: Atop My Turkey Tree

Finding a Twitter replacement (or leaving it all behind), our Read-it-Later services of choice, the tech we’re most thankful for, and the apps we’re most thankful for.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

tvOS 16 is better at search–Siriously (Member Post)

One of the banner features of Apple TV and tvOS, is the ability to use Siri to get to what you want without having to remember which app it’s in, or where it is.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, podcasts, and communit … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Live Activities, Push Notifications, and iMessage on airplanes ↦

A new version of the excellent flight-tracking app Flighty was just released. I can’t endorse this app enough, but its support for Live Activities (and the Dynamic Island) on iOS 16 has made it even cooler.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Find My soccer ball ↦

Ben Dowsett at FiveThirtyEight details the high technology being used on the field at the World Cup: All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 434: Bob to Bob to Bob

There’s some huge news from the world of streaming, as Disney switches bosses and Apple plans its next wave of sports-streaming products. Meanwhile, Myke’s busy building out his smart home while Jason has been reminded of the fragility of smart-home networking.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Sponsor) Magic Lasso Adblock: YouTube ad blocker for Safari

Do you want to block all YouTube ads in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac? Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you. It’s easy to setup, doubles the speed at which Safa… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Sponsor) Kolide

My thanks to Kolide for once again sponsoring Six Colors. Kolide knows how challenging it can be to prove compliance to a third-party auditor–they just went through it themselves. They learne… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

1Password gets ready to embrace Passkeys ↦

In a blog post on Thursday, 1Password outlined its plans to support Passkeys, a new standard embraced by all the major platform owners that promises to eliminate passwords forever by replacing them with cryptographic authentication.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 477: That’s Probably a Funny Joke

How we positively integrate tech in our kids’ lives, whether we display vintage tech, sharing streaming service logins, and do standalone cameras still trump smartphones?… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

MLS Season Pass begins to bring Apple TV/MLS deal into focus

St. Louis City SC is the first MLS team to unveil a shirt with an Apple TV sleeve patch.It’s about three months until the start of the next season of Major League Soccer, and Apple’s 10-year, $2.5B deal with the league is starting to come into focus.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Downstream 31: Yeah, Disney’s Fine

Disney’s latest financial results lead us to ponder where we are in the dramatic change from old-school media to the streaming world. Also, Warner Bros. Discovery claims to have all its franchises in order, but that doesn’t seem remotely realistic.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 418: Three Small Bears in an Overcoat

We wish we could buy Twitter, but mistakes were made.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite arrives ↦

Promised “later this year” when it was introduced in September, Apple announced on Tuesday that it has turned on its Emergency SOS via Satellite feature on iPhone 14 models in the U.S. … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 433: The Lava Lamp is Not Responding

Let’s get real about the Apple VR headset. Is it really coming next year? What’s it going to look like? What features should it have? What lessons can Apple learn from Meta’s foray into VR products?… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Redirect Web for Safari takes me to the right places

For a while now, I’ve been frustrated by the fact that some local reporters I follow on Twitter invariably tweet links to their stories at mercurynews.com, the paywalled website of the San Jo… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Sponsor) Preparing for an Audit? We’ve Been There.

In 2021, our company went through the SOC 2 Type 1 audit, and we found out just how challenging it can be to prove compliance to a third party auditor. We also learned firsthand something our custo… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

SearchLink removes the drudgery from making web links (Member Post)

My classic movie podcast, Lions, Towers & Shields over at The Incomparable, uses a standard show-notes format. On each episode, we talk about one old movie, and I always link to places where you can stream it, buy physical media, and learn more about the film we’re watching.… Thi … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Sponsor) Kolide

My thanks to Kolide for once again sponsoring Six Colors. Kolide takes a different approach to endpoint security and fleet management. They help companies meet compliance goals by enlisting the support of their users with a structured, message-based approach.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Quick Tip: Smart albums based on Photos searches

Last week on the Accidental Tech Podcast, John Siracusa bemoaned the fact that Smart Albums in Photos on the Mac don’t take advantage of the sophisticated searches you can do from the app’s Search box, which include face, object, and scene detection.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 476: I Cheated With Two Questions

Our thoughts on all-in-one work platforms in regard to Zoom One, the mapping app(s) we use, our predictions for the future of social media, and our tech-buying habits when faced with supply-constraint delays.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

The Apple TV’s upgrade experience needs an upgrade

Apple has done such a good job of improving the iPhone, iPad, and Mac upgrade experience in the last few years that I’ve come to take it for granted that when I buy a new piece of Apple hardware to replace an old one, I will be able to fairly quickly transfer all my stuff and go … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Some currently verified Twitter users will get a different checkmark ↦

Jay Peters at The Verge: Although you can pay $7.99 per month for a blue check mark with the new version of Twitter Blue, select accounts for governments, companies, or public figures will get a gray “Official” check mark, according to a thread from Twitter’s Esther Crawford, wh … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Quick Tip: Replace albums with keywords in iCloud Shared Photos

Much to my friend Stephen Hackett’s frustration, there’s no way to share albums in iCloud Shared Photos. All the photos can be shared, but the concept of an album is currently limited to a single Apple ID.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 417: Oh God Space

You can find us on Mastodon. If you can complete The Trials.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

iOS 16 lock screen walkthrough (Member Video)

While I was writing my book about Photos, I spent a very long time tapping around in the new iOS 16 lock screen editor, and I thought that perhaps it was worth making a video about.… This story is for Six Colors members only. Become a member to get access to exclusive stories, po … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 432: Upgrade (With Special Offers)

The strong dollar is helping to drive up Apple’s prices around the world, but is it teaching the company that high prices don’t matter? Also, Apple downgrades our favorite tvOS feature, Apple gets into the TV ad game, and iPhone production grinds to a halt.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Sponsor) Kolide–50% Fewer Service Desk Hairs Pulled Out, Guaranteed!

“When was the last time you restarted it?” If you’ve ever worked at a service desk, you’ve probably wanted to tattoo this question on your forehead. Ditto for: “What device drivers do you have inst… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

In praise of Shared Albums: The social network antidote

Social networking in the modern era is more than just a double-edge sword: it’s a spinning wheel of blades that provide only occasional respites of joy amongst a thousand paper cuts of indignity. B… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Up Next? Disappointment.

Today I fired up my Apple TV and opened the Apple TV app to be greeted with a revised Watch Now tab. Much to my shock and horror, they made it worse than it was before! I hopped online and came acr… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Apple to Apple TV users: We don’t care what you want to watch ↦

Before (left): What I want to watch is at the top level! After: Nope. Apple is apparently beta testing some changes to the Watch Now tab of its TV app on Apple TV. As Chance Miller reports at 9to5M… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

All existing Level locks will get Thread support in an update ↦

It’s pretty rare to see new hardware features unlocked by a firmware update, but smart lock maker Level is doing just that: its entire existing line of devices will be getting both Matter and, more interestingly, Thread support in an upcoming release.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Chinese workers flee Covid lockdown at iPhone factory ↦

Sam Hancock, reporting for the BBC: Workers have broken out of Apple’s largest iPhone assembly factory in China after a Covid outbreak forced staff to lockdown at the workplace. Video shared … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Apple’s fiscal 2022 in charts

Last week Apple announced its fiscal fourth quarter results, setting another quarterly record amid a lot of concern on Wall Street about the standing of the tech industry. And as usual, I filled a … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Slingbox reaches the inevitable end ↦

Dave Zatz, media blogger and former Sling employee, is the perfect person to mark its passing: Welp. It’s come to this. Slingbox servers will be shut down forever come November 9th. At which point … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 475: A Potato Will Arrive

Services and products we just can’t quit, our cringiest status splurges, whether advertising works on us, and the fate of Twitter under its new management.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago

Endless portraits–just add your face and $3 ↦

Matt Haughey trained an AI model on his own face and ended up with dozens of impressive images of himself: In total, this cost me about $3 in Google Collab compute time to produce over 200 images from 70-80 prompts over the course of a couple hours.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 2 years ago