Mac Power Users 453: 30 Under $30

Yeah, that’s my one gripe with Deliveries – the (sometimes) constant re-login required on an Amazon entry. It’s been much better lately, thank goodness!

Oh look! Deliveries is saying that my Amazon order of Halloween cat toys for the cats is delivered! Yay! :grin:

The Episode included a discussion of Safari Extensions, and how many were broken with the newest version of Mojave and Safari. Many developers are fixing those and adding them back.

For those of you who use AnyList for groceries and meal planning, the Mac version of the app has a Web Clipper extension for adding recipes to the recipe database when you find one that you like on the web. That extension got broke when upgrading to Mojave, and I wrote to the developer to inquire about it since that extension is one of my most used Safari extensions. I received an email from the developer a short time ago saying that the web clipper extension had been fixed. Yay! Just in time for Thanksgiving meal planning!

A small correction on a remark by @MacSparky during this episode. He mentioned that Apple Notes is part of the operating system. Although Apple Notes is bundled with macOS, it’s technically not part of the OS. It’s a notes application like any other, made by Apple. Perhaps using some API’s that only Apple knows about, but that still doesn’t make it part of the operating system. macOS still functions fine if you’d remove the Notes app from your disk.

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Good point. What I really meant to say is that it is so well integrated with the operating system.

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I’m thinking about buying the Screens for iOS app and seeking some advice from all you mac power users here :slight_smile:

  1. Does anyone have experience with this app under the newest iOS/Mojave versions?
  2. Can it be a security issue if I set this up on my MacBook? I mean, if I can access my Mac from anywhere in the world, does it also increase the risk of my machine being hacked?

FYI

Screens worked great for me then stopped.

After many attempts with Screens support (email) there was no solution

I now use Jump which does everything Screens did

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Right, it looks like Deliveries adds a Services Menu item to add tracking numbers. Sweet!

Toothfairy is convenient, but it didn’t solve my issue where every now and then, AirPods simply refuse to stay connected unless I reboot. I’m definitely keeping the app in the menu bar, but wanted to give a heads up to anyone else who thought it might be doing something more clever with Bluetooth under the hoods.

Wait, what? I need some details here because the constant re-login to Amazon thing drives me batty and makes me use Deliveries less than I would. What should I do to avoid that?

Open the tracking link in a browser. Then share that page to Deliveries and choose the option to add “Amazon tracking link”. I used to have the same problem!

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There is a much bigger problem.

Deliveries is saying my cat toy shipment is delayed! :pouting_cat:

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  1. Using Screens daily with High Sierra (still waiting on Mojave to settle before updating) and iOS 12. No problems that aren’t because I’m behind a corporate firewall for most of the sessions.
  2. As I understand it, Screens uses ports that any VNC might use. So, /marginally/ less safe than not using any VNC, but probably not any more dangerous than if you’re going to want to control your mac remotely. Of course, I’m referring to secured VNC connections, which Screens lets you do. Unsecured VNC connections of any stripe are dangerous.
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  1. I’m not a heavy user of Screens, but I’ve used it on both my home and work Macs, both of which are running Mojave, without any issues.

Candidate for under $30 Mac App: ScreenFloat. Allows easy capture of images of parts of the screen that float and can be moved around the monitor(s).
I am old enough that my short-term memory is suspect. When working with multiple windows and programs to solve a problem, it is useful to be able to snap pictures of data from various sources and position them on your monitor so available for easy reference. And then easily dismiss them when done.
Particularly if your Mac setup includes two monitors to afford a large amount of available space to pin “floats”

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Snappy does that. It’s free too!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snappy-snapshots-the-smart-way/id512617038

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I enjoyed the show. I use DropZone but not for some of the actions that David teased. I bought Gladys too when he talked about it. I’d like to learn more about how he uses those two in a future episode.

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Big problem migrating from Notes to Bear is the lack of migrating attachments, pictures, drawings - big show stopper. Less than 10% of my 2k worth of notes are “text only”.

Cheers,

Mark

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Agreed. As a geologist, many of my notes are visuals of some sort. As nice as it would be to switch to a purpled text-based notes system, I’ll never be able to.