Take Control Of Automating Your Mac 2nd Edition
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Take Control of Shortcuts, 2nd Edition
Automate your iPhone, iPad, or Mac! Version 2.1, updated January 30, 2023 Automation is no longer just for advanced computer users! Apple's Shortcuts app lets anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac automate day-to-day tasks, from the simple to the complex. This book is a complete introduction to Shortcuts, covering every aspect of building, installing, debugging, running, syncing, and sharing shortcuts. It also includes step-by-step recipes for creating numerous useful shortcuts yourself. Apple's Shortcuts app brings extensive automation capabilities to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, using a drag-and-drop, fill-in-the-blanks interface much like Automator—but much more powerful. It lets you perform sequences of tasks, including ones that span various apps, with just a tap, a click, or a voice command—or even automatically when certain conditions are met. Shortcuts can save you time and effort, help you accomplish previously complicated tasks, and let you customize your device to better meet your needs. Apple finally brought Shortcuts to the Mac in macOS 12 Monterey. (The book now includes coverage of macOS Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16.) But for all its utility, Shortcuts is not self-explanatory, so it can be challenging to figure out its quirks and create effective, time-saving automations. That's where Take Control of Shortcuts comes in. Written by automation expert Rosemary Orchard, this book opens the world of automation to users at every level. With Rosemary's help, you'll learn how to: • Navigate the Shortcuts app: Understand the user interface (on each platform) and terminology, then install and run your first shortcut. • Run shortcuts: Discover many different ways to run a shortcut, from tapping or clicking an icon to using Personal or Home automations, Siri, and Apple Watch. • Build shortcuts: Start with simple, one-step shortcuts and work your way up to complex shortcuts with input, output, variables, conditionals, loops, and more. Debugging advice is also included. • Install and sync shortcuts: Download and install shortcuts others have written, sync your shortcuts across your devices, and share them with other people. Then, to both illustrate the main principles you've learned and give you practical tools to get you started, Rosemary walks you step by step through the creation of 25 sample shortcuts, most which you can also download and install using links in the book. Examples include: • Event templates • A daily overview • Converting and sharing images • Adding a song to a playlist • Logging expenses • Turning on lights automatically when you get home • Disabling rotation lock just for YouTube on an iPhone • Reminding you about upcoming deadlines 15 minutes after you arrive home • Automatically setting seasonal scenes for HomeKit lights The book also discusses how Shortcuts can use REST APIs to talk to various web services (with detailed examples), and numerous complementary apps that work in conjunction with Shortcuts. Whether you're completely new to automation or already have significant programming experience, you'll find plenty of useful information in this friendly, practical guide.
Take Control of Automating Your Mac, 5th Edition
Work faster, increase your efficiency, and have more fun with automation! Version 5.1, updated January 17, 2025 Ever wondered if automation could make your life easier? In Take Control of Automating Your Mac, Fifth Edition, Mac expert Joe Kissell shows you how to save time and aggravation by using numerous built-in macOS tools, as well as helpful third-party apps, to automate routine tasks and procedures.n Looking for ways to work smarter and faster with your Mac? In this updated and expanded fifth edition of his popular guide to Mac automation, Joe Kissell shows how anyone, at any level of experience, can save time and effort, and avoid unnecessary errors, by using automation techniques that range from the simplest keyboard shortcut to the most complicated script. In this book, Joe teaches you how to automate routine tasks in a wide variety of ways. You can begin by making the most of productivity features such as Siri, Spotlight (for launching apps), and text replacement—and then move on to the more sophisticated automation tools built into macOS, such as Shortcuts, Automator, AppleScript, services, and shell scripts. In addition, Joe gives extensive information about third-party automation apps that can make a huge difference to your work efficiency, such as Keyboard Maestro, TextExpander, OmniGraffle, and many more. As an extra bonus, the book includes coupons for discounts on six automation apps! Whether you’re new to automation, you just need a refresher, or you’re experienced with automation but want to go deeper, this book can teach you the skills you need to automate with ease. Take back your time, work more efficiently, and have more fun with your Mac, with Take Control of Automating Your Mac, Fifth Edition! With this book, you’ll learn how to: • Get started with the built-in macOS automation tools, including Shortcuts, Automator, AppleScript, and shell scripts • Take full advantage of input devices to save clicks and keystrokes • Customize toolbars and your Touch Bar to put hard-to-find controls at your fingertips • Use your voice to control your Mac with Siri and Voice Control/Dictation Commands • Automate text expansion for faster, more consistent typing • Control the Finder with a launcher and by organizing files with Hazel • Supercharge your clipboard to remember and reformat previous copies • Write macros in Microsoft Office and Nisus Writer Pro • Create rules to file email automatically in Apple Mail and Outlook • Log in to websites faster with a password manager • Automate cloud services with IFTTT and Zapier • Set up automatic backup and syncing • Run tasks automatically with Login Items, Calendar events, or launchd • Use Omni Automation for JavaScript-based automation tasks • Control nearly anything on your Mac with Keyboard Maestro
Take Control of Your Digital Legacy, 2nd Edition
Preserve your data for posterity! Version 2.0.1, updated February 2, 2024 How do you want to be remembered? A will takes care of your physical possessions, but what about your digital life—photos, email, files, online accounts, and so on? If you want to pass your electronic ephemera on as part of your digital legacy, turn to tech expert Joe Kissell for advice on dealing with large quantities of data, file formats, media types, the need for a “digital executor,” and more.n We all have digital data that's important to us now, but a lot of it could also be important to our children, friends, and relatives long after we're gone. But you have to take concrete steps now to make sure that data is preserved in the right way and handled according to your wishes. It’s not all about posterity either, since following Joe’s advice will also help loved ones access your key accounts and important info if you’re temporarily incapacitated, which can happen at any time. The book will help you with these essential tasks: • Identify your key digital assets: online accounts, photos, audio files, videos, passwords, documents, email, and more. • Plan for each type of digital asset based on your priorities for today, for shortly after you are no longer around, and for posterity. Joe explains the ideal file formats to use, how to deal with social media sites, the best ways to digitize paper documents and photos, and strategies for sharing passwords with family members, among much else. • Communicate your wishes in a “digital will” and designate someone to be its “digital executor.” The book includes a template document that you can develop into a personalized digital will. • Preserve your data for the future. You’ll consider types of archival storage media, cloud-based storage services, backups, and what instructions to provide about maintaining your data as file formats and storage media types evolve. Whether you just want to ensure that your heirs get copies of your favorite family photos and a few key documents or you want to catalog and preserve tens of thousands of digital items, this book helps you make smart decisions about your digital legacy. Questions answered include: • What strategies can I use for sorting and preserving email and instant messages? • How can I ensure that my email account(s) will be available to those wrapping up my estate? • What if I have digital data that should be destroyed when I die? • What should I do with my huge photo collection (both digital and paper)? • How should I pass on control of my Apple, Google, and Microsoft accounts? • How can I make my passwords and passkeys available to those who will need them—but keep them private for now? • What should I think about when handing down purchased audio and video files? • What should happen to my Facebook account when I’m no longer around? • What choices are available for keeping my digital archive available and backed up? • How long should I expect archival media to last? • Should I write an autobituary? • Are online digital legacy services any good? • How will organizing all this stuff benefit me while I’m alive?