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Bite-sized tips to help you get more out of your apps and Apple devices.
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Newsletter 32

Welcome to the Finer Things in Tech newsletter #32! I have a mix of iPhone, iPad, and Mac tips, and some good links for you this week. I should fess up that I didn’t get a newsletter out last week on account of some current personal issues. Nothing serious, but I’m working on making it up to you. 

I also have some potentially bad news.

Problems in Patreon land

As you know, I recently launched a Patreon to support this newsletter. But Patreon surprised everyone last week with some major changes to its fee structure. In short, they want focus more on big creators with big audiences that make large contributions. That means patrons (you) of smaller creators (me) that have smaller contribution tiers will get hit with higher monthly fees.

Frustratingly, Patreon won’t even give creators like me a choice to eat those fees and keep them out of your way. I’m not sure what this means yet for how I’ll support the newsletter, but I’ve already lost a decent number of supporters. I certainly can’t blame you if you have to withdraw support. But I’m exploring my options and hope to have a solution soon.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the newsletter or if there's something you'd like to see in a future issue.

Thanks for reading,
- David Chartier

💻 Add useful screenshot shortcuts to your Mac’s Touch Bar

The Touch Bar is useful for all sorts of shortcuts, and 9 to 5 Mac has a great video about how to turn your macOS screenshot tools up to 11. You can quickly pick a screenshot option and set a destination like a new Mail message or your clipboard.

📱💻 Feedly has some great inspection, organization tools for all the websites and blogs you want to follow

Feedly is one of the many excellent newsreaders that have thrived in the demise of Google Reader. Of its many, many tricks, Feedly has a great tool for inspecting all the sites and blogs you follow to see how often they publish, whether their feed has gone dark, and more.

If you have an account, you can use the Organize Sources tool in a browser on iPad or Mac (or: click the gear icon next to the Feeds heading in the sidebar). You can also learn more about this tool on Feedly’s blog.

📱 True Tone turns off when you open Photos

As of the iPad Pro and iPhone 8, iOS watches the ambient light in your room, then automatically shifts your display’s color and and intensity to help photos look their best in the current lighting.

But, when you open Photos, True Tone seems to turn off in order to let you view your photos in their original version. I don’t have the best eye for this stuff, but you can learn more about True Tone at iMore.

Thanks to @yosefitche on Twitter for the tip!

📱Messages: If you dismiss a Quick Reply, your draft will be waiting in the Messages app

As you may know, you can pull down on a Messages notification to start replying to it, without switching apps or even unlocking your device. This is called a Quick Reply.

But if you dismiss this Quick Reply without sending your message, the text you typed will be waiting for you in that conversation in the Messages app. You can finish or just tap send.

📱Screenshot Journal can delete all your screenshots in just a couple taps

Screenshot Journal for iPhone and iPad is a great tool for collecting your screenshots and cleaning up your Photos library. It can automatically import your screenshots, even in the background, and it has a big ol’ button for deleting all their copies from Photos in one. fell. swoop.

🔗 Links

📸 Enlight has a bunch of great photo editing tutorials that simplify complex techniques and effects

Enlight Photofox for iPhone and iPad is one of my go-to photo editing apps. It has a great variety of tools without feeling overwhelming, and there’s a quick 2- or 3-step GIF demo built right in for each key tool. It does a great job of getting your creative juices flowing without asking you to read a short story.

On Enlight’s blog, it has a bunch of more in-depth tutorials which explore interesting and complex techniques that produce gorgeous art. The series seems to be on hold for now, but I certainly hope the company picks them back up. These are great.

🌍 Venture With Impact: Destination coworking meets voluntourism

Ann Davis quit her job as a New York City school teacher to found Venture With Impact, “a program that provides participants with a culturally immersive “workation” by blending the globetrotting of destination coworking with the spirit of volunteerism. 

As Davis puts it, “Our mission is to expose professionals to new cultures, people, and ideas. From my experience, the best way to do that is to work with the local people to gain a better understanding of the community and the city that you’re living in.”

💡 Using Tally

Tally is a great little app for counting stuff. Anything, really. It’s a single-serving app with lots of great little perks and polish.

Joe Cieplinski, of Release Notes and other fame, has a great writeup of his unique and clever use cases where Tally has been a big help.

🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏾‍♂️ 50 reasons why everyone should want more walkable streets

“If someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.”

🤩 Thanks for reading

How did you like #32? Was it useful and bite-size-y enough? Are there certain kinds of tips or apps you'd like to see here? Let me know what you think, and please help me spread the word about supporting Finer Things in Tech!

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Note: When I link to the App Store, iTunes, and a few other stores, I use affiliate links. If you tap or click them and buy anything within 24 hours, I’ll get a small cut. It’s a simple way you can help support this newsletter and my site.
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