I got sick of having to tap a zillion buttons just to iMessage a photo to somebody, so I made a shortcut that lets me tap an icon on my Home screen, and sends my latest photo automatically to a preselected friend.
That’s it. You tap it, and the shortcut grabs the last photo you shot, and sends it. If that sounds like something you want, check it out.
Yoinks is a digital shelf app that can also manage downloads. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Earlier this week I wrote abut using Shortcuts to build a simple download manager for iOS. It works great, but there’s a better solution. It’s an app called Yoink, and it can be a download manager, and way more.
Getting a new Apple Watch band is almost as good as guzzling green beer. Photo: E3 Supply Co.
You don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but you do need something green. We’ve made it easier to wear the green by discounting select products this Saturday and Sunday.
We’ve rounded up special bands in green from these great companies: Carterjett, Casetify, E3 Supply Co., Nyloon and Ullu. Save 20 percent on these Apple Watch bands at the Cult of Mac Watch Store this weekend! (As a special treat, allUllu products are on sale!)
Apple's streaming service may have an ace up its sleeve.
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s “it’s show time” event is just around the corner, and this is the first event ever that focuses purely on services. Is Apple’s streaming TV service going to suck? Don’t miss our “show time” keynote predications. Plus: Leander unveils the details on his new Tim Cook book, out April 16th!
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain..
AirPrint is how printers should always have worked. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
There’s still something kinda magical-feeling about printing documents from your iPhone. Maybe someone sends you a long Word or Pages document that you prefer to read on paper. Or maybe you must sign a hard-copy version of a PDF and send it back via real paper mail.
You may be used to facing a task like this in your iPhone’s email app, and putting it off until you get to your Mac or PC. But chances are, if you own a fairly modern printer, you can just print right from the iPhone. In fact, once you get a taste for it, you’ll prefer printing from iOS. You will never need to deal with drivers, or pick up your 100-page print job only to find every sheet printed too small.
The answer is AirPrint. It’s how printers always should have worked.
iPhone to iPhone. Dust to dust. Photo: University of Plymouth
Want to see what happens when an iPhone is placed into a high powered blender?
No, it’s not the kind of mindless destruction porn that often pops up on YouTube. Instead, it’s a serious scientific demonstration carried out by the U.K.’s University of Plymouth. The goal? To show exactly which chemical elements make up the pricey handsets we keep in our pockets. Check out the video below.
Gallium nitride technology allows these chargers to be much smaller than more traditional alternatives. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Chargers are transitioning from silicon transistors to gallium nitride (GaN), enablingthese irritatingly bulky accessories to shrink in size. Anker and RavPower both make power adapters that put out more current than you’d expect for their svelte dimensions thanks to the magic of GaN.
We tested out both chargers that can be used to power up your MacBook, iPad or iPhone. Read on to see how they performed.
Apple is the Goliath of the wearables market. Photo: @SCOTUSPlaces/Twitter
Vincent Van Gogh might have been kinder to his ear if only AirPods were around when he was alive and painting.
Art already gives us so much to ponder. As does Twitter, which a New York City creative agency used to call on followers to Photoshop Apple AirPods into famous works of art.
Apple is expected to launch a number of new services this spring. Photo: Apple
The first Apple event of 2019 is nearly here. Tim Cook and friends are set to take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater on March 25 to unveil the company’s newest goodies, only instead of unveiling some shiny new gadgets you can buy, Apple is supposedly going to bust out some services you can subscribe to.
The Apple rumor mill has been working in overdrive leading up the event, so we have a pretty solid idea of what we’ll see.
If you hate Apple keynote spoilers, stop reading now.
Who doesn’t enjoy a well-managed download? Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
One of the biggest shortcomings of mobile Safari is downloading files. It’ll do it just fine, but it loads everything as if it were a web page. PDFs, ZIPs, MP3s: They all get loaded right there into the current page, whereupon you have to use the Open In… feature to save the file.
Perhaps even worse — you don’t have any idea how long the download is going to take. All you have to go on is the loading progress bar up in the URL bar, which creeps along and really only offers two states: “not done yet” and “done.”
Today we will fix that by whipping up a download manager using the Shortcuts app. Let’s go.
Apple’s iPad lineup is about to get more crowded and confusing than ever in 2019.
With the company’s big March 25 event looming on the horizon, a new rumor claims Apple is planning to release not one but two iPads with a 10-inch screen this year that won’t fall under the “iPad Pro” brand.
Find the perfect leather Apple Watch band for your budget without compromising style or quality. Photo: Strapa
High-quality leather is a universal way to look and feel classy, timeless and powerful. Deck out your beloved Apple Watch in something it deserves, regardless of price point. Whether you’re buying on a budget or searching for the perfect splurge, your internet scouring ends here.
Check out our watch store guide to finding the perfect leather Apple Watch band for your budget.
News readers gather all the latest stories from your favorite sites in one place. Photo: CocoaCake
How do you read the news? If you do it on Twitter, you’ll be used to missing things as they fly past on your ever-updating timeline. If you read the news on Facebook, you’re being fed articles picked according to Facebook’s own agendas. And if you read the news on regular websites, you spend forever visiting sites just to see if there’s been an update.
If only there was a better way. If only you could open an app and see, at a glance, all the new stories from your favorite websites. Wouldn’t that be something?
The good news is, there are many apps, and many services, that exist to bring you the updates to your favorite sites. They work like Google Reader used to — only way better.
Transform your Apple Watch into a classic vintage pocket watch without compromising accessibility or function. Photo: Bucardo
Bucardo is back on our radar with some seriously impressive designs and discounts for Apple Watch.
It’s nothing new in the world of fashion to recycle and resurrect the trends from our parents’ and even grandparents’ generations.
However, bygone era or not, some of these trends stick with us forever. Enter Bucardo’s pocket watch collection. Both playful and elegant, these designs strike nostalgia in our hearts.
Save huge and snag one of these exceptionally unique timepieces from our Watch Store today.
The Gamevice is good, but not great. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Mobile gaming has never been better, but you’re missing out if you’re playing the latest titles with touch controls. A good controller is a worthwhile purchase, but should you spend $75 on the Gamevice?
It looks great, boasts the best design of any iPhone controller, and never needs charging. It also works with almost any iPhone. The only problem? It disappoints where it matters most.
If you can read it, you can translate it. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
How do you translate a PDF? Maybe you scanned a page from a friend’s German cake recipes book. Or perhaps you’re living abroad and you have no idea what the police just made you sign. There are plenty of ways to translate PDFs and text, but most of them involve either A) Microsoft Word or B) uploading your private documents to a cloud service to be read.
Today we’ll see how to quickly scan a paper document, then translate its written text into English. You’ll be amazed at how fast it is.
Protection that won't get in your way. Photo: Just Mobile
With the Cult of Mac Watch Store’s new goodies from Just Mobile, we had to revisit TENC Air – the incredibly slim, apocalypse-proof, self-healing iPhone case from the same brand.
Fast forward to the present, and I’m still sporting my TENC case. Why?
Because this triple threat is the real deal, and what’s more is TENC truly stands the test of time (aka 1000s of parking lot iPhone drops since my first review).
Don’t believe us? Watch the video down below for yourself.
The App Store should be a separate company, according to a high-profile presidential candidate. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign for U.S. president has taken a hard line against big tech, and she has Apple in her sights. On Friday she proposed breaking up a number of large tech firms, and the iPhone-maker made the list.
Now she’s shared more details on why she thinks dividing Apple into at least two parts is necessary.
Apple is really cleaning up its supply chain under Tim Cook. Photo: Apple
Over the years, Apple took heavy criticism for employing an offshore supply chain rife with abuse. The company is still stained by the rash of worker suicides in 2010 at Foxconn, its main supplier.
Get your freshly-printed WhatsApps here. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Yes, this sounds like a joke about the olde worlde CEO who has his secretary print his emails, then transcribe his dictated replies. But printing message threads can be pretty useful. Lawyers, for example, may want a printed record, or a PDF, of a message thread. And even regular humans might appreciate a well-formatted archive of their messages that can be easily searched and marked up.
You still can’t do this on your iDevice. However, thanks to the amazing iMazing Mac app, you can quickly create PDFs of your messages, and even print them. Onto paper.
A colorful band can really kick things up a notch. Photo: Strapa
Sometimes you need to stick to basic black. Maybe your job requires you to have a low profile or wear a uniform. But now it’s the weekend, and it’s time to unleash some personality. One easy way to add some color to your life is to switch up the band for your Apple Watch.
The Cult of Mac Watch Store has several colorful Apple Watch bands available. Aside from the models highlighted below, there’s plenty of bold bands available, so check them out.
I wanted a Galaxy S10, but I'm stuck with iPhone. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
It’s not easy to give up your iPhone. Even if you’ve already decided you want to switch to another handset, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to let go. Apple has you locked in. And for some iPhone owners, there is no way out.
That’s because it’s not just your iPhone that you’d be saying goodbye to. Many other apps and services you use every day — some without even thinking about it — make switching to another platform nearly impossible.
Here are all the ways Apple makes it hard to jump ship and switch to Android.
Apple desperately needs an updated iPhone SE. Photo: Sam Mills/Cult of Mac
iPhone sales are down, especially in emerging markets. The reason is simple: Apple’s devices cost too darn much. And the solution is equally simple: Apple must make a new budget model. In short, it needs a successor to the iPhone SE to ensure short-term profits as well as long-term viability.
This device has to have a low, low price. Even if that means a phone so bare-bones that most Americans turn up their noses at it.
Augmented reality will be even better with glasses. Photo: Apple
Apple’s long-rumored augmented reality glasses will finally arrive in 2020, according to a trusted analyst.
The first-generation specs reportedly will function strictly as an iPhone accessory. They will depend on Apple’s smartphone for processing, rendering, location services and just about everything else. Mass-production of the Apple AR glasses could start later this year.