| Cult of Mac

Cut the repetition and learn something new with this Mac app bundle

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Get more from your day with these apps and courses.
Eliminating annoying repetitive tasks will free up time to do interesting things.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s hard to squeeze the most out of your day when you’re just trying to get through it. Optimizing your productivity takes work and thought, and sometimes all you can manage is maintenance instead of learning and growing from your experiences.

This bundle can turn that around. The Mac Productivity App Bundle & Lifetime Access to StackSkills gives you tools and courses that can change how much you can get done in a day. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for $49 (regularly $1,511).

Jamf makes it easy to manage employees’ Apple devices, both remote and onsite

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Jamf excels at Apple enterprise management.
Jamf excels at Apple Enterprise Management.
Photo: Jamf

This Apple Enterprise Management post is presented by Jamf.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic changed how employers and employees operate, remote work had become increasingly prevalent. By 2016, 43% of the U.S. workforce worked from home at least to some extent, according to Gallup. The pandemic added millions more and might tilt the balance toward remote work permanently.

So, now more than ever, organizations large and small must figure out how to manage, connect and secure all devices their staff members use, in workplaces and remotely. For enterprises that prefer to have iPhones, Macs and iPads in the mix, effective Apple Enterprise Management is crucial.

Apple acquires Italian startup that specializes in backend automation

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stamplay
The Stamplay team.
Photo: Il Sol 24 Ore

Apple recently acquired a startup that could soon help the iPhone-maker deliver better backend tools to iOS and macOS developers.

Stamplay, an Italian startup that specialized in building a “low code workflow automation” platform, was reportedly purchased by Apple for about $5.6 million. The acquisition hasn’t been confirmed by Apple but there are some telltale signs that Stamplay’s tech has found a new home.

Use Shortcuts to download YouTube Videos on iPhone

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download youtube videos
Shortcuts has no problem ripping and downloading YouTube videos.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Editor’s note: As of Feb. 10, 2010, the tip outlined below no longer works. However, we published a new post about an iOS shortcut that currently does work: “Finally — a YouTube download shortcut for iOS that actually works.” Enjoy.

Using Apple’s amazing new Shortcuts app, you can rip a video from YouTube, download it, and store it in a folder on your iPhone — all without using a computer.

Maybe you want to watch some clips on your commute without burning through your cellular data. Or perhaps you’re a language or music teacher, and you want to keep teaching materials offline instead of relying on your pupil’s Wi-Fi?

This shortcut can be triggered in Safari, and will save the YouTube video to your Camera Roll, iCloud Drive, Dropbox or other location of your choice. Let’s get started.

How to translate anything with Siri shortcuts

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If only all text was so easy to translate.
If only all text was so easy to translate.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Today we’re going to make a Siri Shortcut that takes any text, converts it into English, and copies it to the clipboard. Never again will you have to struggle with a foreign menu on a web page, or a snippet of text from a non-English news site.

There are a few ways to translate text and websites on iOS, but this shortcut has two big advantages: It’s really, really fast, and it automatically copies the result to the clipboard. If you ever used the otherwise-excellent Microsoft Translate share extension, you will already be sick of having to manually select the result in a tiny window, and then use the share sheet again just to copy it.

Enable this great Shoot Mode with Siri Shortcuts to take pictures in peace

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The iPhone XS is a serious camera, so give it the attention it deserves.
The iPhone XS is a serious camera, so give it the attention it deserves.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Were you ever in the middle of trying to get that perfect photo, framing it just-so, and tweaking the exposure and focus for the perfect shot, when your mother called to remind you of your own child’s birthday? It could totally happen. And for pro photographers using the iPhone as their preferred camera (which is a great idea, BTW), the risk of interruptions is even greater.

That’s why noted iPhone photographer Austin Mann came up with a great way to shut up your iPhone while you’re busy shooting. It’s called Shoot Mode, and it’s yet another example of how useful Siri Shortcuts can be — even in tiny doses.

How to zip and unzip files on iPhone with Shortcuts

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Broken zip shortcut metaphor.
Broken ZIP Shortcut metaphor.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Shortcuts isn’t just about asking Siri to help out when a cop pulls you over, or shutting your home down for the night. Shortcuts can also be little utilities that you use on your files, adding Mac-like functions to your iPad or iPhone. Today’s example shows how to make a shortcut that unzips files, and saves them to your iCloud Drive or Dropbox. Even in iOS 12, there’s no built-in way to unzip stuff. And with this shortcut, you won’t have to buy an app to do it.

Shortcuts 2.1 adds new weather and timer actions

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Set a timer with the new Shortcuts v2.1.
Set a timer with the new Shortcuts v2.1.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Amidst the flurry of iPad and Mac news yesterday, Apple also released the latest version of Shortcuts, the super-cool iOS automation app. The big news is the addition of seven new actions for checking the weather, setting timers and measurement conversions. Let’s take a look at Shortcuts 2.1.

Make an awesome power nap timer with Siri Shortcuts

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Set a power nap timer --and more -- with your voice
Set a power nap timer --and more -- with your voice
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Here’s a great little shortcut that uses the new Set Reminder action in the newest v2.1 of Apple’s Shortcuts app. Tell Siri that you want to take a nap, and it will ask you for how long. It’ll then set a timer, and schedule Do Not Disturb for the duration. Get ready to clock some serious ZZZs with our power nap shortcut.

Download Instagram photos with this Siri shortcut

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Download Instagram
You can download any Instagram photo -- even this one.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you like a photo or video on Instagram, you can like it, or you can save it to your collection. But what about just saving it? You just can’t download Instagram photos.

This week, a friend of mine posted some awesome videos he shot on tape back in the 1980s. I don’t want to dig around in Instagram’s ever-more-convoluted app just to watch them. I want to save them to my iPhone’s Photo Library. Instagram doesn’t let you save an image. Even if you copy the Instagram link using the share feature, then open that image in iPhone Safari, you can’t get at the image.

So I made a shortcut to do it for me. Check it out.