In conversations I’ve had over the past week, it’s become clear that there’s nothing very self-explanatory about Mastodon as a social network, and that in many ways Twitter users are both prepared and unprepared for the experience.
With the state of things at Twitter the company and with Twitter the service, I'd be remiss if I didn't think about moving to a new social network. The idea of going completely dark doesn't seem like the right choice for me, but I'm not enjoying Twitter as much as I used to anymore. This was true before they #BrokeMyTwitter, but it's even more so now that some of the features I enjoyed – like activity and certain notifications – are no longer part of the apps that I use. I loathe the Twitter app, so it's just a horrible experience for me now.
Even though I have no idea what the hell Mastadon is all about, I did end up signing up for an account. I was able to get one on mastadon.social, under the same handle as my Twitter. I haven't "tooted" a single thing yet,[1] and I'm not sure when I'll start. But I'm glad that Joe has taken the time to write an explainer. I have a much better understanding of what is going on with all of it than I did before, all parsed down to a single post.
The idea of leaving Twitter – one of the largest social networks on the planet – isn't really the answer I'm looking for with all of this. I'm looking for Twitter to take a stand against wrong-doing. I'm looking for them to curtail abuse and the spread of misinformation. I'm looking for them to improve their app experience, while simultaneously not being a dick to the developer community that made them who they are today. They need to be better, and everyone who uses (not abuses) the service deserves that too. But unless there are some major changes ahead, it doesn't hurt to have one foot in another door.
I find this whole "toot" thing hilarious. There's a lot of fart jokes to be made here. Yes, I'm a child. ↩︎
You know that I'm a long-time user, a self-proclaimed Drafts evangelist, and wrote a big review on the Drafts 5 release. But even I can miss some of the hidden treasures of the app from time to time.
As I'm going through the notes of the upcoming Drafts 5.4 update – coming out around when iOS 12 releases – I found myself looking at the upcoming list that will eventually become the notes in the "What's New" section on the App Store. Drafts has some of the best version notes in the app store, typically broken up into a "new features" section and the "other fixes and changes" section. Even in the beta, Greg provides detailed notes about each beta release.
So I was able to grab all of the notes thus far in the beta, and load them into a single draft. I created a couple of new headings for the different sections, and entered arrange mode to move items around. Something I didn't really highlight in my review is that you can use the combination of line and block modes to move items around. There were some beta updates that showed a new line here or there; others were the big new features, and I needed to keep those blocks together. I don't know of another app that provides the flexibility in this way, and it's fantastic.
But to my surprise, there was something I discovered when moving the lines around. New in the 5.0 release – that's right, from the beginning – is the ability to edit the lines/blocks by tapping on them. So not only can I move and change around a draft, but I can also fix a little mistake here there if I find them. I can also add to a section if I think of something to add.
This small, but powerful feature is well considered, even if it is hidden. It's a small delight that I found months after using the initial beta, and I'm so glad that I have.[1]
Turns Out™, you learn something new every day.
Makes me wonder what other little features I've missed… ↩︎
One of the small, but powerful for which I use Drafts is sending multiple events to my calendars. And for a long time, I've used the power of Drafts' automation to send those events to my calendar via Fantastical.
The great thing about using Fantastical for this purpose is the natural language parsing capabilities: I can simply type out a calendar event the way I need to type it, and it will populate it for me. But thanks to the incredible scripting capabilities in Drafts 5, it is possible to create the date and time parsing aspects – the part where Fantastical excels – and put that right into an action in Drafts.
The end result is as advertised – fantastically good. Not only does it replicate the way I input events into my calendar, but it does it even faster now that it's all native in Drafts. There is no longer a back-and-forth dance with the action to create multiple events. It runs quickly, and I can move along with what I was working on when it is completed. I can also include locations and durations as well. I can even use the calendar shortcut syntax (example: /w for my work calendar) with the action. It is a really robust solution.[1]
And if that wasn't enough, Peter requested the changed in Drafts 5.3 which provide the same parsing for reminders as well, which replaces the other aspect of Fantastical for me. You can include the level of priority denoted by exclamation marks ! and use the reminder list denoted by the same shortcut syntax as the calendar (/inbox).
These two actions are what I had envisioned in the GTD module of my review. This is a case where I knew that they were going to be possible, but I do not have the technical knowledge to create. Initially, I wanted to create one based on some unique syntax, similar to the Send to Things action. But what Peter has done here exceeded my expectations and is fantastically awesome.
Cheers Peter!
There is a limitation of creating recurring events via the API. This may come in the future. ↩︎
People often post about their homescreens. I've shared one of mine in the Club MacStories newsletter, but I thought it might be time to give an update.
A great homescreen starts with the wallpaper. I generally like a dark background for visual deference to the icons, and I like to have the same wallpaper on both. This means I need a high-resolution option. And with WWDC happening, I turned to 512 Pixels for my even-darker Mojave wallpaper.
My second pages on both devices are nothing but folders. This allows me to group apps that I search for via Spotlight search or don't regularly use into like categories. There are a bunch of apps on both devices on the second screen, too many to cover here.
The main focus for homescreen layout should always be around the dock.
The iPad Dock
When iOS 11 was introduced and the iPad dock was changed to be different than a larger iPhone dock, my homescreen immediately changed. I needed to move most apps into the dock to facilitate multitasking with apps in layouts. The usefulness of dragging an icon out of the dock and into a split view or as the slide-over app was a fundamental shift in the way I was using my device.
With using an external keyboard – first the Logitech Create, then the Smart Keyboard – it became apparent that I could use the shortcut of ⌘space to pull up Spotlight search from anywhere, and it meant that unless the app was in the dock, I didn't need to have it on the main homescreen. All I have to is search for the app I want, and then I can either tap to open or drag it into one of the app slots on my screen.
The apps I use the most are in my dock. The three center icons of my dock are similar to what I have on my iPhone. I like having those central in both places. Surrounding them are apps that frequently use during the day and/or in a split-screen setup. I have folders on either side of the dock: on the left is a folder of the "creative" apps that I use to generate podcasts or images for my site; on the right is a folder of reference apps.
I tried a new setup a while back after seeing the homescreen master do it for his iPhone X. I thought that it would be great for using a larger variety of wallpapers, and allow me to break from my typical black and white image to something with some color. At first, I was hesitant to do this: it seemed more cumbersome and inefficient. But then I remembered my iPad homescreen, and thought that I should give it a try.
While the mechanics of the screens between the iPhone and iPad are different – largely due to the multitasking abilities of the iPad – the end result of this path has been the same: my most important apps in the dock, and other apps grouped into folders. I'm a proponent of the three-icon dock, and that has remained unchanged for a while. So for me, I needed to put the folder in the center for balance, with Drafts and Things 3 flanking either side. In the folder are my most-used apps: it is a mix of apps that change from time to time, but are all vital to my daily workflow. The folder contains (from top left to bottom right): Calendar, Music, Safari, Mail, Castro, Workflow, Slack, Twitterrific, and Messages.2
And the rest of the rows are blank. Which, as I said, seems to be very odd when you first see it. But, there are a few benefits. First off, I don't have the temptation: no tapping all the icons on the homescreen, no badges on the screen to pull my attention, reduced stress. I don't feel compelled to dive into Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube to look through content. It's clean, it's focused, and it helps me not sit and waste idle time. The other nice benefit is that I have a giant area to pull down on the homescreen, allowing me to quickly access Spotlight search. I'm actually faster at opening my apps now because I just pull down, type a few characters, and I'm there.
One of the biggest enablers for me was the new update of Drafts, and the subsequentupdates after it was released. It has replaced so much for me that I find myself not using other apps and figuring out new ways to use Drafts in my daily workflows.
I've tried going back to icons in other rows. But it fills me with more anxiety, mental overhead, and makes me feel like I'm serving my apps instead of my apps serving me. Maybe one day I'll go back to it, especially with Screen Time, but for now, this is what I need and I love using it this way.
Homescreens are very personal. I often change my mind about them, but this is the first time in recent memory where the layout had remained the same. The apps in certain spots may change, but for the most part, the layout has remained the same for months now. I'm happy with it. I'm sure this will change when I get a new device, but for now, I'm happy to have it figured out and have less stress facing me in my daily life as a result.
I'm right handed, so Drafts is on the right for better access when I'm using my phone in one hand. I also have the folder set up to be more accessible while using my right hand as well. ↩
I really like seeing the pace of Drafts development. I can't remember exactly where I heard Greg talk about it, but with the subscription model, he no longer has to wait a long period of time for big updates to drop new features; the releases can be done quickly, with focused changes in each one. This is great for him, and even better for users. Like the previous point release, the 5.2 update includes updates that provide better functionality within the app.
Draft Navigation
When writing my review, I needed a way to navigate between the different sections, and all of the subheadings I had created. I had developed an action to navigate to each of the markdown headers, which I was happy with at the time. It was nice to have that functionality to switch around where I was in my review.
Well, I'm happy to say that I have been Sherlocked.
In the upper right corner of the editor, there is a small triangle icon; when you tap the icon, you are presented with a navigation menu. Not only does this navigate headers in Markdown, but it also navigates projects in TaskPaper, and code blocks in JavaScript. It also include a top and bottom button, as well as a select all button.
Syntax navigation in Markdown, JavaScript, and TaskPaper
Additionally, using the keyboard shortcut ⌘\, you can use your external keyboard now to navigate your way through longer writing, coding, or task management projects. This implementation is much better than I could have ever programmed in an action, and it's great to see this type of behavior built into the application itself. As more syntax highlights come in the future, it will be nice to have navigation along with them.[1]
Loading Modules
My favorite feature of Drafts has been workspaces. In the initial app release, it was possible to use the URL scheme to switch workspaces. Someone in the Drafts Community forum created a workspace switcher action group that could be customized to switch workspaces, using shortcut keys for external keyboards. While switching workspaces in this manner was fantastic, I wanted to see more in the way of loading modules. From my review:
Pushing modules further, I would love to see Workspaces get improved by allowing a pre-defined action group. That way when switching workspaces, the user can automatically have all necessary tools at their disposal right away, thus speeding up capture.
The idea of modules – using a workspace in conjunction with action groups – has been a game changer for the way I use Drafts. And now through scripting and URL steps, I can not only change workspaces, but I can also change the action groups in both the action drawer and extended row; this takes the module concept to completion. For those that don't want to get into scripting, new URL schemes are available to switch action groups: - /loadActionGroup?name=GROUP-NAME loads action group in action drawer, while /loadKeyboardActionGroup?name=GROUP-NAME loads action group in extended keyboard. If you want to switch workspaces and both action groups, you can have a single module action with three URL steps, one each for the component you are changing.
But for those that use scripting, there are additional methods that allow for some further capabilities with modules. Not only can you switch the workspace and load action groups, but you can show or hide the drafts or action drawer/list; if you had pinned the drawer previously, it will show up as pinned.
When running on the iPad, I want to have my draft list shown (and pinned); however, I don't want this to be done on the iPhone. When I run an action on either device, I want it to have unique behavior. Thankfully, there is a device script object that pulls which device I'm running the action on, allowing me to change the behavior of the action. For an example of using modules in this way, I've shared a Writing Module which contains the following script step:
// Get device model
var model = device.model;
var module = "Writing"
var workspace = Workspace.find(module);
var keyboard = ActionGroup.find(module);
var group = ActionGroup.find("Social");
// Show draft list if action is run on an iPad
if (model == "iPad") {
app.showDraftList();
}
else {
app.hideActionList();
}
This loads the Writing workspace and extended row, and puts my Social action group to the side. I can use this module to create posts like this one or share a thought or tweet storm to Twitter. When I'm done writing, I can use the external keyboard to quickly switch modules into scripting or task management.
I have even created some additional options in each one: if I'm on my iPad, my drafts list is shown on the side; on the iPhone, it hides the action drawer, presenting you with the editor activated. In some of the modules, I have also loaded different action groups based on the device I'm using. This gives me full control of what I do and where I share my writing, all with a single action; coupled with the use of keyboard shortcuts, this is now a powerful app-like switcher right inside Drafts. I even created a Select Module action with select boxes to load modules when on my iPhone, which I have added to each of my action groups for faster switching.[2] I have placed a duplicate action at the beginning of every action group so that I can switch modules on the fly, especially when on the iPhone. And I've thrown them into a module action group, though I haven't made it an extended keyboard row option because I use the single action to switch on the iPhone and the keyboard shortcuts on the iPad.
Other Improvements
Speaking of sharing actions, there have been a few new elements added in the Action Directory. There are two new visual indicators: trusted member and tested action. These indications give users confidence that the actions listed have come from trusted sources and that they do not contain any errors. When I refer to errors here, I am not speaking about programming knowledge and efficiencies. It specifically refers to the result of the action and that it won't damage any of your data. This will be handled by the developer on a case-by-case basis: after all, this is Agile Tortoise's app, and they need to make these decisions for their app and business.
Another nice feature that has been added is the ability to assign tags after a successful action; this can be found in the action editor. When I post to Twitter, I will archive the draft and assign a tweet tag. There isn't a special script code block required like I had before, it's simply baked into the action. Users could apply something like a sent tag for messages or emails, or a submitted tag for when you're sending your writing off for review/editing. The nice aspect of this is that you don't have to apply the tags up front, but you can apply them after the fact.
The small but useful changes and new features are another nice release for Drafts. The navigational improvements are absolutely fantastic for how you move through Drafts. I'm getting very close to never leaving the keyboard when I'm on the iPad. I love how fast I'm able to switch through modules now, providing different the various different mini-apps at my fingertips to productively get everything done.
The navigation feature is based on the syntax highlighting. When customizable options come in a future update, you'll be able to specify the navigation as well. ↩︎
I also have one for buttons, which saves a tap. I do like the idea of "loading" a module, which is why I went with select boxes with a single "Load" button. Yes, I'm nerdy. ↩︎
