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Obsidian Shortcut Launcher 1.1 Brings Support for File Properties and Backlinks

The updated Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with support for passing document backlinks to Shortcuts.

The updated Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with support for passing document backlinks to Shortcuts.

Two years ago, we released Obsidian Shortcut Launcher, a free plugin to trigger shortcuts from Obsidian with the ability to pass input text to Apple’s automation app. In case you missed it in January 2022, here’s how I described the plugin:

With Obsidian Shortcut Launcher (or ‘OSL’), you’ll be able to trigger any shortcut you want from Obsidian, passing along values such as the text of the document you’re working on, its name, text selection, and more. Obsidian Shortcut Launcher is free to use and works on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Obsidian Shortcut Launcher is the result of weeks of planning and work from me and Finn Voorhees, and it has created an entirely new dimension in how I use Obsidian and Shortcuts on a daily basis.

I’ve been using Obsidian Shortcut Launcher every day for the past two years, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to integrate my favorite text editor and note-taking app with Shortcuts. I’ve built launchers to publish articles to WordPress, upload images, perform backups of my iOS reviews, and a lot more. You can read more about my examples and find a usage guide for the plugin in the original story.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that we’re releasing version 1.1 of Obsidian Shortcut Launcher with two new integrations: properties and backlinks.

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Magic Rays of Light: STEVE! and tvOS Hopes for WWDC→

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight new Apple Original documentary STEVE!, share a few hopes for this year’s WWDC, grade their Academy Awards predictions, and preview this weekend’s premiere of Apple Original series Sugar.

Show Notes

Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

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A First Look at AltStore in the EU→

Callum Booth, writing for The Verge, was able to try a pre-release version of the app marketplace flavor of AltStore, which – pending Apple’s approval – should be one of the first third-party marketplaces under the new DMA regulation. The installation process, as expected, is not exactly straightforward:

It goes like this: you begin by clicking a browser-based link to load the alternative store. From there, you receive a pop-up informing you that your installation settings don’t allow marketplaces from that developer. Then, you head into Settings, enable the marketplace, return to your browser, click the download link again, and receive another prompt asking you to confirm the install. Finally, you can open the store and browse the available apps.

Make sure to check out the screenshots in the story to see what the installation flow looks like in practice. Besides Delta, the Nintendo emulator created by the AltStore developers that has long been available as part of AltStore’s other (non-jailbreak) installation method, Booth tested Clip. This one is interesting since it’s a clipboard manager that can monitor changes to the clipboard in the background – something that is not allowed under traditional App Store rules:

Regarding the app itself, the version of Clip I tried differs from similar software offered on Apple’s App Store in that it constantly runs in the background. Normally, clipboard managers on iOS have to use a variety of workarounds to achieve comparable functionality. For example, Paste requires you to open the app each time you want to add something you’ve copied to the clipboard.

This is where Clip thrives, by comparison. When you copy something, you immediately receive a notification and can swipe down to save it to your clipboard. This means you have the option to add it if it’s something useful — like an address — or dismiss the notification if it’s something you don’t want logged, like a password. I found saving your copied items like this into a centralized location to be incredibly useful, as it makes sharing and reusing these snippets painless.

I’m very curious to see how Apple will go about notarizing apps that rely on native APIs to perform “unexpected” tasks; in this case, it sounds like Clip will integrate with MapKit to let the app stay active in the background and monitor changes to the system clipboard. (Remember when Pastebot for iOS implemented a silent audio track to run in the background? Some things never change.) Regardless, I’m keen to play around with these marketplaces as soon as I can, and I will report back.1

  1. Here’s a fun problem for me at the moment: I live in Italy, haven’t left the country in months, and I use a dual Apple ID setup with an Italian iCloud account and a U.S. App Store account. Despite my geographic location, iOS 17.4 (and the 17.5 beta) won’t let me access any of the new EU-only features yet. For example, the browser selection screen never came up for me after updating to iOS 17.4, and when I tried to install a beta version of AltStore that Riley Testut sent to me, iOS told me that my device isn’t “eligible” to install the app. I have to wonder: will iOS eventually understand that I’m an Italian citizen with a U.S. Apple ID? Or am I living in some kind of weird edge case that will never be fixed? We know that there’s a grace period for users who leave the EU, but what about the other way around? ↩︎
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Ruminate, Episode 181 – A Dusting of Dill→

This week on Ruminate, we start with some very old follow up, I have a story about Dominos, we both have a near-miss on being April-fooled, then into a discussion about webmentions, plus a little bit about Arc.

Webmentions | crashthearcade

Mastodon Webmentions and Privacy • Robb Knight

Neatnik Notes · A Fediverse, if you can keep it

A simple explainer on federation, and what it means for Threads users

We Might Not Make It - by The Browser Company

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Transit Is Still the Best-Designed Transit App on the iPhone in 2024

I like trains. I like them so much that, despite being 27 years old now, I still don’t have a driving license. I travel by train and use public transit exclusively to get around in my daily life. The island where I grew up had none of that, and it has made the car a fundamental necessity for most inhabitants there. But I’m fortunate enough to live in continental France now, in a city where I can get anywhere pretty quickly by hopping on a bus, tram, train, or even a high-speed train.

The result is that I spend a lot of time on my phone on a daily basis looking up transit itineraries and glancing at waiting times. Like in most places in the world where public transit is a thing, you can use the transit authority’s first-party application or website to do this. There is a universal truth about those apps and sites, though: they are almost always really bad. They’re slow, confusing, and often bloated with useless information. This is why, for so many years now – since I first arrived in France in 2014 – I’ve been a huge fan of Transit.

Transit is an amazing app that lets you look up transit itineraries and will even guide you along as you travel to your destination. The app has been around for a long time, but my mission today is simple: I want to tell you why I believe Transit is still the best-designed transit app available on the iPhone right now.

Let’s get into it.

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Apple Releases Spatial Personas Betas to visionOS 1.1 Users

Apple has added Spatial Personas to the Personas beta for all Vision Pro users running visionOS 1.1, the latest public release of the OS.

Spatial Personas are available in FaceTime where users can collaborate using SharePlay. That means you can work with colleagues on a presentation, watch TV with friends and family, play games, and more. According to Apple, Spatial Personas allow you to move around and interact with digital content, providing a greater sense of presence.

Apple says that each user can reposition content to accommodate their own surroundings without affecting the others participating in a SharePlay session. Spatial Personas are available to developers. The Spatial Personas feature also integrates with Spatial Audio, so audio tracks with the position of the other people participating in your FaceTime call.

If you have visionOS 1.1 installed, you may need to reboot your Vision Pro to see a new Spatial Personas button in the FaceTime app, although we’ve tried and don’t see the feature yet. Tapping on a Persona tile during a FaceTime call will also allow you to switch the Spatial Persona of the person you’re calling. Returning to a Persona from a Spatial Persona can be accomplished from the Vision Pro’s Control Center. There’s also a limit of five Spatial Personas per FaceTime call.

AppStories, Episode 377 – Why the DOJ Claims Apple Is a Monopoly

This week on AppStories, we explain what’s going on with the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple that claims the iPhone-maker is monopolizing the smartphone market.

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The US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Complaint Against Apple

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On AppStories+, I explain the research and writing workflow I developed for big projects like covering the DOJ’s lawsuit against Apple.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

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Copilot: The Best Money Tracker App [Sponsor]

I’ve been using Copilot for over a year and the reason I’ve stuck with it for monitoring my finances is that it takes so little effort but provides so many valuable insights. That’s been critical to staying on top of my spending because even when I’m busy, I can find a minute or two to check on my latest purchases and make adjustments, keeping my spending under control and monitoring my overall financial health.

Their native iPhone and Mac apps can do it all: you can track your spending, budget, investments, and net worth all in one place, allowing you to drill into the details without losing sight of the big picture.

The secret to Copilot is how easy it is to track everything in your financial life. The app connects securely to your bank and other financial accounts and then reports back whenever a new transaction is detected.

New transactions are listed on Copilot’s Dashboard which analyzes them suggesting AI-powered categories for each. That makes reviewing transactions and applying them to a budget simple. With just a few taps or clicks, you can review everything and update your spending. Copilot’s Dashboard also reports where your spending stands compared to your budget and provides an overview of your budget by category, upcoming recurring expenses, and income.

For a more detailed look at your finances, Copilot includes a detailed Categories tab, more information on recurring expenses, such as subscriptions, and a chronological list of all transactions. The app also tracks the performance of your investments and the balance of each of your bank, investment, credit, and other accounts. With a recent update, Copilot is among the first apps to track Apple Card transactions too.

If you’ve ever struggled with tracking your finances, give Copilot a try today for free. And, for a limited time, MacStories readers can get an extra month as part of their Copilot free trial by using the code MACSTORIES when signing up. Visit their website to learn more and download Copilot from the App Store to get started today.

Our thanks to Copilot for sponsoring MacStories this week.

MacStories Unwind, Federico’s Film Fest: Memento→

This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico and John are joined by Jonathan Reed to discuss Christopher Nolan’s film, Memento and our weekly On Deck picks.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Kolide – It ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo now.

Federico’s Film Fest

Thanks to everyone who suggested films to Federico after last week’s episode of MacStories Unwind. If you’d still like to recommend a movie to him please get in touch on Mastodon or Threads.

On Deck

What we’re watching, playing, reading, or listening to soon:

MacStories Unwind+

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