After a few weeks, Alex & Matthew are back to talk about the beta experiences so far. Matthew hung out in Apple Business Chat, Alex gets excited about Automation triggers, and everyone is assigned a book for summer reading.

Links from the show:

Show notes

Starting out, Matthew tried out Business Chat in Messages for his defunct left AirPod and Alex recommends ear thingies if yours don't fit. This led to a quick aside on the name HomePod.

Matthew's world blends across the iOS beta lines, especially since he needs to  import .shortcut files that can't be added in iOS 13. After drastic measures, Matthew saved all his shortcuts as iCloud links—for his work—and organized them all with own information.

In reference to URL scheme-based shortcuts being irrelevant soon, Alex asks for clarification on what's now possible for apps who want to use Siri Shortcuts. Matthew gives some details before accidentally triggering Siri, which turns into a discussion about how broken the betas are.

Both hosts get into it over the Public Beta – should you install it? Is it responsible to recommend that? Matthew reveals how many radars he's filed in the past, while Alex might be the model beta citizen.

Alex ponders what it means for iPadOS to be its own thing, and Matthew mentions how Pocket didn't take iPad seriously for too long. This leads to mention of Instapaper and an classic improper explanation of what GDPR means, and apps now gone from Shortcuts that might be coming back in iOS 13.

Both your hosts then dive into the Automation trigger capabilities, including what will and won't work in the background – NFC is the most fun so far. This also leads into Personal vs. Home automations & what's new for the Home app, before "in theory" triggers Siri again.

Finally, Matthew assigns the book Atomic Habits to everyone as a summer reading project. Both hosts will be reworking their devices for the new updates and Home Screen shortcuts, so read along too before reconvening to discuss learnings from the book & how the experiments went.

We'll be doing a few guest episodes coming up soon, so stay tuned for those as well. Otherwise, the show is on a slower summer schedule – feel free to tweet us anytime though 😎

Find us elsewhere: