Daniel and Manton discuss Sal Soghoian’s sudden departure from Apple, and what it may mean for Apple’s future ambitions with automation. Then they react to Apple’s alleged decision to abandon their line of AirPort branded routers, and bemoan the loss of yet another “just buy the Apple one” peripheral option.

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

• buddybuild: mobile continuous integration & delivery made easy!

Links:

• Terrible News from Sal Soghoian – Andy Ihnatko breaks the news from MacTech about Sal Soghoian’s departure from Apple.
• Mac OS X Automation – Sal Soghoian’s long-time automation reference site for the Mac.
• Frequently Asked Questions – Straight from Soghoian: answers to questions about his departure.
• AppleScript, the Perfect Adjunct to iTunes – An open letter from Kirk McElhearn to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
• FastScripts – Daniel’s Mac-based AppleScript launcher and menu utility.
• MacScripter.net – Long-time resource for AppleScript and other Mac automation technologies.
• Hypercard – Ancient Apple technology featuring the AppleScript-ish HyperTalk programming language.
• Workflow – iOS-based automation app.
• Automator – Higher-level scripting technology introduced by Apple with Mac OS X 10.4.
• JavaScript for Automation – JavaScript-based interface to the Open Scripting Architecture, introduced in Mac OS X 10.10.
• Open Scripting Architecture – Underlying technology providing infrastructure for both AppleScript and JavaScript for Automation.
• Cocoa Scripting – Cocoa infrastructure for app-makers to support AppleScript and other OSA languages.
• SwiftAutomation – Swift-based automation solution from Hamish Sanderson.
• Abandoning Airport – Bloomberg report on Apple’s reported departure from the WiFi router market.
• Eero – A popular mesh-networking WiFi router provider.
• Success Hides Problems – Stanford Business School article about Ed Catmull’s business philosophy.

Daniel releases Touché for Mac, and he and Manton discuss the value of making your own stuff to combat feelings of hopelessness with the world. They revisit Dash in light of its recent open-sourcing, and consider the timing and apparent quality of Apple’s self-appreciating, coffee-table art book.

Many thanks to our sponsors this week:

• Linode: Cloud Hosting for You.
• Zendesk: Bring native, in-app support to your app.

Links:

• Touché – Daniel’s standalone Touch Bar utility for Mac.
• Dash-iOS – GitHub repository for iOS version of popular API reference browser.
• Kapeli – Developers of Dash.
• GPL FAQ – Answers to questions about GPL, the license Kapeli used for Dash-iOS.
• Designed by Apple… – Apple’s book, chronicling 20 years of design.
• Something Was Missing – Manton reacts to Apple’s design book announcement on his Timetable podcast.
• Forward Together – Tim Cook’s letter to Apple employees in wake of Election 2016.

Daniel and Manton react to US election news, coping with questions of the significance of our work, and how to motivate ourselves to move forward. They discuss a new subscription service, Setapp, which offers a subscription priced suite of 40+ apps. Finally, Daniel catches up with his progress on Touché, an app for simulating and taking screenshots of the Touch Bar.

Many thanks to our sponsors this week:

• Fabric, Twitter’s mobile SDK: Leverage the power of Crashlytics, Twitter and MoPub to help you build the best mobile apps.
• Linode: Cloud Hosting for You.

Links:

• Netflix of Mac Apps – Article from TheNextWeb about Setapp subscription service.
• Setapp – Invitation request page for the new subscription service.
• MacPaw – Developers behind the Setapp service.
• Blogo – Competing app to Daniel’s MarsEdit, and part of the Setapp suite.
• Bodega – Twitter app of a defunct Mac software store.
• TouchBarDemoApp – Open source project providing a Touch Bar experience on Mac and iOS.
• Big Red Button – Daniel’s blog post about specifying custom sandbox entitlements.

Manton and Daniel check in with outrage over the MacBook Pro, dongle mania, and the viability of the Touch Bar as a Pro or ubiquitous UI interface. They catch up on their struggles to balance time commitments and to make progress on indie projects. Finally, they weigh the pros and cons of using consulting income to sustain indie pursuits, and talk about the diverse definitions of success for indie developers.

Many thanks to our sponsors this week:

• PDFpenPro 8: Pro Tools for PDF.
• Zendesk: Bring native, in-app support to your app.

Links:

• The Escape Zone – Accidental Tech Podcast response to Apple’s special event.
• Design for the Present – Marco Arment argues that the new MacBooks should have an old USB port.
• Touch Bar Everywhere – Daniel interprets a great enthusiasm for the Touch Bar from Apple’s actions.