Jordan Merrick

Last year, I wrote about my experience of changing the country of my iTunes account. A major drawback to this process had been that purchases I made in the U.K. stores (App Store, Mac App Store, and iTunes Store) no longer appeared in my purchase history. I could still download apps I had already bought for free but I had to go through the purchase process again¹. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the same with iTunes Store content as past purchases no longer appeared in iTunes in the Cloud.

It now seems that Apple is taking steps to remedy this. I discovered last week that my entire App Store purchase history was now showing. What’s more, viewing a previously purchased app in the App Store now shows the download icon, not the price, so it’s much easier to identify apps I had already purchased in the U.K. store.

It’s a similar story with my iTunes Store purchases, though not everything is there. I estimate about half of my purchased movies and TV shows are now available through iTunes in the Cloud, so I can again download them straight to my iOS devices. It’s odd that only some of my purchases are available, but it’s a start. Hopefully more of my purchases will appear over time.

I recently purchased a HP OfficeJet 3830 multifunction printer which has all the bells and whistles that are expected nowadays, such as AirPrint. After upgrading to iOS 11, I wasn’t able to print from either my iPhone or iPad anymore. The printer would still appear as an available AirPrint printer and I could set the print options, but iOS would just hang at “Contacting Printer”. I could still print from a PC and Mac so the issue was between the printer and iOS.

I tried rebooting the printer, resetting its network settings, and restarting the router, but none of this had any effect. I spent some time on the HP forums and discovered this isn’t uncommon and that there’s an easy fix—disable IPv6 on the printer. Once I did this, I was able to print from iOS again.

Any time I update my site and push the changes to GitHub¹, Netlify sends me an email once it has been successfully deployed (or if the deploy failed for some reason). Netlify can also send these notifications as outgoing webhooks, and even receive notifications from other services to trigger builds automatically.

Although implementing webhooks can often be complex, a basic solution for notifications can be done with IFTTT.

Build notifications

IFTTT’s Webhooks service can receive web requests (i.e., webhook notifications) to trigger actions. A custom event name is specified when creating an applet which must be included in the URL provided by IFTTT². This allows the platform to identify which applet the request corresponds to.

I use this service to receive a push notification when a site deploy is successful. I created an applet that uses the Webhooks service to receive a web request, setting the event name to deploy_success. For the action, I chose Send a notification to the IFTTT app. Finally, I set up an outgoing webhook in Netlify, (under deploy notifications) using the URL and event name from IFTTT.

Whenever my site is deployed, Netlify sends a webhook notification to IFTTT that triggers a push notification on my iPhone. I also use the same process to be notified if a deploy has failed, using deploy_failed as the event name instead. A separate outgoing webhook notification is configured in Netlify for failed deploys.

With so many services supported by IFTTT, you can perform many different actions based upon the status of a build. For instance, you could post a tweet when a deploy has succeeded or blink your Philips Hue lights if a deploy has failed.

Build hooks

Netlify also supports incoming web requests to trigger builds (build hooks). IFTTT can send web requests using the Webhooks service as an action triggered by another service. To use this, create a new build hook in Netlify and include its URL in the applet as a Webhooks action. Any POST request that reaches this URL triggers a build.

For example, builds can be triggered on-demand using IFTTT’s Button widget service. Applets can be run when tapping it in either the Today widget in iOS or on Apple Watch.

You could also use Amazon Alexa to trigger a site build whenever you ask it to (e.g., “Alexa, trigger site build”).

IFTTT and build hooks can add scheduled post functionality to a statically generated blog. Static site generators like Jekyll can’t support scheduled posts themselves³. To include a new post dated in the future, the site has to be rebuilt on or after that date.

Using IFTTT’s Date & Time service, you can schedule a site build to automatically occur on a regular basis, even as frequently as hourly. Scheduled posts would then be included once the appropriate date and time have been reached.

Keep in mind that if you create an applet to schedule a recurring build and have another one set up for notifications, you’ll be notified each time it happens.

Today sees the release of iOS 11, so it seems fitting that it’s also my last day as a Mac owner. My Late 2012 13″ Retina MacBook Pro has been erased and boxed up, ready to ship to Apple for recycling. I’ll even get about $450 from the Apple Renew program, money which won’t go towards a replacement.

The iPad has been my personal computer for a couple years now. During the early days, I would occasionally need to use my Mac to do things that I couldn’t do (or hadn’t yet figured out how to do) with iOS alone. But as iOS and its ecosystem of apps further improved and became more powerful, that need diminished. Once I upgraded to an iPad Pro, became an expert with apps like Workflow, and set up an iPad approach to blogging and web development using Coda and Working Copy, the writing was on the wall.

While using the iOS 11 public beta, I realized that I hadn’t used my Mac in months. It spent its summer under a pile of papers in a desk drawer. I tried to think of reasons to keep it, but nothing compelling came to mind. In fact, the only task I can’t use my iPad for is to update my Logitech Harmony remote control. However, I still have a gaming PC and can just use that instead.

A part of me has known this for a while, but I kept the Mac around as a security blanket in much the same way that some people keep old cables for devices they no longer own, just on the off chance that they might somehow be useful again. I’m not ruling out the possibility of owning another Mac in the future, but unless Apple ceases development of the iPad and iOS, I can’t see myself switching back.

In December 2016, I announced that I’d no longer be updating Workflow Directory. The Workflow team had made some great improvements to the gallery, the biggest of which was user submissions. At the time, it didn’t make sense to continue working on the site when the built-in feature was so much better.

Fast forward to March 2017 and the news broke that Apple had acquired Workflow. While the app continues to be updated, the gallery is not accepting user submissions. Since then, I had often wondered if it’d make sense to reopen Workflow Directory.

So I’ve decided to do just that, but in the process I’ve made a fundamental change. After testing the waters last week with a similar endeavor, Workflow Directory into a GitHub repository. Existing workflows have been migrated (with the exception of a few that are non-functional) and I’ve added a few new ones too. Each workflow has an accompanying README containing a description.

If you’re unfamiliar with Git, don’t fret. Browsing the repository and downloading workflows is essentially the same experience as before, you’re just doing it through GitHub’s web interface. There’s even a new Submit to Workflow Directory workflow if you want to create a submission¹.

For those of you that do know Git, you can clone or fork the repository (I recommend the awesome Working Copy for iOS) and you’re more than welcome to submit pull requests for submissions (in fact, I’d prefer it!)

Moving to GitHub provides some much needed flexibility. Unlike the previous website, the repository hosts actual workflow files. Should Workflow ever lose the ability to share workflows using workflow.is links, the repository isn’t affected (unlike the old website). It also means that I can have others help out with submission reviews. The drawback of the migration is that the existing RSS feeds for Workflow Directory are no longer available, though you can follow the repository so you’re notified of new updates. The Twitter account will still be active and posting updates though.

Check out the GitHub repository and I look forward to receiving your submissions!

Workflows can be shared either by creating a workflow.is link or exported as a .wflow file using “Share as File”. Using the latter option, I’ve set up a GitHub repository of workflows that I’ve created. I’ll be regularly adding to the repository so it’s a handy way to always have a copy of the workflows I create.

You can quickly clone the repository using an app like Working Copy (one of my favorite iOS apps). You don’t need to be familiar with Git to do this or even have a GitHub account.

Alternatively, you can simply download a ZIP archive of all the workflows. I’d recommend cloning the repository as you can easily keep it updated whenever I add new workflows.

Many apps and services offer subscription plans as a way to pay for additional features (e.g., syncing), access to a service (e.g., Netflix), or to simply provide recurring support to the developer. As it’s a popular payment option, it’s a good idea to regularly check what active subscriptions you have on your account, canceling any you no longer need.

1. Open Settings
2. Tap iTunes & App Store > Apple ID
3. Tap View Apple ID
4. After your iOS device brings up your account settings, tap Subscriptions

Subscriptions are broken down into “Active” and an “Expired sections. Select an active subscription and tap Cancel Subscription to cancel it. This prevents the subscription from auto-renewing, but you can still use the current subscription until the end of the billing period.

Certain apps and services offer more than one subscription plan, or a discounted annual subscription that is cheaper than paying either weekly or monthly. You can change your subscription type at any time, taking effect from the next billing period. You can also reactivate an expired subscription by selecting it and choosing the plan to subscribe to.

You can enroll up to five different fingerprints to use with TouchID. By default, iOS labels each one sequentially (e.g., Finger 1, Finger 2). Instead, you can set a custom name to better identify which finger each fingerprint corresponds to.

• Open Settings
• Tap Touch ID & Passcode
• Tap a fingerprint to rename it

If you’ve added more than one fingerprint and don’t know which fingers they correspond to, touch the Home button while in the Touch ID settings. The corresponding fingerprint will be highlighted for you to identify.

Touch ID fingerprints are not limited to your own. If you’re using a shared device (e.g., family iPad) or perhaps want your spouse to have access to your device in case of emergency, you can add—and then label—other people’s fingerprints.