Earlier this week, I alluded to an app I’ve been developing. That app now has a name: IconShade!
I’ve always found macOS desktop icon labels difficult to read on bright wallpapers. Rather than changing my wallpaper, I decided to build a lightweight utility that places a subtle translucent shade behind the desktop icon column. The result is surprisingly effective. Desktop icon labels become much easier to read while preserving the look of your wallpaper.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Before:
By default, macOS displays desktop icon labels using light colored text. Against bright or detailed wallpapers, those labels can be surprisingly difficult to read.
After:
IconShade places a subtle translucent shade behind the desktop icon column, dramatically improving the readability of desktop icon labels without covering your wallpaper.
The shade is fully customizable. You can adjust the its transparency, color, left corner radius and horizontal position.
Other features include:
Automatic Launch at Login
Multiple built-in shade themes
Automatic support for multiple displays
Automatically follows the current primary display
Native Apple Silicon and Intel support
I’ve been testing IconShade daily across three different Apple Silicon Macs, including systems connected to multiple external displays. So far, it’s been rock solid.
The next step is expanding testing.
I’m looking for 3–5 Mac users who would be willing to try IconShade for a few days and let me know what works, what doesn’t, and what you’d improve before the first public release.
If you’re interested in helping, please reach out to me on Mastodon. I’m @KrishnaDraws.
It’s August as I write this, which means like many other educators across the country, I’m preparing for the upcoming Fallsemester. This includes developing lecture material, writing curriculum, preparing examples and revising assignments for my courses.
In an earlier post, I mentioned my disdain for all things Microsoft. Given the pervasiveness of the Microsoft ecosystem on campus, I can’t avoid it. I incorrectly assumed I could get by with using the web version of Microsoft Word. But because I work with multiple Word documents side by side, that approach proved untenable.
After investigating several options, I’ve settled on LibreOffice as my local document writing tool. My initial impressions of using LibreOffice are positive. It was easy to install. It opens up lightning fast. And, most importantly, it lets me open and save files in Microsoft Word’s native .docx format.
My latest video discusses practical techniques I use when drawing environments. Rocks and craters are probably the easiest environmental elements to draw, and in this video, I share techniques that are perfect for new digital artists to practice.
I’ve had a thorn in my side when it comes to macOS for some time. Every now and then, I search the web to see if someone has already solved it.
In this case, it’s desktop icons. On lighter (or busier) wallpapers, their labels can be surprisingly difficult to read. I searched high and low for a solution but came up empty-handed.
So I decided to build my own.
I’m learning Swift and SwiftUI while leveraging AI to develop a small utility that solves my problem. I now have a working prototype that I’ll be testing over the next several days. If it proves to be as reliable as I hope, I’ll share more details.
When I draw combat sequences, I find it very helpful to work from photo references. Sometimes a photo reference will need to be modified or exaggerated to improve its clarity and dynamism. My latest video explores my approach.
Case in point: my laptop stand. Used conventionally, it elevates my laptop’s screen, but it also partially obscures the external display behind it. But if I flip the stand around, the laptop screen remains elevated, with the added benefit of providing me with full visibility to the display behind it.
Parchment is available for macOS, iPadOS and iOS; it brings your calendar, journal and reminders together within one umbrella. Think of Parchment as a conduit that funnels your calendar agenda and tasks into one convenient location, while adding journaling / note-taking capabilities into the mix. Calendar items and tasks can be created within Parchment and synched back to Calendar and Reminders. Its function is something that seems so obvious in hindsight, I couldn’t believe the idea wasn’t already in existence.
Parchment is a new app, so expect some rough edges. I encountered cross device syncing issues in v1.0.1, but those issues have since been remedied in v1.0.4. Parchment has a one-time payment of $5US, making it a bargain for what it does.
Even though Parchment is an app I didn’t know I needed, I’m glad it finally exists.
I haven’t enjoyed Apple Music in years. Its user interface is a mess. The Music app has become increasingly intertwined with Apple’s streaming service. As a result, my own music collection—albums I’ve purchased and CDs I’ve ripped—has become mixed together with music that belongs to Apple Music. Adding insult to injury, Apple Music’s menus and dialogs are confusing.
In short, I hate what Apple Music has become.
This week, I made the decision to divorce my music library from Apple Music’s streaming service. Henceforth, my Apple Music library will only contain music I have purchased or ripped from my sizeable CD collection. Since I can’t easily separate MY music from Apple’s, I’m starting from scratch with a new Music library. It will live on an external storage device.
To keep this project from overwhelming me, I’ve put threeguidelines in place for myself:
1) I will only rip albums I really like.
2) I will rip no more then 10 albums per week.
3) If I can’t find suitable (or high quality) album art for an album, I will replace it with artwork that fits the album.
Part 1: Prepping the Landscape
If you have Apple Music Sync checked in Apple Music > Settings > General, uncheck it. This prevents Apple Music from merging your local library with your streaming library. My General tab looks like this.
The location of your Apple Music library is found under Apple Music > Settings > Files. Note this down. Quit the Apple Music app if it’s already open. Next, find your existing Apple Music media folder and rename it. I’ve called mine Apple Music Archive. Apple Music has both a library database (Music Library) and the media folder.
Launch the Apple Music app, while holding down the Option key. Choose Create Library…
Next, make a new folder where you want your media folder to live. I recommend making this folder on the root level of an external drive. Open Apple Music > Settings > Files and change the media location to your new folder. Keep the other options as is.
Under Apple Music > Settings > Advanced, I’ve elected to have Apple Music automatically update album art. Be prepared to replace it, especially if the album is niche (i.e. import, bootleg recording, etc.).
If you have purchased music from the iTunes Store, those purchases will automatically appear in your music library once you sign in with your Apple ID. (This is normal.) Before importing your CDs, make sure to choose Apple Lossless Encoder from Apple Music > Settings > Files > Import Settings. I also recommend checking Use Error Correction when reading Audio CDs.
Part 2: Rip your CDs
You’ll need a CD player with a USB interface connected to your Mac. Pop in an album. Apple Music will read the tracks from your disc. Import the entire album. (It’s faster, and you can always go back and remove tracks after the import if you need to.) Before importing, verify that the album title, artist name, and track names are correct. It’s much easier to fix metadata before importing than afterward.
Part 3: Organizing your Music Library
One of the unexpected benefits of starting over is that you can build a cleaner library than the one you had before. Remove duplicate albums, fix inconsistent artist names, update album artwork, and create playlists that reflect how you actually listen to music today.
Streaming is wonderful for discovering new music, but I’ve realized I don’t want my permanent music collection tied to a monthly subscription. Rebuilding my library will take time, but when it’s finished, every album in it will be mine. That’s worth the effort.
My latest video breaks down my techniques for creating a cityscape. The technique relies on Photoshop’s Transform tool along with some bespoke library assets that I created.
I employed this technique for this post’s Featured Image along with this Moon Knight image below.
Two applications have been added to my FrugalMacbespoke build.
First up is Parcel ($4.99US / year), which tracks package shipments and status changes. Parcel works with all major carriers, including Amazon. The subscription covers both the Mac app and the iOS app. I’ve posted my full review of Parcel on the OWC RocketYard blog.
Next is an app some users would consider frivolous, but one that I find very useful. That app is Klack ($4.99US one time purchase), which provides users audible feedback as they type, mimicking the sounds of popular key switches found in mechanical keyboards. Klack not only plays sounds to register mouse clicks, it can even play a “ding” sound whenever the return key is pressed. Really nice additions if that’s your bag, but I tend to keep those custom options OFF.)
