Krishna

I love macOS in a lot of ways, but the menu bar feels like a constant source of low-level frustration, especially on notched Macs.

The notch just makes everything worse. There is no clear or predictable way to know how many menu bar items will fit horizontally, which app will push which icon into oblivion, or what disappears when something new decides to show up. Launch one app, and suddenly half your icons are gone. Close another, and they randomly come back in a different order.

What really drives me nuts is how some apps silently add menu bar items (Tahoe at least helps in turning them off) without notifying. Some show up at startup, some appear after a fresh install, some only when you launch the app once, and others come back even after you think you disabled them.

Third-party tools try to help, but they feel fragile. Ice is an example. Not sure it is actively maintained, bugs keep popping up, and needing screen recording permissions just to manage menu bar icons feels wrong.

Then I look at Windows. The system tray is not perfect, but at least it is understandable. Icons overflow into a dedicated area. Things do not randomly disappear behind a notch-shaped black hole. The Windows system tray isn’t universally better (it has its own quirks), but my point stands that the operating system handles this specific problem more transparently.

macOS offers so much customisation elsewhere, yet the menu bar feels stuck in the past. This is one place where Apple really needs an iPhone-like approach. A clear overflow, predictable behaviour, and a first-party solution for a dedicated area that just works. Until then, the menu bar remains cursed.

Unlike in previous versions of iOS, taking a screenshot now takes you to a full-screen preview, and if you close it, the screenshot will be deleted without any confirmation.

Full-screen screenshot is a setting that’s turned on by default in iOS 26, instead of showing a temporary thumbnail at the bottom left corner. You can change it from here: Settings > General > Screen Capture.

If you have the habit of taking screnshots all the time to reference later, your muscle memory is going to be impacted, and will need to adjust to this new workflow.

Let’s explore both screenshot options and see how we can adapt to the new screenshot flows.

1. Full-screen preview

There are two new functionalities added at the bottom.

First, you can ask ChatGPT natively about the contents of the image.

Second, you can look up a part of the screenshot or the full image on Google and Etsy. There’s no option to configure these services.

If you’re not using any of these options, you have to save your screenshot manually, or else the image is sent to Recently Deleted in the Photos app.

Additionally, if you want to do regular screenshot markup, again, you have to manually take an action to save the screenshot. Otherwise, your markup progress is lost and your screenshot is sent to Recently Deleted in Photos.

2. Temporary thumbnail

If you turn off the default full-screen preview of screenshots, you get a regular temporary thumbnail at the bottom left of the screen. Swiping left on the thumbnail means your screenshot is automatically saved in Photos. But if you open the screenshot from the thumbnail and close it, it’s sent to Recently Deleted unless manually saved.

This breaks the earlier muscle memory where any screenshot taken was safely stored in Photos if no action was taken.

This change represents a significant shift in Apple’s approach to screenshot management, moving from automatic saving to intentional curation. The understandable integration of AI services (ChatGPT) and shopping platforms (Etsy) directly into the screenshot workflow indicates that Apple is positioning screenshots as more than just image captures but as starting points for discovery and interaction as part of its visual intelligence offering.

The inclusion of Etsy specifically is interesting – it doesn’t make sense to me that Apple sees screenshots as frequently containing items people want to purchase handmade or unique goods that Etsy specializes in. I don’t see Etsy’s appeal to users in India anyway. This choice could also be to steer red flags away from anticompetitive laws by including a smaller marketplace alongside the dominant Google search.

All these features aside, the muscle memory disruption is real and could lead to lost screenshots for those who don’t adapt. To avoid accidental loss of screenshots, deliberate action is now needed from users. This might reduce screenshot clutter but could frustrate those like me who are accustomed to the previous automatic saving behavior. This change essentially forces users to decide the value of each screenshot immediately rather than letting them accumulate and sort later.

For power users who frequently screenshot for reference, documentation, or sharing, this change will require developing new habits around screenshot management. The key will be remembering that screenshots now require explicit saving actions to avoid losing important captures to the Recently Deleted folder.

Give me an option to save any screenshot to Photos by default and we’re gold.

Apple:

Apple today previewed its newest store in India, Apple Hebbal, located in the technology capital of Bengaluru. The store will be Apple’s first in South India and third in the country, joining Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in Delhi and the Apple Store online.

This caught my eye about inclusion for a city like Bengaluru, where people migrate from all states:

The store’s 70 team members hail from 15 states across India and are ready to help customers learn about Apple products, monthly financing options, and the Apple Trade In program. Customers can receive one-on-one support in-store with Personal Setup and switching to iOS.

Observations

• No major Apple executives visited, unlike Mumbai and Delhi. Tim Cook visited the opening of these stores in April 2023.
• Closer to the airport but alienated with the Silicon Valley of India: roughly 30 km from Whitefield, Electronic City, Outer Ring Road IT Corridor (Bellandur, Marathahalli, Sarjapur Road side).
• When someone in Bengaluru hears ‘Hebbal,’ a few common associations usually come to mind: one of the busiest and most traffic-heavy junctions in the city, often mentioned with frustration. This is especially true around the flyover, a notorious pain point for commuters. Curious choice of location, but North Bengaluru is growing.
• The store is technically not in Hebbal. Apple Hebbal is in Phoenix Mall of Asia, which is in Byatarayanapura, Yelahanka. Who’s to ask if it serves Apple? The bottleneck near the mall is even more notorious; it took me an hour once to come out of the mall’s service road during a weekend, which I regretted. Apple Store is known to be placed in architecturally striking and unique locations. Hebbal doesn’t sound like it.

Here’s the link to Apple Hebbal official wallpaper which is not unique to Bengaluru.

For those apps that push the limits of macOS, they’re sometimes not distributed via the App Store due to Apple’s restrictions. When I have a bunch of such apps alongside the apps I’ve downloaded from the Mac App Store, there’s no central way for me to see and update them to the latest versions. This is where Latest helps me manage app updates seamlessly. The app asks you to choose the folders where your apps are installed and then scans them for updates.

Latest is a free and open source app for macOS that acts as a unified dashboard for all my app updates. Rather than me bouncing between the Mac App Store and individual app updaters, I get a single interface that shows everything that needs my attention.

I can update the macOS apps natively form inside the Latest app, which is great. I can see what’s new (release notes) and check version numbers. The app pulls this information from the Sparkle framework (open source) used in Mac apps, which according to developer Max Langer covers most apps outside the Mac App Store.

Key features

The app is very simple and clever. I can update a single app or update all at once (keyboard shortcuts are available). One thing that’s missing from the macOS App Store’s “Updates” section is the option to manually refresh and look for new updates. Latest addresses this gap perfectly.

What I particularly like about Latest:

• Unified update management
• Release notes integration
• Clean, native interface
• Open source and free

With the popular MacUpdater being discontinued by the end of this year, Latest becomes an even more valuable alternative for me.

Trade-offs

Some apps need to be opened manually for updates, which isn’t ideal but is a necessary tradeoff. And some apps require redownloading from their website rather than updating in place. These limitations aren’t deal-breakers for me, but they’re worth noting. I can also ignore an app to skip checking for updates.

Latest fills a genuine gap in the macOS ecosystem by bringing much-needed organization to app updates across different sources. For a free, open-source utility created by a single developer, it punches well above its weight.

Since I find myself forgetting to update applications or getting frustrated with the scattered nature of Mac app updates, Latest is absolutely worthy of keeping in my dock. It’s one of those simple utilities that quietly makes my Mac experience better without getting in my way.

Latest is available as a free download from max.codes/latest.

I love Tot. I love how it treats plain text as a first-class citizen, and I use it constantly alongside Apple’s Notes app. The sync is rock solid, and it’s like a Swiss Army knife for quick text capture.

I use Tot on both iPhone and Mac. On iPhone, I have a Control Center shortcut for Quick Note in the Notes app to capture text snippets for later use. I fire up Tot on Mac and iPhone to jot down snippets of information like meeting notes or phone numbers during calls. I also depend on the helpful stats display like “31 lines • 103 words • 646 characters” to keep track of my content.

I got a chance to test Tot 2.0 after reaching out to the nice folks at Icon Factory, and this new update brings some really useful improvements.

What’s new in 2.0

One of the most helpful additions is the timestamp showing when each dot was last updated. This seemingly small feature eliminates a lot of confusion about which notes are current.

The new version simplifies many features that were hidden in previous versions. While I don’t personally use the Smart Bullets functionality, I’m excited about the new text dividers feature, which offers eight different styles accessible through the symbol picker.

The app continues to stay out of my way. I can still hit the escape key to quickly dismiss it. While customizable dot colors would have been a nice touch, I appreciate that the app now shows dot numbers.

Plain text, always

I always use Tot in plain text mode. If I need formatting, there’s the Notes app for that. I stick with the Menlo font and keep things simple. The automatic backups are excellent, and there’s now a proper history feature. I used to struggle with losing text occasionally, so this improvement gives me peace of mind.

iPhone experience

On iPhone, I wish the “Compact Dots” feature was available as a keyboard shortcut (this feature moves full dots to the left to eliminate empty gaps, though you can’t undo this action). I also use asterisks to make lists constantly, and having that symbol more accessible on the keyboard would be helpful.

I tried Sindre Sorhus’s barebones Scratchpad app, but the iCloud sync still seems unreliable compared to Tot’s rock-solid syncing.

Interface improvements

The redesigned settings screen is much cleaner and more discoverable. The new undo/redo buttons in the status bar of the iPhone app are handy. I’d love to see the status bar become more configurable in the future, since I don’t use the formatting, indentation, or Smart Bullets features.

Tot 2.0 refines an already excellent app. The Icon Factory team has focused on the right improvements: better organization, clearer interfaces, and rock-solid reliability. For anyone who needs quick, reliable text capture across devices, Tot remains an essential tool.

The app doesn’t try to be everything to everyone, and that’s exactly why it works so well. Sometimes the best tools are the ones that do one thing exceptionally well, and Tot continues to excel at being my tiny text companion.

I use the Notes app on my Mac more than my bookmark manager. I needed a system to capture links that I actually visit and act on.

That’s when I started looking for a way to capture any webpage’s URL and title directly to Apple Notes with just a keyboard shortcut.

Here’s how I created a simple yet powerful automation using Apple’s built-in tools that can transform your link-saving workflow.

Creating the Automator workflow

Step 1: Launch Automator and Create a Quick Action

1. Open Automator (found in Applications or via Spotlight)
2. Choose Quick Action when prompted for document type
3. At the top of the workflow area, set:
   • “Workflow receives” to no input
   • “in” to any application

Step 2: Add the AppleScript Action

1. In the Actions library on the left, search for “Run AppleScript”
2. Drag the Run AppleScript action into your workflow area
3. Replace the default code with this script:

-- Get URL from Chrome and save to Apple Notes
tell application "Google Chrome"
    if it is running then
        -- Get the URL and title of the active tab
        set currentURL to URL of active tab of front window
        set currentTitle to title of active tab of front window
        
        -- Create the note content
        set noteContent to currentTitle & return & currentURL
        
        -- Send to Notes app
        tell application "Notes"
            tell account "iCloud" -- You can change this to "On My Mac" if preferred
                tell folder "Links" -- Save to Links folder
                    make new note with properties {name:currentTitle, body:noteContent}
                end tell
            end tell
        end tell
        
        -- Display confirmation with URL
        display notification currentURL with title "Added to Notes"
        
    else
        display alert "Chrome is not running"
    end if
end tell

Step 3: Save Y\your Quick Action

1. Save the workflow with a descriptive name like “Get URL from Chrome and save to Apple Notes”
2. This automatically installs it as a system service

Setting up the keyboard shortcut

Step 4: Configure System Keyboard Shortcuts

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
2. Navigate to Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts
3. Select Services from the sidebar
4. Look under the General section for your newly created service
5. Check the box next to “Get URL from Chrome and save to Apple Notes”
6. Click Add Shortcut and press your desired key combination

How it works in practice

Once set up, the workflow is simple:

1. Browse to any webpage in Chrome
2. Press your assigned keyboard shortcut
3. Watch the notification confirm your URL was saved
4. Find your link organized in the Notes app’s “Links” folder

Troubleshooting common issues

Permission prompts: macOS will ask for permission to control Chrome and Notes the first time you run the automation. Grant these permissions for the workflow to function.

Folder not found error: If you get an error about the “Links” folder, either create this folder in Notes manually or modify the script to use an existing folder.

Script not triggering: Ensure you’ve properly assigned the keyboard shortcut in System Settings and that it doesn’t conflict with existing shortcuts.

This Automator workflow is a reliable way for me to capture web content directly into my note-taking system. On iPhone, there’s a simple ‘Add to Quick Note’ option from a browser share sheet that’s easily accessible.

The other day, I stumbled across an old video (1 January 2018) of S.S. Rajamouli — the brilliant filmmaker behind Baahubali and RRR — speaking from the heart about storytelling. And something he said stayed with me since, and I think it’s profound.

Here’s what he said:

Sabu Cyril is my production designer. He is a brilliant man. He is a very well-read man. He was telling me the story of the storytelling — how did it emerge?

So when the men were still hunters and gatherers, it was a very difficult life. You are going out every day, you don’t know what are the dangers you are going to face. You might die, you might lose your hand or leg or eye, or whatever. It’s a very difficult life, living with wild animals, getting food and bringing back food.

At the end of the day, the men used to sit around a fire and stare into the fire. They were called fire-starers because they were sitting in. And after some time, someone would start telling an incident or a story or something, which would make them forget their real life for a moment. It might be funny, it might be sad, it might be emotional. Whatever it was, they would narrate incidents that made them forget their real life — which would give them immense energy to carry forward with their life.

And today it is no different. Whether you are a doctor, a reviewer, a film director, a rickshaw puller, a lawyer… you are facing a very hard life. You don’t know what tomorrow is going to be. At the end of the day, you need to sit and relax. You need to come back out of the real life and go into a different life… which will give you immense energy to go forward.

That is the duty of a storyteller — to make people move away from their real life for a moment. Each of us have a different way of doing it. We might make a mass masala movie, make Salman Khan dance. You can make an intelligent movie which makes them think — the point is to take them away from their real life. So you decide whether it’s a life-saving job or not.

We all need stories. Whether it was a tough day, a big decision, or just the weight of everything. Sometimes the stories give us strength, if not a solution. Something to lift us out of the grind of “real life,” even if only for a while, and remind me there’s beauty, imagination, and hope.

This video reframed how I look at movies, books, and even casual conversations. Storytelling isn’t escape — it’s restoration.

So when Rajamouli says, “You decide whether it’s a life-saving job or not,” I know the answer. Yes, absolutely.

Source: The Directors Roundtable 2017 with Rajeev Masand, CNBC TV18.

In most parts of India, dosas are ubiquitous. They’re a breakfast fare and comfort food. Their place in Indian culture is already firmly established. Most Indian restaurants don’t bother advertising dosas separately – they’re simply expected to be on the menu, much like coffee shops don’t specially promote that they serve coffee.

The exceptions are those Instagram-ready QSRs where dosas swim in pools of ghee, designed more for viral content than authentic experience. These represent marketing at work, not tradition.

But travel 8,000 miles to New York City, and this same dish transforms into something entirely different — not through a change in recipe, but through an interesting shift in positioning.

“The first vegan dosa cart in the world”: Meet NYC’s Dosa Man

Step into Greenwich Village, however, and you’ll find NY Dosas — a humble food cart with an extraordinary reputation. Here, Thiru Kumar (aka the “Dosa Man”) has been serving dosas since 2001, winning the Vendy Award (the Oscars of street food) and attracting long lines of devoted customers.

I’ve been following his journey for years, watching how this unassuming cart transformed into a culinary destination that food enthusiasts from around the world seek out when visiting New York.

His Instagram and X accounts are filled with photos of happy customers taking selfies with their dosas and the charismatic Dosa Man himself.

What makes Kumar’s approach fascinating is his positioning. “This is the first vegan dosa cart in the world,” Kumar proudly states about his cart. Where most food vendors in India would simply call themselves a “dosa stall,” Kumar specifically markets his business as a “vegetarian vegan dosa cart in Washington Square Park.”

In a city dominated by fast food, Kumar recognized an opportunity to differentiate through conscious positioning: “New York is known for hot dogs and cheese kebab and stuff no one expects from the tiny cart like this. We’re providing good, healthy food.”

Kumar doesn’t just sell dosas — he sells a narrative about health and conscious eating. When describing his food, he emphasizes attributes that would sometimes go unmentioned in India: “Dosa is a plate made of rice and lentil is naturally fermented totally gluten-free.” The words “naturally fermented” and “gluten-free” are marketing gold in health-conscious New York, despite being inherent qualities that Indian vendors rarely highlight.

How context transforms messaging

Audience context determines which product attributes to emphasize. The same dish can be positioned entirely differently depending on who you’re selling to and what they value.

Kumar understood this intuitively: “New York is a very busy city, everyone’s running. No time for nothing, so they’re craving good, healthy food, you know. That’s why I started to do this.”

What’s remarkable is that Kumar didn’t change the dosa recipe to make it vegan — it already was. In India, a dosa’s plant-based nature isn’t portrayed as a feature — it’s just how dosas have always been made. But in New York, where veganism is a conscious lifestyle choice rather than a cultural default, Kumar cleverly repositions this inherent quality as a key selling point.

He takes pride in how his messaging resonates with this audience: his dosas “give you natural energy, that’s what all the vegans are very happy, you know.” By emphasizing the vegan angle, Kumar changes what would be an unremarkable trait in India into a compelling value proposition for New Yorkers.

Sacred recipes and cultural translation

Thiru’s dosa evolution, based on his grandmother’s recipe, from everyday Indian staple to celebrated vegan specialty, carries valuable lessons:

• Position based on audience values, not tradition: Kumar didn’t change what dosas are, but changed how he talks about them based on what New Yorkers value.
• Highlight inherent attributes that resonate locally: Features like “naturally fermented” and “gluten-free” were always part of dosas, but are emphasized differently in New York.
• See your product through fresh eyes: Sometimes what seems ordinary in one context becomes your strongest selling point in another.
• Authenticity + right positioning = success: NY Dosas succeeds because it maintains the authentic essence of dosa while consciously framing it for a new audience.

The next time I encounter something, I consider how the same thing can tell entirely different stories depending on who’s listening. It’s a delicious reminder that effective brand marketing often isn’t about changing your product, but rather about changing how you position it within a new cultural context.

As if Vishal Mishra’s rendition isn’t already special enough singing in those higher notes, the legendary Keeravani took it just deeper. Vishal changed the scales for him-even if just for a brief moment. Pure magic.