Pictures from our family trip to Saugatuck, MI.

If you've been following these monthly Home Screen updates you know that I've been on a mission to find the perfect Home Screen setup. Each month has been an iteration getting closer to what I want. Sometimes in these iterative cycles you see small changes, sometimes you see huge ones. This month definitely falls into the latter category...huge change.

“Hey I know we’ve proven ourselves to be incapable of keeping your information secure, that we’ve allowed fake news to possibly sway the outcome of a Presidential election, that 50 Million users’ information just got stolen two weeks ago, and that we logged an additional 40 million users out of their accounts just in case their info was stolen as well…but hey, we’ve got this fancy new Portal thing that puts a microphone and camera inside your home. You should totally try it out, I mean what could go wrong?”

In the continuing effort to make my iPhone work for me, and not against me, I’ve settled into a new notification system, optimized my home screen, and now I’ve a found a system for productivity that I really like. 

My workflow centers around three main apps: Ulysses, Things, and Fantasical. In fact, these are the three apps in my dock, so I can easily access them from anywhere on my phone. These apps are used as the foundation for what I’m calling the three pillars of my productivity workflow

My favorite update rolling out in the new Google Maps is the ‘Mixed-Mode Commutes’ feature. This allows you to customize your commute to include driving, walking, and using public transit. Using this mode will give you traffic info for the driving leg, departure times for the next train, and give you a time estimate for any walking portions. In addition to this, you will be able to see in real-time on the map where your bus or train is, so you’ll know if can finish reading this article or if you need to head to your pickup location.

The concepts, shown in this Tweet, look to add functionality to your ride. What if you could catch up with a friend over a latte while a robot drove you to work? What if you could work in an office while you commuted?

The iOS 12.1 public beta is now available for those of you who would like to embrace the future before the masses. To get the beta go to beta.apple.com and follow the instructions there. A quick warning though, a beta is not a complete piece of software. It’s mostly complete but there will be a higher potential for bugs, so only join the beta if you are willing to deal with some issues.

Since last month’s Home Screen article I’ve moved 500 miles, stopped working at the Coffee Shop, and begun focusing more intently on my Podcast Network, Super Mega Corp, and this website. As such, my Home Screen has changed to accommodate this major shift in my life. 

My apps are still arranged by color but due to the number of changes this month I’ve had to get a little creative with the finish product. My white row is now vertical, leaving room for four rows of three apps to complete the square. I now have a red/orange row as well as the ever present green row, purple row, and now an almost perfect blue row.

Each Fall Apple releases a new version of iOS, the operating system that powers iPhones and iPads the world over. In line with that release Federico Viticci releases his comprehensive review on MacStories.