Automators 12: Automated Holidays
Voice Assistants for Holiday Info
- Use voice assistants to ask holiday-related questions.
- Incorporate these questions into larger automations.
Holiday Music Automation
- Create holiday playlists and automate their playback.
- Use Siri Shortcuts to start specific playlists within automations.
Smart Holiday Lighting
- Automate holiday lights using smart plugs.
- Go beyond simple timers for more flexibility and control.
It's holiday time so what happens when you throw two automation nerds at things like holiday decorations, festive music, and ? Listen and find out.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
- TextExpander, from Smile: Multiply your team’s productivity. Click here to learn more.
Links and Show Notes
The holidays are upon us, and Rosemary and David are ready to automate. Our trusty nerds start with simple things like wallpaper and voice-in-a-can technologies.
Next, they get to holiday music. It’s great that you can automate music playback, but David wants to go deeper with Siri Shortcuts and automation around your music. David has a white whale concerning HomePod destination for audio, but we all need holiday wishes … right?
Then our team talks about this episode’s sponsor, TextExpander, which they both love very much.
Then they get into their favorite automation contraptions for automating holiday lights. David admits Thanksgiving is a mere speed bump to his holiday preparations. David even admits to creating his own little Disneyland Main Street, and it all runs on HomeKit. Open David’s front door and the magic starts happening. Rose takes it a level deeper by invoking homebridge, third-party software that lets you run non-HomeKit gear with HomeKit.
Then the team talks about the best ways to automate holiday cards. It’s harder than you think. They aren’t done there, however, there is room in automation for present lists, grabbing multiple browser tabs via automation,
Support Automators with a Relay FM MembershipAutomators #12: Automating Holidays
Automators on the Web
Automators Talk
Automators on YouTube
Rose on the Web
Rose on Twitter
David on Twitter
Mac Power Users #409: Holiday Tech - Relay FM
The Porg Holiday iPhone Case
Why does David love this so much?
BB8 Christmas Wallpaper
Christmas Time!
Here's a Siri Shortcut that lets you automate music playback.
Eve Door & Window - Smart and wireless contact sensor for windows and doors, automatically trigger accessories and scenes, get notifications (open/closed status), Bluetooth Low Energy (Apple HomeKit) - - Amazon.com
iHome ISP6X Wi-FI Smart Plug, Use your voice to control connected devices, Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit enabled smart speakers - - Amazon.com
David's Indoor Light Automation
Homebridge
OmniFocus Present List
A Siri Shortcut for adding list items to OmniFocus.