An Apple Shortcuts masterclass

Key takeaways

The Meta Ray-Ban Display offers innovative features but struggles with issues like comfort and battery life.
Stephen Robles shares the benefits of Apple Shortcuts, emphasizing the potential for personal automation.
Quality wireless earbuds are available under $100, and being opportunistic with sales and older models can yield good results.
Listeners can contribute their own recommendations and experiences with earbuds to help the community.

Summary

Introduction to Apple Shortcuts and Meta Ray-Ban Display

The episode kicks off with host David Pierce discussing the automation of repetitive tasks on his computer using Apple Shortcuts. He introduces Victoria Song, who shares her review of Meta's new smart glasses, the Ray-Ban Display, highlighting her experiences and reactions from wearing them.

Victoria Song on Meta Ray-Ban Display

Victoria explains her experiences with the Meta Ray-Ban Display, noting both positive aspects, such as intuitive gesture controls, and negatives like the weight of the glasses and limited prescription options. She expresses a skeptical yet fascinated view of the technology, emphasizing how it could be both exciting and troubling due to potential privacy issues.

Stephen Robles Defends Apple Shortcuts

In a lively debate, Stephen Robles joins to argue in favor of Apple Shortcuts against David's doubts about its usability. Stephen discusses the power of shortcuts for automation and personalization, even showcasing simple yet impactful automations. Despite Stephen's optimistic view, David raises concerns about the complexity and accessibility of building shortcuts.

Listener Questions and Earbud Recommendations

David addresses a listener's question about buying wireless earbuds, sharing insights on finding quality options and encouraging the use of devices already owned. He offers brand recommendations like Soundcore while emphasizing sales shopping for better deals.

Show notes

Meta's smart glasses have been a hit in part because they don't try to do too much. With the new Display glasses, though, Meta is trying to do... a lot more. The Verge's Victoria Song joins the show to tell us about her experience with the glasses, from the impressive but very first-gen hardware to the somewhat underwhelming set of things you can do. After that, podcaster and creator Stephen Robles explains to David why he's dead wrong about Apple Shortcuts. Stephen shares how he uses Shortcuts, why he's found such a big audience of Shortcuts fans on YouTube and elsewhere, and why it's worth doing the work to learn Apple's most powerful app. Finally, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about which wireless earbuds you should buy — and why it might be the pair you already own.

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