Federico and John offer fascinating insights into their latest automation projects. They discuss innovative tools like BetterTouchTool and the use of AI Actions for transcription and summarization. The duo shares techniques for streamlining podcast promotion and content management through automation. Listeners will find tips on optimizing audio quality with earbuds and the benefits of using Notion's powerful AI. They also explore challenges with complex APIs and present clever solutions for tasks like managing RSS feeds and extracting podcast clips.
Using a Mac Mini as a server enhances automation workflows by integrating multiple tools for more complex task management than shortcuts alone.
A transcription automation system captures audio notes effectively by using multiple tools, converting recordings into text and actionable insights seamlessly.
Deep dives
Enhancing Automation with Mac Mini
Using a Mac Mini as a server has significantly improved automation workflows. The speaker highlights how this device can continuously run various tasks, enabling a more robust configuration than simply relying on shortcuts. This capability allows for the integration of multiple automation tools, offering more complex and powerful solutions for a wide range of tasks. Despite the advancements, the speaker notes that shortcuts remain invaluable for their intuitive user interface and the ability to execute multiple actions in a clear, structured manner.
Transcribing Audio Notes Effectively
A new system for transcribing audio notes has been developed to streamline the process of recording and organizing thoughts. By using high-quality earbuds and an innovative transcription automation, the speaker captures audio recordings seamlessly and efficiently converts them into text, summaries, and actionable items. The process utilizes a combination of tools such as FFmpeg for audio cleaning, Hazel for file management, and shortcuts for transcription and content analysis. This automation creates comprehensive documents in Obsidian, ensuring easy access to valuable insights and maintaining audio files for reference.
Fetching Podcast Details with Automation
An automation called 'Fetch Podcast Details' has been established to streamline the process of gathering information for social media promotions. This system utilizes APIs to consolidate various episode details, such as URLs and descriptions, into a single location. By leveraging Zapier and shortcuts, the speaker has created an efficient workflow that reduces the need for manual data retrieval and enhances the timeliness of promotional activities. The ability to generate structured content automatically enhances productivity, ensuring that necessary information is always at hand.
Optimizing YouTube Video Transcriptions
A new shortcut has been developed to easily transcribe YouTube videos using a user-friendly API that bypasses the complexity of the official Google API. By inputting the YouTube video ID, this automation retrieves the entire transcript quickly, overcoming challenges associated with obtaining accurate text. The resulting transcript can then be summarized or used for further action, streamlining content creation processes. This innovative approach simplifies transcriptions, making it more accessible for users who want to create summarized content from video sources.
This week, Federico and John take listeners on a tour of the wide variety of automations they’ve been working on so far this year, including shortcuts, Claude projects, and Zapier zaps.
On AppStories+, Federico and John dig a little deeper into some of the more complex automations that they’ve been working on in 2025.