Hey Reader,

Over the past week, I published various videos on macOS, git, Xcode, and bootable external hard drives. If you are interested in SwiftUI, check out my upcoming iOS course. I'll be sharing some lessons on YouTube in the coming months.

Let me know if non-programming videos are helpful, especially if you're new to Mac (or don't know all the best practices).

New Videos

​How to Install macOS Sequoia on an External Hard Drive​

Learn how to create a bootable version of macOS. You can use this for beta releases (like I did this past summer). You can also use this method to install macOS when your internal drive is too small (there are tradeoffs since Apple Intelligence and Predictive Code are disabled).

​Predictive code completion on Xcode 16.1: Does it live up to the hype?​

This past summer, I explored predictive code completion and tried it again this month after updating it to macOS Sequoia. I think it's more distracting than it's worth, but you should watch to see how it behaves.

​Why macOS Sequoia Desktop is Acting Weird​

There are some bugs with the new window logic on macOS Sequoia. I hesitated to upgrade because I hoped things would be more stable. Find out how I am wrangling some of the new settings.

​macOS Sequoia's Window Tiling Feature Completely Broke My Interview​

Taking the previous video one step further. I decided to turn off a new feature on Sequoia because it doesn't work well if you have multiple monitors. Maybe it is just as buggy on a single monitor setup. In this video, I show my workaround without the feature.

​How to Save Your Work with Git (Git Stash) to Make a Pull Request​

As you make progress or even work with AI, using git is essential. AI is quick at writing code, but you want to know what it's changing, or you may want to discard changes quickly. Git stash is an essential developer tool as you multitask between code changes.

​Always Show Your Watch Face - watchOS 11 Fix.

After I updated my Apple Watch Ultra 2 to watchOS 11, I had issues with my HomePod and iPhone during media playback. I didn't like seeing the "Smart Stack" instead of my Watch Face. This video shows you how to revert that change.

What video was the most popular this week?

The most popular video surprised me because I didn't expect it to get so much traction.

It was my How to Install macOS Sequoia on an External Hard Drive video.

Why?

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I posted a similar set of videos earlier in the summer around WWDC 2024, thinking it would be helpful to other developers. I learned how to do this at WWDC19 and wanted to test the beta versions of macOS and Xcode to use the newly launched SwiftUI language.

This past week, I published an improved version of a video format that I explored this summer. I used my Super Easy Slides app to help with the flow, and 5,045 people have watched the installation process. You can download Super Easy Slides via TestFlight beta.

I showed you how to use an external USB 3.1 drive (Samsung T5) because these drives are fast and affordable. I love Thunderbolt, but the cost doesn't make sense for a "throw-away" install. I have RAID array Thunderbolt drives for video storage.

I didn't realize that most people watching my video are looking for a way to get around the "storage tax" associated with Mac computers. People don't want to pay for larger hard drives, so they look for cheaper workarounds.

But, the main downside is that you cannot get the same performance as Apple's internal SSD storage options with external drives (until more Thunderbolt 5 becomes available). You will need an M4 Max or later to get that Thunderbolt 5 performance.

What's the best amount of storage?

I advocate for 1TB or 2TB internal storage in a Mac. Get enough space to last (photos and videos take up space), and use external drives to offload the media you want to back up.

Speeds above 1,000 MB/s are crazy fast and work for most situations. But the new internal SSDs in Mac computers are insanely fast – my M3 Max shows ~6,000 MB/s read and write speeds using the Disk Speed Test.

Hit reply and let me know if you found these video topics interesting.

Talk soon,
Paul Solt
​Paul@SuperEasyApps.com​

PS I'm launching a new iPhone app course on SwiftUI. If you want to start with iOS or macOS development, you'll want to join my waitlist.

​Join the iPhone Apps 101 course waitlist.

Click the link above, and I'll share an early bird discount for the course. Part of the course will be free to watch, but there will be additional content to test your skills.

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This week, I'll share more details about the launch.