Alex Hay, RIP
John Voorhees (via Federico Viticci):
Recently, Alex Hay, the developer of Toolbox Pro and other apps, passed away after a battle with cancer.
[…]
In any creative field, though, there are always some people who stand apart from the pack. You don’t notice them because they’re especially good at self-promotion. No, they stand out because their raw talent is simply impossible to ignore. That was Alex Hay.
I don’t recall how Alex first appeared on my radar, but it was undoubtedly a text from Federico along the lines of “Hey, you gotta check out the crazy stuff this guy in the UK is doing with Shortcuts. You’re going to love this.”
[…]
Instead of building apps that fulfilled a specific need, Alex’s talent was building apps that let users tap into their own creativity to make what they wanted for themselves with Shortcuts.
In many ways, Alex invented the modern idea of a “headless app” with Shortcuts integration.
He saw the beauty and power of automation for what it ultimately stands for: pure creativity. To let users take control of their computers however they want.
His apps Toolbox Pro and Logger for Shortcuts are my two favorite Shortcuts utilities. (I’ve always been a
printf()debugger and that’s what Logger enables for Shortcuts hacking.)
Previously:
Update (2023-08-25): Snailed It Development (via John Voorhees):
We’re truly honoured to be able to announce that we have taken over development of Toolbox Pro, Logger for Shortcuts, and Nautomate.
All three apps were originally developed by indie developer Alex Hay before he tragically passed away back in March after a battle with cancer.
