{"id":38961,"date":"2023-04-04T15:23:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T19:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=38961"},"modified":"2023-08-25T14:20:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T18:20:48","slug":"alex-hay-rip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/04\/alex-hay-rip\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Hay, RIP"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Voorhees<\/a> (via Federico Viticci<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Recently, Alex Hay<\/a>, the developer of Toolbox Pro<\/a> and other apps, passed away after a battle with cancer.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

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.<\/p>

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.”<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Federico Viticci<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In many ways, Alex invented the modern idea of a “headless app” with Shortcuts integration.<\/p>

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

His apps Toolbox Pro<\/a> and Logger for Shortcuts<\/a> are my two favorite Shortcuts utilities. (I’ve always been a printf()<\/code> debugger and that’s what Logger enables for Shortcuts hacking.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n