Pins 1.9 is out for both iOS 14+ and macOS Big Sur / Monterey.
Pins 1.9 for iOS and macOS have been released. You can either update manually or wait for it to roll out in the next 7 days.
— Pins for Pinboard (@GetPinsApp) October 27, 2021
Hot off the oven: Random Unread widget, default bookmark viewer setting, and true black background color for the bookmark list in Dark mode. pic.twitter.com/zXdfurPhpJ
Random Unread Widget
One of the more popular Pins home screen widgets has always been the “Random” one as it helps resurface old bookmarks that people might’ve forgotten.
The new “Random Unread” widget in Pins 1.9 randomly shows you only unread bookmarks. For those using Pinboard as their read later app, this is a great way to motivate you to go through your evergrowing list of unread links.
Home screen widgets are great for revisiting your old bookmarks. In Pins 1.9 I’m adding another source: “Random Unread”.
— Pins for Pinboard (@GetPinsApp) September 25, 2021
(Hopefully this will also help me get my unread numbers down to a more manageable level) pic.twitter.com/KkkU9dXzUx
Default Bookmark Viewer
In iOS 15, Safari supports third-party web extensions which change the way the browser works and add many much-needed niceties. This MacStories article recommends some great extensions you can try. My personal favorites are Amplosion and Noir.
In-app browser such as the one used in Pins sadly doesn’t support web extensions due to API limitations, so I added a setting to use the “real” Safari app as your bookmark viewer. That way you can fully ultilize this cool new web extension support.
If you instead prefer other browser, you can choose the default viewer from a list of supported ones: DuckDuckGo, Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Firefox Focus, and Opener.1
Here’s an example: By setting my bookmark viewer to Default Browser App (Safari in this case), viewing a Reddit link from a widget automatically sends you to Safari where a web extension takes over and opens the link in Apollo instead. pic.twitter.com/v1mFhHjGDD
— Pins for Pinboard (@GetPinsApp) September 25, 2021
True Black
If you’re using a new(er) device with OLED screen and appreciate a pure black background color for the bookmark list, this new setting is for you.
One More Thing
Work has already started on the next major update (Pins 2.0). Be sure to follow me at @GetPinsApp to have a sneak peek at it.