Will the REAL CloudMagic Step Up?
Bring Cards to the Desktop with Chrome’s ARC Welder
Over the past year, CloudMagic has become my preferred email application on both my Mac and iPhone. It sports a clean interface and a speedy experience with my four email accounts. I especially like being able to use the same email app across platforms; it is the kind of consistency that calms my borderline-obsessive compulsive tendencies. While the CloudMagic development team is constantly improving and stabilizing the application, there remains a glaring divide between the iOS and Mac versions of the application: the desktop still does not have the “cards” feature that won my heart in the first place.
Cards are efficient means to get an email into a different service. In my case, I use theTodoist card to quickly convert an email into a task.
The cards also connect to Asana, Evernote, Pocket, OneNote, Trello, Salesforce, andZendesk. This service has become a key component of my workflow, helping me clear out my inbox while keeping my todo list useful. While the CloudMagic team promises the cards feature will be making its way to the desktop soon, I have managed to enable the feature so I can take advantage today.
The magic starts with Chrome and the ARC Welder app, which enables Android applications to be run within Google Chrome. Next we need a copy of a current CloudMagic program file (also known as an APK file), which is easily located through a Google search. After installing and running the ARC Welder, we load up the APK we downloaded, leaving all of the default options intact. We have one addition to make in the metadata section of the setup screen, where we will be adding the text: {“usePlayServices”: [“gcm”]}. To wrap it all up, click on the “Test” button and you’ll be looking at your very own CloudMagic app, complete with cards.
Depending on your Chrome settings, the new app will appear in your Chrome applications folder. It can also be pinned to the dock for easy access. Absent other modifications, the ARC Welder is limited to one app at a time, so if you want to repeat this procedure to bring other Android apps to your Mac, you’ll need to employ other trickery to avoid blitzing your CloudMagic app.
The only obvious downside I have found so far is the lack of notifications. This is a problem I can live with as long as I have access to my precious cards. Hopefully it won’t be too long before the feature makes its way to the official desktop version, but until then, it is great to have options.
