Sal Soghoian is a user automation expert, software developer, author and musician. He joined
Apple Inc. in January 1997 to serve as the Product Manager of Automation Technologies. These technologies include
AppleScript,
Services, the
Terminal,
Apple Configurator
Apple Configurator 2 is an application developed by Apple Inc. and is available for free download on the Mac App Store. It was first launched in 2021. It replaces the Apple Configurator, which was first launched in March 2012, and iPhone Configur ...
and
Automator, among others. He left Apple in 2016 when his position was eliminated.
Soghoian has advanced Apple's incorporation of automation into its products by writing the scripting dictionaries for
iWork,
iPhoto,
Aperture, and
Photos
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
, and the Mastered for iTunes automation tools. He designed and wrote the automation tools in the
Apple Configurator
Apple Configurator 2 is an application developed by Apple Inc. and is available for free download on the Mac App Store. It was first launched in 2021. It replaces the Apple Configurator, which was first launched in March 2012, and iPhone Configur ...
application, which uses macOS automation to manage iOS device deployment. Apple Configurator consists of a central AppleScriptObj-C library and a set of Automator actions. Apple Configurator automation tools enable iOS devices to be prepared, managed and refreshed automatically upon their connection to a hosting macOS computer.
Soghoian's current projects include a collection of hundreds of voice-triggered dictation commands for controlling aspects of macOS, including the
Keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
,
Pages,
Numbers,
Photos
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...
, and the
Finder
Finder may refer to:
* Finder (surname)
* Finder (software), part of the Apple Macintosh operating system
* ''Finder'' (comics), a comic book series by Carla Speed McNeil
* ''Finder'' (novel), a 1994 novel by Emma Bull
* Finder Wyvernspur, a fi ...
applications. He created, hosts and manages a group of user automation resources at
macosxautomation.com
.
In late 2002, Soghoian joined an ad hoc team of engineers developing an application for creating and running automation workflows. After a year and a half of difficult but steady development, Soghoian showed the application to
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
. It was just one week before Apple's 2004 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Jobs was impressed with the new tool and asked Soghoian to appear at the
WWDC keynote to demonstrate
Automator for the first time to attendees. This innovative integrated workflow feature was introduced as part of
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger
Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4) is the 5th major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Some of ...
. Soghoian holds relate
U.S. patent #7428535
During Soghoian's tenure, Apple's native automation scripting language,
AppleScript, was revived and upgraded to be
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
native in Mac OS 8.5. It was also successfully transitioned to Apple's UNIX-based operating system,
Mac OS X, becoming integrated with the native IDE, which included Project Builder and Interface Builder (the precursors to
Xcode).
In the evolving releases of OS X from Lion to Mavericks, AppleScript added library support and direct access to the
Cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
frameworks through AppleScriptObj-C, a powerful fusion of AppleScript and the Objective-C programming language. OS X Yosemite introduced
JavaScript for Automation (JXA), a peer to AppleScript providing access to
Apple Events and Cocoa through an enhanced version of JavaScript Core.
Soghoian was an advocate for AppleScript years before being employed by Apple. As a consultant, he created automation solutions for the publishing industry in the 1990s. Soghoian also authored a popular script collection called Sal's AppleScript Snippets, the ShadowCaster Quark XTension, two books, including AppleScript 1-2-3, and numerous magazine articles about automation. He was a special guest at one Leopard Tech Talk. He was a featured presenter for Quark, Thunder Lizard Productions, Apple,
Seybold, and the Macworld conferences.
Personal life
Sal Soghoian was born into an Armenian-American military family, and spent his childhood growing up on Marine and Naval bases, including
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from which he was evacuated during the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
. In his college years, he attended the
University of Virginia in 1969 for a short time, but later moved to Boston where he earned a degree in music from the
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
. In the late 1980s he returned to
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
, where he worked at the digital printshop "Pixels." Although he is known for his work at Apple, he is also an avid jazz musician. During his time in Charlottesville, he played guitar in a band called "Blue Indigo". The band is notable because it was composed of
Carter Beauford (drummer),
LeRoi Moore (Saxophone), George Melvin (Hammond B3 organ), and Soghoian (guitar). Beauford and Moore would go on to later musical fame as founding members of the
Dave Matthews Band. Jeff Decker and Phil Riddle joined, following their departure.
He is the uncle of noted privacy researcher & activist,
Christopher Soghoian.
Bibliography
* Soghoian, Sal. (1994). ''The Quark XTensions Book/Book and Disk''. Hayden Books. .
* Soghoian, Sal; Cheeseman, Bill. (2009). ''Apple Training Series: AppleScript 1-2-3''.
Peachpit Press. .
Discography
* Blue Indigo, Catwalk
* Sal Soghoian, To Be with You
References
External links
Sal SoghoianMac OS X Automation: Automator, Applescript, and ServicesAutomator.usMastered for iTunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soghoian, Sal
Living people
Apple Inc. employees
American people of Armenian descent
Berklee College of Music alumni
University of Virginia alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)