MacStories

One aspect of macOS that I truly love is the level of customization that it allows for. Out of the box, Apple’s desktop operating system is easy to use, and its user interface has been streamlined over the years around its core principles: apps, windows,…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: Comfort Zone Niléane brings a spicy browser extension, Chris works through some iPad feelings, and Matt made the gang decide what app they consider “undefeated”. MacStories Unwind This week,…

Automation on the Mac is powerful because you have so many choices when building a workflow. Now, with large language models, you can do even more, which is the approach Federico took in his latest Automation Academy lesson for Club MacStories Plus and Premier…

AltStore PAL, the alternative app store for iPhone users in the EU, celebrated its first anniversary today with a whopper of an update. AltStore PAL 2.2 now includes AltStore Classic as one of its catalog of apps. That’s right, a store within a store, which…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and I survey our favorite calendar apps, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each. NPC: Next Portable Console This week on NPC, the trio analyzes how tariffs…

Apple has been using differential privacy for nearly ten years to collect its users data in a way that isn’t traceable back to an individual. As Apple explains in a recent post on its Machine Learning Research site: This approach works by randomly polling…

April 24th marks the 10-year anniversary of the release of the Apple Watch. To mark the day, Apple has announced Global Close Your Rings Day, encouraging Apple Watch users to meet their daily fitness goals. If you have an Apple Watch and close your Activity…

Spring is the perfect time for a deep clean—including your Mac! Mac Washing Machine X9, from Intego, the leader in macOS security, helps you declutter, optimize, and speed up your system with ease. Clean Up Your Mac Over time, junk files like caches,…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: Comfort Zone Chris has an external drive faster than you’ve ever seen, Matt has a new email app he swears isn’t his new favorite cult, and the whole gang does their best to redesign iOS and…

Yesterday, Wayne Ma, reporting for The Information, published an outstanding story detailing the internal turmoil at Apple that led to the delay of the highly anticipated Siri AI features last month. From the article: In November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT…

It’s not often that I come across something that slides so effortlessly into my everyday workflow as the MOFT Invisible Stand has. It doesn’t use batteries, it takes up negligible space, and it’s so light that I never question throwing it in my bag when…

Yesterday, Vidit Bhargava, developer of the award-winning dictionary app LookUp, wrote on his blog about the way he hand-makes each piece of artwork that accompanies the app’s Word of the Day. While revealing that he has employed this practice every day for…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and I share some of our favorite utility apps, including Amphetamine, Text Lens, Gifski, Folder Peek, Mic Drop, Keka, and Marked. This episode is sponsored by:…

Apple has released a new companion app called Apple Immersive Video Utility for Vision Pro owners that allows them to organize and manage immersive content with the help of a Mac. The utility, which is available for the Mac and Vision Pro, allows users to…

Rogue Amoeba, makers of powerful audio tools for your Mac, are back to sponsor MacStories. From professional podcasters to home users, their lineup of products can assist you with all your audio needs. Making recordings with Audio Hijack is a cinch, and…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: Comfort Zone Matt has built an Obsidian plugin with a fun name, Niléane is keeping the scrobbling dream alive, and everyone tries to find a great new Raycast extension. MacStories Unwind This…

I’ve been thinking about this video by Theo Browne for the past few days, especially in the aftermath of my story about working on the iPad and realizing its best apps are actually web apps. I think Theo did a great job contextualizing the history of…

The Apple Vision Pro is a device that begs to be shared with others. Sure, mirroring your view to a TV or iPhone via AirPlay is a decent way to give people a glimpse into the experience, but so much about visionOS – the windows floating in real-world spaces,…

Video Processor. I’ve been experimenting with different automations and command line utilities to handle audio and video transcripts lately. In particular, I’ve been working with Simon Willison’s LLM command line utility as a way to interact with…

DEVONthink is a difficult app to review because its flexibility means it can serve a wide variety of purposes. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks as an archive and research companion that houses thousands of plain text files, but the app is capable of…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and I take listeners on a tour of the wide variety of automations they’ve been working on so far this year, including shortcuts, Claude projects, and Zapier zaps.…

Source: Twenty Thousand Hertz. The Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast’s latest episode celebrates the 40th anniversary of Apple’s accessibility efforts. Through a series of interviews with Apple’s Sarah Herrlinger, Ron Huang, Deidre Caldbeck, and Erick…

Categories in Mail for macOS. Today, Apple released iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, visionOS 2.4, tvOS 18.4, and watchOS 11.4. These releases represent an eclectic mix of new and updated features along with smaller changes scattered across each of the OSes.…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: Comfort Zone Niléane insists she’s not bringing another task manager, Chris has a new e-ink toy he loves, and the whole crew finds interesting ways to add some more text expansion to their…

Earlier today, Nintendo held its last Direct for the original Nintendo Switch. Next week, Nintendo will share more about the Switch 2 during another Direct. In addition to the many games showcased during today’s event was a new iOS and Android app called…

It’s been a couple of months since I updated my desk setup. In that time, I’ve concentrated on two areas: video recording and handheld gaming. I wasn’t happy with the Elgato Facecam Pro 4K camera, so I switched to the iPhone 16e. The Facecam Pro is a…

In the wake of last week’s jaw-dropping Severance season two finale, Apple has released a behind-the-scenes video and a Newsroom story showcasing the ways the Mac was used to edit the show. Both feature Severance’s editors discussing the process –…

Marcos Tanaka kicked off his App Store career with a real banger when he released MusicHarbor, an app for following the work of your favorite music artists on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We awarded MusicHarbor App of the Year in 2020, and since then, it has…

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: AppStories In this special interview episode, Federico and I welcome Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to discuss his 16-year journey covering Apple. Mark shares how he started as a teenage app developer…

A lot has changed in my professional life over the past year. As of today, I am working fully from home on three separate long-running projects, and now more than ever, the web browser has become central for all three. Since the M2 MacBook Air is my only…