MacStories

This week on AppStories, we interview developer David Smith about watchOS, widgets, what the announcements at WWDC this year mean for developers and users, and David’s apps, including a new one he’s working on for the fall.

Calory is the calorie counter and tracker that makes it simple to record and monitor the calories you consume for healthier living. Too many calorie-tracking apps overwhelm you with data and are hard to use. Calory is different. The app’s elegant interface…

0:0030:12 This week on MacStories Unwind: MacStories GameTrack Review: An Elegant Way to Discover, Track, and Share Videogames The Wallpaper App Review: Endless Wallpapers Tailored for Apple Devices Crouton Review: An Elegant, Modern Recipe Manager and Cooking…

There is far more media I’d like to try than I have time for. Between TV shows, movies, music, books and other reading, podcasts, and videogames, the supply of content far outstrips the time I have by an order of magnitude. As a result, I’m both picky and…

Today Samuel Axon at ArsTechnica published a new interview with two Apple executives: SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea and VP of Product Marketing Bob Borchers. The interview is lengthy yet well worth reading, especially since it’s…

I’m very picky about wallpapers on my devices, and when I finally find one I like, I stick with it for a very long time. At some point during that very long time, I start getting tired of my wallpaper and look for a replacement, only to quickly give up and…

One trend that emerged from stay-home orders this year is that many people have spent more time cooking than ever before. Many restaurants have been unable to offer indoor dining, and the lack of a commute as much of society adjusted to work-from-home life…

Apple announced a major change to its executive team today: Phil Schiller, who first started at Apple in 1987, is transitioning into a limited role with far fewer responsibilities, holding the title Apple Fellow. Schiller will retain oversight of the App Store…

This week on AppStories, we are joined by Guilherme Rambo for the first interview of the MacStories Summer OS Preview Series to talk about Mac Catalyst, SwiftUI, Apple Silicon, the App Store and more.

Today, Apple revealed an update to the 27-inch 5K Retina iMac with faster processors, updated graphics, more storage, and new display features. Although the new 27-inch iMac’s design is identical to the existing model, this is still a significant update…

0:0035:00 Sponsored by: Concepts – Sketch, Note, Draw This week on MacStories Unwind: MacStories Mac Catalyst 2.0: Doubling Down on the Alignment of the Mac and iPad Due for Mac Modernized with New Design and Features Fiery Feeds Adds Full-Text Search, Saved…

Apple has just published its financial results for Q3 2020. The company posted revenue of $59.7 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our…

When I imagine the quintessential RSS user, I think of someone who wants full control of their web reading experience. They don’t want to leave news curation up to an algorithmic service like Apple News, or a social media platform like Twitter or Facebook.…

WWDC 2020 brought Mac Catalyst into sharper focus than ever before. Introduced as an unnamed ‘sneak peek’ in 2018, Mac Catalyst offered the promise of a simple and efficient way for iPad developers to bring their apps to 100 million Mac users. The reality…

This week on AppStories, we consider what makes an app’s design great, the balance between form and function, and some of our favorite app designs.

A full-fledged task manager is terrific for many projects, but if you dump your entire life into one, it can quickly become a cluttered mess. At the same time, if you’re focused on a big project, it’s easy to let everything that’s not in your task…

Concepts is a powerful creative tool to help you think, explore, and sketch your ideas. Stretch your mind past the limits on an infinite canvas using liquid pens and brushes in designer COPIC colors. Used by creative professionals for visual thinking,…

0:0027:07 Sponsored by Overdrop Weather – Weather Simplified This week on MacStories Unwind: MacStories The Dog Days of Summer Why Do We Call Them the ‘Dog Days’ of Summer? Florence + The Machine, Dog Days Are Over The Developer Debrief on WWDC 2020 Dark…

This week on AppStories, we bring back an AppStories classic: Pick 2, an in-depth look at two apps. In this installment, Federico explains why he has been revisiting Castro for listening to podcasts, and John covers the evolution of Grammarly into a terrific…

Anyone new to a job has probably thought or even asked: “Why do you do it that way?” and gotten the age-old answer: “Because that’s how we’ve always done it.” It’s human nature to stick with a solution that works and is familiar. When a workflow…

Zach Gage has a knack for giving classic games an interesting twist. Sometimes that means turning the rules upside down and inside out like Flipflop Solitaire or Really Bad Chess. Other times, it means removing the tedious and boring parts of games to breathe…

Following the debut of Apple’s MusicKit API, which enables third parties to build apps and web experiences that directly integrate with Apple Music, 2019 was a big year for third-party Apple Music clients on the App Store. We’ve written about several of…

Every year Apple releases a new environmental report showing the company’s progress in environmental efforts, and alongside the release of this year’s report, the company has announced a new commitment for the decade ahead: Apple today unveiled its plan to…

Weeks removed from Apple wrapping up its first all-virtual WWDC, many of us are still digesting what the conference’s announcements mean for the future of our favorite products. Federico, John, and I have all shared various takeaways from the conference, and…

Last summer developer Charlie Chapman launched Dark Noise, an ambient noise app for iPhone and iPad that’s packed with delightful design details and key system integrations. My initial review praised how Chapman was able to take an otherwise standard utility…

Weather might be the dreaded theme no conversation should reach, but how the tables turn when you start reciting temperature, wind speed, precipitation, the UV index, cloud cover, pressure, and humidity from the top of your head. You’re updated on all that…

0:0037:08 Sponsored by Magic Lasso Adblock – Block Ads, Trackers and Pop-Ups on Your iPhone, iPad, and Mac This week, Federico and John celebrate World Emoji Day with big updates to Pixelmator Pro and Ulysses, a rundown of iOS 13.6 features, the Eve Cam,…

Source: Emojipedia.org Back in January, the Unicode Consortium approved Emoji 13.0, which is used by companies like Apple to create new emoji designs. In Apple’s case, new emoji are expected to ship in a point update to the company’s OSes in the fall. In…

Today Apple announced an expansion of its initiative of partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to create hubs for training the next generation of coders. 10 new HBCU coding centers are being added throughout the US, from which…

Source: Pixelmator. Version 1.7 of Pixelmator Pro was released today with support for placing text along a path, rotating the app’s canvas, a refinement of ML Super Resolution, and a new quick-start welcome screen. The update, dubbed Sequoia, adds three type…