Magic Rays of Light: Constellation, Apple TV’s Report Card, and MLS Season Pass Returns

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight new Apple Original space adventure series Constellation, recap Criminal Record, and preview the upcoming season of Major League Soccer on MLS Season Pass. Show Notes Highlight Constellation News Apple in 2023: The Six … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Beautiful Things for Spatial Computing

I came across this fun website while browsing the Vision Pro community on Reddit: beautifulthings.xyz is a curated collection of 3D USDZ files that you can download for free on any Apple device. On the Vision Pro, these models can be freely placed anywhere in your environment alo … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Is Apple Collaborating with SongShift on Migrating Users to Apple Music?

Speaking of Apple Music, Apple appears to be testing ways to migrate your music library and playlists from other streaming services to its own. Chance Miller, writing for 9to5Mac, reports on the discovery made by users of the Apple Music for Android beta on Reddit: Now, Apple app … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Music Replay Updated with Monthly Listening Statistics

Apple has updated its Replay website with monthly totals for top artists, albums, songs, and milestones, giving Apple Music listeners a reason to visit the site more than once a year. The update bears some similarities to the sort of monthly statistics available from sites like L … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

A Comprehensive Guide to Gaming on the Apple Vision Pro

The lack of any kind of port significantly limits the type of gaming you can do in the Apple Vision Pro – or does it? Sure, even one USB-C port would make a big difference to gamers looking to play titles outside the App Store, but there is a surprisingly wide array of ways to [… … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Six Colors’ ‘Apple in 2023’ Report Card

For the past nine years, Six Colors’ Jason Snell has put together an ‘Apple report card’ – a survey to assess the current state of Apple “as seen through the eyes of writers, editors, developers, podcasters, and other people who spend an awful lot of time thinking about Apple”. T … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Accessibility on Apple Vision Pro

I have low vision. A kind you can’t really correct for with glasses or contacts. I also bought Apple Vision Pro at launch. Why would I do this? Well because I’m a nerd who wants to see the future, but also because I was fascinated to see how Apple would handle accessibility for t … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

AppStories, Episode 371 – Exploring visionOS

This week on AppStories, we move on from hardware to explore visionOS, where it hits, where it misses, and what we’d like to see in the future from the OS. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: Paste – Endless clipboard for Mac and iOS devices Crouton – A home for your favorite … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Sharing a Vision Pro with Someone Else Is Too Hard

Adi Robertson writes for The Verge about the Vision Pro’s lackluster support for multiple users and how hard it is to share the device with someone else: The Vision Pro is $3,499 and only one person in your household can ever use it fully, which makes no sense at all. The privacy … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Paste - Endless Clipboard for Mac and iOS Devices [Sponsor]

In the dynamic digital world, efficiency is key. That’s where Paste steps in - your indispensable clipboard manager for Mac and iOS. Designed for the Apple enthusiast, Paste elevates your workflow to new heights of organization and ease. With Paste, every copied item - whether te … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

MacStories Unwind: Vision Pro Q&A with Club MacStories Members

[audio_player src=”https://traffic.libsyn.com/4a9c6b5a-ec38-4b0d-a27a-8bcc69e44dd7/MacStories_Unwind_regular_Episode_2024-02-16_Vision_Pro_QA_with_Club_MacStories_Members.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:45:15” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] This week on MacStori … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: HomeUI Enables Spatial Control over HomeKit Lights, Switches, and Outlets

The Apple Vision Pro doesn’t have a native version of the company’s Home app. You can launch the iPad version in compatibility mode, which I’m glad is available, but that means it doesn’t offer any spatial computing features beyond a window floating in your environment. Fortunate … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Welcome to Weird

Today, Chance Miller reported for 9to5Mac that the progressive web app (PWA) issues iPhone users in the EU have been seeing throughout the iOS 17.4 beta cycle are indeed intentional, breaking changes. The evidence is new developer documentation that added a Q&A section dealing wi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

It’s Time for Apple to Get Weird

Speaking of weird things: I’m on the record with saying that I’d love to see Apple get weird with some of their products, so obviously this story by Jason Snell at Macworld resonated with me: While I admire the great care Apple takes before it brings a product to market, I do som … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: My Favorite Ways to Take a Quick Note

One of the advantages of working with the Vision Pro is the flexibility of using your surroundings to spread out. Your entire room becomes your workspace, and if you’re in an Environment, your workable space expands even further. That makes it easier to keep a note-taking app ope … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Spotlights 12 Spatial Computing Games Available on the Vision Pro along with More Than 250 Other Games That Can Be Played on the Device

Source: Apple. Apple announced that its Arcade game subscription service includes a dozen titles designed for spatial computing, along with over 250 total that are playable on the Apple Vision Pro. Alex Rofman, Apple’s senior director of Apple Arcade, said in a press release that … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Can You Use a Headless MacBook Air with a Vision Pro?

Luke Miani (who runs a great YouTube channel I’ve been following for a while) has created the sort of beautiful monstrosity I would absolutely consider for my own workflow: he was able to remove a display from an M2 MacBook Air and use the remaining “macOS slab” as a fully functi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Juno 1.1 for visionOS Adds the Ability to Open YouTube.com URLs in the App

John covered Juno, Christian Selig’s new YouTube client for visionOS, on MacStories last week, and I’ve been using the app for the past few days as my default way of watching YouTube videos on my Vision Pro. Today, Selig released version 1.1 of Juno with some welcome quality-of-l … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Magic Rays of Light: Usher and The New Look

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon visit post-WWII Paris in style with The New Look, recap Usher’s performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show, and catch up on all the latest news in the world of Apple TV. Show Notes Highlight The New Look Apple … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Introduces Two New Personalized Music Stations

Apple Music has added two new personalized stations: Love and Heartbreak. Here’s how Apple describes each: The Love Station features songs about romantic love, falling in love, feeling amorous, and feelings that these experiences bring. Tailored to each listener’s taste, the Love … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: My Favorite Digital Clock Apps for Vision Pro

It’s clocks all the way down. Who would have guessed that the category of visionOS apps I’d obsessively download from the App Store would be…digital clocks? Hear me out: it’s very easy to lose track of time when using – and especially working with – the Vision Pro. It’s not just … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Things for visionOS Is a Familiar, Intuitive Task Management Experience

Things for visionOS, floating in the sky. The biggest compliment I can pay to Things for visionOS is that it doesn’t feel like a compromised version of the iPadOS experience at all. In fact, thanks to the spatial nature of multitasking on the Vision Pro, I’d venture to say that T … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple’s iMessage Service Will Not Be Regulated under the EU’s Digital Markets Act

The EU has decided that Apple’s iMessage service is not a core platform, meaning that it will not be subject to regulation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Jon Porter writing for The Verge: The decision is the culmination of a five month investigation which the Commission ope … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: 1Blocker Brings Content Blocking to Safari for visionOS

1Blocker for visionOS. In my ongoing quest to try all the visionOS apps developers have been building over the past few months and turn the Vision Pro into my main computer (I’m making great progress on this front), I was pleased to see that 1Blocker is available as a native app … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Screens VNC App Now Available in Compatibility Mode for visionOS

Just yesterday I was looking for ways to VNC into my gaming PC because I wanted to stream Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (an amazing game that you should play) on my Vision Pro using my new NDI encoder (I understand this is a very Ticci phrase; more on this topic soon). Anyway, I … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

AppStories, Episode 370 – Apple Vision Pro: Hardware First Impressions

This week on AppStories, we tell the story of how Federico got his Apple Vision Pro before sharing our first impressions of the Vision Pro hardware. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: Memberful – Easy-to-Use Reliable Membership Software Bills to Budget – Get your Bills paid … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Parchi Brings Voice-Created Sticky Notes into Your Environment

Parchi is a new visionOS sticky note app by Vidit Bhargava, the maker of the dictionary app LookUp. The app is a straightforward, but handy utility for jotting down a quick note using your voice. When you start recording, Parchi’s record button turns into a big stop button. When … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

MacStories Teams Up with ScreenCastsONLINE for a Big Discount for Club Members

For more than fifteen years, ScreenCastsONLINE has been a leading resource for online tutorials for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users. So we’re very pleased to announce today that we’ve teamed up with ScreenCastsONLINE to offer Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members who first-time s … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Wallpaper Frenzy: A Roundup of My Favorite Wallpaper Apps, Tools, and Artists in 2024

Wallpapers have always been a reflection of my often chaotic energy. I can sometimes spend months, or even years, without ever changing my wallpaper, and I can spend that same amount of time just frenetically changing it every day until I’m completely satisfied. A lot of that dec … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Are You Worse at Security Than the TSA?

You know the drill: when you go through airport security there are two lines. In one, a TSA agent makes sure you’re the person in your passport photo. In the other, a machine scans your carry-on for explosives, weapons, or a normal-sized bottle of shampoo. Enterprise security is … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

MacStories Unwind: Like a Self-Reliant Final Fantasy Dragon

[audio_player src=”https://traffic.libsyn.com/4a9c6b5a-ec38-4b0d-a27a-8bcc69e44dd7/Unwind_regular_Episode_2024-02-08.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:26:05” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico recommends the Final Fantasy VII R … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Shortcut Buttons Turns Your Shortcuts into Spatial Launchers

Shortcut Buttons for visionOS. I received my Apple Vision Pro yesterday (for the full story of how it eventually found its way to Italy, you don’t want to miss the next episode of AppStories), and, as you can imagine, I’ve been busy downloading all the apps, learning my way aroun … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

The Best Way to Take Screenshots on Apple Vision Pro

Taking good-looking screenshots on the Apple Vision Pro isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either. I’ve already spent many hours taking screenshots on the device, and I thought I’d share my experience and some practical tips for getting the best screenshots possible. Although I’ … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

“Wherever You Get Your Podcasts” Is a Radical Statement

I thoroughly enjoyed this story by Anil Dash on how the openness of podcasting (a topic I’ve covered before) has proven so resilient over the years and is, in fact, more relevant than ever in the era of federated social networks: But here’s the thing: being able to say, “wherever … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Updates Its Collection of Windows Apps

Today, Apple introduced a redesigned version of its iCloud for Windows app. The updated app, which allows users to access photos, files, passwords, and other content on a Windows PC, has clarified how it works and where synced content can be found. The app also adds physical pass … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

The Apple Vision Pro Developer Strap

Jeff Benjamin writing for 9to5Mac has a comprehensive breakdown on what the Apple Vision Pro Developer Strap can and can’t do. One of the primary benefits for developers is capturing video. As Benjamin writes: The Developer Strap also lets developers capture a direct video feed f … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Magic Rays of Light: Apple Vision Pro Impressions, TCA Winter Press Tour 2024, and the Road to the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show

[audio_player src=”https://traffic.libsyn.com/523780f5-37d4-4397-9a07-f454cb69eb24/mrol_108_final.mp3” total_duration=”01:44:59” caption=”“] This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon share first impressions of Apple Vision Pro, all of the Apple Original announcements fr … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: NowPlaying

NowPlaying by Hidde van der Ploeg has come a long way since its start. It’s always been an excellent companion to Apple Music, packed with music discovery features that fill a big gap in Apple’s system app. But, with the visionOS version, van der Ploeg has taken NowPlaying to a n … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

AppStories, Episode 369 – Digging into the DMA

This week on AppStories, we consider how Apple’s response to the Digital Markets Act will change the world of apps for developers and users in the EU. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: Notion: Do your most efficient work with Notion AI. Try it free today. On AppStories+, th … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Day Ahead

Day Ahead is an interesting approach to visualizing the events on your calendar. It’s a visionOS-only app that uses what looks like a transparent tube filled with drops of colored liquid that represent the events of your day. It’s strange, but I think there’s something to it that … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Juno

Leading up to the release of Apple Vision Pro, there was as much, or perhaps more, talk about which apps wouldn’t be on the platform on day one as there was about which would. To be sure, there are some very notable holes in the Vision Pro’s catalog, and one of the biggest is You … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Opens the 2024 Swift Student Challenge to Submissions

Source: Apple. Apple has opened up submissions for the 2024 Swift Student Challenge. As we reported last November, the format of this year’s format is a little different than in the past. Eligible students have from today through February 25, 2024, to submit their app playgrounds … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Vision Pro App Spotlight: CARROT Weather and Mercury Weather

We’re going to be covering a lot of visionOS apps over the coming weeks, so I thought a fitting place to start would be with two of our favorite weather apps from other Apple platforms: CARROT Weather and Mercury Weather. Both apps are past MacStories Selects award winners. CARRO … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

feeeed: Embracing Feed Diversity and Personal News Curation

With The Iconfactory launching Project Tapestry this week, I was reminded of an indie app that I first started testing a few months ago. feeeed – that’s with four ‘e’s – by Nate Parrott is a feed reader app unlike any other I’ve seen on iOS. Today, with our favorite content scatt … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Memberful: Help Your Clients Monetize Their Passion [Sponsor]

If you have a client looking to monetize their passion by building a membership website, look no further than Memberful, the best-in-class membership solution used by creators, publishers, and media companies worldwide. Memberful has everything you need to get a membership site u … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

iFixit Disassembles Apple Vision Pro

Source: iFixit. As with myriad other Apple gadgets, the folks at iFixit have pulled apart a Vision Pro to see what makes it work. There’s a lot of tech crammed into a relatively small space, which made the Vision Pro difficult to take apart. But, after heating and prying parts ap … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Wallpaper Interviews Apple’s Alan Dye and Richard Howarth

Today, Wallpaper published an interview with Alan Dye, Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Design, and Richard Howarth, Vice President of Industrial Design. It’s a fantastic read with some great images, including an exploded view of the Vision Pro’s components. Something I … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago

Apple Offers USB-C Enabled Vision Pro Strap to Registered Developers

Apple is offering a new Vision Pro accessory to registered developers: a head strap with a USB-C connector for $299. There aren’t a lot of details about the strap, which is designed to be connected to a Mac to accelerate development and testing for the Vision Pro, other than this … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 9 months ago