This week on AppStories, we conclude our look at Mastodon apps with web and Mac clients, plus Mastodon utilities. [Apple Podcasts iFrame] Sponsored by: Zocdoc – Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free. Fitbod – Get stronger, faster with a fitness plan that … | Continue reading
Last week, I wrote about the Sonos Move in MacStories Weekly. I love the Move’s portability and rich, warm sound, which make it perfect for use in multiple places around my house and outside. In fact, I’ve enjoyed the Move so much that I’d begun looking at Sonos soundbar and subw … | Continue reading
For the past eight years, Six Colors’ Jason Snell has put together an ‘Apple report card’ – a survey that aims 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 abou … | Continue reading
Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings: MacStories Weekly: Issue 354 Sequel, the media tracking app for iOS, joined our Club MacStories+ Beta Beat Discord channel I reviewed the Sonos Move, the sort … | Continue reading
Interesting comparison of macOS and iPadOS interface elements by Matt Birchler: I will say that there are certainly some macOS UI elements that could be tricky to use with touch, but I think they’re the exception, not the rule. Still, Apple will certainly make some UI changes to … | Continue reading
When Apple released macOS Monterey in 2021, it introduced a new extension point for its Mail app. At the time I wrote my Monterey review, there were no Mail extensions on the Mac App Store. Over a year later, there is still only a handful. That’s why I was intrigued when Kriss Sm … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/08858865-b216-4408-9202-b0334abbd189/audio/40b06171-12e3-4b4f-8182-4d1ec9dde0c5/default_tc.mp3?nocache” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:22:33” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unw … | Continue reading
The past quarter has not been kind to Apple. Today the company announced its first revenue drop since 2019 with total revenue of $117.2 billion, a 5% year-over-year drop. Going into today’s earnings call, the consensus of Wall Street analysts was that Apple would log $121.19 bill … | Continue reading
Raycast, the app launcher and command utility that was our MacStories Selects Best Mac app of 2022, introduced URL scheme support for its extensive collection of built-in and third-party commands. The app’s existing system of hotkey and alias triggers is still the best way to sen … | Continue reading
I’ve been following with great interest this series of articles by John Gruber (and Matt Birchler’s related story) about the chasm between iOS and Android apps. I have some thoughts since expanding my app knowledge beyond iOS and iPadOS is one of my goals for 2023. About a month … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we cover the iPhone and iPad Mastodon apps we’ve been testing and share what we like and don’t about each. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: Issuu – Get started with Issuu today for FREE or sign up for an annual premium account and get 50% off Pillo … | Continue reading
One of the things I immediately missed when I moved to Mastodon was the ability to schedule posts. This isn’t something I do a lot. However, with a busy editorial calendar at MacStories, I’ve used a variety of services over the years, including Buffer, to allow me to set up draft … | Continue reading
Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings: MacStories Weekly: Issue 353 Federico shares a shortcut that converts a multi-page PDF into a single JPEG More Things shortcuts that take advantage of the app’ … | Continue reading
SaneBox is the all-in-one solution to email overload, so you can spend less time managing email and more time on what matters. It works with any email client or service, and any device - literally anywhere you check your email. Oh, and there’s nothing to download or install. It j … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/afcc5d16-1d38-4855-9d20-0ced60fc63bb/audio/85223ca4-77e0-4913-8b7e-178ce02d6380/default_tc.mp3?nocache” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:19:58” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unw … | Continue reading
Things 3.17 is out for iPhone, iPad, and Mac with greatly expanded support for Shortcuts. That opens up a much wider variety of possible automations than ever before. It’s a lot to take in at once, but I’ve been playing with these actions since the end of last year, so I thought … | Continue reading
In 2014, for the 30th anniversary of the Mac, Apple celebrated with a mini site featuring the stories of the people behind the computer and its users. As part of that event, Apple created a special font of line-drawn versions of every Mac from its introduction on January 24, 1984 … | Continue reading
Saving an article from Unread to Readwise Reader. Unread, the elegant RSS reader by Golden Hill Software that we’ve covered before on MacStories, received its 3.3 update today, and it’s an interesting one I’ve been playing around with for the past week. There are two features I w … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we imagine the kinds of apps that may emerge for an Apple VR headset. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: CleanMyMac X – Your Mac. As good as new. Get 5% off today. Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple. On AppStories+: Cookies, Cider, and touchscreen … | Continue reading
Editor’s Note: Every now and then, we like to share some of the writing we’ve published for Club MacStories members with the broader MacStories community to give readers a feel for what we offer in case they’re thinking of joining themselves. The Club has grown to encompass far m … | Continue reading
Manton Reece has a fantastic explanation of the underpinnings of Micro.blog and Mastodon and how they work with third-party clients like Ivory, which Federico reviewed yesterday. Manton’s post is in response to questions about why Micro.blog posts can’t be viewed in Tapbots’ Ivor … | Continue reading
Ivory for Mastodon. There’s an intangible, permeating quality about Tapbots apps that trascends features and specs: craftsmanship. With Ivory, launching today on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, you can instantly appreciate that level of care and refinement that the Texas-based … | Continue reading
January 28th is Data Privacy Day, and Apple is marking the occasion with educational resources, including a short film starring Nick Mohammed called “A Day in the Life of an Average Person’s Data” and a Today at Apple session called “Taking Charge of Your Privacy on iPhone.” http … | Continue reading
Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings: MacStories Weekly: Issue 352 Two Whisper AI audio-to-speech conversion shortcuts Scrobbling Apple Music to Last.fm from Windows The benefits of controlled chao … | Continue reading
Source Apple Reviews of the new M2-based Mac minis and MacBook Pros are out, and of the two computers, the mini is the one that I find the most interesting. With Apple silicon no longer limited to the entry-level mini, it’s now possible to spec the tiny desktop so it rivals some … | Continue reading
Embarking on a healthy 2023 is easy with Funn Media’s trio of top-rated health and fitness apps: WaterMinder, FitnessView, and Calory. Together, they’ll help you track what you eat and drink and push your fitness to new levels. WaterMinder makes tracking hydration simple. The app … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/211d9832-02b4-4aed-8c00-b22487465eb7/audio/5a7eaaac-ee62-483a-88f9-97305bc0b29c/default_tc.mp3?nocache” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:19:07” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unw … | Continue reading
Apple Music for Windows. Last week, Apple released native versions of Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Devices for Windows. The apps, which are available on the Microsoft Store, are labeled as “previews”, and they’re meant to eventually serve as replacements for iTunes for Window … | Continue reading
Source: Apple. To celebrate Black History Month, Apple has released a new Black Unity Collection. The collection includes an iPhone wallpaper, an Apple Watch face, and a Sports Loop band. According to Apple, the special-edition Apple Watch Black Unity Sport Loop “features the wor … | Continue reading
Source: Apple. Over the weekend, Mark Gurman said that Apple would be releasing a new HomePod soon. As it turns out, he was correct because today, Apple released a new second-generation HomePod. According to Apple’s press release, With convenient new ways to manage everyday tasks … | Continue reading
It’s been over two years since Foodnoms, the nutrition tracking app for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch by Ryan Ashcraft, debuted on the App Store, and I reviewed it. Over the past two years, the app has steadily improved, refining its database of foods, adding Home Screen … | Continue reading
Source: Apple. Today, Apple announced new MacBook Pro 14” and 16” models and a new Mac mini via press releases and a video on its YouTube channel. The new laptops are available in M2 Pro and Max chip configurations and feature faster memory bandwidth, WiFi 6E, and the same design … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we look at the history of read-later apps, the many similarities and differences between them, and today’s read-later apps, like Matter and Reader, as well as link organizers, such as GoodLinks and Anybox. [subscribe_to_appstories] Sponsored by: Fitbod – … | Continue reading
Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next: MacStories Weekly: Issue 351 Using Things via Raycast. Federico shared his tips on how to follow Twitter without usi … | Continue reading
Late yesterday, The Information reported that it had seen internal Twitter Slack communications confirming that the company had intentionally cut off third-party Twitter app access to its APIs. The shut-down, which happened Thursday night US time, hasn’t affected all apps and ser … | Continue reading
Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple’s much-rumored headset will combine AR and VR technologies, which Brendon Bigley argues could be the wrong approach: … I don’t think the road to mass adoption of virtual reality actually starts with virtual reality, it starts instead with … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/c51ef562-b492-4258-ac2a-b2632fd82b24/audio/f0f8c953-1ff7-43b3-b616-201b8cc94af2/default_tc.mp3?nocache” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:17:19” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unw … | Continue reading
Saving articles and links from the Internet for later isn’t new, but it’s something that has drawn renewed interest from developers over the past year or so, including the makers of Matter, who are reexamining the approaches of the past through a modern lens. An early version of … | Continue reading
Today, Apple introduced a new online tool called Apple Business Connect that allows businesses to customize the information listed in Apple Maps Maps, Messages, Wallet, Siri, and other apps. According to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services: We created Business Con … | Continue reading
Zones makes time zone conversions effortless. It’s simple, beautifully designed, and available on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so no matter where you are or what you’re doing, knowing the best time to connect with family and friends in other cities is easy. With just a glance, you … | Continue reading
In his latest video, MKBHD eloquently summarized and explained something that I’ve personally felt for the past few years: pictures taken on modern iPhones often look sort-of washed out and samey, like much of the contrast and highlights from real life were lost somewhere along t … | Continue reading
Dell’s upcoming 6K UltraSharp display. Source: Dell. Dan Seifert writing for The Verge explains why this year’s CES has been such an exciting one for Mac users: Though there have been many monitors marketed toward MacBook owners over the years, with features such as USB-C connect … | Continue reading
I was a metaverse skeptic until CES covered my eyes and mouth to the possibilities. Source: Shiftall. Today, I bring you Weird CES, a collection of wacky and wonderful announcements from the past week. But first, I have a few odds and ends that were announced in between my previo … | Continue reading
I’ve been through dozens of additional press releases and stories from CES and have collected all of the smart home, electric vehicle, and gaming news that has caught my eye since yesterday’s story on displays and TVs. Smart Home Source: Nanoleaf. Nanoleaf, which introduced some … | Continue reading
The Guardian reported today that audiobooks ‘Narrated by Apple Books’ have begun showing up in the Apple Books store. The audiobooks are narrated by AI-generated voices that Apple has picked to complement the genre of the books. As 9to5Mac points out in its coverage, the feature … | Continue reading
Sean Hollister of The Verge reports that Apple is contributing aspects of its MagSafe charging technology to the Qi wireless charging standard, which will bring magnetic coupling to Qi2-compatible mobile phones, including Android phones. According to Hollister’s interview with Pa … | Continue reading
With the turn of the New Year, Apple closed down Dark Sky for good. Apple acquired the app in 2020 and left it up and running until January 1st as it incorporated the app’s radar and real-time forecast features into its own Weather app. Dark Sky’s API, which was used by many thir … | Continue reading
Source: CES. I love the spectacle of CES. It’s a relentless firehose of ‘new’ that’s full of over-the-top ideas, vaporware, creepy robots, bizarre gadgets, and, best of all, legit previews of tech that’s just around the corner. CES 2023 hasn’t disappointed, even though it doesn’t … | Continue reading