Six Colors’ ‘Apple in 2021’ Report Card

For the past seven 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


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Genius Scan: A Scanner in Your Pocket [Sponsor]

Genius Scan makes scanning and managing documents with an iPhone or iPad simple, fast, and efficient. The app works the way you do and includes a flexible set of powerful, modern tools that are always with you. Its scanning engine is fast and accurate, delivering crisp, clear sca … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Unwind: Pokémon Legends: Arceus

[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/7c9516b0-705e-4226-8a6a-87ac8b161546/audio/111396df-e065-470b-9826-8c9049670258/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:34:00” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AppStories, Episode 258 – Starting the New Year with New Shortcuts, Workflows, Apps, and More

This week on AppStories, we look back at the MacStories Starter Pack coverage last week, digging into the themes and details of each of the stories we wrote and the ways you can incorporate everything into your own workflows. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, a little beh … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Preserve and Play the Original Wordle for Decades with WordleForever

Like many others over the past week, when I saw the news that Wordle had been acquired by The New York Times, I immediately felt a mix of two feelings: I was genuinely happy (and still am!) for Wordle creator Josh Wardle, who managed to turn a simple web game into a successful ve … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

CARROT 5.5 Debuts Redesigned Weather Maps with Expanded Customization Options

CARROT Weather 5.5 is out with a focus on weather maps. The entire maps UI has been redesigned and expanded with the same sort of deep customization options found throughout the rest of the app. It’s an excellent update that’s all about visual design, so get ready for a bunch of … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Unite 4: Turn Websites into Apps on Your Mac [Sponsor]

Unite 4 for macOS can turn any website into an app for your Mac. The app uses a lightweight, WebKit-powered browser as a backend, allowing you to easily create isolated, customizable apps from any site. It’s a terrific way to get those sites you visit every day out of a tab and i … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Unwind: Brooklyn 99, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima, Director’s Cut

[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/26ceae7b-8a61-4b40-8a7f-2cbf9bd86055/audio/97238bde-8450-42e7-8bc9-f89f35cb6590/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:20:32” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands

Editor’s Note: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Apple Music’s tools for discove … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Apple Q1 2022 Results - $123.95 Billion Revenue

Apple has just published its financial results for Q1 2022. The company posted revenue of $123.95 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “This quarter’s record results were made possible by our most innovative lineup of products and services ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300 Is Perfect for Anyone Whose Paperless Workflow Still Starts with Paper

Editor’s Note: MacStories Starter Pack: The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300 Is Perfect for Anyone Whose Paperless Workflow Still Start with Paper is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get t … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Reverse-Engineering the Matter API and My ‘Save to Matter’ Shortcut

Editor’s Note: Reverse-Engineering the Matter API and My ‘Save to Matter’ Shortcut is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. For the past … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AppStories, Episode 257 – New Apps We Are Trying or Revisiting

This week on AppStories, Federico and John share a collection of apps they are trying for the first time or revisiting, including email apps, a new Mac launcher, an Apple Music utility, a podcast player, and a read-it-later app. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, Apple sur … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Customizing Your Workflows with Deep Links

Editor’s Note: Customizing Your Workflows with Deep Links is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. In my story yesterday, I covered how … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Apple Publishes AirTag Additions to Its Personal Safety Guide

First spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple has expanded its Personal Safety Guide that serves as a hub for information about device and data access when your safety is at risk. New details in the guide cover AirTags, which have received a lot of attention as stories have surfaced of their u … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Introducing Obsidian Shortcut Launcher, A Free Plugin to Trigger Shortcuts from Obsidian

Editor’s Note: Obsidian Shortcut Launcher is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that, over … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Getting a Handle on Links By Treating Them Like Email

Editor’s Note: Getting a Handle on Links By Treating Them Like Email is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. I’ve had a link problem fo … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Frame Nintendo Switch Screenshots with SwitchFrame

Editor’s Note: Frame Nintendo Switch Screenshots with SwitchFrame is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Following the release of vers … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Why I Abandoned the Search for the Perfect Email App and Am Making Do With a Hybrid Approach

Editor’s Note: Why I Abandoned the Search for the Perfect Email App and Am Making Do With a Hybrid Approach is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhon … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Starter Pack: Clean Up URLs and Remove Tracking Parameters with URL Cleaner

Editor’s Note: Clean Up URLs and Remove Tracking Parameters with URL Cleaner is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Picture this: You’ … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

BetterTouchTool: Introducing the Notch Bar [Sponsor]

BetterTouchTool is an indispensable Mac app that has stood the test of time. The app was one of the first covered by MacStories back in November 2009. In those early days, BetterTouchTool was a simple app for adding customizable gestures to MacBook trackpads and the Magic Mouse. … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Unwind: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and The Protégé

[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/f8eace44-bc93-4899-9b08-4a29000d5308/audio/ea1bb99f-045e-4bac-91f0-4a9509ee6f55/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:21:18” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Start The Year Off Right with Next Week’s 2022 MacStories Starter Pack Event

Monday, we’re launching a brand new special event: The MacStories Starter Pack. The idea is simple. As our busy OS review season winds down, Federico and I dig into a wide range of experiments every year. We build shortcuts, try new apps, and look for new ways to get more out of … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Federico Shares a Starter Pack of Shortcuts on Apple’s App Store

Today, the App Store published an interview with our very own Federico Viticci, who shared seven shortcuts for users who want to learn more about what Apple’s automation app enables on the Mac. Federico explains his interest in Shortcuts in the interview: It’s all about removing … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Mac Widgets Need a Dashboard

On 512 Pixels, Stephen Hackett argues that Apple should bring back Dashboard, a macOS feature that disappeared with Catalina. Dashboard gave users access to Apple and third-party widgets: single-purpose utilities that were a lot like the widgets on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac today … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AirBuddy 2.5: A Refined Experience That Adds Shortcuts Integration and Other New Features

Today, Gui Rambo released version 2.5 of AirBuddy, his Mac menu bar app for connecting and managing wireless headphones and other devices. AirBuddy has come a long way from its origins as an app that simply connected AirPods and some Beats headphones with your Mac. The app still … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AppStories, Episode 256 – Obsidian In-Depth: More Third-Party Plugins (Part 4)

This week on AppStories, Federico and John continue their coverage of third-party Obsidian plugins and how they use them to customize the app’s functionality. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, John lays out the signs that change is afoot for Apple’s Music app for Federico … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

WordleBot 1.1, Now Fully Accessible with Native Emoji-to-Image Conversion

Following the release of my WordleBot shortcut last week, I’ve received a lot of useful and informative feedback from users in the accessibility community regarding the shortcut’s ability to annotate Wordle results with descriptions. Although well-intentioned, my original approac … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Take Your Business Out Of The Dark With Daylite [Sponsor]

For small businesses, it can be difficult to stay on top of clients, leads, and projects that are evolving every day. Here’s how Daylite can help supercharge your team to shine brighter, handle more clients, close more deals, and execute more projects. Designed for Mac, iPhone, a … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Wordle! Developer to Donate Game Proceeds to Charity

Wordle is the web-only daily word game that has taken the Internet by storm. The simple, free game by Josh Wardle struck a nerve, quickly spreading thanks to its social-media-friendly score sharing and a New York Times profile of the game’s backstory. The game also spawned a legi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

MacStories Unwind: Gossip Girl and Hawkeye

[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/0a8a40c2-fea3-45b1-9561-bc08308ceb22/audio/ba97abda-c677-44f0-a6f5-32dd09877e3d/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:26:59” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Dropbox Releases Apple Silicon Version of Its App to Beta Testers

Last fall, Dropbox caused a stir when one of its employees suggested on a company forum that the cloud service’s Mac app wouldn’t be updated for Apple’s M1 architecture until customers demanded it. The response from customers was immediate and vocal, prompting Dropbox CEO Drew Ho … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

WordleBot: A Shortcut to Annotate Your Wordle Results with Scores

I, like the rest of the Twitter over the past few weeks, have fallen in love with Wordle, Josh Wardle’s ingenious daily word game (if you somehow missed it, check out Wardle’s profile in The New York Times). It’s so refreshing to have something so disarmingly simple, yet challeng … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Apple Frames 2.1: Apple Watch Series 7 and 2021 MacBook Pro Support, New Update Flow, Plus Chinese and Czech Localization

Today I’m pleased to announce the release of Apple Frames 2.1, the first major update to version 2.0 of my popular Apple Frames shortcut, which I launched last October. It took me longer than I hoped to put together this update, but I’m happy that I was able to add compatibility … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AppStories, Episode 255 – Obsidian In-Depth: Third-Party Plugins (Part 3)

This week on AppStories, Federico and John embark on a tour of the third-party plugins they use to customize Obsidian. On AppStories+, On AppStories+, John tears down his workflows to eliminate busywork, while Federico goes deep on the Dataview plugin for Obsidian and continues t … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Are AirTags causing stalking or making us more aware of it?

The problem of AirTags being used to stalk people has been in the news ever since they were released last spring, but a recent story in The New York Times has brought the issue to the forefront again. AirTags are fantastic when used as intended to keep track of your keys, luggage … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Apple Recaps Its 2021 Services

In a press release today, Apple shared an update on the success of its services. According to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services: Apple’s world-class portfolio of services proved essential in 2021, as people worldwide sought new ways to keep entertained, informed … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Accessing Shortcuts for Mac with Alfred Workflows and Universal Actions

Alfred users can now access their library of shortcuts on the Mac, thanks to an official Alfred workflow by Vítor Galvão. The workflow allows users to access individual shortcuts and folders of shortcuts, as well as pass text and files to shortcuts for processing. It’s a nice app … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Pushcut: Automate HomeKit, Notifications and Widgets [Sponsor]

Pushcut, the one-of-a-kind iPhone and iPad utility that extends the power of Apple’s Shortcuts app and your HomeKit devices with a smart notification system, just added support for Home Screen widgets. Now, as soon as you open your iPhone or iPad, the information that is most imp … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Apple Announces Time to Run, Fitness+ Collections, Season 3 of Time to Walk, and an Artist Spotlight Workout Series

Apple has announced several new expansions of its Fitness+ content available starting Monday, January 10th. The first is the addition of Time to Run, which Apple describes as: a new audio running experience designed to help users become more consistent and better runners, with ea … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

CES 2022 Roundup: TVs, Home Automation, Health and Fitness Devices, and More

The Consumer Electronics Show was back this week as an in-person event in Las Vegas for 2022 despite the current COVID surge, which caused many large companies to pull out of the show or scale back their plans. Still, that hasn’t stopped companies from announcing a wide variety o … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Shortcuts By SENTINELITE: A Fantastic New Stream Deck Plugin

If you own a Stream Deck and want a better way for adding your shortcuts to it, give Shortcuts by SENTINELITE a try. I’ve only been playing with the plugin for a short time, but this is hands down the best way I’ve found for adding push-button convenience to Shortcuts on the Mac. … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Nick Heer on Apple Music and Last.fm

Nick Heer perfectly encapsulates what I also think about Apple Music’s lackluster recommendation engine as opposed to the old-school simplicity and pleasure of Last.fm: Apple Music is a remarkable deal for me: spending ten bucks a month gives me access to almost any record I can … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Managing Music From Your Mac’s Menu Bar

As Club MacStories members know, I use my Mac’s menu bar sparingly. With Bartender, our MacStories Selects Mac app of the year, I limit my menu bar to a handful of frequently-used apps and system controls that take up as little space as possible. That cuts down on clutter and mea … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

Remind Me Faster 4.0

Remind Me Faster, my favorite app to create new reminders with support for natural language input and quick access to priorities and lists, received a major 4.0 update earlier this week. The app has become a staple of my iPhone and iPad dock in this final part of 2021, and it onl … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

WinterFest 2020: The Winter Festival Of Artisanal Software [Sponsor]

The 2021 Artisanal Software Festival is a fantastic collection of carefully-crafted software for writing, research, thinking, and more at tremendous prices. As in past years, software artisans from around the globe come together to offer fair discounts direct to you. The 21 caref … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

CNN Interviews Apple Maps’ Product and Design Leads

Jacob Krol, writing for CNN, interviewed Apple Maps’ David Dorn, its product lead, and Meg Frost, its design lead, about the app’s steady improvements since its introduction in 2012. The story covers many of the features added in the fall with the release of Apple’s latest OS upd … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago

AppStories, Episode 254 – App Trends for 2022

This week on AppStories, we look at the app trends we expect to see in 2022, including trends that will continue from 2021 and new trends we think will emerge in the new year. Sponsored by: Memberful – Monetize your passion with membership Linode – Simplify your cloud infrastruct … | Continue reading


@macstories.net | 2 years ago