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
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
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
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been playing around with (and thoroughly enjoying) BetterTouchTool’s latest major feature: the notch bar. This feature is currently available as an optional alpha update in BetterTouchTool, and it’s still rough around the edges, so don’t conside … | Continue reading
DetailsPro is the accessible, graphical tool for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that brings your app designs to life with SwiftUI. The future of modern app design on Apple’s platforms is SwiftUI, and with DetailsPro, you can be up and running immediately, designing UIs without typing … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/0221e8f3-e1b6-4373-a724-a1ecee56fbc2/audio/0e37aed9-18f9-49c5-9663-ff0ee696e647/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:35:52” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading
Yesterday, Apple released Swift Playgrounds 4.0, the first version of the app from which you can build an app and publish it on the App Store. That’s a big step forward for the app that started as a limited sandbox for learning to code. The app is not as capable as Xcode. Still, … | Continue reading
Pixelmator Photo has long been one of my favorite iPad photo editing apps. The app makes great use of the iPad’s large screen, which provides space for tools alongside the image you’re editing. Reducing that experience to even the largest model of iPhone is a tall order, but from … | Continue reading
Yesterday, iOS and iPadOS 15.2 were released with a grab bag of new features, refinements, and fixes. There are some handy details in this release, many of which are found deep within the Settings app, so it’s worth poking around to find the ones you want to try. Music One of the … | Continue reading
PCalc John Voorhees: I’d love to tell you that there was drama surrounding the selection of this year’s first-ever MacStories Selects Lifetime Achievement award, but there wasn’t. In the end, it was the easiest pick of the lot. Last month, I sat down with Federico in Rome to go o … | Continue reading
John: The MacStories Selects Awards are our annual celebration of the apps we love and the people who make them. Every year, the MacStories team uses hundreds of apps. Some are familiar favorites, but most are new. So, after many months of testing those developers’ apps, we stop … | Continue reading
Sketch, note, and explore endless ideas with Concepts’ infinite canvas for iPad. Draw in designer COPIC colors with liquid pens and brushes, and organize images, text and sketches into visual mood boards. Used by creative professionals for visual thinking, note-taking, team commu … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/5efe9c25-133e-4d7e-8b58-6676938d7553/audio/866c0953-4cf7-485c-b663-ad4798bb94f0/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:31:33” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading
Wallpaper has published an in-depth profile of Apple’s Design Team that takes readers behind-the-scenes at Apple Park for a peek at the wide array of disciplines for which it is responsible. The story covers everything from hardware design to typography and sound design and inclu … | Continue reading
Pok Pok Playroom, the delightful collection of digital toys that won an Apple Design Award earlier this year, got a big update today that expands the app’s town toy significantly. In the months since the app’s launch, the Pok Pok team has been hard at work adding to and refining … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we continue our series on Obsidian with a discussion of the app’s core plugins, which control many of its most advanced features. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+ this week, we discuss Apple’s 2021 Apps of the Year and take a behind-the-scenes loo … | Continue reading
Orka is MacStadium’s virtualization layer created for Mac build infrastructure that allows Mac and iOS developers to orchestrate macOS in a cloud environment using Kubernetes on genuine Apple hardware. Soon, Orka 2.0, which is currently in beta, will be released, allowing develop … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/fd834fed-8117-4edb-b231-7bbbec7e6c1c/audio/e2782c40-8b85-4edb-b6a3-9ee538c090a4/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:44:29” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading
Apple has revealed its annual App of the Year winners. This year, the company picked a collection of 15 apps and games from among the millions available on the App Store, naming them the Apps of the Year. In recent years, Apple has also used its App of the Year awards as an oppor … | Continue reading
Earlier today on Six Colors, Jason Snell wrote about running Shortcuts from the command line: I was reminded by Simon Støvring, maker of the excellent Mac and iOS utility Data Jar (which is a persistent data store that’s accessible via Shortcuts), that people may not be aware of … | Continue reading
My latest Shortcuts experiments began in earnest on my way back from Rome. I stopped in Ireland for a few days to deal with COVID testing and start ramping back up to my normal work routine. I wasn’t quite ready to tackle the day-to-day yet, so I decided to revisit a Shortcuts ex … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we introduce part one of a new series on Obsidian, explaining what the app is and does, why it’s important, the compromises that come along with using a non-native app, and how we are using it. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, John says goodbye t … | Continue reading
On the heels of the Apple Music Awards, Apple has announced its picks for the Best Show of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, along with the Top New Show, Top Free Channel, Top Show with Subscription, and Top Channel with Subscription. 2021 saw Apple move into subscription-based … | Continue reading
The Apple Music Awards are back, honoring artists in several categories. This is the third year Apple has held the awards and, as was the case the past two years, honors were bestowed for Global Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Top Song … | Continue reading
As you can imagine, Jason Tate, Chorus.fm’s founder, listens to a lot of music. He wanted a dedicated device that displays the music he listens to throughout the day, so as a weekend project, he built what he wanted: A small Raspberry Pi powered screen that displays what I am cur … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/b4130e21-d54d-40e8-8184-be170786ea37/audio/b99702cb-ea1e-402b-8db9-50a82ce89d81/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:19:35” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are upon us, and we’ve prepared something truly special to celebrate the occasion at MacStories: starting today through Monday, November 29, MacStories Shortcuts Icons and Perspective Icons are available at 40% off their regular price. To purchase Ma … | Continue reading
A few weeks ago in the second lesson of the Automation Academy for Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members, I wrote about how I’ve been using Reminders as a read-later app in addition to traditional task management. The full details are in the story, but to sum up: using a comb … | Continue reading
Every year, Apple publishes a heartwarming holiday ad that shows off its products in some way. This year, Saving Simon, directed by Jason Reitman, shows off the iPhone 13 Pro, which was used to film the three-minute spot. https://youtu.be/S5WaFx8rx54 Saving Simon tells the story … | Continue reading
More Club Gift Options Than Ever Before The holiday season is upon us, and as you shop for gifts for friends and family, we wanted to remind everyone that Club MacStories memberships can be given as gifts all year long. Every tier of the Club extends what we publish at MacStories … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we explain how Shortcuts for Mac differs from other automation tools, cover some of the roadblocks we’ve hit, and discuss how we’re adapting existing shortcuts to the Mac and building all-new ones. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, we cover the th … | Continue reading
a.button { text-decoration: none !important; padding: 8px; margin: 8px; white-space: nowrap; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.18; text-align: center; } a.button:hover { transition: none; } a.club { isolation: isolate; position: relative; z-index: 1; width: max-content; paddi … | Continue reading
Mac image editor Pixelmator Pro continues its streak of releasing machine learning-based tools that feel like magic, with a release that the Pixelmator team calls Abracadabra appropriately enough. The release of version 2.3 features tools to remove the background of an image, sel … | Continue reading
David Smith recently spent three days hiking in the Scottish Highlands. He took his Apple Watch Series 7 along to see how its battery life fared on long hikes. Smith, who recently wrote about the battery sipping Coros Apex Pro, a dedicated ‘adventure watch,’ put the Series 7 in T … | Continue reading
UpNote is an elegant and powerful note-taking app that works across every major platform, making it the perfect solution for your note-taking needs. Designed to make it easy to take notes anywhere and stay focused, UpNote combines a beautiful interface with a fast, fluid workflow … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we dive back into our favorite iOS and iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey tips. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, John is back home, which means we’re resuming our normal routines, John covers the gear relied on while traveling to Rome, and Federico sha … | Continue reading
Apple announced today that its customers will be able to order tools, parts, and manuals to make repairs to iPhones, and later, M1 Macs beginning early next year: Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, … | Continue reading
The Stream Deck has been a favorite of Mac users who are into automation for a while now, but the device’s utility has grown substantially for a couple of reasons. First, you can use the Stream Deck to run Shortcuts, which expands the device into an entirely new realm of automati … | Continue reading
For the past two months, I’ve been using Tweetbot as my primary Twitter client again. This started off as an experiment to see whether switching to a third-party client with timeline sync would improve my daily use of Twitter, allowing me to miss fewer tweets and catch up on my t … | Continue reading
In these uncertain times, the only person who we can truly rely on is ourselves, more specifically, you and your computer. But can your Mac help you reach your goals? Is it in good enough shape, fast, and organized? To be sure, you need CleanMyMac X from MacPaw. It’s the ideal de … | Continue reading
[audio_player src=”https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/0de98bba-5e4d-4879-94dc-8c76a3a88322/episodes/6b290472-33f4-446d-9c93-9de682a79d17/audio/aedc5e47-c9f0-4e0d-9d93-14f46b4de214/default_tc.mp3” mime_type=”audio/mpeg” total_duration=”00:25:05” caption=”“] [subscribe_to_unwind] Thi … | Continue reading
Soon, we’ll announce the fourth annual MacStories Selects Awards, honoring our favorite apps in a wide variety of categories. Winners will receive a physical MacStories Selects award designed by MacStories’ Silvia Gatta. As with last year, awards will be selected in the following … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we go into detail on our iPad mini Home Screen setups, including how they differ from other devices and how we use widgets, Focus modes, and Shortcuts to manage the setups. [subscribe_to_appstories] On AppStories+, John brings a little bit of strange Amer … | Continue reading
Four years in the making, designer Michael Flarup has launched a Kickstarter campaign to finalize, print, and ship The iOS App Icon Book. As Flarup explains, the iPhone sparked a golden era of icon design. The iOS App Icon Book is a 150-page art book that traces the history of ic … | Continue reading
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
The Apple TV+ show Foundation has been on my mind a lot this week. I’ve really enjoyed the first season so far, and yesterday, we hosted a live audio discussion in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, where we were joined by a few Club members to dig into the show’s first seve … | Continue reading
This week on AppStories, we dig into SharePlay and the other changes released last week with iOS and iPadOS 15.1. [subscribe_to_appstories] Federico returns to modding iPad accessories for his iPad mini and John wonders whether he should get one of the new MacBook Pros. We delive … | Continue reading
Benjamin Mayo writing for 9to5Mac reports that Apple has published its first podcast that isn’t tied to a TV+ property or Apple News. The show, called Hooked, is a true-crime story featuring career bank robber Tony Hathaway. As Mayo notes, the show is listed as an ‘Apple Original … | Continue reading