MacStories

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Indie App Sales Event Begins Today with Over 200 Apps

Matt Corey, the maker of Bills to Budget and Signals, has organized indie developers for a big sale that runs from July 28 - 30. The sale includes over 200 apps that will be offered at a discount through Thursday. The list is too long to publish here, but it includes many apps we’ve covered here on MacStories and

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Apple’s Executive Leadership Transition Announced

Apple today announced major changes to its executive leadership team. In short, John Ternus will become CEO, Tim Cook will become the Executive Chairman of the company's board of directors, and Johny Srouji is chief hardware officer effective immediately. Ternus, who is Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will fill the CEO role beginning

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Steam Announces Steam Link for Apple Vision Pro and Releases Beta Version

The gaming ecosystem on visionOS continues to grow, this time with the announcement that Steam Link is coming to the platform. The official app will allow users to wirelessly stream games in 2D from Steam on their local Macs and PCs to their Vision Pros. According to the company, the app can stream games at

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Indigo: A Clever Mashup of Bluesky and Mastodon in One Timeline

Last week, Soapbox Software (Ben McCarthy and Aaron Vegh) released Indigo, an iPhone, iPad, and Mac app that offers a unique take on social media, allowing you to log into both Bluesky and Mastodon in a single app. In the increasingly fractured social media landscape we live in, it's a fantastic idea. Instead of bouncing

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Apple Recognizes Developer Community Leaders

Yesterday, Apple published a new page on its Developer site highlighting the contributions of 50 prominent members in the Apple developer community. The page recognizes individuals from around the world and across a variety of disciplines, from technical writing, content creation, and education to event organizing and accessibility advocacy. Each profile includes a photo, a

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Spotify CLI Turns Personalized Audio into a Podcast Feed

Spotify introduced a new feature called Personal Podcasts today that's really clever. It's a CLI, a set of agent skills, and a Claude plugin available from GitHub that, once installed, lets users prompt AI agents to create personalized audio that can be listened to like a podcast. Here's how Spotify explains the feature: People are

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Introducing Apple Frames 4: A Revamped Shortcut, Support for Frame Colors, Proportional Scaling, and the Apple Frames CLI for Developers

Well, it's been a minute. Today, I'm very happy to introduce Apple Frames 4, a major update to my shortcut for framing screenshots taken on Apple devices with official Apple product bezels. Apple Frames 4 is a complete rethinking of the shortcut that is noticeably faster, updated to support all the latest Apple devices, and

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Apple Releases Watch Band, Watch Face, and Wallpapers to Celebrate Pride Month

Apple has released its annual Pride Collection, including a new Apple Watch Pride Edition Sport Loop band, watch face, and iPhone and iPad wallpapers celebrating LGBTQ+ communities. The commemorative Sport Loop uses 11 colors of nylon thread that blend the colors together in a unique way. As Apple's press release puts it: The intricate weaving

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LunarWall: Shuffle Moon Photos from Artemis II On Your Lock Screen or Mac Desktop

I've been staring at my Lock Screen and macOS desktop a lot this week. Not because of John's iMessage notifications or the weird handhelds we share in the NPC group thread – because of the Moon. Specifically, because of photos taken by Orion as it swung within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface during the

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Spark Mail Adds a Mac CLI and Agent Skills

About two weeks ago, Spark, the email app by Readdle, was updated with a CLI and a set of agentic skills for Claude Code, Codex, and other agents, allowing them read-only access to messages, calendar events, contacts, and meeting notes. These features were extended again a few days ago with new abilities that added email

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OpenAI’s New Codex App Has the Best ‘Computer Use’ Feature I’ve Ever Tested

OpenAI rolled out their updated Codex app for Mac yesterday and, among other things, they shipped a native computer use tool for macOS that lets Codex interact with multiple Mac apps in the background using parallel cursors that do not bring apps to the foreground when agents are interacting with them. The feature that OpenAI

Apple Podcasts

First, Last, Everything

Technology Podcast · Updated Weekly · A seasonal interview show where you get to know the guest through the technology they care about most. Hosted by Jonathan Reed.

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Hour by Hour: Reverse Engineering Your Schedule

Hour by Hour is a clever new approach to scheduling your time from Joe Humfrey of Selkie Design that took me a little while to get used to, but has really grown on me. The app was inspired by travel planning and the age-old question, "When should I leave for the airport?" You've probably been

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BetterTouchTool: Now with a Powerful Launcher for Your Mac [Sponsor]

BetterTouchTool has long been one of the Mac’s most versatile customization tools, offering deep control over trackpad and mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, Stream Deck buttons, Floating Menus, window actions, Apple Shortcuts, and more. The latest version adds a powerful new Spotlight-like Launcher that brings many parts of your Mac and BTT together in one fast

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A Dictation App with a CLI Is Exactly What I Needed

As I mentioned in a recent issue of MacStories Weekly for Club members, I believe that reliable dictation and text-to-speech are largely solved problems in the AI industry right now for most languages. There are certainly subtle differences between the latest models and not-so-subtle discrepancies when you consider local (and free) transcription models versus cloud-hosted

Apple TV

Watch Unconditional - Apple TV

A mother-daughter vacation abroad takes a devastating turn when Gali is arrested for drug possession. Refusing to accept the charges, her mother Orna …

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Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV and Apple Arcade in May 2026

It’s a new month and it's F1 season, which means it's time for a roundup of everything coming to Apple TV and Apple Arcade in May 2026. This month we're adding F1 and other sports airing on Apple TV this month, starting with tomorrow's Miami Grand Prix, and continuing below with the Canadian Grand Prix

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Podcast Rewind: Everything Apps, the RG Rotate, Pet Tech, TV Heists, and an Interview with Simon Pittman

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, we return to a topic that's an old favorite: the Everything App in honor of OpenAI's announcement that they are building a Super App. On AppStories+, Federico consolidates the tools and services he uses. NPC: Next Portable Console This week, the SN Operator

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 509

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OpenAI Unveils Codex “Superapp” Update with Computer Use, Automations, Built-In Browser, and More

Today, OpenAI introduced a long list of productivity and coding updates to Codex. I haven't had a chance to try the new features myself yet, but the demo OpenAI gave me was as impressive as the company’s message was clear: Codex isn't just for coders anymore. It was just over a week ago that OpenAI

Apple TV

Watch Margo’s Got Money Troubles - Apple TV

The daughter of a former Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo is a recent college dropout and aspiring writer. Faced with a new baby, mounti…

Apple TV

Watch Outcome - Apple TV

Reef Hawk, Hollywood’s poster child since age six, is not okay. When he learns about an extortion plot tied to a mysterious video, Reef preemptively s…

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How Can Everybody Hate Their Weather App When There Are So Many Great Choices?

Twitter clients may have been a design playground in the early days of the App Store, but it's weather apps that have carried the torch. That's because the developers of weather apps have to simultaneously contend with a vast amount of data and a wide variety of user preferences. Last week, for The New Yorker,

App Store

Perchang World App - App Store

Download Perchang World by Perchang on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Perchang World.

Apple Podcasts

First, Last, Everything

Technology Podcast · Updated Weekly · A seasonal interview show where you get to know the guest through the technology they care about most. Hosted by Jonathan Reed.

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Google Releases Gemini for Mac

Google released a native Mac app for its Gemini chatbot today. The app, which can be launched from your Applications folder, Dock, the menu bar, or a global hotkey, will be familiar to anyone who has used Gemini in a browser. The chatbot supports Gemini 3 in Fast and Thinking modes, as well as Pro

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Apple Announces Its 2026 Apple Design Award Finalists

Today, Apple announced the finalists for the Apple Design Awards in six categories: Delight and Fun Inclusivity Innovation Interaction Social Impact Visuals and Graphics Each category includes three finalists for a total of 18 apps and games from across Apple's platforms: Delight and Fun Finalists in this category provide memorable, engaging, and satisfying experiences enhanced

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Apple Reports Q3 2026 Earnings

Today, Apple reported its 2026 Q3 earnings, posting quarterly revenue of $109.4 billion. Here are the highlights: Revenue was $109.4B, up 16.4% from Q3 FY25. iPhone revenue was $54.3B, up 21.7%, and represented 49.6% of Apple's total revenue. Services revenue was $30.7B, up 12.1%, and represented 28.1% of Apple's total revenue. Gross margin was $54.8B,

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 508

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A Look at Apple’s 2026 Swift Student Challenge Winners

Earlier today, Apple profiled the accomplishments of Swift Student Challenge winners. The 350 students who built the winning app playgrounds come from 37 countries and were chosen from the largest pool of participants ever. Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations said of the competition's entries: The breadth of creativity we see in

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Apple Intelligence-Infused Accessibility Features Promise Greater Flexibility and Power

In what I expect will be an overarching theme at WWDC 2026, Apple's Accessibility group took the wraps off an impressive collection of features coming later this year. The announcement, which is timed to lead into Global Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday, emphasizes existing features and technologies that the company says will gain deeper capabilities

Apple TV

F1 Miami Grand Prix Main Race - Apple TV

Stream the F1 Miami Grand Prix race on Apple TV. Watch the main race live, ad-free, on May 3, 2026 and on-demand without spoilers.

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 513

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MacStories

Apple news, app reviews, and stories by Federico Viticci and John Voorhees.

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Claude Mythos Preview Will Only Secure Part of the Internet

Yesterday, Anthropic announced Claude Mythos Preview, a new general-purpose model that it says is exceptionally good at finding security vulnerabilities in code. In fact, the model is so good that Anthropic has decided not to release Mythos Preview to the general public. Instead, it's being released to a select group of companies that control OSes

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Podcast Rewind: Codex, GameHub, a Mouse Lament, a Peacock Invasion, and an Interview with Niléane Dorffer

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week on AppStories, John shares a tip for moving files with Taildrop before he and Federico dig into Codex and its unique capabilities. On AppStories+, Federico and John have both returned to Apple Reminders and discuss why and how they're using it. NPC: Next

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Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV and Apple Arcade in May 2026

It’s a new month and it's F1 season, which means it's time for a roundup of everything coming to Apple TV and Apple Arcade in May 2026. This month we're adding F1 and other sports airing on Apple TV this month, starting with tomorrow's Miami Grand Prix, and continuing below with the Canadian Grand Prix

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Astropad Workbench Rethinks Remote Mac Control for AI Agents

There are a lot of ways to connect remotely to a Mac, and I've tried most of them. Today, though, I want to focus on one in particular: Astropad Workbench, an app and service for remotely connecting to your Mac that includes unique features that make it a compelling choice on the iPhone and iPad,

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Automation Academy: How I Can Automate Anything I Want Using Codex for Mac

It’s hard to spot long-term trends in the AI world when things are changing so quickly on a weekly basis, but if we try and look back at the first five months of 2026, it’s undeniable that the rise of personal AI agents has been a central theme of the year. What started as a

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Podcast Rewind: Text Editors, the Pocket Taco, Photo Backups, an Apple Frames Preview, and an Interview with Evan Ratliff

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, John and Federico revisit the state of text editors on Apple platforms and how they use them. On AppStories+, John and Federico dig deeper into their writing workflows and the apps they're using to write. NPC: Next Portable Console This week, Brendon reports

macstories.net

MacStories Weekly: Issue 511

Apple Podcasts

First, Last, Everything

Technology Podcast · Updated Weekly · A seasonal interview show where you get to know the guest through the technology they care about most. Hosted by Jonathan Reed.

macstories.net

Podcast Rewind: Swapping Apps, Multiple Steam Controllers, Matt’s New Cult, and John’s High-Tech Shoes

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, John and Federico kick off the app swap challenge, with each of them giving the other three apps to use. We'll be checking in on how it's going each week with a final roundup of the results of the experiment after WWDC. On

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Apple Reports Q2 2026 Revenue of $111.2 Billion

Today, Apple reported its 2026 Q2 earnings, posting quarterly revenue of $111.2 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook had this to say of the results: Today Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment. iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by

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Podcast Rewind: App Gaps Filled, GameCubes Emulated, Quick Reads Released, Holidays Bridged, and Craig Hockenberry Interviewed

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, John and Federico cover Apple's executive transition, follow up on OpenAI's super app, share the apps they're looking for, and give each other suggestions on how to fill their app gaps. On AppStories+, we round up the tools we've built for ourselves that

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 512