The Frames CLI – the companion command line interface to my Apple Frames shortcut I released earlier this year – received a 1.5.0 update earlier today with two notable additions: iPhone 18 Pro frames,...

It's time to get back to our favorite indie apps that take advantage of Apple's latest OS features. Today, we're highlighting: Bear, Gentler Streak, The Outsiders, DoMarks, and Cheatsheet Notes.

For the past few days, I’ve been testing the (currently) top-of-the-line M5 Ultra Mac Studio with 256 GB of RAM. I’ll cut to the chase: the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is a dream machine for local AI agents. ...

With our annual OS reviews out of the way, Federico and I will be covering our favorite indie apps that take advantage of Apple's latest OS features. We have hundreds to draw from and instead of one b...

[pull_quote align="center"]Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. — Mary Shelley, introduction to Frankenstein (1831)[/pull_quote] Every OS ...

[pull_quote align="center"]Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. — Mary Shelley, introduction to Frankenstein (1831)[/pull_quote] Every OS ...

Apple’s iPhone lineup is taking a different shape this year. At today’s Surprise and Shine event, the company introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max alongside the iPhone Duo, its first foldable i...

Apple’s iPhone lineup is taking a different shape this year. At today’s Surprise and Shine event, the company introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max alongside the iPhone Duo, its first foldable i...

Apple covered a lot of ground at today’s Surprise and Shine event, and the numbers help put the announcements in perspective. After every Apple event, we like to collect the notable specs, comparisons...

At today’s Surprise and Shine event, Apple announced a lot of dates. Most of the new hardware arrives on September 18, but the brand new iPhone Duo won’t launch until October. Before then, Apple’s nex...

Ethan Millman, writing for The Hollywood Reporter: Apple Music will soon launch labels on songs created with artificial intelligence, the company said in an email sent out to industry partners on…

Things 3.23 brings new flexibility to repeating to-dos: complete them early when you’re ahead, or reschedule them to a new date if plans change.

Available on iOS

A PC Gaming on Android Check-In by Next Portable Console on Patreon. Join Next Portable Console's community for exclusive content and updates.

Podcast Episode · NPC: Next Portable Console · August 3 · 27m

I don't think I ever mentioned it on MacStories (although I probably did at some point on AppStories or Unwind), but my favorite "launcher" app for iOS is a utility called Lock Launcher, which I've be...

Is Armada Ready to Replace Your Steam Deck? by Next Portable Console on Patreon. Join Next Portable Console's community for exclusive content and updates.

Podcast Episode · NPC: Next Portable Console · July 21 · 29m

I test a lot of apps, so I have strong opinions about TestFlight. However I usually keep those opinions to myself because despite the fact that it's critical to my work, TestFlight wasn't built for app reviewers. Most people haven't accumulated hundreds of active and inactive betas in the app like I have, and for

Claude Code's Mac desktop app has added Apple simulator support, and although it's billed as "iOS Simulator Support," it actually works with any iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, or watchOS simulator you have installed. The process of setting up a simulator is simple. A new button with an iPhone icon appears when you open an existing project.

Kalley Huang, writing for The New York Times about apps written with the help of AI agents that are flooding the App Store: But as with many things A.I., just because something is easy to build doesn’t mean people will use it. It is not clear if vibecoding is breathing new life into the App

Every once in a while, I come across a third-party app that either resets my expectations for a particular niche of software on iOS or creates an entirely new category altogether. I’ve had quite a few...

Every once in a while, I come across a third-party app that either resets my expectations for a particular niche of software on iOS or creates an entirely new category altogether. I’ve had quite a few...

The public beta of macOS 27 Golden Gate is out today, and I'm sure many of you are wondering whether to take the plunge and give it a try in advance of its official fall release. That's the question this preview is here to help answer. It's not my final take on Golden Gate by

In the month that I've been using iOS 27 (launching in public beta today) and the new Siri AI, I've come to a few conclusions: Siri AI is a much better Siri and will (probably) be a massive success; t...

This week on AppStories, Federico and John look at our experiences with Claude Fable 5 and how they differ from other models and break down the controversial changes made by OpenAI to its Mac's ChatGP...

YouTube video by NPC: Next Portable Console

When Fable 5 returned last week, I knew exactly what to throw at it. In February, I started a project out of frustration that likewise ended in frustration, so I put it on the shelf and waited. Five m...

This week on AppStories, Federico and John talk about the 10+ email apps they've used over the years and how their strategies for dealing with recent spikes in email volume has caused them to change their approaches. On AppStories+, Federico and John update listeners on their summertime agentic coding projects. Also available on YouTube here.

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.

Despite the vast number of movies available to watch these days, both old and new, a huge problem is matching your tastes – and mood – with the right one. In a world where time is often a premium, wasting an evening on a movie you don’t like can be very frustrating. Manually creating a

Saron Yitbarek, writing on the WebKit blog: In Safari Technology Preview 247, we’re introducing the Safari MCP server — a Model Context Protocol server for web developers that makes your web developme...