
AppStories
AppStories is a weekly exploration of the world of apps by MacStories’ Federico Viticci and John Voorhees. Each week, they discuss the best new apps, the impact of apps on our culture, and cover the stories behind popular apps.
Episodes

iOS and iPadOS 27: The MacStories Review
This week Federico shares thoughts from his review of iOS and iPadOS 27. Then in the AppStories+ post-show, he explains how he used agents to support the production of the review and Club MacStories extras.Also available on YouTube here.Sponsored By:Granola – The AI notepad for back-to-back days. Try for 3 months, for free, with code MACSTORIES.Links and Show NotesiOS and iPadOS 27: The M

The Once and Future App Store
This week on AppStories, we celebrate the 500th episode of the show with a look at the App Store's past, present, and future.On AppStories+, Federico and John pick some of their all-time favorite apps.Also available on YouTube here.Sponsored By:Claude: For problems worth solving — get started with Claude today.Gentler Streak – Move consistently, not constantly. AppStories listeners get an

Inside OpenAI’s Codex With Andrew Ambrosino
This week on AppStories, Federico and John are joined by Andrew Ambrosino, the Codex team lead at OpenAI, to talk about the evolution of Codex, the unification of ChatGPT and Codex, Computer Use and Computer History, designing for user trust, and more.
On AppStories+, Andrew shares some of his favorite Mac apps and his Mac origin story.
Also available on YouTube here.
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How Should the Siri App Be Graded?
This week on AppStories, John and Federico check in on Apple’s betas with a close look at the new Siri app and how it compares to past-Siri and other chatbot products.
On AppStories+, John and Federico explain how they manage multiple Macs for automation and coding tasks.
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Folding the iPhone into the Creator Economy
This week, on AppStories, John is joined by Christoper Lawley to discuss uses for a folding iPhone and Parchment, Lawley’s daily agenda app.
On AppStories+, John and Chris dig into audio and video workflows for podcasting and YouTube.
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Summer Projects: Automation, Email, and Dictation
This week on AppStories, Federico and John cover the app and agent experiments they’re both running.
On AppStories+, John explores the sort of rapid workflow iteration enabled by agents.
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Open Minis Turns iOS into an Agent Playground
This week on AppStories, John and Federico discuss the changing face of the AI-fueled App Store and questionable changes made to TestFlight before going into the nerdiest details of Open Minis, an iOS app that brings desktop-class agents onto the iPhone and iPad.
Then on AppStories+, Federico and John explore Cmux, a Mac terminal app with an iPhone and iPad beta that makes it easier than

All About Siri AI
This week, on AppStories, Federico and John look at what Siri AI is good at, where it needs improvement, and where it might be heading.
On AppStories+, the conversation expands to Federico and John’s experiences with the betas of macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27, and iPadOS 27.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Fable 5 and OpenAI’s Curious ChatGPT Update
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 ChatGPT app.
Then on AppStories+, John and Federico contrast their experiences with Fable 5 and OpenAI’s new family of GPT 5.6 models.
Also available on YouTube here or download the transcript her

Email Survival Guide
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.
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Are AI Aggregators Worth It?
This week on AppStories, Federico and John talk about the state of AI aggregator apps and their future prospects before checking in on their current AI app setups for the AppStories+ post-show.
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WWDC Debrief
This week on AppStories, John and Federico are back home and reflect on all the WWDC announcements, including Siri AI, Apple Intelligence, design changes, developer tools, and more.
On AppStories+, we check in on our research setups and how they fared at WWDC.
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WWDC 2026: The Apple Design Award Interviews
In a second special WWDC edition of AppStories, Federico and John interview Apple Design Award finalists and winners, including the developers of The Outsiders and Tide Guide and the publishers of Pine Hearts and BALL x PIT.
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WWDC 2026 with Special Guests Myke Hurley and Christopher Lawley
Federico and John are joined this week by Myke Hurley and Chris Lawley to share their first impressions of the WWDC keynote and discoveries in the hours following the presentation.
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Our WWDC Automation Wish List
This week on AppStories, Federico and John share their WWDC automation wishes.
Then on AppStories+, they share more details on their research setups for the summer.
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Our macOS 27 Wishes
This week on AppStories, Federico explains how he’s using the recently-released Notion developer platform before he and John share their wishes for macOS 27.
On AppStories+, John asks Federico about the technical underpinnings and evolution of the Shortcuts Playground project that he published last week.
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Our iOS and iPadOS 27 Wishes
This week on AppStories, we share our wishes for iOS and iPadOS 27, and for AppStories+ subscribers, we tackle Visual Intelligence and whether there are any use cases that aren’t creepy.
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An App Swap Challenge
This week on AppStories, 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 AppStories+, we each pick aspirational apps and OS features that we wish we used more but don’t.
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Codex as a Productivity Super App
This week on AppStories, John shares his 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.
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Filling the App Gap
This week on AppStories, John and Federico cover Apple’s executive transition, follow up on OpenAI’s super app, and 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 fill gaps, for which we haven’t found apps.
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Apple Frames 4 and the AI Multiplier
This week on AppStories, we draw from Federico’s experience creating the Apple Frames 4 shortcut and CLI to discuss the multiplier effect that AI agents can have in the hands of someone with deep domain expertise.
On AppStories+, we share our AI agent mishaps and horror stories along with additional details on a John’s ongoing HomeKit makeover project.
Also available on YouTube here.
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OpenAI’s Everything App Trap
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This week, on AppStories, 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.
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To

Revisiting the Text Editor Landscape
This week on AppStories, 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.
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An Orchestra Without a Conductor, Apple’s AI Dilemma
This week on AppStories, Federico and John draw from their experiences using AI agents to imagine the sort of agent Apple could build with tight hardware and software integration if it had a LLM to orchestrate the pieces already in place.
On AppStories+, John asks where artificial intelligence falls on the spectrum of historical technology milestones.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Why Foldable Phones Matter: The Case for an iPhone Duo
This week on AppStories, Federico shares his experiences with foldable Android phones and what Apple might do for its first foldable hardware and its software.
On AppStories+, Federico shares his experience using Samsung DeX.
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The Fractal Fragmentation of AI Tools
This week on AppStories, Federico and John look at the confusing array of tools and naming conventions used by Anthropic and OpenAI.
On AppStories+, John explains how he automated two unautomatable Mac apps.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Apple’s Big Neo Week
This week on AppStories, Federico and John discuss Apple’s latest hardware announcements.
Then on AppStories+, Federico explains Notion Agents and Workers and how he’s using them.
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To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our [Plans page](https://appstor

Our Apple Hardware Wish List for 2026
This week on AppStories, Federico and John cast our wishes for Apple hardware in 2026, covering everything from the latest rumored gear to more outrageous hopes. On AppStories+, John and Federico share their top three everyday uses of AI tools. This episode is sponsored by: Claude – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Get started with...
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App Intents and the Road to a Smarter Siri
This week, Federico and John revisit App Intents to discuss where it came from, what it can do today, and the challenges Apple faces in integrating it with Apple Intelligence. On AppStories+, John and Federico migrated their server setups and found themselves playing IT administrator. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and...
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Pick a Pair: New Apps We’re Using
This week, Federico and John share apps they’re trying for the first time, including a calendar app, a text editor, a snippets utility, and more. Then on AppStories+, John shares his first impressions of Xcode 26.3. This episode is sponsored by: Claude – Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code. Insta360 –...
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One Notion: Two Approaches
This week on AppStories, John and Federico share the very different ways they use Notion. On AppStories+, we follow up on OpenClaw security concerns and explore the ways Federico is using it. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+...
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The Future of Apps in an AI-Coded World
This week, Federico and John update listeners on the ClawdBot-MoltBot-OpenClaw saga before digging into how AI will affect apps and app developers. On AppStories+, John covers why Creator Studio is such a fundamental shift in Apple’s approach to ‘Pro’ apps. [We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers]https://www.macstories.net/appstories-plans/) with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high...
R

Terminal Tips and Claude Code Workflows
This week, Federico and John share their workflows and tips on how they use Claud Code and Codex to build automations. On AppStories+, John and Federico explore the Apple and Google Gemini deal and the end of Shortcuts as we know it. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at...
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A Very ‘Just Build It’ Holiday
This week, Federico and John complete their tour of holiday projects with a look at the tools both of them built with the help of Claude Code, Codex, and other tools. On AppStories+, John pushes Claude Code by building a Safari web extension that integrates with Notion. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with...
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A Very Nerdy Holiday Break
This week, Federico and John are back from their holiday break, included so many hardware and automation projects that this is part one of a two-part episode regarding Federico’s networked music automation setup and John’s new research tool. On AppStories+, Federico shares his foldable phone experiments. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus...
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What’s Next for Apps in 2026
This week, Federico and John look ahead to 2026 and what it will mean for apps, smarter Siri, and more. On AppStories+, Federico and John update listeners on their latest app experiments and holiday hardware projects. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week....
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The 2025 MacStories Selects Awards
This week, Federico and John reveal the winners of the 2025 MacStories Selects Awards, which celebrate the exceptional design, innovation, and creativity of apps across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. On AppStories+, John has some Apple Music discovery tips for Federico, and they reveal the iPhone features they don’t use. We...
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Vibe Coding Your Own Productivity Tools
This week, Federico and John explain how they go about creating personal productivity tools with the assistance of AI and walk through some of what they have created. On AppStories+, we talk about our Black Friday tech purchases. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early...
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Designing for Liquid Glass: Outstanding Indie Apps
This week, Federico and John dig into some of their favorite apps that have adopted Apple’s Liquid Glass design language. On AppStories+, it’s John’s 10th anniversary at MacStories, so he and Federico look back at the last decade. Also available on YouTube here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and...
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The Ever-Changing App Store
This week, Federico and John explore current changes to the world of apps through the lens of its past evolution. On AppStories+, we build “money’s no object” holiday wish lists for ourselves. Also available on YouTube here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every...
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Our Latest App and Automation Experiments
This week, Federico and John kick off their holiday app and automation experimentation season a little earlier than usual with a mix of apps, automations, and services. On AppStories+, Federico and John look ahead, considering the future of Shortcuts and automation. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a...
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The Great Digital Declutter
This week, Federico and John clean house, deleting old apps, screenshots, half-built shortcuts, huge downloads, and more. A look at the workflows and apps we use to stay organized and clean up our digital messes. On AppStories+, Federico’s Typing Mind experiments continue, while John shares his experience of Claude Code to build tools to run...
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Exploring AI Browsers
This week, Federico and John look at the hype surrounding AI browsers to see if there’s any there there. Then, on AppStories+, Federico explains his experiments with lightning fast alternative AI models in Typing Mind. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To...
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The Potential and Limits of the M5 iPad Pro
This week, Federico and John consider whether Apple made the case for running local LLMs and gaming on the M5 iPad Pro and discusss who should consider buying it. On AppStories+, we explain how Claude Skills work and why they are one of Anthropic’s most exciting features in a while. Also available on YouTube here....
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Apple’s Intelligence Quest: Beyond Smart Siri
This week, Federico and John discuss what might be next for Apple Intelligence and how it fits into the broader AI market. On AppStories+, Federico and John cover the fallout from the Sora app and why AI can’t replace human creativity. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a...
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What Else Do We Want from Apple in 2025?
This week, with rumors of more products in the pipeline, Federico and John share what they want most from Apple before the end of the year. On AppStories+, Federico experiments with lightning fast inference and iteration using Cerebras for scripting. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high...
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Making Sense of MCP: The Standard Connecting AI to Apps
This week, Federico and John demystify Model Context Protocol (MCP), covering how it works, where it’s heading, and practical examples of what it can do. On AppStories+, Federico and John experiment with whether AI can make sense of the information firehose. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a...
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AirPods Pro 3, iPhone Air, and a Cable Quest
This week, Federico and John follow up after a week with new Apple hardware and dig into watchOS and visionOS 26. On AppStories+, John is mixing up his link and data organization systems - again. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To...
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Fall Hardware: First Impressions
This week, Federico and John shared their first impressions of the iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and AirPods Pro 3. On AppStories+, Federico asks John about his plans to unwind now that his macOS review is out. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at...
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iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 26: The MacStories Reviews
This week, Federico and John discuss their annual OS reviews. Federico digs into the details of iOS and iPadOS 26, while John considers what macOS 26 Tahoe means for users. On AppStories+, John updates listeners on what he bought after last week’s Apple event and why. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus...
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Apple Event Vibe Check
This week, Federico and John do their annual pre-Apple event “vibe check,” discussing what they expect and hope to see at the upcoming September Apple event. They explore the rumored iPhone 17 lineup, AirPods Pro 3, and debate the Apple Watch Ultra. Plus, they share thoughts on the prospect of an Apple TV with Apple...
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Back From Break: Automation, AI, and IKEA
This week, AppStories returns with details on the projects Federico and John worked on during their breaks. On AppStories+, the importance of breaks and finding ways to unwind. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit...
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Building a Better AI App
This week, Federico and John pick and choose their favorite AI app features to imagine a better AI app future, critiquing the leading LLM apps along the way. And, as a bonus, John explains why read-later apps should support Shortcuts and other automation schemes. On AppStories+, the critique continues with a look at how Todoist...
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The iPadOS and macOS 26 Public Betas
This week, Federico and John share their experiences with iPadOS and macOS 26, which are now available as part of Apple’s public beta program. On AppStories+, Federico and John discuss the state of engagement bait posting about Apple and how it’s affecting the discourse about the company and its products. We deliver AppStories+...
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Gaming Sidekicks: Videogame Companion Apps with Brendon Bigley
This week, John is joined by Brendon Bigley to explore the wide world of videogame companion apps from media trackers to game specific companion apps. On AppStories+, John and Brendon dig into 16 years of App Store history to compile a list of games that have defined gaming on the iPhone. Also available on YouTube...
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A Secondary Device Check-In
This week, Federico and John explain how they use their secondary systems, which for John is the iPad and for Federico, the Mac. On AppStories+, Federico asks whether technologies like web-based MCP render Apple’s native App Intents irrelevant? Also available on YouTube here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and...
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Imagining Apple’s Next Big Thing
This week, Federico and John share a grab bag of projects we’d like to see Apple pursue from software, to hardware and corporate acquisitions. On AppStories+, Federico and John take their wish list further with a bunch of gadgets they’d like to see Apple make. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content,...
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Inside our Summertime Review Toolkits
This week, Federico and John reflect on their preparations for the fall review season, how dealing with design changes is different than new features, and explain some of the tools their using for research and writing this year. On AppStories+, John answers the question “What if the Stream Deck was $20 and fit in the...
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Our OS 26 Experiments: iPad Podcasting, Reminders, and More
This week, Federico records entirely on his iPad Pro using the new local capture feature in iPadOS 26. He and John discuss how this system feature changes remote podcasting, their experiences and experiments with macOS Tahoe and the new Spotlight, and why both have returned to Apple’s Reminders app—thanks in part to Apple Intelligence and...
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An iPad Pickle
This week, Federico and John reflect on where the iPad fits within their workflows after the announcement of iPadOS 26. Then, on AppStories+, they explore the potential for an Apple automation renaissance built on the features announced at WWDC. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate...
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A Behind the Scenes Peek at WWDC Week
This week, Federico and John catch listeners up on their whirlwind WWDC week, which was chaotic in the best possible way. On AppStories+, Federico and John get excited about what the WWDC announcements say about the direction of automation on Apple’s platforms. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at...
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WWDC 2025: A First Look at Everything Apple Announced
For our second WWDC episode of AppStories, Federico and John dig into the details they’ve learned about what was announced by Apple this week at WWDC 2025. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans...
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WWDC 2025: The AppStories Interviews with Apple Design Award Winners
For their first WWDC 2025 AppStories episode, Federico and John interview finalists and winners of the Apple Design Award. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ. [[audio_player]] This...
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Sky and Our 2025 Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence WWDC Wishes
This week, John shares his first impressions of Sky, the alpha AI-powered Mac automation app from the creators of Workflow and Shortcuts and then he and Federico share their Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence wishes for WWDC 2025 On AppStories+, John and Federico consider what AI means for developers and the App Store in the year...
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Our 2025 macOS and visionOS WWDC Wishes
This week, Federico and John share their WWDC wishes for macOS and visionOS. On AppStories+, John explores how Apple hardware and software got so out of sync when it comes to AI use cases. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn...
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Airbnb 2025 Summer Release: An Interview with Jud Coplan and Teo Connor
This week, Federico and John interview Airbnb Vice President of Product Marketing, Jud Coplan, and Vice President of Design, Teo Connor. On AppStories+, Federico explores running LLMs locally on an M3 Ultra Mac Studio. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn...
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The Swift Student Challenge Interviews and watchOS and tvOS Wishes
This week, Federico and John interview Apple’s VP of Developer Relations, Education, and Enterprise, Susan Prescott, along with Amy Key and Omar Firdaus, Distinguished Swift Student Challenge Winners. Then, they also share their 2025 wishes for watchOS and tvOS. On AppStories+, John leads a philosophical discussion about art, culture, and creativity and where it’s heading...
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Our 2025 iOS and iPadOS WWDC Wishes
This week, Federico and John begin their annual look at what they’d like to see Apple announce at WWDC 2025, starting with iOS and iPadOS 19. On AppStories+, John explains why the recent contempt order entered against Apple is a bigger deal than most people realize, on multiple levels. We deliver AppStories+ to...
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Tackling Trackers
This week, Federico and John tackle tracking apps. From database apps to media trackers, they consider what makes a good tracking app no matter what you’re tracking. On AppStories+, Federico quizzes John about what’s on his desk, the tech he’d be happy to have a burgler steal, and more. We deliver AppStories+ to...
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How We’re Using AI
This week, Federico and John revisit the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence to describe how they’re using a variety of tools for their everyday workflows. On AppStories+, John shares his theory of the way we’ll look at AI models in the future. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at...
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Time for Calendars
This week, Federico and John survey their favorite calendar apps, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each. On AppStories+, Federico shares Shortcuts tips for working with Google’s Gemini API and the highly structured data it returns. Plus he and John share their concern and cautious optimism for the future of Shortcuts. We deliver...
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Return of the Utility Grab Bag
This week, Federico and John share some of their favorite utility apps, including Amphetamine, Text Lens, Gifski, Folder Peek, Mic Drop, Keka, and Marked. Then, on AppStories+, Federico and John extend their conversation about utilities with six more favorites. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate...
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Pick 3: Automations
This week, Federico and John take listeners on a tour of the wide variety of automations they’ve been working on so far this year, including shortcuts, Claude projects, and Zapier zaps. On AppStories+, Federico and John dig a little deeper into some of the more complex automations that they’ve been working on in 2025. not...
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From Dashboard Widgets to Breaking News: Mark Gurman’s Path to Bloomberg
In this special interview episode, Federico and John welcome Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to discuss his 16-year journey covering Apple. Mark shares how he started as a teenage app developer before joining 9to5Mac and eventually Bloomberg. The conversation explores Mark’s most memorable scoops, the evolution of Apple news coverage, his relationship with Apple, and advice for...
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Shortcuts Utility Apps Revisited
This week, Federico and John explore a collection of Shortcuts helper utilities that extend functionality beyond the built-in system actions, sharing how these apps address gaps in Apple’s Shortcuts implementation across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. On AppStories+, John interviews Federico about his recent story that concludes web applications often provide superior experiences to native...

Our Self-Imposed Tech Deadlines
This week, Federico and John share their self-imposed tech deadlines for the hardware and software they use. On AppStories+, Federico and John follow up their tech deadlines with the hardware they expect to add to their setups in 2025. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate...
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The Missing Middle
This week, Federico and John examine the widening gap between consumer and enterprise apps, asking what happened to prosumer and small business app market. On AppStories+, John doesn’t buy Apple’s explanation of why the iPhone 16e doesn’t have MagSafe and has an email-adjacent theory about task managers. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with...
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5 for 5: Five Predictions, Five Years
This week, Federico and John make five app predictions for the next five years covering everything from App Intents and automation to the fate of the App Store. On AppStories+, John talks through a very specific use case for Apple’s new iPhone 16e. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and...
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A Classic Pick 2: Hidden Gems
[[audio_player]] This week, Federico and John each pick two apps you may or may not have heard of or considered using and explain why you should give them a try. On AppStories+, we extend our picks with several more apps we’ve been testing recently. Learn more at appstories.plus. This episode is sponsored by: Memberful – Easy-to-Use...
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Thoughts on Covering AI Our Way
[[audio_player]] This week, Federico and John say goodbye to the AppStories+ pre-show and hello to the new post-show. Then, for the main event, they update listeners on how MacStories plans to cover AI news and tools. if [appstories] On AppStories+, Federico and John share the AI tools they are using themselves. Links and Show...
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