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. Hosted by Federico Viticci and John Voorhees.
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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. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more abo...
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 . Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early e...
[ 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. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. 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]( https://appstories.net/plans , or read ...
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. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. 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]( https://appstories.net/plans , or read th...
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 . Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early ev...
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. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. 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]( https://appstories.net/plans , or read the Ap...
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 . Subscribe here. 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]( https://appstories.net/plans , or read the AppStories+ FAQ . Th...
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. Subscribe here. 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]( https://appstories.net/plans , or read the AppStories+ FAQ . Links and Show Notes Apple Takes the Wraps Off the MacBook Neo ...
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 Claude today. Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppSto...
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. Subscribe here. 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 AppStor...
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 – Introducing the Insta360 Wave and the Link 2 Pro. Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To l...
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. Subscribe here. 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 . Subscribe here Links and Show Notes How We Use Notion Notion Notion Web Clipper Not...
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. Subscribe here. [We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers]https://www.macstories.net/appstories-plans/) with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page , ...
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. Subscribe here. 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 . This episode is sponsored by: HTTPBot : A...
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. Subscribe here. 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 . Link...
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. Subscribe here. 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 ,...
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. Subscribe here. 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 . Links and Show Notes App and Apple Preditions and Trends ...
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. Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscripti...
Federico and John explore "vibe coding" with AI to create personal productivity tools, clarifying its definition, origins, and limitations for commercial software. They share their respective workflows for building custom scripts and apps, emphasizing iteration, detailed prompting, and the use of LLMs for learning. The episode also forecasts the future of AI-assisted development, including new app creation platforms and evolving developer roles.
This AppStories episode dives into outstanding indie applications that have thoughtfully adopted Apple's Liquid Glass design language, often outperforming Apple's own implementations. Federico and John highlight apps like Denim, Locally AI, Longplay, Matter, Gentler Streak, Unread, and Todoist, showcasing their unique UIs, animations, and clever integration of new features. They also touch on the challenges and successes of designing text-heavy apps with transparency, alongside an interesting tangent on using an agentic browser for app migration.
Federico and John discuss the radical changes in the app world, from the evolution of subscription models impacting app updates to a significant shift in developer sentiment towards Apple. They explore the profound influence of AI, which is driving new investment and development, leading to a landscape where chatbots dictate feature consolidation and builder culture is moving from native apps to web and AI solutions. The episode also touches on the challenges of navigating this constantly evolving tech environment, where fixed app recommendations are becoming increasingly difficult.
Federico and John share their recent app and automation experiments, including experiences with Claude's evolving "skills" feature and a detailed look at various open-source AI models like Kimi K2 and GLM 4.6 for coding. They also discuss new web services like Firecrawl for web scraping and Parallel for AI-powered deep research, along with personal workflows for Notion and Readwise Reader. The episode concludes with John's app discoveries like Bloom and Superhuman, and a passionate discussion on the state of web browsers across platforms.
This episode explores effective strategies for decluttering digital lives, with Federico and John sharing their workflows. They cover various backup approaches, from cloud services to external SSDs, and recommend tools like Carbon Copy Cloner and Hazel. Discussions include managing overflowing app libraries on iOS, cleaning up shortcuts, and efficiently handling large media files. The hosts also review specialized utilities like Clean My Phone and DaisyDisk for maintaining an organized and optimized digital environment.
Federico and John explore the latest AI browsers, discussing their common features, unique integrations, and limitations, particularly focusing on Comet's polished experience versus Atlas's market leverage. They critically examine agent mode's security flaws and limited practical use cases, pondering whether AI in browsers is a standalone product or merely an evolving feature that will integrate into all web experiences, and the broader implications for web search and consumption.
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 . Subscribe here. 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 P...
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. Subscribe here. 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 . This episode is sponsored by: Claude : ...
