AppStories

This week on AppStories, John and Federico talk about Apple's new HomeView, the HomePod mini 2, and Apple TV 4K (4th gen). Then for AppStories+ subscribers, Federico and John dive into the world decomped video games, with a warning for what's to come for developers on Apple's platforms. Also available on YouTube here. --- Sponsored By: Claude – Discover what's possible. Try Claude today. --- Links and Show Notes Apple HomeView Meet Apple HomeView: A New Way to Enjoy Entertainment and Manage the Home Apple Unveils HomeView: A Smart Home Display Powered by Siri AI HomePod mini 2 Apple Announces the Next Generation of HomePod Mini Apple Reveals HomePod mini 2 with New Colors, Richer Sound, and Siri AI Apple TV 4K Apple unveils the new Apple TV 4K, supercharged by Siri AI The Apple TV 4K Gets Siri AI, an A19 Chip, and a $299 Price Tag Apple Home Collection Introducing Apple Home Collection, a new lineup of smart home accessories Siri AI, iOS 27, and the AI Landscape Apple Is Slow-Rolling iOS 27 Adoption, So Far…

This week on AppStories, Federico and John start realizing the benefits of their attempt to automate all administrative tasks and explain why Apple's vague developer blog post about Full Disk Access and AI agents should concern all Mac users whether or not they use AI. On AppStories+, as John nears the finish line on his podcast production suite for the Mac, he explains how the project started and what it's done to improve his podcasting workflow. Also available on YouTube here. --- Sponsored By: Crickets: The First Alarm Clock for Families. For a limited time, get 50% off for 6 months with code MACSTORIES2026 by selecting Redeem on the app’s paywall. --- Links and Show Notes Apple's Full Disk Access Announcement Apple Announces Plan to Impose New Full Disk Access Controls on Mac Developers Apple Developer Blog post Meta’s New Muse AI Agent Read My Private Messages. I Never Asked It To Meta denies its Muse AI agent read a journalist's private messages Some Mac Utilities That Rely on Full Disk Access Raycast…

Meet Dot: OpenAI's Always On Agent This week on AppStories, John is back from OpenAI DevDay, so he and Federico cover the history of AI agents, the current landscape, and what OpenAI is doing with Dots. On AppStories+, Federico provides a sneak peek at what's in store for his Reminders, Notes, and upcoming CLIs. Also available on YouTube here. Links and Show Notes AI Agents OpenAI Dots and DevDay 2026 OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar (TechCrunch) OpenAI’s Dots: A First Look Self Hosted Agents OpenClaw OpenClaw on GitHub Hermes Agent OpenAI hires OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger Hosted Agent Competitors Meta's Muse becomes App Store's hottest download Grok Bot Grok Bot Brings Always-On AI Agents to macOS and iOS AppStories+ Post-Show: RemCTL: GitHub MacStories: Introducing RemCTL, the Power-User Reminders CLI for macOS and AI Agents NotesCTL: Club MacStories download MacStories: NotesCTL, a Club MacStories Preview of Federico’s Advanced Apple Notes CLI Tool Leave Feedback for John and…

This week on AppStories, John shares his favorite parts of macOS and watchOS 27 from his reviews of both. On AppStories+, Federico and John begin revisiting new their long lists of automation projects. Also available on YouTube here. Sponsored By: Scribe – AI-powered workflow documentation. Get your first month free. Links and Show Notes John's macOS and watchOS 27 Reviews macOS 27: The MacStories Review watchOS 27: The MacStories Review AppStories+ Show Notes AI Agents and Cloud Development Claude Code Projects Cursor Cloud Agents Muse (Meta AI agent) Grok Bot Local AI on Mac Studio Qwen3.8 Flash Next Xiaomi MiMo-V2.6 MLX LM Studio Draw Things oMLX mlx-serve DwarfStar Open Minis Tailscale Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

This week on AppStories, John interviews Federico about his review of the M5 Ultra Mac Studio and it local AI capabilities. On AppStories+, Federico takes listeners behind the scenes on how he tested the M5 Ultra Mac Studio. Also available on YouTube here. Sponsored By: Workbench: Remote desktop for AI agents and headless Mac minis. Free to use for 20 minutes/day. Claude – For problems worth solving — get started with Claude today. Links and Show Notes Running Local AI Models on Apple's Latest Macs M5 Ultra Mac Studio Review: The Dream Mac for Local AI Agents Apple Hardware Mac Studio Mac mini Studio Display XDR Local Models Qwen3.8-Flash-Next Qwen3.8-27B DeepSeek-V4-Flash GLM-5.3-Flash Cohere Transcribe Qwen3-TTS Qwen-Image-2.1 Local Inference and Clustering oMLX exo Agent Apps and Tools Hermes Agent Hermes Agent on GitHub Open Minis Cadu OpenAI Brings Computer Use to Codex App on Windows Frontier Models and Workflow GPT-6 Astra Claude Fable 5.1 Claude Projects Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index Elyx…

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 Notes iOS and iPadOS 27: The MacStories Review Federico's iOS and iPadOS 27 Review Our OS 27 Review Extras: eBooks, Shortcuts, and the Making of the iOS and iPadOS 27 Review On AppStories Next Week: macOS 27: The MacStories Review watchOS 27: The MacStories Review AppStories+ Post-Show: The Role Agents Played in Review Production Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

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 extended two-week free trial with the link above. Shipaton, from RevenueCat: The world's biggest mobile hackathon for people who actually ship. Links and Show Notes App Store History The App Store at 10, MacStories' 2018 coverage of the App Store's 10th anniversary Apps Discussed From The Early App Store Era Instapaper Twitterrific Spotify WhatsApp AI and the Modern App Store Inside OpenAI's Codex with Andrew Ambrosino (MacStories) AppStories+ Post-Show: All-Time Favorite Apps Overcast Editorial Pythonista 3 Drafts Unread: An RSS Reader Working Copy Open Minis Launch Center Pro Screens 5: VNC Remote Desktop Mercury…

Imagining the Perfect Podcast App

What to Expect This Fall

First Impressions of the Public Beta

What to Expect from the Public Betas

What API Changes Mean for Users

Top OS and App Tips

What's Next for Email Apps?

WWDC Recap and Applebot

ADA and Swift Student Challenge Interviews

Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence

WWDC 2024 First Impressions

WWDC Predictions

watchOS and tvOS Wishes

2024 macOS and visionOS Wishes

The iOS and iPadOS updates we'd love to see

How the iPad Is Held Back by Its OS

The Journey from Side Loaded App to Alternative App Marketplace

Interviews with Apple's Susan Prescott plus past and present student winners

The Themes, Plugins, and Systems We Use

Mac Apps We Love

Apps Are So 2007

A Story 26 Years in the Making

The iOS 18 Shortcuts Features We Want to See

Recent App Downloads

Where Is App Design Headed?

How Federico Built a Hybrid Mac/iPad

visionOS Entertainment Apps

visionOS

The Vision Pro Hardware Experience

Apple's Response to the EU

New Workflows

Apple Vision Pro Prep

Welcome Magic Rays of Light

Apps We're Enjoying

How Could Apple Improve the Share Sheet?

Honoring Excellence in Apps

Imagining Alternative Apple Histories

Holiday Tech Projects (Part 2)

Holiday Tech Projects (Part 1)

Tips for Staying Digitally Organized

Imagining an Extensible To-Do App

Apple's Scary Fast Event

Web Apps