AppStories

This week, Federico and John conclude their music miniseries with an episode dedicated to alternative and companion streaming services after checking in on Federico’s early experiments with an extensible text editor. This episode is sponsored by: DEVONthink – The one place for storing and working with all your documents, snippets, and bookmarks Linode – Cloud Hosting & Linux Servers. Get a $100 in free credit. Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico may have found the highly-customizable, extensible text editor he’s always wanted, providing a preview of what may be a significant change to his 2021 iOS review workflow. Alternative and Companion Music Streaming Services Bandsintown PLUS Amazon Music HD Primephonic Nugs.net Qobuz TIDAL Roon Triode Broadcasts Also mentioned Federico’s Fiio Q5S portable amplifier and DAC Sony SRS-RA5000 360 Reality Audio speaker Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John introduce part two of their Music miniseries, with a focus on third-party music discovery, playback, and utility apps. This episode is sponsored by: Privacy – Smarter payments. Get $5 to spend on your first purchase. Pingdom – Start monitoring your website performance and availability today, and get instant alerts when an outage occurs or a site transaction fails. Use offer code APPSTORIES to get 30% off. Offer expires on January 31, 2022, and can be used only once. Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple. Links and Show Notes What’s New John’s ongoing RSS experiments ReadKit Pocket Music Discovery and Utility Apps MusicHarbor Winner of the MacStories Selects Award for 2020’s App of the Year MusicHarbor Unveils a New Mac-Ready iPad Design and Widgets How I Keep Track of New Music Releases MusicSmart MusicSmart Puts the Spotlight on Music Credits Denim SongShift SongShift 3.0 and Switching Between Apple Music and Spotify Shazam Apple Completes Acquisition of Shazam Shazam Updated with Synchronized Lyrics and a New Design Spotistats PlayTally Playback Albums Albums 4.0: A Must-Have App for Music Lovers Longplay Soor Winner of the MacStories Selects Award for 2020’s Best App Update Soor 2 Review: Magic Mixes and Release Alerts Elevate the Beautiful Apple Music Client Doppler Doppler Enables Pain-Free Importing of Music and Podcasts from Safari on iOS Prism Neutron Miximum Miximum Review: Smart Apple Music Playlists on iOS Marvis Marvis Review: The Ultra-Customizable Apple Music Client Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John talk about Apple Arcade’s big expansion and the iOS component of John’s retro gaming project before beginning a new mini-series focused on music. For the first installment, Federico and John focus on hardware and services, covering their current setups, how they listen to music, and the services they use. This episode is sponsored by: Backblaze – Get peace of mind knowing your files are backed up securely in the cloud. Start a free 15-day trial with Backblaze today Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple. Privacy – Smarter payments. Get $5 to spend on your first purchase. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico on Apple Arcade’s Big Update Apple Arcade Expands More Originals and iOS Classics Fantasian Wonderbox Timeless Classics and App Store Greats Fruit Ninja Classic+ Backgammon+ Monument Valley+ Zach Gage Interview and Games Game preservation interview with Zach Gage on AppStories, Episode 67 Really Bad Chess+ SpellTower+ Flipflop Solitaire+ Good Sudoku+ Cut the Rope Remastered Frenzic: Overtime (Coming Soon) Tenth anniversary of the App Store series on MacStories App Preservation: Saving the App Store’s History Music Current Setups John Harmon Kardon Soundsticks 4 speakers for the Mac HomePods and HomePods Mini AirPods Pro and AirPods Max Powerbeats Pro Libratone Zipp Federico Amazon Echo Amazon Spot Keeping an eye on the Sonos Roam AirPods Max Sony WF1000-XM3 Federico’s Offline Listening Sony MDR-ZR1 Sony IER-ZR1 Sony WM1A Walkman Signature Series XLD Editing FLAC Metadata with Meta for Mac HD Tracks 7 Digital Bandcamp Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John scrutinize Apple’s home strategy from its discontinued Airport routers and HomePod to the Apple TV, HomePod mini, HomeKit routers, the Home app, and more, plus ongoing browser and calendar experiments, and the hunt for an elusive keyboard continues. This episode is sponsored by: Pillow – Sleeping better, made simple. Privacy – Smarter payments. Get $5 to spend on your first purchase. Technology Untangled: – Join Michael Bird as he untangles innovation through a series of interviews, stories, and analyses with some of the industry’s brightest brains. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico switches his default browser FireFox John switches calendar apps Timepage Calendar 366 My Must-Have iOS Apps, 2018 Edition Keyboard Follow-Up Satechi Slim X1 Logitech K380 Keychron K2 Myke Hurley’s Friday Keyboard Club Apple at Home Linksys Velop HomeKit Router Managing the Internet Access of HomeKit Devices with the Linksys Velop Mesh WiFi Router System The Talk Show – Episode 310, Russian Nesting Doll Code Home+ 5 Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John, who are always on the lookout for new ways to read and process the stories they find, discuss the features and approaches they’d like to see in the ideal read-it-later app. This episode is sponsored by: DEVONthink – The one place for storing and working with all your documents, snippets, and bookmarks. RevenueCat – In-app subscriptions made easy. Get started now for free. Pinstachio – A modern Pinboard app for your iPhone and iPad. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico’s Craft Dashboard See chapter art to view Federico’s Dashboard or tap here John’s Keyboard and Trackpad Wishes Logitech MX Keys keyboard Logitech MX Master 3 mouse Twelve South HoverBar Duo Kensington StudioDock First Impressions: Kensington’s StudioDock Aims to Turn Your iPad Pro into an Expandable Desktop Workstation Imagining the Perfect Read-It-Later App AppStories Episode 165: Imagining the Perfect Research App Read Later versus Bookmarking Apps Raindrop.io GoodLinks Pinboard Federico’s Read-It-Later Setup Kindle Oasis Push to Kindle bookmarklet Read-It-Later and Other Apps Mentioned CuBox Reeder lire Fiery Feeds Instapaper Pocket Articles+ Notion Readwise Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John consider why surprising apps seem increasingly rare and share some of the apps that have surprised them the most over the past year. This episode is sponsored by: Crypto Pro – Cryptocurrency portfolio tracker app. Get month of Premium with code AS2021. DeleteMe – Remove your personal info from data brokers. Get 20% off with code APPSTORIES. RevenueCat – In-app subscriptions made easy. Get started now for free. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico digs into Taio, the recently-launched text editor and clipboard manager, and shares three automations with Club MacStories members John explains what it’s like to review a feature-rich app like Adobe Fresco Can Apps Still Surprise Us? Connected, Episode 334 – A Wave of Nostalgia Hit Me in the Face on Relay FM Apps discussed TV Forecast GameTrack Genius Scan Adobe Fresco CARROT Weather Craft Taio Scan Thing GoodTask Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John dig into email newsletters and how they manage and read them. This episode is sponsored by: Microsoft Lists – A Microsoft 365 app that helps you track information and organize work. Privacy – Smarter payments. Get $5 to spend on your first purchase. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico revisits his Home Screen setup John dives back into Craft shortcuts and begins rethinking his use of Mac automation including Hazel Newsletter Management and Reading The Booming Email Newsletter Business Substack Twitter Super Follows and Revue RSS Feedbin Inoreader Email Clients Using The Feed in Hey Email folders and rules Mailbrew Substack Reader Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John take a hard look at Shortcuts, an app they rely on every day, and consider how they would like to see Apple evolve the app this year and beyond. This episode is sponsored by: Fitbod – The fitness app for personalized exercise plans. Get 25% off your membership. Impending – The team behind Head’s Up. Now hiring. Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico rethinks his RSS and ‘read later’ workflow as well as his Home Screen setup John signs up for a Hey personal account and figures out how to sleep his Mac and eject external drives with the press of a button Shortcuts Wish List, 2021 Edition Shortcuts Wishes: The App Block folding Color-coded actions Sub-folders More colors and icons An action browser Debugging tools Shortcut locking Shortcuts Wishes: Actions Multitasking actions Better Files integration Complex UI building tools Safari actions The ability to run Swift and JavaScript Apple Music service actions Simplified Web API integration Shortcuts Wishes: Automations Deeper HomeKit support Apple TV integration with home automations Personal automations that can run at set intervals App-based triggers Proximity and presence triggers Shortcuts Wishes: Everything Else Widgets Trigger shortcuts with inputs via Siri Run Apple Watch shortcut complications on the Watch face Global hotkeys Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John flip last week’s topic around and consider the hardware and software features that the iPad should steal from the Mac. This episode is sponsored by: DEVONthink – The one place for storing and working with all your documents, snippets, and bookmarks Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico on finding the right mix of apps, widgets, and shortcuts on his Home Screens and testing Taio John on pushing the boundaries of Shortcuts’ personal and home automations Features We’d Like the iPad to Steal from the Mac Time Machine-style backups System-level enhancements Improved external display support Deeper System-Level Shortcuts actions Expanded Files support Expanded automation triggers Control Center Improved image file handling Gatekeeper and app side-loading File sorting options and Music uploading Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees

This week, Federico and John consider the hardware and software features that the Mac should steal from the iPad. This episode is sponsored by: HelloFresh – Click this link and use code appstories10 for 10 free meals, including free shipping! Links and Show Notes What’s New Federico’s new RSS widget app, Headlines John experiments with Timepage MusicBot Features We’d Like the Mac to Steal from the iPad Closed lid music playback and other Music features Upgrade 338 – Loved by Podcasters the World Over Mobile data iCloud Time Machine Hot-swapping external drives Automation TestFlight MagSafe Touch input Follow us on Twitter AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Instagram AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees