John Voorhees

1525 posts on MacStories since November 2015

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.
voorhees@macstories.net

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Creator Studio Review: Redefining Pro for the Modern Era

Starting today, Apple is offering a subscription bundle of its creative apps called Creator Studio. Some of what’s included is exclusive to the subscription package, while other parts of it remain available à la carte. It’s a lot to absorb, and I’ll get to all the details in due course.

However, what’s most exciting to me is the fact that Apple is clearly repositioning these apps to appeal to a broader cross-section of creatives. Apps like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are no longer just for Hollywood and music studios. By filling out the iPad lineup and adding Pixelmator Pro along with enhanced versions of their productivity apps, Apple has taken the first steps toward realigning its apps with what it means to be a creative professional in 2026.

This transition isn’t the sort of thing that happens overnight, which is why it’s easy to spot the gaps in Creator Studio’s offerings. I ran into a couple of bugs along the way, too. However, by and large, I think the bundle of apps hits the right notes and is heading in the right direction. Let’s take a closer look.

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The New Club MacStories: Re-Subscribing to Your RSS Feeds and What’s Coming Next

You need to resubscribe to your Club member RSS feeds.

You need to resubscribe to your Club member RSS feeds.

The new unified MacStories website is here, bringing Club MacStories content under the same roof as the rest of the site for the first time. While this transition delivers a more cohesive experience for members, a few things are different and others are still being implemented.

How to Re-Subscribe to Your RSS Feeds

Club MacStories+ and Premier members have access to custom feeds as part of their subscriptions. With today’s update, you’ll need to resubscribe to those feeds. The old ones will no longer work. Here’s what to do.

  1. Visit My Feeds from the Account dropdown on macstories.net.
  2. Copy the feed URL.
  3. Paste it into your RSS reader to subscribe.
  4. Note: Club Premier members will also need to do this for AppStories+.

These new feeds are personal to you and will continue to work going forward as long as you maintain your Club membership. Since these feeds are uniquely tied to your paid Club account, please don’t share them publicly.

A Note on Discord Access

If you’re a Club MacStories+ or Premier member who joined before today’s transition, your Discord access remains intact. There’s nothing you need to do.

New or returning members who want to join the Discord community will need to wait just a bit longer. We are working with Memberful engineers to migrate users from our previous system. Once that process is complete, we’ll provide you with instructions to connect your Discord account from MacStories.

Coming Soon: Features in Development

Find a bug on the new site? You can submit it [here](https://giant-smash-219.notion.site/2f635e3fe8d8805a91dae6d2824dd997?pvs=105).

Find a bug on the new site? You can submit it here.

The launch of the new site required some tough decisions about which features to prioritize. Three capabilities from the previous Club website aren’t available yet but are actively being worked on for future updates.

  1. The Explore interface, which allowed members to search Club MacStories content using visual filters, hasn’t made the transition yet.
  2. The ability to generate unique RSS feeds for specific sections of the Club isn’t currently supported, though you can still subscribe to RSS feeds for entire newsletter issues as detailed above.
  3. The real-time search autocomplete suggestions that appeared as you typed in the search box are temporarily unavailable.

These features are coming back. However, the priority was on delivering a functional, unified experience now rather than continuing to maintain a fragmented system, while we waited for every legacy feature to be rebuilt.

We hope you enjoy the new Club experience on MacStories. The transition to a unified website is a significant step forward for the Club and greater MacStories community that will allow us to do more for everyone in the future. Thanks for bearing with us during this transition, and please feel free to get in touch with any questions or bug reports.

Tim Cook Attended an Exclusive Weekend Screening of the Upcoming ‘Melania’ Documentary→

The Hollywood Reporter broke the story over the weekend that an early screening of an Amazon-backed documentary about Melania Trump was held at the White House. According to reporter McKinley Franklin’s sources, the event was attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook as well as other CEOs and VIPs:

The event, which has not been promoted or advertised, is taking place in the White House on Saturday. Guests include director Brett Ratner; Queen Rania of Jordan; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin; AMD CEO Lisa Su; Mike Tyson; socialite and Fiat heiress Azzi Agnelli; self-help guru Tony Robbins; and photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who shot the movie poster for the film.

Earlier that day, a Minneapolis man was shot and killed by federal agents. I’d like to think that in the face of such a tragedy the screening would have been called off or that attendees, including Cook, would have been no-shows, but according to Rolling Stone editor Marlow Stern, Cook and others did attend.

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Apple Introduces New and Improved AirTag

Source: Apple

Source: Apple

In a press release today, Apple launched a second-generation AirTag that features an upgraded components, making it easier to locate than the original 2021 AirTag.

The new AirTag features a bunch of new hardware packed into the same design as the original version, including:

  • the same second-generation Ultra Wideband chip found in the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and Apple Watch Ultra 3,
  • a better Bluetooth chip that can be detected over longer distances, and
  • a 50% louder speaker.

According to Apple, that allows the tiny device to be detected from 50% farther away and heard from twice as far away. Apple has changed the AirTag’s chime that it says will make it easier to find, too. Precision finding is also available for the first time from an Apple Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later. To track the device from an iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to be running iOS or iPadOS 26. Apple Watch precision tracking requires watchOS 26.2.1.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The press release also reveals more than 50 airlines now accept location links to help find missing luggage. According to a report from an airline industry IT provider, AirTags have helped reduce baggage delays by 26% and reduce lost luggage by 90%.

Like the exterior design, the price of the AirTag hasn’t changed. It still costs $29 for one or $99 for a four-pack of AirTags. Apple is also offering a FineWoven keychain for $35 that comes in five colors. The new AirTag can be ordered now and will be available in retail stores later this week.

AppStories, Ep. 469 - 43 minutes

Terminal Tips and Claude Code Workflows

FedericoJohn

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.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

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.

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 469 - Terminal Tips and Claude Code Workflows

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43:26

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This episode is sponsored by:

  • HTTPBot: A powerful API client and debugger for Apple platforms. Get a 7-day trial and 25% off your subscription.

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Unexpected Lessons from Claude Code Experiments

For the past six weeks, I’ve been continuously building tools with Claude Code. I started small with things like PopClip extensions, which I covered last week, and moved on to tools like a loudness leveling script that adheres to podcasting industry standards and allowed me to dump my underutilized Creative Cloud subscription when Adobe raised...

The Iconfactory Launches Kickstarter to Expand Ollie’s Arcade with Frenzic

Ollie’s Arcade was launched in 2023 by The Iconfactory with three mini-games reminiscent of beloved classic videogames. Today, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $20,000. If reached, The Iconfactory will make Ollie’s Arcade free and bring its game Frenzic to the bundle. Frenzic was one of the earliest iOS game and a fan favorite that was later adapted for Apple Arcade, but has since left Apple’s subscription gaming service.

The Ollie’s Arcade campaign is about more than just its games though. As The Iconfactory explains:

From a bigger perspective the Kickstarter is yet another way we’re trying to sustain ourselves and keep the Iconfactory up and running. We all know times are tough, especially for small, non-investor driven businesses like ours. We’ve struggled to pay our salaries, keep up with the rising cost of health care and to compete against the onslaught of AI driven design solutions. The new KS won’t be enough to solve all our revenue problems, but it will help give us runway to keep the lights on while we find new ways to stick around and serve you. The more we raise now, the longer and safer that runway gets.

The Iconfactory has a long and stories history since it was founding in 1996. Since then they’ve produced some of the most thoughtfully designed apps and icons around. The Iconfactory isn’t the only company whose business has been hurt by generative AI, but I sincerely hope it isn’t one of the fatalities too. Check out the Kickstarter campaign and chip in to help them and make some great games free for everyone. And while you’re at it, don’t miss all the other great apps they have on the App Store like Tapestry, Tot, Triode, xScope, and many other.

AppStories, Ep. 468 - 43 minutes

A Very ‘Just Build It’ Holiday

FedericoJohn

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.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

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.

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 468 - A Very ‘Just Build It’ Holiday

0:00
42:35

↓

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

Read more

Using PopClip Extensions to Get Started with Claude Code

On the next episode of AppStories, Federico and I will wrap up our discussion of what we built over the holidays. With the “what” out of the way, we’re planning on talking about the “how” and the implications tools like Codex and Claude Code have for app development in general. However, I’m impatient, so I...