Camera Remote and Higher-Quality Audio Recording Coming to AirPods This Fall

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

While most of the new features announced at WWDC today are coming to Apple’s major OSes, the AirPods weren’t completely left out of the fun. Today, Apple revealed a couple of enhancements coming to the AirPods line this fall.

First up is a new camera remote feature. Users will soon be able to take a photo or start a video recording in the Camera app and compatible third-party apps on the iPhone and iPad by pressing and holding on the stem of their AirPods. If a video is already being recorded, a press-and-hold gesture will end the recording. This will be a nice replacement for the camera timer when you’re taking a group photo, and it will also come in handy for many online creators.

Apple Intelligence Expands: Onscreen Visual Intelligence, Shortcuts, Third-Party Apps, and More

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

One of the big questions heading into today’s WWDC keynote was how Apple would address its AI efforts. After a splashy introduction last year followed by a staggered rollout and the eventual delay of the more personalized Siri, it was unclear how much focus the company would put on Apple Intelligence during its big announcement video.

Surprisingly, they came right out of the gate with a segment on Apple Intelligence, even going so far as to mention the fact that the more personalized Siri needed more time; it’s slated to be released “in the coming year.” But SVP of Software Craig Federighi also said that Apple Intelligence had progressed with more capable and efficient models and teased that more Apple Intelligence features would be revealed throughout the presentation. Rather than dedicating a significant portion of the keynote just to AI features, the company returned to a platform-centered structure for the rest of the video and mentioned Apple Intelligence as it related to each OS.

In its second year, Apple Intelligence is set to expand in more ways than one. Perhaps most excitingly, third-party developers will soon have access to Apple Intelligence’s on-device foundation model, enabling them to implement AI features in their apps that work offline in a privacy-respecting way. And because the framework is local, it will be available to developers at no additional cost with no API fees.

visionOS 26: The MacStories Overview

By Devon Dundee

Source: Apple.

As part of this year’s WWDC keynote, Apple today announced visionOS 26, the next major version of visionOS coming this fall. The update features new ways for users to experience spatial content, display information in their environment, and interact with apps and games. It represents the next step forward for Apple’s vision of spatial computing, including what the company refers to as “the spatial web.”

Since Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language borrows heavily from visionOS, design changes won’t be as striking on the platform. The most prominent user-facing feature of the update is likely to be spatial widgets.

Up to this point, native widgets have been completely absent on visionOS, and the company has introduced them in a way that is consistent with its other devices while adding a spatial flair. Widgets can be customized to include a border and a depth effect to blend in with the user’s environment, and they remain fixed persistently in place even after the Vision Pro restarts. Built-in options like the Clock, Calendar, Music, and Photos widgets were featured, though third-party developers will be able to provide their own widget options via the new Widgets app.

Various ways of experiencing spatial content have been enhanced in visionOS 26 as well. Building on last year’s introduction of spatial photo conversion, Apple this year added a feature called spatial scenes to all of its platforms. Spatial scenes add depth to photos, enabling users to experience their pictures from different perspectives by moving their heads. These scenes can be viewed in Photos, the Spatial Gallery, and Safari, and developers can add them to their own apps. visionOS 26 also adds native support for playing back 180-degree, 360-degree, and wide field-of-view content.

Podcast Rewind: One Year of Comfort Zone, Switch 2 First Impressions, and Golfing with Owen Wilson

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone has completed its first year! Instead of doing a clip show or something, the gang gets right down to business doing what they do best: complaining about browsers, going down an audiophile rabbit hole, and battling to see who has the best Mac background app.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Federico and John walk listeners through their first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2, including the hardware, the setup process, Super Mario Kart World, the Zelda upgrades, the new Pro Controller, and more.

For this week’s NPC XL, Brendon joins Federico and John from Tokyo with questions about their experiences with the Nintendo Switch 2. After more play time, the crew covers accessories, Mario Kart World’s unique features, battery life, and the experience of playing Cyberpunk 2077.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon highlight the premiere of Apple Original comedy series Stick starring Owen Wilson. Then, they compete to predict what’s in store for Apple TV at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

MacStories Unwind

MacStories Unwind is taking a two-week WWDC holiday starting this week. We’ll be back with another episode the week after WWDC – Thursday, June 19, for Club MacStories members and Friday, June 20, for everyone else.

Screens Enables File Transfers Between Your Mac and Other Apple Devices

By Devon Dundee

For years, my go-to solution for remotely accessing a Mac from another device has been Screens from Edovia. It’s excellent for logging into my home iMac from my iPad when I’m on the go, getting tasks done on machines across my work network from my office on my Vision Pro, quickly checking things from my iPhone, and even grabbing files from other Macs to put on my MacBook Pro.

That last use case – transferring files from one device to another – has previously been limited to Mac-to-Mac connections. But with its latest update, Screens is bringing file transfers to the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro, giving the app a major new capability on these platforms that is going to benefit a lot of workflows.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been working remotely on a Mac from my iPad and found myself needing a file on one of the devices to be available on the other. Usually, I end up dropping the file into iCloud Drive and waiting for it to sync; it’s not a terribly inefficient process, but it’s not the most straightforward, either. Since the two devices are already connected, why not move the file directly between them? Now, I can.

Podcast Rewind: Weird Sliding Handhelds, Sky, and Wishes for Apple Intelligence and Shortcuts

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

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 ahead.

This episode is sponsored by:

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NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, with the Switch 2 launch just around the corner, Federico and John round up the latest Switch 2 news, get excited for a bunch of weird and wonderful upcoming handhelds, and more.

On NPC XL, John walks listeners through the setup process for installing NVIDIA GeForce Now on the Steam Deck, and Federico reveals a new controller and plans to stream from his gaming PC to handhelds when he’s away from home.

Bringing My Social Media Timelines Into Reeder

By Devon Dundee

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Podcast Rewind: Replacing Dropbox, Little Touches in Media Trackers, and an Immersive Film from Bono

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

The gang goes old school with media apps, Chris and Matt recall tales from their youth, and Niléane reminds everyone how young and hip she is in comparison.

MacStories Unwind

This week, John quits Dropbox, Federico wraps up Friends, and John recommends a pair of movies and a Quentin Tarantino movie deal.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon share their thoughts on the first full-length Apple Immersive film, Bono: Stories of Surrender, and look back on the first season of The Studio.

Podcast Rewind: Wishes for macOS and visionOS, Ticci Has a Surprise, and Robb’s Got Stickers

By Devon Dundee

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

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.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Federico drops a big gaming surprise on John after the two of them cover the latest Switch 2, MSI, and Anbernic handheld news.

This week on NPC XL, a cautionary tale from Federico’s experience installing SteamOS on the Lenovo Legion Go. Plus, Federico wants to know which handhelds will John take with him to WWCC in June.

Ruminate

HMRC have a problem with poppadoms, Robb started a sticker shop, they talk about PS2 emulation, and finally Apple might like gaming again?

This episode is sponsored by:

Inoreader – Boost Productivity and Gain Insights with AI-Powered Intelligence Tools