Federico
AppStories Episode 363 - The 2023 MacStories Selects Awards
0:00
46:16
46:16
This week, Federico and John introduce the annual MacStories Selects award winners.
AppStories, Episode 363 – The 2023 MacStories Selects Awards→
This week on AppStories, we introduce the annual MacStories Selects award winners.
Sponsored by:
- Vitally – A new era for customer success productivity. Get a free pair of AirPods Pro when you book a qualified meeting.
](https://cdn.macstories.net/banneras-1629219199428.png)
On AppStories+, Federico and I go behind-the-scenes to discuss the logistics of picking the annual MacStories Selects Award winners and shipping awards worldwide.
We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.
To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.
2023 MacStories Selects Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Pixelmator Team’s image editing apps at MacStories. A lot of our coverage in recent years has focused on Pixelmator Pro and Photomator, but long before those apps ever hit the App Store, there was just plain Pixelmator, an app that’s still available on the iPhone and iPad, and I still use regularly.
Pixelmator debuted on the Mac in the fall of 2007. Here’s how the Pixelmator Team described the release on its blog:
Pixelmator Team today released Pixelmator 1.0, GPU-powered image editing tool that provides everything needed to create, edit, and enhance still images.
Built from the ground up on a combination of open source and Mac OS X technologies, Pixelmator features powerful selection, painting, retouching, navigation, and color correction tools, and layers-based image editing, GPU-powered image processing, color management, automation, and transparent HUD user interface for work with images.
It’s fun to look back at the app’s launch page with its focus on the iSight camera, iPhoto, and the latest Mac OS X technologies like Core Image and Open GL. It feels dated now, but the fundamentals that made Pixelmator an exciting new app in 2007 are just as important for the app and the Pixelmator Team’s other apps today as they were then.
Backups of Backups
...
Interesting Links
...
App Debuts
...
MacStories Unwind: The Best Music of 2023
This week on MacStories Unwind, kick off the first of our annual ‘best of’ Unwind recaps with the best music releases of 2023.
Sponsored By:
- Longplay – Rediscover, enjoy and organize your album collection.
- Kolide – It ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today!
Links and Show Notes
Federico’s Top 5:
- the record by boygenius
- So Much for Stardust by Fallout Boy
- One More Time by Blink 182
- The Maine by The Maine
- Lobes by We are Scientists
Federico’s Album of the Year
- the record by boygenius
Federico’s Honorable Mentions:
- Guts by Olivia Rodrigo
- This is Why by Paramore
- Certified Depressant by Taylor Acorn
John’s Top 5:
- the record by boygenius
- Be Still My Heart by Babygirl
- One More Time by Blink 182
- Guts by Olivia Rodrigo
- First Two Pages of Frankenstein by The National
John’s Album of the Year
- First Two Pages of Frankenstein by The National
John’s Honorable Mentions:
- My Soft Machine by Arlo Parks
- Good Riddance by Gracie Abrams
- Memento Mori by Depeche Mode
- Knebworth 22 (Live) by Liam Gallagher
- Saviors by Green Day
MacStories Unwind+
We deliver MacStories Unwind+ to Club MacStories subscribers ad-free and early with high bitrate audio every week.
To learn more about the benefits of a Club MacStories subscription, visit our Plans page.
Screens 5: An Updated Design, Improved User Experience, and New Business Model
Screens, the remote screen-sharing app for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac by Luc Vandal of Edovia is one of those apps that I feel like I’ve always used. It’s installed on all of my devices, letting me lazily check on the Mac in my office from my couch or grab a file that I forgot to put on my laptop when I’m working remotely. It’s also the app that makes working with my headless Mac mini server that’s humming away in a closet feel like it was sitting right on my desk.
The last time I reviewed Screens was in 2017 when version 4 was released. In the years since, the app has received regular updates, refining the workflow of connecting to remote computers and keeping up with the latest changes to Apple’s OSes. However, as an app that’s designed to be a window to another system, the UI hasn’t seen a lot of change until today’s update to version 5, which adds a bunch of refinements to how connections are organized and makes significant improvements to the app’s toolbar.
First Look: Stray for Mac
Stray, a high-profile and well-regarded videogame that debuted in 2022, is now available on the Mac. Initially launched on PlayStation and Windows, followed by an Xbox version this past August, today’s Mac release is available on both the Mac App Store and Steam.
The game, created by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive, is set in a neon-lit, post-apocalyptic cityscape where you play as a cat. Thrown into an unfamiliar environment, your goal is to solve the mysteries of a dangerous rundown city aided by a flying robot named B-12.
Stray was generally well-received by reviewers, who appreciated how BlueTwelve imbued its cat protagonist with personality and captured life-like cat movement and behavior. As a result, it’s unsurprising that the number of systems on which you can enjoy Stray’s feline adventures has continued to expand.
I played Stray when it debuted on the PlayStation 5 and enjoyed it. The game’s controls are relatively simple, and the story isn’t terribly long, but the puzzles are challenging, and the cyberpunk visuals are stunning. It’s been a while since I last dipped into Stray, but the game was one of my favorites of 2022, so when I got the chance to play it a day before the launch, I jumped at the opportunity.
I’ve only had time to play Stray on the Mac for a few hours, navigating through the introductory scene and the early part of the game, so this isn’t a review. However, as someone familiar with the console version, I thought I’d share my early impressions playing on my M1 Max Mac Studio and my M1 MacBook Air.