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.
Apple Maps has come a long way since its debut in iOS 6. Much of the app’s history, which got off to a rocky start, has been focused on gathering and improving map data worldwide, but that’s beginning to change. The task is enormous and will never really be finished, but a shift has already started.
Once, the improvements in Maps were focused mainly on its basic underlying data like getting roads and geographic features correct. However, today the emphasis is increasingly on providing a deeper set of data and new features like cycling routes and city guides. Google Maps has had some of this functionality for years, and many of the refinements to Apple Maps are in just a handful of cities and countries. However, with the completion of Maps’ rebuilt map data in the US, Apple has begun to layer in new data and functionality that is poised to spread out much more widely.
This week on AppStories, we interview developer David Smith about watchOS, widgets, what the announcements at WWDC this year mean for developers and users, and David’s apps, including a new one he’s working on for the fall.
This week Federico and John interview developer David Smith about watchOS, widgets, what the announcements at WWDC this year mean for developers and users, and David’s apps, including a new one he’s working on for the fall.
A joint story on the widgets we’d love to see this fall and beyond
A collection of iOS utilities from Ryan
A member Home screen featuring widgets and creative wallpapers
Plus, lots of apps and more.
MacStories Unplugged
This week Federico and John explore iced coffee, America’s obsession with drive-thrus, and ghost towns, along with updates on their OS reviews, the AppStories developer interview series, and more.
There is far more media I’d like to try than I have time for. Between TV shows, movies, music, books and other reading, podcasts, and videogames, the supply of content far outstrips the time I have by an order of magnitude. As a result, I’m both picky and often slow to getting around to some media, especially games, which often require a substantial time commitment. The trouble is that it’s easy to lose track of games I’ve read about, that someone has recommended, and even those that I’m in the middle of playing if I can’t play regularly.
I’ve approached the problem in a lot of different ways. Text notes are a quick and portable solution but lack detail. Apps designed to track lots of different kinds of media have the benefit of consolidating everything in one place, but often don’t accommodate features specific to one kind of media. As a result, I’ve recently gravitated to apps that focus on just a single type of media. For videogames, that solution has been GameTrack, an app that we’ve covered in our Club MacStories newsletters in the past.
This week on AppStories, we are joined by Guilherme Rambo for the first interview of the MacStories Summer OS Preview Series to talk about Mac Catalyst, SwiftUI, Apple Silicon, the App Store and more.
Federico
