[[John]] Polygon has the details on a fan-made PC-based version of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening that runs at 120fps with a widescreen presentation that allows players to scroll the game’s entire map that, unfortunately, has already been taken down, presumably at Nintendo’s insistence. (Link) The Verge’s series on the death of Twitter is...
App Debuts
[[federico]] Timery There are plenty of appearance-related tweaks in the latest update to Timery, such as the ability to set widget backgrounds to a specific project’s colors or customize the colors of Live Activities. However, the smaller addition I want to point out is a new Shortcuts action called ‘Perform Action’. As the name implies,...
MacStories Unwind: The Best TV Shows and Movies of 2023
This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico and I share our favorite TV shows and movies of 2023 and discuss the return of Europe to Threads.
Sponsored By:
- Television Time – Your Ultimate Companion for tracking your favorite shows, and discovering new ones.
- 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!
Threads Returns to Europe
Federico’s TV Picks:
- Suburræterna on Netflix
- Ted Lasso on Apple TV+
- Platonic on Apple TV+
- For All Mankind on Apple TV+
- Also mentioned:
- Media tracking app, Sequel
John’s TV Picks:
- Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+
- Slow Horses on Apple TV+
- Shrinking on Apple TV+
- Silo on Apple TV+
- The Last of Us on Max
- A Murder at the End of the World on Hulu
John’s Movie Picks:
MacStories Unwind+
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Automation Academy: Introducing ThingsBox, an All-In-One Shortcuts Capture System for the Things Inbox→
One of the perks of a Club MacStories+ and Club Premier membership are special columns that Federico and I publish periodically. In today’s Automation Academy, Federico shares ThingsBox, a shortcuts capture system that can handle multiple media types on every Apple device, sending the results to the Things inbox.
As Federico explains, ThingsBox originated from a suggestion I made on AppStories recently, which he took and ran with to add functionality tailored to each type of media he saves, creating:
a versatile system for quickly capturing text, Safari webpages, URLs, App Store apps, and even images and save them as new items in the Things inbox. ThingsBox runs on every Apple platform and can be used from a widget, the share sheet, or manually inside the Shortcuts app; it is optimized for the Apple Watch, where it defaults to dictation input; on the Mac, ThingsBox integrates with AppleScript to see what the frontmost window is and capture its data accordingly.
Automation Academy is one of the many perks of a Club MacStories+ and Club Premier membership and an excellent way to learn advanced Shortcuts techniques that are explained in the context of solutions to everyday problems.
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The 2023 MacStories Selects Awards
Federico
John
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.
This episode is sponsored by:
- Vitally – A new era for customer success productivity. Get a free pair of AirPods Pro when you book a qualified meeting.
Links and Show Notes
The 2023 MacStories Selects Awards
- MacStories Selects 2023: Recognizing the Best Apps of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Pixelmator
- Best New App: Orion
- Runners Up: Chronicling
- TotK Travel Guide
- Best App Update: Sequel 2.0
- Runner Up: Longplay 2.0
- Best New Feature: Things’ Shortcuts support
- Runner Up: Mercury Weather Trip Forecasts
- Best Design: Mercury Weather
- Runner Up: Matter
- Best Watch App: Broadcasts
- Runner Up: Flighty
- Best Mac App: Mimestream
- Runner Up: Bartender 5
- Readers’ Choice: Ivory
- App of the Year: Widgetsmith
- Runner Up: Ivory
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Backups of Backups
Ever since a nearby lightning strike fried my Mac Studio’s logic board, I’ve been thinking about backups. Thankfully, I lost no data in that mishap, but it was a close call. I had Time Machine and Backblaze backups, but after two moves in under a year, my setup had changed a lot, so it felt...
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
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What If?: Exploring Alternative Apple Timelines
AppStories Episode 362 - What If?: Exploring Alternative Apple Timelines
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34:27
34:27
This week Federico and John explore alternative Apple timelines by asking the question: What if?
This episode is sponsored by:
- Dropzone 4 – The essential drag and drop productivity enhancer.
Links and Show Notes
What If?: Exploring Alternative Apple Timelines
- What if the iPod had never been released?
- What if the iPad had never been released?
- The iPad at 10: A New Product Category Defined by Apps
- A brief history of the iPad, Apple’s once and future tablet
- What if the Pippin had been a hit?
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App Debuts
[[John]] Matter Matter has added a ‘Rediscover’ feature to its You tab that resurfaces highlights you’ve added to articles. If you use Matter to learn a new topic, the new Rediscover feature can serve as a sort of flash card system to reinforce the material you’ve highlighted. The feature is also a useful reminder of...