MacStories Team

1558 posts on MacStories since July 2011

Articles by the MacStories team. Founded by Federico Viticci in April 2009, MacStories attracts millions of readers every month thanks to in-depth, personal, and informed coverage that offers a balanced mix of Apple news, app reviews, and opinion.

This Week's Sponsor:

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Previously, On MacStories

Apple Names Sabih Khan COO as Jeff Williams Plans Retirement My Latest Mac Automation Tool is a Tiny Game Controller MacStories Setups Update: Fresh Approaches, Wi-Fi Upgrades, and Handhelds Amazon Prime Day 2025: Our Top Picks...


Previously, On MacStories

Cloudflare Introduces a Pay-to-Scrape Beta Program for Web Publishers Apple Music Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary with a New Campus, Radio Events, and a Special Playlist...


In This Issue

Jonathan puts BetterTouchTool’s cursor automations to good use, Federico has a Notes and Markdown tip, and John shares the MacStories ChatGPT proofreading prompt, plus the usual Links, App Debuts, the latest happenings in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, and a recap of MacStories articles and this week’s episodes of MacStories podcasts....


This Week on MacStories Podcasts

This week on MacStories podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico records entirely on his iPad Pro using the new local capture feature in iPadOS 26. He and John discuss how this system feature changes remote podcasting, their experiences and experiments with macOS Tahoe and the new Spotlight, and why both have returned to Apple’s Reminders app...


This Week on MacStories Podcasts

This week on MacStories podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and John reflect on where the iPad fits within their workflows after the announcement of iPadOS 26. Then, on AppStories+, they explore the potential for an Apple automation renaissance built on the features announced at WWDC. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Overcast Pocket Casts Castro Spotify YouTube...


Direct Mail 7: Professional Email Marketing Built Just for Mac Users [Sponsor]

If you run a business, a side hustle, a podcast, or just want to stay in touch with a community, you know how important great email marketing can be. That’s where Direct Mail comes in — a native macOS app that makes it incredibly easy to design, send, and track email campaigns that get results. Unlike web-based alternatives, Direct Mail is designed specifically for macOS, with the speed, polish, and Mac-first integration you expect.

The brand-new Version 7 is a huge leap forward. This update brings a host of new features, including a reimagined user interface, smarter list management, powerful email signup forms, upgraded reporting, and all-new tools to help your emails stand out. Whether you’re sending to 10 people or 10,000, Direct Mail gives you the tools to do it professionally and painlessly.

If you’ve ever been frustrated with clunky, web-based email marketing tools, or just want something that feels right at home on your Mac, check out Direct Mail. It’s free to download and try, with flexible pricing plans to match every budget — including pay-as-you-go options. You can be up and running with your first campaign in just minutes. Our friendly customer support reps are available via live chat to help with any questions, ensuring you’re never stuck. Get started today and expand your reach with powerful, Mac-first email marketing tools.

Our thanks to Direct Mail for sponsoring MacStories this week.


Albums: Algorithm-Free Listening for Music Lovers [Sponsor]

Albums is the player that cares as much about your music library as you do. Made by music-obsessed solo developer Adam Linder, Albums provides the best alternative to the built-in Music app for true music lovers.

MacStories readers can redeem an extra-long two-week free trial of Albums Premium.

Albums is the infinite, high-tech CD binder or vinyl crate you wish you’d had in high school. Relive the glory days of the iPod with album shuffle, and use robust tagging and filtering options to build the album collections of your dreams—you can even tag music not in your library to check out later.

Beyond playback and organization, Albums is packed with features to enrich your musical life; the Release Feed keeps track of new and upcoming music from artists and record labels in your library; the app tracks your play history and generates regular listening reports; and the Insights tab offers dozens of personalized collections to help you experience your library in a new way.

Albums is deeply integrated with iOS system features, including comprehensive Shortcuts support, a first-class CarPlay app, and interactive widgets. It is available for iOS and iPadOS, with a macOS app on the horizon. Coming up on six years of iterative improvement on the App Store, the app is the best it’s ever been—and only getting better.

When you’re ready to level up your music-listening experience, redeem your two-week trial of Albums Premium. If you’re looking for something a little different, you can also check out Adam’s chaotic neutral music-discovery app, Univershuffle, which shuffles all of the music on the Apple Music catalog. Seriously!

Our thanks to Albums for supporting MacStories’ WWDC coverage this week.


Proxyman: Need to Capture HTTPS for Debugging? Try Proxyman! Works with iOS Devices and Simulators. [Sponsor]

Proxyman is the native, high-performance debugging proxy that makes monitoring and analyzing your app’s network stack almost effortless. Built with Swift and Apple Silicon in mind, it runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, so every member of your team can peek under the hood without wrestling with legacy-era UIs.

Proxyman has you covered with a wide array of tools.

Proxyman has you covered with a wide array of tools.

Proxyman’s toolkit goes far beyond simple packet capture. Breakpoints pause requests, so you can tweak headers or bodies on the fly; Map Local and Map Remote let you swap in local files or redirect traffic to staging servers; scripting, diffing, network throttling, and WebSocket support round out a workspace that replaces what was a whole folder full of utilities.

Need on-device debugging? Proxyman for iOS is a standalone app that uses a local VPN to intercept every byte on your iPhone or iPad–no Mac required. View plain-text HTTP and HTTPS payloads, set breakpoints, block calls, or share a log back to the desktop. Face ID and passcode lock keep sensitive data safe, and iPad Split View turns Proxyman into an invaluable companion while you code.

Need to capture HTTPS traffic from iOS Simulators? Proxyman covers it too. Just few click to setup your Simulators and ready to capture it.

Proxyman Capture iOS Simulators

Proxyman Capture iOS Simulators

Licensing is simple. A perpetual Standard License is just $89 and unlocks every premium feature on one device and includes the iOS app. For $99 a Personal License includes the same benefits, plus two devices. Not ready to commit? The free trial lets you pin two domains and create two rules in each tool, giving you plenty of time to see how Proxyman fits with your development setup.

Stop guessing what your app is really sending over the wire. Download the trial today, then grab Proxyman from the Mac download page or the App Store and start shipping more reliable code faster than ever.

Our thanks to Proxyman for sponsoring our WWDC coverage this week.


This Week on MacStories Podcasts

This week on MacStories 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...