[[ryan]] Utility apps, generally speaking, tend not to have a reputation for being design-conscious. This makes sense to some extent: if an app will only be opened occasionally, for seconds at a time, why should its developers spend much time fine-tuning how it looks and feels? Fortunately, in spite of that argument, there are still...

[[ryan]] It’s been nearly two years since Apple granted third-party apps the ability to offer alternate app icons. In that time the feature has proven a well-received addition, with many apps going all out with creative showcases of diverse alternatives, while others offer a still-nice assortment of alternate color choices for the default icon. Joining...

[[ryan]] Steve Jobs once called the Apple TV a hobby for the company, a designation revoked by Tim Cook all the way back in 2014, even before the fourth-generation Apple TV debuted. Cook’s rationale was that Apple had sold over 20 million of the devices to date, and that iTunes video content combined with device...

[[ryan]] One of the most important roles the iPhone fills in our lives is that of a camera. Amidst all the countless other things an iPhone can do, it’s hard to overestimate the value of its camera system. Many of the iPhone’s functions can now be adequately handled by an Apple Watch, such as communication...

[[ryan]] I love the holiday season for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it gives way to a new year and a related time of reflection. I’m not big into new year’s resolutions, but I do always enjoy setting time aside to take stock of the year behind, and look forward to...

{.app-collection} [[ryan]] WaterMinder If you struggle to drink enough water each day, then WaterMinder is the app for you. Sometimes though, even with the best intentions and a good app to log progress, it can be hard to establish the habit of tracking something you’ve formerly ignored. That’s where WaterMinder’s Watch app comes in. The...

[[ryan]] One of the long-hidden but valuable tricks on 3D Touch-enabled devices is that ever since the iPhone 6S, you could use 3D Touch on the software keyboard to turn it into a trackpad for moving the text insertion cursor. We first shared that Tip in issue 31 of MacStories Weekly. Despite being restricted to...

[[ryan]] Another year has come and gone, bringing with it a wide array of innovative and praiseworthy apps and updates. Now that we at MacStories have finished reflecting on the best of the App Store in 2018, however, it feels appropriate to start sharing my app wish list for the year ahead. Here are a...

{.app-collection} [[ryan]] At the beginning of this week we launched our inaugural MacStories Selects awards, wherein Federico, John, and myself highlighted some of the best app debuts, updates, and game debuts from 2018. To get to that final list of selections, however, we had to leave a lot of other noteworthy apps unmentioned. Below, exclusively...