This Week's Sponsor:

Turbulence Forecast

Know before you go. Get detailed turbulence forecasts for your exact route, now available 5 days in advance.

Preserve and Play the Original Wordle for Decades with WordleForever

Playing the original Wordle offline with WordleForever.

Playing the original Wordle offline with WordleForever.

Update: It appears that WordleForever is only supported on iOS/iPadOS 15.4 at the moment, which are available as public betas. I was not aware of the fact that older versions of iOS/iPadOS had a bug in the Shortcuts app that prevented WordleForever from working properly. If you want to play with WordleForever now, you’ll have to install iOS/iPadOS 15.4.

Like many others over the past week, when I saw the news that Wordle had been acquired by The New York Times, I immediately felt a mix of two feelings: I was genuinely happy (and still am!) for Wordle creator Josh Wardle, who managed to turn a simple web game into a successful venture; and I was concerned The New York Times would inevitably ruin the beauty and simplicity of the original game. And I still am.

So in the spirit of game preservation (a topic I care deeply about) and out of skepticism regarding the future of Wordle as a NYT product, I teamed up with Finn Voorhees to create WordleForever, a shortcut that lets you back up the entire Wordle game offline – on your device – using Apple’s Shortcuts app so you can keep playing the game for the next few decades. With WordleForever, you can put the original Wordle on your iPhone or iPad Home Screen and play the original game (with the same words as everyone else) for years to come.

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Unite 4: Turn Websites into Apps on Your Mac [Sponsor]

Unite 4 for macOS can turn any website into an app for your Mac. The app uses a lightweight, WebKit-powered browser as a backend, allowing you to easily create isolated, customizable apps from any site. It’s a terrific way to get those sites you visit every day out of a tab and into a dedicated, standalone app.

Unite 4 has dozens of features and customization options that make it a terrific alternative to resource-hogging Electron apps or uninspired Mac Catalyst implementations. The apps you create are easy to set up, fast, and only limited by your imagination:

  • Create dedicated apps for your favorite streaming services like Netflix and Disney+
  • Save your laptop’s battery by using Unite for Slack, Discord, and WhatsApp with full notification support
  • Listen to music services like Apple Music or Spotify
  • Enjoy podcasts with Overcast
  • Organize your notes in a dedicated Roam Research app
  • Never again lose your Figma design work among a sea of Safari tabs
  • Limit the ability of apps like Facebook to track you across sites
  • Check your Instagram feed
  • Track your finances with Robinhood

No matter which sites you use, Unite can turn them into apps for your Mac with customizable colors, an icon that fits the version of macOS you use, dark mode, support for the macOS Keychain, floating windows, and even menu bar-based apps that appear with a single click.

This week only, MacStories readers can get 20% off when you purchase Unite 4 at bzgapps.com/macstories or by using the promo code ‘MacStories’ at checkout.

Unite is free to try for 14 days and is available as part of a Setapp subscription too.

Download Unite 4 today and turn your favorite websites into your favorite apps too.

Our thanks to Unite 4 for sponsoring MacStories this week.

AppStories, Ep. 258 - 40 minutes

Starting the New Year with New Shortcuts, Workflows, Apps, and More

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 258 - Starting the New Year with New Shortcuts, Workflows, Apps, and More

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40:28

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John look back at their MacStories Starter Pack coverage last week, digging into the themes and details of each of the stories they wrote and the ways you can incorporate everything into your own workflows.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Wix – Create a website you’re proud of.
  • Instabug – Ship Quality Apps with Real-Time Contextual Insights

The MacStories Starter Pack

Also mentioned:

[Subscribe here.](https://staging.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

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To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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MacStories Unwind: Brooklyn 99, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima, Director’s Cut

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico shares his favorite season of Brooklyn 99 and Horizon Zero Dawn, which he’s been playing in advance of the release of Horizon Forbidden West, and John explains why Ghost of Tsushima, Director’s Cut is so good on the PlayStation 5.

Federico’s Pick:

John’s Pick:

MacStories Rewind

MacStories Starter Pack: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands

Editor’s Note: Taking Apple Music Discovery into Your Own Hands is part of the MacStories Starter Pack, a collection of ready-to-use shortcuts, apps, workflows, and more that we’ve created to help you get the most out of your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Apple Music’s tools for discovering new music could be better. A lot has been written about the problems, which I’m not going to rehash here. Instead, I’ve got a long list of tips, apps, and workflows you can use to discover new music now.

I’ve collected these apps and tips over many thousands of hours of listening and written about some of them here and for Club MacStories members before. However, this is the first time I’ve gathered and expanded those tips and workflows in one comprehensive story.

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Apple Q1 2022 Results - $123.95 Billion Revenue

Apple has just published its financial results for Q1 2022. The company posted revenue of $123.95 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook said:

“This quarter’s record results were made possible by our most innovative lineup of products and services ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are gratified to see the response from customers around the world at a time when staying connected has never been more important. We are doing all we can to help build a better world — making progress toward our goal of becoming carbon neutral across our supply chain and products by 2030, and pushing forward with our work in education and racial equity and justice.”

Expectations for Q1 2022 and the Year-Ago Quarter (Q1 2021)

Apple didn’t provide guidance for Q1 2022, but going into today’s earnings call, Yahoo Finance reported the following analyst expectations::

The consensus mark for earnings is currently pegged at $1.89 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days and indicating 12.5% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Graphical Visualization

After the break, we’ve compiled a graphical visualization of Apple’s Q4 2021 financial results.

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