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Posts tagged with "NPC"

Podcast Rewind: Vibe Coded Tools, Reading the Steam Tea Leaves, New Keyboard Layouts, and the Best Videogames of the Year

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John explain how they go about creating personal productivity tools with the assistance of AI and walk through some of what they have created.

On AppStories+, we talk about our Black Friday tech purchases.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, AYANEO goes big – very, very big – and we read the tea leaves from Sean Hollister’s interview of Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Then on NPC XL, no one could resist Black Friday, so everyone wound up with a new PC.

Comfort Zone

Chris is making a bunch of changes going into 2026, Niléane has another snazzy audio app update, and everyone navigates the pain of trying to use a new keyboard layout.

In the Cozy Zone, the gang drafted fonts. As you can image, strong opinions were felt.

MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico and John share their favorite videogames of 2025.

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Podcast Rewind: Apps with Liquid Glass and SteamOS Plans

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John dig into some of their favorite apps that have adopted Apple’s Liquid Glass design language.

On AppStories+, it’s John’s 10th anniversary at MacStories, so he and Federico look back at the last decade.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, the Retroid G2 and Anbernic DS look like duds, the Xbox full-screen experience for PCs is out to more users, and John flirts with the idea of a mini PC for SteamOS.

On NPC XL, Federico rearranges his living room and plans a SteamOS-ready living room gaming setup.

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Podcast Rewind: App Evolution, Odin 3 Emulation, Window Management, and TV Affiliates

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John explore current changes to the world of apps through the lens of its past evolution.

On AppStories+, we build “money’s no object” holiday wish lists for ourselves.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Brendon, Federico, and John catch up on a grab bag of news before diving deeper into the Ayn Odin 3’s emulation and streaming potential, the possibility that the rumored TrimUI Smart Pro S could become the default budget recommendation for horizontal handhelds, and the 11” 3D Abxylute 3D One.

Then on NPC XL, John and Federico are tempted to build their own Steam Machines, while Brendon went ahead and did it already by converting his Windows Mini PC.

Comfort Zone

It’s the window management episode! Chris has even more iPad news, and AeroSpace nearly tears the gang apart.

This week’s Cozy Zone is an Apple accessory tier list, and dear listener, the knives come out.

MacStories Unwind

This week, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Federico is curious about American TV and has a TV pick, while John follows up on a couple of TV shows and other media he’s looking forward to in the coming weeks.

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Podcast Rewind: Dream Apps, Steam Hardware Announcements, Planning Weekend Excursions, and Come See Me in the Good Light

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Matt has a mouse that looks like a zebra, Niléane quotes some cool new stuff in the Mastodon world, and everyone pitches their dream app. (One of them may already exist!)

On Cozy Zone, the gang roasts their very lovely listeners’ desk setups.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week in a special early release of NPC, the guys dig into Valve’s announcement of the Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Stream Controller, a trio of SteamOS devices poised to make a big splash in 2026.

On NPC XL, Federico, John, and Brendon cover the Steam Frame but are mostly excited about it means for Windows gaming on ARM.

MacStories Unwind

This week, John shares how he plans weekend activities with Instagram and Apple Maps, Federico tests dictation apps, and both share their first impressions of the new Apple TV show Pluribus.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon highlight Apple Original documentary Come See Me in the Good Light and return to Palm Beach for the second season of Palm Royale. Then, they discuss changes coming to profiles in tvOS 26.2.

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Podcast Rewind: Digital Decluttering and Liquid-Cooled Mobile Gaming

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, John and Federico spin a Saturday morning of iPhone app cleanup into a full blown digital declutter across all devices with the help of some of their favorite apps.

Then on AppStories+, Federico has more to share from his ongoing Typing Mind experiments, and John explains how he’s using Claude Code to crunch spreadsheets with one million rows.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week on NPC, Brendon, Federico, and John explore where mobile phone gaming is heading and reflect on what Nintendo’s latest earnings report means for the Switch 2, before Brendon shares his first impressions of the Miyoo Mini Flip

On NPC XL, Federico, John, and Brendon explore what’s behind the sudden surge of innovation in mobile phone controllers and where mobile gaming may be heading.

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Podcast Rewind: AI Browsers and the Return of Thor

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John look at the hype surrounding AI browsers to see if there’s any there there.

On AppStories+, Federico explains his experiments with lightning fast alternative AI models in Typing Mind.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, the big story is Retroid’s dual announcement of the Pocket 6 alongside the Pocket G2 and the ensuing drama. Then, the guys return to the Ayn Thor for Brendon and Federico’s first impressions.

This episode is sponsored by:

JSAUX – Your destination for Switch 2 and other handheld gaming accessories. Don’t miss JSAUX’s big Halloween sale:

  • 10% OFF – 2 items
  • 15% OFF – 3 items
  • 20% OFF – 4 or more items

On NPC XL, Brendon is grilled by John and Federico about the MCON mobile phone controller that looks like a PSP Go.

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Podcast Rewind: The M5 iPad Pro, AYN Thor First Impressions, and an Interview with Brendon Bigley

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John consider whether Apple made the case for running local LLMs and gaming on the M5 iPad Pro and discusss who should consider buying it.

On AppStories+, we explain how Claude Skills work and why they are one of Anthropic’s most exciting features in a while.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, a Retroid tease, the Miyoo Mini Flip goes on sale, and John is the first of the gang to get the Ayn Thor.

This week on NPC XL, the crew shares their experiences using GameHub.

First, Last, Everything

This episode’s guest, Brendon Bigley, is, in his words, extremely online. He helped build the podcasting platform Anchor, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019, and he worked for Marvel, overseeing its presence on YouTube and other platforms. But what most people know him for is his opinions and passion for gaming and tech in general. He co-hosts the gaming podcasts Into the Aether and NPC, and he blogs and publishes videos under the Wavelengths banner.

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Podcast Rewind: What’s Next for Apple Intelligence, Budget Android Handhelds, and an Interview with Joe Rosensteel

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John discuss what might be next for Apple Intelligence and how it fits into the broader AI market.

On AppStories+, Federico and John cover the fallout from the Sora app and why AI can’t replace human creativity.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Claude: Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, Steam Deck, Switch 2, and Vision Pro accessory follow-up, Thunderbolt 5 eGPUs, Android handhelds break into the budget category, and the ROG Xbox Ally X is a bust.

On NPC XL, Apple’s M5 chip promise gaming advances on the iPad, but can it deliver?

First, Last, Everything

On this episode, we’re joined by Joe Rosensteel. Joe is a VFX artist who’s worked on big-name Hollywood productions as well as smaller commercial projects. He’s a writer on his own blog and for the Six Colors website, and he also has a podcast with Dan Sturm called Defocused.

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Podcast Rewind: What We’d Like to See from Apple the Rest of the Year, the AYN Thor, and an Interview with Robin Kanatzar

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, with rumors of more products in the pipeline, Federico and John share what they want most from Apple before the end of the year.

On AppStories+, Federico experiments with lightning fast inference and iteration using Cerebras for scripting.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, we wonder who the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is for, get excited about the AYN Thor reviews, discuss Digital Foundry’s iPhone 17 Pro gaming discoveries, and check in on mini PCs, then Brendon bails on Bazzite.

On NPC XL, John experiments with the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s thermals, and Federico revisits Sunshine and Moonlight.

First, Last, Everything

Robin Kanatzar is this episode’s guest. Robin is a former industrial engineer who has been developing apps for iOS and Android since 2016, focusing on accessibility. She also gives talks on the subject, educating developers on how to make their apps more accessible, as well as publishing a weekly newsletter on the subject, titled ‘Appt News’.

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