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Apple Launches Free Sports App in the US, UK, and Canada

Today, Apple introduced a new iPhone-only app called Apple Sports. The free app is available to download from the App Store in the US, UK, and Canada, and, as Apple describes it in its press release:

gives sports fans access to real-time scores, stats, and more. Designed for speed and simplicity, the app’s personalized experience puts users’ favorite leagues and teams front and center, featuring an easy-to-use interface designed by Apple.

Apple’s senior vice president of Services, Eddy Cue said:

We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats. Apple Sports is available for free in the App Store, and makes it easy for users to stay up to date with their favorite teams and leagues.

Go Devils!

Go Devils!

The app includes a long list of leagues that can be tracked by sports fans:

  • MLS
  • NBA
  • NCAA basketball (men’s and women’s)
  • NHL
  • Bundesliga
  • LaLiga
  • Liga MX
  • Ligue 1
  • Premier League
  • Serie A

Apple says others will be added over time as their seasons begin, including MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA.

I’ve taken a quick look at Apple Sports, and the design is great. There’s a lot of information but it’s all easily accessible and laid out in an easy-to-understand way. The app also syncs with the My Teams feature of Apple News and Apple TV, pulling my Duke Blue Devils directly from those apps into the Sports app without me having to do anything, which is nice.


Magic Rays of Light: Constellation, Apple TV’s Report Card, and MLS Season Pass Returns

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight new Apple Original space adventure series Constellation, recap Criminal Record, and preview the upcoming season of Major League Soccer on MLS Season Pass.



Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to magic@macstories.net.

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

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Apple Music Replay Updated with Monthly Listening Statistics

Apple has updated its Replay website with monthly totals for top artists, albums, songs, and milestones, giving Apple Music listeners a reason to visit the site more than once a year. The update bears some similarities to the sort of monthly statistics available from sites like Last.fm, although less detailed.

Here’s what Apple had to say about the new features:

Once logged in [to Apple Music], users can check out their top songs, top albums, top artists, and milestones of the month, every month. They can also listen to their personal top songs chart of the year with their Replay Mix, which updates weekly.

The update extends the existing Replay site’s beautiful, interactive design. Selecting milestones provides additional details about the music you were listening to when you reach each one.

Currently, only January’s statistics are available. The site says February statistics will appear in early March. However, the monthly stats have been added for 2023, too, so you can browse last year’s musical obsessions as you wait for February’s. The deeper year-round statistics are a welcome addition to Replay. I still wish I could access all of this inside the Music app itself, but I love the new level of detail about my listening habits.


MacStories Unwind: Vision Pro Q&A with Club MacStories Members

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This week on MacStories Unwind, we answer questions from Jonathan Reed and Club MacStories members about the Apple Vision Pro live from the Club MacStories Discord audio channel.

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Apple Spotlights 12 Spatial Computing Games Available on the Vision Pro along with More Than 250 Other Games That Can Be Played on the Device

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple announced that its Arcade game subscription service includes a dozen titles designed for spatial computing, along with over 250 total that are playable on the Apple Vision Pro.

Alex Rofman, Apple’s senior director of Apple Arcade, said in a press release that:

This is just the beginning of a new era in gaming, with players being fully immersed in stunning game worlds and interacting with games in their physical environment in amazing new ways. We’re leading the way in offering players unique spatial games on Apple Arcade that are only possible on Apple Vision Pro, and we’re excited to bring even more magical spatial gaming experiences to our customers soon.

Synth Riders. Source: Apple.

Synth Riders. Source: Apple.

The 12 spatial titles available to Apple Arcade subscribers include:

Alto's Odyssey is coming to the Apple Vision Pro. Source: Apple.

Alto’s Odyssey is coming to the Apple Vision Pro. Source: Apple.

Although it’s a short list of spatial titles compared to the entire Arcade catalog, Apple says more are coming soon, including:

I’ve played a little LEGO Builder’s Journey so far and it’s a lot of fun as a spatial experience, and I’ll be digging into more of these titles for a story on the site soon.


Magic Rays of Light: Usher and The New Look

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon visit post-WWII Paris in style with The New Look, recap Usher’s performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show, and catch up on all the latest news in the world of Apple TV.


Show Notes


Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to magic@macstories.net.

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

View our Apple TV release calendar on the web.

Subscribe to our Apple TV release calendar.

Read more


Apple Introduces Two New Personalized Music Stations

Apple Music has added two new personalized stations: Love and Heartbreak. Here’s how Apple describes each:

The Love Station features songs about romantic love, falling in love, feeling amorous, and feelings that these experiences bring. Tailored to each listener’s taste, the Love Station will play songs and artists they know and love along with recommendations. Not exclusively ballads, these love songs are guaranteed to amplify the mood; whether they’ve got that rush of a new crush, or that fully grown long time love. 

The Heartbreak Station features songs about heartbreak, unrequited love, breaking up, or sad love. Having your heart broken is awful. Sometimes during these moments, music is the only thing that can make sense of it all. The Heartbreak Station will play a blend of songs from artists listeners know and recommendations, to help them let it all out.

The introduction of the new stations follows the Discovery station, which debuted last summer. It’s great to see Apple expanding these algorithmically-generated stations based on your listening habits because they’re nice complements to the curated playlists from Apple Music’s editorial team.


AppStories, Episode 370 – Apple Vision Pro: Hardware First Impressions

This week on AppStories, we tell the story of how Federico got his Apple Vision Pro before sharing our first impressions of the Vision Pro hardware.

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MacStories Teams Up with ScreenCastsONLINE for a Big Discount for Club Members

For more than fifteen years, ScreenCastsONLINE has been a leading resource for online tutorials for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users. So we’re very pleased to announce today that we’ve teamed up with ScreenCastsONLINE to offer Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members who first-time subscribers to ScreenCastsONLINE: a 50% discount on their first year of an annual subscription. Club MacStories+ and Premier members can use this link to take advantage of ScreenCastsONLINE’s special discount as well as the other deals offered by Club MacStories. Not a Club member yet? Learn more here.

ScreenCastsONLINE has an incredibly deep catalog of tutorials that includes tutorials on:

  • Apple OS updates
  • Shortcuts and other automation tools
  • Apple system apps
  • Photography apps
  • Productivity apps
  • Music apps
  • And much more

Many of our favorite apps are included among ScreenCastsONLINE’s videos, making it a terrific compliment to the reviews and other app coverage you find on MacStories. So, if you haven’t joined Club MacStories before or are thinking of rejoining, now is a great time to join and become a ScreenCastsONLINE member too.

Discounts are just one of the many Club MacStories perks.

Discounts are just one of the many Club MacStories perks.

To put the Club deals into context, taking advantage of them all would save you enough to pay for more than two years of Club Premier, the highest Club tier. That’s before you even consider the many other perks Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members enjoy, including:

  • Weekly and monthly newsletters 
  • A sophisticated web app with search and filtering tools to navigate eight years of content
  • Customizable RSS feeds
  • Bonus columns
  • An early and ad-free version of our Internet culture and media podcast, MacStories Unwind
  • A vibrant Discord community of smart app and automation fans who trade a wealth of tips and discoveries every day
  • Live Discord audio events after Apple events and at other times of the year, including one coming this week about the Apple Vision Pro

On top of that, Club Premier members get AppStories+, an extended, ad-free version of our flagship podcast that we deliver early every week in high-bitrate audio.

Use the buttons below to learn more and sign up for Club MacStories+ or Club Premier.

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