Ryan Christoffel

979 posts on MacStories since November 2016

Ryan is an editor for MacStories and co-hosts the [Adapt](https://www.relay.fm/adapt) podcast on Relay FM. He most commonly works and plays on his iPad Pro and bears no regrets about moving on from the Mac. He and his wife live in New York City.
ryan@macstories.net

Craft Review: A Powerful, Native Notes and Collaboration App

Note-taking apps on Apple platforms have never been in a better place. Apple Notes is a fantastic built-in option with deep system integrations. Bear offers an elegant Markdown experience and powerful note linking features. Agenda takes a unique date-based approach to note-taking. Evernote just launched its long-in-the-works redesign, and Noto provides a great mix of style and substance. There are quality Pencil-based note-takers like Notability and GoodNotes. And certain web-based tools like Notion are starting to put a higher priority on their app experience.

But for all the excellent options already out there, it can never hurt to have another. Especially when that new option is as well done as Craft.

Craft is launching today across iPhone, iPad, and Mac as a new note-taker that blends the block-based approach of Notion with a thoroughly native experience, taking advantage of all the OS technologies you would hope for and throwing in valuable features like real-time collaboration. It’s the most exciting note-taking debut I’ve seen in years.

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Apple’s Fall Event Strategy

Ryan

One of the fun things about following Apple for several years is that you grow used to the cadence of the company’s regular release schedule. Apple seems content not rocking the boat and changing tradition without good reason, so it’s become commonplace for us all to expect some minor product releases in the spring,...

Pro or mini: The Unexpectedly Difficult Decision

Last week I picked up an iPhone 12 Pro from my local Apple Store, securing the device I had always assumed would be the best choice for me. This is a purchase I’d been planning on for practically the entire year, so I made it without much debate or second-guessing. Though it’s true that we’ve...

Clips 3.0 Brings New Video Aspect Ratios and an Upgraded iPad Experience

Clips is finally growing up.

Since its debut in 2017, Clips has offered a variety of fun, easy to use tools for making or editing videos, but it has always been hamstrung by one severe limitation: you could only create videos with a square aspect ratio. I’ve always found Clips far more accessible than other video creation apps, such as Apple’s iMovie, because it was designed from the ground up for mobile. The inability to create standard widescreen videos, however, or even portrait videos for Instagram stories, was a dealbreaker. As a result, my use of Clips has only been intermittent; despite liking the app a lot, I’ve only ever created two legitimate projects with it.

My use is sure to increase now. With today’s 3.0 update for Clips, Apple is finally eliminating the app’s requirement for square video while simultaneously making its iPad experience far better than before. Clips 3 is what the original app should have been, and it might just mean Apple finally has the ingredients for a hit.

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Apple Signs Jon Stewart to Expansive Deal for TV+ Series and More→

Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter details a new deal struck between Apple and Jon Stewart:

As part of an expansive, multi-year deal with Apple, the Emmy-drenched former writer, producer and host of The Daily Show is set to front an all new current affairs series for the streaming service. The show, which will run for multiple seasons, puts Stewart back in the anchor’s chair as he explores a host of topics at the center of both the national conversation and his own advocacy work.

Stewart has stayed largely out of the limelight since ending his long and successful run with The Daily Show in 2015, so this is a big get for Apple TV+, and potentially other projects Apple has in the works. For example, the report mentions that a podcast is expected to result from the deal. Most important though is the TV+ series mentioned above, with hourlong episodes each covering a single topic.

Apple’s plans for TV+ in 2020 have been heavily impacted by the current pandemic, resulting in a content slate that’s had more gaps than expected. It looks like the service could be poised for a big 2021.

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iPhone Setup Practices

A very happy iPhone day to you all. To mark the occasion, I wanted to share the iPhone setup practices that I’ve been using for several years now. I used to restore new iPhones from iCloud backups each year, but three or four years ago I began setting them up as new devices instead. The...

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Ryan

Do you like reading articles that retain the distinct identity of their source site? I always have, and don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon. For this reason, read-later services like Pocket and Instapaper have never been good fits for me. One of the strengths of those services is that they provide content in reading-friendly...

Apple’s iPhone 12 Lineup: The MacStories Overview

Today during its streamed event from Apple Park, Apple debuted its flagship iPhone 12 lineup consisting of four separate devices, the largest number of new models ever debuted at once:

  • iPhone 12 mini
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max

The iPhone 12 and 12 mini are the more affordable options, while the two Pro models add premium features, most notably better camera systems, at an additional cost. All four devices share a lot in common, however, such as the new A14 processor, support for 5G networking, a fresh physical design inspired by the iPad Pro, camera upgrades, support for new magnetic accessories, and more.

The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro will be available for pre-order this Friday, October 16 starting at $799 and $999, respectively, and ship on October 23. The iPhone 12 mini ($699) and 12 Pro Max ($1,099) won’t arrive until a few weeks later: their pre-orders open November 6 and they’ll arrive in customers’ hands on November 13.

Which model is right for you? Here’s a full overview of everything new for each device.

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iPadOS 15 Wishes

Maybe you laughed when you saw the title of this column, since after all, iPadOS 14 was just released in the last few weeks. In my defense I’ve wanted to write up an iPadOS 15 wishlist ever since the WWDC keynote ended back in June, and we knew what was and wasn’t going to be...