Podcast Rewind: Pro Tools, HomeKit Maintenance, and Cinema’s Future

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane is out on assignment, so Chris and Matt hold down the fort, discussing what “pro” tools look like, the most pro Thunderbolt dock you can buy, and how they automated their note-taking.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Ecamm Live – Broadcast Better with Ecamm Live. Coupon code MACSTORIES gives 1 month free of Ecamm Live to new customers.

MacStories Unwind

This week, automation crimes, HomeKit gardens, tattoo crime shows, and videogames. It’s a packed episode, just in time for the long holiday weekend in the U.S.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon discuss what the future of the theatrical experience could look like and look back at Apple Original French culinary drama Carême.

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Podcast Rewind: Podcasting with iPadOS 26 and a Game Boy Camera for iOS

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico records entirely on his iPad Pro using the new local capture feature in iPadOS 26. He and John discuss how this system feature changes remote podcasting, their experiences and experiments with macOS Tahoe and the new Spotlight, and why both have returned to Apple’s Reminders app – thanks in part to Apple Intelligence and AI automation workflows. Also covered this week: AirPods get better recording quality in the latest beta, MCP integrations with native apps, and early thoughts on Workout Buddy in watchOS 26.

On AppStories+, Federico explores Perplexity’s system-level integrations and publishes from Notes, while John explores a new Focus mode combination thanks to iOS 26.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, John and Brendon cover Hori webcam woes, a creative new Game Boy Camera app for iOS, and dbrand’s Killswitch case troubles for the Switch 2. They also dig into the ambitious but flawed MagicX DS-style handheld, Brendon’s ongoing Tokyo Pro Controller hunt, and more.

On NPC XL, John wishes he’d tried NextUI for the TrimUI Brick sooner, Brendon reports from Tokyo on what everyone’s playing on the subway, and Federico finally solves the puzzle of unifying his work and gaming into one seamless desk setup.

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Cloudflare Introduces a Pay-to-Scrape Beta Program for Web Publishers

Governments have largely been ineffective in regulating the unfettered scraping of the web by AI companies. Now, Cloudflare is taking a different approach, tackling the problem from a commercial angle with a beta program that charges AI bots each time they scrape a website. Cloudflare’s CEO, Matthew Prince told Ars Technica:

Original content is what makes the Internet one of the greatest inventions in the last century, and it’s essential that creators continue making it. AI crawlers have been scraping content without limits. Our goal is to put the power back in the hands of creators, while still helping AI companies innovate. This is about safeguarding the future of a free and vibrant Internet with a new model that works for everyone.

Under the program, websites set what can be scraped and what scraping costs. In addition, for new customers, Cloudflare is now blocking AI bots from scraping sites by default, a change from its previous opt-in blocking system.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the viability of Cloudflare’s pay-to-scrape beta, and many details still need to be worked out, not the least of which includes convincing AI companies to cooperate. However, I’m glad to see Cloudflare taking the lead on an approach that attempts to compensate publishers for the value of what AI companies are scraping and put agency back in the hands of creators.

Apple Music Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary with a New Campus, Radio Events, and a Special Playlist

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

It’s been 10 years since Apple Music launched the summer following Apple’s acquisition of Beats. To mark the anniversary, Apple has made several announcements.

First of all, the company will soon open a 15,000 square foot multi-use campus in Culver City, California. According to Apple’s press release:

…the new studio represents a major milestone in Apple’s continued mission to support artists at every level by giving them the tools, platform, and creative freedom to tell their stories in entirely new ways. More than just a studio in the traditional sense, the new space is a creative campus that reflects a decade of Apple Music’s commitment to high-quality sound, authentic storytelling, and artist-first experiences.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The facility includes two radio studios for Apple Music Radio, with Spatial Audio playback and adaptable configurations to accommodate interviews, performances, and more. Apple has also built a 4,000 square foot soundstage for live performances, multicam recording, events, and screenings. Other spaces are dedicated to Spatial Audio mixing, social media production, and isolation booths for songwriters, podcasters, and interviewers. Apple’s new California studio is designed to anchor its other locations that include New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, and Nashville.

Apple is also celebrating its 10th anniversary with a series of events on Apple Music Radio. “Don’t Be Boring: The Birth of Apple Music Radio with Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden” has concluded, but you can still catch:

  • “10 Years of Apple Music” featuring stories of big moments from the past decade which will air today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST; and
  • “Live: 10 Years Of Apple Music” from 4 to 7 p.m. PST, which will be hosted by Lowe and Darden and feature the artists who have been integral to the service.

Apple Music Radio will also be counting down its 500 most streamed songs over the past decade, with 100 songs featured each day, culminating in the top 100 songs, which will stream on July 5th.

The Replay All Time playlist. Source: Apple.

The Replay All Time playlist. Source: Apple.

Finally, Apple is rolling out individual Replay All Time playlists to its subscribers, which aggregates your most streamed songs from the past 10 years. The playlist hasn’t appeared for me yet, but I know Federico has it, so I expect it will show up for most subscribers soon.

I’ve been a subscriber of Apple Music since day one. While I’ve leveled my fair share of criticisms of the service over that time, it says a lot that I’ve stuck with it for a full decade. There’s always room to improve, but I’m glad I’ve had Apple Music as the soundtrack to my everyday life for so long. Ten years is a big milestone for anything, and judging from where things stand today, Apple Music has a bright future ahead of it.

Podcast Rewind: Upgrading from a 2012 Mac mini Server, Every Phone We’ve Ever Owned, and Seeing F1: The Movie in IMAX

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane hosts the next installment of the Our Tech Stories series, Chris has an iPad keyboard case with a kickstand, and everyone attempts to replace a cherished app with something from Apple.

MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico and John dig into MacStories’ big infrastructure update, John tours Wilmington, NC, TV locations, and they both have TV, movie, and music picks, plus two movie deals.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon are joined by special guests Jonathan Reed and Benjamin Mayo to highlight the theatrical debut of F1: The Movie. Then, they discuss this Friday’s premiere of Apple Original thriller series Smoke.

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Apple Opens Up New App Distribution Options in the EU, Along with New and Updated Fees

To avoid additional fines, Apple is making several new changes to App Store rules in the EU. Today’s changes are a result of an April ruling by the European Commission that levied a €500 million fine against the company and ordered that it “…remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future….”

The changes are complex and wide-ranging, but among the highlights regarding in-app offers are changes that:

  • allow developers to communicate and promote offers for digital goods and services in their apps, which can steer users to the web, an alternative app marketplace, or another app either inside their app via a web view or native code, or outside their app;
  • permit developers to design these offers themselves, which can include pricing and instructions on how to take advantage of the offers outside the app;
  • allow offers to include links to the destination of the developer’s choice; and
  • prohibits developers from making offers outside the App Store using Apple’s In-App Purchase or StoreKit External Link Account entitlement for reader apps on the same OS;
  • require an informational banner in the App Store that shows it offers external purchases.

Fees have changed for developers offering external purchases, too, and include:

  • an initial acquisition fee of 2% is charged for sales made within six months of a user’s first unpaid installation of an app;
  • a 5% or 13% store services fee depending on the store services used for any purchases made within 12 months of an app’s download;
  • for apps that offer external purchases, a Core Technology Commission (not Fee) of 5% for purchases made within 12 months of installation will be charged;
  • the Core Technology Fee still exists, until the end of the year, for apps that don’t use the external purchase APIs if their installations exceed one million installations on a rolling 12-month basis; and
  • lower fees for Small Business Program developers.

Note, too, that by January 1, 2026, the Core Technology Fee will be replaced by the Core Technology Commission.

Also, developers in the EU will be able to offer their apps not only through alternative app marketplaces, where were already available, but also their own websites. To sell an app via a website, you have to be an Apple Developer in good standing for two consecutive years, obtain a €1,000,000 standby letter of credit, and have an app that has more than one million First Annual Installs on iOS and/or iPadOS in the prior calendar year. As you would expect, developers selling outside the App Store are responsible for managing the purchase process, taxes, and customer service, and failing to do so could result in the revocation of API access by Apple.

All right, that’s a lot and while I’ve tried to boil it down to the core points, there are a lot of details developers should study carefully and understand before taking the plunge of selling their apps outside the EU App Store. The best place to learn more now is from Apple. Start with the developer announcement, which links to more details about the new rules and relevant legal documents. Apple is also offering 30-minute sessions for EU developers to ask questions and provide feedback.

If you’re wondering what Apple thinks of all this, well, it’s not happy. An unnamed spokesperson told CNBC:

The European Commission is requiring Apple to make a series of additional changes to the App Store. We disagree with this outcome and plan to appeal.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The fee structure and rules are complex and will need to be studied closely to evaluate the practical effect of the changes. That said, I’m cautiously optimistic that our readers in the EU will soon have more choice than ever, which I’m glad to see.

Testing AirPods 4’s Beta Update and Improved Recording Quality for Voice Notes

Earlier today, I updated my AirPods 4’s firmware to the beta version, which Apple released yesterday. I was curious to play around with the software update for two reasons:

  1. AirPods are getting support for automatically pausing media playback when you fall asleep, and
  2. Apple is advertising improved “studio quality” recording on AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 with this update.

I’ll cut to the chase: while I haven’t been able to test sleep detection yet since I don’t take naps during the day, I think Apple delivered on its promise of improved voice recordings with AirPods.

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Podcast Rewind: Reconsidering the iPad and Reviewing Retro Videogame Stores

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John reflect on where the iPad fits within their workflows after the announcement of iPadOS 26.

Then, on AppStories+, they explore the potential for an Apple automation renaissance built on the features announced at WWDC.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, we have RG Slide pricing and penguins, along with new AYANEO news and a cool aluminum TrimUI Brick.

On NPC XL, Brendon’s on a mission to find the best retro videogame store in Japan and takes the rest of us with him.

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The Curious Case of Apple and Perplexity→

Good post by Parker Ortolani, analyzing the pros and cons of a potential Perplexity acquisition by Apple:

According to Mark Gurman, Apple executives are in the early stages of mulling an acquisition of Perplexity. My initial reaction was “that wouldn’t work.” But I’ve taken some time to think through what it could look like if it were to come to fruition.

He gets to the core of the issue with this acquisition:

At the end of the day, Apple needs a technology company, not another product company. Perplexity is really good at, for lack of a better word, forking models. But their true speciality is in making great products, they’re amazing at packaging this technology. The reality is though, that Apple already knows how to do that. Of course, only if they can get out of their own way. That very issue is why I’m unsure the two companies would fit together. A company like Anthropic, a foundational AI lab that develops models from scratch is what Apple could stand to benefit from. That’s something that doesn’t just put them on more equal footing with Google, it’s something that also puts them on equal footing with OpenAI which is arguably the real threat.

While I’m not the biggest fan of Perplexity’s web scraping policies and its CEO’s remarks, it’s undeniable that the company has built a series of good consumer products, they’re fast at integrating the latest models from major AI vendors, and they’ve even dipped their toes in the custom model waters (with Sonar, an in-house model based on Llama). At first sight, I would agree with Ortolani and say that Apple would need Perplexity’s search engine and LLM integration talent more than the Perplexity app itself. So far, Apple has only integrated ChatGPT into its operating systems; Perplexity supports all the major LLMs currently in existence. If Apple wants to make the best computers for AI rather than being a bleeding-edge AI provider itself…well, that’s pretty much aligned with Perplexity’s software-focused goals.

However, I wonder if Perplexity’s work on its iOS voice assistant may have also played a role in these rumors. As I wrote a few months ago, Perplexity shipped a solid demo of what a deep LLM integration with core iOS services and frameworks could look like. What could Perplexity’s tech do when integrated with Siri, Spotlight, Safari, Music, or even third-party app entities in Shortcuts?

Or, look at it this way: if you’re Apple, would you spend $14 billion to buy an app and rebrand it as “Siri That Works” next year?

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