Podcast Rewind: Folding iPhone Possibilities, Portable Gaming on a Folding Phone, a Headphone Problem, and Classic Game Revivals

This week, John is joined by Christoper Lawley to discuss uses for a folding iPhone and Parchment, Lawley’s daily agenda app.

On AppStories+, John and Chris dig into audio and video workflows for podcasting and YouTube.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, folding phones and gaming, updates on upcoming handhelds, and GammaOS on the RG Rotate.

On NPC XL, John and Brendon revisit the Playdate via Crankboy.

Comfort Zone

Matt has some pretty good but not perfect Switch 2 controllers. Niléane has a new set of headphones and assures us she doesn’t have a problem. And everyone tries to make the best gaming recommendations for their co-hosts.

On Cozy Zone, the gang has a lively discussion about the new The Mandalorian and Grogu movie.

MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico returns from the beach, he and John discuss the explosion of classic videogames being ported to the iPhone, iPad, and Android, and they share a couple of Apple TV picks.

AppStories, Episode 497, ‘Folding the iPhone into the Creator Economy’ Show Notes

This episode is sponsored by:

Inoreader – Build Your Own Newsfeed and Cut Through the Noise

Shipaton, from RevenueCat – The world’s biggest mobile hackathon for people who actually ship.

The Foldable iPhone

iPhone Fold: Everything We Know

Logitech Keys-To-Go 2

Apple and the Creator Economy

Apple Creator Studio

Final Cut Pro for iPad

Final Cut Camera

Blackmagic Camera

Pixelmator Pro

Parchment and Other Agenda Apps

Parchment: Agenda and Daily Note

Parchment

Christopher Lawley on YouTube

Fantastical

BusyCal

EventKit

TestFlight

Automating Email and Support

Spark

Introducing Spark CLI: Your Inbox, Now Agent-Ready

Codex

Notion

Follow Chris Lawley Online

YouTube

Website

Comfort Zone

Parchment

AppStories+ Post-Show: Audio and Video Production Workflows

Logic Pro

Final Cut Pro

Hush

iZotope RX

Clear

Unsqueeze

Detail

FFmpeg

Riverside

Video on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to AppStories+

Visit AppStories.net to learn more about the extended, high bitrate audio version of AppStories that is delivered early each week and subscribe.

NPC, Episode 92, ‘Can A Folding Phone Replace Your Handheld’ Show Notes

Folding Phones

Samsung’s Z Fold 8 Ultra is more of the same, but better than ever

iPhone Fold: Everything We Know

The Latest Portable Gaming News

Retroid Pocket Nova 8GB model gets $10 price increase effective August 6

AYANEO KONKR Pocket Advance gets full specs, pricing, and live order page

Mangmi Air Y and Air Y Pro get pre-order dates and pricing

MagicX reveals four-variant Mini Dream handheld lineup with OLED display

GammaOS Nano v1.4 launches for Anbernic RG Rotate as a ground-up micro-OS rebuild

Subscribe to NPC XL

NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month. Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes. You can subscribe here.

Comfort Zone, Episode 113, ‘I Respect Wood’ Show Notes

Things Discussed

Mobapad M12S

FIIO FT1 headphones

Fields of Mistria

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Town to City

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Metal Wolf Chaos XD (video)

Big Walk

Hot Wheels Unleashed

Cozy Zone

For even more from the Comfort Zone crew, you can subscribe to Cozy Zone. Cozy Zone is a weekly bonus episode of Comfort Zone where Matt, Niléane, and Chris invite listeners to join them in the Cozy Zone where they’ll cover extra topics, invent wilder challenges and games, and share all their great (and not so great) takes on tech. You can subscribe to Cozy Zone for $5 per month here or $50 per year here.

MacStories Unwind, ‘Coding Agents Revive Classic Games’ Show Notes

AI Assisted Ports and Homebrew Drama

PC ports of old console games are the new AI vibe coding battleground (PC Gamer)

AI-Coded Slop, No Thanks: Animal Crossing’s Native PC Port Was Made Using Claude Code (Time Extension)

A Hollow Victory: 100% AI-Generated Smash Bros. PC Port Comes Under Fire (Time Extension)

Pokémon Gen 1 Recomp

Gen1Recomp

This amazing Pokémon Red and Blue voxel mod adds a 3D perspective without an emulator (XDA)

Native iPhone and iPad Ports

Kahris on GitHub

HarkinianPad

SunPad

SpaghettiPad

Developer uses AI to bring a native version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to iOS (Tom’s Hardware)

Handheld Setup and Dual Screen Mods

AYN Thor

Cocoon

Minish Cap Dual Screen Mod

Dual Screen Games for Android Handhelds

Mcon

Coding Agents and Models

OpenAI Codex

Claude Code

DeepSeek V4 Flash

Picks

Federico’s Pick: Ted Lasso

John’s Pick: Silo

Unwind Deal

The Matrix: Déjà Vu 4 Film Collection for $19.99 in the TV app