John Voorhees

5890 posts on MacStories since November 2015

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
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voorhees@macstories.net

Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV and Apple Arcade in August 2026

It’s a big sports month for Apple TV, starting with Apple Arcade, which goes all-in on football with Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition and Retro Bowl College+. On the Apple TV side, Ted Lasso returns for a fourth season, Formula 1 is coming out of its summer break, the MLS Leagues Cup begins, and MLB continues.

Let’s take a closer look.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade is adding two new games this month, both on Thursday, August 6, and both of them football games. That’s not a coincidence. The NFL and college football seasons are right around the corner, and these games offer great ways to get ready for both. They’re also part of a broader trend across Apple Arcade where sports games like NBA 2K26 and PGA TOUR Pro Golf, which also have continued receiving updates, have found a fan base.

Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition (Release Date: August 6)

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The headliner this month is Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition, an all-new entry in EA’s long-running NFL franchise built specifically for Apple Arcade. The game includes Franchise and Quick Play modes, featuring current NFL player rosters and ratings that adapt to real-world performance. And as part of Arcade, the game cane be played across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro with controller support and no ads, paywalls, or in-app purchases.

Add to Your Calendar:

Retro Bowl College+ (Release Date: August 6)

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

I’m a huge fan of retro-style games of any kind, and Retro Bowl College+ looks like another winner. I love the game’s chunky pixel vibe and depth. You can choose to act as the head coach of any of 250 college teams, recruiting players, managing your school’s athletic budget, dealing with player drama, and more. Who knew an 8-bit game could be packed with this much style and story?

Add to Your Calendar:

Apple TV

Ted Lasso, Season Four (August 5, 2026)

It’s been three years since the Ted Lasso series finale, and it still holds a special spot in the hearts of many fans. This week, the show returns on Wednesdays with a 10-episode run, in which Ted comes back to Ricmond to coach a second-division women’s team. Other returning cast members include Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Jeremy Swift.

Add to Your Calendar:

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AppStories - Ep. 496 - 50 minutes

Summer Projects: Automation, Email, and Dictation

JohnFederico

This week on AppStories, Federico and John cover the app and agent experiments they’re both running.

On AppStories+, John explores the sort of rapid workflow iteration enabled by agents.

Also available on YouTube here.

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 496 - Summer Projects: Automation, Email, and Dictation

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

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Shazam Releases Exclusive Ariana Grande Messages Sticker Pack

Long-time readers may recall that I used to regularly cover Messages sticker packs. As sticker popularity “settled,” I retired from that beat, but I thought I should come back for today’s news that Ariana Grande is the first ever music artist to release an Messages sticker pack.

The stickers are being released in collaboration with Shazam, Apple’s music recognition app, to mark the release of Grande’s new album petal. The implementation is interesting. According to Apple:

Fans can access the sticker pack by using the Shazam app to identify any Ariana Grande song and tapping the special message that appears on the song result or by adding the collection to their emoji keyboard directly in the Messages app. Once downloaded, the stickers can be used in Messages, FaceTime, or any app where emoji keyboard is available.

That in-app link takes you to the Messages corner of the App Store where they’re featured as a Shazam Special Event. You can also access the sticker pack from Shazam’s App Store listing.

I love seeing Shazam try new things to celebrate artists and their music, and stickers are a fun way to share your excitement about a new release.

Fun Fact: My Messages sticker situation has never quite recovered from downloading hundreds of sticker packs back in the day. Some features just aren’t meant to be loved so much.

Also, I am so back.

Interesting Links

John

The Verge has declared the passport style to be the future of foldable phones, right on cue for Apple’s entry into the category. (Link) GrapheneOS is a phone operating system designed for privacy, which makes the story of a man who was criminally charged for giving police a false passcode that wiped his phone...

App Debuts

John

Caxton Caxton is a new Mac app that solves the problem of opening huge text files in a beautifully designed, native way. The kind of huge logs, databases, and CSVs that developers sometimes encounter will choke almost any text editor because they try to load the file into memory. I think I’ve run into...

This Week on MacStories Podcasts

This week on MacStories podcasts: AppStories This week, John and Federico discuss the changing face of the AI-fueled App Store and questionable changes made to TestFlight before going into the nerdiest details of Open Minis, an iOS app that brings desktop-class agents onto the iPhone and iPad. Then on AppStories+, Federico and John explore Cmux,...

Summer Vacation

It’s summertime, which means it’s the season when we take a couple of weeks off to recharge and get ready for the fall review season. This year, we’re breaking up the off weeks, starting with next week. That means there will be no MacStories Weekly on August 7. We’ll be back with another issue on...

My New Automation Calculus

YouTube tags and suggested show notes links generated by Claude.

YouTube tags and suggested show notes links generated by Claude.

Coding agents have upended the automation calculus for many people by reducing the friction of creating complex workflows, and soon, Describe a Shortcut will do the same for simpler automations. Both are big wins for anyone who can’t stand the drudgery of repetitive tasks, but they come with potential downsides, too. I love to tinker...

Previously, On MacStories

Apple Reports Q3 2026 Earnings Indie App Sales Event Begins Today with Over 200 Apps Apple Upgrade Trades Ownership for Lower Monthly Payments Pastebot 3 Doubles Down on Mac Clipboard Automation and Introduces Two New Business Models Lock Launcher Introduces “No Redirect” Launchers, XL Widgets for iOS 27...