John Voorhees

5628 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

Kotaku Collects the Beautiful Artwork of Apple TV+’s Foundation→

Source: Kotaku.

Source: Kotaku.

The Apple TV+ show Foundation has been on my mind a lot this week. I’ve really enjoyed the first season so far, and yesterday, we hosted a live audio discussion in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, where we were joined by a few Club members to dig into the show’s first seven episodes. The discussion was part of AV Club, a channel in our Discord community where we pick media to enjoy as a group each month. It was a lively and fun discussion that is available to Club members as a podcast too.

As I was collecting my thoughts on Foundation in preparation for our group conversation, one of the aspects of the show that I kept coming back to was its visuals. It’s a sci-fi epic that doesn’t look like any sci-fi show I’ve watched before. From the elegance of Trantor’s surface, which is home to Empire, to the gritty reality of the planet’s subterranean levels, the inhospitable environment of Terminus, and the watery Synnax, every planet has a unique and authentic feel of its own that creates an immersive experience for viewers.

If you haven’t watched the show before or are a fan already and interested in learning more about Foundation’s unique style, I highly recommend browsing through the gallery of concept art for the show that is collected on Kotaku in a story by Luke Plunkett. The gallery of dozens of images includes costume design, landscapes, spaceships, weaponry, and more. Foundation is a big budget production that has more in common with the scale I’m used to seeing in movies. What the artwork spotlighted by Plunkett shows is that beyond the mountain of money spent on Foundation, an extraordinary amount of care has been taken by a group of incredibly talented artists to bring the story to life.

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AppStories, Episode 247 – Everything New in iOS and iPadOS 15.1

This week on AppStories, we dig into SharePlay and the other changes released last week with iOS and iPadOS 15.1.

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Federico returns to modding iPad accessories for his iPad mini and John wonders whether he should get one of the new MacBook Pros.

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Apple Releases Hooked, an Apple Original Podcast with No Ties to Other Properties→

Benjamin Mayo writing for 9to5Mac reports that Apple has published its first podcast that isn’t tied to a TV+ property or Apple News. The show, called Hooked, is a true-crime story featuring career bank robber Tony Hathaway. As Mayo notes, the show is listed as an ‘Apple Original podcast.’

Perhaps more notable is that there doesn’t seem to be a standard RSS feed associated with the show. Instead, the show’s first four episodes and trailer are available only via the Apple Podcasts app. Of course, a feed could be added, but if one isn’t, this would mark Apple’s first foray into exclusive audio content, something which Spotify has been doing for quite some time.

During an investor call last week that Podnews reported on, Spotify declared itself the number one podcast provider in the US and over 60 other countries based on an Edison Research report. As a result, it would come as no surprise if Apple has begun competing head-to-head with Spotify with its own exclusive audio content in the highly-popular true-crime category. At the same time, though, one of podcasting’s strengths has always been its open nature, and it would be a shame to see that further eroded by Apple, which has been a steward of the format for so long.

Update: Although not indexed and available in all podcast apps yet, Hooked does have a traditional RSS feed, which can be found here.

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AppStories - Ep. 247 - 32 minutes

Everything New in iOS and iPadOS 15.1

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 247 - Everything New in iOS and iPadOS 15.1

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John dig into SharePlay and the other changes released last week with iOS and iPadOS 15.1.

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What Should Be Next for macOS Monterey

I just finished my macOS Monterey review, and while it’s fresh in my mind, I wanted to cover the areas that need the most work. Overall, Monterey is a solid release, but there are bugs and things that I’ve wanted to see addressed since earlier releases of macOS that could use some attention too. Not...

My Favorite XL Widgets

I’m a bigger fan of Apple’s XL widgets than I expected to be. The key has been the App Library and, strangely enough, the iPad mini. You see, I started fresh with the mini. I didn’t migrate a single app over from my iCloud backups. Instead, I wanted to start fresh and create a handful...

App Debuts

John

Elsewhen Time zones are hard, and Discord has a nice solution in the form of a Unix timestamp that you can add to messages, so the time is displayed in everyone’s local time. It’s an excellent feature if you’re planning community events, as we often do for Club MacStories. The trouble is that Unix...

Interesting Links

John

Dan Moren explains how he used the Netatmo weather API to pull the data from his weather station and display it in his Mac’s menu bar. (Link) Cabel Sasser of Panic shared a prototype of the original iPod, which is surprisingly large and yellow. (Link) Facebook is having trouble attracting young people to its...

MacStories Unwind: macOS Monterey and iOS and iPadOS 15.1 Are Here, Plus Shortcuts for Mac, and a MacBook Pro Review

AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps
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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

Sponsored by: Daylite – It’s Monterey Ready!

This week on MacStories Unwind:

MacStories

Club MacStories

  • MacStories Weekly
    • A collection of John’s favorite XL widgets
    • Federico on the gap between Apple system apps and their Shortcuts actions
    • An all-new MacStories Unplugged that take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of John’s macOS Monterey review.

AppStories

Unwind