Last week, in a rather surprising move given the other AI-related difficulties apparently underway at the company, Apple rolled out the Xcode 26.3 release candidate with support for agentic coding. This immediately caught my eye because, as I mentioned three weeks ago, I have been using Claude’s agent, Claude Code, to build my first iOS...
Dictation Apps, ElevenReader Experiments, Time-Saving Tips, and More
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Evan had a good tip for prompting an LLM to help you save time. (Link) Even more terminal app recommendations were shared, including a new app called Echo. (Link) Members had some good recommendations for offline AI dictation apps. (Link) Jeff detailed an interesting workflow he’s testing...
Free Claude Credit, an OpenClaw Alternative, and More
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Federico’s article from last week’s newsletter prompted members to try out tmux and discuss ways to improve the experience. (Link) FlohGro is looking for the right household chores app and has already found a few options. Do you have any more to suggest? (Link) Jezza recommended QMD,...
Experiences with Apple’s Icon Composer
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about my experiences with Claude Code and how it enabled me to create my first iOS app. I was (and still am) unsure how I feel about AI being able to generate code from scratch, but I’m leaning towards it being a net gain. This week, I launched...
OpenClaw Obsessions and Vibe-Coded Apps
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Members were, unsurprisingly, obsessed with Clawdbot/Moltbot/OpenClaw. (Link) tommertron vibe-coded an iOS app and wrote about it. (Link) Want to join the Club MacStories+ Discord? Upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier, then visit the Account page....
Searching For an Offline Drive Searching Utility
Let’s start by addressing that inelegant title: there isn’t really a good way of describing this category of utilities in a pithy headline. So let me break it down with an easier-to-understand explanation. My work as a freelancer over the past year has involved an increasing number of varied projects, and I’ve had to back...
I Have Very Mixed Feelings on AI. Maybe That’s OK.
Last week, I experienced something that blew my mind so much that it made me rethink my entire perspective on AI. It made me question some firmly held beliefs on the subject in a way I don’t think has happened with any other issue for many years. Let’s back up a bit. At the end...
Tailscale, MCP, and Pizza – Oh My!
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Get your Rome-based pizza recommendations in! (Link) Members helpfully explained how to use Tailscale with your devices on a daily basis, sharing how they’ve implemented it in their lives. (Link) Federico dropped a quick tip to force MCP loading on demand in Claude Code, which should help...
New Year, New Mac Apps
Jonathan: Now that everyone is fully into the flow of the new year (or at least trying to be!), nothing beats a bunch of app recommendations. So this week, I’m providing exactly that, with a focus on the Mac. Each of these apps is one I’ve been trying over the past few weeks, and I...