Jonathan Reed

263 posts on MacStories since February 2024

Jonathan is a freelance graphic designer. As well as being a long-time Apple user he is a huge film and television aficionado and is very interested in the intersection between the two mediums and technology. He lives in London with his wife and daughter and is writing his bio in the third person.

Using Obsidian: An Absolute Beginner’s Tale

I love trying apps I haven’t used before. It’s really fun to start using an app without knowing if it will change your workflow entirely. Recently, I’ve had great first-time experiences with both BusyCal and Alcove. These apps often come from recommendations, but there is one in particular that so many people – including everyone...


Should Apple Change Their Approach to Feature Rollouts?

So, something’s rotten in the state of Cupertino, you say? I’m sure you’ve read a lot of coverage over the past week about how Apple’s promised “more personalized Siri” ended up being a concept video from last year’s WWDC that was essentially vaporware. I’m not going to dunk on Apple even more here – not...


DMA Reactions, Some Great Pictures, and More

Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Many members responded to Federico’s story, “The iPad’s ‘Sweet Solution’”. (Link) Trager kicked off an interesting debate about the spreading out of apps’ settings to different locations. (Link) Is this post from Paul Stockton tech-related? No. Is it the best thing you’ll see all day? Yes. (Link)...


My Favorite App Icons

For reasons that will become apparent in the near future, I’ve been talking a lot about app icons this week. Their importance, creativity, and ability to communicate many things to people with just a small number of pixels is always impressive. This inspired me to think about the app icons I’ve seen over the years...



Searching For Lofi Delights

Two weeks ago, Apple released the first beta version of iOS 18.4. Among some smaller updates and additions – including the long-promised Priority Notifications – was the unexpected appearance of a new Ambient Music feature. Accessible via Control Center, Ambient Music includes four different modes that offer a different variation on the theme of ambience:...


A Wild Keyboard, Selling Apple Gear, and More

Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: jwhitley showed off their wild keyboard. (Link) John’s been organizing tommertron’s drama department reunion. Maybe. (Link) scribblenik shared a helpful comparison between Anybox and Raindrop. (Link) Do you have a preferred outlet for selling secondhand Apple gear? Let us know! (Link) Want to join the Club MacStories+...


Raycast AI, A Nice Desk Setup, and Data Harvesting Discoveries

Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Jur1st shared how they use various AI models combined with Raycast (Link), as well as their new desk setup, which has some lovely warm vibes and wood features. (Link) FlohGro had a great tip for using ChatGPT via Siri to create alt text for images you want...