Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: t3chn3ric kicked off a conversation about day planning apps, including lesser-discussed ones like Motion and Morgen. (Link) Zereta linked to an excellent video explaining Photographic Styles. (Link) Members had a great discussion on browser alternatives that morphed into a conversation about why and when they choose to...
Little-Known iOS and watchOS Combo Apps That Are Worth Your Time
Ever since the MacStories Selects Awards late last year, I’ve been on the lookout for a certain kind of Apple Watch app. I had two criteria. The first was inspired by award winner Chronicling and runners-up Peak and Zenitizer, all apps that either worked well with their iOS counterparts or cleverly replicated the experience of...
My Digital Wife Tried to Take Over My Digital Life
I’m sure anyone who has gotten married, been to a wedding, or listened to The Spice Girls will be familiar with the concept of “two become one”. By this, I mean a romantic couple who are now so close in their relationship that they are “as one”. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice sentiment,...
Democracy, Local Music Libraries, and the Return of Timery
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Democracy is back! (Link) Jared started up a conversation about apps that work well with local music libraries. (Link) RSS FOMO, anyone? (Link) Members were delighted to hear about a new TestFlight version of Timery. (Link) Want to join the Club MacStories+ Discord?Upgrade toClub MacStories+ or Club...
“Ignorability”, Today Views, and 3D Printer Temptations
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Roscoe shared about “ignorability”, an interesting filter you can look at your apps through. (Link) The #apps channel has been very busy with discussions of alternative apps for tasks, habit tracking, note-taking, and more. Be sure to stop by and try them out. (Link) rynot put a...
My Apple Watch Wish List for 2025
Happy new year, everyone! I hope you all had a great break. I certainly did, working on a few side projects and thinking about my workflows. I also spent some time considering where the Apple Watch and watchOS stand going into 2025. Last year, I wrote my first watchOS review for watchOS 11. It was...
Apple Fitness+ Announces Strava Integration, New Workout Programs, and More
Apple has announced a slew of additions to its fitness subscription service, Apple Fitness+, including new workout programs for strength, yoga “peak poses”, breath meditation, and even training for pickleball. New editions of the Artist Spotlight series are also on the way featuring Janet Jackson, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and Kendrick Lamar. Upcoming guests for the Time to Walk series have been revealed, too, and they include Steve Aoki, Lana Condor, Tiffany Haddish, Rita Ora, Daddy Yankee, and Maddie Ziegler. To kick off the latest season of Time to Walk, January 13 sees a new episode with Severance star Adam Scott, four days ahead of the show’s second season premiere on Apple TV+.
However, along with a guest appearance by dancer Alex Wong in a special dance workout, the service’s most notable new feature is a collaboration with popular fitness tracking app Strava. Users can now share Fitness+ workouts directly to Strava, and the app will display richer details for workouts, including episode images, trainers’ names, and metrics. Additionally, Strava subscribers can take advantage of three free months of Fitness+ membership, and celebrated athletes from the Strava community will make guest appearances on the service later in the year.
This collaboration is notable for several reasons. Apple rarely offers free trials of Fitness+ without the purchase of an Apple device. (You will still need an iPhone, iPad, or an Apple TV to use the service.) Fitness+ has also never featured trainers from a different training community before. Lastly, Strava made a decision in November of last year to restrict how third-party apps could access its data, angering a fair few users. It seemed to indicate that Strava was becoming a more closed platform, but this partnership lends evidence to the contrary.
It will be interesting to see if Strava announces more collaborations with services like Fitness+ and if Apple reaches out to other apps and services in this way. Fitness+ is a fantastic service that I use several times a week, but it can sometimes feel a little one-size-fits-all and closed off. A collaboration like this is a good sign that it might be about to evolve.
Netflix Appearances, Ecobee Cameras, and Trying Alternatives
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: MacStories, as seen on Netflix. (Link) A word of warning from Jeff for those who use 1Password and are thinking of trying out the iOS 18.3 beta. (Link) Any thoughts on connecting an Ecobee Smart Camera Doorbell to HomeKit Secure Video? Member nello would love to hear...
My Favorites of the Year in Threes
It’s almost the end of 2024, and there are lots of best-of lists floating around. It’s part of the predictable yearly news cycle. I’m nothing if not predictable, so here are some of my favorites of 2024, in multiples of three, each with a slight twist. Tech Stories There have been so many big tech...