Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Chris Z linked to a fun-looking controller attachment for the iPhone. If you use Working Copy, you would do well to check out this message from the developer, linked by Niléane. Folks shared their thoughts – and their setups – while reading Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 18...
watchOS 11: The MacStories Review
After years of steady, iterative updates to watchOS, last year, Apple dropped one of their most significant releases in years with watchOS 10. The design language was updated for all of their first-party apps, watch faces were upgraded to take full advantage of the larger screens on current models, and the Smart Stack was introduced to make glanceable information much easier to access. To make way for the Smart Stack, Apple also reassigned the Digital Crown and side button to new functions. These changes, along with the usual updates for health and fitness, made for a release that every Apple Watch user took note of.
The awkward recalibrating of muscle memory aside (I still very occasionally swipe up on my watch face to try and reveal the Control Center), it was an excellent update. My only worry coming out of it was that Apple would dust off their hands, reassign lots of their talent to something else, and go back to the usual, iterative, health- and fitness-focused updates with watchOS 11.
Thankfully, that was far from the case. Not only has Apple made some solid updates to the Apple Watch hardware line this year, but they’ve also enhanced and added to the software in ways that signal they are far from done.
The question is, are these changes going to enhance your daily use of Apple’s most personal device, or are they just, well, changes?
I’m excited to dive into this question in my first watchOS review for MacStories, but before I do, I want to thank Alex for his years of excellent watchOS coverage. I hope I can live up to the standards he set.
Right, let’s do this.
New Reeder, Glowtime Reactions, and a Wild Vision Pro Experiment
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Members had plenty of thoughts on the new Reeder. There was a lot of reaction to the Glowtime event as everyone went through the announcements, discovered tidbits, and wondered whether to head down the non-Pro iPhone route. Members had a fun time making some wild guesses about...
My Low-Key Takeaways From ‘Glowtime’
Well, the glow has now faded from Apple’s Glowtime event, and we’ve all had time to process what happened – and didn’t happen – live on tape from Apple Park. For me, the most fascinating part of these events (as most of the raw details have usually leaked beforehand) is watching how Apple presents the...
Apple Announces the New Apple Watch Series 10 and a New Color for the Apple Watch Ultra 2
Going into today’s ‘It’s Glowtime’ event, there were high expectations for a significant redesign for this, the tenth version of the Apple Watch. We’ve been burned before by rumors of a redesign, but thankfully, this year’s rumors turned out to be true. The new Apple Watch Series 10 looks like a noticeable upgrade; however the Apple Watch Ultra wasn’t upgraded and only received a new color option.
iPhone Cases, New Linkin Park, and Glowtime Build-Up
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: Paul Stockton gave us a heads-up on a nice new feature coming to the RSS reader Unread. tombom shared their experience with the Bang!Case, an iPhone case from Bitmo Lab, the makers of this week’s hot accessory: the GameBaby. Our Glowtime event channel is live in preparation...
Lesser-Known macOS Tips and Tricks
Ticci Tabs: A Simple Way to Keep Up With Your Favorite Six or Seven Websites
It seems the tech community’s search for the perfect reading setup continues unabated. Just this week on AppStories, Federico and John discussed which RSS readers have stood the test of time. Between text-to-speech apps, RSS readers, eReaders, and more, surely there’s no room left for another approach to catching up on articles? Apparently, there is. Enter Ticci Tabs with a straightforward but specific solution.
You may have noticed something familiar about the name of this app: it contains the nickname of our venerable Editor-in-Chief here at MacStories, Federico Viticci. That’s because Ticci Tabs has an amusing backstory. Several weeks ago on Connected, Federico lamented that there wasn’t an app that allowed him to browse his favorite “six or seven” websites in their original form, separate from a browser or RSS reader in a stripped down version of Safari. Less than a week later, developer Jonathan Ruiz released a beta version of Ticci Tabs on TestFlight, and it did just what Federico described. What might have seemed at first like a fun app carrying out a function requested by one specific person has blossomed into an intriguing and well-thought-out utility. Let’s take a closer look.
Calendar Apps and Tips
Among the highlights on the Club MacStories+ Discord: There were some nice countdown app recommendations in the #apps channel. Lachlan linked to an excellent tip on Mastodon for dealing with spam texts and unwanted marketing messages. Joshua had a useful tip for making web apps on iOS feel more like real apps. Want to join...