MacStories Team

3376 posts on MacStories since July 2011

Articles by the MacStories team. Founded by Federico Viticci in April 2009, MacStories attracts millions of readers every month thanks to in-depth, personal, and informed coverage that offers a balanced mix of Apple news, app reviews, and opinion.

Club Perk

New Club MacStories Wallpapers You may have spied a few screenshots of these beautiful new Club MacStories wallpapers in John’s recent story about the Home app updates coming this fall. These gorgeous new gradient wallpapers that Silvia designed for Club members feature colors from the Club MacStories logos that look fantastic on both Lock Screens...


In This Issue

We introduce an all-new set of Club MacStories exclusive wallpapers, John recommends Footpath and shares a personal automation to optimize your use of the Apple Watch’s Calendar complication, we’ve got a Where To? giveaway, plus the usual Links, App Debuts, the latest happenings in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, a recap of MacStories articles, and...


Club MacStories+ Town Halls: Celebrating the First Anniversary of Club MacStories+


Club MacStories Town Halls are part of the special live audio events we hold in the Club MacStories+ Discord community. The show is a recorded and lightly edited version of the Town Halls that we produce, so Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members who can’t attend the event live can listen later. To learn more about Club MacStories+ and Club Premier, visit our Club plans page.

Ep. - Club MacStories+ Town Halls: Celebrating the First Anniversary of Club MacStories+

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To mark one year since the launch of the Club MacStories expansion, Federico, John, and Alex were joined by Relay FM’s Myke Hurley and Stephen Hackett to look back at the past year, hear what Relay FM is doing to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital this year, and share the technology that has had the biggest impact on their lives in the past year.

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In This Issue

Federico shares how he created an Obsidian launcher using Quick Note, John explains why the lack of new macOS system level Shortcuts actions is concerning, a new episode of MacStories Unplugged, plus the usual Links, App Debuts, the latest happenings in the Club MacStories+ Discord community, a recap of MacStories articles, and a preview of...


Previously, On MacStories

Stories Pixelmator Photo Switches to Subscription Pricing and Provides a Sneak Peek at the App’s Upcoming Mac Version The Magic of the M2 MacBook Air Digital Foundry Tests How a Fully-Loaded Mac Studio Stacks Up to High-End Gaming PCs Podcasts AppStories, Episode 291 – 2022 OS Preview: watchOS 9 MacStories Unwind: Penguins, Prey, and Mario...


Up Next on MacStories’ Podcasts

Next week on AppStories, Federico and John consider what makes a great Shortcuts action, and on AppStories+ they offer tips on getting more out of Safari with Shortcuts. This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico has been playing Cult of the Lamb, while John has been enjoying Stray....


Kolide: An Endpoint Security Solution for Teams That Want to Meet Compliance Goals without Sacrificing Privacy [Sponsor]

In 2021, Kolide went through the SOC 2 Type 1 audit, and they found out just how challenging it can be to prove compliance to a third-party auditor. They also learned firsthand something their customers had been telling them for a while: that they couldn’t have gotten their SOC certification without using their own product.

That product is Kolide, an endpoint security solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux devices. Kolide gives IT admins a single dashboard, through which you can prove that your fleet has the security measures that auditors care about.

With Kolide, you can instantly see whether:

  • Firewalls and screen lock are enabled
  • Operating systems are up-to-date
  • Password managers are installed

Kolide also provides visibility into nuanced issues that MDMs can’t address, like whether developers have unencrypted SSH keys or plaintext 2FA backup codes.

Moreover, Kolide balances this visibility with respect for user privacy and autonomy. Users can visit the Privacy Center to see what device data is being collected and why. And when Kolide detects a vulnerability on a user’s device, it reaches out via Slack to notify them of the problem and provides step-by-step instructions on how to solve it. 

Kolide has helped hundreds of customers achieve compliance–for SOC 2, ISO27001, or their own internal security goals. And they’ve done so in ways that go beyond “checking the boxes” and actually increase transparency and collaboration between IT and end users.

If you want to know how you can get compliant without compromising your values, then we want to talk to you.

Try Kolide for 14 days free; no credit card required.

Our thanks to Kolide for its support of MacStories this week.


Kolide: The Fleet Visibility Solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux That Can Help You Securely Scale Your Business [Sponsor]

Device security is a lot like Mount Everest: it’s tough to scale.

When you’re a small company dominated by engineers, you can keep up with fleet management with nothing more than trust and a spreadsheet. But once you start to hire marketers, designers, and the rest, the number of laptops balloons and the line between “work” and “personal” devices gets fuzzy. 

But fuzzy isn’t going to cut it. You have to prove you’ve got device security under control to close deals with customers, pass a third-party audit, and prove you’re ready for acquisition or an IPO. 

At this point, you start looking for a tool that will give you visibility across all these devices. And you have two options. 

Option one is an MDM, which acts as the puppet master for your whole fleet, forcing compliance through intrusive agents. But for all an MDM’s power, it still can’t answer your most nuanced questions. And when it comes to Linux devices? Good luck with that.

Your other option is Kolide. 

Kolide is an endpoint security solution that gives IT teams a single dashboard for all devices, regardless of their operating system.

Kolide can answer questions MDMs can’t. Questions like:

  • Do you have production data being stored on devices?
  • Are all your developers’ SSH keys encrypted?
  • And a host of other data points you’d otherwise have to write a custom shell script to learn about.

Want to see how it works for yourself? Click here for a free trial, no credit card required, and let us show you what we’re all about.

Our thanks to Kolide for sponsoring MacStories this week.


Scheduling Reminder

Next week on August 12th, we’ll be taking our second week off from MacStories Weekly. We’ll be back on August 19th for the rest of the summer with a new issue of Weekly for everyone, along wtih announcements about the first anniversary of Club MacStories+. Until then, don’t forget that every back issue of Weekly...