Posts in Linked

Apple Improves Screen Time for Parents, but There’s Room to Grow→

One of Apple’s tentpole features at WWDC was a ground-up makeover to Screen Time that’s designed to give parents more granular and reliable control over their kids’ device use. I got a demo of the changes while I was at Apple Park, and they’re extensive. That’s good because Screen Time has been broken in a variety of ways for a while and isn’t very flexible.

My first impressions of the changes have been positive, but it’s worth noting that I don’t use Screen Time myself and my kids are grown. Screen Time wasn’t even available when it would have been useful to my family.

However, I do remember well the days when my kids were little, and so I sympathize with Patrick Klepek who wants more. Klepek gives Apple credit for improvements in Screen Time’s UI, but wants more:

But to crystalize my requests to Apple for the future:
- A dedicated Screen Time app
- The ability to invoke Siri or other shortcut-like features to lock devices
- Granular control over extending screen time to accommodate specific requests

I’d add another request that one of the journalists made during our demo that made a lot of sense. Like me, he has three kids and wondered if he could set up a baseline set of Screen Time rules and then copy them to his other kids, making age-appropriate tweaks for each kid. Apple said that isn’t currently possible, but it’s the sort of practical, reality-based suggestion that the company should prioritize. Being a parent means a lot of things, but it shouldn’t mean being an IT manager too. For tools like Screen Time to be adopted, they need to be easy, flexible, and powerful. That’s a tough combination, but I hope it’s been made a priority internally at Apple that will result in ongoing improvements to Screen Time during this OS cycle and beyond.

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Three Features Coming to Photos This Fall via Apple Intelligence→

Photo editing is getting some of the most interesting Apple Intelligence features this fall. At WWDC, Tyler Stalman interviewed Jon McCormack, Apple’s Vice President of Camera and Photos Software Engineering, and Della Huff, the company’s Senior Manager of Camera and Photos Product Marketing, in a video that covers Spatial Reframing, Extend, and an improved Clean Up tool, along with demos of each:

The interview goes into depth on each feature and how they’re enhanced by the integration with Apple’s improved Private Cloud Compute models, sharing nuggets like the fact that Spatial Reframing of photos is possible even if an image is taken with a single-lens iPhone and the fact that Apple includes metadata in generatively edited photos identifying the use of AI and will add SynthID watermarking, a technology developed by Google, to AI-edited photos later this year.

I’m not a fan of wholesale image generation, which is why I appreciate the thoughtful approach Apple is taking with these photo editing features. The changes are at the margins of the photo and identified as edited using AI.

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WWDC 2026: macOS 27 Icon Refinements→

During this year’s WWDC keynote, Apple announced improvements to icons for all of its first-party apps. The company says that by “integrating additional layers of Liquid Glass directly into the icon artwork itself,” icons now “appear sharper and more defined.”

It’s certainly a noticeable improvement, and unsurprisingly, Basic Apple Guy is all over the changes with an excellent side-by-side comparison of all the icon changes in macOS Golden Gate. (Many of these icons carry over to other platforms, of course.)

The clarity and legibility of almost all the icons have improved significantly, with icons like Photos packing a real visual punch. Additionally, viewing the icons at this size, you can see the nice refraction effects of the glass-like elements.

Image: Basic Apple Guy.

Image: Basic Apple Guy.

The one that really stood out for me, though, was the new Finder icon, which not only looks cleaner but also has a subtle change to the nose and the curve of the divide, bringing it much closer to the classic Finder icon from the pre-Liquid Glass days.

The Finder icon evolution, pre-macOS 26.

The Finder icon evolution, pre-macOS 26.

What can I say? I’m a stickler for classic design.

You can follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2026 hub or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2026 RSS feed.

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The Third Generation of Apple’s Foundation Models and AFM Core Advanced→

I just came back to my hotel room after a long day at Apple Park (I documented most of it in my Instagram stories, including a very cool shot), and, like everyone else here in Cupertino, I’m still processing the information overload from the past 12 hours. The MacStories team already covered iOS and iPadOS 27, plus Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, and we have more coming tomorrow.

Before I call it a day though, I wanted to link the first thing I read on my way back: Apple’s latest article on the Machine Learning blog about the new Apple Foundation Models that were announced today – three cloud-based models, and two on-device ones.

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Decoding “Developer” in a Changing App Landscape→

Boy, have things changed. A lot. When I started writing at MacStories over a decade ago, there was a long list of beloved native Mac apps. It was a stable group of excellent apps, but there weren’t many new ones coming on the scene. Instead, developers were focused on iOS and iPadOS. Then, as recently as a couple of years ago, it seemed as though cross-platform apps based on web technologies were destined to overtake native Mac apps.

Web apps are still a big part of the Mac scene, but something fundamental has shifted, as Jason Snell noted yesterday on Six Colors:

These days, I’m getting emails pitching me for an endless stream of new Mac apps. It’s quite remarkable because there was a period five or ten years ago when it seemed like all app development on Apple’s platforms was focused on iOS. Even more interesting, these are all indie Mac apps that seem to be built using native Mac frameworks, not the product of big corporations that are just rolling their cross-platform development system out everywhere. These apps seem to have a point of view and are focused on the Mac.

Of course, it’s happening because of AI.

He’s right. We’ve seen the same thing at MacStories. I can barely keep up with my inbox. It’s full of all kinds of app pitches, but the number of brand new Mac apps in particular is off the charts compared to anytime in the past decade.

You might assume that these apps are all low-quality slop. But here’s the thing. They really aren’t. Okay, some are, but we’ve always been pitched on poor-quality apps. What’s telling is that the signal-to-noise ratio hasn’t changed noticeably.

Instead, what I’m seeing is a new cohort of people with innovative ideas bringing them to life with the help of agents. And while it’s still true that some level of technical know-how and product sense is required to build an app, typing the code by hand is no longer a prerequisite, which eliminates a lot of the friction of starting an app. Just look at the examples Jason cites: Federico’s Shortcuts Playground, Lex Friedman’s recent GIF utility called Gnome, and his own Mac utility, Double Ender, for syncing up podcast audio. The three of them collectively have decades of experience with apps and Apple technologies, which is still necessary to make a good app.

That’s because what agents haven’t changed is the rest of the process, which is hard to put a name to, but also leaves space for a lot of human creativity. Having used Claude Code to build a bunch of native and web apps myself, I couldn’t agree more with Jason that:

Whatever you call it, whether it’s being a producer or product manager or something else that isn’t a programmer, creating good software in the AI era still requires the power of a human brain: being creative, solving problems, and making decisions. Some people will be better at it than others. It’s a skill, and a bit of an art. I’m excited that modern coding tools have given people with vision and desire the ability to make software.

These tools allow more people to experience the creative process of building an app, which I love. I’m no more sure of what to call someone who builds apps this way than Jason is, but I do know that the app landscape is fundamentally changing in ways that were hard to imagine even six months ago. Boy, have things changed.

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RemCTL 1.0.5, Now with Support for All-Day Reminders and Task Assignments→

RemCTL 1.0.5 with support for task assignments and all-day reminders.

RemCTL 1.0.5 with support for task assignments and all-day reminders.

I wanted to share a quick update to RemCTL, my CLI for Reminders that I released last week, which brings almost every Reminders feature to your agent or terminal of choice.

As it turns out, I forgot to support two more Reminders-exclusive (i.e. not available to third-party clients) functionalities in the initial version: all-day reminders and the ability to assign a reminder to another person in a shared list. The former is the feature that lets you enter a task with a due date such as “Tuesday” but without a due time;. those tasks can now be properly read and written by RemCTL.

Additionally, while RemCTL cannot share lists with iCloud (it requires a private Apple entitlement – same reason why the CLI cannot share a template via iCloud), it can now read and create task assignments from an already-shared Reminders list. In a nice touch, you can even lookup assignees by name, email address, or phone number.

You can find a detailed changelog of the latest release here. As always, the best way to update the CLI is to simply ask your agent to pull the latest version and update its installed skill to match the most recent version from the repo.

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Designed in California: An Apple History Podcast from Myke Hurley and Jason Snell→

Apple has one of the richest and most interesting histories in Silicon Valley. It’s the story of a startup, a company that nearly failed, and a remarkable comeback all rolled into one that’s punctuated by some of the most beloved products in tech history, along with some duds.

Today, Myke Hurley and Jason Snell launched a Kickstarter campaign aimed at funding a podcast called Designed in California that will tell the history of Apple, drawing on their own knowledge of the company and research. Myke and Jason have promised backers at least 30 episodes in the show’s first year on topics ranging from Apple’s founding, its near-death experience in the 90s, as well as more recent events during the Tim Cook era.

As I publish this, Designed in California has already met its $40,000 campaign goal, so it looks like the show is a go. Myke and Jason have promised a taste of what’s to come during June segments of Upgrade, which will be followed by the new show’s full episodes when the Kickstarter campaign ends. If you want to support the Designed in California campaign, there are a wide variety of backer options from $20 to $1,000 with perks that include ad-free episodes, wallpapers, an enamel pin, a signed print of the show’s artwork, and more depending on how much you pledge.

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Apple Recognizes Developer Community Leaders→

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Yesterday, Apple published a new page on its Developer site highlighting the contributions of 50 prominent members in the Apple developer community. The page recognizes individuals from around the world and across a variety of disciplines, from technical writing, content creation, and education to event organizing and accessibility advocacy. Each profile includes a photo, a short biography, and a link to the person’s LinkedIn profile.

It’s great to see Apple give this well-earned special recognition to those who do so much to improve the lives of users everywhere through their apps and other work. The community of developers that has grown around Apple’s platforms is a priceless asset to the company and its customers, and they deserve to be honored. I hope we’ll see even more of this public positive engagement with developers out of Apple going into and following WWDC.

I highly recommend browsing through the page on the Developer site. You’ll likely see some faces you recognize from our coverage and apps you love, including Hacking with Swift’s Paul Hudson, visionOS educator Joseph Simpson, previous First, Last, Everything guest Robin Kanatzar, Mercury Weather’s Malin Sundberg, and many more. If there’s another developer you think should be recognized in the future, the page includes a link to submit their name to Apple for consideration as well.

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Spotify CLI Turns Personalized Audio into a Podcast Feed→

Spotify introduced a new feature called Personal Podcasts today that’s really clever. It’s a CLI, a set of agent skills, and a Claude plugin available from GitHub that, once installed, lets users prompt AI agents to create personalized audio that can be listened to like a podcast.

Here’s how Spotify explains the feature:

People are already starting to use their agents to create personal audio that guides their day: from summaries of class notes before an exam to briefings of what’s on their calendar. And they’re asking for a way to listen to it on Spotify, where they already listen to everything else.

Now, we’re making it possible to save and play Personal Podcasts on Spotify. Your agent can generate a daily briefing, private to you, and it’s saved alongside everything else in Your Library. And as always with Spotify, it’s seamlessly integrated across the devices you use.

This is a lot like a tool I built for myself that lives on a Mac mini server and generates a podcast feed from articles I save. I’ve enjoyed the experience so much that I plan to expand my server setup to handle exactly the sort of daily briefings Spotify envisions. What’s great about Spotify’s solution is that it eliminates the sort of tinkering I went through to build a suite of tools on a personal server. Yes, you still need to install a command-line tool, but with an AI agent to help, that’s simple.

I’m actually surprised that no indie developer of a podcast app has built a CLI for side-loading audio yet. The closest thing I’ve found is a Python CLI that automates the web-based uploading of audio to Overcast for premium subscribers. That’s an okay solution, but it’s unofficial, which means changes to the Overcast website could break it. Hopefully we’ll see something like this from more than just Spotify soon.

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