Posts in news

The Vision Pro Lends a Hand to the STRUTT ev¹ Personal Mobility Device→

YouTuber Two F Zero T has a first look at the STRUTT ev¹, a personal mobility device that was shown off at CES and can be controlled with the Vision Pro. The video, which I first saw linked by Apple’s Mike Stern on Mastodon, demonstrates the impressive tech packed into the STRUTT ev¹, including a unique integration with the Vision Pro. Thanks to Apple’s headset, users can navigate their surroundings with the Vision Pro’s eye and head tracking.

One of the things that’s easy to forget is that the Vision Pro builds on Apple’s years of accessibility research and development, which pioneered many of the interactions central to how people use it. With the release of the Vision Pro, developers working on new hardware like the STRUTT ev¹ can build on Apple’s innovation to offer an even richer feature set in their products. It’s a virtuous circle that benefits everyone. Apple’s products work better for more people, and companies like Strutt can build on that technology to offer an enhanced experience to their customers, too.

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The Latest from AppStories and Ruminate

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John look ahead to WWDC and beyond to consider how Apple Intelligence could be used to change the way we use our iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

On AppStories+, Federico has grievances about the lack of Apple software compatibility on Android.

Ruminate

I brings the snack, Robb tries the BuJo life, and they both discuss web apps.

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The Latest from Comfort Zone, NPC, Magic Rays of Light, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

In this very special episode, the gang makes their “Pro” and “Pro Max” predictions for tech in 2025 and oh my, does it get wild! Who’s best clued into the tech coming this year? Who is just wish-casting their way to third place? We’ll have to wait to find out.

NPC: Next Portable Console

On this special edition of NPC, Federico, John, and Brendon react to Nintendo’s video announcement about the Switch 2, dig through every detail of the video for clues, and consider how things are likely to play out in the coming months.

MacStories Unwind

This week, John judges Southerners’ handling of snow, Federico is a game streaming convert, and John has a new favorite series about the Troubles in Ireland. Plus, we found a great deal on a favorite sitcom.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon share their favorite announcements from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show and recap the second season of Bad Sisters.

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MacStories Unwind Is Now Available as Video on YouTube

MacStories’ video rollout on YouTube continues today with MacStories Unwind, the podcast where Federico and I swap funny stories about the differences between life in the U.S. and Italy and share media picks and deals. The show is released every Friday, just in time to enjoy a good story and unwind with one of our media picks, and now, you can watch as well as listen.

As with our other shows, there will always be an audio version of MacStories Unwind. The video version is there for those who prefer to get their podcasts from YouTube, and judging from our other shows, that’s a lot of you. But if video isn’t your thing, you won’t notice any difference in the audio version.

I should also mention that we offer an early, ad-free version of the show, which we call MacStories Unwind+, for all Club MacStories members. The plus version of the show comes out on Thursday afternoons U.S. time as one of the many Club perks we offer. It’s a great way to get a jump on your weekend plans by getting our media recommendations a day early and enjoying the other perks of the Club.

You can learn more about Club MacStories and the perks we offer, like weekly and monthly newsletters, podcast perks, special columns, a Discord community, and more, by visiting the Club Plans page. More than ever before, Club MacStories is what sustains MacStories. We’d love it if you’d join.

Join Club MacStories:

NPC Special Podcast Episode: Nintendo Switch 2 Reactions and First Theories

Earlier today Nintendo announced the first official details about the Switch 2 console. There are still a lot of unknowns, but there are interesting details that can be gleaned from Nintendo’s video announcement. Join Federico, Brendon, and me for our reactions to the announcement and our theories about what is only hinted at by Nintendo in this special bonus episode of NPC: Next Portable Console, which is available on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

A Bluesky-Based Photo-Sharing App Is Coming→

Sebastian Vogelsang, the Berlin-based developer of Skeets, an alternative to Bluesky’s official client, is working on a new photo-sharing app called Flashes that is built on the same codebase as Skeets. As reported by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch:

When launched, Flashes could tap into growing consumer demand for alternatives to Big Tech’s social media monopoly. This trend has led to the adoption of open source, decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky, among others, including the recently launched Pixelfed mobile apps, built on Mastodon’s ActivityPub protocol. It’s also, in part, what’s fueling TikTok users’ shift to the Chinese app RedNote ahead of the U.S. TikTok ban — that is, U.S. users are signaling that they would rather use a foreign adversary’s app than return to Meta at this point.

The idea behind Flashes is fundamentally different from Instagram. Whereas Instagram is a standalone product that allows users to cross-post to Threads automatically, Flashes is being built on top of the same social graph as Bluesky. That means Flashes will act as a Bluesky filter focused on photo and video content instead of your entire Bluesky feed. It’s an interesting approach that sidesteps the messiness of cross-posting entirely and allows Vogelsang to focus Flashes’ feature set on photos and video.

I’m looking forward to giving Flashes a try. Instagram is more deeply embedded in many people’s lives than Threads, which makes it harder to replace. However, I’m glad to see Vogelsang and Pixelfed trying. There are enough people like us who are fed up with Meta’s policies that these sorts of alternatives may have a shot at gaining traction with users.

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The Latest from AppStories and NPC: Next Portable Console

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week on AppStories, Federico and John predict what we’ll see from Apple in 2025. From agentic AI to App Intents and Siri, they explore what will shape the year ahead and the implications to users and developers.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Memberful – Easy-to-Use Reliable Membership Software

NPC: Next Portable Console

In the first NPC episode of 2025, Brendon and John recap their CES experience with Federico, highlighting AMD’s new Z2 chips, the SteamOS-powered Legion Go S, and more. Together, they explore the technologies and trends poised to define the next generation of portable consoles.

This episode is sponsored by:

Pika – Sign up today to start telling your story and use code NPC20 for 20% off your first year of Pika Pro

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The Latest from Comfort Zone, Ruminate, Magic Rays of Light, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane is out, so Chris and Matt are left to fend on their own. Chris steals like an artist and Matt defends a new purchase.

Ruminate

Some snack reviews from the festive period, Robb was on another podcast, and John is on his way to CES.

Sponsored by Pika: Use code RUMINATE20 for 20% off your first year of Pika Pro

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon share one Apple TV wish each for 2025 and recap season two of Shrinking. Devon also reviews Sigmund’s Christmas gift to him, A Real Pain.

MacStories Unwind

This week, John fills in Federico about pod people, creepy robots, light masks, AI BBQ, and other weird and wonderful sights from CES 2025.

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Razer Launches PC Remote Play for Streaming PC Games to the iPhone, iPad, and Other Devices

Source: Razer.

Source: Razer.

Yesterday, Brendon and I wandered into a ballroom where Razer was showing off its latest hardware. We weren’t expecting much beyond super-powerful gaming laptops (✅) and lots of RGB lights (also ✅). However, just as our guided booth tour was ending, we asked about an iPhone, iPad mini, and Windows PC setup on a nearby table, which it turns out was a demo of Razer’s new PC Remote Play app.

There are a lot of ways to stream games from a Windows PC to iPhones, iPads, and other devices, but Razer PC Remote Play looks like it could be one of the easiest and nicest of the bunch. What was impressive about the demo was that Razer’s app automatically adjusts to the device to which you’re streaming, matching its screen’s refresh rate and aspect ratio. That ensures you’ll get the most out of the device to which you’re streaming, and you won’t see letterboxing or pillarboxing, which is caused by a mismatch between the aspect ratio of your PC remote device. According to a Reddit user who says they are a Product Developer for Razer PC Remote Play, the app is built on the open source Moonlight/Sunshine projects, with the goal of simplifying setup and configuration.

Razer PC Remote Play is currently in beta and requires that you run Razer Cortex on your Windows PC and install the Razer PC Remote Play and Razer Nexus apps on your iPhone, iPad, or other devices. I haven’t had a chance to set this up yet because I don’t have a PC with me at CES, but judging from the iOS app I set up it looks as simple as opening Razer PC Remote Play, which detects if there is a PC on your network running Razer Cortex. Once paired, Razer says your PC games will show up in its Nexus game launcher app alongside your other games.

I’m excited to try Razer PC Remote Play myself. The Moonlight/Sunshine project is a great way to stream PC games, but it can take some fiddling to work well with any given setup. What Razer is promising is a simplified version that just works out of the box. We’ll see how well it works in practice, but the demo I saw was promising.