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Podcast Rewind: Pro Tools, HomeKit Maintenance, and Cinema’s Future

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane is out on assignment, so Chris and Matt hold down the fort, discussing what “pro” tools look like, the most pro Thunderbolt dock you can buy, and how they automated their note-taking.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Ecamm Live – Broadcast Better with Ecamm Live. Coupon code MACSTORIES gives 1 month free of Ecamm Live to new customers.

MacStories Unwind

This week, automation crimes, HomeKit gardens, tattoo crime shows, and videogames. It’s a packed episode, just in time for the long holiday weekend in the U.S.


Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon discuss what the future of the theatrical experience could look like and look back at Apple Original French culinary drama Carême.

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Podcast Rewind: Podcasting with iPadOS 26 and a Game Boy Camera for iOS

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico records entirely on his iPad Pro using the new local capture feature in iPadOS 26. He and John discuss how this system feature changes remote podcasting, their experiences and experiments with macOS Tahoe and the new Spotlight, and why both have returned to Apple’s Reminders app – thanks in part to Apple Intelligence and AI automation workflows. Also covered this week: AirPods get better recording quality in the latest beta, MCP integrations with native apps, and early thoughts on Workout Buddy in watchOS 26.

On AppStories+, Federico explores Perplexity’s system-level integrations and publishes from Notes, while John explores a new Focus mode combination thanks to iOS 26.


NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, John and Brendon cover Hori webcam woes, a creative new Game Boy Camera app for iOS, and dbrand’s Killswitch case troubles for the Switch 2. They also dig into the ambitious but flawed MagicX DS-style handheld, Brendon’s ongoing Tokyo Pro Controller hunt, and more.

On NPC XL, John wishes he’d tried NextUI for the TrimUI Brick sooner, Brendon reports from Tokyo on what everyone’s playing on the subway, and Federico finally solves the puzzle of unifying his work and gaming into one seamless desk setup.

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Cloudflare Introduces a Pay-to-Scrape Beta Program for Web Publishers

Governments have largely been ineffective in regulating the unfettered scraping of the web by AI companies. Now, Cloudflare is taking a different approach, tackling the problem from a commercial angle with a beta program that charges AI bots each time they scrape a website. Cloudflare’s CEO, Matthew Prince told Ars Technica:

Original content is what makes the Internet one of the greatest inventions in the last century, and it’s essential that creators continue making it. AI crawlers have been scraping content without limits. Our goal is to put the power back in the hands of creators, while still helping AI companies innovate. This is about safeguarding the future of a free and vibrant Internet with a new model that works for everyone.

Under the program, websites set what can be scraped and what scraping costs. In addition, for new customers, Cloudflare is now blocking AI bots from scraping sites by default, a change from its previous opt-in blocking system.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the viability of Cloudflare’s pay-to-scrape beta, and many details still need to be worked out, not the least of which includes convincing AI companies to cooperate. However, I’m glad to see Cloudflare taking the lead on an approach that attempts to compensate publishers for the value of what AI companies are scraping and put agency back in the hands of creators.



Apple Music Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary with a New Campus, Radio Events, and a Special Playlist

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

It’s been 10 years since Apple Music launched the summer following Apple’s acquisition of Beats. To mark the anniversary, Apple has made several announcements.

First of all, the company will soon open a 15,000 square foot multi-use campus in Culver City, California. According to Apple’s press release:

…the new studio represents a major milestone in Apple’s continued mission to support artists at every level by giving them the tools, platform, and creative freedom to tell their stories in entirely new ways. More than just a studio in the traditional sense, the new space is a creative campus that reflects a decade of Apple Music’s commitment to high-quality sound, authentic storytelling, and artist-first experiences.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The facility includes two radio studios for Apple Music Radio, with Spatial Audio playback and adaptable configurations to accommodate interviews, performances, and more. Apple has also built a 4,000 square foot soundstage for live performances, multicam recording, events, and screenings. Other spaces are dedicated to Spatial Audio mixing, social media production, and isolation booths for songwriters, podcasters, and interviewers. Apple’s new California studio is designed to anchor its other locations that include New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, and Nashville.

Apple is also celebrating its 10th anniversary with a series of events on Apple Music Radio. “Don’t Be Boring: The Birth of Apple Music Radio with Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden” has concluded, but you can still catch:

  • “10 Years of Apple Music” featuring stories of big moments from the past decade which will air today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST; and
  • “Live: 10 Years Of Apple Music” from 4 to 7 p.m. PST, which will be hosted by Lowe and Darden and feature the artists who have been integral to the service.

Apple Music Radio will also be counting down its 500 most streamed songs over the past decade, with 100 songs featured each day, culminating in the top 100 songs, which will stream on July 5th.

The Replay All Time playlist. Source: Apple.

The Replay All Time playlist. Source: Apple.

Finally, Apple is rolling out individual Replay All Time playlists to its subscribers, which aggregates your most streamed songs from the past 10 years. The playlist hasn’t appeared for me yet, but I know Federico has it, so I expect it will show up for most subscribers soon.

I’ve been a subscriber of Apple Music since day one. While I’ve leveled my fair share of criticisms of the service over that time, it says a lot that I’ve stuck with it for a full decade. There’s always room to improve, but I’m glad I’ve had Apple Music as the soundtrack to my everyday life for so long. Ten years is a big milestone for anything, and judging from where things stand today, Apple Music has a bright future ahead of it.


Our OS 26 Experiments: iPad Podcasting, Reminders, and More

This week, Federico records entirely on his iPad Pro using the new local capture feature in iPadOS 26. He and John discuss how this system feature changes remote podcasting, their experiences and experiments with macOS Tahoe and the new Spotlight, and why both have returned to Apple’s Reminders app—thanks in part to Apple Intelligence and AI automation workflows. Also covered this week: AirPods get better recording quality in the latest beta, MCP integrations with native apps, and early thoughts on Workout Buddy in watchOS 26.

On AppStories+, Federico explores Perplexity’s system-level integrations and publishes from Notes, while John explores a new Focus mode combination thanks to iOS 26.


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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 443 - Our OS 26 Experiments: iPad Podcasting, Reminders, and More

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

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Podcast Rewind: Upgrading from a 2012 Mac mini Server, Every Phone We’ve Ever Owned, and Seeing F1: The Movie in IMAX

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane hosts the next installment of the Our Tech Stories series, Chris has an iPad keyboard case with a kickstand, and everyone attempts to replace a cherished app with something from Apple.


MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico and John dig into MacStories’ big infrastructure update, John tours Wilmington, NC, TV locations, and they both have TV, movie, and music picks, plus two movie deals.


Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon are joined by special guests Jonathan Reed and Benjamin Mayo to highlight the theatrical debut of F1: The Movie. Then, they discuss this Friday’s premiere of Apple Original thriller series Smoke.

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