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visionOS 26: The MacStories Overview

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

As part of this year’s WWDC keynote, Apple today announced visionOS 26, the next major version of visionOS coming this fall. The update features new ways for users to experience spatial content, display information in their environment, and interact with apps and games. It represents the next step forward for Apple’s vision of spatial computing, including what the company refers to as “the spatial web.”

Since Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language borrows heavily from visionOS, design changes won’t be as striking on the platform. The most prominent user-facing feature of the update is likely to be spatial widgets.

Up to this point, native widgets have been completely absent on visionOS, and the company has introduced them in a way that is consistent with its other devices while adding a spatial flair. Widgets can be customized to include a border and a depth effect to blend in with the user’s environment, and they remain fixed persistently in place even after the Vision Pro restarts. Built-in options like the Clock, Calendar, Music, and Photos widgets were featured, though third-party developers will be able to provide their own widget options via the new Widgets app.

Various ways of experiencing spatial content have been enhanced in visionOS 26 as well. Building on last year’s introduction of spatial photo conversion, Apple this year added a feature called spatial scenes to all of its platforms. Spatial scenes add depth to photos, enabling users to experience their pictures from different perspectives by moving their heads. These scenes can be viewed in Photos, the Spatial Gallery, and Safari, and developers can add them to their own apps. visionOS 26 also adds native support for playing back 180-degree, 360-degree, and wide field-of-view content.

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2025 Apple Design Awards Winners and Finalists Announced

As WWDC approaches, Apple has announced the finalists for its annual Apple Design Awards, and in a departure from recent years, the winners too.

This year, there are six categories, and each category has a winning app and game, along with four finalists. Unlike last year, there is no Spatial Computing category this year. The 2025 ADA winners and finalists are:

Delight and Fun

Winners:

Finalists:

Innovation

Winners:

Finalists:

Interaction

Winner:

  • App
    • Taobao by Zhejiang Taobao Network
  • Game

Finalists:

Inclusivity

Winner:

Finalists:

Social Impact

Winners:

  • App
  • Game
    • Neva by Developer Digital

Finalists:

Visuals and Graphics

Winners:

Finalists:

The winners and finalists include a broad range of games and apps, including some from smaller developers including Lumy, Denim Art of Fauna, Skate City: New York, as well as titles from bigger publishers.

I’m glad that Apple has announced the finalists for the last few years. Winning an ADA is a big achievement for any developer, but it’s also nice to know who the finalists are because it’s quite an honor among the many apps that could have been chosen, too. Plus as a fan of apps, Apple’s longer finalist list always reminds me of an app or two that I haven’t tried yet. Congratulations to all of this year’s Apple Design Award winners and finalists.

Federico’s Latest Automation Academy Lesson: Building a Better Web Clipper with Shortcuts and AI→

A webpage saved with Universal Clipper.

A webpage saved with Universal Clipper.

I share Federico’s frustration over saving links. Every link may be a URL, but their endpoints can be wildly different. If like us, you save links to articles, videos, product information, and more, it’s hard to find a tool that handles every kind of link equally well.

That was the problem Federico set out to solve with Universal Clipper, an advanced shortcut that automatically detects the kind of link that’s passed to it, and saves it to a text file, which he accesses in Obsidian, although any text editor will work.

Universal Clipper integrates with the Obsidian plugin Dataview, too.

Universal Clipper integrates with the Obsidian plugin Dataview, too.

Universal Clipper, which Federico released yesterday as part of his Automation Academy series for Club MacStories Plus and Premier members, is one of his most ambitious shortcuts that draws on multiple third-party apps, services, and command line tools in an automation that works as a standalone shortcut or as a function that can send its results to another shortcut. As Federico explains:

I learned a lot in the process. As I’ve documented on MacStories and the Club lately, I’ve played around with various templates for Dataview queries in Obsidian; I’ve learnedhow to take advantage of the Mac’s Terminal and various CLI utilities to transcribe long YouTube videos and analyze them with Gemini 2.5; I’ve explored new ways to interact with web APIs in Shortcuts; and, most recently, I learned how to properly prompt GPT 4.1 with precise instructions. All of these techniques are coming together in Universal Clipper, my latest, Mac-only shortcut that combines macOS tools, Markdown, web APIs, and AI to clip any kind of webpage from any web browser and save it as a searchable Markdown document in Obsidian.

Although the shortcut may be complex, the best part of Federico’s post is how easy it is to follow. Along the way, you’ll learn a bunch of techniques and approaches to Shortcuts automation that you can adapt for your own shortcuts, too.

Automation Academy is just one of many perks that Club MacStories Plus and Club Premier members enjoy including:

  • Weekly and monthly newsletters 
  • A sophisticated web app with search and filtering tools to navigate eight years of content
  • Customizable RSS feeds
  • Bonus columns
  • An early and ad-free version of our Internet culture and media podcast, MacStories Unwind
  • A vibrant Discord community of smart app and automation fans who trade a wealth of tips and discoveries every day
  • Live Discord audio events after Apple events and at other times of the year

On top of that, Club Premier members get AppStories+, an extended, ad-free version of our flagship podcast that we deliver early every week in high-bitrate audio.

Use the buttons below to learn more and sign up for Club MacStories+ or Club Premier.

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Recording Video and Gaming: A Setup Update→

It’s been a couple of months since I updated my desk setup. In that time, I’ve concentrated on two areas: video recording and handheld gaming.

I wasn’t happy with the Elgato Facecam Pro 4K camera, so I switched to the iPhone 16e. The Facecam Pro is a great webcam, but the footage it shot for our podcasts was mediocre. In the few weeks that I’ve moved to the 16e, I’ve been very happy with it. My office is well lit, and the video I’ve shot with the 16e is clear, detailed, and vibrant.

The iPhone 16e sits behind an Elgato Prompter, a desktop teleprompter that can act as a second Mac display. That display can be used to read scripts, which I haven’t done much of yet, or for apps. I typically put my Zoom window on the Prompter’s display, so when I look at my co-hosts on Zoom, I am also looking into the camera.

The final piece of my video setup that I added since the beginning of the year is the Tourbox Elite Plus. It’s a funny looking contraption with lots of buttons and dials that fits comfortably in your hand. It’s a lot like a Stream Deck or Logitech MX Creative Console, but the many shapes and sizes of its buttons, dials, and knobs set it apart and make it easier to associate each with a certain action. Like similar devices, everything can be tied to keyboard shortcuts, macros, and automations, making it an excellent companion for audio and video editing.

On the gaming side of things, my biggest investment has been in a TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Mesh System. Living in a three-story condo makes setting up good Wi-Fi coverage hard. With my previous system I decided to skip putting a router on the third floor, which was fine unless I wanted to play games in bed in the evening. With a new three-router system that supports Wi-Fi 7 I have better coverage and speed, which has already made game streaming noticeably better.

Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro. Source: Ayn.

Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro. Source: Ayn.

The other changes are the addition of the Ayn Odin 2 Portal Pro, which we’ve covered on NPC: Next Portable Console. I love its OLED screen and the fact that it runs Android, which makes streaming games and setting up emulators a breeze. It supports Wi-Fi 7, too, so it pairs nicely with my new Wi-Fi setup.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I often sit on my couch with a pillow in my lap to prop up my laptop or iPad Pro. That convinced me to add Mechanism’s Gaming Pillow to my setup, which I use in the evening from my couch or later in bed. Mechanism makes a bunch of brackets and other accessories to connect various devices to the pillow’s arm, which I plan to explore more in the coming weeks.

The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Controller. Source: 8BitDo.

The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Controller. Source: 8BitDo.

There are a handful of other changes that I’ve made to my setup that you can find along with everything else I’m currently using on our Setups page, but there are two other items I wanted to shout out here. The first is the JSAUX 16” FlipGo Pro Dual Monitor, which I recently reviewed. It’s two 16” stacked matte screens joined by a hinge. It’s a wonderfully weird and incredibly useful way to get a lot of screen real estate in a relatively small package. The second item is 8BitDo’s new Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller that works with Windows and Android. I was a fan of the original version of this controller, but this update preserves the original’s build quality and adds new features like L4 and R4 buttons, TMR joysticks that use less energy than Hall Effect joysticks, and 2.4G via a USB-C dongle and Bluetooth connection options.

That’s it for now. In the coming months, I hope to redo parts of my smart home setup, so stay tuned for another update later this summer or in the fall.

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Vision Pro to Gain Apple Intelligence, Spatial Gallery App, and Companion iPhone App

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple announced today that visionOS 2.4 will add some big features to the Vision Pro.

For starters, Apple Intelligence is coming to the Vision Pro. When I was at WWDC, I was surprised when there was no mention that Apple Intelligence would be added to visionOS. Since then, visionOS 2.0 and three subsequent releases have debuted without any sign of Apple Intelligence. However, that will change with the release of visionOS 2.4 in April.

Apple says visionOS 2.4 will include:

  • Writing Tools;
  • ChatGPT integration;
  • Genmoji;
  • Image Playground; and
  • Other unspecified features
Spatial Gallery. Source: Apple

Spatial Gallery. Source: Apple

In addition, visionOS will debut Spatial Gallery, a new Vision Pro app that Apple says will feature “a curated collection of spatial photos, spatial videos, and panoramas from artists, filmmakers, photographers, and more,” including new Immersive video titles.

Apple is also releasing a Vision Pro app for the iPhone that adds:

a new way to download apps and games from the App Store; discover experiences from Apple TV, Spatial Gallery, and more; easily find helpful tips; and quickly access information for their Vision Pro. Enhancements to Guest User make it easier than ever for users to share apps and experiences with family, friends, and colleagues using a nearby iPhone or iPad.

The Apple Vision Pro app. Source: Apple.

The Apple Vision Pro app. Source: Apple.

Apple says you’ll be able to queue a download from your iPhone for your Apple Vision Pro. I gave up trying to share my Vision Pro with my family almost immediately because it was such a cumbersome process, so better sharing will be welcome. If it works as promised, this sounds like a much better approach:

With new enhancements to Guest User in visionOS 2.4, users can start a Guest User session with their nearby iPhone or iPad. When their device is unlocked, they can choose which apps are accessible to their guest and start View Mirroring with AirPlay, making it easy to guide a guest through their Vision Pro experience.

It’s great to see Apple continue to push the Vision Pro forward with better user experiences, new content, and additional ways to enjoy its unique features.

DefaultSMS Lets You Choose Your Default Messaging App

In iOS 18.2, Apple introduced the ability for users to set their default apps for messaging, calling, call filtering, passwords, contactless payments, and keyboards. Previously, it was only possible to specify default apps for mail and browsing, so this was a big step forward.

While apps like 1Password quickly took advantage of these new changes, there have been few to no takers in the calling, contactless payments, and messaging categories. Enter DefaultSMS, a new app that, as far as I can tell, seems to be the first to make use of the default messaging app setting.

Default SMS is not a messaging app. What it does is use this new setting to effectively bounce the user into the messaging app of their choice when they tap on a phone number elsewhere within iOS. Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal are the options currently supported in the app.

Initial setup is quick. First, you select the messaging app you would like to use within DefaultSMS. Then, you head to Settings → Apps → Default Apps → Messaging and select DefaultSMS instead of Messages.

When you tap on a phone number, DefaultSMS will launch your chosen messaging app to start a conversation.

When you tap on a phone number, DefaultSMS will launch your chosen messaging app to start a conversation.

Now, whenever you tap on a phone number from a website, email, note, or other source within iOS, the system will recognize the sms:// link and open a new message to that number in your default messaging app, now specified as DefaultSMS. The app will then bounce you into your messaging app of choice to start the conversation. The developer says the process is 100% private, with DefaultSMS retaining none of this information.

It’s worth pointing out a few things about the app:

  • You can only message someone who already has the app you are messaging from.
  • If someone sends you an SMS, it will still be delivered to the Messages app.
  • Once you start a conversation, you will be messaging from the app you have chosen (such as WhatsApp), not via SMS.

So why does this app exist? I put this question to the developer, Vincent Neo, who said, “The focus of the app is more towards countries where a significant part of the population already prefers a specific platform very frequently, such that users are very likely to prefer that over other platforms (including SMS), similar to your case, where everyone you know has WhatsApp.”

Quite simply, DefaultSMS allows you to choose which app you want to use to start a conversation when you tap a phone number, rather than always reverting to Messages. The app also highlights a flaw in the phrase “default messaging app”: there are still no APIs for apps to receive SMS messages. Until those are added, we will have to rely on clever third-party utilities like DefaultSMS to get us halfway there.

DefaultSMS is available on the App Store for $0.99.

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Yesterday, it was reported that Apple had resumed advertising on X (formerly Twitter). The company ceased advertising on the site without comment in November 2023, but earlier this week, ads for a Safari privacy feature and the Apple TV+ show Severance began appearing on X. Apple has not commented on why the change was made.

Apple’s relationship with X has been rocky since Elon Musk took over in October 2022. That fall, it was reported that Apple significantly decreased its advertising on the social media platform. That was seemingly corroborated by Musk himself, who said in November 2022 that Apple had ended most of its advertising and threatened to remove X from the App Store. Musk and Tim Cook then met at Apple Park, and they seemingly resolved the rift for about a year.

In the following months, reports surfaced indicating an increase in hate speech on X. In what may be Apple’s only public statement about its advertising relationship with the social media company, Tim Cook told CBS News in September 2023 that Apple was constantly assessing its advertising on X. Then in November, after Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X, Apple stopped advertising on the platform, though it never explained why.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was considering resuming its advertising on X. It has now done so, joining many other major brands.

Apple hasn’t explained the reason for the change, which comes hard on the heels of a report of significant increases in hate speech on X during Musk’s tenure. This has led to speculation that the move is an attempt to appease Musk, who has assumed an unprecedented and unelected position of power in the Trump administration. Whatever the reason, though, it’s not a good look for Apple.

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

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Matt made an app and brings a very, very unbiased take on it, Chris has solved some of his tech paper cuts, and Niléane probably won yet another challenge by bringing a really rad Apple TV remote.

MacStories Unwind

This week on Unwind, I make a Kuzu discovery that may amuse Italian listeners, we explore bars and aperitivo, and we share a music and TV show pick, along with a great deal.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon highlight the premiere of Apple Original Spanish-language comedy Love You To Death, break down the changes coming to MLS Season Pass this season, and recap immersive film Man vs. Beast.

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