This week, Federico and John talk about the 10+ email apps they’ve used over the years and how recent spikes in email volume have caused them to change their approaches.
On AppStories+, Federico and John update listeners on their summertime agentic coding projects.
This week, Steam Machine ordering follow-up and Sony’s many controversial announcements.
On NPC XL, what’s going on with AYANEO and the Pocket MICRO 2? Plus, the RG Rotate gets clock faces, and Apple brings PC gaming on the Mac closer to reality.
Chris explains how he’s using Parchment, Matt gets all in your face about calendars, and everyone competes to see who can handle using Snick for the longest.
On Cozy Zone, the gang shares their development tips and setups.
This week, John heads to the mountains while Federico cooks on a beach, the origin of “the boonies,” and narrow mountain roads, plus a TV and movie pick.
This week, Federico and John talk about the state of AI aggregator apps and their future prospects before checking in on their current AI app setups for the AppStories+ post-show.
Niléane invested in a fast-appreciating asset (air conditioner), CHRIS MADE AN APP, and everyone surprises everyone else with their favorite challenges.
On Cozy Zone, we tier list the biggest iPhone features over the year.
This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico and John are burning up Claude Fable 5 tokens as fast as they can, while Federico finds the time to try a brand new Switch 2 game.
This week, John and Federico are back home and reflect on all the WWDC announcements, including Siri AI, Apple Intelligence, design changes, developer tools, and more.
On AppStories+, we check in on our research setups and how they fared at WWDC.
The gang’s back together! Niléane has a new window management system, Matt wonders if Thunderbolt is too fast, and everyone recovers from letting AI take the wheel for the week.
On Cozy Zone, Niléane has a new place, and it only seemed proper to roast her new setup.
This week, Federico and John are joined by Myke Hurley and Chris Lawley to share their first impressions of the WWDC keynote and discoveries in the hours following the presentation.
And in a second special WWDC edition of AppStories, Federico and John interview Apple Design Award finalists and winners, including the developers of The Outsiders and Tide Guide and the publishers of Pine Hearts and BALL x PIT.
This week, Brendon and Federico have spent more time with the Anbernic RG Rotate and, along with John, have more thoughts about it and the handheld news coming out of Computex.
On NPC XL, Brendon, Federico, and John share their handheld travel setups.
It’s WWDC week, and we’re talking about it all episode this week. Chris is on location, calling in from his hotel room, while Niléane and Matt enjoy the comforts of home (and don’t feel a little left out…who told you we feel left out???).
On Cozy Zone, we roast and then tier list your old Home Screens – only the weird ones this time!
This week, we update listeners on the SN Operator and consider what the Steam Deck price hike means for the handheld gaming industry before sharing our first impressions of Anbernic’s RG Rotate.
On NPC XL, Brendon takes the wraps off of overworld.vg, a new game news aggregation site that he built and Federico and John have been testing.
This week, Federico and John talk about what makes WWDC special, share some memorable moments from past years, and think about how to spend their in-flight downtime.
This week, Federico and John share their WWDC gear guides, John recommends a quirky indie movie, and Federico continues to tear his way through a trio of great TV comedies
Your podcast player might say otherwise, but this is the true episode 100! Everyone is back together to do some Q&A, celebrate a birthday and a move to a new house, and offer some help as Chris abandons Safari (finally!).
On Cozy Zone, the gang gets very opinionated on Formula 1 liveries.
This week, Federico and John take listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of how they plan to tackle WWDC and the summertime research and writing season as they look forward to their fall OS reviews.
This week, John and Federico kick off the app swap challenge, with each of them giving the other three apps to use. We’ll be checking in on how it’s going each week with a final roundup of the results of the experiment after WWDC.
On AppStories+, we each pick aspirational apps and OS features that we wish we used more but don’t.
This week, mysterious Valve shipments are heading to the U.S., GameHub hits 6.0, one of us got multiple Steam Controllers, and plastic versus aluminum.
On NPC XL, Brendon, John, and Federico share apps and tips for Android gaming.
It’s just the boys today, as Chris has a slew of updates, while Matt has joined a new cult. They also try their darnedest to understand the appeal of mouse gestures in browsers.
On Cozy Zone, the gang roasts your (yes, your!) old Home Screens.
This week, an Italian movie dubbing controversy, the role of tech in the first-ever sub-two hour marathon, John’s high-tech running shoes, and a jangle-pop EP for your listening pleasure.
AppStories, Episode 484, ‘An App Swap Challenge’ Show Notes
This episode is sponsored by:
Steamclock: We make great apps. Design and development, from demos to details.
An App Swap Challenge: Pick Three Apps for Each Other to Try for a Month and Report Back
NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month. Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes. You can subscribe here.
Comfort Zone, Episode 100, ‘Don’t Let Tech Companies Electrocute You’ Show Notes
For even more from the Comfort Zone crew, you can subscribe to Cozy Zone. Cozy Zone is a weekly bonus episode of Comfort Zone where Matt, Niléane, and Chris invite listeners to join them in the Cozy Zone where they’ll cover extra topics, invent wilder challenges and games, and share all their great (and not so great) takes on tech. You can subscribe to Cozy Zone for $5 per month here or $50 per year here.
MacStories launched its first podcast in 2017 with AppStories. Since then, the lineup has expanded to include a family of weekly shows that also includes MacStories Unwind, Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, NPC: Next Portable Console, and First, Last, Everything that collectively, cover a broad range of the modern media world from Apple’s streaming service and videogame hardware to apps for a growing audience that appreciates our thoughtful, in-depth approach to media.
If you’re interested in advertising on our shows, you can learn more here or by contacting our Managing Editor, John Voorhees.
This week on Next Portable Console, we finally have RG Rotate specs and prices, get excited for the Steam Controller, update listeners on the latest grips available for the Switch 2, and cover the GameHub for Mac beta.
On NPC XL, we revisit GameNative, and Federico turns his Legion Go 2 into a SteamOS device.
Jonathan is joined by Niléane Dorffer, a French-Réunionnese podcaster, writer, and activist, known for being the co-host of Comfort Zone, her writing at MacStories, and her advocacy for trans rights.
With Chris out getting a puppy, Matt and Niléane hold down the fort, celebrating an app and lamenting a mouse. Then, everyone pretends to be someone else for fun.
On Cozy Zone, the gang compares their Mac Docks, and you won’t believe it, monsters were revealed!
This week, Federico wins the wild kingdom award, John is defending against vultures and has a creepy new show to recommend, and Federico closes with a TV check-in.
