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.
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.
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.
This week, John and Federico cover Apple’s executive transition, follow up on OpenAI’s super app, share the apps they’re looking for, and give each other suggestions on how to fill their app gaps.
On AppStories+, we round up the tools we’ve built for ourselves that fill gaps we haven’t found apps for.
This week, OnePlus makes a phone controller with only triggers, Tico 0.7.0 brings GameCube and Wii emulation to the Switch, Ayn raises prices, and Steam comes to Android via ROCKNIX.
On NPC XL, Brendon shares his experience installing ROCKNIX and Steam on the Ayn Odin 2 M
Jonathan is joined by Craig Hockenberry, a longtime software designer and developer at The Iconfactory, known for building influential Mac and iOS apps like Twitterific, Tapestry, and Tot.
Matt has released Quick Reads, Niléane has entered her M5 (and Jonny Ive) era, and the whole gang throws their monitors away in favor of that laptop life.
On Cozy Zone, the gang tier lists the Olympic logos from 2000 through 2036. (Yes, 2036!)
This week, Federico and John get ready for the summer with a conversation about vacation bridging, bringing your dog to the beach, and cooling off in the mountains. Then, John shares a blockbuster movie recommendation and a movie bundle deal.
This week, we draw from Federico’s experience creating the Apple Frames 4 shortcut and CLI to discuss the multiplier effect that AI agents can have in the hands of someone with deep domain expertise.
On AppStories+, we share our AI agent mishaps and horror stories along with additional details on a John’s ongoing HomeKit makeover project.
This week, TrimUI’s slow drip of details on the Brick Pro continues, shipping manifests suggest the Steam Controller may beat the Steam Machine to market, and OnePlus makes a strong bid for weirdest handheld announcement of 2026.
Then on NPC XL, Federico reports on his trip to Romics and the trading card takeover of Italian comic-cons, plus how not to sell a “pristine” Nintendo DS.
Jonathan is joined by Nate Parrott, a designer and coder known for his work as a founding designer at The Browser Company, working on Arc. He also creates playful software and apps that blend utility with whimsy.
Chris and Matt are on their own this week and do a deeper dive into the MacBook Neo after a month using it. Do they still love it? Hate it? Probably somewhere in the middle, huh?
On Cozy Zone, the gang tier lists macOS default wallpapers, and you just know someone’s going to have some very wrong opinions.
This week, John schools Federico on the differences between Eastern and Western North Carolina BBQ before they both share several TV show and album picks for the weekend.
