AppStories

Hosted by Federico Viticci, John Voorhees

TechnologyInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

506

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

AppStories is a weekly exploration of the world of apps by MacStories’ Federico Viticci and John Voorhees. Each week, they discuss the best new apps, the impact of apps on our culture, and cover the stories behind popular apps. Hosted by Federico Viticci and John Voorhees.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 26, 2026Episode 50735 min

iPhone Duo App Rush and First Impressions

On this week's episode of AppStories, John returns from New York, Federico returns from London, and they compare notes on the iPhone Duo and the app demos they saw. Then on AppStories+, Federico and John discuss the durability of the iPhone Duo and the sorts of apps that developers are creating for it. Also available on YouTube here . --- Sponsored By: Insert Affiliate : Track and reward affiliates for every in-app purchase. Get started today. --- Links and Show Notes The iPhone Duo App Rush and First Impressions A Day with the iPhone Duo: First Impressions Building for iPhone Duo, in App Developers’ Own Words Apps Mentioned: Deck-Man Fold Accordion Toastie Craft Detail Edits Netflix Amazon Prime Video NYT Cooking Notewise Fantastical MLB Asphalt Legends UnGodly — currently a preorder, expected November 11. Also mentioned: Apple iPhone Duo Folio with Kickstand Logitech Keys-To-Go 2 AppStories+ Post-Show: Reviews and Durability Testing iPhone Duo Review iPhone Duo 32,000-Fold Test iPhone Duo Review: 10,000 Folds Later… --- Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

October 19, 2026Episode 50643 min

HomeView and Apple's Home Reset

This week on AppStories, John and Federico talk about Apple's new HomeView, the HomePod mini 2, and Apple TV 4K (4th gen). Then for AppStories+ subscribers, Federico and John dive into the world decomped video games, with a warning for what's to come for developers on Apple's platforms. Also available on YouTube here . --- Sponsored By: Claude – Discover what's possible. Try Claude today. --- Links and Show Notes Apple HomeView Meet Apple HomeView: A New Way to Enjoy Entertainment and Manage the Home Apple Unveils HomeView: A Smart Home Display Powered by Siri AI HomePod mini 2 Apple Announces the Next Generation of HomePod Mini Apple Reveals HomePod mini 2 with New Colors, Richer Sound, and Siri AI Apple TV 4K Apple unveils the new Apple TV 4K, supercharged by Siri AI The Apple TV 4K Gets Siri AI, an A19 Chip, and a $299 Price Tag Apple Home Collection Introducing Apple Home Collection, a new lineup of smart home accessories Siri AI, iOS 27, and the AI Landscape Apple Is Slow-Rolling iOS 27 Adoption, So Far Meta's New Muse AI Agent App Overtakes ChatGPT as Top iPhone App John Ternus on the cover of Time Streaming and Media Alternatives NVIDIA Shield TV Moonlight fx-upscale Apps Mentioned for HomeView Widgets and CarPlay Overcast Pocket Casts Castro Mercury Weather AppStories+ Show Notes Decompilation and Personal Software AI is mass decompiling games. That's both awesome and scary Xbox Encourages Recomp AI Craze With New Experimental Labs Division Hopper Disassembler New on Google Play: More ways to create, discover, and play --- Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

October 12, 2026Episode 50534 min

Full Disk Access in the Age of Agents

This week on AppStories, Federico and John start realizing the benefits of their attempt to automate all administrative tasks and explain why Apple's vague developer blog post about Full Disk Access and AI agents should concern all Mac users whether or not they use AI. On AppStories+, as John nears the finish line on his podcast production suite for the Mac, he explains how the project started and what it's done to improve his podcasting workflow. Also available on YouTube here . --- Sponsored By: Crickets : The First Alarm Clock for Families. For a limited time, get 50% off for 6 months with code MACSTORIES2026 by selecting Redeem on the app’s paywall. --- Links and Show Notes Apple's Full Disk Access Announcement Apple Announces Plan to Impose New Full Disk Access Controls on Mac Developers Apple Developer Blog post Meta’s New Muse AI Agent Read My Private Messages. I Never Asked It To Meta denies its Muse AI agent read a journalist's private messages Some Mac Utilities That Rely on Full Disk Access Raycast Alfred Bloom Setapp CleanMyMac DaisyDisk Pixelmator Pro AppStories+ Post-Show Tools and services mentioned: Riverside Transistor Libsyn Logic Pro Final Cut Pro Hush iZotope RX Whisper --- Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

October 5, 2026Episode 50438 min

Meet Dot: OpenAI's Always On Agent

Meet Dot: OpenAI's Always On Agent This week on AppStories, John is back from OpenAI DevDay, so he and Federico cover the history of AI agents, the current landscape, and what OpenAI is doing with Dots. On AppStories+, Federico provides a sneak peek at what's in store for his Reminders, Notes, and upcoming CLIs. Also available on YouTube here . Links and Show Notes AI Agents OpenAI Dots and DevDay 2026 OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar (TechCrunch) OpenAI’s Dots: A First Look Self Hosted Agents OpenClaw OpenClaw on GitHub Hermes Agent OpenAI hires OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger Hosted Agent Competitors Meta's Muse becomes App Store's hottest download Grok Bot Grok Bot Brings Always-On AI Agents to macOS and iOS AppStories+ Post-Show: RemCTL: GitHub MacStories: Introducing RemCTL, the Power-User Reminders CLI for macOS and AI Agents NotesCTL: Club MacStories download MacStories: NotesCTL, a Club MacStories Preview of Federico’s Advanced Apple Notes CLI Tool Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

September 28, 2026Episode 50332 min

What's New in macOS and watchOS 27

This week on AppStories, John shares his favorite parts of macOS and watchOS 27 from his reviews of both. On AppStories+, Federico and John begin revisiting new their long lists of automation projects. Also available on YouTube here . Sponsored By: Scribe – AI-powered workflow documentation. Get your first month free. Links and Show Notes John's macOS and watchOS 27 Reviews macOS 27: The MacStories Review watchOS 27: The MacStories Review AppStories+ Show Notes AI Agents and Cloud Development Claude Code Projects Cursor Cloud Agents Muse (Meta AI agent) Grok Bot Local AI on Mac Studio Qwen3.8 Flash Next Xiaomi MiMo-V2.6 MLX LM Studio Draw Things oMLX mlx-serve DwarfStar Open Minis Tailscale Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

September 21, 2026Episode 50239 min

Local AI Gets Serious on the M5 Ultra Mac Studio

This week on AppStories, John interviews Federico about his review of the M5 Ultra Mac Studio and it local AI capabilities. On AppStories+, Federico takes listeners behind the scenes on how he tested the M5 Ultra Mac Studio. Also available on YouTube here . Sponsored By: Workbench : Remote desktop for AI agents and headless Mac minis. Free to use for 20 minutes/day. Claude – For problems worth solving — get started with Claude today. Links and Show Notes Running Local AI Models on Apple's Latest Macs M5 Ultra Mac Studio Review: The Dream Mac for Local AI Agents Apple Hardware Mac Studio Mac mini Studio Display XDR Local Models Qwen3.8-Flash-Next Qwen3.8-27B DeepSeek-V4-Flash GLM-5.3-Flash Cohere Transcribe Qwen3-TTS Qwen-Image-2.1 Local Inference and Clustering oMLX exo Agent Apps and Tools Hermes Agent Hermes Agent on GitHub Open Minis Cadu OpenAI Brings Computer Use to Codex App on Windows Frontier Models and Workflow GPT-6 Astra Claude Fable 5.1 Claude Projects Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index Elyx NVIDIA PC Comparison GeForce RTX 5090 Lian Li A3-mATX NVIDIA DGX Spark AppStories+ Post-Show: A preview of how Federico used local AI models to support his iOS and iPadOS 27 review. Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

September 14, 2026Episode 50141 min

iOS and iPadOS 27: The MacStories Review

This week Federico shares thoughts from his review of iOS and iPadOS 27. Then in the AppStories+ post-show, he explains how he used agents to support the production of the review and Club MacStories extras. Also available on YouTube here . Sponsored By: Granola – The AI notepad for back-to-back days. Try for 3 months, for free, with code MACSTORIES. Links and Show Notes iOS and iPadOS 27: The MacStories Review Federico's iOS and iPadOS 27 Review Our OS 27 Review Extras: eBooks, Shortcuts, and the Making of the iOS and iPadOS 27 Review On AppStories Next Week: macOS 27: The MacStories Review watchOS 27: The MacStories Review AppStories+ Post-Show: The Role Agents Played in Review Production Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

September 7, 2026Episode 50047 min

The Once and Future App Store

This week on AppStories, we celebrate the 500th episode of the show with a look at the App Store's past, present, and future. On AppStories+, Federico and John pick some of their all-time favorite apps. Also available on YouTube here . Sponsored By: Claude : For problems worth solving — get started with Claude today. Gentler Streak – Move consistently, not constantly. AppStories listeners get an extended two-week free trial with the link above. Shipaton, from RevenueCat : The world's biggest mobile hackathon for people who actually ship. Links and Show Notes App Store History The App Store at 10 , MacStories' 2018 coverage of the App Store's 10th anniversary Apps Discussed From The Early App Store Era Instapaper Twitterrific Spotify WhatsApp AI and the Modern App Store Inside OpenAI's Codex with Andrew Ambrosino (MacStories) AppStories+ Post-Show: All-Time Favorite Apps Overcast Editorial Pythonista 3 Drafts Unread: An RSS Reader Working Copy Open Minis Launch Center Pro Screens 5: VNC Remote Desktop Mercury Weather CARROT Weather Alyx Caffeine Tracker Sequel Media Tracker LookUp Chronicling Jayson Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Affiliate Linking Policy

August 31, 2026Episode 49945 min

Inside OpenAI’s Codex With Andrew Ambrosino

This week on AppStories, Federico and John are joined by Andrew Ambrosino, the Codex team lead at OpenAI, to talk about the evolution of Codex, the unification of ChatGPT and Codex, Computer Use and Computer History, designing for user trust, and more. On AppStories+, Andrew shares some of his favorite Mac apps and his Mac origin story. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page , or read the AppStories+ FAQ . This episode is sponsored by: Finalist – A paper-inspired daily planner with notes for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and now Apple Watch. A day you design your way. For 50% off your first year use this link . Links and Show Notes Inside OpenAI’s Codex With Andrew Ambrosino Introducing the Codex App (OpenAI) Codex CLI (GitHub) Codex Documentation (OpenAI Developers) ChatGPT Desktop App ChatGPT Work ChatGPT Is Now a Partner for Your Most Ambitious Work (OpenAI) Introducing ChatGPT Atlas (OpenAI) OpenAI Codex Lead on the New Shape of Product Work (Lenny’s Newsletter) Follow Andrew Ambrosino online Website X.com AppStories+ Post-Show Apps Mentioned: Things Craft Linear Sketch Figma Numbers Keynote Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Social Media Federico is @viticci everywhere John is @johnvoorhees`everywhere Join Annual &dollar;50/year Join Monthly &dollar;5/month

August 17, 2026Episode 49850 min

How Should the Siri App Be Graded?

This week on AppStories, John and Federico check in on Apple’s betas with a close look at the new Siri app and how it compares to past-Siri and other chatbot products. On AppStories+, John and Federico explain how they manage multiple Macs for automation and coding tasks. Also available on YouTube here . Subscribe here. We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week. To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page , or read the AppStories+ FAQ . This episode is sponsored by: Finalist – A paper-inspired daily planner with notes for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and now Apple Watch. A day you design your way. For 50% off your first year use this link . Inoreader – Build your own newsfeed and cut through the noise. Links and Show Notes Beta Season macOS 27 Golden Gate iOS 27 Preview iPadOS 27 Preview macOS 27 Golden Gate: The MacStories Public Beta Preview Siri AI and Apple’s Trickle-Up Strategy Siri and Apple Intelligence Siri Apple Intelligence App Intents Chatbots and Models ChatGPT Improving GPT-5.6 Sol in ChatGPT and expanding access to GPT-5.6 Luna for free users Claude Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 Gemini Grok Kimi K3 Open Minis Agents and Automation Claude Code Claude Cowork OpenAI Codex Shortcuts Playground RemCTL Local AI on the Mac MLX oMLX DeepSeek V4 Flash for MLX AppStories+ Post-Show: Multi-Mac Setup and Remote Access Tailscale Syncthing 1Password cmux Jump Desktop Leave Feedback for John and Federico AppStories Feedback Form Follow us on Mastodon AppStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Follow us on Bluesky AppStories MacStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Join Annual &dollar;50/year Join Monthly &dollar;5/month