AppStories
Federico Viticci, John Voorhees
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.
- 28 minutes 22 secondsWhat’s Next for Apps in 2026
This week, Federico and John look ahead to 2026 and what it will mean for apps, smarter Siri, and more.
On AppStories+, Federico and John update listeners on their latest app experiments and holiday hardware projects.
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Links and Show Notes
App and Apple Preditions and Trends for 2026
Vibe Coding & AI Development Trends for 2026
- Mentioned:
- Google AI Studio
- [Swift Playground](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/swift-playground/id908519492
- Manus AI
- Wabi
- Claude Code
- Codex
- The junior bet has gotten better
iPhone Opening Up to Wireless Wearables
Android AI Agents & Computer Use
Research Apps & NotebookLM Alternatives
Siri with App Intents & Apple Intelligence
MCP on Mobile
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21 December 2025, 5:55 pm - Mentioned:
- 57 minutes 26 secondsThe 2025 MacStories Selects Awards
This week, Federico and John reveal the winners of the 2025 MacStories Selects Awards, which celebrate the exceptional design, innovation, and creativity of apps across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
On AppStories+, John has some Apple Music discovery tips for Federico, and they reveal the iPhone features they don’t use.
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This episode is sponsored by:
- RevenueCat – It’s the easiest way to add in-app subscriptions and native paywalls into your mobile apps, and getting started is free.
Links and Show Notes
MacStories Selects 2025
- Read More on MacStories here:
- The winners:
- Best New App: Quick Reviews
- Runner-up: Wispr Flow
- Runner-up: Activas AI
- Best Mac App: Bloom
- Runner-up: Supercharge
- Best Watch App: Athlytic
- Runner-up: µBrowser
- Best New Feature: Matter’s TTS voices
- Runner-up: Bridges
- Runner-up: Longplay MCP
- Best Design: Sequel 2.6
- Runner-up: Not Boring Camera
- Readers’ Choice Award: Alfred
- App of the Year: Drafts
- Runner-up: Athlytic
- Best New App: Quick Reviews
The MacStories Selects 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
- Read more on MacStories:
- The winner:
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Unread
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Unread
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16 December 2025, 4:56 pm - 39 minutes 51 secondsVibe Coding Your Own Productivity Tools
This week, Federico and John explain how they go about creating personal productivity tools with the assistance of AI and walk through some of what they have created.
On AppStories+, we talk about our Black Friday tech purchases.
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Links and Show Notes
Vibe Coding Personal Productivity Tools
- Simon Willison’s blog
- Harper Reed
- Vibe coding apps and startups:
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7 December 2025, 4:29 pm - 26 minutes 28 secondsDesigning for Liquid Glass: Outstanding Indie Apps
This week, Federico and John dig into some of their favorite apps that have adopted Apple’s Liquid Glass design language.
On AppStories+, it’s John’s 10th anniversary at MacStories, so he and Federico look back at the last decade.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Links and Show Notes
Liquid Glass Apps
- Denim
- Locally AI
- Longplay
- Matter
- Gentler Streak
- Unread
- Todoist
- Also Mentioned: Manus AI
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30 November 2025, 3:54 pm - 32 minutes 35 secondsThe Ever-Changing App Store
This week, Federico and John explore current changes to the world of apps through the lens of its past evolution.
On AppStories+, we build “money’s no object” holiday wish lists for ourselves.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Links and Show Notes
The Evolving App Store
- Some of our 2025 coverage about the changing app environment:
- Apple Recreated the App Store on the Web with No Way to Download or Buy Apps
- Apple Removes ICEBlock and Similar Apps From the App Store Under Pressure From the DOJ
- EU Sets DMA Compliance Deadline in App Store Anti-Steering Dispute
- Developers and Platforms React as App Store Rules Change in the U.S.
- A Breach of Trust Apple Held in Contempt Over App Store Rules
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23 November 2025, 5:02 pm - Some of our 2025 coverage about the changing app environment:
- 38 minutes 52 secondsOur Latest App and Automation Experiments
This week, Federico and John kick off their holiday app and automation experimentation season a little earlier than usual with a mix of apps, automations, and services.
On AppStories+, Federico and John look ahead, considering the future of Shortcuts and automation.
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Links and Show Notes
App and Automation Experiments
- Follow Up
- Federico’s Ongoing AI Testing
- John’s App Experiments
- Federico’s Service Experiments
- John’s Claude Code - Python - Notion Experiments
- Federico’s Drafts and Readwise Reader workflow
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16 November 2025, 4:53 pm - 31 minutes 12 secondsThe Great Digital Declutter
This week, Federico and John clean house, deleting old apps, screenshots, half-built shortcuts, huge downloads, and more. A look at the workflows and apps we use to stay organized and clean up our digital messes.
On AppStories+, Federico’s Typing Mind experiments continue, while John shares his experience of Claude Code to build tools to run MacStories.
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Links and Show Notes
Tackling Digital Clutter
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9 November 2025, 5:15 pm - 38 minutes 23 secondsExploring AI Browsers
This week, Federico and John look at the hype surrounding AI browsers to see if there’s any there there.
Then, on AppStories+, Federico explains his experiments with lightning fast alternative AI models in Typing Mind.
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Links and Show Notes
Links and Show Notes
What’s the Deal with AI Browsers
- The Browsers
- Security
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2 November 2025, 4:52 pm - 33 minutes 32 secondsThe Potential and Limits of the M5 iPad Pro
This week, Federico and John consider whether Apple made the case for running local LLMs and gaming on the M5 iPad Pro and discusss who should consider buying it.
On AppStories+, we explain how Claude Skills work and why they are one of Anthropic’s most exciting features in a while.
Also available on YouTube here.
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Links and Show Notes
Federico’s M5 iPad Pro Review
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26 October 2025, 3:13 pm - 36 minutes 30 secondsApple's Intelligence Quest: Beyond Smart Siri
This week, Federico and John discuss what might be next for Apple Intelligence and how it fits into the broader AI market.
On AppStories+, Federico and John cover the fallout from the Sora app and why AI can’t replace human creativity.
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This episode is sponsored by:
- Claude: Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code.
Links and Show Notes
- Apps and Services Mentioned
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19 October 2025, 3:58 pm - 31 minutes 7 secondsWhat Else Do We Want from Apple in 2025?
This week, with rumors of more products in the pipeline, Federico and John share what they want most from Apple before the end of the year.
On AppStories+, Federico experiments with lightning fast inference and iteration using Cerebras for scripting.
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Links and Show Notes
What Would
- iOS 26.1 wishes
- Final Cut Pro for iPad plugins
- A new iPad Pro
- A new Studio Display
- An Apple TV with upscaling
- AirTags
- Thunderbolt 5 cable
- M5 MacBook Pro
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12 October 2025, 4:06 pm - More Episodes? Get the App