Federico Viticci

Editor-in-chief

Mastodon: @viticci@macstories.netEmail: viticci@macstories.net

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, and Dialog, a show where creativity meets technology.

He can also be found on his two other podcasts on Relay FM – Connected and Remaster.

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475 — July 18, 2025

Ripping CDs and Using Spotify's Local Files on iOS

Federico

TIPS

Tips and tricks to master your apps and be more productive.

Ripping CDs and Using Spotify's Local Files on iOS

Federico

I’ve always thought that one of Apple Music’s exclusive features compared to Spotify was the ability to play back your own music files as opposed to just streaming them. But what if I told you that Spotify’s app for the iPhone and iPad does support local music playback, and it’s actually even better than the Music app in that you can play content directly from a folder in the Files app?

Let me explain how I got to this point.

475 — July 18, 2025

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

Federico

There’s been a flurry of Qi2.2 announcements this week. For starters, the Wireless Power Consortium has certified eight Qi2.2 products from different manufacturers, teasing the arrival of 25W wireless charging accessories including power banks, car mounts, and 3-in-1 stands from companies like Ugreen, Belkin, Anker, and AUKEY. Ugreen announced what it claims to be the first Qi2.2-certified power bank, capable of wirelessly charging devices at up to 25W – matching Apple’s latest MagSafe speeds – though it won’t arrive until Q3 2025. AUKEY has also announced a pre-order for their new Qi2.2 MagFusion 2X charger, which promises 25W ultra-fast wireless charging, too, and can power two devices simultaneously. It’s going to be an expensive second half of the year with of all these accessories on the way. (Link)

Andrew Yaros built a browser-based recreation of the Apple Lisa’s 1983 GUI, complete with a custom typesetting system and interface elements rendered from scratch in vanilla JavaScript. I love this. (Link)

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473 — July 4, 2025

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

John

Writing for Wired, Boone Ashworth profiles the company behind TranscribeGlass, AI-enabled glasses that bring subtitles to everyday life to assist those who are Deaf and hard of hearing. (Link)

In the same week that Google brought its Calendar app to the Apple Watch, it killed Keep for the Watch, as reported by Jess Weatherbed at The Verge. (Link)

473 — July 4, 2025

Testing Apple Notes' Markdown Support

Federico

TIPS

Tips and tricks to master your apps and be more productive.

Testing Apple Notes' Markdown Support

Federico

I’ve been playing around with the Notes app’s new Markdown import and export features in the iOS and iPadOS 26 developer betas and, much to my surprise, the functionality is more solid than I originally expected. For this week’s issue of the newsletter, I’m going to share a series of tips that have helped me make sense of this new integration and how to make the most of it.

For starters, you should know that I’ve only been able to access the ‘Import to Notes’ feature from the menu bar on iPadOS 26, and I haven’t found a way to import Markdown documents in the Notes app on the iPhone. Hopefully this will change at some point during the beta cycle. On the iPad, head over with your pointer or finger to the top of the screen to reveal the menu bar, then click File ⇾ Import to Notes. Doing so will reveal a Files picker that lets you import any existing Markdown file from your device into the Notes app. Once a document is imported, it’ll be automatically converted to rich text (with some limitations, more on this below) and placed in an ‘Imported Notes’ folder in the app’s sidebar.