John Voorhees

Managing Editor

Mastodon: @johnvoorhees@macstories.netEmail: voorhees@macstories.net

John, MacStories’ Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015. He also co-hosts MacStories’ podcasts, including AppStories, which explores of the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, a weekly recap of everything MacStories and more, and MacStories Unplugged, a behind-the-scenes, anything-goes show exclusively for Club MacStories members.

Only Premier members can view this post on Club MacStories.

Already a Club Premier member? Sign in

414 — April 20, 2024

The Power of Delta Deep Links

John

TIPS

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

The Power of Delta Deep Links

John

You can grab a deep link to any game in Delta from the share sheet.

Earlier this year, I wrote about GameTrack 5.4, which added Vision Pro support. That update had a few other new features that I touched on, including deep linking to games in the Delta game emulator. With Delta sitting at the top of the free app chart since its App Store launch earlier this week, I thought I’d share where to find Delta’s deep links and some ideas on how you can use them to integrate your retro games more deeply into your iPhone use.

I’m going to assume that by now, people have figured out how to get games into Delta. If you have a collection of old Game Boy, Game Boy Color, or Game Boy Advance games lying around, an easy solution is to pull the game files from your cartridges using the GB Operator, which I explained in a story earlier this week.

414 — April 20, 2024

App Debuts

APP DEBUTS

Noteworthy new app releases and updates, handpicked by the MacStories team.

Federico

Carousel

I’ve been thinking about the fact that, in the age of spatial computing, Apple should probably consider bringing back their old Cover Flow UI for browsing music, and it looks like I’m not alone. Carousel (great app name) lets you flick through hundreds of albums from your Music collection with a simple swipe gesture and play them with one tap. I think the app needs settings to define whether the user should, for instance, see recently added or played albums, so I hope the developer iterates on it. The idea has potential, and the 3D effect makes a lot of sense for the Vision Pro.

414 — April 20, 2024

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

John

Sean Hollister, writing for The Verge, covers Formlabs’ Form 4, a 3D printer that uses an LCD screen with a bright backlight to print up to five times faster than previous models. (Link)

Engadget reviews the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 and concludes that it’s not just another laptop for gamers, but a great high-performance laptop for all sorts of tasks. (Link)

Already a Club Premier member? Sign in

413 — April 13, 2024

App Debuts

APP DEBUTS

Noteworthy new app releases and updates, handpicked by the MacStories team.

Federico

File Widgets

I love this app idea: as the name suggests, File Widgets brings the functionality of the Files widget from iOS and iPadOS to macOS, where Finder doesn’t offer a similar widget to quickly see recent files from a folder. To use the app, you pick which folders you want to monitor in widgets, then you add some widgets to your Mac desktop and edit them to point at previously-selected folders. That’s it. You can then click on files inside widgets to open them in their default app, click on sub-folders to view them in Finder, or click the widget’s name to open the original folder in the Finder app. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple Sherlocks File Widgets later this year.

413 — April 13, 2024

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

Federico

Both good and bad news for fans of PC gaming: NVIDIA is gearing up to release the RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards later this year. Where by “bad” I mean that these are going to be expensive. (Link)

Can you watch a solar eclipse in the Apple Vision Pro? The Verge investigated this very important question. (Link)

413 — April 13, 2024

John's iOS Game Picks

John

MACSTORIES RECOMMENDS

Great apps, accessories, gear, and media recommended by the MacStories team.

John's iOS Game Picks

Last week, when I linked to a couple of stories about the tenth anniversary of Monument Valley, I got feedback that the days of good mobile games on iOS are over. While I agree that iOS gaming has changed a lot since Monument Valley and its contemporaries were released, it goes too far to write off iOS as a videogame platform. So today, I thought I’d share some of my favorite games I’ve tried on iOS recently.

Peglin

A roguelike deckbuilder in the spirit of Slay the Spire combined with a Peggle-like game sounds bananas because it kind of is. But it’s also a lot of fun. Your mission is to recover the gold stolen from you by dragons. You’re confronted by increasingly tough enemies you defeat by collecting damage points via its Pachinko-style mechanic. Along the way, you collect orbs and relics that affect your ability to collect pegs and inflict damage. Peglin is in Early Access on Steam for the PC, so I expect the mobile version will improve over time as the PC version is refined, but you can download and play the first third of the game for free, with the rest available as a one-time purchase.

Already a Club Premier member? Sign in

412 — April 6, 2024

A Pitch for an Apple Controller Pro

John

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

A Pitch for an Apple Controller Pro

John

In my mind’s eye, an Apple Controller Pro looks something like 8BitDo’s Ultimate Controller.

Apple’s relationship to gaming is as fascinating as it is frustrating. This week, The Ringer had an excellent piece by Lewis Gordon that traced the decline of premium gaming experiences on iOS over the past decade, declaring the release of Monument Valley in 2014 the high water mark for iPhone gaming.

Every time I read a story like Gordon’s, I’m left wondering why Apple hasn’t moved to compete more directly with console or PC gaming. The pieces of the puzzle have been at Apple’s fingertips for years. However, despite some signs of life, like the release of Death Stranding and Resident Evil Village, the company doesn’t seem much closer to competing in the console and PC game arena than before.