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.

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478 — August 8, 2025

Time Off and MacStories Deals

John

Time Off and MacStories Deals

Every summer, we take a little time off before the busy fall OS review season. It’s a time to recharge and get ready for what is always a busy year end at MacStories.

This year is shaping up to be even more packed than most. On top of our reviews, we’ve been working on new projects across the team that I’m excited to share with everyone. It’s a bit too early for that, but I did want to give readers a heads up that things are going to be a little quieter than usual the next couple of weeks.

478 — August 8, 2025

App Debuts

APP DEBUTS

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

John

Castro

Castro is now available on the iPad with full iCloud sync across devices. The update adds HTML rendering for better show notes, too. I rarely listen to podcasts on my iPad, but it’s nice to know it’s now an option, especially since this is a feature that many other podcast players have had for a long time.

478 — August 8, 2025

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

John

When OpenAI announced GPT-5 this week, the company updated more than just ChatGPT’s underlying LLM; it also updated the app. Emma Roth has an excellent story with the highlights on The Verge. (Link)

For more technical details on GPT-5, you can’t go wrong with Simon Willison’s blog. Willison had early access to the model, so his write-up is packed with details. (Link)

478 — August 8, 2025

The Good Old Days of Tech

John

THE EXTENSION

Exploring topics beyond our day-to-day coverage.

The Good Old Days of Tech

John

It’s easy to look back at earlier eras and declare them the good old days. I’ve heard a lot of that lately when it comes to the tech and gadget landscape, and I get it. When I think back to 2007 and the introduction of the iPhone, the first things I think of are the PalmPilots, Handspring Visor, BlackBerries, and Danger Sidekick I had leading up to it and the sea change the iPhone represented. They were simpler, exciting times for gadgets, but I’d never want to go back, either.

Rose-tinted glasses make it easy to long for those old days, but do you remember what EDGE networks and dial-up connections that were measured in kbps were like? It’s easy to forget that the original read-later apps were developed to skinny down websites so they could be saved locally and read when no mobile network was available. Even though the iPhone brought the “real” web to our phones, it was years before it was usable, except when a site spun up a special text-based mobile version.

478 — August 8, 2025

A Trio of Todoist Tips

John

TIPS

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

A Trio of Todoist Tips

John

1. Thinking Horizontally and Vertically

My first tip isn’t exclusive to Todoist. Just about every task manager incorporates both projects and tagging, which lets you think of your tasks in two dimensions. For me, each project is the vertical axis. As an example, this issue of MacStories Weekly could be a project that includes everything from writing the stories to coordinating with the rest of the team on their sections, assembling the stories, and publishing them to the web and email.

That’s simple enough, and I suspect most people with multiple tasks do something similar. What tags – which are called labels in Todoist – open up is a horizontal dimension that can help you decide what to work on. For me, that means the kind of work I do: writing, admin, audio production, etc.

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477 — August 1, 2025

Game Like It's 2008

John

MACSTORIES COLLECTIONS

Game Like It's 2008

John

This week in the post-show segment of AppStories+ for subscribers and Club Premier members, Brendon Bigley and I compiled a list of the games that defined the iPhone as a mobile gaming platform. It was a lot of fun and led me down the path of revisiting some of my favorite games from the early days of the App Store.

It’s remarkable how many titles that shaped gaming on the iPhone were released the very first year of the App Store in 2008. So today, I wanted to share four of the most culturally and technically important games of 2008, three of which you can still play today and one of which sadly is gone.

477 — August 1, 2025

Interesting Links

INTERESTING LINKS

Great reads and links from around the web.

John

Adding an object to an image in Photoshop is nothing new, but the app’s new Harmonize functionality does a much better job of matching lighting, shadows, and colors, making it harder than ever to judge what is real and what isn’t in a photo. (Link)

App developers are slowly beginning to support Elgato’s Stream Deck API on the iPad. I’ve been watching this for a while, and although the company’s own support document has an empty list of compatible apps, there are some, including Detail, Cascable, and now, Camo Studio. (Link)

477 — August 1, 2025

App Debuts

APP DEBUTS

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

Jonathan

Uncorked

It must be said that I don’t drink wine too often, certainly not enough to log the bottles I drink. Nevertheless, if I did, I could see myself getting a lot of use out of Uncorked. This new wine tracking app has a lovely, clean design and allows you to log the wines you drink alongside your thoughts on them. However, that’s not the only purpose of Uncorked, as it includes journal-like features and encourages you to save photos from the moment you uncorked that $200 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, making it about more than just the wine.