2026-06-14 21:30:52
Last week was a ton of fun. With Federico and John in Cupertino for the live event, Jonathan and I handled a lot of the written WWDC coverage for MacStories from home. I got a chance to write about several announcements:
This time of year always serves as a reminder of how grateful I am to get to be a part of the MacStories team and to have the community of readers and members that we do. It all makes WWDC that much more of a joy.
You can check out our full coverage of the event with details on everything Apple announced. We’ve also got a post-WWDC edition of MacStories Weekly coming later today for members, and don’t miss Federico’s essay reflecting on the week as a whole.
I hope everyone enjoyed WWDC. On to summer beta season!
2026-05-31 23:15:40
Recently, I made my triumphant return to my all-time favorite text editing app, Bear. I’ve missed Bear ever since I switched away from it in 2021, and I’m really happy to be back. I’m using it not only for writing, but also for note-taking and research – three tasks I’ve never tried to do in a single app before. You can read more about this shift in my workflow in the latest Club MacStories Monthly Log, but long story short, I’m loving this change and look forward to seeing how it affects my writing process during the summer beta season.
2026-05-05 07:38:47
It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since I released Watch History Journal, my shortcut for logging your TV and movie watch history in a journal app on Apple devices. I’m always delighted when I hear from someone who uses the shortcut and finds it valuable. I’m still using it daily as part of my own journaling practice, and today, I’m releasing a small update to Watch History Journal.
Version 2.3 includes the following changes:
This shortcut is one of my longest-running public projects, and I love being able to continue working on it and improving the experience for those who use it. My plan is to keep at it as long as I can – or until Apple Sherlocks me! 😅 My thanks to everyone who’s tried it out, offered feedback, and made this project the pleasure that it is.
2026-05-04 05:29:13
I’m a big fan of the convenience and flexibility Apple’s App Store offers when it comes to subscriptions. Over the years, I believe those qualities have earned a sense of ease and trust from users that’s hard to put a monetary value on. Soon, Apple will release a new subscription type that allows developers to offer cheaper monthly plans with 12-month commitments. I’ve seen how this plays out in other industries, and I’m uneasy about how it could impact the App Store’s reputation long-term. I wrote all about it in the latest Club MacStories Monthly Log, and I’d be thrilled if you checked it out.
2026-04-07 22:07:46
One of my favorite features of my phone is resurfacing old photos. Reliving memories, reminiscing on trips, and seeing life milestones – especially those of my son – play out before my eyes are just amazing experiences. Photos that in the past would be tucked away in books and forgotten can now just show up on my Home Screen without any effort on my part. I love it.
There’s always been a piece of the puzzle missing, though. For actual years, I’ve been looking for an app that would allow me to revisit pictures I took on this date in past years. No algorithm. No filtering out pictures deemed of lower quality. Just a grid of photos from past years in reverse chronological order. That way, I can experience my entire photo library via a structured, ongoing process.
Finally, there’s an app that does just this, and it is fantastic. On This Day from Florian Grossmann has quickly become one of my favorite apps and one that I turn to daily for reviewing old pictures. It’s simple, it’s customizable, it’s well-designed, and it does exactly what I want it to do, enabling me to enjoy my photos from the past each and every day.
I reviewed On This Day on MacStories, so I’d love it if you would check out the review and give On This Day a spin.
2026-04-07 10:40:44
I’ve not done the best job of linking to my writing here lately, so here we go. This is what I’ve been up to:
In December, I got to take part in the annual MacStories Selects Awards, honoring some amazing apps and writing about a couple of my absolute favorites from 2025.
I’ve done quite a bit of Vision Pro coverage on MacStories, writing about sitting digitally front row at Lakers games, an immersive dog show, YouTube finally coming to visionOS, and the continued progress of gaming on Vision Pro.
It’s not Vision Pro-related, but when it was announced, I did get to write about Apple Creator Studio, a software bundle I’m still excited to see from Apple.
I’ve written about a variety of topics in the Club MacStories Monthly Log, like my optimism for Apple software developments in 2026, my hope that AI doesn’t take away the joy of discovering new apps, my continued reliance on the M1 generation of chips in my workflow, and a quirk of the iPhone Air that didn’t ultimately deter me from keeping the device.
I’ve been working more in the background than the foreground as of late, and that’s certainly reflected in my personal creative output. Still, in times like these, I remind myself that the background work counts and these things tend to come in phases. At least the next time you hear from me, you won’t be reading about months-old writing – or, at least, let’s hope not!