The Utility App Flood Won’t Last

The App Store is evolving at a breakneck pace not seen since its earliest days. We saw the first glimmers of what was to come early in 2025, but it wasn't until late last year that the tsunami of apps developed with the help of AI agents really took hold. Since then, veteran developers are

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Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV and Apple Arcade in August 2026

It's a big sports month for Apple TV, starting with Apple Arcade, which goes all-in on football with Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition and Retro Bowl College+. On the Apple TV side, Ted Lasso returns for a fourth season, Formula 1 is coming out of its summer break, the MLS Leagues Cup begins, and MLB

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Cotypist: Smart Autocomplete for Your Whole Mac [Sponsor]

You think faster than you can type. Across a day of email, Slack, notes, and chatbot prompts, that gap quietly eats your time. Cotypist closes that gap. It's smart autocomplete for your Mac: as you write, it predicts your next few words and shows them inline, right at your cursor. Press Tab to take the

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Podcast Rewind: Open Minis, the RG SP Announcement, Too Much Wi-Fi, and the MessagePad with D. Griffin Jones

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, John and Federico discuss the changing face of the AI-fueled App Store and questionable changes made to TestFlight before going into the nerdiest details of Open Minis, an iOS app that brings desktop-class agents onto the iPhone and iPad. Then on AppStories+, Federico

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Shazam Releases Exclusive Ariana Grande Messages Sticker Pack

Long-time readers may recall that I used to regularly cover Messages sticker packs. As sticker popularity "settled," I retired from that beat, but I thought I should come back for today's news that Ariana Grande is the first ever music artist to release an Messages sticker pack. The stickers are being released in collaboration with

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 524

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.

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Apple Reports Q3 2026 Earnings

Today, Apple reported its 2026 Q3 earnings, posting quarterly revenue of $109.4 billion. Here are the highlights: Revenue was $109.4B, up 16.4% from Q3 FY25. iPhone revenue was $54.3B, up 21.7%, and represented 49.6% of Apple's total revenue. Services revenue was $30.7B, up 12.1%, and represented 28.1% of Apple's total revenue. Gross margin was $54.8B,

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Comfort Zone, Episode 111: I'm the Guest, I Have No Consequences

YouTube video by MacStories

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Monthly Log: July 2026

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.

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Indie App Sales Event Begins Today with Over 200 Apps

Matt Corey, the maker of Bills to Budget and Signals, has organized indie developers for a big sale that runs from July 28 - 30. The sale includes over 200 apps that will be offered at a discount through Thursday. The list is too long to publish here, but it includes many apps we’ve covered here on MacStories and

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Apple Upgrade Trades Ownership for Lower Monthly Payments

Apple has revealed its new hardware leasing program called Apple Upgrade, which is being offered in collaboration with Klarna. This is Apple's pitch: Introducing Apple Upgrade, a new way to always have the Apple products you love. Lease a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch with pocket-friendly payments and terms that work for you.

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Pastebot 3 Doubles Down on Mac Clipboard Automation and Introduces Two New Business Models

Tapbots has released Pastebot 3, a ground-up rewrite of the Mac clipboard manager that includes several powerful automation and customization options, along with two new pricing models. Pastebot was already one of the Mac's best clipboard utilities, capable of managing an extensive collection of copied text and images in multiple formats, PDFs, URLs, files, and

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Lock Launcher Introduces “No Redirect” Launchers, XL Widgets for iOS 27

I don't think I ever mentioned it on MacStories (although I probably did at some point on AppStories or Unwind), but my favorite "launcher" app for iOS is a utility called Lock Launcher, which I've been using on and off for the last couple of years. Lock Launcher started as an app for adding URL

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Inoreader: Build Your Own Newsfeed and Cut Through the Noise [Sponsor]

Staying up to date has never felt more overwhelming. Between websites, newsletters, podcasts, social media feeds, and specialized publications, valuable information is scattered across countless apps and platforms. The challenge is no longer finding content – it's keeping up with it without wasting time or missing what matters. That's where Inoreader comes in. Inoreader helps

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Podcast Rewind: Siri AI, the Game Boy Advance Returns, and Smart Ceiling Fans

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories' family of podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and John look at what Siri AI is good at, where it needs improvement, and where it might be heading. On AppStories+, the conversation expands to Federico and John's experiences with the betas of macOS Golden Gate, iOS 27, and iPadOS 27.

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MacStories Weekly: Issue 523

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.

macstories.net