Podcast Rewind: Cozy Sports, Wallpaper Wars, Southern Cooking, and Bad Bunny

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane gets sporty and frosty, Chris is drowning in new Apple products, and Matt oversees the battle for the nicest iPhone wallpaper (where everyone wins).


MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico tries to recover from a rough week, John brings some Southern cooking to the show, Federico has a long backlog of videogames to attend to, and John has an Apple TV+ show and an album to share.


Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund is joined by 9to5Mac editor-in-chief Chance Miller to highlight Paul Greengrass’s emotional California fire triumph-over-disaster movie, Apple Music’s next Super Bowl half-time show headliner, and the indefinite postponement of The Savant.

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Apple Removes ICEBlock and Similar Apps From the App Store Under Pressure From the DOJ

Late yesterday, Apple pulled ICEBlock and similar apps from the App Store under pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, according to Fox Business News. ICEBlock is a crowd-sourced app used to track the location of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so, [Attorney General Pam] Bondi said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

In a statement to Fox, Apple acknowledged pulling ICEBlock and similar apps saying:

We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store.

Joshua Aaron, the developer of ICEBlock, which briefly held the top spot in the App Store’s social networking category, told Fox that the app has more than 1.1 million users. Aaron told Fox Business News that he intends to fight ICEBlock’s removal.

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Podcast Rewind: From AirPods Pro 3 to AYANEO’s Budget Handheld and Pok Pok’s Backstory

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John follow up after a week with new Apple hardware and dig into watchOS and visionOS 26.

On AppStories+, John is mixing up his link and data organization systems - again.

This episode is sponsored by:

  • Claude – Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code.

NPC: Next Portable Console

This week, AYANEO introduces it’s most affordable handheld yet, but it’s not part of its budget line of devices. Plus, Qualcomm’s new chips pack a punch and the GDP Win 5 pack a punch, while Sony expands its Pulse line with desktop speakers.

This week on NPC XL, Federico’s disenchantment with the Sony PS5 kicks off a conversation about what’s been a very weird console generation.


First, Last, Everything

This week, Jonathan is joined by Esther Huybreghts. Esther is the Co-founder of the multi-award-winning app, PokPok. Since the app launched in 2021, it’s won an App Store award, an Apple Design award, and many other commendations. Pok Pok was also recently included on TIME’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025. Pok Pok is a really special app, and Esther talked about its inception, plans for the future, and staying strong against negative – and sometimes hateful – feedback.

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Coming Soon: What’s New in October on Apple TV+

There’s a lot coming to Apple TV+ this month, and this is your handy guide to all of it, including trailers, and calendar links you can use to be sure you don’t miss their premieres. Let’s dig in.

The Lost Bus (October 3)

First off this month is The Lost Bus, which is premiering this Friday. The movie, which is directed by Paul Greengrass, stars Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. The story is based on the real-world events of the 2018 Camp Fire in California and is based on the 2021 book “Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire” by Lizzie Johnson. McConaughey plays a school bus driver trying to get a group of students and their teacher to safety during the fire.

Add to your Calendar:


The Sisters Grimm (October 3)

Also debuting on October 3rd is “The Sisters Grimm,” a new animated series that follows two orphaned sisters who navigate a town packed with people from fantasy and fairy tale stories. The series is based on Michael Buckley’s bestselling book series and features the voices of Ariel Winter as Sabrina and Leah Newman as Daphne. The series blends discovery, fantasy and adventure designed to appeal to all ages.

Add to your Calendar:


The Last Frontier (October 10)

The Last Frontier is a thriller starring Jason Clarke as Frank Remnick, a U.S. marshal in charge of wilderness in Alaska. The story follows the crash of a prisoner transport plane, which sets violent inmates loose across the rugged landscape. The series, which explores the mysteries behind the crash airs the first two episodes of a 10-episode run beginning next week.

Add to your Calendar:


Loot, Season 3 (October 15)

Loot is one of my favorite Apple TV+ comedies. Now in its third season, the series returns on October 15th. In season three, Maya Rudolph’s Molly Wells and her assistant head to a remote island to embark on what will be a 10-episode season that airs on Wednesdays.

Add to your Calendar:


Mr. Scorsese (October 17)

Mr. Scorsese is a 5-part documentary that follows the career of filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Directed by Rebecca Miller, the documentary follows Scorsese’s life and artistic journey from NYU film student to legendary director through interviews with luminaries such as Robert De Niro, Mick Jagger, and Steven Spielberg, as well as unprecedented access to the director himself and his archives.

Add to your Calendar:


Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (October 24)

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, which is directed by Ben Stiller, tells the story of his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. The documentary will debut on October 17th in theaters with the Apple TV+ debut coming the following week. Stiller explores what Apple calls a “home, where the lines between creativity, family, life and art often blurred,” an intriguing framing that should make the documentary a great complement to Mr. Scorsese.

Add to your Calendar:


Down Cemetery Road (October 29)

Down Cemetery Road is an eight-episode thriller written by Morwenna Banks, who wrote Slow Horses, one of my all-time favorite shows, for Apple TV+. The series is based on the book of the same name by Mick Herron who also wrote the Slow Horses book series. The story follows the disappearance of a girl from an Oxford suburb after a house explosion. The series, which stars Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson promises to be an exciting conspiratorial story full of twists and turns, which is the sort of show I love.

Add to your Calendar:


That’s up for now. If you’re not listening to MacStories Unwind, please give it a try. I’m sure you’ll hear more about some of these shows and movies from me and Federico in the coming weeks as they debut.


First Look: Logitech’s MX Master 4 Adds Haptics, Actions Ring, and a USB-C Bolt Receiver

Source: Logitech.

Source: Logitech.

Today, Logitech introduced an updated version of its MX Master series mouse dubbed the MX Master 4. It’s a good upgrade, but the changes are largely incremental; while I like it a lot, the MX Master 4 won’t be for everyone. Logitech sent me the MX Master 4 to try, and I’ve been using it for the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would share what the experience has been like so far.

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Apple Highlights Apps Using Its Foundation Models Framework

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Earlier today, Apple published a press release highlighting some of the apps that are taking advantage of its new Foundation Models framework. As you’d expect, indie developers and small teams are well-represented among the apps promoted in the press release. Among them are:

It’s a group of apps that does a great job of demonstrating the breadth of creativity among developers who can leverage these privacy-first, on-device models to enhance their users’ experiences.

Apple’s happy to see developers adopting the new framework, too. Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, said:

We’re excited to see developers around the world already bringing privacy-protected intelligence features into their apps. The in-app experiences they’re creating are expansive and creative, showing just how much opportunity the Foundation Models framework opens up. From generating journaling prompts that will spark creativity in Stoic, to conversational explanations of scientific terms in CellWalk, it’s incredible to see the powerful new capabilities that are already enhancing the apps people use every day.

Judging what we’ve seen from developers here at MacStories, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. I expect you’ll see more and more of your favorite apps adding features that take advantage of the Apple Foundation Models in the coming months.


Podcast Rewind: Listening to Music Like It’s 2004, Big Mike’s Shipping Shoppe, and Immersive MotoGP

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Matt wants to wrap up conversation on Liquid Glass, Niléane has a music app that feels like it’s from 2004 (and we mean that in a few good ways), and Chris judges everyone on how well they relaxed last week.

On Cozy Zone, the gang compares what they do with their old tech and packaging. Needless to say, there are some shocking revelations.


MacStories Unwind

This week, John visits Mike the shipping guy, Federico’s philosophy on hardware takes a turn, John declares Apple Watch charging in the shower a myth, and we share videogame and TV picks, plus a deal.


Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon break down CANAL+’s immersive documentary MotoGP: Tour De Force and say one last goodbye to Acapulco upon its series finale.

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Halide and Kino Developers Review the iPhone 17 Pro’s Cameras

Source: Lux.

Source: Lux.

Earlier this week, I shared my early impressions of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and included a few galleries of photos I’d taken at each of the model’s standard zoom levels. I was impressed by the results, which made me all the more excited to learn more of how Apple pulled this off.

One of my favorite annual iPhone camera reviews is from the team at Lux, the makers of Halide and Kino. Their experience with the iPhone 17 Pro’s cameras was similar to mine, but with a lot of nerdy camera detail that I love. The overall conclusion of their testing in New York, Iceland, and London is that:

This is, without a doubt, a great back camera system. With all cameras at 48MP, your creative choices are tremendous. I find Apple’s quip of it being ‘like having eight lenses in your pocket’ a bit much, but it does genuinely feel like having at least 5 or 6: Macro, 0.5×, 1×, 2×, 4× and 8× .

The story covers every camera and each zoom distance. Of the 2x, Lux found that:

Shooting at 2× on iPhone 17 Pro did produce noticeably better shots; I believe this can be chalked up to significantly better processing for these ‘crop shots’. Many people think Apple is dishonest in calling this an ‘optical quality’ zoom, but it’s certainly not a regular digital zoom either. I am very content with it, and I was a serious doubter when it was introduced.

Lux’s highest praise was probably for the 8x zoom:

The overall experience of shooting a lens this long should not be this good. I’ve not seen it mentioned in reviews, but the matter of keeping a 200mm lens somehow steady and not an exercise in tremendous frustration is astonishing. Apple is using both its very best hardware stabilization on this camera and software stabilization, as seen in features like Action Mode.

There are loads of beautiful photos in the post and a lot more detail than I’ve quoted here. Be sure to read through the entire post because what Apple is doing with camera hardware and software is really quite remarkable.

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Quick Subtitles Shows Off the A19 Pro’s Remarkable Transcription Speed

Matt Birchler makes a great utility for the iPhone and iPad called Quick Subtitles that generates transcripts from a wide variety of audio and video files, something I do a lot. Sometimes it’s for adding subtitles to a podcast’s YouTube video and other times, I just want to recall a bit of information from a long video without scrubbing through it. In either case, I want the process to be fast.

As Matt prepared Quick Subtitles for release, he tested it on a MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro chip, an iPhone 17 Pro with the new A19 Pro, an iPhone 16 Pro Max with the A18 Pro, and an iPhone 16e with the A18. The results were remarkable, with the iPhone 17 Pro nearly matching the performance of Matt’s M4 Pro MacBook Pro and 60% faster than the A18 Pro.

I got a preview of this sort of performance over the summer when I ran an episode of NPC: Next Portable Console through Yap, an open-source project my son Finn built to test Apple’s Speech framework, which Quick Subtitles also uses. The difference is that with the release of the speedy A19 Pro, the kind of performance I was seeing in June on a MacBook Pro is essentially now possible on an iPhone, meaning you don’t have to sacrifice speed to do this sort of task if all you have with you is an iPhone 17 Pro, which I love.

If you produce podcasts or video, or simply want transcripts that you can analyze with AI, check out Quick Subtitles. In addition to generating timestamped SRT files ready for YouTube and other video projects, the app can batch-transcribe files, and use a Google Gemini or OpenAI API key that you supply to analyze the transcripts it generates. Transcription happens on-device and your API keys don’t leave your device either, which makes it more private than transcription apps that rely on cloud servers.

Quick Subtitles is available on the App Store as a free download and comes with 10 free transcriptions. A one-time In-App Purchase of $19.99 unlocks unlimited transcription and batch processing. The In-App Purchase is currently stuck in app review, but should be available soon, when I’ll be grabbing it immediately.

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