John Voorhees

3022 posts on MacStories since November 2015

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.

@[email protected]
@johnvoorhees.macstories.net
[email protected]

Apple Reveals the Top App Store App and Game Downloads of 2024

Apple’s App Store has published its year-end list of the top free and paid apps and games, along with its top Apple Arcade games.

The top free apps are about what you’d expect. There are social networks, shopping apps, a few streaming music and video apps, Google, Gmail, McDonald’s, and ChatGPT. Among the top paid apps are several we’ve covered here and on Club MacStories, including AutoSleep, Paprika, Procreate Pocket, Forest, RadarScope, µBrowser, and long-time favorite Streaks. Strangely, the paid app list also includes a game – Suika Game clone called ‘Merge Watermelon for watch’ for the Apple Watch.

Among the free and paid games, highlights include Subway Surfers, NYT Games, Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Stardew Valley, and Balatro. If you’re an Arcade subscriber, top games include NBA 2K24, Sneaky Sasquatch, Sonic Dream Team, NFL Retro Bowl ‘25, Angry Birds Reloaded, Retro Bowl+, Stardew Valley+, stitch, and Tomb of the Mask.

Each of the three lists includes 40 free and paid apps or games for 120 total. The vast majority of apps are the sort of everyday apps people download to shop, search the web, browse social media, and entertain themselves. There is more variety among the paid apps, with categories like health, self-improvement, productivity, and creative apps leading the apps for which users are willing to pay.

On the games lists, what struck me more than anything else is how many games on the lists aren’t new. That’s less true of Arcade, but it seems as though the hits of the past continue to rule the regular App Store game list. I’d like to see more variety in 2025, but it’s also good to see some truly great apps among the more everyday apps that will undoubtedly continue to get lots of downloads.

The Latest from Comfort Zone, Magic Rays of Light, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Matt felt like bringing an intentionally controversial topic, Niléane refuses to admit she’s created a sticky note-based task manager, and everyone gives the iPad some much needed love.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon discuss the Vision Pro’s gaming future, break down the trailers for Severance season two and The Gorge from CCXP, and recap Apple Original French-language drama La Maison.

MacStories Unwind

This week, John shares a trio of his favorite movies of 2024 and he and Federico share several favorite TV shows from 2024.

Read more

Apple Shows Off Layered Recordings in Voice Memos with the Help of Michael Bublé and Carly Pearce→

Do you remember Music Memos? It was an iPhone app launched by Apple in 2016 that acted as a scratchpad for musicians. The idea was to quickly save musical ideas that could then be exported to GarageBand to be fleshed out. The app didn’t get many major updates and was discontinued in 2021.

Screenshots from the original Music Memos app.

Screenshots from the original Music Memos app.

Music Memos didn’t last, but the idea behind it was sound. When it was introduced, musicians were already using Apple’s Voice Memos app to save ideas for vocals, guitar riffs, and more as the press release announcing Music Memos acknowledged.

In the years since Music Memos’ demise, musicians presumably returned to Voice Memos, a more general utility, but one that has steadily been updated and improved by Apple. Yesterday, with the release of iOS 18.2, Voice Memos took another big step forward by adding the ability to isolate vocals recorded over an instrumental track. As Apple explains it in its press release:

Powered by the A18 Pro chip, and leveraging advanced processing and machine learning to isolate the vocal recording, Voice Memos creates two individual tracks so users can apply additional mixing and production in professional apps like Logic Pro. And with Voice Memos on Mac, Layered Recordings are synced across devices and available on Mac to drag-and-drop into a Logic session.

To prove the power of the new Voice Memos feature, singers Michael Bublé and Carly Pearce, along with producer Greg Wells, used the app on an iPhone 16 Pro to create “Maybe This Christmas,” a new holiday duet available on Apple Music.

Michael Bublé had this to say about Layered Recordings:

I don’t think people realize the critical role Voice Memos on iPhone plays in the creation process for musicians. And now with Layered Recordings, if an artist has a moment of inspiration, being unencumbered by the traditional studio experience becomes the advantage, not the limitation. It’s so typically Apple to build something we didn’t know we needed — and now won’t be able to live without.

This feature is remarkable and a great example of the power of today’s devices. Just a few days ago, I was given a demo of Moises, this year’s winner of Apple’s App Store Award for best iPad app, which does similar sorcery separating vocals and individual instruments. It’s a powerful capability with incredible productivity implications for all musicians.

Permalink

Apple Announces the 2024 App Store Awards

iPhone App of the Year winner Kino. Source: Apple.

iPhone App of the Year winner Kino. Source: Apple.

Apple has revealed its annual App Store Awards winners, recognizing the standout apps and games of 2024. This year, the company picked a collection of apps and games from 17 developers across 12 categories, including new categories for the Vision Pro App and Game of the Year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had this to say about this year’s winning developers:

We are thrilled to honor this impressive group of developers who are harnessing the power of Apple devices and technology to deliver experiences that enrich the lives of users and have a profound impact on their communities. The remarkable achievements of this year’s winners demonstrate the incredible ingenuity that can be unlocked through apps.

This year’s App Store Award winners are:

iPad App of the Year winner Moises. Source: Apple.

iPad App of the Year winner Moises. Source: Apple.

Apps

  • iPhone App of the Year: Kino, from Lux Optics, Inc. 
  • iPad App of the Year: Moises, from Moises Systems, Inc. 
  • Mac App of the Year: Adobe Lightroom, from Adobe, Inc. 
  • Apple Vision Pro App of the Year: What If…? An Immersive Story, from Disney
  • Apple Watch App of the Year: Lumy, from Raja V.
  • Apple TV App of the Year: F1 TV, from Formula One Digital Media Limited
Mac Game of the Year winner Thank Goodness You’re Here! Source: Apple

Mac Game of the Year winner Thank Goodness You’re Here! Source: Apple

Games

Cultural Impact winner Oko. Source: Apple.

Cultural Impact winner Oko. Source: Apple.

Apple also honored the following Cultural Impact winners:

I had a chance to meet with the developers of three winning apps: Thrasher, Oko, and Moises. I wasn’t familiar with any of these apps before my meetings, but every one of them struck a chord with me, and I can see why Apple included them in their awards.

Thrasher takes advantage of the Vision Pro’s many sensors to create a uniquely immersive visual and musical experience. Oko uses the iPhone’s cameras to help low-vision and blind users navigate busy cities safely and independently. Moises leverages AI to break down music in a way that helps musicians practice and improve their skills. They’re all very different apps, but each pushes Apple’s devices in its own way to elevate their users’ daily lives whether it’s improving their skills, helping them through their daily lives, or entertaining them during a moment of downtime.

Congratulations to all of this year’s App Store Award winners. It’s always great to see developers’ hard work and contributions to Apple’s platforms recognized.

The Latest from AppStories and Ruminate

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John reveal the winners of the 2024 MacStories Selects Awards, which celebrate the exceptional design, innovation, and creativity of apps across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

Ruminate

Snackfishing, digital chicken pets, AI video. Plus adorable 3D-printed Mac Mini enclosures.

  • Pika: Use code RUMINATE20 for 20% off your first year of Pika Pro.

Read more

The MacStories 2024 Year in Review on Flipboard→

I vividly remember when Flipboard first debuted in 2010, kicking off the iPad digital magazine trend that spawned Apple Newsstand, The Daily, Zite and more. Of all those early publications, Flipboard remains, and it just so happens that because we published the MacStories RSS feed to Flipboard early, the site has a larger following there than you might expect.

Over the years, we lost track of Flipboard, but a steadily growing segment of our readership turned to it as a way of reading our work. Then, late last year, Flipboard grabbed our attention again with its forward-thinking push into federation. MacStories was among the earliest to federate our Flipboard presence, which has only increased the number of readers discovering MacStories through it.

So today, we thought we’d test the Flipboard waters further with a collection of 205 of the biggest stories, reviews, and news posts we’ve published in 2024. The MacStories 2024 Year in Review collects our best work in one place. It’s a great way to catch up on stories you didn’t have time to read earlier in the year or browse through and revisit 2024’s biggest stories in the Apple world. We hope you enjoy it.

If you’re a Flipboard reader and would like to see more collections like the MacStories 2024 Year in Review, please let me know on Mastodon, Threads, or Bluesky. I’d love to hear what you think.

Permalink

Celebrate the MacStories Selects App of the Year with the MacStories DS Skins for Delta→

This year’s MacStories Selects App of the Year was never in question. No app has had a bigger political, cultural, and competitive impact on the App Store this year than Delta. On top of that, Delta is a beautifully designed, native app that takes advantage of Apple’s latest technologies, putting it head and shoulders above other iOS emulators. Of course, Delta is also a delightfully fun way to relive classic videogames on the iPhone’s outstanding hardware.

Delta’s impact on the app world this year transcended retro gaming. However, for most people, being able to dip into the world of Pokémon or battle their way through the dungeons of Hyrule on the device they carry with them is all the payoff they need.

That’s why, to celebrate Delta’s many accomplishments in 2024, we commissioned three Delta skins for Nintendo DS games from Sean Fletcher, a Seattle-based designer who has created dozens of Delta skins that pay homage to classic Nintendo hardware. The MacStories DS Skins, which incorporate MacStories’ signature colors and a subtle logo, work in portrait and landscape orientations and are available for $3 on our Gumroad store. As Nintendo’s first touchscreen device, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Delta’s emergence as an emulation powerhouse on the iPhone than with skins for the DS.

The MacStories DS Skins for Delta.

The MacStories DS Skins for Delta.

With the rise of generative AI and the decline of search engines, we’ve made a point of working with as many writers, artists, musicians, developers, and now, designers as possible this year. The fact that Delta enables anyone to make skins for its app allowed us to work with Sean, another talented creative professional, whose work we’ve supported personally and linked to in the past. If you like the MacStories DS Skins, be sure to check out Sean’s other skins, too.

We’re delighted with how the MacStories DS Skins turned out and hope you love them, too. We can’t wait to see screenshots of what you’re playing with them.

Permalink

The Latest from Comfort Zone, Magic Rays of Light, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Comfort Zone

Niléane has taken to the skies in Flight Simulator, Chris wants to talk about yet another Mac, and the gang all looks for the best open source app (or web app!) they can find.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon preview the new features coming in tvOS 18.2. Then, they recap the first German-language Apple Original series, Where’s Wanda?, and Spanish-language medical drama series Midnight Family.

MacStories Unwind

This week on MacStories Unwind, we kick off the first of our annual ‘best of’ Unwind recaps with the best music releases of 2024.

Read more

A Fun Way to Add Holiday Cheer to Your Mac→

If you’re looking to add a little holiday cheer to your Mac, be sure to check out Festivitas by developer Simon Støvring. The app lives in your Mac’s menu bar where you can switch between displaying colorful blinking holiday lights along your menu bar, dock, or both.

The app requires access to accessibility permission to tell where your Mac’s dock is, which it will ask permission for when you first start it. Once that’s out of the way, you can turn the lights on and off from the menu bar, where you can also access settings to customize things like the size of the lights, their spacing, and the thickness of the wire that connects them.

The app is available via Gumroad for 4 euros.

Permalink