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Winterfest 2024

The Festival of Artisanal Software

Posts in Linked

Josh King Built the iPhone Game Controller No One Wants to Make→

I love this story that I first saw mentioned on Brendon’s blog a few weeks ago about a Redditor who designed the iPhone game controller of my (our?) dreams.

Picture this: it’s a PSP Go/Xperia Play-styled, slide-out controller that attaches via MagSafe to any iPhone, has Bluetooth, a USB-C port for charging, and therefore works with any modern iOS game or emulator regardless of whether the iPhone is mounted on it or not. The controller has a built-in kickstand that supports landscape and portrait gaming (the latter is essential for DS emulation in Delta) and is much more portable than other snap-on solutions available for iOS devices.

The best part: the creator of this controller, called the M-Con, has announced plans to make this a real product that you can buy in the future. You can watch the announcement video below:

As Jonathan’s story in last Saturday’s issue of MacStories Weekly showed, the dream for many of us right now is a compact, MagSafe-enabled game controller for iPhone that doesn’t use USB-C and allows the iPhone to be rotated. No official product that is not a 3D-printed adapter or DIY hack that does all that exists right now.

I wish Josh all the best in this adventure, and I hope to be able to purchase an M-Con game controller in the near future.

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Ruminate, Episode 185 – I’ll Eat Glue Cheese→

This week on Ruminate, I go to Applebee’s and a new game store, we both check out the new Legend of Zelda Lego, Robb launched a new project, then we head into AI corner.

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AppStories, Episode 385 – Our 2024 macOS and visionOS WWDC Wishes→

This week on AppStories, we continue our annual wishlists with a look at macOS and visionOS.

Sponsored by:

  • Raycast – A collection of powerful productivity tools all within an extendable launcher. Fast, ergonomic and reliable.
  • Notion – Start turning ideas into action. Try it free today.
  • CleanMyMac X – Your Mac. As good as new. Get 15% off today with code APPSTORIES15

Our 2024 macOS and visionOS WWDC Wishes

  • Our macOS Wishes
    • Notifications
    • Alerts
    • Finder
    • Stage Manager
    • System Settings
    • Music
    • TestFlight
    • Shortcuts
  • Our visionOS Wishes
    • The Developer Strap
    • Multitasking
    • Better Voice Control
    • iPad Virtualization
    • Environments
    • Apple Pencil Pro
    • More Native Apps
    • Software OPtimizations
    • Home Screen Changes
    • Wi-Fi Performance
    • Support for Mice
    • Multiple Desktops
  • Related:
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On AppStories+, a video experiment, i have iPad Pro follow-up, and Federico has technical follow-up and a question for listeners about streaming videogames over Wi-Fi.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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Magic Rays of Light: Apple TV Wishes Past, Trying, and Sugar→

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon highlight the return of Trying, recap the first season of Sugar, and revisit their 2023 WWDC hopes to see what came true and what remains on the wishlist.

Show Notes

Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

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The One Where Quinn Nelson Tries to Create a Window with iPadOS’ Stage Manager→

I’ve published my fair share of criticism regarding the iPadOS version of Stage Manager over the years. I wrote about it again last week, but most of its underlying issues date back to the original release in late 2022, which I documented here.

But let’s say you don’t want to read my articles and would prefer to have a more practical example of the issues I described. In that case, go check out this three-minute video by Quinn Nelson, in which he tries to have a Freeform window on the iPad and another Freeform window on an external display:

Post by @snazzyq
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This video has everything:

  • It shows the confusing lack of Mission Control/Exposé to see all active windows for an app in Stage Manager.
  • It highlights the lack of a window picker in Stage Manager. Quinn points out that he can see a window picker on the iPad’s display, but that’s because the iPad is running in traditional Split View mode, which does come with the shelf.
  • Quinn is (rightfully) perplexed by what ‘Add Another Window’ means.
  • The video shows the inconsistencies of Spotlight as an app launcher.
  • It also showcases the inconsistent implementation of keyboard shortcuts for multitasking.
  • The video shows how downright unintuitive the solution is. An alternative solution mentioned in Quinn’s replies is equally non-discoverable.

I’m sure someone at Apple may argue that this is the kind of feature people buy another computer for. But it’s always the same story: if Stage Manager for iPad exists, what’s the point of leaving it in this state for two years?

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Magic Rays of Light: The Big Cigar, Palm Royale, and Apple’s Theatrical Strategy→

This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon discuss Apple’s evolving theatrical film strategy, highlight the debut of The Big Cigar, and recap Palm Royale.

Show Notes

Send us a voice message all week via iMessage or email to [email protected].

Sigmund Judge | Follow Sigmund on X, Mastodon, or Threads

Devon Dundee | Follow Devon on Mastodon or Threads

Join Club MacStories.

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AppStories, Episode 383 – The Trouble with iPadOS→

This week on AppStories, we examine iPadOS and the ways it has failed to get the basics right.

Sponsored by:

  • Concepts – Sketch, Note, Draw.
  • Celtreos – The shoot-em-up game with tiny ships, big weapons, waves of foes, power-ups and obstacles.

AppStories+ Pre-Show

The Trouble with iPadOS

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On AppStories+, behind the scenes of a roller coaster week at MacStories.

We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.

To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.

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Ruminate, Episode 184 – The Rhythm of the Newsroom→

This week on Ruminate, snack follow up, a WeblogPoMo progress update, the 100 best albums, and AI on iOS.

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