Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
AppStories
This week, Federico and John complete their tour of holiday projects with a look at the tools both of them built with the help of Claude Code, Codex, and other tools.
On AppStories+, John pushes Claude Code by building a Safari web extension that integrates with Notion.
NPC: Next Portable Console
This week, rumors swirl about the Steam Machine’s pricing, AYANEO pauses to collect itself, and GameSir’s Pocket Taco goes live – plus, the lack of foldable phone controllers and our first videogames.
On NPC XL, Federico, John, and Brendon share what they do when they’re not obsessing over handheld consoles.
Comfort Zone
Matt’s on his own for this one, as Chris and Niléane managed to both get sick at the same time. Fear not; we get to rant and rave about the latest “Xbox”!
On Cozy Zone, we roast each other’s backpacks. One’s all black, one’s full of color, and the other is just a mess.
MacStories Unwind
This week, John shrugs off a once-in-a-decade winter storm and watches a great movie, while Federico has a returning comedy series to share.
AppStories, Episode 468, ‘A Very “Just Build It” Holiday’ Show Notes
Holiday Coding Projects Continued
Federico’s Projects:
HTML tools collection (12+ tools) inspired by Simon Willison’s approach
MacStories Markdown Preview tool
MarkdownFixer (Python in browser via Pyodide)
Custom MCP servers for: Feedbin, Readwise Reader, YouTube Transcript, and Raindrop
Home automation tools: NAS Control, Roon Visualizer, Custom TV Remote (LG webOS + Philips Hue Sync Box)
Notion tools: DailyNote Append, DailyNote Viewer, Notion Clippings web app, YouTube Watch Queue
Liquid Glass CSS design guide for web apps
Using Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex comparison
Remote coding workflow with Termius and Pushover notifications
John’s Projects
MacStories Common (shared code library)
Podcast production tools (loudness matching, transcription improvements)
Obsidian plugins for sending to Matter and Readwise Reader
Article Highlights tool
Notion OAuth integration
Reviving Blink app (Objective C to Swift/SwiftUI conversion)
Other Tools and Services Mentioned
GitHub
Cloudflare Workers
Tailscale
Secure Shellfish
FFmpeg
Wispr Flow
AppStories+ Post-Show
John’s LinkSlinger Safari web extension for Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS
Subscribe to AppStories+
Visit AppStories.net to learn more about the extended, high bitrate audio version of AppStories that is delivered early each week and subscribe.
NPC, Episode 64, ‘Foldables, Fex, and a Forgettable CES’ Show Notes
The Latest Portable Gaming News
Steam Machine pricing may have leaked
Meta has closed three VR studios as part of its metaverse-focused layoffs
GameSir Pocket Taco phone controller Kickstarter is now live
AYANEO Pocket PLAY delayed
AYN Thor gets major OTA update, Batch 2 shipping January 15, prices rising for Batch 3
Retrocade is coming to Apple Vision Pro
A FEX announcement is coming
Subscribe to NPC XL
NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month. Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes. You can subscribe here.
Comfort Zone, Episode 84, ‘Where Is Everybody?’ Show Notes
Main Topics
Cozy Zone
For even more from the Comfort Zone crew, you can subscribe to Cozy Zone. Cozy Zone is a weekly bonus episode of Comfort Zone where Matt, Niléane, and Chris invite listeners to join them in the Cozy Zone where they’ll cover extra topics, invent wilder challenges and games, and share all their great (and not so great) takes on tech. You can subscribe to Cozy Zone for $5 per month here or $50 per year here.
MacStories Unwind, ‘Snowmageddon, Billionaire Blackmail, and Water Beds’ Show Notes
Snowmageddon
Ice threat continues to grow as weekend winter storm nears Carolinas
When was the last time Charlotte had a significant ice storm?
Picks
Federico’s Pick:
A Man on the Inside on Netflix
A Man on the Inside Season 2 Cast, Plot, Release Date: Meet the Stars Joining Ted Danson, First Look Photos
John’s Pick:
Licorice Pizza
Unwind Deal
🍄 The Super Mario Bros. Movie is just $9.99 in the TV app.
MacStories Unwind+
We deliver MacStories Unwind+ to Club MacStories subscribers ad-free with high bitrate audio every week. To learn more about the benefits of a Club MacStories subscription, visit our Plans page.
MacStories launched its first podcast in 2017 with AppStories. Since then, the lineup has expanded to include a family of weekly shows that also includes MacStories Unwind, Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, NPC: Next Portable Console, and First, Last, Everything that collectively, cover a broad range of the modern media world from Apple’s streaming service and videogame hardware to apps for a growing audience that appreciates our thoughtful, in-depth approach to media.
If you’re interested in advertising on our shows, you can learn more here or by contacting our Managing Editor, John Voorhees.