Federico Viticci
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viticci.macstories.net
Federico Viticci
@viticci.macstories.net
11K followers 220 following 760 posts
Founder and Editor-in-Chief @macstories.net. I write about iPad, iOS, indie apps, and making computers more fun.

I also co-host @appstories.macstories.net, a podcast about Apple and the world of apps, and @npc.macstories.net, a show about handhelds.
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viticci.macstories.net
Federico Viticci @viticci.macstories.net · Dec 16
Here we go 🚀

Today, we're introducing the 2025 edition of MacStories Selects, our celebration of our favorite apps for Apple platforms.

I'm especially happy with our selections this year and proud to put the spotlight on the excellent work of indie devs.

Enjoy 🏆 www.macstories.net/stories/macs...
MacStories Selects 2025: Recognizing the Best Apps of the Year
John: 2025 was a different sort of year for apps, which is reflected in this year’s MacStories Selects Awards winners. App innovation comes from many places. Sometimes it’s new Apple APIs or hardware,...
www.macstories.net
viticci.macstories.net
🛠️ This week on @appstories.macstories.net: all the other things we built over our holiday break.

🧩 On the members-only post-show: @johnvoorhees.macstories.net builds a Safari extension.

Episode out tomorrow, or available today for AppStories+ subscribers.

🎧 Listen: appstories.net/episodes/468
January 18, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
rhllzo.bsky.social
Both versions of the Ticci Scale now have their own easy-to-remember links on my website, in case you ever need to quickly reference them!
www.klmatthews.com/ticciscale
www.klmatthews.com/ticciscale2025
www.klmatthews.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
rhllzo.bsky.social
As discussed on today’s Connected, after the Annies episode I wanted to see if I could draw a Quokka…. and then this happened. I can't believe the original Ticci scale is over 7 years old!

The updated 2025 Ticci Scale - I hope you like it @viticci.macstories.net!
A drawing of the Ticci Scale from the Connected podcast. The tiers on the scale curve around a gradient from black, through the rainbow to blue. At the left, black end the scale starts with Nightmare, Inferior Minus, Inferior, Decent, Normal, Good, Good Plus through to Best, I Love You. In this updated drawing, Nightmare is represented by a spider, and Best, I Love You with a Quokka.
January 15, 2026 at 10:43 PM
viticci.macstories.net
Here's a preview of something I've been working on:

Generative Shortcuts. It's slow; video is sped up; there are some minor errors occasionally.

But damn, this feels like a game changer. Powered by Claude Code. More soon.
January 15, 2026 at 9:49 PM
viticci.macstories.net
The thought of a future ChatGPT 5.5 running at > 500 tokens/second is very intriguing with this partnership:

openai.com/index/cerebr...

(Very interesting after Groq going to NVIDIA, but it sounds like Cerebras will stay independent?)
OpenAI partners with Cerebras
OpenAI is partnering with Cerebras to add 750MW of ultra low-latency AI compute to our platform.
openai.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:19 PM
viticci.macstories.net
It’s time for a new episode of @npc.macstories.net! This week:

🎮 A tour of CES 2026’s handheld news
🕹️ Some thoughts on Switch 2 grips
🥽 AR glasses
💾 New chips from AMD
💼 The OneXSugar Wallet

📺 Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei9n...
CES 2026: Foldables, Rollables, and Robot Punches | NPC: Next Portable Console
YouTube video by NPC: Next Portable Console
www.youtube.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
macstories.net
LLMs Have Made Simple Software Trivial https://www.macstories.net/linked/llms-have-made-simple-software-trivial/
January 13, 2026 at 5:13 PM
viticci.macstories.net
I'm very happy to see Pixelmator Pro for iPad! It's the only image editor that's ever made sense to me, and I'm thrilled to see it come to iPadOS.

More details on all the apps announced by Apple today as part of the Creator Studio bundle:

www.macstories.net/news/apple-u...
Apple Unveils Apple Creator Studio App Suite
Today, Apple announced Apple Creator Studio, a suite of creativity apps for the Mac and iPad combined with premium content and features for productivity apps across the company’s platforms. This colle...
www.macstories.net
January 13, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
macstories.net
How I Used Claude to Build a Transcription Bot that Learns From Its Mistakes https://www.macstories.net/stories/how-i-used-claude-to-build-a-transcription-bot-that-learns-from-its-mistakes/
How I Used Claude to Build a Transcription Bot that Learns From Its Mistakes
When I started transcribing AppStories and MacStories Unwind three years ago, I had wanted to do so for years, but the tools at the time were either too inaccurate or too expensive. That turned a corner with OpenAI???s Whisper, an open-source speech-to-text model that blew away other readily available options. Still, the results weren???t good...
www.macstories.net
January 12, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
johnvoorhees.macstories.net
Our @devondundee.com watched the Apple Vision Pro replay of the Lakers/Bucks game and shares his impressions on @macstories.net: www.macstories.net/news/immersi...
Immersive Lakers Game Now Widely Available on Apple Vision Pro
Last Friday, basketball fans in the Los Angeles Lakers market got their first glimpse of an immersive live game when the Lakers faced the Milwaukee Bucks on Spectrum Front Row on Apple Vision Pro. Whi...
www.macstories.net
January 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM
viticci.macstories.net
Apple has confirmed they will be using "Google's technology" as the foundation for Apple Foundation Models later this year.

So many questions left unanswered, but very excited to see where this goes: www.macstories.net/news/apple-c...
Apple Confirms AI Partnership with Google
Apple has confirmed to CNBC that it has entered into a multi-year partnership with Google to use the search giant’s models and cloud technology for its own AI efforts. According to an unnamed Apple sp...
www.macstories.net
January 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM
viticci.macstories.net
🧪 This week on @appstories.macstories.net: we're back from our holiday break…with lots of experiments.

In the post-show: I got a new foldable 👀

Episode out tomorrow, or available today (and ad-free) for AppStories+ subscribers.

🎧 Listen: appstories.net/episodes/467
A Very Nerdy Holiday Break
appstories.net
January 11, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
johnbrayton.com
Unread’s MacStories Selects 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award arrived, and looks great on my desk.

Thanks to @viticci.macstories.net, @johnvoorhees.macstories.net, and the entire @macstories.net team.
A glass trophy that says MacStories Selects Lifetime Achievement 2025.
January 11, 2026 at 3:11 PM
viticci.macstories.net
I've been covering apps for 17 years (!). Over the past month, I've built a selection of "micro apps" just for me with a combo of Claude Code and Codex.

I think it's obvious that this whole industry is fundamentally changing. What happens when you don't download apps made by others anymore?
January 11, 2026 at 3:48 PM
viticci.macstories.net
This week for @macstories.net members, I wrote about Claude Code as a general agent and how I freed up 400 GB of storage on my Mac with it:

club.macstories.net/posts/how-i-...
January 9, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
macstories.net
macOS Tahoe’s Messy Menus https://www.macstories.net/linked/macos-tahoes-messy-menus/
January 5, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
bb.wavelengths.online
For MacStories: I wrote about how the iPad Pro is a beautiful device being constrained by its software and how it could be a viable video game console replacement if Apple wanted it to be.

www.macstories.net/stories/th...
The iPad Finally Becomes a Gaming Console with CloudGear
My iPad has been gathering dust. I bought it last May – an 11” M4 iPad Pro with 512GB of storage and a Magic Keyboard – mostly for writing, photo and video editing, and experimenting with Apple’s seemingly renewed focus on gaming. On paper, it excels at all of these things. While the M4 chip...
www.macstories.net
January 5, 2026 at 6:21 PM
viticci.macstories.net
New year, a new iPad app, and @bb.wavelengths.online on MacStories with a review about it?

Yes: www.macstories.net/stories/the-...
The iPad Finally Becomes a Gaming Console with CloudGear
My iPad has been gathering dust. I bought it last May – an 11” M4 iPad Pro with 512GB of storage and a Magic Keyboard – mostly for writing, photo and video editing, and experimenting with Apple’s seem...
www.macstories.net
January 5, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
johnvoorhees.macstories.net
Last night on a whim, I gave @anthropic.com's Claude Code the decade-old code for my app Blink and was floored by the results. More on @macstories.net: www.macstories.net/stories/how-...
January 5, 2026 at 5:02 PM
viticci.macstories.net
Loved this story by @johnvoorhees.macstories.net about using Claude Code to revive his decade-old app, Blink.

Really interesting angle for app preservation, too.
How I Revived My Decade-Old App with Claude Code
Every holiday season, Federico and I spend our downtime on nerd projects. This year, both of us spent a lot of that time building tools for ourselves with Claude Code in what developed into a bit of a...
www.macstories.net
January 5, 2026 at 5:28 PM
viticci.macstories.net
Is Claude Code a better system for this kind of multi-app orchestration than Claude's main app?

This kind of prompt (despite compaction) is still impossible in Opus 4.5. Claude Code could potentially do it with subagents?

The differences between these two systems are frustrating 🤔
January 4, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
johnvoorhees.macstories.net
Earlier this year, @twostraws.bsky.social asked me about app marketing for his book Everything but the Code. The book is an excellent resource on everything surrounding the making of apps.

Here's an extended version of my contributions on @macstories.net.

www.macstories.net/linked/app-m...
App Marketing: My Extended Q&A for Paul Hudson’s Everything but the Code
Earlier this year, Paul Hudson asked me to answer a few questions about app marketing for a book he was writing called Everything But the Code. The book is finished now, and it’s full of great advice ...
www.macstories.net
December 31, 2025 at 9:38 PM
viticci.macstories.net
can't complain about my break so far 😌🎶
December 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
npc.macstories.net
Then on NPC XL for Patreon members we share runners up and the trends we're expecting to see next year.

🎧 www.patreon.com/posts/whats-...
📺 www.patreon.com/posts/whats-...
What’s Next for Handhelds in 2026? | Next Portable Console
Get more from Next Portable Console on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Federico Viticci
npc.macstories.net
It's time once again for the annual HOTY (Handheld of the Year) Awards!

It's been a wild year for handhelds, and this week, we each pick a personal HOTY and an NPC Official HOTY.

🎧 apple.co/49p15eG
📺 youtu.be/L1W_vIUa87Y
The 2025 Handhelds of the Year Awards
Podcast Episode · NPC: Next Portable Console · 12/23/2025 · 38m
apple.co
December 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM