My visionOS 2 Review at MacStories

Joining the MacStories team – first as a podcast host and then as an editor – has been one of the highlights of my year. I love the amazing team I get to work with, and I’m really proud of the work we do for the site and the Club every day. Today is extra special, though, because I have the honor of doing something I never dreamed of: writing an official MacStories Review.

Federico’s annual iOS and iPadOS reviews are legendary in the Apple community, and John’s macOS reviews have become a staple as well. Being asked to write a review with the MacStories name on it is something I don’t take lightly. And so it’s with great humility that I took on the challenge of reviewing this year’s update to visionOS.

visionOS 2 is out this week, just seven months after the platform made its world debut. The progress the team has made in that time is downright impressive, bringing new features and quality-of-life improvements that users will benefit from everyday.

What might seem on the surface like a quiet update actually reveals foundational changes underneath. Spatial computing is a young paradigm, and no rules are set in stone. It’s an exciting time.

I’ve spent the last few months living with visionOS 2, using it for work, entertainment, and to relive my favorite memories in a new way. I have thoughts on changes to the system, the experience of using it every day, and what I hope is on the horizon.

It’s my privilege to present visionOS: The MacStories Review.

The New Reeder

Ever since I started using RSS to read articles from my favorites sites, Reeder has been my go-to app for catching up on my feeds. A brand new version is out today, and it takes the app in a whole new direction. From my review on MacStories:

The best word to describe the new Reeder is "ambitious." Its purpose is not just to be your RSS reader, but your inbox for keeping up with feeds of many different kinds from various sources across the Internet – text from websites, sure, but also videos on YouTube, audio from podcasts, posts on social media, and more. It's a one-stop shop for the feeds you follow online, collecting them together into a single timeline that you can seamlessly browse across all of your devices.

For more details on the update and my thoughts after using it daily for some time, check out the full review. It was a privilege to get to cover the app for the site, and I had a lot of fun putting the story together.

Headphones (Again)

I’ve been known to have some pretty big feelings about headphones. But after years of failed attempts, I finally found the right set for me: Beats Solo 4. I even got a chance to review them in the latest Club MacStories Monthly Log. It’s a happy ending to a long story, so I invite you to check it out if that sounds like your kind of thing.

A Couple of Podcast Appearances

Over the past week, I've had the privilege of guesting on a couple of my favorite podcasts.

On MacStories Unwind last Friday, I chatted with John Voorhees about media-tracking apps and a few shows that we recommend people check out. Any time I get to talk about Sequel and Mr. Robot is a good time in my book.

And then on yesterday's episode of Vision Pros, Tim Chaten and I dove into my use of the Apple Vision Pro, especially as a device for getting work done. It's the most in-depth conversation I've had about the Vision Pro since it launched, and it was a lot of fun.

Of course, no week would be complete without a regular dose of Magic Rays of Light. It doesn't count as a guest appearance since I'm a regular host, but Sigmund and I released a fun episode that covers Apple Intelligence, Continuity Camera on Apple TV, the latest Apple Original releases, and more.

My thanks to the kind hosts who had me on their shows this week and to everyone who took the time to listen. It truly is an honor to get to share.

AI Writing

David Sparks, aka MacSparky:

Writing is more than just a means to convey information; it’s a way to connect on a deeply personal level. Whether celebrating a milestone with loved ones or sharing insights in this newsletter, these moments are opportunities to express our unique perspectives and emotions. When we delegate this task to an AI robot, no matter how sophisticated, we lose a piece of that human connection. It feels like a form of erasure — a diminution of our individuality and the personal stamp we leave on our work and the world.

I've been hesitant to step into the AI conversation because I find the whole thing fraught and, honestly, not all that relevant to my life at the moment. I use these tools on occasion for specific tasks, and I do appreciate when they're integrated well into apps I use every day, which is why I will be keeping an eye on Apple Intelligence. But I don't consider them an essential part of my work in any sense.

David's point here resonated strongly with me, and it speaks to why I don't use generative text tools when I'm writing. I consider this blog to be an extension of myself. It's the place I go to share my thoughts with the world and hopefully start conversations with others. People come here for my perspective, not a robot's. And I believe the same applies to my writing and editing elsewhere, as well as to my personal conversations.

Writing – and, I would argue, communication itself – is not a means to an end. It's a way of conveying information, sure, but it's more than that. It's a connection between people, a back-and-forth that reflects each individual involved, and I don't believe that inserting an AI layer in the middle adds any value.

These tools have their place, but you won't be reading any AI-generated content here.