9to5Mac

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Juggling loads of alarms in the Clock app can be annoying. VariAlarm aims to fix this, by dynamically adjusting your alarms based on your schedule, rather than having fixed times.

Internal Mac storage upgrades are expensive, often causing users to resort to external media when possible. That also has its own problems of sometimes compromising on speed or reliability. HyperDrive Next aims to bridge that gap, by bringing incredible performance to external drives for your Mac.

This story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

Apple often likes to say that it isn’t a nostalgic company, but they’ve gone all out to celebrate their 50th birthday. The company recently opened an exhibition on campus displaying some of their most iconic products from over the years alongside photographs of memorable moments. There’s even a large screen that plays iconic ads and keynote moments like the 1984 commercial and the opening of the Steve Jobs theater. Thanks to Meriam Al Sultan on X, we all can get a look at the exhibit.

Last month, Apple acquired a popular Final Cut Pro plugin maker: MotionVFX. It isn’t clear what this acquisition will turn into, but based on the fact that it quickly followed the launch of Apple Creator Studio, it’s highly plausible that Apple will integrate its templates, effects, and other offerings as a perk of Apple Creator Studio.

While that on its own is interesting, I think the implication behind it is far more worth talking about.

I’ve had the MacBook Neo for a month, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to use. The Neo has been one of the more exciting new Apple products in a while. It gives you insane value, amazing build quality, and great performance, especially for the price. But to get the price down to $599, Apple had to make some compromises. To elevate my experience a bit, I added a few budget-friendly accessories that I think anyone can add to their MacBook Neo setup!

Now through April 13th, new Apple Card users can receive a boosted 5% cash back on groceries for their first 6 months of card membership. This is considerably higher value than the typical 1-2% cash back you’d receive on groceries.

Earlier this year, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed that astronauts on the Artemis II mission would be allowed to ”fly with the latest smartphones.” Now, The New York Times has reported what it took to make that happen.

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My use of my iPhone has somewhat evolved over the years. I used to want to replicate everything that my Mac could do on my iPhone, but over time, I’ve looked to my Mac as the workhorse and my iPhone as a “cloud remote” to quickly do things on the go that take minimal effort and thought processing. Apple device management is one of those things. I don’t want to manage my entire database on my iPhone. I do, however, want to do a few things. That is where tools like PocketMDM come into play.

A new interactive data project from sheets.works lets you scroll through every iPhone model ever released, complete with tech specs, colors, and even a timeline of hardware features Apple removed from the device over the years. Check it out below.

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Ex-Human, the developer behind Botify and Photify AI, is suing Apple over what it calls “arbitrary” App Store removals. Here are the details.

Whenever my family goes out of town, we have a dog sitter come by to check on our dogs. One challenge I always have is showing guests how to use our smart home. For our Level Lock Pro, I find it easier to just give them a fob or a physical key, since sharing a Home Key outside an iCloud family account is still a hassle. While sharing access to lights is possible, I find it much easier to use a product like the Onvis Smart Button instead.

Apple doesn’t typically sell you a product four to five months before delivery. There’s nothing typical about the global memory shortage, though. AI servers need a lot of RAM, and that’s seriously affecting Apple’s top Mac RAM inventory.

You know the drill: new Apple product, new iFixit teardown. Here’s what they found when they dug into the new AirPods Max 2.

Apple TV just brought back one of last year’s biggest hit shows, and this summer at least three more series are scheduled to return—including a long-awaited title. Here’s what’s coming.

Apple has just released public beta 1 for iPadOS 26.5, watchOS 26.5, and more. Here’s what to expect.

Following the release of the first developer beta of macOS 26.5 earlier this week, it’s time for users in the Public Beta program to take the upcoming macOS version for a spin. Here’s what to expect.

Apple has released the first iOS 26.5 public beta. The update follows the first developer beta release on Monday and a new revision earlier today.

AirPods Pro 3 just arrived last fall, but reporting indicates Apple has another new AirPods Pro model coming this year. Here are three rumored new features.

iOS 26.5 beta 1 arrived earlier this week for developers, but Apple has just shipped an updated beta 1 build for testing.

macOS 26.4 is the latest Mac software update, and alongside new emoji and a Compact Tab Bar option in Safari, the new release also adds three battery-related features. Here’s how to use them.

This week, The Weather Channel released a new version of its Storm Radar app, introducing a customizable AI weather presenter and much more.

The wait continues for a new Apple TV 4K, but Apple has steadily added new features to tvOS 26 via recent updates, including two changes I’ve been especially enjoying.