Zac Hall is a Senior Editor, covering Apple, apps, and AI. His work is regularly featured by Techmeme.
He joined 9to5Mac in 2013. He later served as Lead Editor from 2016 through 2020, before creating the Space Explored website.
In 2015, Zac began co-hosting 9to5Mac Happy Hour, establishing the format of the site’s premier podcast, which he hosted for eight years.
In 2018, he created 9to5Mac Daily, providing audio recaps of Apple and technology news each weekday. He also hosted multiple seasons of the 9to5Mac Watch Time podcast, a health and fitness-focused interview series.
Zac is based in the lovely Gulf Coast town of Ocean Springs, MS, where he lives with his brilliant kids and Nova, his loyal Cavachon rescue.
Contact: zac@9to5mac.com
Back in April, Google joined OpenAI and Anthropic in offering a dedicated Mac app for its AI chatbot software. Two months later, it’s clear that Gemini for Mac isn’t as good as it could be.
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At the start of May, OpenAI released a playful feature inside its Codex desktop app for creating a virtual pet.
This silly little addition solved my biggest challenge with Codex: what should I do with it? My first real task with Codex was putting together a virtual Lil Finder Guy for fun.
A month later, I’m using two Mac apps that Codex built at my direction. Toying around with Codex Pets was the gateway for me to better understand its capabilities.
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Update: The app appears to have been removed two hours after our story was published.
The third most popular free iPhone app in the U.S. App Store today is a mysterious productivity app that’s only available in Russian. That’s a pretty obvious red flag that something isn’t quite what it seems.
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ChatGPT’s memory feature allows it to learn about you and remember your preferences over time. Memory gives ChatGPT useful context for natural interactions that don’t need start from scratch each time. OpenAI has released new details on how ChatGPT’s memory feature is getting smarter and coming to free users for the first time.
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No, it’s not an April Fools’ Day gag in June as far as we can tell. Cash App has launched a tap-and-pay magic wand keychain accessory for contactless payments.
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In April, The Weather Channel released a new version of its Storm Radar app, introducing a customizable AI weather presenter and much more. More recently, Storm Radar has arrived on Apple Watch.
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“The Pill People have entered the villa,” according to Apple’s latest Beats Pill video ad. The new clip, seen below, promotes 24-hour battery life as part of the current Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker.
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Ever want to do more with your health data that Apple Watch gathers? CardioBot has long been a great way to unlock new insight into your heart health. The latest version integrates one of my favorite Apple Health metrics using Apple Watch.
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There’s just something special about Apple Vision Pro and airplanes. From turning in-flight entertainment into a cinematic experience to supporting the world’s most advanced flight simulator, Apple Vision Pro has earned its wings.
Now there’s a new native app that’s free to download and experience that takes Apple Vision Pro users on an immersive private flight from the comfort of your living room.
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June is here, and with the new month comes the next Apple Watch activity challenge. Meanwhile, Apple Fitness+ has added a new treadmill workout for subscribers.
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Perplexity has announced a major new feature coming soon to Perplexity Computer: the ability to split tasks between local and cloud models.
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OpenAI continues to push Codex beyond an agentic coding desktop app to a general productivity tool for everyone. As part of that effort, the company shared three enterprise-focused Codex updates today. Additionally, OpenAI says it will soon put Codex functionality inside the ChatGPT app everywhere.
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Anthropic unveiled its Claude Mythos AI model in April, only sharing access with select partners like Apple. The controlled release is part of Anthropic’s Project Glasswing cybersecurity initiative.
Now Anthropic says it’s sharing Claude Mythos access with more partners in more countries. Meanwhile, the company says Mythos-class models will be available to all customers in a matter of weeks.
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Withings is making its body scanning feature more affordable with the new BodyFit smart scale. This mid-range model offers features similar to the pricier Body Scan model, but for a lower starting price.
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Apple’s next major announcement is only a week away with WWDC 2026 set for Monday, June 8. Now Apple’s Greg “Joz” Joswiak has shared a new promo for the big keynote address with an upbeat message.
Apple also has an official wallpaper for WWDC that you can download for free. And there’s an official Apple Music playlist to go along with the fun.
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OpenAI recently added a new feature to the ChatGPT app: a hidden gesture that lets you instantly set the effort level of a prompt. ChatGPT also introduced a new way to easily navigate longer conversations. Meanwhile, the default model used by ChatGPT has changed since arriving last month.
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It makes sense that Apple TV 4K customers are vocal about the lack of new hardware. The current set-top box, introduced in 2022, runs the risk of breaking a record no one wants to see happen.
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Earlier this month, OpenAI updated ChatGPT’s mobile app to include remote access to Codex for Mac. Starting today, ChatGPT for iPhone and Android can also start work on Codex for Windows as well.
Plus Codex inside ChatGPT for iOS has some new features and improvements.
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WWDC 2026 is 10 days away. Here’s a grab-bag selection of things I hope to see from Apple’s new OS 27 updates that aren’t really rumored.
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Apple has released the first iOS 26.6 public beta. The update follows the first developer beta release on Tuesday.
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Anthropic has released its latest AI model with Claude Opus 4.8. The new version arrives less than two months after the previous model upgrade, ramping up Anthropic’s upgrade cadence.
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As Spotify users around the world await the return of their good old fashioned app icon, the company is rolling out four improvements to the platform’s core music experience.
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Heads up, baseball fans. MLB: The Show has officially launched on iPhone. If you want to play as your favorite MLB team on a gaming console, MLB: The Show is the name of the game. With the 20th anniversary of the game’s first release, MLB: The Show has arrived on iPhone for the first time.
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Emoji selection on the Mac remains an area ripe for improvement with future versions of macOS. Until then, Mojito is a new and free solution that greatly improves the Mac emoji picker experience.
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