422 - Don McAllister: New app to play Music at Weddings, and Screencasts Online

In this special episode of In Touch With iOS, Dave Ginsburg and Jeff Gamet welcome Don McAllister to discuss the history of Screencasts Online, his transition to semi-retirement, and his new app Wedding Player. Don shares how the app was inspired by his daughter's wedding and explains its offline Apple Music integration, ceremony-focused controls, AI-assisted development process, and future plans for iPhone, iPad, Android, and professional wedding venues.

The show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com

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Summary

In this special episode, Dave Ginsburg is joined by co-host Jeff Gamet for an in-depth conversation with Don McAllister, the founder of Screencasts Online and creator of the new app Wedding Player.

Don reflects on the origins of Screencasts Online back in 2005, explaining how it began as a hobby after he originally planned to launch a Mac audio podcast. Instead, he discovered the power of video tutorials and quickly found an audience eager to learn more about the Mac ecosystem. He shares stories about the early days of podcasting and online video creation, describing how he slowly transformed the project from free tutorials into a successful premium service while still maintaining a passion for helping Apple users learn new technology.

The discussion then shifts to the transition of Screencasts Online to Lee Garrett. Don explains why it was important for him to hand the platform to someone who already understood the community and culture that had been built over nearly two decades. He talks about how Lee's experience, technical background, and long history creating tutorials made the transition smooth for both subscribers and contributors. Don also reveals he still contributes occasional tutorials and monthly articles while remaining available behind the scenes for advice and support.

A major focus of the episode centers on Don's newest project, Wedding Player. The idea came directly from helping organize music for his daughter Nicola's wedding. Frustrated with the limitations of existing music playback solutions and concerned about reliability during a live ceremony, Don decided to create his own dedicated app. He explains how Wedding Player organizes music into "moments" for different sections of a ceremony, supports fade controls between songs, includes loop functionality, and uses simplified "Go Live" controls designed to prevent mistakes during high-pressure events.

Don also details the extensive safeguards built into the app. Wedding Player works fully offline, integrates with Apple Music through MusicKit, supports local audio files, and includes pre-flight checks to verify downloaded tracks, airplane mode settings, and device readiness before a ceremony begins. He discusses the importance of reliability and explains how the app was intentionally designed to reduce the chance of user error. The conversation also highlights the inclusion of royalty-free "Wedding Player Originals" tracks for users who do not subscribe to Apple Music.

Jeff and Dave explore how Don used AI tools, particularly Claude, to accelerate development of the app and even build an Android version after discovering significant demand from wedding professionals using Android devices. Don shares how AI dramatically shortened the development timeline and how he now sees AI as a powerful platform for building software and systems rather than simply a chatbot. The panel also discusses accessibility improvements, large-text UI challenges, venue support, future iCloud syncing plans, and professional features designed for wedding venues and officiants.

Finally, Don shares pricing details, future roadmap ideas, and where listeners can find Wedding Player online.

Links mentioned

Wedding Player

https://weddingplayer.app/our-story/

https://weddingplayer.app/blog/

https://weddingplayer.app/support/

ScreenCastsOnline

ScreenCastsOnline - About Us

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Macstock X is here celebrating its 10th anniversary ! Dave, Chuck, Jeff, Marty, and Jill are all speaking this year!. With Three Full Days of expert-led Presentations and Workshops, Macstock's sessions are crammed full of productivity-enhancing content. NEW this year is a partnership with sponsor Ecamm. Ecamm Creator Camp: Mac Edition on July 9, 2026 there are only 100 tickets available for the bundle. There are 2 passes available: Macstock weekend pass July 10,11,12, 2026 or the Macstock Ecamm Bundle starting July 9 (only 100 tickets available) Come join us. Register HERE and use our offer code INTOUCH to save $50

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Dave Ginsburg is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users and shares his wealth of knowledge of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and related technologies. Visit the YouTube channel https://youtube.com/intouchwithios follow him on Mastodon @daveg65, , BlueSky @daveg65 and the show @intouchwithios

Our Guest

Don McAllister is founder of Screencasts Online and developer of the new app Wedding Player, You can find him on social media at X @donmcallister

Our Co-Host

Jeff Gamet is a podcaster, technology blogger, artist, and author. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's managing editor, and Smile's TextExpander Evangelist. You can find him on Mastadon @jgamet Pixelfed @jgamet@pixelfed.social and Bluesky @jgamet.bsky.social‬ Podcasts The Context Machine Podcast Retro Rewatch Retro Rewatch His YouTube channel https://youtube.com/jgamet