Many interpreted the Apple Independent Repair Program as an olive branch to third-party repair shops, but Motherboard has found businesses balking at Apple’s “onerous” terms. | Continue reading
Low power and a clean environment turned out to be the themes of this year’s batch of what was notable at the part of CES dedicated to startups. | Continue reading
Fixes a lengthy list of bugs and now requires macOS 10.14 Mojave. ($39.99 new, free update, 39.9 MB) | Continue reading
Maintenance update for the recently upgraded calendar app corrects bugs and smooths over some rough spots. ($39.99 annual subscription new, free update from version 3, 21.8 MB) | Continue reading
Enhances the Bookends Browser with faster page loading and improved compatibility with Web pages using complex Javascript. ($59.99 new, free update, 50.9 MB) | Continue reading
Pursuing a “better late than never” strategy, Jeff Porten catches up on interesting products he saw at CES 2020, including assistive earbuds, an external monitor for your iPhone, and flying robots that promise to stop the bad guys. | Continue reading
Maintenance release tidies up a few bugs affecting the menu bar and Bluetooth usage. ($29 new, free update, 13.9 MB) | Continue reading
Adds support for Microsoft's Edge Web browser and Fantastical. ($64.99 new, free update, 50.8 MB) | Continue reading
Will wonders never cease! Netflix actually listened to feedback from its customers about how much they hated auto-play previews and—a full year later—introduced an option to disable them. Hallelujah! | Continue reading
Makes some tweaks to the app's HFS+ to APFS conversion and adds a timeout mechanism to volume unmount requests. ($39.99 new, free update, 16 MB) | Continue reading
Would you like it if you could have toggles for Dark Mode, Do Not Disturb, Night Shift, screen lock, and more, all accessed from a single menu bar icon? Josh Centers recently discovered that the One Switch utility can do all that and more. | Continue reading
Brings improvements and bug fixes to the document organization and archiving app. ($40 new, free update, 25.8 MB) | Continue reading
Bring new features and enhancements to the two personal information management apps. ($49.99 new for each, free update, 22.7/12.9 MB) | Continue reading
How did Apple do in 2019? Jason Snell has once again gathered opinions from a large panel of Apple observers—including a number of people from the TidBITS crew—to issue his annual Apple report card. | Continue reading
As Apple watches its iPhone sales growth slow, the company has had to focus ever harder on keeping its parts costs low. In such situations, Tim Cook looks to one man: Vice President of Procurement Tony Blevins. | Continue reading
Apple has spent years overhauling its map data in the United States, and now it’s moving on to Europe. | Continue reading
Having good passwords may protect you from drive-by attacks, but if you are individually targeted, online thieves can steal your cell phone number and reset all your passwords in minutes. Google Voice used with two-factor authentication is an answer for those for whom authenticat … | Continue reading
Major new release for the calendar app with a refreshed user interface, unified look across all platforms, and new subscription pricing model. ($39.99 annual subscription, 21.7 MB) | Continue reading
Updates the venerable bookmark manager for macOS 10.15 Catalina. ($35.00 new, $25 upgrade, 8.7 MB) | Continue reading
Adds support for disabling Dark mode only for documents and provides other minor enhancements. ($99/$199/$499 new, upgrades available, 92.8 MB) | Continue reading
Patches two security vulnerabilities for those running Apple’s last two operating systems. (Free, various sizes) | Continue reading
Patches security vulnerabilities in Apple’s last two operating systems. (Free, various sizes) | Continue reading
Motherboard and PCMag have teamed up to expose antivirus maker Avast’s practice of collecting and selling data on millions of users. | Continue reading
Thanks to the iPhone 11, Apple’s iPhone product segment saw a return to growth in Q1 2020, while iPad and Mac sales were off. Meanwhile, the Wearables and Services categories continue to grow. | Continue reading
Apple has updated all of its operating systems to address privacy and parental controls in iOS and performance in newer Mac hardware. | Continue reading
Perhaps predictably, Apple has sent a swarm of lawyers after the Unofficial Apple Archive, issuing over 3700 DMCA takedown orders. | Continue reading
Image compression, fun? Realmac Software’s Squash manages to add a bit of joy to a dull class of utilities. Also, there are surprising differences between image compression apps. | Continue reading
Jeff Porten checks in from another train with the items he saw at PEPCOM’s Digital Experience at CES, including chargers and robots, but so far no charging robots. | Continue reading
Adds several new features to the sound control utility, including per application amplification and menu bar icon adjustments. ($29 new, free update, 13.9 MB) | Continue reading
If you’re curious about how Time Machine works or are troubleshooting a problem with your Time Machine backups, Howard Oakley has a lengthy series with useful details about Apple’s backup solution. | Continue reading
Maintenance release with several bug fixes for the recently upgraded screencast recording and video editing app. ($129 new, free update, 54.9 MB) | Continue reading
In the category of features that should have been present from the start, Apple has finally added a CSV data export capability for the Apple Card. Here’s how to get your data out. How you import it into your personal finance package is up to you. | Continue reading
This podcast is related to the world of Apple only through the Mac cred of its host, Guy Kawasaki, but his lineup of guests makes it well worth checking out. | Continue reading
Reuters is reporting that Apple dropped plans to offer a stronger encryption option for iCloud backups under pressure from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. | Continue reading
Back in September, Adam Engst moved from an Apple Watch Series 2 to an Apple Watch Series 5. After living with it for several months, he’s figured out which features make a difference and which are just marketing fluff. | Continue reading
Adds a new menu item for accessing Quicken on the Web and fixes bugs. ($34.99/$49.99/$74.99 annual subscription, free update) | Continue reading
Brings various improvements to the keyboard-driven launcher. (£23 new, free update, 3.1 MB) | Continue reading
Updates the snippet editor with macro improvements and bug fixes. ($40 annual subscription, free update, 20.9 MB) | Continue reading
Maintenance release focused on bug fixes for the long-standing text editor. ($49.99 new, free update, 13.9 MB) | Continue reading
Adds support for accessibility features in Word in High Sierra, enhances Excel's queries and array formulas, and creates animated GIFs in PowerPoint. ($149.99 new for one-time purchase, $99.99/$69.99 annual subscription options, free update) | Continue reading
Maintenance updates with bug fixes for the synchronization and backup tool and its helper app. (49.99 new for ChronoSync, $14.99 new for ChronoAgent; free updates; 67 MB, 26.6 MB) | Continue reading
Jeff Porten had overlapping conference responsibilities this year, but he checks in from Europe with his usual coverage of what was new, notable, and laughable at this year’s CES. | Continue reading
The Apple TV app was advertised as a way to amalgamate all your streaming content into a single app, but it has turned into an advertising platform for Apple. “Take Control of Apple TV” author Josh Centers explains how to take a bit of control back. | Continue reading
Developer and podcaster Marco Arment believes Apple should add a Low Power Mode to macOS for laptop users, and he has numbers from disabling the Turbo Boost feature of Intel CPUs to support his case. | Continue reading
Apple is replacing some Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR due to charging failures, both of the case itself and the iPhone inside. | Continue reading
Apple claims to be a guardian of consumer privacy, but the company does little to regulate what third-party iPhone apps do with the data they collect. The Washington Post’s Geoffrey Fowler asks if Apple could do more to protect our privacy. | Continue reading
Miss the way that window management worked before Mac OS X? The new Front and Center app brings that behavior back. | Continue reading
Improves background sync speed when used with multiple accounts and makes other minor enhancements. ($49.99 new, free update, 12.6 MB) | Continue reading