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The oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet, TidBITS brings you the Apple Macintosh, iPhone, iPad, and iPod news, reviews, tips, and commentary that matters. Join us each week for audio versions of award-winning coverage from industry stalwarts Adam Engst, Glenn Fleishman, Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Michael Cohen, Rich Mogull, Jeff Carlson, Tonya Engst, and others.

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Parallels Desktop 26.1.1

TidBITS ·

2025/10/10

Parallels has released version 26.1 of its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software, featuring improvements for Linux and Windows. The update fixes a bug that caused Windows 11 virtual machines to crash with a blue screen of death (BSoD) when Norton 360 security software performed a scheduled smart scan, introduces a driverless version of Parallels Tools for Linux, adds several updated Linux distribution (including Ubuntu 24.04.3, Kali 2025.2, and Debian 12.11) for installation on Macs with

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Mimestream 1.8.3

TidBITS ·

2025/10/10

Mimestream released version 1.8.2 of its Gmail-specific email app with fixes for several bugs related to macOS 26 Tahoe. The update resolved an issue that prevented the font size pop-up in the format bar from working correctly, addressed a crash that occurred when re-ordering account inboxes in the sidebar, fixed the padding between the Add buttons in the Profile detail view, adjusted the look of the message list filter toolbar button, and resolved some sluggishness when switching folders. Version

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EagleFiler 1.9.19

TidBITS ·

2025/10/10

C-Command Software has released EagleFiler 1.9.19, featuring a short list of enhancements for the document organization and archiving app. The new version ensures that the capture key works as expected with DEVONthink 4, updates the share extension so it can now import images with no associated file (such as from the Quick Look preview window after taking a screenshot), fixes a bug where tag searches with negative conditions sometimes didn’t find any matches when Match Partial Words was unchecked,

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How to Turn Liquid Glass into a Solid Interface

TidBITS ·

2025/10/09

Apple’s new Liquid Glass interface design brings transparency and blur effects to all Apple operating systems, but many users find it distracting or difficult to read. Here’s how to control its effects and make your interface more usable. Although the relevant Accessibility settings are quite similar across macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS, I separate them because they offer different levels of utility in each. I have no experience with (or interest in) a Vision Pro, so I can’t comment on Liquid Glass

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Apple’s Liquid Glass Design Prioritizes Content Over...

TidBITS ·

2025/10/06

I’ve finally figured out my core discomfort with Liquid Glass, Apple’s new translucent interface design language for its latest operating systems. It’s not that there are occasional spots where the translucency renders the interface nearly illegible. It’s usually either obvious what is being obscured or easy to clear up the confusion with a small movement. Nor is it that controls can shrink, expand, and “dynamically morph,” which harms discoverability and reduces affordances for users who assess the

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iPhone 16 Pro Slightly Outperforms iPhone 17 for...

TidBITS ·

2025/10/06

After feeling slightly suckered by Apple’s claims of 48-megapixel macro photography last year (see “Understanding the iPhone 16 Pro’s 48-Megapixel Macro Photography… and Reverting to 12-Megapixel Shots,” 4 October 2024), I decided to see if I was being snobby about needing a Pro-level iPhone for the macro photos I enjoy taking. Macro photos use the iPhone’s Ultra Wide camera, and Apple upgraded the standard iPhone 17 with a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide camera, which sounded like the same one found in the

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Final Cut Pro 11.2, Compressor 4.11, and Motion 5.11

TidBITS ·

2025/10/06

Apple has released updates for its three professional video apps: Final Cut Pro 11.2, Compressor 4.11, and Motion 5.11. Final Cut Pro removes support for FireWire-connected devices in macOS 26 Tahoe, unlocks more controls for ProRes RAW video shot on iPhone (for adjusting exposure, color temperature, tint, and demosaicing), adds support for editing Apple Log 2 footage with the vibrancy of the original scene by applying the Apple Log 2 LUT, improves stability when adjusting sliders in the ProRes RAW

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Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 2.6.4

TidBITS ·

2025/10/06

Serif has updated Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher to version 2.6.4 with a lengthy list of bug fixes. The release resolves misplacement of odd page numbers when exporting Photoshop PSD and Affinity files to PDF as All Pages, fixes a bug that caused master page pasteboard content to disappear from the page, addresses a crash when sliding through History after adding extra pages, ensures that the independent baseline grid is scaled correctly, and fixes a bug that could render

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PopChar 10.5

TidBITS ·

2025/10/06

Ergonis Software has released PopChar 10.5, a maintenance update that’s recommended for all users running macOS 26 Tahoe. The character discovery and font exploration utility resolves issues with the View Changer and Shape Finder buttons that made them unclickable in Tahoe, and brings further unspecified Tahoe adaptations and improvements. ($39.99 new with a 25% discount for TidBITS members, free update, 5.8 MB, release notes, macOS 12+)

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Nick Heer Peers Through Liquid Glass

TidBITS ·

2025/09/30

In a deep examination of Liquid Glass on the iPhone and Mac on his Pixel Envy blog, Nick Heer writes:I am spending an awful lot of words on the MacOS version because I think it is the least successful of the two Liquid Glass implementations I have used. MacOS still works a lot like MacOS. But it looks and feels like someone dictated, context-free, that it needed to reflect the redesign of iOS. The iOS implementation is more successful since Liquid Glass feels — and I mean feels — like something

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OS 26.0.1 Updates Fix Early Bugs

TidBITS ·

2025/09/29

Apple has released small updates across its operating system lineup to fix early bugs that came to light after the official launch of the OS 26 upgrades: macOS 26.0.1: Apple says that the update resolves the problem that prevented some users from upgrading to Tahoe on the M3 Ultra Mac Studio (see “macOS 26 Tahoe Won’t Install on the M3 Ultra Mac Studio,” 17 September 2025). iOS 26.0.1: This update fixes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth dropouts on the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro, suggesting an

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Predicting When We’ll See OS 26 Updates

TidBITS ·

2025/09/26

On his Eclectic Light Company blog, Howard Oakley has pored over the past two years of macOS releases to predict when we might see macOS 26 Tahoe updates—and, by extension, updates to Apple’s other operating systems, which typically come out on the same day. He suggests:If Tahoe follows the same pattern [as Sonoma and Sequoia], you can expect releases to occur on the following dates: 26.0 – 15 September 2025 26.1 – 27 October 2025 26.2 – 15 December 2025 26.3 – 26 January 2026 26.4 – 30 March

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Lunar 6.9.1

TidBITS ·

2025/09/26

Alin Panaitiu released version 6.9 of Lunar with support for macOS 26 Tahoe. The display brightness control utility also enabled Enhanced Contrast to function even when Overlay dimming is in use, and resolved an issue with the Paddle window not being clickable. A quick update to version 6.9.1 enhances the visibility of on-screen display (OSD) text on white backgrounds and corrects an incorrect brightness value in OSD when making fine adjustments. ($23 new, free update, 20.8 MB, release notes, macOS

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Default Folder X 6.2.1

TidBITS ·

2025/09/26

St. Clair Software has issued Default Folder X 6.2.1, a maintenance release that eliminates excessive CPU usage when viewing photos or other media in Open dialogs. The Open/Save dialog utility also corrects a problem with the search field in Open and Save dialogs prematurely hiding its menu, fixes a bug that prevented menu item previews from displaying enlarged images for some documents, and resolves several crashes. ($39.95 new, free update, TidBITS members save $10 on new copies and $5 on

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Tracking My iPhone Camera Usage With a Deep Dive into...

TidBITS ·

2025/09/25

I “downgraded” from the iPhone 16 Pro to the iPhone 17 this year because there was only one unique feature of the iPhone 17 Pro that interested me: the 4x/8x zoom courtesy of its Telephoto camera. In the end, I decided that it was more important for me to experience the plain iPhone 17 than to test Apple’s newest Telephoto camera, which the iPhone 17 lacks. I don’t think that I regularly use the iPhone 16 Pro’s 5x zoom, courtesy of its Telephoto camera and tetraprism lens, because I’m more

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Apple’s DMA Criticism Highlights Tech-Government...

TidBITS ·

2025/09/25

In a statement, Apple writes: It’s been more than a year since the Digital Markets Act was implemented. Over that time, it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU. It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind. … That’s why we’re urging regulators to take a closer look at how the law is

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Zoom Workplace 6.6

TidBITS ·

2025/09/22

Zoom Video Communications has issued Zoom Workplace 6.6 with a variety of additions, improvements, and bug fixes for the videoconferencing/communication app. The release introduces the Zoom Video Management add-on for creating, viewing, and managing organization-wide video content; adds an auto-framing feature that automatically keeps meeting participants centered in the camera view; simplifies meeting transfer from Zoom Workplace mobile app to Zoom Rooms; adds a Running Late notification option;

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Tinderbox 11.0

TidBITS ·

2025/09/22

Eastgate Systems has released version 11 of its Tinderbox note-taking assistant, bringing AI integration and a new Information City visualization. Tinderbox can now interact with Claude Desktop and other AIs to examine Tinderbox documents and revise them. Turn on Enable AI Integration in the Tinderbox Menu; enable or disable AI integration in specific documents using a checkbox setting in Document Preferences > General. Tinderbox 11’s Information City visualization The upgraded Tinderbox

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Timing 2025.7

TidBITS ·

2025/09/22

Daniel Gräfe has released Timing 2025.7 to add full support for macOS 26 Tahoe and its new Liquid Glass design. Now requiring macOS 11 Big Sur or later, the time and productivity tracking app now remembers recent searches in the toolbar search field (limited to those confirmed by pressing Enter), improves support for tracking URLs in a variety of browsers (including Dia, Station, Stack, and Shift), improves tracking of email addresses in Spark Mail, works around an issue where Timing would send two

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SpamSieve 3.2

TidBITS ·

2025/09/22

C-Command Software has published SpamSieve 3.2 with further updates and optimizations for macOS 26 Tahoe. The update refreshes the app icon for Tahoe’s new Liquid Glass design language, changes icon badging behavior to show current training or filtering status as glyphs using the system standard red badge, updates the window toolbar appearance, and rejiggers the appearance of the Uncertain spam messages and Spam-catching strategy sliders. The spam-filtering utility improves the speed of

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804 results