TidBITS

Has it really been a year since we marked our 30th anniversary? It was hard to stay positive in 2020, but just as science and technology have given the world a way out of the pandemic, we’re going to focus more on the positive ways Apple-related technology…

Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels has gathered together sound clips of the chimes of death played by various classic Mac models when they couldn’t boot. They’re fascinating, but if you experienced these a lot back in the day, beware of flashbacks!Read original…

If the batteries in your first- or second-generation AirPods are suffering from massively reduced battery life, you don’t have to pay full price for a new set (and throw away the old ones). For half the cost, Podswap will exchange your expired ones for a set…

Apple Fitness+ is getting new workouts for beginners, older adults, and pregnant women, as well as a new trainer and an Earth Day-themed episode of Time to Walk with Jane Fonda.Read original article

T-Mobile has furthered its reputation as the most competitive of the big three cellular companies in the United States by rolling out an unlimited usage broadband service that relies on the company’s 4G and 5G networks.

Apple has scheduled what is almost certainly a product introduction event for next week. Will we see new iPad Pro models, new M-series Macs, AirTags, or a better mousetrap?

Lauren Goode canceled her wedding in 2019 but is still being reminded of it by online algorithms. This seemingly modern-day problem was somewhat foreseeable, but it’s also not entirely new.Read original article

Some people with Apple Watch Series 3 models are having trouble installing watchOS 7 updates because they don’t have enough space available. Here are two ways to free up enough space to install the watchOS updates.

Rosetta 2 for Apple silicon Macs is the latest in a line of emulators and virtual machines that Apple has released to provide continuity across hardware and operating system transitions. What’s next to come? A full Intel chip emulator for Apple’s M-series…

Prices for SSDs and Thunderbolt 3 enclosures have plummeted, so Glenn Fleishman finally bit the bullet to upgrade the storage for his lagging 2017 iMac. Doing so probably extended the useful lifespan of his iMac by years.

Improves handling of "quota exceeded" errors when syncing with Google for both apps. ($49.99 new for each, free update, 32.6/20.6 MB, macOS 10.12+)

Maintenance update with improvements and bug fixes for the recently upgraded image editing app. ($39.99 new, free update, 19.2 MB, macOS 10.14+)

Adds a marooned attachment manager to the reference management tool. ($59.99 new, free update, 96.2 MB, macOS 10.13+)

Adds video tooltips that appear when you hover over a tool in the Tools sidebar. ($39.99 new, free update, 273.6 MB, macOS 10.14.4+)

Apple has officially opened up Find My to third-party devices, including Vanmoof e-bikes, Belkin earbuds, and Chipolo item trackers. Could this presage the long-rumored release of Apple’s AirTags?

In one of his most substantial interviews in years, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher to discuss everything Apple.Read original article

A 2019 data breach exposed the personal information of 533 million Facebook users. Here are a couple of tools you can use to see if you’ve been compromised.Read original article

The Apple Arcade subscription game service is struggling to catch on, so Apple is adding a slew of classic board games and App Store hits to lure in subscribers.Read original article

Do you find it tiring to spend a lot of time on video calls? You’re not alone—pretty much everyone does. A Stanford University researcher has now figured out exactly why… and what you can do about it.

Adds support for new cameras as well as lossy compressed CR3 and RAF files. ($89 new, free update, 18.8 MB, macOS 10.12.6+)

Now available in the Mac App Store thanks to using Big Sur's Network Extensions framework. ($15 new, free update, 16.9 MB, macOS 11+)

Major new release for the Mac edition of the RSS reader with support for M1-based Macs, macOS 11 Big Sur, and many syncing services. (Free, 10 MB, macOS 10.15+)

Please welcome our latest long-term TidBITS sponsor, Rogue Amoeba, makers of a slate of powerful, easy-to-use audio apps.

Electric bicycles have become popular for their motor-assisted, eco-friendly locomotion, and some even have companion apps. Julio Ojeda-Zapata took a break from his traditional road bike to test two such high-tech e-bikes and found that their iPhone-based…

Want to block notifications from your iPhone at specific times but still allow important messages to break through? Learn how to use Do Not Disturb and Emergency Bypass to achieve those contradictory goals, along with what to do if you occasionally want to…

Apple has announced the dates of its next Worldwide Developers Conference, which will once again be held entirely online.

Enhances the three-way Zoom Phone calling feature and improves chat searches for @mentions. (Free, 24 MB, macOS 10.9+)

Maintenance release for the information management app with a variety of improvements. (Free, 147 MB, macOS 10.10+)

Adds full support for VoiceOver, the macOS screen reader. (Free, 126 MB, macOS 10.12+)

Expands and improves the writing app’s blog publishing capabilities. ($49.99 annual subscription, free update, 31 MB MB, macOS 10.14.4+)