TidBITS

Brings various improvements to the keyboard-driven launcher. (£23 new, free update, 3.1 MB)

Updates the snippet editor with macro improvements and bug fixes. ($40 annual subscription, free update, 20.9 MB)

Maintenance release focused on bug fixes for the long-standing text editor. ($49.99 new, free update, 13.9 MB)

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)

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)

Take a trip down memory lane with the (Unofficial) Apple Archive, which documents over 40 years of Apple documents and promotions.Read original article

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.

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.

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.Read original article

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.

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.Read original…

Miss the way that window management worked before Mac OS X? The new Front and Center app brings that behavior back.

Improves background sync speed when used with multiple accounts and makes other minor enhancements. ($49.99 new, free update, 12.6 MB)

Nagged by the question of whether Apple still uses the term “Macintosh” anywhere, Adam Engst pores over targeted Google search results to confirm that the company has excised “Macintosh” from all modern uses, with a few odd exceptions.

Years after the FBI backed down from trying to force Apple to put a backdoor in the iPhone, it looks like the agency may be trying again by requesting that Apple decrypt iPhones related to the December 2019 shooting in Pensacola.Read original article

Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac has compressed the last decade of Apple history into a single long Web page. It’s a great reminder of just how much has happened in the last ten years.Read original article

Strengthens the Web browser's Enhanced Tracking Protection by blocking fingerprinting scripts. (Free update, 69.4 MB)

Maintenance release with several improvements and bug fixes for the text expansion tool. (€24.99 new, free update, 7.0 MB)

Adds support for syncing with Apple's Reminders app and brings several improvements to the calendar utility. ($49.99 new, free update, 22.9 MB)

Our roving reporter Jeff Porten heads into CES 2020 with coverage of the annual Trends to Watch presentation, which focused on (surprise, surprise) 5G, AI, streaming video, augmented reality, and well, a bunch of other things that seem less likely to become…

Brings several updates for macOS 10.15 Catalina and adds the capability to import from Google Scholar in the Bookends Browser. ($59.99 new, free update, 50.9 MB)

Brings performance improvements and new technology additions for the recently upgraded AI-powered photo editing app. ($89 new, free update, 18.8 MB)

Adds the new ML Super Resolution feature, which makes it possible to increase the resolution of images while keeping them sharp and detailed. ($39.99 new, free update, 187 MB)

Adds support for cleaning up new groups of Chrome items in the Privacy module and ensures that Firefox items are displayed properly within Privacy. ($89.95 new, free update, 55.5 MB)

Adds the capability to capture audio from Siri and VoiceOver. ($49 new, free update, 14.1 MB)

If you’re looking at buying a new Mac now, it will likely ship with macOS 10.15 Catalina. If you’re not ready to upgrade from Mojave, it’s still possible to downgrade most new Macs, but it might not be easy.Read original article

Keeping an old Mac running Mac OS 8 or earlier around for the fun of it? Beware that early versions of the classic Mac OS won’t let you set a time after the end of 2019. Happily, a free utility lets you work around this limitation for another 20 years.Read…

Apple has published an extensive guide to its varied security efforts, bringing vast amounts of information together in one easily accessible place.Read original article

The Swiss Army knife of graphics programs gains several new features along with a variety of improvements and bug fixes. ($39.95 new, free update, 154 MB)

Maintenance release for the task management app with a smattering of bug fixes and enhancements related to dropped items. ($39.99 new, free update, 60.3 MB)