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Apple announced in September that its new Apple Watch Series 4 is capable of taking electrocardiogram readings as part of its health-monitoring features. That feature didn’t ship with the watch, but it’s now available with the watchOS 5.1.2 update, along…

Brings some fixes for macOS 10.14 Mojave, as well as improves performance and reliability. (All updates are free. DEVONthink Pro Office, $149.95 new; DEVONthink Professional, $79.95 new; DEVONthink Personal, $49.95 new; DEVONnote, $24.95 new)

Resolves some hangs and makes improvements for libraries that have been moved using Logic Pro X or MainStage. (Free, 1.01 GB)

Adds preferences to filter MIDI data on a port-by-port basis and eliminates a variety of crashes and hangs. ($199.99 new, free update, 1.4 GB)

Astro HQ’s Luna Display dongle for the Mac turns an iPad into a secondary monitor via Lightning or Wi-Fi. Others have pulled off such an iPad-as-Mac-screen maneuver using software, but Luna’s hardware approach taps into the Mac’s graphics acceleration to…

Google's Project Fi phone service has become Google Fi, with official support for using the iPhone you bring to the plan. But the iPhone experience isn't the same as for Android phones using regular Google Fi. So for now, Google Fi is worthwhile only in select…

Is your mouse making your wrist or forearm hurt? The $15 Anker Ergonomic Optical USB Wired Vertical Mouse may be able to ease your pain.

Adds detailed information about all recent hardware and operating system releases, including the refreshed Mac mini and MacBook Air. (Free, 113 MB)

Patches security vulnerabilities in Apple’s last two operating systems. (Free, various sizes)

Addresses WebKit and address bar vulnerabilities for macOS 10.12.6 Sierra and 10.13.6 High Sierra. (Free)

The Mac App of the Year for 2018 brings redesigned Color Balance adjustment tools. ($39.99 new, free update, 169 MB)

Original Pixelmator app gains full compatibility with macOS 10.14 Mojave. ($29.99 new, free update, 112 MB)

Apple has updated iOS, macOS, and tvOS with tweaks and bug fixes, and most importantly, you can once again switch between iPhone cameras with a single tap when making FaceTime calls.

Apple has opened a special online store that offers a 10% discount on all Apple products to current and veteran members of the US military, National Guard, and Reserve, plus their immediate family living in the same household.Read original article

Our membership program plays a crucial role in ensuring that we can bring you TidBITS every week, but memberships went down earlier this year during the transition to our new Internet infrastructure and its new membership system. Join TidBITS today and help us…

The hosts of the Command Control Power podcast for Apple consultants have commissioned a theme song from songwriter extraordinaire Jonathan Mann—anyone who has ever answered tech support questions will particularly appreciate its sly humor.

In a shocking announcement, Amazon has announced that Apple Music will soon be available through its Alexa voice assistant on its Echo smart speakers.Read original article

Developer David Barnard is tired of scammy copycat App Store apps, and he’s divulging all of these developers’ tricks in an effort to call Apple’s attention to them.Read original article

Optimizes support for APFS-formatted drives for faster file scanning and copying. ($49.99 new for ChronoSync, $14.99 new for ChronoAgent; free updates; 66.7 MB, 25.4 MB)

Wondering about the best approach for making a book or calendar as a holiday present, now that Apple has gotten out of the business of print projects? Over at Six Colors, “Take Control of Photos” author Jason Snell compared Mimeo and Motif.…

The SubEthaEdit text editor, whose real-time collaborative editing features were jaw-dropping when it first came out, is back with version 5, and is now free and open source.Read original article

Many public Wi-Fi hotspots require you to click a button on a “captive portal” page before you can get online, which is a problem if your device doesn’t have a Web browser. Here’s a workaround you can try with a device like an Apple TV or Nintendo Switch.

Adds support for new Windows releases. ($79.99/$159.99 new, $49.99/$119.99 upgrades, 495 MB)

Ensures compatibility with macOS 10.14 Mojave and improves how dialogs display in Dark mode. ($30 new, free update, 3.0 MB)

A feast of bug fixes for the word processor built for long-form writing. ($49 new, free update, 84.9 MB)

For those whose offices cannot accommodate a full-size standing desk, a converter placed atop an existing desk serves the same function. Ergotron’s newest converter, the WorkFit-TX, remedies the flaws in other such products. It isn’t cheap, though.

Maintenance release for the long-standing text editor. ($49.99 new, free update, 13.0 MB)

Email management is, for most of us, a constant battle to deal with an uncontrollable number of messages in a finite amount of time. Many email apps try to “help” with tricks to hide email messages until later, but these are counterproductive. “Take…

Apple has produced a lovely short film for the holidays that’s an ode to creativity on the Mac. It’s also a testament to the amount of time, money, and effort Apple seems increasingly willing to put into unusual marketing efforts.

If you try to repair a newer Mac equipped with a T2 chip yourself, or if you take it to an independent repair shop that isn’t authorized by Apple, you may be in for a nasty surprise.Read original article