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Adam Engst 1 comment

Fighting a Denial of Service Attack with AI Assistance

Troubleshooting an inaccessible server is challenging at the best of times and doubly so when you are out of practice. Read how Claude guided Adam Engst through troubleshooting and mitigating a denial of service attack.

Adam Engst No comments

iOS 26.5.1 Fixes Charging Bug, macOS 26.5.1 Tackles Shutdown Issue

iPhone 17 and iPhone Air owners should update to iOS 26.5.1 promptly—it fixes a bug that blocks USB charging when the battery is nearly dead. macOS 26.5.1 addresses an enterprise-only shutdown issue.

Adam Engst 44 comments

Office 2019 for Mac Goes Read-Only on 13 July 2026

On 13 July 2026, an expiring security certificate will force Office 2019 for Mac into read-only mode. Microsoft has shown no interest in releasing a fix, leaving users to upgrade or switch to alternatives.

Adam Engst 6 comments

RetinaDesk Reviews 5K and 6K Displays from a Mac Perspective

Shopping for a 5K or 6K Retina display for your Mac? Parish Khan’s RetinaDesk site offers detailed, Mac-focused reviews of every monitor that hits Apple’s 218 PPI density threshold, plus comparison tools and buying guides—all tested on current Apple silicon hardware.

Adam Engst 9 comments

Taming Email Overload: Google’s CC Daily Briefing Agent

Feeling buried in email? Google’s experimental CC tool uses AI to send daily briefings about your most important messages and calendar events. Here’s what worked in Adam Engst’s testing, what didn’t, and who might benefit.

Adam Engst No comments

From AI Security to the Mac Community on the Command Control Power Podcast

Adam Engst joins the Command Control Power podcast for a two-part conversation covering AI security threats, Apple's 50th anniversary, and what the Mac community has lost—and might regain.

Adam Engst 15 comments

Former Apple Design Chief Jony Ive’s First Car Is a €550,000 Ferrari

Jony Ive’s first post-Apple car design—a ludicrously expensive Ferrari EV—underscores just how far his work has strayed from products “for the rest of us.”

Adam Engst 17 comments

BBEdit 16 Searches for Text in Images, Adds Shortcuts Actions, and More

After 34 years, BBEdit keeps finding new tricks. Version 16 searches for text inside images, brings powerful text transformations to Shortcuts, and adds per-project color schemes, among much else.

Adam Engst 16 comments

Release Your Inner Art Director with Improved ChatGPT Image Generation

If you’re better at critiquing images than creating them, ChatGPT’s improved image generation is worth a try. Recent enhancements let you direct iterative changes, fix specific areas, and finally get text that’s spelled correctly.

Adam Engst 8 comments

Gift Card Scam Funnels Millions in Apple Devices Through New Hampshire Warehouses

Criminals are stealing gift card numbers from retail shelves, replacing them, draining them when purchasers load funds, and using the proceeds to buy Apple products for export—yet another reason to avoid physical gift cards.

Adam Engst 37 comments

AppBITS: EyesOff Alerts You to Shoulder Surfing

Worried about prying eyes at the coffee shop? EyesOff uses your Mac’s webcam to detect when someone’s watching your screen and can alert you, hide your work, or lock your Mac.

Adam Engst 5 comments

Apple Settles “More Personalized” Siri Delay Lawsuit for $250 Million

Apple will pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over delayed Siri features. Owners of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models purchased between June 2024 and March 2025 may receive $25–$95 per device. Here’s how the math works out.

Adam Engst 17 comments

TipBITS: How Fake Contacts Can Fix Dictation’s Proper Noun Problems

Does Dictation substitute a contact’s name for a common word, fail to capitalize proper nouns, or mangle unusual spellings? You can fix these frustrations by adding—or subtly editing—entries in Contacts.

Adam Engst 2 comments

Apple Extends Notification Privacy Fix to iOS 15, iOS 16, and iPadOS 17

If your iPhone or iPad is too old to run iOS 18 or later, Apple hasn’t forgotten you—new updates for iOS and iPadOS 15, iOS and iPadOS 16, and iPadOS 17 patch the notification retention flaw that could expose deleted messages.

Adam Engst 4 comments

OS 26.5 Adds Encrypted RCS Messaging, Fixes Bugs

The OS 26.5 updates bring end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging to iPhones, a Pride Luminance wallpaper and watch face, and Suggested Places recommendations in Maps. Otherwise, expect a few bug fixes and numerous security updates.