Adam Engst
Adam C. Engst is the publisher of TidBITS. He has written numerous books, including the best-selling Internet Starter Kit series, and many magazine articles thanks to Contributing Editor positions at MacUser, MacWEEK, and now Macworld. His innovations include the creation of the first advertising program to support an Internet publication in 1992, the first flat-rate accounts for graphical Internet access in 1993, and the Take Control electronic book series now owned and operated by alt concepts. His awards include the MDJ Power 25 ranking as the most influential person in the Macintosh industry outside of Apple every year since 2000, inclusion on the MacTech 25 list of influential people in the Macintosh technical community, and being named one of MacDirectory's top ten visionaries. And yes, he has been turned into an action figure.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Patches security vulnerabilities for users of macOS 15 Sequoia and macOS 14 Sonoma. (Free, various sizes, macOS 14+)
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.
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.
The Flighty flight-tracking app has introduced Airport Intelligence, which uses AI to explain conditions at every airport worldwide, plus a free Flighty Airports webpage showing real-time disruption levels at major airports.
