Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 36 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals
Adam Engst

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.

Adam Engst 21 comments

macOS Text Replacement Export/Import Works Great Until It Doesn’t

Apple lets you export and import text replacements by dragging them to and from the Text Replacements dialog. It’s great for backups and sharing, but if you try to import thousands of entries, such as from the TidBITS AutoCorrect Dictionary, things may fall apart unpredictably.

Adam Engst 14 comments

TidBITS Readers Show Decades-Long Loyalty

A poll of 668 readers confirms what we’ve always suspected: TidBITS readers stick around. Fully 64% have been reading for over 30 years, 87% for more than 20 years, and 94% for at least a decade.

Adam Engst No comments

Joanna Stern Launches Independent Media Outlet New Things

Tech journalist Joanna Stern has left The Wall Street Journal to launch an independent media outlet called New Things, promising columns, videos, and the same blend of technical accuracy and entertainment.

Adam Engst No comments

FindYourTag Website Catalogs the Expanding Find My Ecosystem

Glenn Fleishman has cataloged the surprisingly diverse ecosystem of Find My-compatible products—now numbering over 70—and built a comparison website to help you navigate the options.

Adam Engst 95 comments

My First 700-Mile EV Road Trip—What Worked and What I’d Change

Adam Engst’s 711-mile round trip from Ithaca to Virginia became an education in EV charging—from unplanned charging stops to mysterious range variations. Here’s what he learned and what he’ll do differently next time.

Adam Engst 13 comments

iOS 26.4.2 and iOS 18.7.8 Address Notification Privacy Flaw Highlighted by FBI Case

The FBI extracted Signal messages from an iPhone by exploiting a notification database flaw. Apple has now released iOS 18.7.8 and iOS 26.4.2 to fix a bug that allowed deleted notifications to persist on devices.

Adam Engst 12 comments

John Ternus to Lead Apple as Tim Cook Becomes Executive Chairman

Apple’s leadership transition puts hardware chief John Ternus in the CEO role while Tim Cook moves to executive chairman, where he’ll continue navigating the company’s complex political landscape.

Adam Engst 66 comments

36 Years and 1800 Issues of TidBITS

TidBITS is celebrating 36 years and 1800 issues of continuous publication. Rather than rehash past anniversary themes, Adam Engst uses this milestone to focus on the importance of community and invites readers to share how TidBITS has affected their lives.

Adam Engst 10 comments

VidBITS: Matt Sephton’s Wall of Tiny Apps

When Matt Sephton told me he was releasing 18 apps on the same day, I knew I had to talk to him. Our two-hour VidBITS conversation covers everything from his tiny utilities—most of which would fit on a 1.44 MB floppy disk—to classic Mac preservation to AI coding experiments.

Adam Engst 9 comments

Shutting Down SlackBITS After Impersonation-Based Malware Attack

A convincing impersonation of TidBITS contributor Glenn Fleishman on our public Slack group fooled an experienced IT professional into installing the OSX.Odyssey infostealer. Because Slack is designed for internal groups, its identity controls and logging aren’t sufficient for safe public use, so we’re shutting down SlackBITS and moving to Discourse Chat.

Adam Engst 1 comment

Farewell to Mac Writers John Martellaro and Chuck La Tournous

The Mac community has lost two longtime writers in recent weeks: John Martellaro and Chuck La Tournous. John wrote once for TidBITS in 1996 before settling at The Mac Observer, where Chuck was also a contributing editor.

Adam Engst 13 comments

The Verge Hails Chrome’s Belated Vertical Tabs

David Pierce at The Verge makes the case for vertical browser tabs, echoing advice TidBITS has offered since 2023. Google Chrome users can now easily try them.

Adam Engst 13 comments

Why the macOS “49-Day” Networking Bug Probably Won’t Affect You

Don’t panic about the newly discovered macOS bug that freezes TCP networking after 49 days of uptime. Between security updates, sleep cycles, and typical usage patterns, most Mac users will never encounter this edge-case failure.

Adam Engst 12 comments

Apple Releases OS 26.4.1 to Fix CloudKit Syncing Bug

If iCloud syncing has been unreliable since you updated to iOS 26.4, relief has arrived. Although Apple’s release notes don’t mention it, developers confirm that iOS 26.4.1 and iPadOS 26.4.1 fix the CloudKit bug. Apple also released macOS 26.4.1 Tahoe, presumably to incorporate the same code changes.

Adam Engst 48 comments

Living with Digital Key 2 on the Hyundai IONIQ 5

Setting up Digital Key 2 for a second driver was harder than expected, but now we’re leaving the bulky key fob at home almost all the time. Here’s what we’ve found in a few weeks of living with smartphone-based car keys.