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.
In response to and in support of the protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, Apple has dedicated the Apple Music user interface to a statement in solidarity with Black communities.Â
Apple has released updates to macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS to address a security vulnerability in the kernel that could allow an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Update soon!
Confused by President Trump’s executive order aimed at rolling back liability protections given to online forums? The Verge’s Adi Robertson gives the order a line-by-line read to provide context, background, and a reality check.
Apple has released macOS 10.15.5 Catalina with a new battery health management feature for recent Mac laptops, along with a necessary option for Group FaceTime, calibration for the Pro Display XDR, and a smattering of bug and security fixes.
At long last, Spotify has removed the restriction that prevented subscribers from adding more than 10,000 tracks to their libraries. If Apple opens the HomePod up to third-party music apps in iOS 14, Adam Engst might take another look.
A surprising number of people continue to force-quit iOS apps and restart or shut down their iOS devices as a matter of habit. Except when recovering from a frozen app or misbehaving device, those behaviors will reduce battery life and hurt performance. Here’s why.
Adam Engst was recently turned on to the VintageApple.org site, which has full archives of Macworld, MacUser, and Byte, along with hundreds of vintage books about the Mac and Apple. Check it out!
If you need a new Mac or other Apple product, you may be waiting for a while. Direct orders for some of Apple’s most popular products have longer-than-usual shipping delays. It’s worth checking with independent Apple resellers too.
Adam Engst recently scheduled a Zoom call with colleagues on a non-profit board and had to apologize when one of them was irritated at ending up in Google Hangouts by himself for 10 minutes. The problem arose due to a confluence of issues with Siri and Google Calendar—read on to learn how to avoid similar embarrassments.
A number of podcasts helped us celebrate the 30th anniversary of TidBITS by inviting publisher Adam Engst on as a guest, and the resulting conversations are well worth listening to if you enjoy reminiscing about the early days of the Macintosh world.
If you’re a small business owner—in any industry—check out ACES Conference: The Prequel, a free virtual event aimed at helping small businesses survive COVID-19. It takes place on May 19th and 20th.
Apple has announced an update to the 13-inch MacBook Pro that eliminates the butterfly keyboard and doubles the standard storage. The higher-end models also feature 10th-generation Intel CPUs for faster performance.
Many early adopters of the AirPods Pro say that Apple has released firmware updates that have reduced the efficacy of the noise-cancellation algorithm. Users are allowed no control over what firmware revisions their AirPods Pro get, and Apple has yet to comment on the situation.
If you start seeing references to “Microsoft 365,” don’t worry, it’s just Microsoft’s existing Office 365 plans with a new name that better reflects how the bundled apps and services go beyond the traditional Office suite.
After working through the failure of his iMac’s SSD, Adam Engst shares the lessons he learned with regard to backing up, restoring, and eking out the most life from old hardware. Hint: waiting to upgrade hardware and software can make troubleshooting and recovery more difficult.