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.
If you have purchased a smart TV recently, beware that it probably shares everything that appears onscreen with its makers. Here are instructions for turning off this privacy-abusing technology for three major smart TV platforms.
An ITC import ban has caused Apple to stop selling its new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the US. Order soon if you want one, or choose an Apple Watch SE, which remains for sale.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will introduce a new feature, Stolen Device Protection, to deter the kind of significant digital damage that iPhone passcode thieves have inflicted on victims.
Although the addition of the iPhone 15 lineup and Macs using the M2 family of chips to Self Service Repair is welcome, the release of the remote Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair troubleshooting tool is more interesting.
Apple has released iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, macOS 14.2 Sonoma, watchOS 10.2, and tvOS 17.2 with notable improvements and several features promised early in the year. HomePod Software 17.2 received only unspecified bug fixes. Apple also published security updates for iOS 16.7.3, iPadOS 16.7.3, macOS 13.6.3 Ventura, and macOS 12.7.2 Monterey.
This week’s Do You Use It? poll asks how heavily you use widgets in various places on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Have they become a core part of your Apple experience, or are they another feature you barely use?
If you try to print using the Lists style in Contacts in macOS 14 Sonoma, Contacts will freeze and require force-quitting. Worse, if Contacts gets stuck on Lists style, you won’t be able to print at all. Here’s how to recover.
If you've longed to carry on Zoom video calls on your Apple TV, the just-released Zoom app for the Apple TV should make that possible, assuming you have at least a second-generation Apple TV and an iPhone or iPad to use with Continuity Camera.
We don’t have deep-pocketed corporate backers, nor do we harvest every last bit of your personal information to sell to advertisers, so would you kick in a few bucks to keep TidBITS vibrant in the next year?
The results of our poll asking which Apple services TidBITS readers use are in, with iCloud+ proving the most popular by far, followed by a surprisingly strong showing from Apple TV+. Apple Arcade and Apple Fitness+ brought up the rear, but remember, TidBITS readers aren’t representative of the overall Apple audience.
Given New York State laws against biking with a pair of earbuds, Adam Engst explores other options and settles on a handlebar mount for his iPhone, discovering that it also provides a perfect opportunity for reading song lyrics.
Apple has released updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari to block a pair of WebKit vulnerabilities that have been exploited in the wild. Don’t panic, but update soon.
If friends or relatives are asking or telling you about how NameDrop is a privacy risk based on Facebook posts from police departments, set them straight by explaining how it's completely safe.
If you're using 1Password 6 or 1Password 7 from the Mac App Store and receive an error message about the 1Password app being damaged, 1Password has some possible solutions.
We’re taking the next email issue of TidBITS off to celebrate Thanksgiving, although we’ll continue to publish articles on our website. You can look forward to the next email issue on 4 December 2023.