Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 36 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals
Michael E. Cohen

Michael E. Cohen

Michael E. Cohen has worked as a teacher, a programmer, a Web designer, a multimedia producer, and a certified usability analyst. One of the developers of the first commercial ebooks, Michael is the author of several such works, including the compendious Take Control of Pages.

Michael E. Cohen 16 comments

Explaining Siri Suggestions and Spotlight Search in iOS 9

Siri Suggestions add a new dimension to Spotlight searches in iOS 9, but controlling what you get when you search has gotten more complex.

Michael E. Cohen 7 comments

iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil Announced

Apple took the wraps off its much-rumored iPad Pro to reveal a collection of devices that may well cannibalize MacBook Air sales.

Michael E. Cohen 64 comments

Migrating to a New Mac in the Real World

When you migrate your data to a new Mac using Migration Assistant and Time Machine, the process may go smoothly, but some loose ends and hiccups are inevitable.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

Apple Releases 2015 Diversity Report

Apple has released a report showing the gender, racial, and ethnicity makeup of its workforce, along with a summary of programs to increase diversity.

Michael E. Cohen 13 comments

iTunes and the 80-20 Rule

The ongoing iTunes feature creep regularly evokes calls for its simplification, with the “80-20 rule” often being used as support for such calls. But what is that rule, and is it a rule at all?

Michael E. Cohen 3 comments

FunBITS: Music in Time and Space

A clever Web site takes you on a space-time journey to sample popular music from bygone decades.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

Flying the Unfriendly Skies: United Pushes DRM

Mike Masnick of Techdirt reports on tech entrepreneur Brian Fitzpatrick’s close encounter with an unwanted DRM plug-in, courtesy of United Airlines. It seems the airline is beta-testing what it calls its “Personal Device Entertainment” option, by which passengers can use the in-flight Wi-Fi to view movies on their own devices. However, Fitzpatrick learned that the option requires the installation of both a DRM plug-in and Flash on personal computers, and the required plug-in is considered dangerous enough that Google Chrome does not support it for security reasons. Maybe Fitzpatrick should have just rented headphones and purchased an alcoholic beverage.

Michael E. Cohen Josh Centers 8 comments

Apple Posts Record Financials for Q3 2015

Although the iPad is still slumping, and Apple Watch sales remain a closely guarded secret, iPhone and Mac sales hit record highs, leading to yet another strong showing for Apple’s bottom line.

Michael E. Cohen 4 comments

Updates Expand iBooks Author’s Reach

Recent updates to both iBooks in iOS and iBooks Author let you read Multi-Touch books on an iPhone and produce standard EPUBs with iBooks Author.

Michael E. Cohen 4 comments

Revisions Wrangles Your Dropbox Files

With Revisions you can monitor activity in your Dropbox folders to find, view, compare, and restore previous versions of files.

Michael E. Cohen 2 comments

Apple’s watchOS 2 to Gain Native Apps, Third-Party Complications

New watch faces, new complications, native apps, and a nightstand mode — with watchOS 2, Apple’s new wearable will gain numerous features that early adopters have been clamoring for.

Michael E. Cohen 2 comments

TextExpander 5 for Mac Makes Snippet Suggestions

Smile has released TextExpander 5 for Yosemite and TextExpander touch 3.5 for iOS, featuring suggested snippets based on what you type repeatedly, new search capabilities, and iCloud Drive compatibility.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

The MacJury Discusses Apple Watch with TidBITS Editors

Last week Chuck Joiner convened a MacJury comprising TidBITS’s own Josh Centers and Michael Cohen to discuss their early experiences with Apple Watch. Tune in for a deep, serious, deliberative discussion of the new device’s pros and cons…ah, who are we kidding? We had a great and goofy time, and you might, too: you can find out — it’s just a click away!

Michael E. Cohen 1 comment

Writing Screenplays with Highland

Highland is a low-impact editor for screenwriters that uses the Fountain markup language as its native format. But will it play in Peoria?

Michael E. Cohen 3 comments

Dropbox Adds File Comments

Dropbox has added a way to create and share comments among users for files stored in its cloud. However, you have to go through your Web browser to use it.