Those looking for a new Mac or iPad will want to tune into the webcast of Apple’s special event on 30 October 2018—we have a preview of what Apple might unveil. 14 months ago, Code42 announced it would be shutting down its CrashPlan for Home service…today. Now’s the time to find an alternative if you haven’t already. Find out about the operating system upgrade plans of fellow TidBITS readers, plus survey results on NAS device use and opinions about Do Not Disturb. Finally, Julio Ojeda-Zapata examines how well Overcast and Apple’s Podcasts work for standalone podcasting playback on an Apple Watch. Notable Mac app releases this week include Microsoft Office for Mac 16.18, Things 3.7.2, PDFpen and PDFpenPro 10.2, TechTool Pro 10.1.1, Piezo 1.5.11, Farrago 1.2.2, and BusyCal 3.5 and BusyContacts 1.3.
Apple is having another special event at the end of October. Josh Centers ponders what Apple might unveil. New Macs? New iPads? An autonomous flying car? OK, maybe not that last one.
If you’ve had your head in the sand about the impending discontinuation of CrashPlan for Home, today is the day your backups will stop working and all your CrashPlan Central data will be deleted.
We’ve been running some quick polls at the end of some recent articles, and we wanted to share results from the first batch. Check them out to see how your opinions and experiences correspond with those of other TidBITS readers.
With watchOS 5 and new apps, the Apple Watch comes into its own as a standalone podcast player. Apple has released an Apple Watch version of its Podcasts app, and developer Marco Arment has followed suit with Overcast.
Watchlist
Adds animation trigger capability to PowerPoint and a new Ideas button to Excel that visualizes patterns in your data. ($149.99 new for one-time purchase, $99.99/$69.99 annual subscription options, free update).
Brings fixes for Dark mode in macOS 10.14 Mojave. ($49.99 new, free update, 14.8 MB)
Adds support for Dark mode in macOS 10.14 Mojave. ($74.95/$124.95 new, $30 upgrade, 71.4/118 MB)
Maintenance release for the recently upgraded hard drive and system repair-and-maintenance tool. ($129.99 new, free update, 180.4 MB)
Updates the Audio Capture Engine to improve compatibility with macOS 10.14 Mojave. ($19 new, free update, 7.3 MB)
Improves playback for the soundboard application. ($39 new, free update, 14.8 MB)
Both apps add support for Dark mode in macOS 10.14 Mojave and improve auto-discovery of CalDAV and Exchange accounts. ($49.99 new for each, free update, 17.5/11.2 MB)