Welcome to the first issue of TidBITS for 2020! Curious about which Apple Music tracks you listened to the most in the past few years? We show you how to access the buried Apple Music Replay feature in the Apple Music Web app beta. Apple’s Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max have a new feature: a camera button that you can press to take pictures—we have the details. The New York Times has published an exposé about how a secretive set of companies track our every move via our phones; we point you to that essential reading and provide tips on how to guard your privacy. Finally, Glenn Fleishman examines the health concerns surrounding 5G wireless networks and explains why you don’t need to worry. Notable Mac app releases this week include ChronoSync 4.9.7 and ChronoAgent 1.9.5, OmniFocus 3.4.5, GraphicConverter 11.1.2, Audio Hijack 3.6.3, CleanMyMac X 4.5.2, Luminar 4.1, Bookends 13.3, and Pixelmator Pro 1.5.5.
Apple has quietly added a year-in-review feature and playlist to Apple Music, but you won’t find it in iTunes or the Music app. Here’s the trick to accessing it.
Apple’s Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone 11 series have a clever trick tucked away: a dedicated button to take photos.
Forget Big Brother. We have much more to worry about from the numerous “Tiny Brother” location data companies that track our every movement via software embedded in smartphone apps.
Despite widely spread misinformation, decades of studies demonstrate that wireless data networks—including newer 5G cellular networks—pose no elevated risk for cancer or other illnesses.
Watchlist
Improves system warnings and fixes bugs in the synchronization and backup tool and its helper app. (49.99 new for ChronoSync, $14.99 new for ChronoAgent; free updates; 67 MB, 26.6 MB)
Maintenance release for the task management app with a smattering of bug fixes and enhancements related to dropped items. ($39.99 new, free update, 60.3 MB)
The Swiss Army knife of graphics programs gains several new features along with a variety of improvements and bug fixes. ($39.95 new, free update, 154 MB)
Adds the capability to capture audio from Siri and VoiceOver. ($49 new, free update, 14.1 MB)
Adds support for cleaning up new groups of Chrome items in the Privacy module and ensures that Firefox items are displayed properly within Privacy. ($89.95 new, free update, 55.5 MB)
Brings performance improvements and new technology additions for the recently upgraded AI-powered photo editing app. ($89 new, free update, 18.8 MB)
Brings several updates for macOS 10.15 Catalina and adds the capability to import from Google Scholar in the Bookends Browser. ($59.99 new, free update, 50.9 MB)
Adds the new ML Super Resolution feature, which makes it possible to increase the resolution of images while keeping them sharp and detailed. ($39.99 new, free update, 187 MB)
