TidBITS celebrates its 30th anniversary this week, but we need your help to keep going. Apple has released a slew of bug-fix updates—iOS 13.4.1, iPadOS 13.4.1, and macOS 10.15.4 fix a FaceTime compatibility bug with older OS versions, along with a few other problems. More interesting is how Apple and Google are teaming up to create a cross-platform contact-tracing system to notify users of potential coronavirus exposure while maintaining individual privacy—Glenn Fleishman explains how it will work. Finally, Take Control of Your Productivity author Jeff Porten reviews the highly capable Timing 2 app for time tracking and management. Notable Mac app releases this week include Firefox 75, Mailplane 4.2.2, URL Manager Pro 5.2, and CleanMyMac X 4.6.2.
It’s hard to celebrate during these dark days, but time trundles on, and this week is the 30th anniversary of when we started publishing TidBITS, way back in 1990. Adam Engst shares some thoughts on the milestone.
Apple has released iOS 13.4.1 and iPadOS 13.4.1 to fix a few bugs left over from the recently released iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4.
Apple has released macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Supplemental Update to fix a FaceTime bug and others introduced in macOS 10.15.4.
The tech rivals are working together on a secure, opt-in, and privacy-focused method of letting people report a COVID-19 diagnosis that would be pushed to everyone they passed near in the previous two weeks.
Timing 2’s ability to watch which app you’re using, track your time, and categorize that data can help you manage and report your time. Jeff Porten reviews the app and provides strategies and tips for how to make it work for you.
Watchlist
Changes the address bar behavior for enhanced searching and patches security vulnerabilities. (Free update, 67.6 MB)
Maintenance release for the Gmail-specific email client. ($29.95 new, free update, 68.9 MB)
Adds the capability to find and delete duplicate bookmarks. ($35.00 new, free update from version 5, $25 upgrade, 10.3 MB)
Improves the Malware Removal module with new methods of detecting viruses and malware. ($89.95 new, free update, 53.9 MB)
