The holidays are here again, and we’re taking a two-week break from email issues—see you next on 10 January 2022! For those annoyed by excessive iPhone notifications, Josh Centers looks at iOS 15’s new Notification Summary feature, which groups notifications from selected apps and delivers them en masse at selected times. Those who have had trouble deleting downloaded tracks in the iOS Music app will appreciate TidBITS Talk star David C. making his first foray to TidBITS proper to explain what might be confusing you. In this week’s LittleBITS, Adam Engst shares a few tips (beware Control-H in Mail and avoid USB hubs for iOS updates) and a story about a Pakistani security researcher. Then Adam discusses how he has integrated HomeKit into his life over the past year and muses about the true benefits of home automation (hint: it’s not about making life physically easier). Notable Mac app releases to wrap up the year include (deep breath) LaunchBar 6.15, Logic Pro 10.7.2, TextExpander 7.1, Tinderbox 9.1, Safari 15.2, Pixelmator Pro 2.3.3, Bookends 14.0.3, BusyCal 2021.4.3 and BusyContacts 1.6.3, Typinator 8.11, Photos Search 3.0, Fission 2.8, BBEdit 14.0.4, Acorn 7.1.2, and Lightroom Classic 11.1.
In keeping with our tradition, we’re going to take off the last few weeks of 2021, which this year means slightly larger gatherings with our immediate families and video calls with far-flung relatives. You can expect the next email issue of TidBITS on 10 January 2022. Thanks for reading TidBITS, and we hope our content has enriched your life.
Did you know that pressing Control-H in Mail deletes the current message? You do now. Adam also shares a story about a Pakistani security researcher reporting a vulnerability on the TidBITS site and a reader tip about avoiding USB hubs when updating an iPhone from a Mac.
iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 can sum up less-urgent notifications in regular summaries to reduce the number of times per day your phone distracts you.
With the iOS Music app, it’s easy to accidentally delete a purchased song from your library when you merely intend to remove the downloaded audio. You can’t recover from this mistake within the Music app but must work through the iTunes Store using a Mac.
Adam Engst shares how he has significantly added to his HomeKit-based home automation system over the past year and muses about the true benefits of home automation. Hint: it’s not about making things physically easier.
Watchlist
Adds support for Shortcuts in macOS 12 Monterey. ($29 new, free update, 17.8 MB, macOS 10.10.14.6+)
Maintenance release with bug fixes and improvements for the professional audio app. ($199.99 new, free update, 1.1 GB, macOS 11+)
Maintenance update with improvements and bug fixes for the text expansion utility. ($34.95 new, free update, 53.4 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Maintenance update for the recently upgraded note-taking assistant focused on actions. ($249 new, free update, 44.9 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Patches six WebKit-related security vulnerabilities. (Free, various sizes, macOS 10.15+)
Variety of improvements and bug fixes for the image editing app. ($39.99 new, free update, 433.3 MB, macOS 10.15+)
Brings a variety of improvements to the reference management tool. ($59.99 new, free update, 99.5 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Maintenance releases for the calendar and contacts apps from BusyMac. ($49.99 new for each, free updates, various sizes, macOS 10.12+)
Adds support for PHP scripts in Monterey and returns expansions to the Citrix viewer. (€24.99 new, free update, 9.7 MB, macOS 10.10+)
Update to the photo text recognition app adds the capability to select specific albums for scanning. ($12.99 new, free update, 466.8 KB, macOS 10.15+)
Adds full compatibility for macOS 12 Monterey and improves conversion quality. ($29 new, free update, 13.8 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Fixes a bug in the FTP/SFTP browser window that prevented a selected file from opening. ($49.99 new, free update, 21.6 MB, macOS 10.14.2+)
Image editor now remembers the last location an image was saved to for subsequent exports. ($39.99 new, free update, 19.3 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Maintenance release with bug fixes and added support for more lenses and cameras (including iPhone 12). ($9.99/$19.99/$52.99 monthly Creative Cloud subscription, free update for subscribers, macOS 10.15+)