Welcome to our 1600th issue of TidBITS! This week’s big news is the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Adam Engst points out, this is far from a faceless, nameless conflict on the other side of the world, thanks to the Ukrainian Apple developers whose apps many of us use. We highlight some of them and share ways to help. In lighter news, Adam also reveals a bona fide discovery—you can now make aliases to iOS apps such that the same app can appear on multiple Home screens or in multiple folders. Finally, Josh Centers tackles the question of who needs a cellular Apple Watch, given the added cost and monthly expense. Notable Mac app releases this week include Microsoft Office for Mac 16.58, BusyCal 2022.1.3, Mimestream 0.33.6, Carbon Copy Cloner 6.1, and Timing 2022.1.
Is it really TidBITS#1600 already? The weeks just keep slipping by as we write and edit TidBITS and keep up with all that’s necessary for a modern-day Internet presence.
We live in a global, interconnected world, so the Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t just news reports from far away. Between impacted Ukrainian Apple developers, efforts by other Apple-adjacent firms, and calls for Apple to block the App Store in Russia, we’re all in this together.
Adam Engst discovered that iOS 15 lets you move apps to the Home screen after finding them in a search… and then he stumbled across something even more exciting: you can now make aliases to apps!
On the Apple Buying Advice site, Josh Centers cautioned against cellular Apple Watches, but TidBITS readers were quick to point out that many people need cellular connectivity.
Watchlist
Update to the office suite focused on enhancements for Excel. ($149.99 new for one-time purchase, $99.99/$69.99 annual subscription options, free update, macOS 10.14+)
Maintenance update for the calendar app with a few improvements and bug fixes. ($49.99 new, free update, 53.3 MB, macOS 10.12+)
Adds support for accepting and declining invitations in Google Calendar, among other improvements. (Free, 9.1 MB, macOS 10.15+)
Brings a variety of improvements and bug fixes to the drive-cloning and backup utility. ($39.99 new, free update, 19.2 MB, macOS 10.15+)
Adds support for tracking email metadata in Microsoft Outlook and basic support for tracking information from Mac Catalyst apps. ($42 annual subscription, free update, 27.2 MB, macOS 10.14+)
