Apple updated all its operating systems last week with new features and bug fixes, led by the addition of transcripts in the Podcasts app in iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, and macOS 14.4. The updates also addressed a few bugs and incorporated numerous security updates, some for vulnerabilities that are currently being exploited in the wild. We also welcome our latest sponsor, Listen Later, an Internet service that turns the text of articles into smoothly narrated podcasts. Finally, we briefly comment on Apple’s rosy-eyed view of the Vision Pro in the healthcare field and look at Federico Viticci’s impressive “MacPad,” a hacked-together Mac laptop with a detachable iPad as a screen. Notable Mac app releases this week include EagleFiler 1.9.13, Mellel 6.0.3, Mimestream 1.3, PopChar 10, and Quicken 7.6.1.
Please welcome our latest long-term TidBITS sponsor, Listen Later. Email an article URL to this innovative Internet service, and it cleanly converts the article text into a custom podcast episode in your favorite podcast app.
Apple has released updates to the last three versions of iOS and iPadOS, adding features and fixing security vulnerabilities in iOS/iPadOS 17, addressing vulnerabilities in iOS/iPadOS 16, and fixing bugs in iOS/iPadOS 15.
After the release of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 earlier in the week, there was little question that Apple would soon push out updates to the rest of its operating systems. That has now happened, and we recommend updating quickly to protect against several zero-day vulnerabilities.
Watchlist
Improves importing from Evernote. ($49.99 new, free update, 34.5 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Maintenance update for the word processor. ($69.99 new, free update, 93.8 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Brings a few handy features and bug fixes to the Gmail-specific email app. ($49.99 new, free update, 12.2 MB, macOS 12+)
Major upgrade for the character discovery and font exploration utility gains a refreshed user interface and enhanced functionality. ($34.99 new, free update, 4.8 MB, macOS 11+)
Improves Tags and Categories lists and brings more Home Dashboard card customization. ($59.88/$83.88/$119.88 annual subscription, free update, 3.2 MB, macOS 11+)
