At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled the next versions of its operating systems, all of which will indeed be version 26. Adam Engst explores the changes he believes will have the greatest impact on the Apple user experience, including the new Liquid Glass interface design, Apple Intelligence being opened up to developers, iPadOS moving sharply closer to macOS, and more. Adam also details how a recent Backblaze update dramatically reduced storage consumption by fixing excessive log file growth. In sad news, pioneering Apple developer Bill Atkinson, creator of QuickDraw, MacPaint, and HyperCard, has died at 74 from pancreatic cancer. Finally, we link to an article by developer Guilherme Rambo explaining why Messages failed to deliver audio messages containing the text “Dave & Buster’s.” Notable Mac app releases this week include BusyCal 2025.2.2 and BusyContacts 2025.2.2, EagleFiler 1.9.17, Fantastical 4.0.14, GraphicConverter 12.4.1, LaunchBar 6.21.1, Mellel 6.3.3, Mimestream 1.7, OmniFocus 4.6, Parallels Desktop 20.3.2, SoundSource 5.8.3, Transmit 5.10.9, and Vivaldi 7.4.
Apple legend Bill Atkinson has passed away at 74 from pancreatic cancer. His development of QuickDraw, MacPaint, and HyperCard influenced everything from Photoshop to the World Wide Web and directly contributed to the creation of TidBITS.
A recent Backblaze update dramatically reduces the backup service’s storage footprint by shrinking log files made excessively large by eliminating errors associated with unreadable cloud-based files.
Apple has once again overwhelmed us with a torrent of announcements during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Adam Engst highlights those he believes will have the most significant impact on our Apple experience when they launch later this year.
Watchlist
Brings improvements and bug fixes to the personal information management apps. ($49.99 new for each, free update, various sizes, macOS 11.5+)
Brings enhanced support for the Orion Web browser and Fonts panel improvements. ($49.99 new, free update, 34.3 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Updates the calendar app with a workaround for a Microsoft 365 server error. ($56.99 annual subscription, free update, 67 MB, macOS 12+)
Updates the Swiss Army knife of graphics programs with a bevy of added features, improvements, and bug fixes. ($39.95 new, free update, 268.6 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Brings new features, improvements, bug fixes to the keyboard-based launcher. ($29 new, free update, 14.6 MB, macOS 10.14.6+)
Updates the word processor with a short list of improvements and bug fixes. ($69.99 new, free update, 105.9 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Brings a revamped signature settings user interface to the Gmail-specific email app. ($49.99 annual subscription, free update, 11.8 MB, macOS 12+)
Task management app gains improvements to note and attachment functionality. ($74.99 new, free update, 32.7 MB, macOS 14+)
Fixes a bug that prevented the Windows 11 Start Menu from showing in Coherence mode. ($99.99 Standard Edition, free update, macOS 10.14.6+)
Updates the ARK audio handling plugin to reduce CPU usage. ($39 new, free update, 44 MB, macOS 14.5+)
Maintenance update focused on bug fixes for the file transfer app. ($45 new, free update, 37.5 MB, macOS 12+)
Web browser makes address bar updates with a nod to Douglas Adams. (Free, 214.7 MB, macOS 11+)
