In an extensive analysis, Adam Engst explores The Browser Company’s pivot from Arc to its new AI chat-enhanced Dia browser, examining how the company’s desire to attract a wider audience has left dedicated Arc users feeling abandoned. He also shares results from our Do You Use It? poll about Apple Intelligence that show strikingly low adoption rates—even the top-rated features, Clean Up and descriptive search in Photos, impacted only about a quarter of respondents. Notable Mac app releases this week include BBEdit 15.5.1, Lightroom Classic 14.4, and Zoom Workplace 6.5.
After stopping development of its innovative Arc browser, The Browser Company is back with Dia, a stripped-down browser that aims to make AI-augmented Web interactions mainstream. It won’t win over Arc users yet, but it offers some interesting capabilities.
Our Do You Use It? poll reveals minimal engagement with most Apple Intelligence features, suggesting these AI-powered capabilities aren’t yet meeting user needs.
Watchlist
Maintenance update with fixes for reported issues for the venerable text editor. ($59.99 new, free update, 28.3 MB, macOS 12+)
Adds an AI-powered Distraction Removal tool that allows you to remove people and reflections from images. ($9.99/$19.99/$59.99 monthly Creative Cloud subscription, free update, macOS 13.1+)
Expands device limits and improves presence status notification. (Free, 149.5 MB, macOS 10.13+)
