Feeling overwhelmed by negativity? Adam Engst shares some 2021 wrap-up posts showing that even in a pandemic-ridden year, a lot of good stuff happened that didn’t make the headlines. He also looks at the solution to a macOS upgrade problem and explains how to bring back the menu command for creating an ad hoc Wi-Fi network.

Thanks to Apple’s Weather app picking up features from Dark Sky, the company that Apple acquired in early 2020, you can now turn on next-hour precipitation notifications in iOS 15. But they aren’t reliable for some users—how about you?

Annoyed by constantly picking up his wife’s MacBook Pro instead of his MacBook Air, Adam Engst decided to decorate the laptops with inexpensive full-color vinyl skins. It worked like a charm, and the skins also make the laptops more secure to carry and offer protection against scuffs and scratches.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a spate of attacks in which iPhone thieves obtain your passcode and then change your Apple ID password, disable Find My, make purchases with Apple Pay, and more. Some attacks are as simple as the miscreants surreptitiously watching you enter your passcode; others involve violence. Read on to learn how to protect yourself.

After spending two days writing about Apple’s latest releases, Adam Engst spent some time on the order pages for the iPhone 14 Pro and the Apple Watch Ultra and came away with a few observations.

Apple has updated all of its operating systems, adding the Freeform digital whiteboard app, support for Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, Apple Music Sing, Stage Manager on external displays, and various smaller improvements. A fix for a serious security vulnerability encourages updating soon.

In keeping with our tradition, we’re going to take off the last few weeks of 2020, which this year means staying safe with our immediate households and scheduling virtual gatherings with our extended families. You can expect the next email issue of TidBITS on 11 January 2021. Thanks for reading TidBITS, and we hope you’ve found our content useful, accurate, and enjoyable!

Stressed out by unhealthy air quality levels caused by smoke drifting south from wildfires in Canada, Adam Engst explores resources that report outdoor and indoor air quality to inform decisions about how to react.

The tech giants have all donated money and supplies, and worked to disseminate useful information about the COVID-19 pandemic. But could our top tech minds come up with innovative new approaches to dealing with these unprecedented problems?

In an effort to help those who have suddenly been told to work from home, Take Control Books is giving away the new 55-page book, “Take Control of Working from Home Temporarily.” If you or anyone you know falls into that category, download a copy!

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.

Apple adopted the space-saving HEIC image-package format early. That choice, coupled with a poorly coded test submission site from the College Board, caused problems for students taking Advanced Placement tests this year. Here’s how to avoid trouble.

We’re drowning in data about COVID-19—infection rates, hospitalizations, and fatalities. But none of that data can answer the question of what your personal risk of infection is. With the NOVID app—and sufficient uptake in your community—you can know just how close infections are to you.

Adam Engst recently scheduled a Zoom call with colleagues on a non-profit board and had to apologize when one of them was irritated at ending up in Google Hangouts by himself for 10 minutes. The problem arose due to a confluence of issues with Siri and Google Calendar—read on to learn how to avoid similar embarrassments.

Apple has expanded its stable of subscription services with the addition of Apple Fitness+, an integrated “workout experience” that relies on multiple Apple devices and an ever-changing collection of workout classes. Plus, the company will soon offer bundles of services under the Apple One name.