Archive for September 2025

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Explaining Regex Locally With Xcode

Paul Samuels:

My approach when needing to figure out what an old regex was doing was to paste it into whatever the top search result for “Explain regular expression” was.

Something that I’ve been doing for a while but hadn’t really thought about was using Xcode’s Refactor > Convert to Regex Builder as a way to explain a regular expression without having data leave my machine. Yes, it’s a shocker but one of Xcode’s refactoring tools actually works for me. It works surprisingly well and as a bonus gets those endorphins flowing knowing that my data is safe from some AI drivel.

[…]

Depending on your level of experience with regex you might think this is actually more wordy/overkill (in this case I’d agree) but the point is each part of the regex is broken out into smaller parts that have names explaining what they are doing.

And you can manipulate it using Code Folding.

Previously:

Electron Apps Causing System-Wide Lag on Tahoe

ToxicLand (via Hacker News):

Using an M1 Max MacBook Pro, having Electron-based apps open / not minimized causes a huge lag.

CPU and GPU usage remains low, but if I have Discord and VS Code open, moving windows, scrolling is stuttery. It happens even when only Discord is open but it gets worse if I open a second Electron app.

This is kind of weird because while having Discord open and I’m in Chrome, the lag still occurs, but it’s fixed if I minimize.

avarayr:

After a lot of digging, I believe I’ve found the root cause of the WindowServer GPU spike on macOS 26 when shadows are enabled.

It turns out Electron was overriding a private AppKit API (_cornerMask) to apply custom corner masks to vibrant views.

This method is called by WindowServer to calculate the shadow of the window. I’m speculating that Apple uses some sort of memoization by reference, and this method breaks the memoization and forces WindowServer to repeatedly recalculate and repaint the shadow.

🤔 What’s particularly funny is that even a simple override that does nothing but call super still presents the issue.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-01): Tomas Kafka:

This script detects apps with not yet updated versions of Electron.

See also: Hacker News.

Update (2025-10-06): shamelectron (via Hacker News):

Tracking problematic Electron apps macOS Tahoe.

Craig Hockenberry:

I took that script, updated some parts that required Xcode to be installed, and wrapped it up in an Apple Script applet that’s easy to download and run[…]

[…]

We’re hearing from customers that some of our apps are running slowly on Tahoe and I suspect that this bug has something to do with it.

Update (2025-10-14): Michael Burkhardt:

Now, the Electron team has fixed the issue, and said fix is beginning to roll out in popular third party apps that utilize the framework.

[…]

There are also a lot of major apps that haven’t yet updated their Electron version, including 1Password, Bitwarden, Cursor, Dropbox, Windsurf, and more. You can check out the tracker for a more comprehensive list.

Monday, September 29, 2025

iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1

Juli Clover (iOS/iPadOS release notes, security, enterprise, no developer):

According to Apple’s release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in photos captured with the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro models. It also fixes ongoing cellular and Wi-Fi issues that iPhone 17 owners have been dealing with, and addresses a bug with tinted icons.

Previously:

macOS 26.0.1

Juli Clover (release notes, security, enterprise, no developer, full installer, IPSW):

According to Apple’s release notes, macOS Tahoe 26.0.1 addresses a bug that was preventing Mac Studio machines with an M3 Ultra chip from being upgraded to macOS Tahoe. A failed hardware check was causing macOS Tahoe installation attempts to be aborted, with Mac Studio users ultimately stuck on macOS Sequoia.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-30): Laurent Giroud:

This is just incredible. That this bug had to be fixed in a new release means they never tested it on that Ultra configuration.

That or they knew it prevented installation and chose to kept users of that setup to bang their heads against the wall when trying to upgrade.

Ricky Mondello:

Today’s update to macOS Tahoe (26.0.1) resolves an issue in apps where AutoFill for Mac apps could make apps slow down over time due to improper handling of event taps, causing them to accumulate over time. People particularly noticed this in Chromium-based web browsers and Electron apps. If your app or framework decided to work around this issue by using an internal AppKit defaults key to turn off AutoFill, I recommend you re-test on macOS 26.0.1, then limit that workaround only to macOS 26.0.0, and remove it for macOS 26.0.1 and above.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-01): Ric Ford:

Another MacInTouch reader emailed us about a tricky Tahoe change to music file handling that continues in the 26.0.1 release.

Dragging songs from the Music library window to the Desktop (or presumably anywhere outside the app) in MacOS 26 moves the file from its iTunes Music location. In prior versions, dragging would copy the file. Note this isn’t true for the TV app – it still copies the file.

I’m traveling and discovered this while away from backups. I deleted the song that I’d moved and will have to wait until I get to backups to restore.

Update (2025-10-07): Andrew Orr:

A handful of Mac owners say they can’t add Outlook accounts to Apple Mail after recent macOS updates, but the scope and cause of the problem remain murky.

The reports in the Apple forums describe failed authentication when trying to add Outlook.com, Hotmail, or Live accounts to Mail. Errors range from “Authentication Failed” to “Unable to verify account name or password.”

ednl:

One (other) very annoying thing Safari 26.0.1 does is flash a white page when navigating to any new site, despite MacOS using dark mode and regardless of the website’s background colour. That didn’t happen in previous versions.

I now developed a habit of closing my eyes before clicking a link to a new website to avoid the bright flash :-/

Other appleOS 26.0.1 Releases

Juli Clover:

Note that watchOS is 26.0.2 because there was a watchOS 26.0.1 update designed to add Messages and Find My support to the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in Mexico.

According to Apple’s release notes, the software provides bug fixes and important security updates.

Only the visionOS update has documented security content.

Previously:

macOS 15.7.1 and macOS 14.8.1

macOS 15.7.1 (full installer, security):

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

macOS 14.8.1 (full installer, security):

This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-04): Jezmund_Berserker:

A few people in our company have been running into the same issue since updating to 15.7.1 and I’m curious if any of you have seen it.

The update appears to work fine and the computer reboots into macOS and then:

  • Computer runs unusually slowly
  • At some point the computer shuts itself off
  • Computer will not turn on unless you hold the power button for several seconds

Pierre Igot:

For good measure, after the very minor update from macOS 15.7 to macOS 15.7.1, macOS warns me… that a new device has been added to my Apple account!

Previously:

Update (2025-10-08): Pierre Igot:

Another very minor macOS update (from 15.7. to 15.7.1), another arbitrary reset by Apple of the destination folder setting for downloads, which, on my Mac, reverted back from my destination of choice to the default ~/Downloads.

What’s the point of giving the user a choice if you don’t respect that choice?

Patreon Autopilot

Patreon:

Autopilot is an easy and automatic way to give your fans promotional offerings to drive your growth on Patreon.

[…]

Autopilot is now automatically enabled for all creators. To change this setting, check the Autopilot section in the Promotions tab.

They’d previously sent an e-mail saying it would be activated on October 1, but I found that my Patreon already had it switched on. I turned it off.

Via Nick Heer:

As an extremely casual user, I do not love this; I think it is basically spam. I am sympathetic toward those who make their living with Patreon. I turned this off. If you have a Patreon creator page and missed this email, now you know.

And if you are a subscriber to anyone on Patreon and begin receiving begging emails next week, please be gracious. They might not be aware this feature was switched on.

Previously:

Friday, September 26, 2025

Tahoe’s Mac App Store

Mario Guzmán:

All throughout the beta of #macOSTahoe, the Mac App Store app doesn’t show me updates. I have to use Latest.app to update my Mac App Store purchases. I was hope it would only be a beta issue but it seems to affect the RC as well. Anyone else seeing this?

And no, Command + R or the Reload menu item doesn’t help or work either.

I’ve also tried rebooting and signing out/in Mac App Store.

John Siracusa:

Love to work to get all my apps updated for Tahoe only to have Apple to break the Mac App Store so badly in Tahoe that people can’t update or install my apps.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

It’s becoming apparent that macOS Tahoe has a number of issues that completely break the Mac App Store for installing and updating apps, some of which that can only be fixed by booting to Recovery mode and using the command line 😅 That is an extraordinary state to launch an OS in.

Marvin U.:

I reported it multiple times via feedback but no response from them. It only shows me updates if I search for the app and go to the apps store page. The update tab is always empty and refreshing it doesn’t do anything.

There are also reports on Reddit of apps not installing or updating.

yonz:

I have downloaded Affinity Designer 2 from the Mac App Store under the recently launched macOS 26 Tahoe, in a M4 MacBook Pro. Mac App Store says that the app size is 2,89GB (screencap attached). Now, I have just seen that the same Affinity Designer 2 at the Mac App Store under a M2 MacBook Air at home (running macOS Sequoia) is just 546,4MB (also screencap attached). What is going on?

leyonz:

Ok, so considering that I am not the only one seeing this “size increase” in Tahoe’s Mac App Store, it is fairly safe to conclude that Apple has decided to make a few changes in how the MAS displays the estimated sizes of their apps in the new OS. I can confirm too that Whatsapp, Canvas, Lightroom and other apps appear bigger in Tahoe’s MAS as well. Or maybe all of this is just a temporary bug.

[…]

BTW, are MAS downloaded apps in not listed anymore in System Info > Applications in Tahoe? Because the ones that I have downloaded from the MAS don’t show anymore.

Tahoe’s store shows EagleFiler as slightly smaller than Sequoia’s store does, but it shows ToothFairy as more than twice as large as Sequoia’s store does.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-29): Steve Troughton-Smith:

Happy macOS Tahoe release day! 🎉🥳

Some of the reported app sizes have changed for me.

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Apple’s Thoughts on the DMA

Apple (Slashdot, MacRumors):

The DMA requires Apple to make certain features work on non-Apple products and apps before we can share them with our users. Unfortunately, that requires a lot of engineering work, and it’s caused us to delay some new features in the EU:

  • Live Translation with AirPods uses Apple Intelligence to let Apple users communicate across languages. Bringing a sophisticated feature like this to other devices creates challenges that take time to solve. For example, we designed Live Translation so that our users’ conversations stay private — they’re processed on device and are never accessible to Apple — and our teams are doing additional engineering work to make sure they won’t be exposed to other companies or developers either.
  • iPhone Mirroring lets our users see and interact with their iPhone from their Mac, so they can seamlessly check their notifications, or drag and drop photos between devices. Our teams still have not found a secure way to bring this feature to non-Apple devices without putting all the data on a user’s iPhone at risk. And as a result, we have not been able to bring the feature to the EU.
  • We’ve also had to delay useful features like Visited Places and Preferred Routes on Maps, which store location data on device so it’s only accessible to the user. So far, our teams haven’t found a way to share these capabilities with other developers without exposing our users’ locations — something we are not willing to do.

We’ve suggested changes to these features that would protect our users’ data, but so far, the European Commission has rejected our proposals.

[…]

The DMA also isn’t helping European markets. Instead of competing by innovating, already successful companies are twisting the law to suit their own agendas — to collect more data from EU citizens, or to get Apple’s technology for free.

Some of Apple’s specific complaints above don’t make much sense to me. For example, with the Live Translation feature, are they against both using Live Translation with third-party earbuds and using third-party translation apps with AirPods? They seem to be saying that it’s not acceptable for a third-party app to have access to the same audio that Apple does, even if it’s kept on-device. And they don’t want third-parties using (potentially superior) online translation services, either. They don’t want any option besides AirPods with their model, even if the user approves of the privacy implications.

For iPhone Mirroring and Maps, they seem to be setting an impossible standard that they themselves don’t really meet. If your starting assumption is that it’s OK for Apple’s code to access the data, but not OK for anyone else’s to, obviously there’s never going to be a way for this to work. But I don’t think that’s what people are actually asking for. They know that, if they had iPhone Mirroring on Windows, the pixels from the iPhone screen would appear on non-Apple hardware. That is, in fact, the point. They’re already using third-party earbuds for their sensitive phone calls, even though in theory they could be nefariously sending the audio to other Bluetooth devices.

I find the way Apple is communicating this really frustrating. It reads like either a bad faith smokescreen or that something got lost in the translation between engineering and marketing. I would have a lot more respect if they just said that DMA compliance is too slow or too expensive or that they don’t believe in interoperability. Instead, we get this nonsense where we’re supposed to believe that their teams are actively working on a way to share data without actually sharing data, but they haven’t quite cracked it yet.

Adam Engst:

Apple’s claim of “the same standard we provide in the rest of the world” rings somewhat hollow, given that it often adjusts its technology and services to comply with local laws. The company has made significant concessions to operate in China, doesn’t offer FaceTime in the United Arab Emirates, and removes apps from the still-functional Russian App Store at the Russian government’s request. Apple likely pushed back in less public ways in those countries, but in the EU, this public statement appears aimed at rallying its users and influencing the regulatory conversation.

[…]

Ultimately, we’re witnessing a clash between two immense power structures—the European Union, a democratic federation of 27 countries representing 450 million people and the world’s third-largest economy—and Apple, one of the world’s most influential and valuable companies, with a market capitalization of about $3.7 trillion and roughly $100 billion in net income over the past 12 months.

Robert Booth (Hacker News):

Apple has called for the European Commission to repeal a swathe of technology legislation, warning that unless it is amended the company could stop shipping some products and services to the 27-country bloc.

William Gallagher and Mike Wuerthele:

“Apple has simply contested every little bit of the DMA [Digital Markets Act] since its entry into application,” said Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier in a statement seen by Politico. “This undermines the company’s narrative of wanting to be fully cooperative with the Commission.”

[…]

Significantly, Regnier also says that Apple has refused the European Commission’s attempts to have positive talks about complying with the DMA. That is the exact opposite of Apple’s claim that its proposals have been ignored.

Barbara Moens:

“Despite our concerns with the DMA, teams across Apple are spending thousands of hours to bring new features to the European Union while meeting the law’s requirements. But it’s become clear that we can’t solve every problem the DMA creates,” the company said.

A European Commission spokesperson said it was normal that companies sometimes “need more time to make their products compliant” and that the commission was helping companies to do so.

Ram Iyer:

“It’s been more than a year since the Digital Markets Act was implemented. Over that time, it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU. It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind,” the company wrote.

[…]

“Nothing in the DMA requires companies to lower their privacy standards, or their security standards. It is just about giving our users more choice, opening up the European market and allowing companies to compete on an equal footing,” Regnier added.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-26): Emma Roth:

Apple could soon improve the interoperability between iPhones and third-party smartwatches. The latest iOS 26.1 beta hints at a new “notification forwarding” feature that could surface iPhone notifications on a non-Apple device or accessory, as spotted by Macworld.

Dan Moren:

Yes, you heard it here: Apple says that the iPhone are essentially identical to Android.

[…]

Threading the needle of “things Apple really should be doing to improve interoperability and competition” and “things that might have unforeseen consequences that actually fly in the face of the EU’s intentions” is a tricky proposition, and the mechanisms in place to challenge the rulings are, admittedly, restrictive.

Nick Heer:

I did not account for a cynical option: Apple is launching with these languages as leverage.

The way I read Apple’s press release is as a fundamental disagreement between the role each party believes it should play, particularly when it comes to user privacy. Apple seems to believe it is its responsibility to implement technical controls to fulfill its definition of privacy and, if that impacts competition and compatibility, too bad. E.U. regulators seem to believe it has policy protections for user privacy, and that users should get to decide how their private data is shared.

Jeff Johnson:

I’m starting to suspect Apple’s PR is a signal that they’re going to deliberately defy the DMA and hope for cover and pressure from the US President.

John Gruber (Mastodon):

I think Apple structured this piece exactly right, by emphasizing first that the most direct effect of the DMA is that EU users are getting great features late — or never. And that list of features is only going to grow over time.

Apple says that the DMA “is not living up to those promises [of competition and choice]. In fact, it’s having some of the opposite effects[…]” but that’s ignoring its own role in the story. Instead of choosing to comply in a way that benefits its customers, Apple is focused on trying to make the DMA look bad. This reminds me of the Microsoft antitrust case, where Judge Jackson asked Microsoft to produce a version of Windows 95 that did not have Internet Explorer preinstalled. Microsoft chose to interpret this as a directive to remove all the shared libraries that IE used and concluded that compliance meant offering an OS couldn’t boot.

If Apple were to just switch the iPhone’s OS from iOS to Android, these DMA conflicts would all go away. Apple’s not going to do that, of course, but to me it’s a crystalizing way of looking at it.

Google actually made a similar argument on the same day, saying that the DMA is forcing them to put Android users at risk.

How in the world would that increase competition? iOS’s unique and exclusive features — which, yes, in many cases, are exclusive to the Apple device ecosystem — are competition.

This really is the crux of the dispute. Does a duopoly constitute competition? Imagine a culinary world where you can only choose between a Big Mac and a Whopper, and you’re not even allowed to go to both drive-throughs to combine the flame-grilled patty with the crispy fries.

AnimeAndVisial:

I hope the EU forces Apple to allow users to install other operating systems on iPads and iPhones. Let people unlock the bootloader if they want to. Like sure keep it locked by default but let people unlock it if they want to. Old iDevices don’t have to be e-waste.

Riley Testut:

IMO if Apple’s worst, most egregious example of a harmful and dangerous app that’s now available through sideloading is checks notes porn…I think we’re doing OK

Sophia:

the pearl clutching is insane. have they seen the predatory stuff on the app store these days?

Update (2025-09-29): Nick Heer:

Like Apple, Google clearly wants this law to go away. It might say it “remain[s] committed to complying with the DMA” and that it “appreciate[s] the Commission’s consistent openness to regulatory dialogue”, but nobody is fooled. To its credit, Google posted the full response (PDF) it sent the Commission which, though clearly defensive, has less of a public relations sheen than either of the company’s press releases.

Cory Doctorow (2022):

If you think the future of technology is a battle is between Google’s approach and Apple’s, think again. The real fight is between the freedom to decide how technology works for you, and corporate control over technology.

Apple and Google are like the pigs and the men at the end of Animal Farm: supposed bitter enemies who turn out to be indistinguishable from one another. Google also has “privacy” switches in its preference panels that do nothing[…]

Jeff Johnson:

The specious defense of Apple’s iOS lockdown has two elements that ultimately come into conflict:

1. Apple has a right to do what it wants with its platform

2. If you don’t like Apple’s lockdown, just switch to Android

But following from 1:

3. Google has a right to do what it wants with its platform

“Vote with your feet” was never a good argument in a duopoly.

It depends too much on the magnanimity of the powerful, for which there is little incentive when there is little competition.

Cory Doctorow (Hacker News, Reddit):

Apple has threatened to stop selling iPhones and other devices in the European Union (home to over 500,000,000 affluent consumers) if the bloc doesn’t rescind the Digital Markets Act[…]

I’ve seen a bunch of articles stating this, but as far as I know Apple has not actually said or even really implied that its devices wouldn’t be available, just that certain features would be delayed or missing.

Juri Pakaste:

Apple’s latest PR bullshit about EU and DMA has been met with uniformly negative reaction in my circles. Apple is in a hole, imagewise, and keeps digging deeper.

Riccardo Mori:

Here’s what the Apple apologists don’t get. Apple has to comply with EU’s laws if they want to operate there. Apple keeps deflecting and framing the matter as, “But the DMA sucks and it’s hard to comply with”. The matter is, you have to follow the law. You’re not above the law. Technology should not be above the law.

The excuses are ridiculous. “We can’t do these technological changes you require! We’re a trillion-dollar big tech company with unlimited resources but these things are too hard!”

Apple thinks that removing the contested features is complying with the law. I see its statements as mostly as an attempt to change the law, which is entirely reasonable for them to lobby for, even though the strong spin is regrettable. There’s no doubt that the EU is asking Apple to do extra work, but Apple is acting like this is almost to the level of when it was asked to do the impossible—create a “secure golden key”—and I don’t think this is that.

Previously:

Xcode 26.1 Beta 1

Apple:

Xcode 26.1 beta requires a Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later.

[…]

The ‘devicectl’ command line tool now supports gathering a sysdiagnose from a connected device. To use this functionality, run ‘xcrun devicectl device sysdiagnose’

[…]

When enabling Hardware Memory Tagging under Enhanced Security (Capabilities editor -> Enhanced Security -> Memory Safety -> Enable Hardware Memory Tagging), all applications will currently run under Soft Mode irrespective of the Soft Mode for Memory Tagging option.

[…]

Fixed: If an issue is recorded during a Swift Testing test via an API such as #expect or Issue.record() in a context which is unassociated with the test, such as via Task.detached { … } or a DispatchQueue, the test process no longer unexpectedly terminates and Xcode shows the issue.

Previously:

Xcode 26.0.1

Apple:

Xcode 26.0.1 requires a Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later.

[…]

Fixed: Icon Composer documents that use “Lighten”, “Darken” or “Screen” blend modes incorrectly encode as “Normal” when compiled. Blend modes will look correct in Icon Composer, but not at runtime.

I don’t think this was affecting my icons, but I’ve seen a bunch of developers and designers distressed that their icons were not looking the same in the Dock as in Icon Composer.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-26): Avi Drissman:

I’m seeing Icon Composer not matching the Finder with Combined mode, and that’s not fixed in 26.0.1. Hopeful now that a different display bug was fixed.

Tim Schmitz:

If you used the Xcode 26 betas, make sure to go into Xcode settings and clean out the iOS 26.0 beta simulators that you no longer need. Mine didn’t get deleted automatically and each one consumed about 10 GB. 😳

Update (2025-09-29): Marcin Krzyzanowski:

I WANT TO SCREAM. Apparently #Xcode 26.0.1 has problems building Metal on macOS 26, too!

Christian Selig:

The year is 2045, robots walk among us, but connecting a new device to Xcode still prevents you from being able to do any work until it’s finished.

Nick Lockwood:

I could find absolutely no option anywhere that would make my existing (~7 years old) app project use the IconComposer.icon file in preference to the XSCAsset. In the end I just recreated the project from scratch, which worked.

I can’t meaningfully diff the project files, so I guess it will forever remain a mystery why it didn’t work before.

Update (2025-09-30): Pol Piella Abadia:

As of Xcode 26, the Metal toolchain is no longer included in Xcode’s installation by default. This means that, if your app or one of your dependencies needs to use the toolchain, you will need to install it manually before building your app.

[…]

However, if you happen to be using a CI/CD runner that is not provisioned with the Metal toolchain installed, you will get the same error as above, but this time, you will likely not have access to Xcode to be able to install the toolchain.

You might be surprised to learn that this is the case for Xcode Cloud, as I recently discovered the hard way when migrating my CI/CD workflows to use Xcode 26.

Casey Liss:

When WWDC happened, I remember thinking to myself, “Finally, Xcode tabs will make sense”.

I’m not sure what happened — nor if it’s a me-problem or an Xcode-problem — but they continue to not make any goddamn sense to me.

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Lawsuit About WhatsApp Security

Bruce Schneier:

Attaullah Baig, WhatsApp’s former head of security, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Facebook deliberately failed to fix a bunch of security flaws, in violation of its 2019 settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Dan Goodin:

The suit, filed in US District Court for the District of Northern California, recites a litany of purported security and privacy flaws that Meta not only didn’t fix after becoming aware of them, but also kept secret, allegedly in violation of a $5 billion settlement then-Whatsapp parent company Facebook reached with the Federal Trade Commission.

[…]

During a red-team exercise designed to find and exploit security vulnerabilities so they can be fixed, Baig said he found that roughly 1,500 engineers inside the messenger division had “unrestricted access to user data, including personal information covered by the FTC Privacy Order, and could move or steal such data without detection or audit trail.”

[…]

The letter further alleged Meta leaders were retaliating against him and that the central Meta security team had “falsified security reports to cover up decisions not to remediate data exfiltration risks.”

[…]

As a result, the former WhatsApp head estimated that pictures and names of some 400 million user profiles were improperly copied every day, often for use in account impersonation scams.

He says that Meta thought the fixes would hamper user growth. Meta says his claims are distorted and that he was dismissed for poor performance.

Previously:

Screen Time Brokenness

I’ve recently been using Screen Time more to manage my son’s Mac and iOS usage, and it’s been really frustrating.

On the Sonoma Mac where he plays Minecraft, we wanted to restrict which Web sites could be viewed. But this doesn’t just affect what you can do in Safari; it also restricts which network connections apps can make. Approving all the various servers that Minecraft uses filled up the Safari bookmarks with junk URLs that are not actual Web sites, and even then Screen Time would keep reporting that Minecraft was trying to access disallowed sites. It also kept trying to block connections macOS itself was trying to make, e.g. via searchparty. The only solution seemed be to turn Screen Time off on the Mac. However, turning it off on the Mac would also (without telling us) turn it off on the iPhone, even though it was set not to sync. Enabling it on the phone would also inevitably enable it on the Mac. The only way I found to prevent this was to sign the Mac out of iCloud. Even that proved to be difficult because Screen Time would try to block that sort of change, even though I knew the passcode and even if I temporarily turned Screen Time off. Eventually, after several restarts, I was able sign out, but that means no access to the photo library or iMessage or Safari bookmark syncing.

On an iOS 18 iPhone, we kept running into problems where Screen Time would be active but did not actually enforce most of the restrictions. It would allow access even during Downtime. When browsing to an unapproved site in Safari, it would show an Allow Website button, and he could just click it and it would add the site to the approved list, without asking a parent or prompting for a passcode. My iPhone continued to show the list of approved sites that I had initially created, not the actual list that was in use on his phone. In fact, his phone even allowed changes to the Screen Time settings without prompting for the passcode. Yet the usage information did sync back to my phone, so it appeared as though things were working, unless I looked more closely to see that the reported usage times and sites were incompatible with the restrictions that were supposedly in place. After many restarts and tours through the settings to try to get Screen Time to work, the solution ended up being on another device. My son’s iCloud account is also signed in on a Mac mini that we use to download everyone’s photos for backup. Even though my phone showed that Screen Time’s passcode was in effect, the Mac mini showed the Lock Screen Time Settings option unchecked. When I enabled the lock there, suddenly the phone started enforcing the restrictions and prompting the passcode.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-25): Corentin Cras-Méneur:

The thing is just broken: My youngest can use apps that are supposed to be blocked most of the day and my oldest can’t use apps when everything is supposed to be allowed. I’ve spent sooooo much tie trying to get it to work it’s not even funny!

Craig Grannell:

Too often, the result is a stalemate, with me wanting my kid to stop on the iPad nicely (or risk not having it the next day), and her figuring out the absolute limit of what she can get away with. (For the record: she is a fantastic kid and very well behaved on the whole, but she is also a kid. Any parent reading will know exactly what I mean.) And there have been times when I’ve just had to yank the iPad away.

A lot of this could be resolved with a remote off switch that can be activated immediately, when a line is crossed. Ideally, this would be presented in Screen Time as a massive red button. The Nintendo Switch has this (well, the remote off switch – not the red button), but Apple has determined one is not needed. It really is.

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Rapid Security Responses Become Background Security Improvements

Mykola Grymalyuk (PDF, via Mr. Macintosh):

The talk was a look into Apple’s Rapid Security Response system unveiled back at WWDC2022, discussing the design and challenges of the system.

But Apple seemingly abandoned the system a year after its introduction.

Filipe Esposito (Aaron):

With iOS 26.1 beta 1, which was released to beta testers on Monday, the company is rebuilding how Rapid Security Responses work. According to code discovered in the beta by Macworld, the system will soon be called Background Security Improvements. The feature doesn’t seem to be available to users running the beta, but its existence in the code suggests it’s coming soon.

Essentially, the new system serves the same purpose: to deliver quick and urgent security patches that do not require a new version of iOS, which takes longer to develop. But there’s a key difference between Rapid Security Responses and the new Background Security Improvements: The new Background Security Improvements will be installed silently on the device without needing to manually update. Previously, users had to download Rapid Security Responses through the Settings app just like any other iOS update.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-24): Buccia:

Rapid Security Response was used only once and it broke many websites due to parenthesis in the OS version included in the User-Agent header.

Ruby Central Takes Over RubyGems

André Arko (via Reddit):

As chronicled by my teammate Ellen, the RubyGems team is no more. I wish the best of luck to everyone taking on the herculean task of keeping package management functional and working for the entire Ruby community.

Ellen Dash (PDF, Lobsters):

On September 9th, with no warning or communication, a RubyGems maintainer unilaterally:

  • renamed the “RubyGems” GitHub enterprise to “Ruby Central”,
  • added non-maintainer Marty Haught of Ruby Central, and
  • removed every other maintainer of the RubyGems project.

[…]

On September 18th, with no explanation, Marty Haught revoked GitHub organization membership for all admins on the RubyGems, Bundler, and RubyGems.org maintainer teams.

By doing this, he took control for himself and other full-time employees of Ruby Central.

She calls it a “hostile takeover.”

Ruby Central (Reddit):

As the nonprofit steward of this infrastructure, Ruby Central has a fiduciary duty to safeguard the supply chain and protect the long-term stability of the ecosystem. In consultation with legal counsel and following a recent security audit, we are strengthening our governance processes, formalizing operator agreements, and tightening access to production systems. Moving forward, only engineers employed or contracted by Ruby Central will hold administrative permissions to the RubyGems.org service.

In addition, with the recent increase of software supply chain attacks, we are taking proactive steps to safeguard the Ruby gem ecosystem end-to-end. To strengthen supply chain security, we are taking important steps to ensure that administrative access to the RubyGems.org, RubyGems, and Bundler is securely managed. This includes both our production systems and GitHub repositories. In the near term we will temporarily hold administrative access to these projects while we finalize new policies that limit commit and organization access rights.

[…]

Looking forward, our goal is to move these projects into a healthier, more transparent and community-centered governance model that is more in line with OSS development.

It seems natural be skeptical since they started out with the opposite of transparency.

Freedom Dumlao:

People are asking for some kind of statement from the Ruby Central board, but this is a small group of volunteers spread out all over the globe. We are software developers and makers and builders first. We don’t have some big PR machine or communications team. It’s just us. And we’re suddenly overwhelmed by feedback from our community that we aren’t equipped to quickly respond to.

[…]

So what really happened? From my perspective it’s far more boring (or should have been) than anyone is making it out to be. Ruby Central has been responsible for RubyGems and Bundler for a long time. This isn’t a new development, and I’m honestly very confused about the confusion.

What isn’t confusing is that supply chains are under attack. We can see this in recent attacks on RubyGems and also in major attacks on other ecosystems that have made global news. Companies that depend on Ruby count on Ruby Central to ensure they are not at risk. Some of those companies are sponsors of Ruby Central and some are not, but all have a legitimate need to know that they can tell their users that the software they are using is safe.

[…]

If Ruby Central made a critical mistake, it’s here. Could these conversations have been happening in public? Could the concerns we were hearing from companies, users and sponsors could have been made more apparent? Probably. But I remind you we don’t have a “communications team”, no real PR mechanism, we are all just engineers who (like many of you I’m sure) go heads down on a problem until it’s solved.

Martin Emde:

You say “What isn’t confusing is that supply chains are under attack.”

Then you remove the people most prepared to respond. The attack surface are was increased by changing the ownership from people who have owned and maintained these repositories independently for decades.

You said “Ruby Central has been responsible for RubyGems and Bundler for a long time.”

But this is incorrect. Ruby Central has been a gracious sponsor of PEOPLE who work on an OSS library.

[…]

Again, sorry to be a broken record, but how did you propose to control the repositories to which you had no access until Sep 9? You needed someone to add you first by breaking our existing OSS governance model.

Joel Drapper (Hacker News):

  1. Ruby Central was struggling for money.
  2. Sidekiq withdrew its $250,000/year sponsorship for Ruby Central because they platformed DHH at RailsConf 2025.
  3. Shopify demanded that Ruby Central take full control of the RubyGems GitHub repositories and the bundler and rubygems-update gems, threatening to withdraw funding if Ruby Central did not comply.
  4. HSBT jumped the gun and implemented the takeover plan adding Marty Haught as an owner and reducing maintainers permissions before Marty had discussed this with the maintainers.

[…]

The RubyGems source code and GitHub organisation was not owned by Ruby Central, even though Ruby Central operated a service with the same name.

[…]

Bluesky threads reveal that Rafael França (Shopify / Rails Core) saw this [rv] tool as a threat[…]

Previously:

Images Corrupted When Importing to Photos.app

Aaron Patterson (via Hacker News):

I’m pretty sure I’d been getting corrupted images for a while, but it would only be 1 or 2 images out of thousands, so I thought nothing of it (it was probably my fault anyway, right?)

But the problem really got me upset when last year I went to a family member’s wedding and took tons of photos. Apple Photos combines RAW + jpg photos so you don’t have a bunch of duplicates, and when you view the images in the photos app, it just shows you the jpg version by default. After I imported all of the wedding photos I noticed some of them were corrupted. Upon closer inspection, I found that it sometimes had corrupted the jpg, sometimes corrupted the RAW file, and sometimes both. Since I had been checking the “delete after import” box, I didn’t know if the images on the SD card were corrupted before importing or not. After all, the files had been deleted so there was no way to check.

I estimate I completely lost about 30% of the images I took that day.

[…]

I was worried this was somehow a hardware problem. Copying files seems so basic, I didn’t think there was any way a massively deployed app like Photos could fuck it up (especially since its main job is managing photo files). So, to narrow down the issue I changed out all of the hardware.

[…]

However, after I got home from RailsConf and imported my photos, I found one corrupt image (the one above). I was able to verify that the image was not corrupt on the SD card, so the camera was working fine (meaning I probably didn’t need to buy a new camera body at all).

It sounds like some sort of concurrency bug. It’s unclear to me whether the camera itself—which he seems to be using instead of a separate SD Card reader—is a factor, but the same setup worked when importing to Darktable instead of Photos.

Australian Court Finds iOS App Store Monopoly

Juli Clover:

Back in August, Australia’s federal court ruled that the Apple App Store had violated competition laws by prohibiting sideloading and alternative payment methods.

At the time, the court had not shared a written judgment, but now the 900-page document has been published and additional information on the court’s decision is available. In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that it does not agree with the court’s decision and will continue to argue its position in court.

[…]

The court adopted a narrow definition of the markets in play, viewing iOS as its own ecosystem and concluding that Apple has a monopoly over iOS app distribution and in-app payment processing.

[…]

The Australian court used Europe’s Digital Markets Act as evidence that alternative app distribution is possible, but Apple says that the viewpoint ignores the risks associated with skirting the App Store’s security and privacy protections.

Ben Lovejoy:

Regulators tend to take the view that the relevant market is “iOS apps,” and here Apple has a 100% monopoly on their sale and distribution. Edge cases aside, there is no way for a developer to bring an iOS app to market without selling it through the App Store.

[…]

The court did agree that Apple has a right to charge for its intellectual property, and that the company’s prohibition of third-party app stores is justified.

Previously:

Monday, September 22, 2025

Amazon to End Inventory Commingling

Allison Smith (via Hacker News):

Amazon revealed at its annual Accelerate seller conference in Seattle that it is shutting down its long-running “commingling” program — a move that drew louder applause from sellers than any other update of the morning.

The decision marks the end of a controversial practice in which Amazon pooled identical items from different sellers under one barcode. The system, intended to speed deliveries and save warehouse space, had also allowed counterfeit or expired goods to be mixed in with authentic ones, according to The Wall Street Journal. For years, brands complained that commingling made it difficult to trace problems back to specific sellers and left their reputations vulnerable when customers received knockoffs.

[…]

With the company’s logistics network now capable of storing products closer to customers, the speed advantage of pooled inventory has diminished. At the same time, Amazon estimated brand owners spent $600 million in the past year alone through re-stickering products, the process of placing new labels or barcodes over existing ones on products.

Finally.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-04): Nick Heer:

I had no idea Amazon did this until I complained on Mastodon about how terrible its shopping experience is, and Ben replied referencing this practice, nor did I know it has been doing so for at least twelve years. I am certain I have received counterfeit products more than once from Amazon, and I think this is how it happened.

Tahoe FileVault: iCloud Keychain and SSH

Glenn Fleishman:

When setting up FileVault, you used to be presented with two choices:

  • View the Recovery Key, write it down, and keep it safe. It’s never presented again. (But as long as you can log in, you can toggle FileVault and get a new key.)

  • Use your iCloud account to store the key in escrow. However, the key is not end-to-end encrypted, so there was always the slight potential that the key could be recovered by anyone who gains access to your Apple Account and unlocks that escrow.

Neither choice was great; I always opted for the first.

Read the whole post for details about how booting with FileVault works.

Now the key can be shown after it’s first created, which makes it easier to retrieve it without cycling FileVault off and on to regenerate the Recovery Key. And, instead of using basic Apple Account encryption, protected just by a password, the Recovery Key is now stored in your end-to-end encrypted iCloud Keychain and accessible via the Passwords app.

So you now need a trusted device rather than just your Apple Account password to get at the recovery key.

apple_ssh_and_filevault(7) (via Hacker News):

When FileVault is enabled, the data volume is locked and unavailable during and after booting, until an account has been authenticated using a password. The macOS version of OpenSSH stores all of its configuration files, both system-wide and per-account, in the data volume. Therefore, the usually configured authentication methods and shell access are not available during this time. However, when Remote Login is enabled, it is possible to perform password authentication using SSH even in this situation. This can be used to unlock the data volume remotely over the network. However, it does not immediately permit an SSH session. Instead, once the data volume has been unlocked using this method, macOS will disconnect SSH briefly while it completes mounting the data volume and starting the remaining services dependent on it. Thereafter, SSH (and other enabled services) are fully available.

Jeff Geerling (Mastodon):

macOS 26, despite all its visual warts, lets you manage Macs with FileVault drive encryption enabled, even after a hard reboot or cold boot (like after a power outage).

I’ll show you how it works in this video.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-24): Miguel Arroz:

macOS Tahoe UI has a HUGE new feature for folks like me who have 24/7 Mac Minis running and access them remotely: you can now type the boot password remotely via SSH!

Power on the Mac, then SSH to it. A simple SSH server will handle your request. Typing the password there is equivalent to typing it on the keyboard. The connection then closes and the machine boots normally.

Combine this with “Start up automatically after a power failure” and you can ditch that KVM!

Vimeo Acquired

Jamie Lang (Hacker News):

Vimeo, once the internet’s most prestigious stage for independent filmmakers and animators, is being acquired by Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons in a $1.38 billion all-cash deal. The sale, expected to close later this year, will end Vimeo’s turbulent run as a public company.

[…]

Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari promised “ambitious investments” in Vimeo’s future, citing enterprise video services and AI-enabled features. But given the company’s track record — including significant staff cuts and restrictions at Evernote and WeTransfer — many in the creative community are skeptical.

Via Manton Reece:

Says something about Vimeo’s decline that I heard about them being acquired not from the tech news websites that I read all the time, but from Cartoon Brew in my RSS reader[…]

Previously:

MarsEdit 5.3.7

MarsEdit 5.3.5:

Fix a crash when opening the main window or document sidebars on macOS 26

My sympathies.

“Duplicate Post” can now be invoked to duplicate more than one selected post

This feature also works much better in general, being smarter about how it handles the post’s metadata.

I appreciate the quick 5.3.6 and 5.3.7 updates to fix regressions with bookmarklets and HTML editing. I wouldn’t be able to write this blog without MarsEdit.

Previously:

Friday, September 19, 2025

iTerm2 Web Browser Profiles

George Nachman (via Hacker News):

iTerm2 includes built-in web browsing capabilities. Web browser sessions fit into iTerm2’s existing window > tab > split pane hierarchy just like terminal sessions, allowing you to browse the web alongside your terminal work.

[…]

  • Passkeys Not supported due to Apple-imposed WKWebView restrictions.
  • Advanced ad blocking: Limited by Apple’s resource fetching API restrictions.

[…]

This feature exists because:

  • Many iTerm2 features translate well to web browsing
  • It provides a unified terminal and browser experience
  • A former colleague suggested this idea in 2014 and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
  • I am maybe having a midlife crisis and this is cheaper than a sports car.

macOS doesn’t let you mix tabs—let alone split panes—from different apps in the same window, yet you may want to keep a particular group of terminals and Web browsers together. This lets you do that.

Previously:

Third-Party Apps Missing From Tahoe’s Control Center

John Voorhees:

Before the public beta of Tahoe was ever released, I saw controls for Sequel and MusicHarbor in Control Center. That set my expectations that over the course of the summer I’d see more.

Instead, those controls disappeared with the release of the Tahoe public beta. […] September rolled around and third-party controls were still nowhere to be seen.

[…]

Then yesterday I heard privately from a developer who’d been keeping in touch as they tried to implement controls. They told me their code was substantively the same as Drafts’ code, but their controls wouldn’t show up until they tried something that I’d never thought of doing myself: they opened the widgets gallery.

[…]

My hope is that Apple will fix this bug quickly.

Previously:

Thursday, September 18, 2025

SpamSieve 3.2

SpamSieve 3.2 includes lots of updates for macOS Tahoe 26 and adds remote training and improvements to the filtering accuracy.

Previously:

Nvidia Buys $5B in Intel

Paul Alcorn (via Hacker News):

In a surprise announcement that finds two long-time rivals working together, Nvidia and Intel announced today that the companies will jointly develop multiple new generations of x86 products together — a seismic shift with profound implications for the entire world of technology. Before the news broke, Tom’s Hardware spoke with Nvidia representatives to learn more details about the company’s plans.

The products include x86 Intel CPUs tightly fused with an Nvidia RTX graphics chiplet for the consumer gaming PC market, named the ‘Intel x86 RTX SOCs.’ Nvidia will also have Intel build custom x86 data center CPUs for its AI products for hyperscale and enterprise customers. Additionally, Nvidia will buy $5 billion in Intel common stock at $23.28 per share, representing a roughly 5% ownership stake in Intel.

[…]

Nvidia emphasized that the companies are committed to multi-generation roadmaps for the co-developed products, which represents a strong investment in the x86 ecosystem. But representatives tells us it also remains fully committed to other announced product roadmaps and architectures, including the company’s Arm-based GB10 Grace Blackwell processors for workstations and the Nvidia GraceCPUs for data centers, as well as the next-gen Vera CPUs.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-25): Lauren Hirsch and Tripp Mickle:

Intel, the embattled chipmaker, has talked with Apple about investing in its business as it tries to improve its financial standing.

[…]

The conversations are part of a furious effort by Intel to raise cash and find customers for its ailing business.

Tahoe’s New Recovery Assistant

Joe Rossignol:

If your Mac experiences an issue that prevents it from starting up properly, macOS Tahoe includes a new Recovery Assistant that can attempt to identify the issue and resolve it, according to an Apple support document published this week.

[…]

Recovery Assistant is also available from the Utilities menu in macOS Recovery mode.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-29): Howard Oakley:

DRA requires an internet connection to function. If you’re asked to choose a connection, opt for a Wi-Fi network if possible.

[…]

When your Mac restarts, it may show a notification that you need to recover iCloud data. If so, open System Settings and you should see a new item in its sidebar to Recover iCloud Data.

Howard Oakley:

Although in a different league, our novel treatment of the week is Device Recovery Assistant, as I showed here on Friday. It’s sufficiently new that Apple hasn’t quite gone firm on what to call it. Its sole account refers to it as Recovery Assistant, in accordance with the menu command used to open the app in Recovery mode. But when it’s running, it claims to be Device Recovery Assistant, which sounds like it might also be good for your iPhone or iPad, but isn’t. That’s a similar feature added to iOS and iPadOS 26, as explained here.

I’m still a little wary of magic healing tools in Recovery mode. The first is there even now, waiting to catch those who’ve taken AI a little too seriously, and think running repairHomePermissions might be a good idea. Whatever you do, please don’t try this one at home, as its effects can be devastating.

[…]

Far from repairing them, each time I have tried this it locks me out of every folder in my Home folder and wreaks havoc elsewhere.

[…]

(Device) Recovery Assistant doesn’t appear to do anything so disastrous, but Apple is completely opaque as to what it actually does.

Official Overcast Reddit

Marco Arment (Mastodon):

Frankly, I’m taking a risk, and am considering it an experiment. I know almost nothing about Reddit, but I want to learn.

I want Overcast to have an official presence here, where I can just tell you what I’m working on, what I’m considering, which bugs I’m trying to tackle, and how things work behind the scenes.

And you can tell me how you use Overcast, what’s working for you, what’s not, and what you’d like to see.

I can’t respond to most posts, and depending on volume, I might not always even be able to read them all.

The early posts and replies are encouraging. I hope this works out.

After the Overcast rewrite, just over a year ago, I got scared reading—on Mastodon, Twitter, and the unofficial Reddit—of all the problems people were having. It seemed to work fine for the majority, but it was hard to know in advance whether I would be affected, so I didn’t want to go through that one-way door. With many bugs now squashed, I finally updated last month and it’s been working well for me. There are some minor issues, like not being able to reorder pinned podcasts, but overall it seems to be reliable and at least as fast as before. I still think this app has the best audio engine.

Previously:

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Tahoe AppleScript Timeouts

A reader writes:

As a fellow AppleScripter, I thought you might enjoy knowing about a small Tahoe Finder bug that I have not seen mentioned anywhere and that caused all my carefully crafted (and expertly developed, of course) automations to grind to a halt and collapse, seemingly at random.

For some unfathomable reason, it is no longer permitted to tell application "Finder" to empty trash when the trash is already empty: instead of erroring out or, as before, working silently, the operation now hangs indefinitely. This means that scripts that include this seemingly throwaway line to clean up after themselves will randomly start failing with no error message. In Keyboard Maestro, inline scripts fail quickly with a timeout message, but external scripts just hang.

The trick is simply to substitute if ((items of trash) as list) is not {} then empty trash.

For me, running that script through Script Editor or other means fails with a timeout (error -1712, a.k.a. errAETimeout) after 2 minutes. Recording an Activity Monitor sample of Finder seems to show that Finder is not busy doing anything related to the script. It’s as if it never received the command or else it replied but the reply got lost.

A small percentage of SpamSieve users are seeing a similar issue with Apple Mail on Tahoe. Some very basic/quick commands to Mail time out, with Mail also looking like it’s not even processing the command. Sometimes AppleScript reports error -600 (a.k.a. procNotFound) instead of a timeout. Oddly, this seems to almost exclusively happen with POP accounts.

There was a similar bug in macOS Bug Sur, but it only affected apps running in Rosetta.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-24): I’ve now seen several more cases of macOS Tahoe reporting AppleScript timeouts when it should be reporting other types of errors. For example, scripts that ask Mail for properties that don’t exist will intermittently hang for 2 minutes and then time out. This also seems to be the case with the POP errors that some SpamSieve users are seeing. The underlying issue seems to be a new error that Mail is encountering when accessing the junk mailbox, but instead of reporting the error back to the script it waits and then times out.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-04): Adam Tow:

In macOS 26 Tahoe, it’s the retrieving of the error which is dramatically slower over the same code running on macOS 15 Sequoia. I had hoped that Apple would fix this bug (FB20174869), but the later betas and GM release brought no relief.

DropDMG 3.7

DropDMG 3.7 updates my app for creating and working with Mac disk image files for macOS Tahoe 26. This version adds support for Apple Sparse Image Format (ASIF) disk images and Liquid Glass icons.

Some interesting issues were:

Previously:

Update (2025-09-26): Mario Guzmán:

I’m so ready for #macOSTahoe 26.1 or 26.2 because damn, the amount of bugs 26.0 is pretty crazy.

I’ve already had 3 native, first-party apps crash when attempting to modify their toolbars.

As soon as I add or remove item and click OK, boom. Crash.

This has included Finder, Mail, and Notes.

I just got a customer report saying that a particular disk image file doesn’t mount on Tahoe but that the very same file works just fine on multiple Macs with other OS versions.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

ToothFairy 2.8.7

ToothFairy 2.8.7 is a maintenance update of my Bluetooth menu bar utility. This was the easiest of my apps to update for macOS Tahoe 26.

Previously:

Xcode 26

Apple (xip, downloads):

Xcode 26 includes Swift 6.2 and SDKs for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, and visionOS 26. The Xcode 26 release supports on-device debugging in iOS 16 and later, tvOS 16 and later, watchOS 8 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 26 requires a Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later.

Enhance your development workflow with coding intelligence features that help you write code, generate tests and documentation, fix errors, refactor existing implementations, and navigate codebases. Xcode has integrated support for ChatGPT and Claude user accounts. You can also use your API key for any model provider that supports the Chat Completions API, or download and run a local model on Macs with Apple silicon.

The build number is the same as for the release candidate, though I found that the .xip files differ slightly in size and content.

Previously:

iPadOS 26

Apple (feature list, release notes, security, enterprise, developer):

iPadOS 26, the biggest iPadOS release ever, takes a huge leap forward and unlocks powerful productivity updates that transform what users can do on iPad. A beautiful design brings a new look to iPad, plus an entirely new, powerful, and intuitive windowing system helps users control, organize, and switch between apps — all while maintaining the simplicity of iPad. With a new menu bar, users can access the commands available in an app with a simple swipe down from the top of the display, or by moving their cursor to the top. The supercharged Files app offers new ways to organize files and customize folders. Also, with folders in the Dock, users can conveniently access downloads, documents, and more from anywhere. The Preview app comes to iPad, giving users a dedicated app to view and edit PDFs, with Apple Pencil Markup and AutoFill built in. iPadOS 26 also unlocks new capabilities for creative pros with Background Tasks, more control over their audio input, and the ability to capture high-quality recordings with local capture. Journal comes to iPad, making it easy for users to capture and write about the details of everyday moments or special events using Apple Pencil or touch.

See also:

Previously:

Update (2025-09-29): Nicholas Riley:

Typeahead find visualization also appears when typing to find a file in Files in iPadOS 26. This makes visible a feature that’s existed forever, in which the timeout was typically completely hidden from the user. Some apps (including Pester’s alarm list) exposed this by displaying the typed text, but this is more elegant and a genuine improvement.

Nathan Manceaux-Panot:

In Preview in iPadOS 26, you can drag the loupe around, complete with zoom and color aberration effects. Feels like a tiny dose of the old Apple whimsy.

James Thomson:

iPadOS multitasking was really tricky to get right - I’d say about half my development time went into that.

There are so many edge cases to deal with, particularly trying to get everything looking nice.

[…]

Redoing fifty alternative icons proved to be quite a challenge, because not only did I need to do light and dark (and tinted) variants in the new vector icon format, I also needed to redo all the same icons again for iOS 18 and earlier.

watchOS 26

Apple (release notes, security, developer):

watchOS 26 offers even more intelligence to deliver more personalized ways to stay healthy, active, and connected, all within a beautiful new software design. A new sleep score feature comes to Apple Watch, so users can better understand the quality of their sleep and take steps to help make it more restorative. FDA-cleared hypertension notifications are now available on Apple Watch, which can alert users if signs of chronic high blood pressure — also known as hypertension — are detected, so they can begin making potentially lifesaving behavioral changes, or start treatment to reduce their risk of serious, long-term health events. Hypertension notifications are powered by a machine learning-based algorithm, and the feature was validated in a large clinical study.

A redesigned watch face gallery includes two new watch faces: Flow and Exactograph. And Workout Buddy, a first-of-its-kind fitness experience powered by Apple Intelligence, provides personalized, motivational audio insights during workouts — with a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Apple Fitness+ trainers — and the Workout app debuts the biggest update to its layout since introduction. Additionally, watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints, offering proactive prompts for actionable suggestions that are immediately useful; Live Translation in Messages allows texts to be translated automatically into a user’s preferred language; wrist flick, a new one-handed gesture, can be used to dismiss notifications and calls, silence alarms, plus return to the watch face; and the Notes app comes to Apple Watch.

See also:

Previously:

visionOS 26

Apple (release notes, security, enterprise, developer):

visionOS 26 brings powerful new spatial experiences to Apple Vision Pro, including widgets that integrate seamlessly into a user’s space and reappear every time they put on Vision Pro; more expressive, realistic Personas; and spatial scenes, which offer a new viewing experience with lifelike depth for photos. Spatial browsing transforms articles on Safari and lets developers embed 3D objects directly into web pages, plus users can share Vision Pro experiences with people in the same room — like watching the latest movie together or supercharging collaboration with coworkers. Users can unlock and view their iPhone while wearing Vision Pro, and can save their hand and eye data on iPhone to make sharing Vision Pro easier than ever. A new interactive Environment, Jupiter, lets users speed up time to see the planet’s enormous storms swirl across its surface. visionOS 26 also adds support for native playback of 180-degree, 360-degree, and wide field-of-view content from action cameras, including select models of Insta360, GoPro, as well as Canon, letting users enjoy their exciting 2D action footage the way it was meant to be seen.

See also:

Previously:

Update (2025-10-06): Jason Snell:

The ultimate fate of Apple’s vision products remains unclear. I have to assume that the long-term goal is a pair of lightweight glasses that we can use to overlay software on top of our world. Everything between now and then is about developing the technology to make that possible. And with visionOS 26, Apple is doing what it needs to be doing: iterating, making everything better, and building out an entirely new operating system one block at a time.

[…]

But the pace of change is sometimes frustrating. Apple has made great strides with some of its best features, like Spatial Personas, while others seem to be moving more slowly. The new Jupiter Environment is technically impressive, but the feature needs more attention.

As always with visionOS, it comes back to the long game. As long as Apple keeps pushing forward and building out its AR platform of the future, I’ll be confident that the company is on the right track. visionOS 26 offers robust evidence that the work remains ongoing, but the to-do list remains a mile long.

Dan Moren:

So, I’ve tried using the Vision Pro for a variety of work tasks over the past few months. I’ve written in it. I’ve revised. I’ve even edited a podcast. I’ve put it through its paces. I’ve tried to get things done. And while it does offer some capabilities that you won’t find anywhere else, that emphasis on “tried” has all too often been well-earned.

[…]

I really do love the immersive environments; it’s the number one thing that brings me back to the Vision Pro. But even they aren’t all upside. They can feel a bit static after a while—one reason that I’m intrigued about Jason’s visionOS 26 theory that the Jupiter environment, where there is actually a passage of time, might be a tech demo for more advanced environments in the future.

[…]

But if there’s one thing holding me back more than any other from working on the Vision Pro, it’s the tools. Or, more specifically, the lack thereof.

In some ways, the current state of the Vision Pro reminds me of the very earliest days of the iPad, when “doing work” meant you had to either find new apps that took the places of those you used on your Mac or come up with clever workarounds to make your workflows function.

Previously:

tvOS 26

Apple (release notes, security, developer):

tvOS 26 makes Apple TV even more immersive, enjoyable, and convenient with a beautiful design along with engaging new features. Sing-along sessions reach a new level of fun with Sing in Apple Music, allowing users to transform their iPhone into a wireless microphone for Apple TV. Friends can join in with their own iPhone to queue up songs or react with onscreen emoji, all while real-time lyrics and visual effects bring the performance to life on the biggest screen in the home. Contact Posters on FaceTime simplify starting a call and spending time together from the comfort of the living room. Also, updates to profiles allow users to quickly return to their personalized recommendations, playlists, and watchlists.

See also:

Previously:

audioOS 26

Juli Clover (release notes):

HomePod Software 26 adds support for crossfade, a feature that’s designed to more smoothly transition between songs. It also includes AirPlay improvements[…]

It still claims that lots of the albums I’ve purchased from Apple aren’t available.

Previously:

Monday, September 15, 2025

macOS Tahoe 26

Apple (feature list, release notes, security, enterprise, developer, full installer, IPSW):

macOS Tahoe transforms the Mac experience with a stunning new design and powerful capabilities that turbocharge productivity. The new design offers users even more ways to personalize their Mac with an updated Control Center in addition to new color options for folders, app icons, and widgets. The menu bar is completely transparent, making the display feel even larger. With its biggest update ever, Spotlight offers all-new browsing views for files and apps, enhanced search, plus powerful action capabilities to quickly accomplish tasks like sending emails or creating events — all with the help of quick keys. Shortcuts get even more powerful with intelligent actions along with the ability to tap directly into Apple Intelligence models to automate complex tasks. Thanks to Continuity, the Phone app allows users to effortlessly access familiar features from iPhone — including Recents, Favorites, and Voicemails — alongside new features like Call Screening and Hold Assist. With Live Activities from iPhone now appearing directly on the Mac, staying informed about real-time events has never been easier.

The current versions of my apps are compatible. There will be some updates soon to optimize them for Tahoe.

Stephen Hackett:

I spent a large part of my weekend making over 150 screenshots, just for you.

Howard Oakley:

Whether you’re installing the upgrade because of those, or in spite of them, allow me to take you on a quick tour of how you can set its interface up, and which controls do what.

There are three sets of controls:

  • Appearance mode, Light or Dark, in Appearance settings;
  • Display variations to Reduce transparency or Increase contrast, in Accessibility settings;
  • Icon & widget style, in Appearance settings.

That comes to a total of more than 20 combinations before factoring in icon tinting colour, so there’s no shortage of choice.

Michael Flarup:

One of the things I’ve loved most about designing macOS icons is how they let you break the frame. A blade, a pencil, a petal. Something reaching out.

With Tahoe, that era is behind us.

Adrian Schönig:

I worry how inconsistent macOS is gonna get thanks to Apple and Apple-only indie apps adopting the bubbly new look, while cross-platform apps stay on the classic/functional/flat look. Things weren’t entirely consistent before but many well-crafted cross-platform apps could (and did) feel right at home. That seems unlikely with Liquid Glass.

Kirk McElhearn:

If you’ve already installed Apple’s 26 OS RCs, it looks like there’s an update. Not at all confusing, the way it’s presented here…

Steve Troughton-Smith:

It’s becoming apparent that macOS Tahoe has a number of issues that completely break the Mac App Store for installing and updating apps, some of which that can only be fixed by booting to Recovery mode and using the command line 😅 That is an extraordinary state to launch an OS in.

See also:

Previously:

Update (2025-09-29): Juli Clover (Howard Oakley):

If you have a Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip and can’t get macOS Tahoe to install, you’re not alone. There is a bug that is preventing the update from installing properly on machines that have the M3 Ultra.

Juli Clover:

If you didn’t download the new software yet, here are some features that might entice you to upgrade.

Tim Hardwick:

In this article, we’ve selected 50 new features and lesser-known changes that are worth checking out if you’re upgrading. What do you think of macOS Tahoe so far?

Ric Ford:

Apple apparently addressed in macOS 26 a notoriously longstanding home folder bug with serious security implications.

Stefan Esser:

So now with macOS 26 being final. Why do people still have to jailbreak their Mac (and VMs) to be able to run 3rd party kernel extensions inside VMs?

Steve Troughton-Smith:

macOS Tahoe RC, everybody 😅

Rui Carmo:

System Preferences on the Mac is still horrible to use (sluggish, apparently overly dependent on web views, and has at least two different styles of control spacing).

[…]

Relying on the Globe/Fn key for window management was a mistake because it tends to switch keyboard layouts on me, so I guess people at Apple are neither bilingual nor good testers.

Jesse Grosjean:

For my taste, this standard macOS 26 Liquid Glass treatment muddies the boundary between UI and content way too much.

Rob Jonson:

Apple: “Spotlight now lists all result types … and intelligently ranks them by relevance to you, making it easier and faster to find what you’re looking for.”

Reality: Tahoe removes the information that allows you differentiate app versions.

Matthias Gansrigler-Hrad:

Interesting. The green zoom button has superfluous mouse-over detection for some reason on macOS Tahoe.

Dmitriy Kovalenko (via Hacker News):

Calculator app has a memory leak.

Gus Mueller:

This is what it looks like when I try and use the scroll wheel in Tahoe’s Calendar app. Is it just me, or does this happen to anyone else (scrolling doesn’t really happen).

Mario Guzmán:

Safari 26 settings in Sequoia vs Tahoe.

Native controls have been looking worse over time but Tahoe’s native controls just look the worse. They don’t work any better as they simply look so disabled in their standard enabled appearance.

I also wonder if they got rid of the compact toolbar in Safari for Tahoe because well, we all know how well toolbars are going in Tahoe. Not too great.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

If you’re running macOS Tahoe on a non-Apple monitor or TV, and you don’t have your screen white levels calibrated perfectly, Liquid Glass sidebars and toolbars are indistinguishable from white. The entire look and feel falls apart.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

It’s a little alarming just how bad macOS looks on a non-retina resolution these days. Blurry text and UI throughout the OS.

Russell Ivanovic:

In the release version of macOS 26, the system wide colour picker shows a zoomed in preview for the colour that’s wrong. It actually samples at the tip of the mouse pointer, which is about 10-15px off where the zoom preview is showing.

Aaron Pearce:

Catalyst where a button with “role: .cancel” does this in Tahoe. Thanks Apple.

Norbert Heger:

Generic media file icons used to be easily distinguishable with unique, recognizable designs. Now we get gray symbols and, of course, reduced text contrast in the file type label – for consistency with the overall reduced legibility of Liquid Glass.

Helge Heß:

A thing I like about macOS Tahoe is the animated Tahoe screen saver. It is quite beautiful.

Louie Mantia:

It is flat-out embarrassing that the Apple News app cannot seemingly render the content as the window is resizing.

Marcin Krzyzanowski:

I don’t think anyone decisive uses Mac for anything other than web browsing - judging after how damn annoying the glass transparency is on macOS26

Rakhim Davletkali:

Benjamin Button Reviews macOS

Update (2025-10-06): Avi Drissman:

Unfortunately, this fix doesn’t help Chromium. The issue is that NSAutoFillHeuristicController hammers the synchronous IME API -firstRectForCharacterRange:actualRange: on the main thread. Given that Chromium needs to synchronously round-trip to a different process to get a response, this means that even on 26.0.1 NSAutoFillHeuristicController causes unacceptable main thread jank.

Greg Pierce:

“Show Contact Card” in Mail is…interesting.

Louie Mantia:

macOS 26 still has a setting for “Show toolbar button shapes” but… it doesn’t do anything anymore. On or off appear exactly the same in Liquid Glass.

Collin Donnell:

Yesterday I decided to stop waiting and install macOS 26 Tahoe. It’s a mixed bag.

Everything they added for apps other than the design updates, I like.

[…]

I’m a big fan of the Journal app. Having it on macOS is awesome. I’ve never been able to stick with Day One, but for some reason Journal clicks with me. The suggestions it gives are good at reminding me what I was doing, so even if I don’t visit the app for a few days, I can come back and fill in the details.

[…]

My review for the design changes is this — mostly not awful, but everything they changed is worse. Every change rests somewhere between neutral and a little bit degraded.

Léo Natan:

It’s possible to disable Liquid Glass on Tahoe with:

defaults write -g com.apple.SwiftUI.DisableSolarium -bool YES

Then reboot your machine. AppKit apps work and look ~ almost the same as in Sequoia. Catalyst apps are slightly buggy, mostly visual glitches. And Safari has visual glitches. But still better than Liquid Glass.

Isaiah Carew:

this has easily been the most challenging macOS release as a professional dev.

mostly i really love writing code, but this stuff is really testing my resolve.

Hwee-Boon Yar:

The upgrade to macOS Tahoe has bothered me or disrupted my work way less than any macOS upgrade over the last few years. It’s not as bad as I read around.

Juli Clover:

Apple’s new Liquid Glass design has received most of the attention in news about macOS Tahoe, but there are quite a few new features that make the Mac better than ever, including some that are not super obvious. We’ve rounded up 10 useful macOS Tahoe features that you should know about.

iOS 26

Apple (feature list, release notes, security, enterprise, developer):

Featuring the new design with Liquid Glass, iOS 26 brings more customization options to the Lock Screen, including a sleek adaptive time presentation and delightful 3D spatial scenes, as well as enhancements to Camera, Photos, Safari, the Phone app, and more. To help users eliminate distractions and focus on the conversations that matter most, Call Screening can screen calls from unknown numbers, while Hold Assist can hold on the line until a live agent is available. In Messages, users can now choose to screen messages from unknown senders, create polls, and add backgrounds to conversations.

iOS 26 also adds Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation in Apple Music, Visited Places in Apple Maps, and order tracking in Apple Wallet. Updates to AirPods allow creators to record content with great sound quality and remotely control content capture in the Camera app. Additionally, iOS 26 introduces the Apple Games app, an all-new personalized gaming destination designed to help users jump back into the games they love, find their next favorite, and have more fun with their friends. Also, CarPlay users will see a new compact view for incoming calls, Tapbacks in Messages, as well as widgets and Live Activities.

Craig Grannell:

The reaction during the summer’s public beta program was divisive. And while some people just hate change, Liquid Glass does invite criticism. Instead of sharpening focus, it too often muddies it due to legibility issues and distracting visual effects. On Mac, controls are overly prominent, yet on iPhone, they are relentlessly eager to disappear into a new Apple take on hamburger menus, denying users the chance to build effective muscle memory.

Niléane Dorffer:

Oh and […] everyone who has kept gaslighting us all summer assuring us that the legibility and contrast issues would get fixed before the public release.

See also:

Previously:

Update (2025-10-06): BasicAppleGuy:

iOS Icon History
Phone ☎️

Shayan:

iOS 26 has some good ideas, but it’s an overall UX downgrade for me.

Possibly their worst case of form over function so far.

A lot of common actions now require extra taps. Text is still hard to read. So much dead and white space across the UI. The enlarged bubble effect feels unnecessary. Colors heavily bleed into each other when UI stacks, and so on.

Jeff Johnson:

Unfortunately, the iOS 26 Release Candidate still includes a few bugs specifically affecting Safari extensions.

Steve Moser:

Liquid Glass icons for Apple Store, Clips, GarageBand, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers, and Pages have surfaced on Apple’s iPhone tech spec pages.

Juli Clover:

There are a lot of changes and features to learn about, so if you want a quick, easy-to-read list that outlines what’s new, we’ve got you covered.

Ben Lovejoy:

It certainly takes some getting used to, but overall I’m a fan, and I particularly like some of the small but notable changes … For me though, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. For example, I find the notification banners cute while now still being easy to read[…]

D. Griffin Jones:

Quick, which of these Home Screens are checked? This is on the iOS 26 default wallpaper.

Benjamin Mayo:

I’ve had a response to one of my OS 26 submitted Feedbacks! I reported that the use of the Music’s app red tint colour in alert dialogs was confusing when the dialog included destructive actions. The design has been changed to resolve the ambiguity.

Update as of iOS 26 release day: this remains my only Feedback to have received an explicit response.

Rosyna Keller:

Yay, 3 of the 18 privacy bugs I’ve filed so far look to be fixed in iOS 26. Only one counts for a bounty so far? (I don’t understand the bounty system)

David Price:

Users across a range of forums have claimed that periodically, Wi-Fi connectivity “briefly disconnects and then reconnects after they unlock the iPhone,” which can also cause CarPlay to disconnect.

Joe Rossignol:

iOS 26 breaks search functionality in the Calendar app for some iPhone users, according to comments from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, X, Facebook, and other online discussion platforms.

Scharon Harding:

This time around, we’re taking a look at some of the updates targeted at people who rely on their iPhones for much more than making phone calls and browsing the Internet. Many of these features rely on Apple Intelligence, meaning they’re only as reliable and helpful as Apple’s generative AI (and only available on newer iPhones, besides). Other adjustments are smaller but could make a big difference to people who use their phone to do work tasks.

Juli Clover:

iOS 26 has somewhere around 200 new features and changes, some of which are more useful than others. We’ve highlighted some of the updates that we think provide the best quality of life improvements to the iPhone.

Geoff Duncan:

Apple seems to have removed the ability to block callers from the Phone app in iOS 26. In order to block an unknown number, I guess I have to create a contact card for them, and block them there. That seems less-than-great.

Yes yes: I know I’m supposed to turn on call screening but I really don’t want call screening.

Pierre Igot:

It’s quite revealing to me that Apple appears to have no qualms about giving the iOS upgrade itself an icon in which the “26” is barely readable.

Marco Arment:

Shout out to one thing that got much nicer recently:

Music.app on iOS not only remembers the song you were playing through a termination or iPhone reboot, but it even resumes from the timestamp you left it at!

Craig Hockenberry:

Bugs are being reported in OS 26.0.

And we fix them.

And then they break again in a point release.

This is why releasing an OS in such a broken state is so harmful - there is no incentive for third-parties to fix things that are clearly works-in-progress.

Craig Hockenberry:

This new behavior of devices deciding to update themselves during daytime hours is bullshit.

I just picked up my phone to test something and went through several minutes of thinking my iPhone was bricked. No sign of an update and not responding to button presses.

I was in the process of starting a DFU when the screen came back on.

As far as I can tell, there’s no way to disable this behavior.

And who’s to blame if it was a medical emergency?

macOS 15.7 and macOS 14.8

macOS 15.7 (full installer, security):

[Not yet listed, but presumably:] This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

macOS 14.8 (full installer, security):

[Not yet listed, but presumably:] This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.

See also: Howard Oakley.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-25): Rodrigo Ghedin:

I can’t click to select the focused tab in Safari 26 running on Sequoia (15.7).

[…]

also, is this a taste of Liquid Glass for Sequoia?

The Mac App Flea Market

Jim Nielsen (via Hacker News):

Have you ever searched for “AI chat” in the Mac App Store?

I have. It’s like strolling through one of those counterfeit, replica markets where all the goods look legit at first glance. But then when you look closer, you realize something is off.

For the query “AI chat”, there are so many ChatGPT-like app icons the results are comical.

[…]

The funny thing is: the official ChatGPT desktop app from OpenAI is not even in the Mac App Store. It’s only available from their website, so it won’t show up in the “AI chat” results.

827a:

The odd thing about the Mac App Store is how needlessly embarrassing this is for Apple. The Mac App Store doesn’t need to exist, but because it does Apple is lending its authority to these apps, and every day its customers, who come to Apple expecting a level of safety and authenticity, are fooled by them.

Previously:

Friday, September 12, 2025

AirPods Live Translation Blocked for EU Users

Tim Hardwick (Hacker News):

Apple says on its feature availability webpage that “Apple Intelligence: Live Translation with AirPods” won’t be available if both the user is physically in the EU and their Apple Account region is in the EU. Apple doesn’t give a reason for the restriction, but legal and regulatory pressures seem the most plausible culprits.

In particular, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) both impose strict requirements for how speech and translation services are offered. Regulators may want to study how Live Translation works, and how that impacts privacy, consent, data-flows, and user rights.

This implies that it’s not because of DMA-related antitrust concerns. I would have expected those to come into play since, as far as I’m aware, live translation doesn’t work with headphones from other brands.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-25): Kyle Howells:

DMA is the first good suggestion I’ve heard behind why this might not be in the EU.

Doesn’t work with other headphones and doesn’t work with other translation services (Google Translate can’t opt-in to providing the translations).

Nick Heer:

This is kind of a funny limitation because fully half the languages Live Translation works with — French, German, and Spanish — are the versions spoken in their respective E.U. countries and not, for example, Canadian French or Chilean Spanish. As written, the most impressive implementation of this feature only works if both parties are outside the E.U. or, if they are within the E.U., neither has an E.U. Apple Account.

Previously:

iPhone Satellite Features Remain Free for Another Year

Adam Engst:

When Apple first introduced Emergency SOS via satellite with the iPhone 14, it promised two years of free service. Later, Apple extended the free service by another year (see “Apple Extends Free Emergency SOS via Satellite for iPhone 14 Users for Another Year,” 15 November 2023). That extension was set to expire in November, but Apple has—in a footnote on the press releases for the new iPhones—moved the free access expiration date again[…]

I’m glad to have this feature, but after recently trying it out when hiking I wouldn’t plan to rely on it. It took a long time and a fair amount of moving my feet and orienting my body and the phone in order for it to acquire a signal in an area that had some light tree cover and rock. I had to concentrate on holding the phone and making sure it remained aimed at the satellite, as it moved overhead. Then I would have to keep at it while waiting for a reply. Chances are that in a real emergency, if I were stuck or injured, I wouldn’t be able to do all of this. It’s great that maybe it would help when you need it, but if you were thinking about carrying a dedicated messenger device or locator beacon you should probably still do that.

Previously:

Dataless macOS File Versioning

Howard Oakley:

When an app that supports versioning saves a file, the current version is added as a dataless file to a folder in AllUIDs, with its UUID as its name, its data are added to the ChunkStoreDatabase, and its details are added to the database in db-V1. Chunk sizes typically range up to just over 20 MB. The service responsible for versioning is revisiond, and the subsystems you’ll encounter in the log are com.apple.foundation.filecoordination and com.apple.chunkinglibrary.

Retrieving a version thus consists of looking it up in the db.sqlite database, and reconstituting that version as a file, using the dataless file with its attributes and metadata in the file UUID, and its data restored from the ChunkStore.

[…]

The most common cause of problems with the version database is excessive size. Although its size isn’t readily discoverable, it can be a major contributor to that attributed to System Data in Storage settings and third-party utilities, and in some cases can exceed 100 GB.

[…]

My free utility Revisionist has a version crawler that will list all files in a volume or folder with the number of versions they currently have stored in that volume’s .DocumentRevisions-V100 folder.

Howard Oakley:

In recent discussions here about the version system built into macOS, two potential problems were raised: first that a file’s versions don’t go with it wherever the file goes, and second that versions wouldn’t preserve datestamps. This article demonstrates how you can easily work around the first, and how the second isn’t correct.

Previously:

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Memory Integrity Enforcement

Apple (Ivan Krstić, Hacker News):

Arm published the Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) specification in 2019 as a tool for hardware to help find memory corruption bugs. MTE is, at its core, a memory tagging and tag-checking system, where every memory allocation is tagged with a secret; the hardware guarantees that later requests to access memory are granted only if the request contains the correct secret. If the secrets don’t match, the app crashes, and the event is logged. This allows developers to identify memory corruption bugs immediately as they occur.

[…]

Our analysis found that, when employed as a real-time defensive measure, the original Arm MTE release exhibited weaknesses that were unacceptable to us, and we worked with Arm to address these shortcomings in the new Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension (EMTE) specification, released in 2022.

[…]

Today we’re introducing the culmination of this effort: Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE), our comprehensive memory safety defense for Apple platforms. Memory Integrity Enforcement is built on the robust foundation provided by our secure memory allocators, coupled with Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension (EMTE) in synchronous mode, and supported by extensive Tag Confidentiality Enforcement policies. MIE is built right into Apple hardware and software in all models of iPhone 17 and iPhone Air and offers unparalleled, always-on memory safety protection for our key attack surfaces including the kernel, while maintaining the power and performance that users expect. In addition, we’re making EMTE available to all Apple developers in Xcode as part of the new Enhanced Security feature that we released earlier this year during WWDC.

[…]

Both approaches revealed the same conclusion: Memory Integrity Enforcement vastly reduces the exploitation strategies available to attackers. Though memory corruption bugs are usually interchangeable, MIE cut off so many exploit steps at a fundamental level that it was not possible to restore the chains by swapping in new bugs. Even with substantial effort, we could not rebuild any of these chains to work around MIE. The few memory corruption effects that remained are unreliable and don’t give attackers sufficient momentum to successfully exploit these bugs.

Victor Wynne:

MIE represents what Apple calls “the most significant upgrade to memory safety in the history of consumer operating systems.” That’s a bold claim, but when you dig into what they’ve built, it does not at all seem like an exaggeration. This isn’t just a security patch or minor improvement. It’s the culmination of five years of hardware and software work that fundamentally changes how iPhones protect themselves.

The key insight here is that Apple didn’t just push some new software protection. Instead, they redesigned their approach from the ground up, creating a system where the hardware and software work together in ways that weren’t possible before. The new A19 and A19 Pro chips dedicate an extraordinary amount of silicon resources to security, more than ever before, including special areas for storing security tags and processing power dedicated entirely to checking memory access.

Patrick Wardle:

Apple seems very salty that Google shipped MTE first, dropping shade several times about how Android’s isn’t ‘comprehensive.’ 😂

True, but when have Apple’s mitigations ever been flawless?

That said, yeah…Apple’s version looks way better.

GrapheneOS:

Pixels have provided hardware memory tagging (MTE) support since the Pixel 8. GrapheneOS deployed it in production around a month after the launch of the Pixel 8 and we use it for the kernel and nearly the entire base OS. We use it for some third party apps and users can opt-in to using it for all.

There have been multiple revisions of ARM MTE. FEAT_MTE4 (Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension) is the 4th generation of ARM MTE improvements, not the beginning of it. The baseline feature was already a game changer for defending devices. The improvements will make their way to devices providing it.

[…]

Unlike iPhone users, GrapheneOS users have been well protected by attacks from Cellebrite and other exploit development companies.

[…]

ARM shipped MTE support multiple years before Apple in their Cortex cores. Yes, it was discovered to have a side channel usable by local attackers. This doesn’t ruin it. MTE only has 4 bit tags which is a bigger weakness than the side channel. MTE still paves the way for stronger future features.

Apple has far more severe side channels in their hardware which leak user data. It’s strange to portray leaking tags as a severe issue ruining a feature when they’ve consistently downplayed the impact of endless side channels vulnerabilities directly leaking sensitive user data on iPhones and Macs.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-24): Howard Oakley:

While the principle underlying MIE is simple, its implementation is more complex. One obvious problem is that it imposes significant overhead to memory allocation and access. The only way to work around that is to implement it in hardware, hence its current limitation to devices using Apple’s new A19 and A19 Pro chips, the first to offer that support. These come with additional features for Arm’s Enhanced Memory Tagging Extension, an option from the Armv8.7 instruction set architecture, and not yet available in an M-series chip for Macs. If you look for FEAT_MTE4 among the hardware options in sysctl (shown easily in Mints, for example), there’s no mention of it in Apple’s latest M4 chips. Additionally, for apps to support MIE, they have to opt in to enable hardware memory tagging, a feature that’s only available for now in the iPhone 17 range, including the iPhone Air.

[…]

Apple hasn’t yet made any announcement about whether or when MIE might be coming to its M-series chips using in Apple silicon Macs.

Update (2025-10-06): See also: Bruce Schneier.

Final Cut Camera 2.0

Apple:

Final Cut Camera 2.0 unlocks unprecedented recording capabilities on iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the first smartphones capable of capturing ProRes RAW. This allows users to record pristine RAW data directly from the camera sensor for maximum creative freedom in post-production. The update also introduces open gate recording, which uses the full camera sensor to capture a wider field of view at resolutions greater than DCI 4K. This gives editors ultimate flexibility to reframe shots, stabilize footage, and set final aspect ratios, all without compromising image quality or performance.

[…]

Final Cut Camera 2.0 also supports genlock, allowing creators to precisely synchronize iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max with other recording devices to the same reference signal, ensuring each frame is perfectly in sync. This technique lets creatives achieve professional, frame-accurate edits without hours of manual frame-by-frame alignment. Genlock API support is available to third parties and is already being used with the new Blackmagic Design Camera ProDock.

Leveraging the all-new Center Stage front camera available on iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, Final Cut Camera 2.0 also allows users to capture horizontal or vertical orientation without rotating their iPhone.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-07): Jason Snell:

So, in the interest of reminding you: the Final Cut Pro for iPad/Final Cut Camera thing (note to Apple: you couldn’t give this system a clever brand name?) is pretty amazing. You can connect up to four iPhones to an iPad running Final Cut Pro and use the iPhones as remote cameras to record a live event, adjusting settings on the fly and ending up with a full-resolution multicam project ready to be edited.

[…]

After moving around a lot of hotel furniture to try and get proper angles for a shot of me, a shot of Myke, and a two-shot of us both, we connected the iPhones to my iPad. While two of them connected immediately, the third iPhone wouldn’t connect no matter what we tried. We rebooted things, we disconnected and reconnected from both sides… nothing worked.

In the end, we decided to just use the iPad itself as a third camera.

[…]

The edit went so smoothly that the entire 107-minute-long podcast was edited before I was halfway to Dallas. (I had expected that I’d need to export the project and edit it on my MacBook Pro, but I didn’t.)

Campfire Now Open Source

Basecamp (via Lobsters, Hacker News, Reddit):

Campfire is web-based chat application. It supports many of the features you’d expect, including:

  • Multiple rooms, with access controls
  • Direct messages
  • File attachments with previews
  • Search
  • Notifications (via Web Push)
  • @mentions
  • API, with support for bot integrations

[…]

Campfire’s Docker image contains everything needed for a fully-functional, single-machine deployment. This includes the web app, background jobs, caching, file serving, and SSL.

I guess the Once idea didn’t work, business-wise. Most software these days, especially running on servers, seems to be either free or a subscription.

Previously:

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

macOS Tahoe 26 RC

Juli Clover:

Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate of macOS Tahoe 26 for testing purposes, with the RC coming after nine rounds of betas.

Who can tell from the release notes what’s changed in the last few builds?

Steve Troughton-Smith:

I don’t honestly know why Apple provides OS release notes to developers, because it doesn’t remotely reflect either the known issues or the fixes/changes build to build. It’s like some tiny subset of the issues known internally before WWDC, and whether they fixed them or not since (spoiler: most of the bugs that were mentioned in the release notes doc in June are apparently still present)

Juli Clover:

iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26 will be released to the public on Monday, September 15, Apple announced during today’s “Awe Dropping” Apple event.

Time to start taking screenshots for my app releases.

Marcin Krzyzanowski:

I was not prepared for macOS 26 on Sep 15.

it is not ready. it is definitely not ready. please don’t ship it like that.

just yesterday, I had a laugh at how SwiftUI layout is broken on macOS 26, in entirely new ways. But I assumed they still have few months to fix it.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

The OSes included in the Xcode 26 release candidate are ‘basically’ the same as the beta 9 seeds. I think a huge pile of bugs are about to ship; macOS and visionOS especially are in a really bad state right now.

Ahnaf Mahmud:

yep found some last minute bugs… the textbox is literally hidden on Mac Image Playground and look at how the sidebar behaves when running an iOS app on macOS lol (in my next reply), sadly couldn’t test those on a VM

Mario Guzmán:

So yeah, #macOSTahoe killed all my apps.

PDX Transit for macOS, in the 7 years as an #AppKit app, the toolbar & sidebars worked perfectly. Now the toolbar just gets fucked up when you switch tabs AND the inspector sidebar now fails to remember its position between launches.

As for all my Music-related apps. They no longer work because Apple Music sends far less info in the NSDistributedNotificationCenter dictionary.

So yeah, I’m done. I am taking these down. I’m not having fun anymore.

Mario Guzmán:

And also this. All of my #AppKit bugs I’ve been reporting since Beta 1 were mostly not addressed and around Beta 6 or 7[…] No way will I take the hit for Apple’s bugs. They worked fine for the better part of 7/8 years and broke as of #macOSTahoe beta 6 or 7. I logged bugs in Feedback app.

John Siracusa:

Even after using Tahoe for months, I’m still regularly struck by something on my screen that I instinctively interpret as some kind of graphical glitch only to realize that it’s “working as intended” and that someone thought this design was a good idea.

For example, check out the weird smudges at the top of this Finder window. Surely some kind of error, right? But then you notice the text competing with the window title. And then you connect the text to the smudges and realize what’s going on.

This is not a “staged” screenshot, BTW. This is something that organically appeared on my screen while using my Mac with Tahoe RC, and my legitimate reaction was to do a double-take because it looked like an error to me.

Zac Hall:

macOS Tahoe will be the first release to support Repair Assistant, adding the ability to install calibration data to complete repairs.

[…]

For Mac repairs through the self service repair program, this will allow used parts and previously replaced parts that were not calibrated to be calibrated to ensure the best reliability and security standards are met.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-11): Kirk McElhearn:

I’ve been running Apple’s betas on my iPad, and just updated my MacBook Air. I played around with early betas on the Mac, and it’s stunning how ugly it is now, in the release candidate. It actually doesn’t look too bad on the iPad; slightly bad on iPhone; but on Mac, it’s just trash.

And, yes, this is with the “reduce transparency” setting on, because otherwise it’s hard to see anything.

Update (2025-09-12): Mitchell Hashimoto:

One of the macOS 26 bugs I’ve had to workaround is that a plain old NSAlert doesn’t render its “OK” button (but it can be clicked still) if it isn’t shown as a sheet. Nothing exotic. Standard modal window. Missing an OK button. Hard to believe this is going to ship.

I find it odd that alerts, with their transparent backgrounds, look so much different from regular dialogs. But then, in screenshots, the alert backgrounds look much darker gray than dialogs.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

I don’t tend to file bugs on system apps, but if I did, I would be very busy on this RC seed.

You don’t have to go far to find things breaking in bizarre ways, like this giant empty toolbar item in Podcasts on Tahoe[…]

Xcode 26 RC

Apple (downloads):

Xcode 26 RC includes SDKs for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, and visionOS 26. The Xcode 26 RC release supports on-device debugging in iOS 16 and later, tvOS 16 and later, watchOS 8 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 26 RC requires a Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.6 or later.

This is up from beta 7, which worked on macOS 15.5. Other than that, it didn’t seem to break anything with my projects. Again, it’s really hard to see from the release notes what’s new in this build.

Tony Arnold:

Xcode 26.0 RC 1 also cannot compile my asset catalog + icon composer icon.

I filed feedback (FB20183399), but this feels completely pointless. As far as I can tell, there’s no workaround so I cannot ship an update using Xcode 26.

Craig Hockenberry:

Incredibly, the concentric corner APIs don’t have the correct radii on the new iPhone models.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-12): Ken Case:

Wow, FileMerge not only has a new icon, but someone finally fixed the “Use Selection for Find” (Command-E) menu item that’s been raising an “unrecognized selector” exception for several years.

Thank you to the team at Apple for giving this ancient NeXT-era tool some love!

iPhone 17 Accessories

Mitchel Broussard:

Apple today announced the newest generation of iPhone with the iPhone Air, iPhone 17, and iPhone 17 Pro. Alongside these devices, there’s a bunch of new compatible accessories, including TechWoven Cases, Clear Cases, Crossbody Straps, and Silicone Cases, all of which we’re recapping below.

Dan Moren:

There were no doubt some shouts of joy when Apple mentioned it had a new version of its MagSafe Battery, but if you want one of those to boost your phone’s longevity, be aware: it’s an iPhone Air exclusive.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-11): Federico Viticci:

I got Apple’s TechWoven case for the 17 Pro Max.

  • Immediately feels much nicer and more premium than FineWoven
  • iOS 26 doesn’t recognize it, but the 16 Pro Max fits inside it and all the buttons work 😅

Update (2025-09-29): Matt Birchler:

This case excels in a few ways[…]

[…]

Coincidentally, my only real issue with this case is the texture. The back has a rough fabric feel and even the sides are all a bit rough, there’s no smooth part of this case. I’m getting more used to this over the few days I’ve had it, but I wouldn’t say I love it. it feels a bit like polyester to me, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. It’s not terrible by any means, and I’m sure other people will enjoy this, but it’s just not my favorite.

[…]

For what it’s worth, I dug my iPhone 15 pro’s FineWoven case out of the drawer and held it again. Woof, it’s just as bad as I remember. The sides feel cheap, while the back feels unpleasant and cheap. It’s fine (heh) if you dig it, but it really ain’t for me. TechWoven is a step in the right direction.

Simon B. Støvring:

The buttons on the TechWoven case are the best buttons on a case I’ve ever tried. They’re similar to those on the official leather cases that I’ve used for years, but they feel slightly more tactile.

Generally, the TechWoven case feels like a pretty solid replacement for the leather case. It has a similar warm and soft feel that the leather has.

Update (2025-10-04): Private Talky:

Apple’s discontinued iPhone cases.

Which was your favorite?

Design Is How It Works

Jordan Golson:

10:01 am: We start with a quote: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

How many of us groaned at that? This has got to be the worst invocation of Steve Jobs’ memory given how this year’s redesign seems to be pretty much the opposite of that ideal.

Dan Moren:

Always good when the keynote stream starts with me doing a spit take.

M.G. Siegler:

I’m not really sure why Apple chose to open their 2025 iPhone event with the famous “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” quote. It preceded a video focused on design elements of Apple products that I guess was meant to show case how well all their products work together? It was a nice little video. But overall, I don’t think this year was more about design than any other Apple keynote.

Dave Wood:

I’m still shocked Apple completely glossed over #iOS26 / #LiquidGlass. The event was short, so I bet they had planned for 30 minutes on it and were too embarrassed to even show it.

Adam Overholtzer:

Imagining constantly repeating a quote without ever taking its meaning to heart.

rasputin:

They’re trolling us

Rebecca Sloane:

I feel like we were watching in real time Tim Cook convince himself that liquid glass is the right direction

Saagar Jha:

We care a lot about design which is why we are about to introduce the worst designed OS in years

René Fouquet:

Quoting Steve Jobs with “Design is how it works” and then shitting the bed with #LiquidAss is bold.

Mario Guzmán:

Ballsy for Tim Cook to say “design is how it works” because Liquid Glass is absolute crap for usability and accessibility. Stacking views just for effect is consideration for Apple and not its users.

Jeff Johnson:

This “design is how it works” shit seems like a recognition of how bad Liquid Glass is and an attempted cover-up.

Marcin Krzyzanowski:

I don’t understand how can you put this on the slide, and ship macOS 26 like that at the same time

See also: Accidental Tech Podcast.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-30): Benjamin Mayo:

I assume it is meant to be interpreted as a signal to the company’s unwavering commitment to industry-leading product design, even in spite of recent design team defections and executive departures.

[…]

A less charitable interpretation of the quote, perhaps, is that it apologises for the imperfect tradeoffs taken in the making of the iPhone lineup this year. The Pro is a bit uglier, but works better. The Air looks and feels great, but is missing fundamental features.

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

Apple (video, MacRumors):

Both models feature A19 Pro, the most powerful and efficient chip for iPhone yet, enabling the advanced camera systems, next-level mobile gaming, and Apple Intelligence. Built with an Apple-designed vapor chamber that is laser-welded into a strong, light, and thermally conductive aluminum unibody, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max deliver Apple’s best-ever performance and an enormous leap in battery life. Three 48MP Fusion cameras — Main, Ultra Wide, and an all-new Telephoto — offer the equivalent of eight lenses, including the longest optical-quality zoom ever on iPhone at 8x, and the innovative 18MP Center Stage front camera takes selfies to the next level. With new industry-first video features built for pro filmmakers and content creators, including ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and genlock, iPhone integrates even more seamlessly into the largest and smallest of productions. Both models feature the Ceramic Shield 2 front cover with 3x better scratch resistance, and for the first time, Ceramic Shield protects the back of iPhone.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are available in three beautiful new finishes — deep blue, cosmic orange, and silver.

Finally, some good Pro colors.

Deionized water is sealed inside the vapor chamber, which is laser-welded into the aluminum chassis to move heat away from the powerful A19 Pro, allowing it to operate at even higher performance levels. The heat is carried into the forged aluminum unibody, where it is distributed evenly through the system, managing power and surface temperatures to deliver incredible performance while remaining comfortable to hold.

I wonder how much faster the A19 Pro will be in the Pro vs. the Air due to the better thermals.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): See also: Hacker News.

Hartley Charlton:

Apple introduced titanium to the iPhone with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max back in 2023, with the change even becoming the device’s marketing tagline. While the devices were said to be more durable, they also suffered from complaints about overheating.

The titanium frame provided excellent rigidity and durability, but aluminum is lighter and offers better heat dissipation, which Apple has prioritized alongside the introduction of the A19 Pro chip and a new vapor chamber cooling system. Aluminum’s thermal conductivity is substantially higher than titanium’s, helping to distribute heat away from critical components under heavy workloads.

Titanium’s machining complexity, slower production speeds, and higher scrap rates may have also contributed to the decision. Titanium frames require specialized tooling and precise CNC milling, while aluminum is less expensive and easier to produce at scale.

Andrew Abernathy:

So the new iPhone 17 Pro has a 4x optical zoom at 48 MP (as opposed to the 5x / 12 MP optical on the 16 Pro), and it center-crops to achieve the touted 8x?

Center-cropping 48 MP yields 12 MP optical, so from that perspective, identical optical resolution as on the 16 Pro, yet higher zoom.

Still, the 12 MP crop is probably fundamentally noisier; I doubt the physical sensor is 4x the size of the 16 Pro sensor. Which means relying on improved cleanup of the capture.

Update (2025-10-09): Frank A. Krueger:

The iPhone 17 Pro, even with its giant plateau, still can’t be set down on a surface without rocking side to side. Would it really kill them to make the lens protrusions symmetric?

Ryan Jones:

Apple needs to put USB3 in all iPhones simply for the transfer process. Just spent a miserable 90 minutes in store, with 50 other customers, to transfer my data 2 inches via the cloud. Colossally stupid.

Jason W:

All the hate for this [orange] color is dead wrong. Best looking iPhone color I’ve ever seen.

Juli Clover:

iFixit today disassembled the iPhone 17 Pro for one of its teardown videos, showing the device’s internal components, like the new vapor chamber cooling system that distributes heat from the A19 Pro chip throughout the aluminum frame.

Sebastiaan de With:

On the Main camera, don’t expect huge changes. I found detail to be somewhat more natural in the Ultra Wide camera, but even here it was somewhat random-seeming if the results were truly consistently better. Overall, image processing pipelines are so complex now that it’s hard to get a great idea of the changes over just a week. The images overall felt a bit more natural to me, though — although I still prefer shooting native RAW and Process Zero shots if I have the option to.

As I mentioned in the earlier section, it is truly noticeable that the 2× mode on the Main camera is a lot better. Not only is the result sharper, it also just looks less visibly ‘processed’; a real win considering Apple claims this is actually due to more processing!

[…]

This, then, might be the first ‘workhorse SLR’ of the iPhone family, if the regular iPhone is a simple Kodak Brownie. In that, some of the simplicity that delighted in the first iPhone may have been lost — but the acknowledgement that complexity is not the enemy is a significant and good step. As a camera, it is first and foremost a tool of creative expression: gaining permission to become more fine-tuned for that purpose makes it truly powerful.

Austin Mann:

Over the last year I’ve found myself using ProRAW less because I’m constantly impressed by the power and flexibility of Photographic Styles.

[…]

This year, we got a new Undertone style called Bright. It adds contrast, brightens faces, enhances foliage, and still protects the highlights in the sky.

[…]

The biggest distinction between the 16 Pro and the 17 Pro is the improvement to the 4x Telephoto. It’s a better focal length and a big jump in resolution. The 8x is a great way to punch in even further at 12MP, and I’m sure I will use it a ton. If you find yourself constantly wishing you could get closer to your subject, this alone is worth the upgrade.

Jason Snell:

In terms of CPU, the step from A18 Pro to A19 Pro seems smaller than normal, though there may be extenuating circumstances. Single-core performance in Geekbench only increased 3% in my preliminary tests, which is the lowest gain I’ve seen in years. Multi-core performance, on the other hand, went up by 9%—much better, even if it’s a less impressive gain than any in the last four generations.

[…]

This is the biggest increase in the overall GPU Compute score in six generations, and even longer if you divide the score by the number of GPU cores available. The A19 Pro generates Geekbench GPU Compute scores 65 percent faster than the A17 Pro of just two years ago, with the same core count. It’s been an impressive couple of years on the GPU front.

Matt Birchler:

The A19 Pro transcribes about 60% faster than the A18 Pro.

Juli Clover:

The scratch test results suggest that iPhone 17 Pro owners won’t have to worry about the kind of scratching seen on iPhone models in Apple retail stores, but the camera is an area of concern. It is likely to get scratched, so if you’re worried about that, you might want to use a case to prevent it. The coating on the iPhone 17 Pro models is thin, so more significant drops could cause damage in other areas.

Juli Clover:

The marks on the iPhone 17 Pro models that people have noticed at Apple retail stores are caused by the chargers that Apple uses, Apple confirmed today.

Matt Birchler:

To illustrate this more closely, here’s a comparison of what the detail level is when using the 8x mode in the Camera app verses cropping to the same degree after the fact.

If you still want to crop later, that’s fine, but it’s plainly clear to me that if you need more zoom, you should do it in the Camera app because it will maximize the data you have to work with after the fact.

Hartley Charlton:

The first reviews of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max have now been published by selected media outlets and YouTube channels, offering a closer look at the device ahead of Friday’s launch.

Mike Sorrentino:

While it’s not widespread, some iPhone 17 Pro owners say that audio plays quietly and that they hear odd noises when playing music.

See also:

iPhone Air

Apple (video, MacRumors):

Apple today debuted the all-new iPhone Air, the thinnest iPhone ever made, with pro performance. iPhone Air features a breakthrough titanium design that is elegant and light yet strong, with an innovative internal architecture that enables the latest iPhone experiences. The back of iPhone Air is now protected with Ceramic Shield, and the front cover uses Ceramic Shield 2, delivering 3x better scratch resistance, making iPhone Air more durable than any previous iPhone. iPhone Air also features a stunning 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120Hz. With the most Apple-designed chips in an iPhone — the powerhouse A19 Pro, N1, and C1X — iPhone Air is the most power-efficient iPhone ever made. Paired with the redesigned internal architecture and software optimizations, iPhone Air has fantastic all-day battery life. A powerful 48MP Fusion Main camera enables the equivalent of four lenses with incredible image quality, and the innovative 18MP Center Stage front camera takes selfies to the next level.

[…]

iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever made at 5.6mm, and it is incredibly light, with a large, stunning display. The grade 5 titanium frame is strong, with an elegant high-gloss mirror finish, and a new plateau on the back that is precision-milled on both sides to house the cameras, speaker, and Apple silicon. This maximizes space for the battery to deliver remarkable all-day battery life. The thin design also features the Action button, so users can easily access a variety of functions with just a press, and Camera Control, to quickly launch the camera or enable visual intelligence.

It’s $999 vs. $799 for the iPhone 17 and $1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro. It’ll be interesting to see whether this is popular. To me, it’s impressive but not very appealing. Looking for a smaller phone, it seems like they shrunk the wrong dimension (and increased the other two). I’m more interested in the Pro camera and battery life than the Pro processor. Even if the prices were the same, I would probably choose the iPhone 17 over the iPhone Air.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): See also: Hacker News.

Rui Carmo:

And yes, all the iPhones in the US are now eSIM-only, and that worries me. Fortunately that is (for now) not the case in the EU.

[…]

You become completely dependent on your carrier’s ability to issue an eSIM–which can be a painfully contrived process requiring you to go to a store or scan a QR code that is mailed to you days later.

Even if you can have multiple eSIMs in a phone, switching carriers on the fly becomes effectively impossible (which is a big thing for carriers, and harks back to when US carriers did not use GSM).

Hartley Charlton:

Following today’s “Awe dropping” special event, Apple’s iPhone lineup now contains seven models at different price points.

Hartley Charlton:

This guide offers a detailed look at every difference—dimensions, design, cameras, battery life, and pricing—so you can make an informed choice.

BasicAppleGuy:

The iPhone Air is all battery. The entire brains of the phone is essentially smushed into the camera plateau! 🤯

Joe Rossignol:

The first benchmark results for the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today.

Juli Clover:

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have a higher-end A19 Pro chip with a 6-core GPU, and the iPhone Air has an A19 Pro chip with one less GPU core.

Marco Arment:

17: less cache
17 and Air: more cache, 5 GPU cores
17 Pro: more cache, 6 GPU cores

I wonder if they maybe clocked them differently, too.

Marco Arment:

iPhone 13 Mini: 141g
iPhone Air: 165g
iPhone 16: 170g
iPhone 16 Pro: 199g
iPhone 17 Pro: 206g

Update (2025-09-11): Kuba Suder:

The iPhone Air is:

  • 21 g heavier than the last iPhone SE (which I use)
  • 36 g heavier than iPhone 6
  • 30 g heavier than iPhone 12 Mini
  • and 52 g heavier than original iPhone SE 🫠

He has a table that shows all the dimensions.

Update (2025-09-12): Adam Engst:

Although the iPhone Air may not match the battery life of the iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro, it surpasses the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 and is similar to the iPhone 16 Plus.

He has a table.

Update (2025-10-09): Steve Troughton-Smith:

Learned only yesterday that there’s a button in Settings to convert your SIM card to eSIM, so I went through the process. Very straightforward, and appears to have worked OK.

Elizabeth Chamberlain (Hacker News):

To be honest, we were holding our breath for the iPhone Air. Thinner usually means flimsier, harder to fix, and more glued-down parts. But the iPhone Air proves otherwise. Apple has somehow built its thinnest iPhone ever without tanking repairability.

Quinn Nelson:

I really want the iPhone Air but I also know I will hate it and should very much get the standard Pro.

I haven’t had this much decision paralysis with iPhones since the mini.

Ryan Jones:

It’s literally just a manufacturing test – for the foldable iPhone next year. Thinness isn’t a relevant feature – 97% use cases anyway!

Why isn’t it named “17 Air”? Cuz there won’t be an 18 Air.

Michi:

The iPhone Air main body is thinner than the iPod touch 5th generation’s main body. Still thicker if you include the Plateau though.

Matt Ronge:

The iPhone Air is incredible, I am very happy with this upgrade.

  • It feels faster than the iPhone 16 plus (my previous phone)
  • The camera is great
  • It’s insanely light and easily fits in my pocket (HUGE upgrade)
  • Battery life has been a non-issue

Amir:

This is how the thickness of recent iPhone cameras look next to each other.

Ryan Jones:

PR jujitsu by Apple.

The iPhone 17 Pro wipes off.

The iPhone Air does NOT. It’s scratched to hell.

Om Malik:

It took about seven years of design evolution for Apple to come up with a worthy successor to the iPhone X. Everything that made the X extraordinary lives on in the Air. “From chips to materials to improved interactions, it is what you don’t see that makes the X a great phone,” I said. The Air is that vision fully realized, enhanced by seven years of technological progress.

The evolution from X to Air tells a compelling story about Apple’s relentless pursuit of refinement. The iPhone Air’s larger screen (6.5″ compared to the X’s 5.8″) somehow feels more compact, perhaps because it is so thin at just 5.6mm—27% thinner than the X’s 7.7mm. It makes the new iPhone 17 Pro look positively chunky by comparison.

Joe Rossignol:

The first reviews of the iPhone Air have been published by selected media outlets and YouTube channels, offering a closer look at the device ahead of its launch on Friday.

Christian Selig:

I’ve been loving my iPhone Air. A week in I think it’s my favorite iPhone since the iPhone X.

[…]

The only area I’ve kinda been disappointed on is the camera situation. No, not the telephoto, I really never used that personally. And not the ultrawide, for me that just felt too wide. But the ultrawide did allow for awesome macro capabilities that this iPhone Air is sorely lacking. At least currently.

[…]

The iPhone Air’s minimum focus distance is just too short.

Riccardo Mori:

Maybe my favourite, concise review of the iPhone Air from a big YouTuber. Dave is always very practical and honest in pointing out certain things:

“And the thing is, the novelty of the thinness of this phone wears off pretty quickly. I’m wrapping up week two and it’s still like, every time I pick it up I’m like, this is super-thin! This is awesome! But I don’t feel like my life has changed all that much going from, like, a very thin phone to an extremely thin phone.”

Ben Sandofsky:

Is one lens really enough? Will you miss ProRAW and LiDAR? To put this to a test, I took to New York with an iPhone Air and an M6.

[…]

If you love bug shots, the Air is not for you. But the available focal lengths are more than enough for the rangefinder crowd.

[…]

It isn’t a camera for beginners[…]

Jason Snell:

There are dozens of obvious reasons to buy an iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro instead of the iPhone Air. But when I hold the Air between my thumb and index finger and feel its weight and thinness, I begin to wonder how much those reasons matter.

iPhone 17

Apple (video, Hacker News, MacRumors):

Apple today announced iPhone 17, featuring the new Center Stage front camera that takes selfies to the next level; a powerful 48MP Fusion Main camera with an optical-quality 2x Telephoto; and a new 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera that captures expansive scenes and macro photography in more detail. The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion is bigger and brighter, enabling supersmooth scrolling, immersive gaming, and improved efficiency. And with the new Ceramic Shield 2, the front cover is tougher than any smartphone glass or glass-ceramic, with 3x better scratch resistance than the previous generation and reduced glare. It is all powered by the latest-generation A19 chip for higher performance and longevity.

iPhone 17 will now be available starting with 256GB of storage — double the entry storage from the previous generation — and a 512GB option, in five beautiful colors: black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white.

[…]

iPhone 17 introduces N1, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.

It looks like they’re getting rid of the Plus.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): See also: Hacker News.

Update (2025-10-08): Juli Clover:

Apple is planning to release a fix for an iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro camera bug that causes black boxes to appear in photos. CNN Underscored’s Henry Casey discovered the issue in an iPhone Air review when snapping photos at a concert.

David Lieb:

Got my new iPhone yesterday!

Spent the entire evening trying to log in to nearly every single app again.

My annual reminder that no team ever actually cares about the onboarding experience, since they rarely have to do it themselves.

Andrew Cunningham:

This year, ProMotion finally comes to the regular-old iPhone 17, years after midrange and even lower-end Android phones made the swap to 90 or 120 Hz display panels. And it sounds like a small thing, but the screen upgrade—together with a doubling of base storage from 128GB to 256GB—makes the gap between this year’s iPhone and iPhone Pro feel narrower than it’s been in a long time. If you jumped on the Pro train a few years back and don’t want to spend that much again, this might be a good year to switch back. If you’ve ever been tempted by the Pro but never made the upgrade, you can continue not doing that and miss out on relatively little.

Michael Burkhardt:

With the iPhone 17, Apple announced that they’ll be capable of charging even faster than previous iPhone models: up to 50% in just 20 minutes.

In its tech specs for the iPhone 17 models, Apple says:

  • Up to 50% charge in 20 minutes with 40W adapter or higher (available separately) paired with USB‑C charging cable
  • Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with 30W adapter or higher paired with MagSafe Charger (both available separately)

Tim Hardwick:

The first set of reviews are out for the new 6.3-inch base iPhone 17 model ahead of the full iPhone 17 lineup launching on Friday.

Hassam Nasir (Hacker News):

In PassMark’s single-threaded benchmark, the A19 produced the best numbers of any chip available, including fully-fledged desktop SKUs. It did that while consuming significantly less power and being passively cooled. At least in this hyper-specific case, Apple’s A19 has become the fastest CPU available.

Both the A19 and A19 Pro benchmarked within the margin of error of each other; however, officially, it was the regular A19 that posted 5,149 points to claim the single-thread performance crown.

Apple Watch Ultra 3

Apple (video, MacRumors):

Designed to keep users more connected and safer wherever they are with built-in satellite communications, Apple Watch Ultra 3 allows users to text emergency services, message friends and family, and share their location, all while they’re off the grid. The ultimate sports and adventure watch now features the largest screen of any Apple Watch, a display with a 1Hz always-on refresh rate, 5G cellular capabilities, the most accurate GPS in a sports watch, and up to 42 hours of battery life — with up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode.

[…]

With Find My via satellite, users can send their location once every 15 minutes to contacts previously added to Find My. In addition, with Messages via satellite, users can send and receive texts, emoji, and Tapbacks to friends and family — including anyone they’ve been in touch with over the last 30 days — while keeping the messages end-to-end encrypted. Users can also send SMS messages via satellite.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): See also: Hacker News.

Update (2025-10-07): Matt Birchler:

We’re well past the era when year-over-year Apple Watch upgrades made any sense at all, and I’d argue that even if you bought the original Apple Watch Ultra three years ago, there’s still no real reason for most people to even entertain an upgrade to the brand new Ultra 3.

[…]

Apple advertises 36 hours of battery life on the Ultra 2, and I would regularly get 40-48 hours on a charge. Apple has bumped their prediction up to 42 hours in the Ultra 3, and I routinely get 55-62 hours, or about 2.5 days.

[…]

The “new” display here is basically the same screen upgrade the Series 10 got last year, so it’s not the most thrilling thing ever, but it is my low-key favorite thing about this model upgrade.

[…]

One criticism I have here is that this 1-second refresh rate is not consistent across the experience. The time on the watch face updates every second, but complications still update once a minute.

Apple Watch SE 3

Apple (video, MacRumors, Hacker News):

Apple Watch SE 3 delivers a more advanced set of health features than the previous generation — including sleep score, retrospective ovulation estimates, sleep apnea notifications, and wrist temperature sensing for richer Vitals app data — plus a robust set of fitness features to provide daily motivation. The S10 chip powers an Always-On display, the double tap and wrist flick gestures, on-device Siri, and fast charging. Apple Watch SE 3 also offers 5G cellular capabilities and a cover glass that is more durable than ever.

[…]

Even with the addition of the Always-On display, Apple Watch SE 3 offers all-day, 18-hour battery life, and also features fast charging for the first time. Apple Watch SE 3 now charges up to 2x faster than the previous generation; charging for 15 minutes can add up to eight hours of battery for daily use, and it can charge to about 80 percent in 45 minutes.

This is probably the only hardware from today’s announcements that I’ll buy. My first-generation Apple Watch SE is just feeling really slow, and now that its OS is several versions behind my iPhone’s the complications have become unreliable.

Previously:

Update (2025-10-01): Juli Clover:

Compared to the more expensive Apple Watch Series 11, the SE line lacks ECGs, blood oxygen sensing, and hypertension notifications. It is also limited to 40mm and 44mm screen sizes, and doesn’t have the newer, thinner display that Apple introduced with the Series 10.

Apple Watch Series 11

Apple (video):

Apple today introduced Apple Watch Series 11, offering the most comprehensive set of health features yet, longer battery life, an even more durable cover glass, and 5G cellular capabilities, all in its thinnest and most comfortable design. Apple Watch Series 11 is the ultimate health and fitness companion, empowering users with notifications for signs of chronic high blood pressure — also known as hypertension — plus new insights into sleep quality with sleep score, adding to the robust suite of health features included in the device. Featuring up to 24 hours of battery life and Ion-X glass that’s 2x more scratch-resistant, Apple Watch is more convenient than ever to wear throughout the day and night.

[…]

If users receive a hypertension notification, it is recommended that they log their blood pressure for seven days using a third-party blood pressure cuff and share the results with their provider at their next visit, which is consistent with the latest American Heart Association guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hypertension.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): Tim Hardwick:

Apple has announced that its new hypertension detection feature, initially exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, will be expanded to include earlier Apple Watch models.

Update (2025-09-11): matejamm1 (via Meek Geek):

So Apple is hyping the Watch Series 11 as having 24 hours of battery life compared to 18 hours on the Series 10. That looks like a huge 33% improvement, moving away from their 18h goalpost for the first time ever since the very first Watch. But if you read their testing methodology in the footnotes it’s not really what it seems.

[…]

The “extra 6 hours” is just Apple finally including sleep tracking in the test. But sleep tracking barely sips power, and previous Apple Watches have already been able to easily surpass their 18 hour claims and go through a night of sleep tracking on top.

[…]

So here, not only is the difference just 2 hours (38 vs 36), a measly 5% increase, but even then Apple also quietly lowered the “active usage” assumptions for the new model. Fewer checks, fewer notifications, less app time. Again, not really an upgrade, just a shift in methodology.

They also (long ago) changed their methodology for measuring phone thickness.

AirPods Pro 3

Apple (video, MacRumors, Hacker News):

AirPods Pro 3 deliver unbelievable sound quality and the world’s best in-ear Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) — removing up to 2x more noise than the previous-generation AirPods Pro, and 4x more than the original AirPods Pro. The updated design helps AirPods Pro 3 fit even better and provides greater in-ear stability during activities like running, HIIT, yoga, and more. For the first time, users can utilize AirPods Pro 3 to measure heart rate and track over 50 workout types with the new experience in the Fitness app on iPhone. Live Translation also comes to AirPods, making face-to-face conversations easier by helping users connect even if they don’t speak the same language.

Still $249.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): Tim Hardwick:

Apple’s Live Translation feature, unveiled during its AirPods Pro 3 announcement, is expanding to older models including AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and AirPods Pro 2.

Cabel Sasser:

a reminder that if you use the Apple Store app — not the Apple website — you can engrave AirPods with your Memoji.

Update (2025-09-12): Juli Clover:

There were rumors that the AirPods Pro 3 Charging Case would get smaller, but that didn’t happen. It’s actually bigger than before, but it is a little less heavy. There’s no button on the back, with Apple swapping to the same hidden capacitive button that’s on the AirPods 4 case.

Audio quality is clearly better on the low end, with better balance. Active Noise Cancellation is also 2x better, though Dan wasn’t able to test the AirPods long enough to definitively confirm Apple’s claims.

Live Translation is available for in-person conversations, and it worked during a test with a Spanish speaking Apple employee.

Update (2025-10-07): Tim Hardwick:

In iOS 26, Live Translation enables hands-free communication by allowing users who don’t share the same language to speak naturally while wearing AirPods. For conversations with non-AirPods users, the iPhone can display live transcriptions horizontally, showing translations in the other person’s preferred language. Keep reading to learn how to use it.

Meek Geek:

I expected Apple to make them sound more “consumer friendly” by emphasizing more of the bass and treble, just like what they did with the AirPods 4. And they did.

[…]

Expect your average consumer and YouTuber to say they “sound better”, especially with the bass boost. This will be in the majority.

While the audiophiles and people who prefer a more neutral sound will absolutely not like it.

Joe Rossignol:

In the review video below, our own Dan Barbera shares his thoughts on the AirPods Pro 3, after testing them for nearly a week.

Nick Heer:

Apple’s AirPods remain, for me, the most difficult product not to buy. I enjoyed my AirPods 2 while they lasted, and using a set of wired headphones afterwards does not feel quite right. But these new models still do not have replaceable batteries. It is hard to write this without sounding preachy, so just assume this is my problem, not yours. I continue to be perplexed by treating perfectly good speaker drivers, microphones, and chips as disposable simply because they are packaged with a known consumable part. The engineering for swappable batteries would be, I assume, diabolical, but I still cannot get to a point where I am okay with spending over three hundred Canadian dollars every few years because of this predictable limitation.

Michael Rowe:

You can’t beat the sound isolation of a good set of over the ear headsets like the AirPods Max or Bose Quiet Comfort line, BUT the AirPods Pro 3, with the good fit from above, have finally fixed that for me. The improved sound quality and fit get’s rid of bubble head.

[…]

Battery Life – while you can’t really test battery life when you get new tech, my test on Saturday was 8-10 hours with no problem in transparency (or as I like to call it – hearing aid mode). […] My AirPods Pro 2 have about 4-5 hours of transparency mode, and so getting thru an entire day with AirPods Pro 3 in transparency mode, is a game changer.

Matt Birchler:

I’m writing this on day 6 using these things, and I gotta say, I don’t get it.

Don’t get me wrong, these are very good on the whole, but they’re very good in all the ways the AirPods Pro 2 were good already.

[…]

I still hear the world around me, and it was “if you didn’t tell me it was better, I wouldn’t notice it had changed”.

[…]

The battery should last longer when wearing them for long sessions, but you’ll have to charge the case more often.

[…]

The charging case is a bit bigger. It still fits in my coin pocket, which is what matters most, but it is a bummer that the case got bigger while my effective battery life got worse.

Elizabeth Chamberlain:

The AirPods Pro 3 are as unfixable as ever.

Matt Sephton:

I find it quite disappointing but of course unsurprising that I cannot take a hearing test with my new AirPods Pro 3 on my iPhone 16 Pro running the latest iOS 18.7.1 update. These are all things that are less than a year old.

Jezmund_Berserker:

Two flights behind me with the new AirPods Pro 3. For context, I couldn’t wear the 2s. They felt okay in my ears, but after about 20 minutes of wearing them my ears physically hurt. I’m not sure what was going on, but I tried them on multiple occasions and just couldn’t get around it.

The 3s have not had this issue for me. For my <2 hour flights, I’ll bring these and never my on-ear Bose again. The space savings is great and the noise canceling is every bit as good. For longer flights, I’ll probably bring the Bose because 2 hours of (any) ear buds is just irritating enough that I’m ready to get them out.

Matt Birchler:

I regret to say, not only do I think the AirPods Pro 3 are a disappointing update for me, I think they’re actually a downgrade over the AirPods Pro 2. I’m finishing this review at the airport gate, waiting for my flight to board, and the AirPods Pro 2 are currently in my ears.

[…]

The main downgrade for me is that for the first time in literally the entire history of Apple making earbuds, I lost the ear lottery this time, and these simply do not feel good in my ears. To be clear, they stay in there quite nicely, even over several hours, but if I wear them for more than 30 minutes, they become actively painful. I’ve tried every single tip size that comes in the box, and all of them have this issue.

[…]

iFixit’s teardowns confirm the battery change, with the new case sporting a 344 mAh battery with the Pro 2 case having a 398 mAh capacity.

Warner Crocker:

The AirPods Pro 3 got early overwhelming raves but as more folks have tried them in more ears some of those first blush raves have been joined with more tempered opinions. Apple made a big deal about improvements in both the sound AirPods Pro 3 deliver and also how much testing they did to find the best fit for the most people. In my experience Apple scored a hit when it comes to sound and noise cancelation, but a more of a miss when it comes to fit.

See also: Lodewijk Vos.

Monday, September 8, 2025

macOS Icon History

BasicAppleGuy:

With macOS 26, Apple has announced a dramatically new look to their UI: Liquid Glass. Solid material icon elements give way to softer, shinier, glassier icons. The rounded rectangle became slightly more rounded, and Apple eliminated the ability for icon elements to extend beyond the icon rectangle (as seen in the current icons for GarageBand, Photo Booth, Dictionary, etc.).

With this release being one of the most dramatic visual overhauls of macOS's design, I wanted to begin a collection chronicling the evolution of the system icons over the years.

I linked to this in an update before, but I wanted to highlight it again since he’s been posting updates on social media and this post collects everything in one place. The new 26 icons will be GM very soon.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-10): Adam Engst:

Of them, I think only the new Stickies icon has improved (though I still prefer the 2000–2020 version), but many other app icons are notably worse.

Fake Mac Apps on GitHub

Maxdme124:

To be very clear this is not another post of “Breaking news malware exists on the internet” (or it may be depending on how you want to look at it) but I feel like it’s important that I leave a small PSA as I have recently seen an influx of seemingly convincing GitHub repo replicas for decently popular Mac apps. They are so similar that they almost fooled me. Thankfully I quickly spotted some anomalies and I nearly avoided getting infected. Unfortunately these are the sort of red flags I don’t expect an average Joe to know about. Which is why I’m explaining what the malware is, and how to spot it.

[…]

By far the easiest way to avoid this is to simply look for the app online and track down the original developer. This will let you kill 2 birds with one stone by A: Looking for the original source of the app and avoid impostors and B: See if the App or the developer had any previous reputation to begin with.

[…]

The second discrepancy is that the size of the fake app is ridiculously small. For instance the original app is 13mb in size while the fake one is less than 2mb. Now this is not necessarily a red flag (For example some viruses do the opposite and fill their dmg with a lot of useless data to make the file larger than what VirusTotal can handle.) but it’s still important to raise an eye brow for installers with suspiciously small sizes.

I recently had this problem with EagleFiler. Someone had made a decently convincing GitHub repo using the official icon and screenshots and similar marketing text. It ranked highly in Google searches, I guess because GitHub itself has lots of PageRank. The page tried to get users to paste a Base64-encoded snippet into Terminal, which would download and run a shell script that would prompt the user for a password and save it to a cleartext file.

GitHub has ways to report abuse, as well as DMCA and trademark violations, and they got rid of the repo promptly.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-24): Jeff Johnson:

There’s a malware impersonation of StopTheMadness Pro on Github whose “download” is a malicious shell script.

Update (2025-09-26): Three more fake repos of my apps popped up on GitHub, and there are more for other Mac developers such as Rogue Amoeba.

Update (2025-09-29): Jeff Johnson:

The search phrase “for macOS” on GitHub reveals countless such fakes, pretending to be well-known Mac apps such as 1Blocker, Airfoil, BBEdit, Figma, Little Snitch, Malwarebytes, OmniOutliner, SoundSource, and VLC Media Player. This is clearly the work of a single person or group, because every repository follows the exact same template and technique. And there’s always a blatant “SEO Keywords” section on the page in order to game search engine results, already exploiting GitHub’s own prominent ranking.

[…]

This scam on GitHub is running amok. I’ve reported a few of the fakes myself to GitHub, but I can’t keep up, and that’s not my job. GitHub and Microsoft, the owner of GitHub, need to take decisive and comprehensive action to stop the spread of malware on their platform. Most concerning, I think, is the apparently unlimited ability of an attacker to create and deploy legions of anonymous new GitHub accounts for nefarious purposes.

Update (2025-10-04): Brian Webster:

Read this blog post by @lapcatsoftware about fake GitHub repos imitating real apps. Did a search for PowerPhotos and sure enough, found a couple hits. Good news is I reported it to GitHub and they took it down within a day. Could be an uphill battle if the scammers keep up the pace though.

I just got GitHub to take down another fake EagleFiler repo.

Update (2025-10-06): Jeff Johnson:

Apple Logic Pro for Windows…

…no. GitHub malware imposter, yes.

Also, GitHub malware imposter Final Cut Pro[…]

Mac Layout Guidelines

Mario Guzmán:

The following sections are general guidelines that describe fundamental Mac layout principles of center equalization, text and control alignment, appropriate use of white space, and visual balance. Following these guidelines will help you create functional and aesthetically pleasing windows that are easy for Mac users to understand and use.

[…]

When labels and controls are stacked in a group, they should line up with each other vertically. Note the right alignment of the colons for the main category labels and the left alignment of the checkboxes and radio buttons. The vertical alignment of the first control in each section is also first baseline aligned with the section title label.

A pet peeve of mine is that some apps put the section title labels in bold.

In such cases, you may use a label below the control with additional information as to how it will alter the application’s behavior.

  • These labels are small-sized multi-line labels.
  • The text color for these labels is “secondary text color” so they appear more muted than the actual control itself.

[…]

For any labels you add, they’re typically left aligned with the control they’re describing. However, for controls such as Checkboxes and Radio Buttons, they must be left-aligned with the label (title) of the control.

Previously:

Android Tracking Switch Privacy Lawsuit

Peter Hoskins & Lily Jamali (via Nick Heer):

A US federal court has told Google to pay $425m (£316.3m) for breaching users’ privacy by collecting data from millions of users even after they had turned off a tracking feature in their Google accounts.

The verdict comes after a group of users brought the case claiming Google accessed users’ mobile devices to collect, save and use their data, in violation of privacy assurances in its Web & App Activity setting.

They had been seeking more than $31bn in damages.

[…]

Google says that when users turn off Web & App Activity in their account, businesses using Google Analytics may still collect data about their use of sites and apps but that this information does not identify individual users and respects their privacy choices.

AP:

That means the total damages awarded in the five-year-old case works out to about $4 per device.

Rodriguez v. Google:

Plaintiffs in this lawsuit sued Google alleging that when someone turned off or “paused” Google’s Web & App Activity setting and/or supplemental Web & App Activity setting, Google lacked permission to collect, save, and use the data concerning their activity on non-Google apps that have incorporated certain Google software code into the apps (such as Uber, Venmo, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.). Plaintiffs allege that regardless of whether Class Members had these settings paused or turned off, Google collected app activity data using certain code embedded within many non-Google apps. This embedded code includes the Firebase Software Development Kit and the Google Mobile Ads Software Development Kit, which are written and distributed by Google and placed on apps by third party developers who own the apps. Plaintiffs allege Google used this code to unlawfully access their devices and collect, save, and use data from their activity on non-Google apps for Google’s own benefit.

This seems kind of like the Incognito lawsuit. Technically, it doesn’t really make sense that flipping a switch on an Android phone would turn off Google Analytics across the Web and third-party apps. But some customers expected this, I guess because it’s all Google tech and because the wording in the settings screen was not clear:

Google’s employees recognize, internally and without disclosing this publicly, that WAA is “not clear to users” (GOOG-RDGZ-00021182), “nebulous” (GOOG-RDGZ-00014578), “not well understood” (GOOG-RDGZ-00020706), “completely broken” (GOOG-RDGZ- 00130745 at -46) and “confuses users” (GOOG-RDGZ-00015004), where people “don’t know what WAA means” (GOOG-RDGZ-00021184) and Google’s promise of control is “just not true” (GOOG-RDGZ-00020680). Google employees accordingly describe WAA as a “terrible control” (GOOG-RDGZ-00130416) and a “loser” (GOOG-RDGZ-00144760), and lament how “Web & App Activity is the worst name ever” (GOOG-RDGZ-00089546).

It sounds to me like the switch did work in the sense that it did what it could reasonably do at the system level, but this was poorly explained and didn’t do as much as users wanted. In comparison, the Apple lawsuits are about how turning off a system-wide “share analytics” switch did not prevent system apps from sending personally identifiable data to Apple. This seems more directly bad, although Google is surely collecting more data overall.

Previously:

Friday, September 5, 2025

reMarkable Paper Pro Move

Hartley Charlton (Hacker News):

reMarkable today unveiled the Paper Pro Move, a compact color E Ink tablet that brings its minimalist writing experience to a more portable form factor aimed at those seeking a focused alternative to full-featured tablets like the iPad mini.

The Paper Pro Move features a 7.3-inch Canvas Color display based on E Ink Gallery 3 technology, offering improved color reproduction and a paper-like texture optimized for handwriting. The tablet measures 7.7 inches tall, 4.24 inches wide, and 6.5 millimeters thick, weighing 235 grams, making it significantly smaller and lighter than the 11.8-inch Paper Pro introduced in 2024. The iPad mini, on the other hand, measures 7.69 inches tall, 5.3 inches wide, and 7.2 millimeters thick, weighing 293 grams.

[…]

The Paper Pro Move supports PDFs and ePub documents but does not provide access to digital bookstores or third-party apps.

[…]

Pricing begins at $449 with the standard Marker stylus, while a $499 configuration includes the Marker Plus with an integrated eraser.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-29): Michael Burkhardt:

The new reMarkable Paper Pro Move hit the shelves earlier this month, and it comes in with a much smaller form factor, akin to an iPad mini. This new smaller reMarkable paper tablet is also a lot cheaper, making for a rather interesting comparison between the two.

[…]

If you want to see all of the differences between the two devices, here they are.

Update (2025-10-08): Steve Troughton-Smith:

Hardware acquired. Now to figure out if it fits into my life…

[…]

There is a lot of low-hanging fruit missing from reMarkable OS, that much is clear from the moment you start using it. Documents have infinite vertical scrolling, but finite horizontal scrolling, so a traditional mind-map layout doesn’t really work here without jumping through hoops (like using pinch-zoom to write tiny text). There are so many things they should be putting engineering effort into before nonsense like ‘AI’, but alas these are the times we live in.

Update (2025-10-14): See also: geoffaire.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Craig Hockenberry (Mastodon):

If you’re someone who’s only using email, a web browser, and some messaging apps to get stuff done, changes to your desktop appearance aren’t going to be disruptive. It’s also likely that you’ll appreciate changes that make it look like your phone.

If you’re doing anything more complex than that, your response to change will be much different.

[…]

Professionals on the Mac are like truck drivers. Drivers have a cockpit filled with specialized dials, knobs, switches, microwave ovens, refrigerators, and pillows that are absolutely necessary for hauling goods across country. Those of us who are making movies, producing hit songs, building apps, or doing scientific research have our own highly specialized cockpits.

And along comes Alan Dye with his standard cockpit, that is beautiful to look at and fun to use on curvy roads. But also completely wrong for the jobs we’re doing. There’s no air ride seat, microwave oven, or air brake release. His response will be to hide these things that we use all the time behind a hidden menu.

John Gruber (2010):

It’s the heaviness of the Mac that allows iOS to remain light.

After mocking the Toaster-Fridge, it turns out that’s kind of where Apple’s taking us. I think they’ve done OK at keeping iOS and iPadOS light, but a lot of the Mac changes seem aimed at achieving a foolish consistency.

Jason Snell:

The iPhone has utterly changed Apple’s priorities as a company. It generates, directly or indirectly, most of Apple’s revenue and profit. But it’s also had knock-on effects: The popularity of the iPhone has driven more people to the Mac. The proportion of Mac users who are “using email, a web browser, and some messaging apps” has risen, probably markedly.

[…]

In many ways, it makes good financial sense for Apple to steer the Mac in a direction that feels familiar to iPhone users and pleases those casual Mac users. They’re probably the majority of Mac users! But what about the Mac as a platform for professional users, who use the Mac as a truck, not a car?

Marco Arment:

Dye’s “consistency” poorly attempts to solve a problem no Mac users had, by radically redesigning the Mac to be utterly unlike itself, carelessly discarding decades of thoughtful design, function, and delight without bothering to understand any of it, and lacking adequate resources to replace it with anywhere near the quality and consideration that it once had.

It’s the sad conclusion of macOS’ takeover, under Tim Cook, by people who seem to kinda hate the Mac.

Brent Simmons (Mastodon):

I seriously dislike the experience of using a Mac with Liquid Glass. The UI has become the star, but the drunken star, blurry, illegible, and physically unstable. It makes making things way more of a struggle than it used to be.

We had pretty good Mac UI, but Apple took the bad parts of it — the translucency and blurriness already there — and dialed it way up and called it content-centric. But it seems to me the opposite. Liquid Glass is Liquid-Glass-centric.

Norbert Heger:

Why menu icons are a terrible idea on macOS?

Here’s a photo showing them side by side on an iPhone and on a MacBook Pro screen.

On iOS, menu icons can work quite well to communicate the meaning of menu items. They’re reasonably sized, displayed on screens with very high pixel density (around 460 ppi), and typically viewed from a fairly close distance.

But this doesn’t translate to macOS at all. On macOS 26 Tahoe, the icons are ridiculously small (about one-quarter of the physical area), displayed on screens with much lower pixel density (e.g. 254 ppi on the latest MacBook Pro), and usually viewed from about twice as far away.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

If you already think Liquid Glass looks bad on macOS, try running apps fullscreen and take a look at the botch job they’ve done to shoehorn it in and get it over the line. You get a mostly-opaque toolbar that intersects the sidebar that no app is designed for, bleed-through of shadows and other chunks of off-white areas, and a miserable bleached sidebar that removes any sense of Liquid Glass and just looks pale and awful.

Michael Flarup (Hacker News):

With iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS 26, icons are now, for the first time, shared between platforms. Liquid Glass is attempting a unification of the design language across all of these platforms (but curiously not VisionOS).

This also means that the Macintosh now shares the constraints of these other platforms.

[…]

With Liquid Glass, iOS gains personality and macOS loses some of its soul.

While I mourn the loss of transparency and unique app icon shapes on the desktop, I also fear that applying a single visual effect consistently across a big system is problematic.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

My two theses of the summer beta period remain:

  1. iPadOS 26 has crossed the rubicon on the way to becoming a ‘real’ desktop OS
  2. Classic/traditional Mac apps no longer feel fully native on macOS

Pierre Igot:

It’s actually macOS itself that no longer feels fully native on the Mac.

I support all the Mac developers out there who are resisting this bulldozing of decades of carefully built software environments, by buying their products and software subscriptions. And I refuse to support “Mac” developers who drink Apple’s tasteless Kool-Aid and keep embracing this relentless destruction of real Mac software, version after version. Nothing makes up for it.

Michael Flarup:

Into the squircle jail it goes.

Jeff Johnson:

The Tahoe squircle jail is in the crApp Store too!

Previously:

Update (2025-10-16): Matt Birchler:

I’ve written different versions of this over the last couple of years, but it really has been academically interesting to watch Apple overtly merge their operating systems to the point where their stated goal is to deliver the same experience across all of their devices. iPhone and iPad apps have long acted basically the same, just on different screen sizes. The SwiftUI era brought that mentality to include Mac apps as well. And at this point, I could show you a zoomed-in portion of an app made by Apple, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell me if it’s for the iPhone, iPad, or Mac. These UIs now differ at the edges rather than at any fundamental level.

[…]

More and more, the company that professed unique experiences across their platforms has become the company laser-focused on making those platforms run the same apps, look the same, and behave the same. It feels to me like any differences you could point to that prove that statement wrong are actually just todo items Apple just hasn’t gotten to yet.

OmniFocus 4.7

Ainsley Bourque Olson:

OmniFocus 4.7 introduces three powerful enhancements: a new “Planned” date type (for specifying the date an item is scheduled for work), the ability to create mutually exclusive tags (handy in a variety of workflows, like prioritization and energy level assignment), and improved repeat functionality (including new support for setting a repeat to end after a specific date or set number of repetitions).

[…]

We’ve also tested and polished the database migration flow, substantially updated our Help content (and integrated it directly into the app), localized the app more thoroughly for non-English speakers, and implemented additional features which do not require a database migration (new Forecast functionality, Time Sensitive Notification support, improved shortcut actions, and more!).

I’ve been running mostly on Defer Dates for so long, often putting the date when I intend to start working on an action directly into its text. Obviously, that’s a design smell. Planned Dates seem like a better way to handle this, though I haven’t yet had a chance to get a feel for how they work in practice. I think a key will be learning how to leverage the Forecast view, which I’ve mostly ignored thus far.

With OmniFocus 3, I was a bit concerned that we were losing something with the switch from contexts to tags. An action can have multiple tags, which has proved to be very handy. But sometimes I want to treat tags more like folders, where assigning one tag automatically unassigns another. Mutually exclusive tags are a way to have the best of both styles. I can still assign multiple tags, e.g. for different locations where I might work on an action, but at the same time OmniFocus can enforce that certain groups of tags are treated like contexts:

I’ve added my “Today/Radar/Back Burner” tags to a mutually exclusive “Priority” tag group, and I can bump something up or down a priority list by simply assigning a single tag.

Task prioritization is just one example of a workflow streamlined by the introduction of mutually exclusive tags: we think this feature will also be a great fit for folks who use tags to assign energy level (high/low/medium), time of day (morning/afternoon/evening), or even appropriate weather (rain/sun) to their tasks.

The Omni Group:

To avoid breaking compatibility with earlier versions of the app, OmniFocus will only prompt you to migrate your database format once it detects that all active OmniFocus sync clients are capable of supporting the new database format.

Version 4.7 can still use the old database format, but some of the new features require migrating.

OmniFocus’s syncing has been rock solid almost the entire time I’ve been using the app. However, after finally updating to iOS 18 last month, version 4.6.1, which had never given me any trouble, suddenly kept getting out of sync with my Mac. Changes on the phone would sync to the Mac, but not vice-versa. The phone would say that it has synced yet still show itself as being many changes behind, as if the changes were stored locally but not yet integrated into the database. This continued with 4.7 and the old database format as well as after migration. Omni is looking into it. For now, I’ve found that force quitting seems to unblock whatever is preventing the app from integrating the changes.

Ken Case:

My OmniFocus tip is to use the parts of the app that actually help you, and ignore or even hide the parts that you don’t yet need.

We designed the app with a lot of depth so that people could reach for that depth when they need it. But we’ve tried to design the app with progressive disclosure, so you can start simple, ignoring those deep features until such a time as you might actually need them.

PoorBC:

I am edging toward the conclusion that OmniFocus with Planned date, Today view, and Forecast view could be the simplest task manager available if you just want to see what’s on your plate today without seeing tasks that are not available. That’s assuming you ignore the advanced features, which is certainly doable. You don’t have to have projects or tags if you choose not to.

Previously:

SQLite on macOS Not ACID

Jonathan Johnson (2022):

From my investigation, Apple’s version of SQLite instead replaces PRAGMA fullfsync = on’s implementation to use F_BARRIERFSYNC.

SQLite users who are expecting PRAGMA fullfsync to provide durability guarantees in the event of power failures or kernel panics can override xSync via a custom VFS or build SQLite from source.

[…]

Apple’s documentation clearly states that for any guarantees about data loss due to power loss or kernel panic, you must use the fcntl() API with the F_FULLFSYNC command.

[…]

For most consumer applications, F_BARRIERFSYNC will be enough to provide reasonable durability with the benefit of performing much more quickly. However, there are some situations where true ACID compliance is desired.

[…]

It’s very confusing when a feature that’s documented to be specific to macOS doesn’t behave as documented on macOS.

Although, SQLite itself is open-source, as are many parts of macOS and iOS, he says that the source for Apple’s SQLite is not available.

Andrew Ayer (Hacker News):

Unfortunately, SQLite’s documentation about its durability properties is far from clear. I cannot tell whether SQLite is durable by default, and if not, what are the minimal settings you need to use to ensure durability.

[…]

A Hacker News commenter who agrees with my reading of the documentation asked Hipp how his comment is consistent with the documentation, but received no reply.

Hipp also says that WAL mode used to be durable by default, but it was changed after people complained about poor performance. This surprised me, since I had the impression that SQLite cared deeply about backwards compatibility, and weakening the default durability setting is a nasty breaking change for any application which needs durability.

[…]

My takeaway is that if you need durability, you’d better set the synchronous option explicitly because who knows what the default is, or what it will be in the future. With WAL mode, FULL seems to suffice. As for DELETE mode, who knows if FULL is enough, so you’d better go with EXTRA to be safe. And if your application might be used on macOS, enable fullfsync.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-08): Sherief, FYI:

I was bitten by this in production! my advice would be to bundle your own SQLite and in general, bundle your own code as much as you can on macOS / iOS, never rely on OS claims of correctness.

However, this is not possible if you’re using SQLite through Core Data or SwiftData.

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Atlassian Acquires The Browser Company

Atlassian (tweet, Hacker News):

We’ve entered into an agreement to acquire The Browser Company of New York, the team behind the incredible Dia and Arc browsers.

By combining The Browser Company’s passion for building browsers people love with Atlassian’s deep expertise on how the world’s best teams operate, we have the opportunity to transform how work gets done in the AI era.

David Pierce:

Atlassian is paying $610 million in cash for The Browser Company, and plans to run it as an independent entity.

Manton Reece:

As a VC-backed company, perhaps The Browser Company was always going to need to sell. My initial reaction is Atlassian seems a weird fit. But maybe not?

Adam Engst:

Overall, I believe this is a positive move for users of the Arc browser. The acquisition gets The Browser Company out of the venture capital rat race and moves it under the oversight of Atlassian, best known to TidBITS readers for its 2017 acquisition of Trello, the task management tool we used extensively during the Take Control days (see “Trello Offers Compelling Collaboration Tool,” 9 July 2012). Atlassian also develops Jira, a project management platform, and Confluence, a collaborative documentation tool, both primarily targeted at developers.

Previously:

ASUS ProArt 6K Display

ASUS:

ProArt Display PA32QCV is a 31.5-inch 6K HDR monitor designed for professional content creators. This Calman Verified display boasts a wide gamut with 98% DCI-P3 coverage and Delta E<2 color accuracy. The ProArt Preset feature now includes the new M Model-P3 mode to deliver seamless and consistent colors when working with MacBook devices. Dual Thunderbolt™ 4 ports support daisy-chaining and enable superfast data transfers and 96-watt power delivery via a single cable.

Unlike the LG and Dell 6K displays, this has the same 6016x3384 resolution as Apple’s Pro Display XDR, which hasn’t been updated since it was introduced more than 6 years ago. The ProArt costs $1,399, whereas the XDR is still priced at $5,999 (with stand).

Juli Clover:

ASUS doesn’t have the same design aesthetic as Apple, so the ProArt 6K’s design isn’t impressive. There’s a square-shaped base, an arm that attaches to the display, and thin bezels at the top and the sides. There’s a thicker bottom bezel that houses some quick access control buttons.

ASUS’ display has the same 218 pixels per inch as the Pro Display XDR, and text looks crisp. Colors are accurate out of the box and can be further tweaked in the Settings menu with different profiles. HDR10 support is included, but peak brightness maxes out at 600 nits, which limits HDR performance. It also does not have individual local dimming zones, which means it is lacking several of the pro features that set Apple’s XDR display apart.

The ProArt 6K has a matte display coating that’s meant to cut down on reflections, but it does impact some of the color vibrancy and contrast.

Fabien Sanglard (2023, Hacker News):

According to Intel’s Thunderbolt-3 technology brief, the interface has a bandwidth of 40 Gbps. With the 6,016 x 3,384 @ 60Hz / 10bpc plugged into a calculator, the display requires roughly 38.2 Gbps.

This means Thunderbolt 3 bandwidth is nearly maxed out with only 40-38.2 = 1.8Gbps left.

[…]

Thunderbolt 4 was released in 2020 along with Intel’s 8000-series controllers called Maple Ridge. It did not increase the bandwidth, which stayed at 40 Gbps, but it made support for DisplayPort 1.4 (and therefore DSC) mandatory.

This version allows supporting display configuration such as 8K@60Hz.

Previously:

AppKitUI

Darren Ford:

An AppKit UI toolkit help you create and manage NSView content easily

  1. Remove dependence on using XIBs when creating UI views
  2. Reduce boilerplate code when manually creating NSView UI content.
  3. Easily bind data between controls
  4. Easily attach actions to your controls (no more delegates or target/actions!)
  5. Use Xcode’s preview pane to view your designs!!

There’s a demo.

Previously:

Writing Mac and iOS Apps Shouldn’t Be So Difficult

Brent Simmons (Mastodon):

A scripting language plus key bits implemented in C was more than fast enough for an app. Even all those years ago.

[…]

I’m not writing this article to praise Frontier — I’m talking about it to make a point, which I’ll get to.

But I wanted to bring up a second aspect to this: it’s not just frictionless iteration that was so great, it was also the scripting language and environment.

[…]

I’m not saying apps these days need to be Frontier-like in any details. But it seems absolutely bizarre to me that we — we who write Mac and iOS apps — still have to build and run the app, make changes, build and run the app, and so on, all day long. In the year 2025.

I was just listening to a Larry Tesler interview where he talks about live editing the Xerox Alto’s Smalltalk code in the middle of a demo to Steve Jobs. This was in 1979.

And it seems retro in the worst way that we’re still using anything other than a scripting language for most of our code. We should be using something simple and light that can configure toolbars, handle networking callbacks, query databases, manage views, and so on. And maybe with a DSL for SwiftUI-like declarative UI.

[…]

And at some point I suspect these things are going to be table stakes for any platform that wants to attract developers. If you were a new developer right now, would you pick Xcode’s build-and-run, edit, build-and-run, edit — plus the growing complexity of Swift — over something like Electron and JavaScript?

Manton Reece:

I also used Frontier a lot during that time. It was great. Personally, instead of Swift, I would’ve loved to see RubyCocoa taken to the next level.

Frontier was great, and I was excited about Apple’s initial embrace of PyObjC, RubyCocoa, and other bridges, but they’ve now gone completely in the other direction. AppleScriptObjC is still there, but it doesn’t work with the newer Swift-based APIs, and the initial hopes that Swift would lead to a successor scripting language seem to have completely evaporated.

Kyle Howells:

This idea, a higher level, live reloading, scripting language built on top a compiled, fast core language you can drop down to when needed was my hope when Apple released Swift.

Previously:

Substack IAP

Substack (Hacker News):

The Substack app drives more than 30% of all paid subscriptions, making it a major source of discovery and discussion. Until now, however, it hasn’t always been possible to upgrade to a paid subscription directly in the app.

That’s changing. Apple now allows Substack to include external links for paid subscriptions in the iOS app in the U.S., while also requiring that all publications offer in-app purchase (IAP) as an option.

Subscriptions purchased via Apple’s IAP have different fees, payout timing, and billing controls compared with web-based subscriptions. This FAQ explains those differences and the tools Substack has built to help you protect your revenue, maintain your subscriber relationships, and stay in control.

[…]

To protect your earnings, Substack will automatically set your price in the iOS app higher for subscriptions purchased through Apple’s in-app purchase (IAP) system. This increase offsets Apple’s fee, so you receive approximately the same payout you would for a web-based subscription.

You can opt out of the price adjustment, but you can’t opt out of IAP. So payments that go through Apple will be delayed, and there’s a bifurcated refund system.

Previously:

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

WhatsApp and Instagram for iPad, Finally

WhatsApp:

Bringing all your favorite features to a larger screen, WhatsApp for iPad makes keeping in touch with friends and family even easier. Make video and audio calls with up to 32 people, share your screen, and use both front and back cameras.

We’ve made WhatsApp for iPad ideal for multitasking so you can get more done. Take advantage of iPadOS multitasking features such as Stage Manager, Split View, and Slide Over to view multiple apps at once, so you can send messages while browsing the web, or research options for a group trip while on a call together.

John Gruber (Mastodon):

One of the weird things about Meta’s companywide obstinate refusal to adapt its iOS apps for iPadOS is that for WhatsApp, they’ve had a fairly decent Mac app for years. Surely it was less work to adapt their iOS app for iPadOS than it was to create a passable Mac app using Catalyst.

Instagram (MacRumors, Hacker News):

Today, we’re excited to announce we’re bringing Instagram to iPad. People have asked for this for a while, and we’ve taken the time to design an experience that optimizes your favorite parts of Instagram for a bigger screen.

Instagram has always been the place where people connect over creativity, and Reels has become a primary way people discover and share entertaining content. With Instagram for iPad, we’ve redesigned the experience to reflect how people use bigger screens today – for lean back entertainment. Now, when you open the app, you’ll drop into Reels, so you can get the entertaining content you love on a bigger screen. You’ll also see Stories at the top, so you can easily connect with the people that matter to you, and messaging is one tap away.

BasicAppleGuy:

15 Years for Instagram to come to iPad! We’re talking going back to the days of Steve Jobs, iTunes Ping, the era of iPods, AirPort, & the iPhone 4.

Warner Crocker:

The folks at Meta must have something up their sleeve. The reason I say that is they have finally, after all of these years released an iPad version of the app, long after most folks just figured it would never happen.

Jason Snell:

While messages, notifications, and reels do feel more expansive on the new app, the standard view still feels… pretty empty. I’m glad the app is fully iPad native now, but it would sure be nice if Instagram considered what might be an elevated tablet experience. (I guess we can stop waiting for the app and start waiting for it to be better instead!)

Christina Warren:

Sadly the app is not good

Previously:

Google Search Remedies

Adam Engst:

After years of legal proceedings, the Google antitrust case has finally resulted in a ruling with real-world impact—though perhaps not in the way many expected. Rather than forcing dramatic changes, the ruling preserves key aspects of how users currently engage with Google’s products.

Lauren Feiner (PDF, MacRumors, Slashdot):

Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser in order to address its illegal monopoly in online search, DC District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled on Tuesday. Over a year ago, Judge Mehta found that the search giant had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act; his ruling now determines what Google must do in response.

[…]

In his 230-page ruling, Mehta explained that even though Google’s default status as the search engine on Chrome “undoubtedly contributes to Google’s dominance in general search,” forcing Google to sell it is ultimately “a poor fit for this case.” The DOJ failed to prove that solutions less extreme than a break-up would not be enough to restore competition, he wrote. Furthermore, he says, the DOJ did not prove a causal connection between its monopoly power and Chrome defaults.

[…]

Declining to ban Google from paying for defaults actually “heightened” the need to adopt a remedy that forces Google to share some of its search data with competitors, Mehta noted. “Qualified Competitors will have to continue to compete with Google on price to gain distribution. So, their competitive advantage will have to come from innovation and differentiating their search services from Google’s,” he wrote. To do that, search competitors need scale that they have largely been denied by Google’s search monopoly. So Mehta agreed to let qualified competitors buy at marginal cost a one-time snapshot of a variety of search data that Google collects, which he says will let those rivals “identify and crawl more web pages with valuable content and do so more efficiently.”

Jay Peters:

Google will be able to keep making search deals like its $20 billion agreement to be the default option in Apple’s Safari browser, a federal district court judge ruled in the US v. Google antitrust case on Tuesday. Executives from both Apple and Firefox developer Mozilla have defended their search deals with Google, with Mozilla’s CFO testifying that Firefox might be doomed without the deal in place.

[…]

Google also won’t have to show choice screens on its products, according to the ruling.

Steven Vaughan-Nichols:

This ruling marks the most significant monopoly case since the Microsoft trial nearly 30 years ago.

[…]

Google’s search advertising business, which generated over $198 billion last year, remains under pressure from ongoing antitrust scrutiny even as AI-driven search alternatives, such as Perplexity, grow.

In the meantime, the market is overjoyed at what it sees as a Google win. Google stock jumped 8% as the news quickly spread. Nevertheless, Google is widely expected to appeal the decision, and the judge’s orders will be paused pending appeal. This process will take years.

Matt Stoller:

Today, the decade-long campaign to stop big tech from dominating our society took a significant step backwards, as the judge hearing the search case against Google, Amit Mehta, chose not to meaningfully constrain the firm’s illegal behavior. And to engage in such deferential behavior, he openly ignored Supreme Court precedent.

[…]

Mehta found that Google was doing illegal things to maintain its monopoly, but he didn’t force the company to stop doing those illegal things.

Why not? Well, he said that new companies like OpenAI had emerged to potentially challenge Google, and he didn’t want to, and I’m not kidding, hinder Google’s ability to compete with them.

[…]

This remedy, by contrast, is obviously going to fail. And the main reason is that, unlike Microsoft, Google’s leadership is utterly unchastened. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and chief legal officer Kent Walker will get bonuses for what they did. They see this conflict as one in which they fought bitterly, and kept at it, and shredded documents, and the result was… victory.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-04): Vlad Prelovac:

[Judge Mehta] showed very deep understanding of the matter and didn’t fall for meaningless remedies such as breaking up Google, or divesting Chrome but went for search index access, just as we recommended.

[…]

The mandatory license will be for five years, not the ten years plaintiffs requested. The court views this as a temporary measure to help competitors become independent, not a permanent reliance on Google.

[…]

In the first year, competitors can only use Google’s syndicated results for a maximum of 40% of their total annual queries. This cap is intended to ensure competitors develop their own capability for the majority of searches and rely on Google only for the most difficult “long-tail” queries.

[…]

Google will be allowed to place “ordinary commercial restrictions” on how competitors use the syndicated search results. This means competitors will be prohibited from activities like scraping, crawling, or indexing the results to protect Google’s intellectual property.

[…]

The court explicitly rejects the plaintiffs’ proposal to force Google to offer syndication at its marginal cost.

Mike Masnick:

So Google can still pay Apple and Mozilla, just not exclusively? That seems like a distinction that might not make much practical difference. If Google can outbid everyone else (which they can), and Apple/Mozilla have admitted users get pissed when they don’t use Google as default, what exactly changes here?

[…]

Mehta isn’t requiring Google to hand over everything—which would raise legitimate privacy and security concerns—but specifically the datasets that flow from the scale advantages Google gained through its anticompetitive conduct. It’s an elegant solution that addresses the actual harm without creating new ones.

[…]

When the DOJ first filed this lawsuit, Google’s search dominance seemed unshakeable. By the time Mehta was crafting remedies, generative AI had created the first credible alternative to traditional search in decades. Suddenly, preventing Google from extending its search monopoly into AI distribution became just as important as addressing its existing dominance.

[…]

The question remains whether any of this will actually create more competitive search engines. But at least it’s not actively making things worse, which, honestly, was my biggest fear going in. I had feared that the court wouldn’t properly thread the needle on remedies, and yet… this seems to have been done very thoughtfully and strikes what is likely a good balance.

Cory Doctorow (Hacker News):

Judge Mehta turned his courtroom into a Star Chamber, a black hole whence no embarrassing information about Google’s wicked deeds could emerge. That meant that the only punishment Google would have to bear from this trial would come after the government won its case, when the judge decided on a punishment (the term of art is “remedy”) for Google.

Yesterday, he handed down that remedy and it is as bad as it could be. In fact, it is likely the worst possible remedy for this case[…]

[…]

This will not secure competition for search, but it will certainly democratize human rights violations at scale.

Doubtless there will be loopholes in this data-sharing order. Google will have the right to hold back some of its data (that is, our data) if it is deemed “sensitive.” This isn’t so much a loophole as is a loopchasm.

Matt Stoller:

Today, the decade-long campaign to stop big tech from dominating our society took a significant step backwards, as the judge hearing the search case against Google, Amit Mehta, chose not to meaningfully constrain the firm’s illegal behavior. And to engage in such deferential behavior, he openly ignored Supreme Court precedent.

[…]

Mehta found that Google was doing illegal things to maintain its monopoly, but he didn’t force the company to stop doing those illegal things.

Why not? Well, he said that new companies like OpenAI had emerged to potentially challenge Google, and he didn’t want to, and I’m not kidding, hinder Google’s ability to compete with them.

[…]

This remedy, by contrast, is obviously going to fail. And the main reason is that, unlike Microsoft, Google’s leadership is utterly unchastened. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and chief legal officer Kent Walker will get bonuses for what they did. They see this conflict as one in which they fought bitterly, and kept at it, and shredded documents, and the result was… victory.

Tim Wu:

Confusing part is: The opinion says G “cannot secure exclusivity for its GenAI products…” yet allows Google “to pay distributors for default placement.” But the judge himself found that defaults end up mimicking exclusives!

What if Google now offers Samsung billions to preinstall Gemini as its operating AI -- yet in a way that technically can be switched? Is that a banned exclusive, or is that paying for default placement?

Previously:

macOS Tahoe 26 Developer Beta 9

Juli Clover:

Apple today provided developers with the ninth beta of macOS Tahoe 26 for testing purposes, with the update coming a week after the eighth beta.

The release notes don’t call out any changes since beta 5.

Norbert Doerner:

I mean, that Spotlight search icon isn’t even vertically centered.

It looks to me like this was finally fixed in beta 9. They also made the icon larger.

Mario Guzmán:

Going back to the new Settings window for FaceTime in #macOSTahoe again.

Yes, they added SO much text in this view that it scrolls. Yet, since scrollbars auto-hide, you wouldn’t know by just looking at this view.

I wonder if Apple knows about Tab Views. If your pane for a specific tab has too much content, split them into groups inside a tab view.

John Voorhees:

I’m curious whether any developers have gotten custom controls for macOS Tahoe’s redsigned Control Center to work.

I saw a couple in the very early betas but they disappeared and haven’t reappeared yet.

Mario Guzmán:

For Betas 1-6, my toolbar in #AppKit has been working perfectly fine as it has since 2018. But Beta 7, 8, & now 9, it is so broken. Aside from all the other AppKit bugs I have submitted since betas 1-3, things are just getting more and more broken rather than less.

Seems super late in the game to have none of my AppKit reports addressed but also making things even worse this late in the game.

Poor app devs (Apple + 3rd party) are paying the price of this overly complex redesign.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

macOS is in a pretty rough state even in beta 9, with lifecycle issues, Dock hangs, Dark Mode rendering issues, and more. This might have to be one of those years where macOS comes in October instead.

Matthias Gansrigler-Hrad:

Thought this was dirt on my screen, when in reality they’re the ticks of the slider.

Jeff Johnson:

This is what Safari 26 Extension Settings looks like with no internet connection.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-05): For some users, the Spotlight icon is not fixed. They are seeing a taller search field than I am, and the icon is not centered.

Update (2025-09-09): Craig Hockenberry:

If you are on Tahoe and finding that you’re constantly resizing windows accidentally, it’s not your fault.

The hysteresis on the double-click detection is much too long - two clicks in the title bar a second apart will trigger the resize, no matter how you’ve configured your Mouse Double-Click Speed.

It took me several attempts to figure out how to disable this “feature”, but here it is[…]

iOS 26 Developer Beta 9

Juli Clover:

Apple today provided developers with the ninth betas of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 for testing purposes, with the updates coming a week after Apple seeded the eighth betas.

The release notes don’t call out any changes since beta 5.

Mario Guzmán:

Not everything needs to have round end caps 🙄 look how close the album artwork now is to the edges. But move it in any closer, now the labels become useless. Concentricity is total bs.

Why are these designers creating more problems for themselves and us with dumb things like concentricity — which is something literally no one asked for.

Louie Mantia:

Verifiably been sounding the alarm for a month on effects bugs with OS 26 and Icon Composer. No fixes. They’re gonna ship it.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

I don’t see progress on any bugs of mine in beta 9, so I think it’s time to wait for 26.1. I suspect the things they are fixing are to support their apps and new iPhones only, and it has been like that for a while now

Just to be sure, I re-checked everything I’ve filed since June. Even the SpringBoard crashers are still unresolved 😶

Adam Bell:

Beta 9 and UINavigationBar’s backButtonItem still doesn’t respect -hidesSharedBackground or -sharesBackground.

:(

Effectively means you’re SOL if you do any custom back button designs and don’t want a glass background (or you end up doing weird workarounds with leftBarButtonItems)

Nick Heer:

I have never had a problem sending photos to contacts over iMessage until I upgraded to iOS 26, which is a cool indication of where we’re at in early September.

Marc Palmer:

Given that we make an app that frames screenshots, I would very much like it if Apple fixes the bugs in iOS 26 where sometimes the system screenshot UI just doesn’t show.

Nico Reese:

iOS fails to render icons as they are displayed in Icon Composer when using blend mode Screen on a layer.

This is bad. You cannot know for certain if what you put into your icon looks exactly like what you ship. This is even worse for designers who are not developers and have no idea why this happens. They should not have to think about this stuff.

Louie Mantia:

I am not surprised. I am disappointed.

Icons made in Icon Composer do not render identically on home screens as they do in Icon Composer. This is a complication that never existed for my job before, where I deliver an icon to a client, and the deliverable is broken through no fault of my own. A bug. I’m an icon designer, not a developer. For the first time, I have to deal with bugs.

Marc Palmer:

So on iPad at least, it seems like everybody’s keyboard is broken in 26. Remember to take your iPad back to the Apple Store to the keyboard repaired.

Adrian Schönig:

iOS 26 call screening is incredibly good. I had my phone muted for unknown calls the last few years thanks to all those data leaks from various big Aussie companies, that had lead to tons of spam calls.

Previously:

Update (2025-09-08): Dave Polaschek:

I’ve written up some of my iOS whines and why I won’t be moving to iOS or macOS 26. In fact, I think I’m done buying things from Apple. I’ve got a Chromebook I’m using in an attempt to replace my iPad (the Chromebook is too heavy, and I hate the touchscreen on it, but I’m USING it), a MNT Pocket Reform to explore the world of Unix on ARM, and multiple RPis. I’m also seriously considering a Murena Fairphone 6, which will be out this month.

Mario Guzmán:

Look, I get that Liquid Glass UI is going to need a LOT of refinement over the next few OS releases across all platforms. Fine.

But literally no one asked for this Liquid Glass effect. There are thousands of existing years-old bugs in your backlog -- maybe spent the effort there?

Update (2025-09-09): Marc Edwards:

The new iOS 26 and macOS app icon shape looks like it is based on the iOS 7 app icon shape with a larger radius, rather than a superellipse. Here’s an image diff with my best attempt matching a superellipse. It’s not quite the same.

Rob:

Are Liquid Glass enabled apps supposed to have such ugly icon corners on iPadOS 17?

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Carbon Copy Cloner 7.1.3

Version 7.1.2:

CCC has a new “glass” icon that looks great on macOS Tahoe! Big thanks to our UI designer Enelia at Abacus Finch who was able to find a way to keep our beloved page curl with the new glass material.

[…]

Tahoe users: If you disable the CCC menubar icon via the new System Settings > Menu Bar > Allow in the Menu Bar interface, CCC cannot be aware of that setting. For the best experience, we recommend that you use the settings inside of CCC for controlling whether the CCC menubar icon is visible.

[…]

In lieu of a separate button, you can now hold down the Option key while clicking the Start button if you would like to have CCC rescan the entire source and destination (i.e. suppress Quick Update). Additionally, you can hold down the Control key to perform an ad hoc Backup Health Check.

[…]

Added yet another workaround for Apple’s restriction on access to the current WiFi network name for the macOS Sequoia 15.6 update. CCC uses the WiFi network name only in support of the option to limit a scheduled task to running when the system is connected to a specific WiFi network.

Version 7.1.3:

CCC will now more effectively dissent requests to unmount the source volume snapshot when the task is actively using that volume for the duration of a task event. Requests to unmount that snapshot are pretty rare, but that can happen if free space on the source volume is very low, or during a logout event. This change resolves the errors that would ensue in those cases when the source is unmounted while we’re using it.

Previously:

Google to Require Developer Verification for Android Sideloading

Abner Li (Hacker News):

To combat malware and financial scams, Google announced today that only apps from developers that have undergone verification can be installed on certified Android devices starting in 2026.

This requirement applies to “certified Android devices” that have Play Protect and are preloaded with Google apps. The Play Store implemented similar requirements in 2023, but Google is now mandating this for all install methods, including third-party app stores and sideloading where you download an APK file from a third-party source.

It sounds like this is checking the person behind the developer account rather than checking the content of the submitted apps.

Sominemo:

I’m struggling to see the benefit of this new policy. While it’s presented as a security measure, the requirement to fill out these forms seems like a trivial barrier for actual malware creators, who will easily abuse the system. The real impact will be felt by legitimate developers who either value their privacy or don’t want to be tied to Google’s centralized ecosystem.

My primary concern is the potential for mismanagement, which could disproportionately harm independent developers. We’ve already seen how Google’s automated systems can randomly ban established developers from Google Play with little to no feedback. A system like this, which grants Google even more oversight, could easily make this problem worse.

Rui Carmo:

The new Android security measures are an interesting piece of revisionist thinking—“developer verification” is now set as the gatekeeper for sideloaded apps in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand by September 2026, with what looks like full side-loading lockdown coming 2027.

Regardless of the malware angle, this seems to effectively kill side-loading on Android in the near future, making it as hobbyist-hostile as iOS and very likely spelling doom for open ecosystems like F-Droid (which I rely upon to customize every Android device I get my hands on).

Rosyna Keller:

What’s the problem with Google becoming a CA for all apps that want to interface with Google Play Services?

Steve Tibbett:

Apple has shown that they’ll use that capability to enforce policy decisions, guess the Android folks don’t want anyone being able to do that.

Sameer Samat:

Sideloading is fundamental to Android, and it’s not going anywhere. As we said in our blog, our new developer identity requirements are designed to protect users and developers from bad actors, not to limit choice. We want to make sure that if you download an app from a developer, regardless of where you get it, it’s actually from them. That’s it.

[…]

We are working on a flow for devs, hobbyists, etc that won’t interfere with your workflow.

Terence Eden (Hacker News):

No rational user would install a purported battery app with that scary list of permissions, right? Wrong!

[…]

There is no UI tweak you can do to prevent users bypassing these scary warnings. There is no amount of education you can provide to reliably make people stop and think.

[…]

Given that sideloaded Android apps are clearly a massive vector for fraud, it obviously behoves Google to find a way to secure their platform as much as possible.

[…]

This is quite obviously a bullshit powerplay by Google to ensnare the commons. Not content with closing down parts of the Android Open Source Project, stuffing more and more vital software behind its proprietary services, and freezing out small manufacturers - now it wants the name and shoe-size of every developer!

[…]

I remember The Day Google Deleted Me - we cannot have these lumbering monsters gatekeeping what we do on our machines.

Hugo Tunius (Hacker News):

When Google restricts your ability to install certain applications they aren’t constraining what you can do with the hardware you own, they are constraining what you can do using the software they provide with said hardware. It’s through this control of the operating system that Google is exerting control, not at the hardware layer. You often don’t have full access to the hardware either and building new operating systems to run on mobile hardware is impossible, or at least much harder than it should be. This is a separate, and I think more fruitful, point to make.

kristov:

I think the conversation needs to change from “can’t run software of our choice” to “can’t participate in society without an apple or google account”. I have been living with a de-googled android phone for a number of years, and it is getting harder and harder, while at the same time operating without certain “apps” is becoming more difficult.

For example, by bank (abn amro) still allows online banking on desktop via a physical auth device, but they are actively pushing for login only via their app. I called their support line for a lost card, and had to go through to second level support because I didn’t have the app. If they get their way, eventually an apple or google account will be mandatory to have a bank account with them.

My kid goes to a school that outsourced all communication via an app. They have a web version, but it’s barely usable. The app doesn’t run without certain google libs installed. Again, to participate in school communication about my kid effectively requires an apple or google account.

See also: Louis Rossmann (Hacker News).

Previously:

Update (2025-10-08): Glyn Moody (Hacker News):

Google is at pains to emphasize “Verified developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or through any app store they prefer.” But that’s not true: their “freedom” will be soon be conditional, subject to Google’s whim and veto (as the company’s recent removal of the ICE-spotting app ‘Red Dot’ demonstrates).

This implies that Google stopped the distribution of Red Dot outside of the Google Play Store. They could do that, but so far I think they haven’t.

If, as seems likely, its latest move leads to the shutdown of the 15-year-old F-Droid platform, it would represent a further betrayal of the open source world it once supported.

Previously:

iTorrent Removed via Notarization Due to Sanctions

Ernesto Van der Sar (Hacker News, MacRumors, Slashdot):

Under EU law, Apple is required to give its users more freedom to install apps that are not listed in the official App Store. This allows for easier access to software that’s typically prohibited by Apple, including the popular iTorrent BitTorrent client. The iTorrent client built a steady user base over the past year, but that came to an abrupt end when Apple decided to revoke the developer’s alternative distribution rights.

[…]

In July, several users complained that they were unable to download iTorrent from AltStore PAL. Initially the cause of the problem was unclear but the app’s developer, XITRIX, later confirmed that Apple itself had stepped in.

Apparently, Apple had revoked the developer’s “alternative distribution” right, which is required to publish apps in alternative stores, including AltStore PAL.

Jess Weatherbed (Hacker News):

In a statement to The Verge, Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian said, “Notarization for this app was removed in order to comply with government sanctions-related rules in various jurisdictions. We have communicated this to the developer.”

Apple did not reach out the developer before revoking the app and took more than a month to provide any explanation.

I did some quick searches and was not able to find any specific information about countries sanctioning BitTorrent or any recent changes that might have prompted Apple’s actions.

Rick Findlay:

The app’s developer says the move was carried out without notice, without explanation, and with no way to appeal, effectively cutting off access to a legal torrenting tool that had been gaining popularity across Europe over the past year.

Ryan L. Clancy:

The technology behind torrenting is lawful, and you can use it for legitimate purposes. However, its misuse can lead to severe penalties. Torrenting copyrighted material, for example, can lead to fines and potentially even jail time.

Riley Testut:

Really hard to run a marketplace when apps can disappear randomly without our control and we can’t do anything about it 😓

Kuba Suder:

I don’t like this vision of computing where some governments can decide what apps you’re allow to run on your device…

Previously:

Colombia Investigates App Store

Hartley Charlton:

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) announced the probe yesterday (via MobileTime), stating that its Delegation for the Protection of Competition had reached a preliminary conclusion that Apple may have engaged in exclusionary practices that restrict free competition in the Colombian market.

The SIC case is focused on two primary concerns. First, the agency alleges that Apple contractually prevents developers from creating or operating alternative app stores on iPhones and iPads, ensuring that all software distribution takes place exclusively through the App Store.

[…]

The second issue involves Apple’s handling of in-app purchases. The SIC said developers are compelled to use Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system, which applies commissions of 15% to 30% on each transaction. Apple also allegedly prohibits developers from informing users of cheaper alternatives outside the app, a practice known as anti-steering.

Previously:

Monday, September 1, 2025

Documentation for App Store Business Model Changes

Craig Hockenberry (Mastodon):

The source code example using in Supporting business model changes by using the app transaction does not work if you’re using current Xcode and App Store conventions. Additionally, the sandbox environment uses the same outdated conventions.

And when you use that sample code, that you cannot test in the Xcode transaction simulator or in the TestFlight sandbox environment, it will fail spectacularly on launch day. You will be inundated with support requests from people who are expecting to see a payment for the previous version AND you’ll be in a state of panic because YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. And did I mention that you can’t test this in production?

The sample code implies that the originalAppVersion is a string that’s separated by periods (“.”). The sandbox environment returns a value of “1.0” which reinforces this notion that it’s a value that separated by periods.

It is not.

Sarah Reichelt:

If Apple allowed their people to write and publish their own apps, they would learn all this. As it is, they are totally isolated from the situation.

Typepad Shutting Down

Typepad:

After September 30, 2025, access to Typepad – including account management, blogs, and all associated content – will no longer be available. Your account and all related services will be permanently deactivated.

Please note that after this date, you will no longer be able to access or export any blog content.

The FAQ:

The export will produce a single TXT file for each blog. The file format is MTIF which is supported by some other blogging platforms, including WordPress.

Warner Crocker:

This blog is named Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3. I may be a theatre geek, but I’m not a fan of the three-act structure. The name came about because there were first and second acts preceding it. The first act was on Windows Live Spaces (long since dead and gone) back in the day before I ever thought of this as something I’d enjoy doing. Then there was a Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 2 on Typepad.

Well all plays, regardless of act structure have an ending. The curtain is coming down on that second act in the same way it did on the first one.

[…]

Everything in the corporeal world reverts back to dust. So do all the bits in the digital one.

The Tim Cook Era

Jason Snell:

But here we are, living in an era where Cook has now served as Apple CEO longer than Jobs did. The Apple of 2025 is quite different from the company Cook took control of back in 2011. Today’s Apple generates nearly four times the revenue that the company did when Cook took over, driven by more-than-quadrupling iPhone revenue. Back in 2011, there was one iPhone; now there are five, along with several iPad models, a wearables business that basically didn’t exist, an experimental headset, and a revitalized Mac powered by iPhone chips.

[…]

The toughest part to follow of Steve Jobs’s many acts was his role as a guider of product development. Jobs had taste and intuition, and it enabled Apple to do some remarkable things. Cook is not that guy, and the fear was always that under his tenure, Apple would falter.

Did it? Depends on how you view things. From the perspective of investors looking for growth and profit, Cook has taken everything to a higher level. If you focus on product innovation, it’s more of a mixed bag.

[…]

I’d also say that, surprisingly for someone who was once in charge of the Mac at Apple, part of Cook’s legacy is his allowing the Mac to lose its way in the mid-2010s, a time when it seemed like Apple was trying to build the iPad up so that the Mac could be put out to pasture as a legacy device. The addition of USB-C and the controversial “butterfly” keyboard added to the sense of malaise. But to Cook’s credit, Apple pulled the Mac back from the abyss, transitioning to chips originally designed for iPhones and iPads and ushering in the most successful era (by revenue, anyway) in Mac history.

People seem to agree that Apple Silicon saved the Mac, but it’s interesting to consider why. Apple had made a series of bad hardware design decisions. Couldn’t it simply reverse them? After switching to Intel processors, the theory was that Apple no longer had a chance of being ahead in performance, but at least it would never be behind. You’d think that on-par performance plus Apple’s design chops and the superiority of macOS would lead to success.

The post-butterfly Mac notebooks were a reprieve, but they didn’t exactly take the world by storm. Having skipped the butterflies, my 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro was arguably the worst Mac I’ve owned: noisy, hot, random shutdowns, unusable without the failing and non-replaceable SSD, the Touch Bar. Without superior hardware, the Mac had to rely more on its software advantage, but throughout the Tim Cook era macOS has in large part become harder to use and less reliable. Most of the new features have been half-hearted ports from iOS rather than expanding its unique capabilities.

The software problems remain, but with the Apple Silicon processors they’re now offset by a hardware advantage, at least for notebooks. Yes, this is innovation, but I get frustrated whenever Apple is judged based on its innovation—meaning discontinuities like this or whole new product lines. This is what Wall Street likes because it affects the company’s growth potential. To me, what matters is the software. How well is it designed and how well does it work? Everything else—how pleasant the hardware, services, accessory products are—follows from there.

And forget about what wonders “fantasy Steve Jobs” might have accomplished. Just look at what’s happened with music.

Previously:

The Anatomy of a Mach-O

Olivia A. Gallucci:

The Mach Object (Mach-O) is the binary format used on Apple’s operating systems for executables, libraries, and object code. It was created for the Mach kernel (hence the name) and introduced in NeXTSTEP, the predecessor to macOS, as a replacement for the a.out format.

[…]

In this post, we’ll explore Mach-O’s layout and history. Then, we will examine how macs use Mach-O for code signing integrity and for Pointer Authentication Codes (PAC) on ARM64e systems.

Previously:

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