macOS

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Rumors Still Live for Apple's Bluetooth Tile Competitor

Andrew Orr ·

Apple announced a feature at WWDC 2019 that would let devices running iOS 13 and macOS Catalina to broadcast their location even when offline. The same technology is rumored to show up in a Bluetooth tracking device similar to Tile.

This small beacon device could be attached to personal items such as keys, purses or wallets so that the owner could find them even when out of range of the items. An ARKit “star” image discovered in the Find My app bundle hints at the possibility of using augmented reality to find lost devices or items, similar to Pixie Tracker.

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All About Apps Phoning Home. And Firewalls

John Martellaro ·

The Eclectic Light Company writes:

A few years ago, most Mac users had firewalls in their routers which blocked all incoming connections, and that was all they wanted. Over those years, we’ve increasingly installed software firewalls on our Macs to block outgoing connections. This article looks at some of the issues that arise from doing that.

The rules of the game keep changing, and this article brings us up-to-date.

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What to Know About RTF vs. RTFD Files on a Mac

John Martellaro ·

The Eclectic Light Company writes:

Macs and iOS devices have the benefit of not one variety of Rich Text documents, but two: RTF and RTFD. This article explores some of their features and limitations, and considers the problems of working with them alongside one another.

This is a very readable and helpful article that explains the nature of RTFD files and their history going back to the origins with NeXT Corp.

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About the macOS Transparency Consent and Control System

John Martellaro ·

The Eclectic Light Company writes:

The Transparency Consent and Control (TCC) system [in macOS] maintains a database of each user’s consents.

This article explains what you must do when uninstalling software in Mojave, and presumably Catalina, in order to remove previous consents for access to protected resources.

If you were to reinstall that software, you would see that it was immediately granted the same access as when it was removed, without your consent being sought again.

This is an interesting and informative article about the seldom discussed macOS TCC.

Podcast

Save Your Data...Safely – Mac Geek Gab 769

John F. Braun · · 2 Comments

macOS Catalina will bring with it a lot of changes, one of which is that a lotof older apps and related hardware won’t work. Dave and John answer your questions and share your tips about how to navigate these waters ahead of time… to avoid surprises. In addition, your archives are only as good as the method and medium you use. It’s time to talk about data safety and reliability. Plus, your other questions need answers, and that’s what happens here on Mac Geek Gab: everyone learns at least five new things!

News

Apple Tests Biometric Login for iCloud.com

Andrew Orr ·

Apple is testing biometric login for iCloud.com. If you’re a beta tester for iOS 13, iPadOS, or macOS Catalina, you can go to beta.icloud.com and login with Face ID/Touch ID. Web Login So far, iPhone and iPad users haven’t been able to access iCloud web apps. If you navigated to the website you couldn’t use…

Cool Stuff Found

Prepare for 64-Bit Mac Apps With Go64

Andrew Orr ·

Go64 is a free piece of software that checks your Mac for 32-bit apps, which won’t work after macOS Mojave. Although you can do this manually with System Report, Go64 goes further. It takes an inventory of the apps on your Mac and see which ones are still 32-bit. Then, it helps you visit the developer’s website or search the web for update/upgrade information. It then keeps track of upgrade costs so you can add 64-bit apps to your budget. It’s made by St. Clair Software, makers of other great Mac apps like App Tamer, Default Folder X, Jettison, and HistoryHound. Best of all, Go64 is completely free. Download: Go64

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Apple Catalyst Team Explains How it Works

Andrew Orr ·

Ars Technica spoke with members of the Apple Catalyst team to find out how it works and how it will affect the Mac ecosystem.

Apple seeks to funnel some of its success with the iOS App Store over to macOS using Catalyst. We’ll go over how developers use what Apple has built step-by-step, as well as what challenges they faced. And we’ll share Apple’s answers to our questions about how the company plans to maintain a high standard of quality for Mac apps as an influx of mobile-derived apps hits the platform, what Apple’s long-term plans for cross-platform apps across the entire ecosystem look like, and more.

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Using macOS Catalina Hands Free to Design a Logo

Andrew Orr ·

It’s a short video, but developer Camera Cundiff tweeted a video in which he used macOS Catalina Hands Free to design a simple logo.

video: time-lapse screencast, dictating commands to XD via macOS voice control, demonstrating the use of Number and Grid targeting to create overlapping shapes and type.

Hands Free is such a powerful feature, and combined with Siri makes the Mac feel like a Star Trek computer.

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News+: How to Stay Safe and Secure Online

Andrew Orr ·

In the latest issue of Mac Format magazine, Adam Banks writes a guide on how to stay safe online. This is a PDF version and on page 66.

Using a Mac makes you safer than average when going online. That’s partly because of Apple’s efforts to secure the operating system; partly because the Mac App Store gives you somewhere to get most of your third-party software safely. It’s also partly because bad actors – in the security industry sense, not the Hollyoaks sense – tend to be less interested in targeting macOS. But that doesn’t mean either you or your Mac can’t get fooled. Know your way around the common risks and basic protections to keep yourself out of harm’s way.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.