On the eve of Apple’s September 2017 special event, Adam Engst discusses significant changes in macOS 10.13 High Sierra that consultants, IT admins, and those who care about the behind-the-scenes details need to know. Jefferey Battersby joins us this week to review the Yoink drag-and-drop utility for the Mac, and Josh Centers returns to the Touch Bar to reveal some interesting uses for it. And we’re pleased, in the wake of CrashPlan’s withdrawal from consumer backup, to welcome Backblaze as our latest long-term sponsor. Finally, Julio Ojeda-Zapata takes a look at HomeKit devices that you can use to secure your home. The only notable software release this week was Retrospect 14.5.
TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers, a long-time Backblaze user, is thrilled to welcome the online backup company as our latest long-term sponsor.
The Yoink utility from Eternal Storms Software provides an intermediate “shelf” onto which you drag nearly anything on the Mac for temporary storage, and from which you can drag items out later. It’s a terrific enhancement of the standard drag-and-drop experience on the Mac.
After complaining about its general lack of utility, Josh Centers has discovered some good uses for the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro.
Those who support Mac users should know about a variety of changes coming in High Sierra that have implications for how you install, deployments that use imaging solutions, dealing with APFS-formatted volumes, installing kernel extensions, and caching content.
Julio Ojeda-Zapata frets about potential burglaries when he’s away from home, so before a recent trip he tricked out his house with Internet-connected video cameras, motion sensors, and smart outlets. Most, but not all of the gadgets work with Apple’s HomeKit, which points to lingering gaps in the company’s home-automation ecosystem.
The only notable software release this week was Retrospect 14.5.
In ExtraBITS this week, it turns out that streaming services are helping the music industry, we get a look at Siri’s past challenges and upcoming improvements, T-Mobile is offering a free Netflix subscription to subscribers, we learn some secrets of the new Steve Jobs Theater, Tim Cook has pledged to support Apple’s DACA employees, Pixelmator is planning a professional version, and Apple is ending the Apple Music Festival after a decade of concerts.