BBEdit Back on the Mac App Store ⇢

⌘ Permalink

The venerable text editor is back on the Mac App Store, as noted by Zac Hall at 9to5Mac:

BBEdit 12.6 in February introduced support for Sandboxing on the Mac, a major overhaul that secures how the app interacts with the operating system and other apps, which is a requirement for software distributed through the Mac App Store.

As we mentioned earlier this year, Bare Bones famously pulled BBEdit from the Mac App Store almost five years ago, but Apple announced at WWDC 2018 that BBEdit and other apps including Transmit and Microsoft Office would return or debut on the new Mac App Store.

Improvements to Sandboxing restrictions and other limitations have eased pain points for developers of complex apps like BBEdit.

The app is free to download, with a $3.99/month or $39.99/year subscription to unlock its full (and long) list of features after a 30-day trial. I love the release notes:

BBEdit 12 features more than three hundred new features and refinements since the last Mac App Store release of BBEdit. 64-bit accelerated, Mojave ready with Dark Mode support, Git integration, and so much more.

Connected #237: All the Different Flavors of iCloud ⇢

⌘ Permalink

This week on the show:

AirPower is dead, Powerbeats Pro are here, Federico is having a good week on Twitter and iCloud Drive deserves some attention from Apple.

My thanks to our sponsors:

  • Hullo: A simple, natural pillow designed for comfort. Try it for 60 days.
  • Hover: Extensions for anything you’re passionate about. Grab a .ME domain for $9.99.
  • ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

The Closing iMac/iMac Pro Gap ⇢

⌘ Permalink

For a while now, if you’ve been looking at a high-end iMac, there has been an obvious, looming question:

Should I just buy the iMac Pro instead?

Jason Snell, writing at Macworld, tackles this dilemma:

What this all suggests is that the iMac Pro is exactly what Apple says it is—a high-end iMac with a whole bunch of special high-end features that’s most appropriate for people who use high-end professional apps that have been optimized for Apple’s professional Mac architecture. If that sounds like you, congratulations—you’re ready to take the leap across the iMac Pro gap. (You may want to consider buying an even higher-end iMac Pro than the base model—many of my friends agree that the 10-core model might be the best mix of price and performance.)

But if you’re not one of those people, if you don’t need all the added niceties and the extreme performance in pro apps, there’s good news. You can configure a 5K iMac with Intel’s latest and greatest ninth-generation Intel Core processors, a bunch of SSD storage, and a load of RAM, and have an iMac that matches or beats the iMac Pro on most tests… and walk away with $1,500 in your pocket.

The choice, as always, is yours.

Kbase Article of the Week: PowerCD: Available in Two Colors? ⇢

⌘ Permalink

The PowerCD is a weird footnote in the history of Apple’s audio products, but I just recently learned in was going to come in two colors, thanks to this support article:

There original strategy had two colors available for both NTSC and PAL. The Gray was for the business and education channels and the Blue for the consumer. The Blue is no longer available. In Apple USA, model HOO14ll/A, which was Blue, changed to H0014LL/B, which is Gray. After the color change, the only difference between the business and consumer channel models were the CDs that come with the PowerCD.

Mac Power Users #476: Exploring the Mac App Store ⇢

⌘ Permalink

This week on Mac Power Users:

Stephen and David talk through the ups and downs of the Mac App Store and share some of the hidden gems they’ve found there over the years. Then, they recap Apple’s recent media event after being interrupted by Mother Nature in the Sparks’ yard.

The Mac App Store has had a rough life, but we both think better days are ahead.

My thanks to our sponsors:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.
  • Gazelle: Sell your iPhone for cash at Gazelle!
  • Luna Display: The only hardware solution that turns your iPad into a wireless display for your Mac. Use promo code POWER at checkout for 10% off.
  • Away: Travel smarter with the suitcase that charges your phone. Get $20 off with the code ‘mpu’.

AirPower is Dead ⇢

⌘ Permalink

After announcing AirPower back in the fall of 2017, the multi-device wireless charging pad has been cancelled. Matthew Panzarino at TechCrunch:

Apple has canceled the AirPower product completely, citing difficulty meeting its own standards.

“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward,” said Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering in an emailed statement today.

This is pretty unheard of when it comes to Apple, and I suspect the company won’t be pre-announcing hardware so far in advance any time soon. That said, I’d rather see the company kill a product than ship something that doesn’t work.

Connected #236: Rosencrantz Says ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Big, big week on Connected:

After announcing tickets for their live WWDC show and judging their predictions for Apple’s media event and breaking a score between Stephen and Myke, the guys share their impressions of the new AirPods, Apple News+ and more.

Siri plays a pivotal role in this episode.

My thanks to our sponsors:

  • Luna Display: The only hardware solution that turns your iPad into a wireless display for your Mac. Use promo code CONNECTED at checkout for 10% off.
  • Away: Travel smarter with the suitcase that charges your phone. Get $20 off with the code ‘connected’.
  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code CONNECTED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.