Tidbits

Apple has at long last updated its smallest smart speaker with the HomePod mini 2, which was first announced six years ago (see " Apple Introduces $99 HomePod mini," 13 October 2020) and whose only change since then was new colors a year later (see " Apple Unveils Third-Generation AirPods, Tweaks HomePod mini and Apple Music," 18 October 2021).

Ian Page has released Mactracker 8.3 with detailed information about recent Apple hardware releases, including the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini, and AirPods 5. The update also enhances the My Models collection by letting you associate a specific model number to devices, specify memory for Apple silicon-based Macs, and record where you purchased devices.

Sonny Software has released Bookends 16 with a new browser extension feature that scans Web pages for reference materials. Compatible with Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, the new Browser Bridge detects reference materials on each loaded page and displays an icon badge with the number found. Click the badge to open a pop-up display listing bibliographic information for each, and then import the metadata into Bookends (and its source PDF, if available).

Rogue Amoeba has released SoundSource 6.1.5 with a new Control Center special source that captures audio the Mac receives via AirPlay (replacing the former AirPlay Receiver special source and requiring macOS 27 Golden Gate).

DEVONtechnologies has updated its ($49.95 new with a 15% discount for DEVONagent Pro research software to version 3.12, adding support for Dark mode and tweaking the user interface to match modern macOS versions better.

Busy Apps has released BusyCal 2026.4.1 and BusyContacts 2026.4.1, with BusyCal receiving improved Siri support for managing events and tasks.

Apple's recent statement about tightening Full Disk Access controls has triggered a bit of a kerfuffle in the Mac community (see " Apple Plans to Tighten Full Disk Access Controls," 5 October 2026). To gauge how much TidBITS readers depend on Full Disk Access, we polled readers on how many apps they had granted it to.

Apple has announced a special product launch for 13 October 2026. Unlike its typical keynote events, this seems likely to be a coordinated drop of a video and press releases rather than a live presentation. I guess I know what I'll be doing next Tuesday-hopefully along with getting the cast off my right hand.

macOS 27 Golden Gate is here, but you say you really want Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard back on your Apple silicon Mac? That's not possible, but with the free RetroMac app, you can theme parts of your Mac to look like the Snow Leopard days. In fact, Snow Leopard is just the start-RetroMac also offers themes for System 6, Mac OS 9, the initial Mac OS X, and Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple acknowledged that some iPhone 18 Pro Max users on the AT&T network have lost service and can't make calls. Chance Miller quotes Apple as saying: We have identified an issue affecting a small number of iPhone 18 Pro Max users on the AT&T network that may cause a device to lose service and be unable to make calls.