TidBITS

Josh Centers reviews Oceanhorn, a Legend of Zelda clone for iOS, and suggests a solution to Nintendo’s woes. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

As the Obama administration attempts to quell concerns over mass data collection, the U.S. intelligence community is drawing more fire from governments, including its own. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

For its first fiscal quarter of 2014, Apple has once again reported record sales and revenues, beating expectations but suffering a hit to its stock price, as analysts grumbled that the company has not yet conquered the inner Solar System. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

For the most part, what you can do with the Apple TV is what Apple intended to let you do. But what if you want more? What if you want to serve all your video from a Mac or NAS and view it on the Apple TV, without involving iTunes? What if you want to record live TV and watch it on your Apple TV? In this final chapter of “Take Control of Apple TV,” Josh Centers turns you on to the Plex media management system and how to use an Elgato EyeTV HD to send recorded TV to your Apple TV. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Notable software releases this week include Simon 3.6.1, Pixelmator 3.1, DEVONthink and DEVONnote 2.7.3, Default Folder X 4.6.3, Intermission 1.0.3, PDFpen and PDFpen Pro 6.1.3, iTunes 11.1.4, BBEdit 10.5.8 and TextWrangler 4.5.6, and iMovie 10.0.2. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

In this week’s ExtraBITS, Adam Engst discussed the Mac’s 30th anniversary with Gene Steinberg on the Tech Night Owl Live podcast, and Matt Neuburg talked iOS programming with Chuck Joiner on MacVoices. LogMeIn announced the end of its free service tier, PCWorld explained mechanical keyboards in detail, and Backblaze released another fascinating hard drive reliability study. Finally, in a disturbing turn of events, the FBI was called to interrogate a man who wore Google Glass to a movie theater. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Apple has updated its iWork productivity suite for Mac, iOS, and iCloud, restoring some missing features and letting users password-protect documents shared via iCloud. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

République is a stealth-action game, with controls so simple that it’s accessible to even casual gamers. Its graphics, controls, and setting set a whole new bar for mobile gaming.  Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

The latest upgrade of the database stalwart is intriguing — particularly the new WebDirect feature for publishing databases on the Web — but expensive. A new subscription-based pricing plan may make the cost more palatable for those who want to take advantage of the new features. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh, Apple has created a tremendously attractive Web site that connects the creative people who used the Macintosh to the different models that have appeared over the past 30 years. It’s worth spending some time browsing through the timeline. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Apple may not have designed the Apple TV for gaming, but clever iOS developers have created games meant to be played on the big screen by levering AirPlay. In the latest chapter of “Take Control of Apple TV,” Josh Centers shines a light on those games, and offers tips for avoiding buzz-killing lags. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

A U.S. Appeals Court has struck down key provisions of net neutrality rules in the United States, so ISPs could start favoring (or discriminating against) certain online services. But don’t expect big changes overnight. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

In this week’s ExtraBITS, the Web-based Trello collaboration tool gets a major update, music-streaming service Rdio goes free, Avatron floats a cloudless file-sharing solution via Kickstarter, and a new feature in Google Chrome makes it easy to hunt down noisy tabs. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Notable software releases this week include Typinator 5.8, Mailplane 3.1.2, Final Cut Pro X 10.1.1, and TextExpander 4.2.1. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Over three years ago, a tempest erupted over inadvertent in-app purchases made by children due to App Store password caching. Apple eventually fixed the problem, but not before public outcry resulted in a class-action suit and FTC investigation. That last one has now come home to roost, in the form of a $32.5 million settlement. But should the entire situation have gone away long ago? Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.