How to build your own Adobe Creative Suite with cheaper Mac app alternatives
Here are the best alternatives I’ve found that offer similar functionality to what is available in each of Adobe’s products. Read more »
Where to look for the best deals on Mac apps
Trying to find that perfect app for your Mac is challenging enough at times. Getting a great deal on that same software may seem next to impossible — that is if you don’t know where or when to look. Read more »
Sandboxing troubles: MPlayerX leaves Mac App Store
How much security is too much? Apple’s sandboxing rules for its Mac App Store are supposed to keep malware in check, but the developer of MPlayerX is charging that it prevents the video player from loading subtitles. MPlayerX isn’t the fist app to leave the store. Read more »
Mac App Store rules drive away more developers, plus 4 other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: the problem of the Mac App Store’s stringent rules; Apple and Samsung brandish evidence that each has copied others’ designs; the case for shared iCloud accounts; and the Facebook-Mountain Lion integration mystery. Read more »
New Apple app discovery tools welcome, but aren’t enough
Apple continues to introduce features to its app stores meant to better surface quality apps. It recently introduced two more, including a new Editor’s Choice label and a free app of the week. But it’s clear more needs to be done. Read more »
Reading the tea leaves on app sandboxing in OS X
What’s behind Apple’s decision to require sandboxing in OS X apps? It is not a far stretch to consider that this shift in approach might have a connection to Apple’s long-term plans to make iCloud the center of their strategy for the next decade. Read more »
OS X Mountain Lion: Hands on with Notes, Reminders and Notifications
Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion, which should arrive some time this summer, has finally brought true feature parity between iOS and OS X for Notes, Reminders and Notifications. We spent some time with the new features, and here is what we found. Read more »
What developers need to know about OS X Mountain Lion
OS X Mountain Lion looks to improve on Lion with UI refinements and some significant changes for developers. Most of those changes appear to be out in the cloud. Here’s a list of changes that Apple is rolling out, and how they will affect developers. Read more »
For Apple, the Lion roars: Some stats you might like
Apple on Thursday released a developer edition of Mountain Lion, the next upgrade of it’s operating system that will go on sale sometime in summer this year. As part of the news, the company shared some metrics about OS X Lion (version 10.7). For instance, the […] Read more »
Apple ups the pro appeal of Final Cut Pro X
Apple released a fairly big update for its Final Cut Pro X video editing app on Tuesday. It only tips the version number slightly up to 10.0.3, but it brings a couple of major additions pro users have been clamoring for, including multi-camera editing. Read more »
Macworld | iWorld 2012 highlights for developers
While the target audience for Macworld | iWorld is your typical consumer, there are a few vendors in attendance that are focused on reaching developers. If you’re a developer yourself, or work with developers, you might want to stop by the following vendors during the show. Read more »
Apple unveils iBooks Author, a Mac app for easy interactive e-book authoring
Apple’s Roger Rosner, Apple VP of productivity software, showed off Apple’s new iBooks Author on Thursday at Apple’s special media event in NYC. iBooks author is a Mac app that provides tools to help anyone publish interactive digital books, complete with rich media features. Read more »
Snapseed on the Mac is a great tool for hobbyist photographers
Snapseed, Apple’s iPad app of the year for 2011, is available on the Mac as of Thursday via the Mac App Store. It’s more expensive than the iOS version, but cheaper than a lot of the photo editing competition. So how does it stack up? Read more »
12 things in tech that won’t change in 2012
Everyone likes to share their predictions for what the future will bring in technology as a new year dawns. But some things seem to manage to stay the same, despite anticipation to the contrary. Here’s where I think the boat won’t rock in 2012. Read more »
Apple’s Mac App Store reaches 100M downloads
The Mac App Store is not quite a year old, and it just passed the 100 million download mark, according to Apple. Originally launched in January, the Mac App Store is now the “largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world,” Apple says. Read more »
Instagram, Snapseed picture-perfect in Apple’s best of 2011
Apple revealed iTunes Rewind 2011 on Thursday, its latest installment of the annual feature where it lauds the best content available on its network of iTunes media stores. The list highlights the best in music, apps, tv shows, movies books and podcasts for the past year. Read more »
Games for the weekend: Chopper 2
I’ve always been a fan of side-scrolling shoot-em-up action games. Defender is one of my all-time favorite arcade games. Now I’m playing Chopper 2, and what a difference 3D makes to this type of game, especially with the litany of display options the game provides. Read more »
Apple now accepts Chinese yuan for App Store purchases
Apple wants to make it easier for customers in its fastest-growing market to get their hands on software, which is why it started accepting Chinese yuan for App Store downloads on Friday. The change is designed to curtail piracy and grow Apple’s software ecosystem. Read more »
TuneUp could improve your iTunes Match experience
An app that just arrived on the Mac App Store on Thursday could help improve your initial iTunes Match experience, thanks to a host of features it includes for cleaning up your iTunes library. It’s called TuneUp, and it’ll scrub your messy collection clean. Read more »
Get a taste of Siri on OS X with Nuance’s Dragon Express
Nuance, the maker of industry-leading voice-recognition tech, released Dragon Express via the Mac App Store on Thursday. The app is basically a streamlined version of Nuance’s powerful Dragon Dictate software, and it brings some features that Siri fans might appreciate to OS X computers. Read more »
All the new apps and app updates from Apple in one place
Along with major OS updates for both OS X Lion and iOS, Apple released a boatload of software today in the form of new apps and updates to old favorites. Here’s a quick look at what’s new, what’s changed, and what we think about that. Read more »
Apple releases Final Cut Pro free trial, major update
On Tuesday Apple introduced a major update to Final Cut Pro X that restores many features missing in the original release, and also comes alongside a free 30-day trial version for people still a little gun-shy after Apple’s latest overhaul to its professional video editing suite. Read more »
Screentaker creates iOS app action shots in seconds
If you’re creating an app or promoting one for a friend or client, nothing quite makes the software pop like showing off screens on actual iOS devices. A new Mac App Store title lets you create pro-level iPhone and iPad mockups in a matter of seconds. Read more »
Games for the (long) weekend: The Baconing
Sometimes, a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously is a breath of fresh air. The third instalment of the DeathSpank series of cartoonish RPGs from Hothead games, The Baconing, is a perfect example, and a solid follow-up to a franchise that hasn’t disappointed yet. Read more »
Mac OS X Lion USB drive now on sale for the broadband-challenged
Have you been waiting on Mac OS X Lion because you don’t have a broadband connection? Then today’s your (sort of) lucky day. Apple introduced the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive to the online Apple Store, but it comes with a premium price tag: $69. Read more »
4 useful tips for working with OS X Lion’s Launchpad
Launchpad, the new app launcher in Mac OS X Lion, can be useful for hunting down apps you don’t use very often. However, sometimes it can feel bloated and difficult to navigate. Here are a few tips to make Launchpad a bit easier to work with. Read more »
TAB Asks: What do you think about the state of Mac gaming?
As a gaming platform, iOS has really made great strides in the past few years. But what about the Mac? Has the Mac reaped any benefits from App Store gaming, or, if it hasn’t yet, will it ever? And does it matter to most Mac users? Read more »
Why a 15-inch MacBook Air is only a matter of time
Not one but two reports say Apple is now working on an ultrathin 15-inch Mac notebook, with one claiming that a 17-incher is also on the way. Apple has long been preparing for this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those preparations bear fruit this year. Read more »
5 quick OS X Lion tips and work-arounds
Overall, I’m thrilled with OS X Lion. However, like any new OS, there are some things that either don’t work quite right or, while working as intended, may annoy. So, here are five tips and work-arounds I’ve found that might help address some growing pains. Read more »
1 million copies of OS X Lion already sold
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion went on sale on Wednesday, and already Apple is saying this release is selling “faster than any other OS release in Apple’s history.” It’s also the first time Apple’s done a major desktop OS release through its Mac App Store. Read more »
OS X Lion review: The shape of things to come
Mac OS X Lion arrived Wednesday morning, available through the Mac App Store as a downloadable upgrade for users of Snow Leopard. Lion is version 10.7 of Apple’s desktop operating system, and it brings some significant changes to Mac computing. But will users welcome those changes? Read more »
Why OS X Lion is the biggest test for digital downloads
Sometime next week we could see the arrival of Mac OS X Lion, according to reports. But this is no ordinary major software launch. The twist is that Lion will only be distributed digitally, the effect of which is difficult to predict. Read more »
Buy, wait or skip: What’s your plan for OS X Lion?
OS X Lion is set to arrive sometime this month, and new reports suggest that it could be here as soon as next Wednesday at 9 AM. Will you be buying when it does arrive, and if not, why are you unsure about upgrading? Read more »
Apple posts a Final Cut Pro X FAQ, but why did it take so long?
Apple has released a special FAQ page to address commonly voiced concerns about its new Final Cut Pro X video editing software. Arguably, it’s a step Apple should’ve taken before the FCP X release, not now that opinion is starting to galvanize against it. Read more »
Final Cut Pro X: Troubling or just transitional?
Reviewers and video professionals apparently aren’t as enthusiastic about Final Cut Pro X as I was on the day of its release. Of course, I’m not a video pro, but that doesn’t mean the rancor with which FCP X has been greeted is necessarily justified. Read more »
Final Cut Pro X now available in the Mac App Store for $300
Apple introduced Final Cut Pro X on Tuesday, along with Motion 5 and Compressor 4. Together, the three apps cost less than half of the previous Final Cut Studio video editing suite, and all are available only on the Mac App Store. Read more »
Lion download too fat? There’s Apple store (WiFi) for that.
OS X Lion will only be available in the Mac App Store, but a 4 GB download-only OS upgrade is going to be trying for some consumers, because of connection quality and bandwidth caps. Apple has one possible solution: come use our retail store Wi-Fi. Read more »
Why Apple’s new Back to School deal is good business
When you buy a new Mac for school this year, you get a $100 gift card for use in the iTunes Store, Mac or iOS App Stores or iBookstore. It used to be a free iPod touch: technically a better value. Still, Apple’s playing it right. Read more »
Mac RSS reader roundup: Reeder, NetNewsWire Lite, and Pulp
For all the talk of social media replacing RSS, I still find it to be the best way to get news efficiently. A quick look at the Mac App Store shows quite a few RSS reader options, so here’s a look at three of the best. Read more »
Reeder for Mac arrives, looks like the future of Mac apps
Even with Twitter, Facebook and so many other social discovery tools popping up, I’m still a big fan of good old-fashioned RSS for my reading needs. That’s why I’m excited about the release of Reeder for Mac, which is now available on the Mac App Store. Read more »
