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A developer has released EyesRhythm, a free desktop app for macOS and Windows that uses a webcam to monitor blink frequency and encourage healthier blink rhythms during screen use. The app requires no account or license key, and the developer states that camera frames are processed locally and never leave the user's machine. Installers are available as a DMG for Mac and an EXE for Windows, version 1.5.0.
MeccanicOS, an operating system distributed on GitHub, now offers a one-click tool that downloads, verifies and writes the OS to a bootable USB drive on Windows, macOS and Linux. On Windows and Linux the tool uses Ventoy to make the drive bootable, while on macOS it writes the image directly since Ventoy isn't supported there. Users can still manually download the ISO and write it themselves, and every USB drive includes a README with boot and BIOS instructions.
A tech commentary piece compares touchscreen laptops to tablets, concluding that laptops retain the edge thanks to built-in keyboards, trackpads, more ports, and full desktop operating systems like Windows, macOS and Linux. It notes that tablets such as the iPad often ship with just one port and run locked-down mobile operating systems that lack equivalents to professional software. The piece frames a laptop's touchscreen as a minor convenience rather than a core selling point.
Security researchers examined two undocumented macOS background processes, knowledgeconstructiond and intelligenceplatformd, which have run on Macs since 2022 and build a queryable knowledge graph of a user's contacts, calendar, photos, messages, mail, location and screen-time data. Apple's only public documentation is a terse man page, and the researchers say the system can infer kinship and relationships between people, a feature not previously described publicly. They note Apple published a 2023 research paper on the underlying graph-construction techniques but has not disclosed how it operates inside macOS or exactly what data it collects and infers.
Apple's macOS 27.3 beta 1, released alongside new Safari and Siri features, lets Quick Look render .md files with proper formatting instead of showing raw Markdown syntax. The update follows Apple's broader push to support Markdown across its platforms, including import/export in Notes and Markdown-based SKILL.md files used by its new Siri AI developer framework.
A developer reports that macOS 27 can no longer mount, convert, or erase CoreStorage and encrypted HFS+ volumes, even manually through Disk Utility or the command line. Attempts to mount these volumes return errors such as a DiskManagement disenter failure, and diskutil's unlock command falsely claims the volume is locked when it is already unlocked. The system also shows a boot-time dialog warning that macOS 28, not macOS 27, will drop support—contradicting the behavior users are experiencing now.
Apple announced that developers can now build Siri AI integrations, called 'app skills,' for any app, moving beyond the limited schemas supported in earlier Siri versions. The feature lets apps teach Siri to handle multi-step, cross-app actions and will roll out with iOS 27.3, macOS 27.3, and related updates. Apple has also used these foundational changes to add new Siri capabilities across its own apps.
Apple has released the first developer betas of iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, and macOS 27.3, introducing a Vertical Tabs layout for Safari alongside an Adaptive Dark Mode feature that generates dark versions of sites lacking native support. The update also expands Siri's ability to directly manage tabs, including moving, sorting, and closing them.
Apple has released the first release candidates for macOS Sequoia 15.8.3 (build 24H314) and macOS Tahoe 26.7.3 (build 25G416), alongside the first developer beta of macOS 27.3. The RC release notes cite only security fixes without specifying vulnerabilities, continuing a pattern seen last week when 15.8.2 and 26.7.2 patched over 150 security issues.
Apple has seeded the first developer beta of macOS 27.3 Golden Gate, build 26C5035r, just a week after macOS 27.2 shipped. The update is expected to add Siri AI support for Traditional Chinese, Norwegian, Turkish and Vietnamese, continuing a language rollout Apple has promised to complete by year's end.
Apple unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro alongside new touch-specific features in macOS 27 Golden Gate, including enlarged traffic light icons, larger context menu items, and on-screen trackpad gestures like three-finger swipes and pinch-to-zoom. Developers also gain the ability to fully navigate the iOS simulator using touch instead of trackpad workarounds.
Apple's latest iOS and macOS updates include a persistent 'Write with Siri' prompt that appears across text fields, and a tech writer found Apple does not offer an obvious toggle to disable it. The writer documented a workaround buried in system settings that lets users turn the feature off despite the lack of a clear option.