Blog

May 20, 2020:
There appear to be major problems with the Mac App Store in certain regions of the world at the moment, affecting purchases and the re-download of already purchased Apps with older versions of macOS (prior to macOS Catalina). If you are affected by this issue, the download of any App will fail with the message “We could not complete your purchase. cancelled” (sic).

Apple could not fix this problem so far (May 21), so unfortunately it might not be possible to successfully complete purchases or downloads for our App Store software products System Monitor and Battery Monitor. Please contact Apple support if you are affected by this issue.

May 20, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Supplemental Update for macOS (Update Product ID: 001-07275)
• Mobile Device Update for macOS (Update Product ID: 001-05970)
• Command Line Tools for Xcode 11.5 (Update Product ID: 001-07275)

These updates add support and resolve issues when using the latest mobile Apple devices with older versions of macOS.

The Command Line Tools enable UNIX-style development via Terminal by installing command line developer tools, as well as macOS SDK frameworks and headers. Many useful tools are included, such as the Apple LLVM compiler, linker, and Make.

May 14, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Apple XProtect Configuration Data version 2121 (Update Product ID: 001-05920)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data for OS X El Capitan or later, version 2121 (Update Product ID: 001-05921)
• Apple Malware Removal Tool (MRT) version 1.60 (Update Product ID: 001-05919)
• Apple Malware Removal Tool (MRT), for OS X El Capitan or later, version 1.60 (Update Product ID:  001-05922)
• Safari Technology Preview version 106 (Update Product IDs: 001-05889, 001-05967)

XProtect and MRT are part of the built-in antivirus software of macOS. The packages do not appear in the Software Update section of System Preferences (or App Store in older versions of the operating system). macOS is updating the software automatically in the background if you have granted the system permission to download system data files and security-related files.

Safari Technology Preview allows users to get a sneak peek at upcoming web technologies in macOS and experiment with these technologies in websites and extensions.

May 12, 2020:
We are releasing System Monitor version 2.8 through the Mac App Store:

• Fixes a problem caused by specific third-party drives that provide excessively long serial numbers with more than 80 digits. Monitoring such disk drives could cause typographic problems in the status displays, so that readings could become unreadable.
• When displaying detail settings for Notification Center, System Preferences will now use a valid icon to present the menu-bar part of System Monitor.
• Network drivers for third-party interfaces that don’t provide valid live statistics will now be correctly filtered out from the System Activity monitor item.
• The App will now accept that users can customize the application icon via the Finder.

System Monitor is an application for the menu bar of macOS, designed to inform you unobtrusively about the activity of your computer.

May 7, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Whitelist for Macintosh firmware security checks (“EFICheck AllowList”), version 89 (Update Product ID: 061-84546)

Security-related packages do not appear in the Software Update section of System Preferences (or App Store in older versions of the operating system). macOS is updating the software automatically in the background if you have granted the system permission to download system data files and security-related files.

May 4, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Update for OS X El Capitan and later (Update Product ID: 001-04366)
• BridgeOS Customer Update (Update Product ID: 001-04547)
• BootCamp (Update Product ID: 061-51481)

BootCamp provides drivers for running Microsoft Windows on Macintosh computers. Boot Camp helps you install Microsoft Windows on your Mac.

April 30, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Update (Update Product ID: 061-96003)
• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Combo Update (Update Product ID: 061-96008)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data version 2120 (Update Product ID: 001-05055)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data for macOS Mojave, version 2120 (Update Product ID: 001-05054)
• Apple Malware Removal Tool (MRT) version 1.59 (Update Product ID: 061-96693)
• Apple Malware Removal Tool (MRT), for OS X El Capitan or later, version 1.59 (Update Product ID: 061-96690)

The new build of macOS 10.15.4 is a second supplemental update which fixes issues with the two previously released versions.

XProtect and MRT are part of the built-in antivirus software of macOS. The packages do not appear in the Software Update section of System Preferences (or App Store in older versions of the operating system). macOS is updating the software automatically in the background if you have granted the system permission to download system data files and security-related files.

April 27, 2020:
We are releasing TinkerTool System 6 version 6.88:

This version resolves a compatibility issue between the startup setting “Use special OS for next start: Recovery system” and specific firmware or Recovery OS versions: On some systems, the one-time setting remained permanently effective until clearing the parameter RAM.

If you don’t use this option of the startup setting, you won’t need this update.

April 23, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Safari Technology Preview version 105 (Update Product IDs: 001-00431, 001-02873)

Safari Technology Preview allows users to get a sneak peek at upcoming web technologies in macOS and experiment with these technologies in websites and extensions.

April 22, 2020:
We are releasing TinkerTool System 6 version 6.87:

• Added new feature to clear the staging area macOS uses to collect kernel extensions that wait for approval or denial by the user. This function is available at the tab item to clear the kernel extension cache.
• Added new feature to control the protected kernel option which disables processor-assisted support for Virtual Machines. This can help to avoid crashes of macOS Catalina when copying large amounts of data.
• The launch limit for unrestricted product evaluation without license has been increased by one, because macOS may relaunch the application to update its privacy settings. Six (6) launches per computer are permitted now.
• The application now accepts that the user provides a custom icon.
• Log files for kernel panics are now shown in a more readable fashion if macOS has stored them with embedded reports in JSON formats.
• Fixed a problem where Time Machine storage statistics reports could be shown with swapped lines and without a summary.
• Fixed a problem where the storage gain summary could sometimes show wrong numbers after Time Machine snapshots have been deleted.
• Fixed a problem where the display of the system’s stored setting for handling trim commands on third-party AHCI SSDs could be wrong with some OS versions while the live policies for each affected drive were shown correctly.

April 21, 2020:
Hello and welcome to customers in 20 additional countries!

Apple has expanded the macOS App Store, so that Apps are now available in 175 countries and regions. Licenses for our software products Battery Monitor and System Monitor can now also be purchased by customers in

• Afghanistan,
• Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Cameroon,
• Côte d´Ivoire,
• Gabon
• Georgia,
• Iraq,
• Kosovo,
• Libya,
• the Maldives,
• Montenegro,
• Morocco,
• Myanmar,
• Nauru,
• Qatar,
• Rwanda,
• Serbia,
• Tonga,
• Vanuatu, and
• Zambia.

April 16, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Apple XProtect Configuration Data version 2119 (Update Product ID: 061-97281)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data for macOS Mojave, version 2119 (Update Product ID: 061-97280)
• Mobile Device Upgrade (Update Product ID: 061-97283)
• Apple Device Support Update (Update Product ID: 061-97289)
• Beats Updater 4.4.4 (Update Product ID: 061-92161)
• BootCamp (Update Product ID: 061-97204)

XProtect is part of the built-in antivirus software of macOS. The package does not appear in the Software Update section of System Preferences (or App Store in older versions of the operating system). macOS is updating the software automatically in the background if you have granted the system permission to download system data files and security-related files.

The device upgrades are necessary to support new Apple mobile devices in macOS. They also add fixes for defects which may prevent installation of software required for syncing media and backing up.

April 15, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• Command Line Tools for Xcode 11.4 (Update Product ID: 061-95941)

The Command Line Tools enable UNIX-style development via Terminal by installing command line developer tools, as well as macOS SDK frameworks and headers. Many useful tools are included, such as the Apple LLVM compiler, linker, and Make.

April 8, 2020:
Apple releases new software via macOS Software Update:

• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Update (Update Product ID: 061-96660)
• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Combo Update (Update Product ID: 061-96008)
• macOS 10.15.4 Catalina Update for OS X El Capitan and later (Update Product ID: 061-96006)
• BridgeOS Customer Update (Update Product ID: 061-90689)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data version 2118 (Update Product ID: 061-96692)
• Apple XProtect Configuration Data for macOS Mojave, version 2118 (Update Product ID: 061-96691)
• Safari Technology Preview version 104 (Update Product IDs: 061-96686, 061-96688)

The new build of macOS 10.15.4 is a supplemental update which fixes major issues with the originally released version.

Safari Technology Preview allows users to get a sneak peek at upcoming web technologies in macOS and experiment with these technologies in websites and extensions.

April 2, 2020:
We are releasing PrefEdit version 4.4:

• When saving property list files in XML format, this version enforces more rigorous syntax rules regarding values that contain invalid control characters. This policy is stricter than the policy currently implemented by Apple in macOS, but ensures that files remain compliant with the XML standards. When reading files, PrefEdit uses the same guidelines as macOS. XML files with slight errors will be silently accepted if macOS also tolerates them.
• Property list files can now still be modified and saved in cases where macOS has lost their type information, e.g. after restoring a file without file extension via the Versions feature.

PrefEdit is an application to manage nearly all aspects of the preference system contained in every macOS installation. The program consists of two components which are tightly integrated with each other: (1) An entry point to the preferences database of macOS, with access to all settings which are effective for your user account, (2) a browser and editor for macOS property list files (plists).