In this week's episode of Chit Chat Across the Pond, Adam Engst joins us to valiantly attempt to explain to us how the new Phone app is supposed to work in iOS 26. He'll demystify the Classic and Unified views and even help you figure out how to call someone from the calls list in the two different views. Of course, he's written up several articles on the topic for your later reference:

Hidden Setting Controls What Happens When You Tap a Call in the Phone App

Comparing the Classic and Unified Views in iOS 26’s Phone App

How to Set Contact Avatars and Posters on the iPhone

I want to make sure that you realize TidBITS is predominantly reader-supported (93%). The fine folks (and especially Adam) have been writing long-form, thoughtful content about the Apple world for 35 years. If you appreciate Adam being on Chit Chat Across the Pond once a month, be like me and support the work at TidBITS by going to the Membership page to sign up for as little as $20/year.

This week, our guest is the ever-delightful Adam Engst of TidBITS. In this episode, he explains what agentic web browsers are and what they are designed to do for you. Adam put five of them through their paces. I don't want to spoil the story, but he uses phrases like "full cuckoo", "daydreams in class", "hapless third graders", requiring "academic integrity referral", and "like a scared, insecure intern". In other words, it doesn't go well.

As always. Adam has a full write-up on TidBITS in his article entitled, Can Agentic Web Browsers Count?

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There are some people who are part of the fabric of the NosillaCast, piping up from time to time over many years to provide valuable insight to the show when a topic tickles them. One of these people is Andy Dolph, who’s been sending in content and chatting with me in the background since 2012. You may remember a few years back when Bart had a curious failure with his microphone, and Andy gave us a tutorial on how XLR cables are constructed that explained the failure.

After all these years, we finally decided to sit down and have a chit chat about his work as Special Events Coordinator for Learning Space Technologies at the University of New Hampshire.

Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2025_12_13

• Condenser mic from Earthworks (Sweetwater)
• RØDE video mic NTG (B&H Photo
• Qlab
• Loopback from Rogue Amoeba
• Open Sound Control (Wikipedia)

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