BBEdit 16

BBEdit 16 is here, and what should have been a polite software update has turned into a wonderfully nerdy little comment-section reunion. The longtime Mac text editor is charging existing customers for the upgrade, while promising 100+ changes, faster performance, image text search, color-coded projects, better file transfer, and even some artificial intelligence chat improvements. In plain English: the app wants to be faster, smarter, and better organized—and yes, it can now help you hunt down that random meme image with the word “humid” in it, which is exactly the kind of oddly specific feature that gets people talking.

But the real fun is in the crowd reaction. One camp is pure nostalgia: users are practically misty-eyed, calling BBEdit a “gold standard” and flexing their loyalty from the classic Mac era. Another commenter was simply delighted to see the app “trending” on Hacker News, as if an old favorite just made a surprise red-carpet comeback. Then came the keyboard drama: BBEdit added basic vi-style controls—a way of moving around with keyboard commands loved by some power users—and one commenter instantly hit it with a public “big meh.” Meanwhile, another tossed in the eternal wishlist item: “Will it ever get emacs tabs?” That one tiny line managed to summon the ghost of editor wars past. So yes, BBEdit shipped serious upgrades—but in the comments, the real story is affection, mild disappointment, and the internet’s unstoppable urge to argue about keyboards.