Monday, 01 October 2018 07:03
iOS 12’s Screen Time Feature Helps You Manage Your iPhone Usage
Written by Adam Engst
Do you frequently reach for your iPhone for a quick check of Facebook or Messages? It’s all too easy to let social media, the latest hot game, or even your work email intrude on your real life. If you’re uncomfortable with how much—and when—you use your iPhone or iPad, iOS 12’s new Screen Time feature [R30;]
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Monday, 01 October 2018 07:02
Use Continuity Camera to Scan Documents and Take Photos Right into Mac Documents
Written by Adam Engst
Have you found yourself composing an email message on your Mac while staring glumly at the receipt or document you need to scan and attach to the message? Adding that scan to the message isn’t impossible, but until macOS 10.14 Mojave, it hasn’t necessarily been easy. It’s super simple now, thanks to a new Mojave [R30;]
Monday, 01 October 2018 07:01
In iOS 12, Do Not Disturb Can Turn Itself Off—No More Missed Alerts!
Written by Adam Engst
We love the Do Not Disturb feature in iOS—it’s essential for keeping notifications from waking us up at night or causing embarrassing light and noise in dark movie theater. But it’s long had a problem. When you invoked Do Not Disturb manually for a movie or doctor’s appointment, you had to remember to turn it [R30;]
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Thursday, 13 September 2018 11:25
Apple Unveils New iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, and the Apple Watch Series 4
Written by Adam Engst
Apple has thrown back the curtain on its latest batch of iPhones and a new model of the Apple Watch. The company also announced plans to release iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12 on September 17th. macOS 10.14 Mojave will follow a week later on September 24th. X Appeal: The New iPhone XS, iPhone [R30;]
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Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:08
Tired of PDFs or Other Documents Opening in the Wrong App?
Written by Adam Engst
When you double-click a document, macOS uses the document’s file extension to figure out which app should open the file. So, by default, a PDF file called laser-squid.pdf opens in Preview because the Finder knows that everything with a .pdf extension should open in Preview. But what if you would prefer to open .pdf files [R30;]
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Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:07
Update AirPort Express Base Stations to Add AirPlay 2
Written by Adam Engst
Apple may have discontinued its AirPort Wi-Fi base stations, but in a surprise parting gift, the company has released a firmware update to the AirPort Express that gives it AirPlay 2 capabilities like multi-room audio. If you have an AirPort Express connected to speakers through its audio jack, first use AirPort Utility on the Mac [R30;]
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Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:06
A Hidden Trick that Lets You Navigate Your iPhone with One Hand
Written by Adam Engst
Unless you can palm a basketball, you may not be able to use an iPhone single-handed. But sometimes one hand is all you can spare. If you find yourself in such a situation, give Reachability a try. On a Touch ID–based iPhone, tap (don’t press) the Home button twice to slide the iPhone’s interface halfway [R30;]
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Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:05
Make More Space for Documents by Putting Your Dock on the Side of Your Mac’s Screen
Written by Adam Engst
By default, Apple locates the Dock at the bottom of the Mac’s screen. If that location interferes with you seeing as much of your document windows as you’d like, you can set it to appear only when you move the pointer to the bottom edge of the screen. But there’s a better way: put the [R30;]
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Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:04
When Should You Upgrade to macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12?
Written by Adam Engst
It’s that time of year again, when an Apple user’s thoughts drift to new versions of macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Apple announced the new versions in June, and public betas have been available since. But once Apple makes macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12 available for free download, you’ll need [R30;]
Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:03
Back Up Before Upgrading to Mojave or iOS 12!
Written by Adam Engst
Poll a room of Apple experts about the one topic they can’t stop talking about and many will launch into frustrated rants about how too few people back up. Backups are always important, since you can never predict when your Mac or iPhone will be lost or stolen, melt in a fire, or just break. [R30;]
Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:02
Top Features of iOS 12 to Take Advantage of Right Away
Written by Adam Engst
Feeling left behind because you don’t have the latest iPhone or iPad? Don’t, because Apple has a present for you in the form of iOS 12. The new operating system promises to increase performance, particularly for older devices as far back as the iPhone 5s and iPad Air. But iOS 12 offers more than just [R30;]
Tuesday, 04 September 2018 11:01
Seriously Cool Features of macOS 10.14 Mojave You Won’t Want to Miss
Written by Adam Engst
With last year’s macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple made no sweeping changes, instead focusing on refinements and bug fixes. In keeping with the company’s alternating cycle of releases, this year’s macOS 10.14 Mojave boasts plenty of new features. Dark Mode and Dynamic Desktop In a major visual change, Mojave features a new Dark mode that [R30;]
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:08
The Secret Keyboard Shortcut for Comparing Before/After Edits in Photos on the Mac
Written by Adam Engst
Photos on the Mac provides so many editing tools that it’s easy to lose track of how an edited image compares to the original. You can always use the Revert to Original command and then undo it, but that’s fussy. Instead, Photos provides a Show Original button in the upper-left corner, between the window controls [R30;]
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Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:07
Here’s How to Load the Desktop Version of a Web Site on an iPhone or iPad
Written by Adam Engst
Some Web sites have separate desktop and mobile versions, each theoretically providing the best browsing experience for its platform. Unfortunately, mobile Web sites sometimes leave out necessary features or hide content. That’s especially annoying if you’re browsing on an iPad, where the desktop site would work fine. If you run across such a site while [R30;]
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Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:06
A Simple Technique for Decluttering Your Reminders List
Written by Adam Engst
Productivity experts recommend offloading things you have to remember to a task-management app like Apple’s Reminders, which syncs your to-dos among your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. That’s particularly helpful for tasks you want to be reminded of in a few months or next year, but then those far-in-the-future tasks—especially repeating ones!—clutter your main [R30;]
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Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:05
Did You Know This Hidden Trick for Opening System Preferences Panes Directly?
Written by Adam Engst
The System Preferences app on the Mac contains about 30 icons, each leading to additional settings panes. Rather than opening System Preferences, scanning the collection of icons, and clicking the one you want, you can jump directly to the desired pane. Just click and hold on the System Preferences icon in the Dock, and choose [R30;]
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Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:04
Being an Apple User Means You’re Not the Product
Written by Adam Engst
There’s an Internet saying: “If you’re not the customer, you’re the product.” The point is that, if you’re getting a service for free, the company providing it sees you not as a customer, but as a product to sell, generally to advertisers. This is how Google, Facebook, and Twitter operate. They provide services for free, [R30;]
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:03
Here’s Why You Should Always Keep the Find My iPhone Feature Enabled
Written by Adam Engst
On the face of it, Apple’s Find My iPhone feature does what it says. If you lose your iPhone, you can identify its last known location by looking in the Find iPhone app or on the iCloud Web site, and you can make it play a sound. It’s great for tracking down a missing iPhone, [R30;]
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:02
Let Your Fingers Do the Walking: 13 Essential Trackpad Tricks for Mac Users
Written by Adam Engst
A trackpad is not a mouse. In some ways, that’s obvious—you swipe your fingers on it, rather than dragging it around. Less obvious, however, are the many gestures that make using a trackpad on your Mac faster and more fun. These gestures aren’t limited to laptop users, thanks to Apple’s Magic Trackpad 2, which brings [R30;]
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 10:01
Apple Is Discontinuing Its Photo Printing Services—Here Are 7 Alternatives
Written by Adam Engst
Sad news: Apple is discontinuing its photo printing services, which enabled you to create and order physical prints, cards, calendars, and books from within Photos on the Mac. If you’re building such a project right now, be sure to place your order before September 30th, 2018. After that, Apple is directing users to download a [R30;]
Friday, 13 July 2018 12:58
New MacBook Pros Provide More Speed and RAM, plus a Quieter Keyboard and Hey Siri
Written by Adam Engst
As students prepare to head off to college, Apple has updated the Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro line to provide even more powerful options for students and professionals alike. The changes are primarily under the hood, focusing on faster performance, more RAM, and larger SSD-based storage, but there are a few modest physical changes too, including a [R30;]
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Monday, 02 July 2018 08:07
Tired of Skewed Lines in Your Photos? Use the Camera App’s Hidden Level.
Written by Adam Engst
If you’ve ever photographed a sheet of paper or some other rectangular object, the image may have come out skewed because you inadvertently tilted the camera. The iOS 11 Camera app has a level feature to help you avoid this problem, but it’s so subtle that you may not have noticed it. To use it, [R30;]
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