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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Monday, 02 July 2018 08:06
Did You Know You Can Customize the Columns in a Finder Window’s List View?
Written by Adam Engst
When a Mac folder contains a lot of files, the Finder’s List view often works best, since it lets you focus on a single folder and easily sort the contents by clicking the different columns: Name, Date Modified, Size, and Kind. But did you know that you can resize columns, rearrange them, and even add [R30;]
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Monday, 02 July 2018 08:05
Remember That You Can Search for Nearly Anything in Your Photos Library
Written by Adam Engst
Apple’s Photos app on the Mac can identify thousands of different objects in your photos, so it’s easy to find photos based on their content. You can find objects (cars and trains), scenery (beaches and forests), and even some events (weddings and parades). This is both big fun and useful for those times when you [R30;]
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Monday, 02 July 2018 08:04
Tired of “Sent from my iPhone” as Your Email Signature?
Written by Adam Engst
When you use Apple’s Mail app on your iPhone to send email, the default signature is “Sent from my iPhone.” If you’d rather not advertise that fact with every email, or would prefer to change it to something more personal, don’t bother poking around in the Mail app itself. Instead, go to Settings > Mail [R30;]
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Monday, 02 July 2018 08:04
Have Your Online Passwords Been Stolen? Here’s How to Find Out.
Written by Adam Engst
Data breaches have become commonplace, with online thieves constantly breaking into corporate and government servers and making off with millions—or even hundreds of millions!—of email addresses, often along with other personal information like names, physical address, and passwords. It would be nice to think that all companies properly encrypt their password databases, but the sad [R30;]
Monday, 02 July 2018 08:03
What’s the Deal with Apple’s New Messages in iCloud Feature?
Written by Adam Engst
When Apple first announced macOS 10.13 High Sierra and iOS 11, one of the promised features was Messages in iCloud, a way of syncing your conversations in Messages via your iCloud account. Despite the fact that Messages already tries to sync its conversations between your devices, this feature proved difficult for Apple to deliver, and [R30;]
For many years now, Apple’s AirPlay feature has made it possible to stream audio from an iOS device or Mac to an AirPlay-enabled speaker, AirPort Express base station, or most recently, a HomePod. Because AirPlay transfers sound over a Wi-Fi network, it eliminates the need for stereo wires and lets you put your speakers where [R30;]
Monday, 02 July 2018 08:01
Invoke Special Views and Features on the Mac with a Flick of Your Wrist
Written by Adam Engst
Most Macs are busy places, with oodles of open windows cluttering the screen. If you want to look at the Desktop or do something different, you may find yourself clicking around or using keyboard shortcuts, but did you know that you can access many of the Mac’s special views with just a flick of your [R30;]
Thursday, 07 June 2018 09:00
Sneak Preview of What’s Coming from Apple This Fall
Written by Adam Engst
At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 4th, the company unveiled the first developer versions of all four of its operating systems: macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12. They won’t be available until this fall, likely in September or October, but here is a glimpse of what you can expect.
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