Monday, 02 March 2020 09:08
Unsubscribe from Marketing Email to Lighten Your Inbox Load
Written by Adam Engst
Are you overwhelmed by email? Is your Inbox filled with promotions, special offers, and the like? These messages aren’t spam—you almost always bought something from the company or have some sort of relationship with the sender—but that doesn’t mean you want to hear from them repeatedly. Luckily, it’s easy to get off the lists of […]
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Split View on the Mac helps you focus on your work in one app—perhaps a word processor—while providing access to one other app, like a Web browser. (Make sure “Displays have separate Spaces” is selected in System Preferences > Mission Control.) Before macOS 10.15 Catalina, you had to click and hold on the green full-screen […]
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Monday, 02 March 2020 09:06
Set Your Preferred Name and Photo for Messages in iOS 13
Written by Adam Engst
In your list of conversations in Messages, you probably have lots of people who have generic icons next to their names or numbers. You likely look like that to other people as well, but a new feature in iOS 13 lets you share your preferred name and avatar picture with other iMessage users (blue-bubble friends). […]
Monday, 02 March 2020 09:05
Disable or Remap the Caps Lock Key to Avoid Accidental ALL CAPS
Written by Adam Engst
As you undoubtedly know, TYPING IN ALL CAPS is considered shouting on the Internet. Doesn’t it bug you when you accidentally tap the Caps Lock key and start writing in uppercase? The Caps Lock key is vestigial—it was invented as a “Shift lock” key to make it easier to type the second characters on the […]
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Monday, 02 March 2020 09:04
COVID-19: Preparing Your Organization to Work from Home
Written by Adam Engst
As of this writing, the respiratory disease COVID-19 has caused nearly 3000 deaths and infected over 100,000 people worldwide. There are relatively few cases in North America currently, but that could increase significantly. For high-quality information about COVID-19, turn to the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For now, […]
Monday, 02 March 2020 09:03
Troubleshooting Steps for When Your Mac Won’t Print
Written by Adam Engst
There’s little more frustrating than being unable to print a document when you need it. You choose File > Print, and nothing happens. Or, worse, macOS looks like it’s printing, so you focus on some other task, only to realize 20 minutes later that nothing has come out of the printer. Now what? Try these […]
Monday, 02 March 2020 09:02
How to Choose Between iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream
Written by Adam Engst
For quite a few years, Apple enabled users to download their iPhone or iPad photos to their Macs with a service called My Photo Stream. It wasn’t perfect, but it was free, and it did a decent job of ensuring that photos you took on your iPhone or iPad would end up on your Mac. […]
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By default, Apple gives every iCloud user 5 GB of storage space. That disappears quickly, given how it’s shared between iCloud Mail, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, Messages, and iCloud-enabled apps. Apple will, of course, sell you more iCloud space. $0.99 per month gets you 50 GB, $2.99 per month provides 200 GB, and for $9.99 […]
Power users like keyboard shortcuts because it’s faster to press a couple of keys than to navigate lengthy menus. If you have trouble remembering shortcuts, check out KeyCue, which displays a concise table of all currently available shortcuts. But what about menu items that lack shortcuts? Make your own in System Preferences > Keyboard > […]
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Monday, 03 February 2020 08:07
Is Your iPhone Reporting “No Service” When You Know There’s a Signal?
Written by Adam Engst
Have you ever seen the dreaded “No Service” label at the top of your iPhone’s screen, even when you’re pretty sure there should be cellular reception? It’s not common, but the iPhone’s cellular radio can occasionally get confused. Luckily, you can easily fix the problem. Open Control Center (swipe down from the upper-right corner on […]
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Monday, 03 February 2020 08:06
Make Your Mac More Useful by Managing Menu Bar Icons
Written by Adam Engst
If your Mac is anything like ours, it’s suffering from an infestation of menu bar icons. Sure, the Wi-Fi menu is essential, and many others can be helpful. But if you have too many, or they’re in random order, finding one when you need it can be frustrating. You can employ two techniques to increase […]
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Monday, 03 February 2020 08:05
The Fastest Way to Change Wi-Fi Networks in iOS 13
Written by Adam Engst
Historically, picking a new Wi-Fi network has required you to open the Settings app and tap Wi-Fi, forcing you to unlock your iPhone or switch away from what you were doing. In iOS 13, however, Apple added a better way to connect to a new Wi-Fi network. Open Control Center (swipe down from the upper-right […]
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For some Mac users, macOS 10.15 Catalina is no longer a choice. That’s because the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and the 2019 Mac Pro that Apple released late last year ship with Catalina installed and can’t run any previous version of macOS. But for most people, it’s time to consider an upgrade to Catalina. Most […]
Monday, 03 February 2020 08:03
To Prevent Spearfishing, Set a PIN or Passcode on Your Cell Phone Account
Written by Adam Engst
Spearfishing. It’s no longer just a tropical ocean sport that could provide seafood for dinner. In today’s tech world, spearfishing is when someone targets you specifically, usually with the goal of taking over your online accounts. Once that’s done, the attacker will try to siphon money from your bank account, impersonate you in an attempt […]
Monday, 03 February 2020 08:02
Here’s How to Mark Up Photos and Screenshots with Text and Graphics in iOS 13
Written by Adam Engst
Ever wanted to take a photo of a receipt and circle the item for which you should be reimbursed? Or perhaps you’d like to put some text or a speech balloon on a photo? You can do all that and much more using iOS 13’s Markup tools. They’re available when you take a screenshot, in […]
Monday, 03 February 2020 08:01
Learn How to Examine Your iPhone’s Battery Usage
Written by Adam Engst
A common question we hear is, “Why is my iPhone/iPad battery draining so fast?” Luckily, Apple provides tools that help you see exactly how your iPhone uses its battery over the last 24 hours and—with less detail—over each of the last 10 days. Plus, you can tweak settings that will improve battery life, both in […]
Thursday, 02 January 2020 11:08
Did You Know You Can Save and Share Voicemail Files from Your iPhone?
Written by Adam Engst
For many of us, voicemail replaced answering machines, so we don’t think of voicemail messages as being something we can save or share. But on the iPhone, every voicemail message is just an audio file. If you want to retain a message for posterity or share one with a friend or colleague, you can do […]
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Thursday, 02 January 2020 11:07
Migrate to a New Mac Right Away, Rather Than Waiting
Written by Adam Engst
The next time you buy and set up a new Mac, make sure to migrate data and apps from your previous Mac to it right away during the initial setup. It can be tempting to see what it’s like to use it fresh from the factory or to delay migrating because doing so would force […]
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Thursday, 02 January 2020 11:06
Use Your Apple Watch to Unlock Your Mac, and Apps in Catalina
Written by Adam Engst
If you’ve resisted requiring a password on your Mac after it wakes up or comes out of the screen saver because it’s too much work to enter repeatedly, an Apple Watch can make authentication much easier. In previous versions of macOS, just wearing an unlocked Apple Watch is enough to enter your Mac’s password; in […]
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Thursday, 02 January 2020 11:05
AirDrop Reception Not Working? Here’s the Likely Fix
Written by Adam Engst
AirDrop has become a fast and reliable way to transfer data from one iPhone to another that’s nearby. Just tap the share icon and in iOS 13’s activity view, either tap an AirDrop shortcut in the top row or tap AirDrop in the second row and select choose a person or device in the subsequent […]
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Thursday, 02 January 2020 11:04
Use Guided Access to Let Kids and Others Use Your iPhone Temporarily
Written by Adam Engst
Let’s get one thing straight. You know that you should never, ever share your iPhone or iPad passcode with anyone you don’t trust implicitly, like a spouse or adult child, right? That’s because, with your iOS passcode, someone could change your Apple ID password, and if you use iCloud for email, completely steal or otherwise […]
Email has been around for decades, but there are no hard-and-fast rules for how you should close a message with either the signoff or the signature block. If you’ve always wondered about the best ways to finish off a message or are uncomfortable with what you’ve been doing, here’s our advice. Use the form of […]
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