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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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:08
Use Copy as Pathname to Help Someone Find a File on the Mac
Written by Adam Engst
Have you ever needed to write directions for where to find a file on the Mac? That’s easy if it’s in a well-traveled location, like the Music or Pictures folder, but more difficult if it’s in an obscure hidey-hole. Rather than write out instructions like “Look in the Chrome folder inside Google’s Application Support folder [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:07
How to Recover Space by Offloading Unused Apps in iOS 11
Written by Adam Engst
Running low on space on your iPhone or iPad in iOS 11? This problem may be easier to deal with than you expect because Apple has added a quick way to free up storage space by removing unneeded apps. Go to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage, where you’ll see a Recommendations section. This section [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:06
Did You Know Your EarPods Work as a Remote Shutter Button for Photos?
Written by Adam Engst
Have you ever composed the perfect photo in the iPhone’s Camera app and then been unable to tap the shutter button without jiggling the iPhone and blurring the image? That can be especially difficult with macro shots that require physical contortions to position the iPhone properly. Sometimes, pressing one of the physical volume buttons on [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:05
Look Up All Sorts of Information with a Quick Click or Tap on the Mac
Written by Adam Engst
Apple makes it easy to look up information about any word you can see on your Mac, in nearly any app. To access this information, Control- or right-click the word and choose Look Up “word”, use the trackpad to tap the word with three fingers, or hover the pointer over it and press Command-Control-D. macOS [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:04
What OS Version Are You Running? Here’s How to Find Out.
Written by Adam Engst
In Troubleshooting 101, one of the first questions is always, “What version of the operating system are you running?” There’s a big difference between Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and macOS 10.13 High Sierra, and the solution to any particular problem will likely revolve around knowing what operating system is in play. The same [R30;]
As iPhones have become ever more prevalent, one of Apple’s bundled apps—Find My Friends—has become significantly more useful. Although there are legitimate concerns about sharing your location willy-nilly, Find My Friends gives everyone full control over what they share, making it truly helpful for families and close friends. So if you’ve ever thought it would [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:02
Try Trello for Group Collaboration and Project Management
Written by Adam Engst
Nearly all of us have to work together in a group at some point. Whether it’s for your job, a PTA, a club sports team, or a family trying to organize a vacation, it’s helpful to have a spot where everyone in the group can contribute information, comment on what others say, and build a [R30;]
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Friday, 01 June 2018 06:01
How to Deal with macOS Server Losing Many of Its Services
Written by Adam Engst
For many years, Apple has sold macOS Server (previously called OS X Server) for those who wanted to run various Unix-based Internet services on a Mac. Server became popular because it put an easy-to-use graphical interface on top of the Unix apps, allowing Mac users to avoid complicated configuration files and reducing the need to [R30;]
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Siri is supposed to be a competent voice assistant, but sometimes Siri can’t even pronounce your own name correctly! Luckily, it’s easy to fix Siri’s pronunciation for any name. Just say to Siri, “Learn how to pronounce Jill Kresock.” (Siri defaults to “krehsock” rather than the correct “kreesock” in this case.) Siri first asks you [R30;]
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Tuesday, 01 May 2018 08:07
Enable Theater Mode to Prevent Your Apple Watch from Lighting Up at a Show
Written by Adam Engst
Attend any live theater presentation, and someone will ask the audience to silence their cell phones. But what about your Apple Watch? You don’t want it lighting up or making noise during the show either. To ensure that doesn’t happen, swipe up on the face to display Control Center, and then tap the theater masks [R30;]
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Tuesday, 01 May 2018 08:06
Here’s How to Hide All Windows on Your Mac So You Can Work on the Desktop
Written by Adam Engst
If your Mac is anything like ours, you end up with lots of apps open, each with one or more windows that obscure the Desktop. For those people who like to save in-progress documents to the Desktop and keep current project folders there, all those windows get in the way. macOS has a solution. Open [R30;]
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Finder freezes. They shouldn’t happen at all, and they don’t happen often, but it’s not unheard of for your Mac’s Finder to freeze, freak out, or otherwise stop responding properly. To bring it back to life, hold down the Option key, click and hold the Finder icon in the Dock, and choose Relaunch. (If the [R30;]
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Tuesday, 01 May 2018 08:04
Moment Helps You Gauge Your iPhone Use and Offers Parental Oversight Option
Written by Adam Engst
Smartphone addiction is real. Do you check your iPhone before you get out of bed? During family dinners? Right before you go to sleep? Constantly during the day even when you’re on vacation? If you—or your family members—feel that you’re disappearing into your phone too often or at inappropriate times, it may be time to [R30;]