Monday, 03 August 2020 11:01
Want to Make Your iPhone and Apple Watch Easier to Read?
Written by Adam Engst
If you have 20/20 vision or are still wondering why your parents have reading glasses, count yourself lucky. But if you’re like many people—over 60 percent of the population by some estimates, including most people over 45—reading the tiny text on your iPhone or Apple Watch might be impossible if you don’t happen to have […]
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Wednesday, 01 July 2020 10:08
Do You Know What the Scroller in a Scroll Bar Tells You?
Written by Adam Engst
Whenever you view a document that’s longer than will fit onscreen, a scroll bar appears (often only if you’re actively scrolling). That’s true whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Inside the scroll bar is a control called a scroller that you can drag to scroll more quickly than by swiping or using keyboard […]
Wednesday, 01 July 2020 10:07
Prevent Unsightly Tab Buildup in Safari on Your iPhone and iPad
Written by Adam Engst
Whenever you tap a link to open a Web page on your iPhone or iPad, it automatically opens a new tab. Having hundreds of tabs open won’t cause any problems but can make working with tabs clumsy. You can close all tabs—touch and hold the tab button and then tap Close All X Tabs—but you […]
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Tuesday, 23 June 2020 14:31
What We Can Expect from macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7
Written by Adam Engst
Every year at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple lays out its roadmap for the next releases of each of its operating systems. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Apple to record its keynote presentation ahead of time rather than having it live, but the company doesn’t seem to have tempered its ambitions for macOS 11.0 Big Sur, […]
Tuesday, 23 June 2020 14:30
Macs Switching from Intel Chips to Apple Silicon—Answers to Your Questions
Written by Adam Engst
At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, the company dropped a bombshell: in the future, Macs will no longer be powered by Intel chips but will instead rely on custom-designed Apple chips. As surprising as this is, the company has made such massive transitions twice before: first in 1994 with the move from Motorola’s 68000 chips […]
Monday, 01 June 2020 10:08
Stop Group FaceTime Video Tiles from Bouncing with Recent Apple OS Updates
Written by Adam Engst
Since iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave, Apple has supported Group FaceTime, which lets you have a video call with up to 32 people. However, as has become painfully obvious in today’s era of non-stop videoconferencing, Group FaceTime has a feature that some find obnoxious: automatic speaking prominence that causes the video tile for the […]
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If you have access to multiple printers, you probably know that you can choose one from the Printer pop-up menu at the top of the Print dialog. But macOS has a feature that should make it so you don’t have to switch printers manually as often. Open System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, and look […]
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Monday, 01 June 2020 10:06
Find Files in the Finder Better by Specifying a Search Scope
Written by Adam Engst
This isn’t about periscopes or mouthwash—when it comes to searching, a scope is the area in which a search takes place. When you use the Search field in a Finder window to look for files and folders, you have the choice of two scopes: This Mac or the current folder. You can always switch the […]
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Monday, 01 June 2020 10:05
Approve App Authentication Requests with Your Apple Watch in Catalina
Written by Adam Engst
Tired of typing your admin account password whenever you try to install software or change security settings on your Mac? A new feature in macOS 10.15 Catalina removes that requirement for Apple Watch owners. In System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, select the checkbox for “Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and […]
Monday, 01 June 2020 10:04
How to Ask for Tech Support So You Get Good Answers Quickly
Written by Adam Engst
Need help with something? On occasion, we all need tech support. Speaking as the people who are sometimes on the other end of those requests for help, we have some suggestions on how to get the support you need as quickly as possible. For instance, think about what we have to do if we receive […]
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Monday, 01 June 2020 10:03
How to Back Up an iPhone or iPad with Your Mac Running Catalina
Written by Adam Engst
One of the most significant changes in macOS 10.15 Catalina was the breakup of the long-standing iTunes app into separate Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. But what about backing up iOS devices, which you also used to do in iTunes? In Catalina, Apple moved this function into the Finder. So if you’ve upgraded to Catalina […]
Monday, 01 June 2020 10:02
Here’s How the Exposure Notification System from Apple and Google Protects Your Privacy
Written by Adam Engst
Apple recently released iOS 13.5, incorporating a new Exposure Notification API in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve seen a few people freaking out about this, but seriously, calm down, folks. At best, the Exposure Notification API could lower contact tracing costs, reduce the spread of COVID-19, prevent life-changing health consequences, and save lives. […]
Monday, 01 June 2020 10:01
Got a Mac Laptop? Here’s What You Need to Know about Battery Health Management in Catalina
Written by Adam Engst
We all want Mac laptops that can run for days on a single charge and never need their batteries serviced. Sadly, we’re always going to be disappointed. Battery and power management technologies continually improve, but those improvements are matched by more powerful processors and smaller designs with less room for battery cells. And, because physics […]
Tuesday, 05 May 2020 05:10
Apple Updates 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard and Twice the Storage
Written by Adam Engst
In a move that completes the transition of the MacBook line from the troubled butterfly keyboard to the Magic Keyboard, Apple has released a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company also doubled the amount of storage in each of the standard configurations while keeping prices the same, and it ramped up the specs in the […]
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Friday, 01 May 2020 09:08
iPhone Not Charging Reliably? Clean Its Lightning Port with a Toothpick
Written by Adam Engst
If you’re plugging your iPhone in regularly but getting low-battery warnings when you shouldn’t, consider the possibility that something is preventing your iPhone from charging successfully while plugged in. If there’s no lightning bolt badge on the battery icon when the iPhone is plugged in, that’s a sure sign that no power is reaching the […]
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Friday, 01 May 2020 09:07
Customize What Appears in New Finder Windows with This Tip
Written by Adam Engst
When you’re in the Finder, choosing File > New Finder Window does, as you’d expect, open a new Finder window. But what folder appears in that window? By default, new Finder windows open to Recents, which is a built-in smart folder showing recently opened documents. If you’d prefer to see items in a fixed location […]
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Friday, 01 May 2020 09:06
Ever Wondered Which Words to Capitalize in a Title? Use Capitalize My Title!
Written by Adam Engst
When you’re writing a blog post or email newsletter, you’ll eventually hit the question of how to capitalize words in a title. There is no one right way, but just as with poor spelling and grammar, randomly capitalized titles can reduce reader trust in your knowledge, competence, and expertise. The trick is to pick a […]
Friday, 01 May 2020 09:05
Do You Know Who Can Track Your Location? It’s Worth Checking Periodically
Written by Adam Engst
Sharing your location works well when you’re out with friends or family and want everyone to be able to see where everyone else is. It’s easy to enable in various spots in iOS 13—in Messages, in Contacts, in the Find My app, and so on. You can share your location for an hour, until the […]
Whether for work or socializing, we’re all spending a lot more time in video calls these days. But—surprise!—it turns out that many of our group video calls could be more pleasant, less embarrassing, and overall better if we follow a few basic audiovisual tips. Make Sure You Have Decent Lighting Natural light is best, but […]
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Friday, 01 May 2020 09:03
Forrester Research and IBM Studies Show Macs Are Cheaper than PCs
Written by Adam Engst
It’s taken as gospel that Macs are more expensive than PCs. A quick look at the Dell Web site reveals laptops for as low as $300. Sure, we can say that the configurations aren’t comparable, that macOS is better than Windows, or that Apple’s hardware quality is superior. Still, our friendly local bean counters have […]
Friday, 01 May 2020 09:02
Want to Push Some Buttons? Make the Most of Control Center in iOS
Written by Adam Engst
Starting back in iOS 11, Apple made Control Center significantly more useful by letting you customize it more to your liking by adding and rearranging buttons. You can even remove a few of the default buttons if they’re just taking up space. Opening and Closing Control Center To open Control Center in iOS 11 and […]
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Friday, 01 May 2020 09:01
Use the Mac’s Built-In Screen Sharing to Provide Remote Help
Written by Adam Engst
Are you the person your friends and family members turn to for questions about the Mac? In normal times, those questions might come over dinner or at another in-person gathering, such that you could look directly at their Mac to see what was going on. Now, however, with everyone staying at home due to the […]
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