You are backing up your Mac’s data, right? (No? Really? Open System Preferences > Time Machine and set up backups to an external hard drive. We’ll wait. Otherwise, the question is not if you’ll lose data, but when.)
Read MoreOn the Mac, when you’re done with an app you quit it. Many people think the same is true on the iPhone, where you can double-press the Home button to access the App Switcher and then swipe up on an app to quit it. But just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should. Worse, contrary to what some people believe, quitting iPhone apps will likely hurt battery life.
Read MoreWith all the advances in computing and communications, it’s amazing that—after nearly 150 years!—we still use the keyboard layout from the world’s first practical typewriter for entering text into our computers, smartphones, and tablets. But we haven’t improved as typists, nor do we enjoy typing more—if anything, we increasingly abbreviate to avoid typing, hence “CUL8R.” Text messaging aside, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to type less without compromising meaning or making your text look like it was composed by a teenager? Thanks to text expansion features built into the Mac and iOS, and extended with third-party utilities, you can.
Read MoreIf you use AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint in the United States with an iPhone 6 or newer model, you can turn on a feature starting in iOS 9 that enables your iPhone to send calls over a Wi-Fi network (and thus the Internet) rather than relying on spotty cellular coverage. It’s especially useful in thick-walled buildings that block cellular signals.
Read MoreIf you regularly lose your pointer on big-screen Mac, Apple has added a feature you’ll like starting in OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Shake the mouse to and fro on your desk, or run your finger back and forth on the trackpad quickly, and the pointer expands briefly so you can find it.
Read MoreThere are oodles of ways to launch Mac apps. You can double-click an app in the Applications folder, click an app icon in the Dock, invoke Launchpad and click the desired app, or choose an app from the Apple menu’s Recent Items > Applications submenu. You can even add commonly used apps to the toolbar of Finder windows by Command-dragging them up there.
Read MoreApple’s new iMac Pro has started shipping, and it’s an astonishing machine. Put simply, it’s the most powerful Mac ever, a title it will likely retain until Apple releases a new version of the Mac Pro, promised for sometime in 2018. But for now, what’s special about the iMac Pro, and should you buy one?
Read MoreDistracted driving may not make headlines, but it’s a huge problem. In the United States in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that 391,000 people were injured and 3477 killed in accidents caused by distracted driving.
Many things can distract drivers, but the most concerning—and the most avoidable—is texting. Given that the iPhone has a 30–40% share of the market, it might have been involved in as many as 100,000 injuries and 1000 deaths in just 2015. Not good.
Apple has stepped up to the plate by introducing the Do Not Disturb While Driving (DNDWD) feature in iOS 11.
Read MoreHow long has it been since you changed your passwords...and I use the plural because, of course, you shouldn't be using the same password for multiple services. iMore has a pretty good article explaining why you should change your passwords often and how to easily keep track of them. I also use 1Password (as described in the article) to keep track of over 500 web logins and I have no idea what most of them are and I don't need to. 1Password keeps track of all of them for me and enters them for me on demand. Read on...
Did you hear about the battery-related controversy swirling around Apple at the end of 2017? There has been much hue and cry about how, starting with iOS 10.2.1, iOS has been slowing down iPhones with old, weak batteries to avoid unexpected shutdowns.
Read MoreApple does a great job with Macs, iPhones, and iPads, but stuff goes wrong all the time—as professional providers of technical support we know that better than anyone. So we’re really cheesed off by tech support scams that try to defraud unsuspecting users in the name of fixing problems that don’t exist. Here’s how to protect yourself.
Read MoreEven if you’re not buying a new iPhone this year, you can still enjoy a hefty dose of “New and Improved!” with Apple’s iOS 11, which provides a host of new capabilities. Hold on tight, there’s a lot to cover, and we have another article coming about the iPad-specific changes in iOS 11.
Read MoreAlthough Apple’s eye-catching Desktop image of the High Sierra mountains makes it easy to confirm that your Mac is running High Sierra, the most noteworthy new features are invisible! These changes are aimed at improving your Mac’s performance. But, don’t worry that there’s nothing new in High Sierra to play with—you’ll find plenty to do in Apple’s apps, and we’ll share our favorite features below.
Read MoreMicrosoft has announced that support for Microsoft Office 2011 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) for Mac is ending October 10, 2017. What does this mean to you?
Read MoreAt its highly anticipated product announcement event at the new Steve Jobs Theater, Apple didn’t disappoint.
The big news was the revolutionary iPhone X, which eliminates the Home button and unlocks by recognizing your face. Apple also announced the evolutionary iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus; a cellular-capable Apple Watch Series 3; and the Apple TV 4K, which supports 4K HDR video. The company said that iOS 11 and watchOS 4 would ship on September 19th, and later noted that macOS 10.13 High Sierra would arrive September 25th.
Read MoreAs always, new versions of operating systems bring changes and new features. But the upcoming new software from Apple brings some major changes that can affect the applications you use daily and may, in some cases, render them completely useless. It's expected that these new versions will be coming sometime in September.
Read More"I don't want to remember too many passwords." "I don't have anything of value in my accounts." "The bad guys won't find me." These are things I have heard from clients over the years and it's understandable why they might have said them. However, it's not that that they always want your stuff. The "bad guys" on the Internet have become relentless in the techniques they use to get into your accounts for their own purposes. One example is that they might hijack accounts to use them to perform nefarious or illegal activities on the Internet disguised as you.
Read MoreThere’s nothing worse than your iPhone running out of juice at an inopportune time. Starting in iOS 9, there’s a Low Power Mode that’s offered to you when the remaining battery charge drops below 20%, and it’s automatically disabled once the charge rises to 80%.
Read MoreIf you use AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint in the United States with an iPhone 6 or newer model, you can turn on a feature starting in iOS 9 that enables your iPhone to send calls over a Wi-Fi network (and thus the Internet) rather than relying on spotty cellular coverage
Read MoreIf you regularly lose your pointer on big-screen Mac, Apple has added a feature you’ll like starting in OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Shake the mouse to and fro on your desk, or run your finger back and forth on the trackpad quickly, and the pointer expands briefly so you can find it.
Read More
