Apple added 4- and 5-finger gestures last October, but the features don’t seem commonly used. After two weeks with my new iPad, however, I’m suddenly taking advantage of these gestures and they make the iPad experience even better. Here’s a quick list of these useful gestures. Read More »
Since Apple introduced the new iPad, we’ve been answering your questions about which device to buy, whether you should upgrade and, once you have it, which apps you should get. Which ones look best? Which data plan should you pick? Here’s what you need to know. Read More »
The challenge is getting the best video quality possible, as well as making the call as convenient to manage as possible. And believe it or not, the trick is to use a smartphone car mount with a hand mirror. That’s right, a common household hand mirror. Read More »
Apple’s iTunes Match is a great, but potentially hard-to-grasp service, and many people have questions. That’s why it’s welcome that Apple introduced an instructional page detailing exactly what iTunes Match provides and how it works over the holiday weekend. Read More »
Welcome to another installment of Tips and Tricks, the series that aims to teach you something new about your Apple stuff. This time, we’ll be taking a look at Siri and how changing one or two words in your query can produce completely different results. Read More »
Before iOS 5, getting auto-correct to ignore strange or unfamiliar words was difficult and tedious. Now, however, there’s an easy way to not only add terms to the auto-correct dictionary, but also to create handy shortcuts for quickly typing out commonly-used phrases. Read More »
Configuring your iOS device to take advantage of new iCloud services is resulting in confusion and frustration for many. At the core of this confusion is the Apple ID. Here’s a thorough explanation of your options using Apple IDs with the iTunes Store, and with iCloud. Read More »
Since the release of the first developer preview of Windows 8, Mac users have been downloading it to run in virtualization software such as Parallels and VMware Fusion. You can do it using Boot Camp, too, and experience Windows 8 at full speed. Read More »
In this instalment of tips and tricks, we’ll be focusing on Mail 5, the new version that ships with Lion. There are a number of changes to the app that you might not be aware of, and some handy trips from past versions that still apply. Read More »
The menu bar in OS X doesn’t just contain the menus for the application you’re currently using; it can also hold all sorts of helpful extras that can be accessed from any application with just one click, and make using OS X a little easier. Read More »
Launchpad, the new app launcher in Mac OS X Lion, can be useful for hunting down apps you don’t use very often. However, sometimes it can feel bloated and difficult to navigate. Here are a few tips to make Launchpad a bit easier to work with. Read More »
OS X Lion brings multiple improvements to one of OS X’s most useful and least celebrated built-in elements: screen sharing. Experienced Screen Sharing users may have missed some new features, and if you’ve never tried it, these additions might encourage you to do so. Read More »
More Must Reads
Moving photos from your iPhone to your Mac can actually involve many steps and input from a user. But you can also set up wireless, automatic background syncing to a destination on your Mac of your choice, with a $2 app and some quick initial setup. Read More »
If you’re like me, you take a lot of photos with your iPhone. You might want to keep some of them, but most ikely lose their novelty on a second viewing. Deciding which to keep is easier after you import the photos to your Mac. Read More »
Welcome to another instalment of Tips and Tricks, the series of articles aiming to teach you something you didn’t know about your Apple products. Let’s continue by looking at iPhoto, and some ways of speeding up your workflow and making it easier to manipulate your collection. Read More »
One of the best new features in Apple’s updated iWork suite for iPhone and iPad is the ability to control a Keynote presentation on your iPad using your iPhone. Here’s how to do it, and what you’ll need to make it work. Read More »
Chances are, there’s a lot of personal information and data stored on your iPhone or iPad. The last thing you want is someone finding your data and using it maliciously. You can encrypt your backup, but what about if someone gets hold of your actual device? Read More »
If you’re security conscious, or you just want your personal data to be safer, you can encrypt the backups iTunes creates of your iOS devices. You may just be hearing about this following Apple’s location troubles last week, so here’s how to do it. Read More »
There are some Unicode characters which are useful (and fun) to be able to type. However, while some of them are readily accessible using the keyboard, most are hidden away in the Character Viewer. Here’s how to use actual Unicode codes to type these special symbols. Read More »
While this week many people are searching for Easter Eggs or the Afikoman, here are 10 hidden settings you can find in your Mac apps and OS X. These are all small changes you can make that make using the applications and the system slightly better. Read More »
iChat is a great little chat client, especially considering it’s included in OS X. However, a common complaint is that it doesn’t support IM networks such as MSN or Facebook chat. Here’s a way to chat to friends on networks which aren’t technically supported by iChat. Read More »
Just before the latest MacBook Pro updates were released, rumors swirled that the new models would adopt solid-state drives in addition to hard disk drives and drop internal DVD drives. That sounded perfect to me, so I made it happen even though Apple didn’t. Here’s how. Read More »
Wouldn’t it be great if the movie would simply start playing as soon as the DVD was inserted? That’s exactly what remastering a DVD can do for you, allowing you to bypass all the trailers, menu choices and other things that prevent instant movie gratification. Read More »
Once you finally get that new Mac in your hands, you’ll want to get up and running fast. Migrating all of your applications, preferences and data can be a daunting task, but there are options available to help make your transition as painless as … Read More »
Creating an image file of a data disc is straightforward. Preserving music CDs on a Mac is only challenging if you wanted to get it just right. It’s possible to tame Blu-ray on a Mac as well. That just leaves your DVD-based movie collection to … Read More »
Every new Mac ships with iLife, which includes iPhoto, and automatically launches that application when you connect a camera. If you’d rather specify a different application for importing photos or video, or if you’d rather choose your importing app manually each time, here’s how. Read More »
Welcome to another installment of Tips and Tricks. These articles aim to teach you some handy things you might not know about your Apple stuff. Let’s continue the series by looking at iTunes, with an eye to making things easier and eliminating some clutter. Read More »
MobileMe offers subscribers a terrific level of remote access to files and applications stored on home Macs when on the road. You may be a MobileMe subscriber and not even be aware of this feature. Here’s how to go about setting up Back to My Mac. Read More »
Here’s a quick video demonstration of how to set or change your scratch disk in Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements for OS X. If lack of RAM or available disk space is causing crashes, this could be the fix you’re looking for. Read More »
Thanks to the excellent Erica Sadun, you can now easily set up your Mac to receive AirPlay streaming from an iOS device. Check out our simple guide to getting the new utility, called AirPlayer, up and running on your Mac. Read More »
There is a myriad of options when it comes to setting up your Mac’s mouse or trackpad. The Mouse and Trackpad sections in System Preferences have helpful videos showing you how to use different features, but here’s a guide to getting those settings just right. Read More »
If your Mac is running slow or things don’t seem to be working properly, it may just be that you need to give your computer some TLC. Here are a few ways to look after your Mac to make sure it doesn’t get too ill. Read More »
Math and science folks rejoice: Equation editing finally makes its appearance in Office for Mac’s Word 2011. If you’re a student or work in an academic setting, putting equations into your papers can be a pain, but now it’s a little easier. Read More »
OS X includes a great tool called Automator, which makes it really easy to take the sting out of repetitive tasks. Recently, I ran into a situation where I had to combine a bunch of PDF files into one. Luckily, Automator makes it dead simple. Read More »
If, like me, you’re still using Tweetie for Mac despite it being terribly out of date and if, like me, you’re growing increasingly weary of the never ending flow of orange-tinted hipster Instagrams showing up in your timeline, here’s a little tip that will help. Read More »
In light of the news that having Flash on your system could drastically affect battery life for notebooks, here’s a video showing you how to remove it from OS X if it’s already installed. It takes a little more digging than you might think. Read More »
Moving from Windows to Mac is a big change, and can be a little disconcerting at first. A friend of mine described the feeling akin to being “underwater.” One of the biggest differences between the platforms is in how windows are managed. Read More »
I’ll admit to having been pretty flighty about my choice of browsers in the past. Camino one month, Safari the next, Chrome the week after. Now that I’ve decided to settle down and stick with Safari, I wanted to make the most of it. Read More »
Distractions are rotting your brain. Recently, research has revealed a lot about the long-term effects of distractions and digital multitasking. An inability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, poor performance and stress; this is your brain on the Internet. Your Mac can help, though. Read More »
In this iWeb video tutorial you’ll learn how to import content, create links, embed a video and publish your website. If you’re planning to build your own site, Apple’s iWeb is an easy way for you to get into web-design and launch your first online project. With … Read More »
Maybe it’s because you’ve been watching too many of these ads , but for whatever reason, the iPhone isn’t for you. You opted for an Android-based phone instead. It may blend, but will it sync with your Mac? Read on. There are comprehensive third … Read More »
Chances are if you do any kind of front-end web development on a Mac you’ve heard about CSSEdit, a very popular tool for editing .css files in OS X. I use CSSEdit pretty much all day long at my day job and while I absolutely … Read More »
So you’re loving your brand new Magic Mouse but are missing the ability to activate Expose and Spaces right from the mouse? Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. Using SIMBL and a neat little preference pane called MultiClutch, we can … Read More »
The Apple TV, as envisioned by Apple, is truly a very niche market device. You’re basically paying money for something that lets you pay more money to buy or rent music, movies and TV shows from the iTunes store. Sure, you can also stream content from … Read More »
As any person who frequently uses email will tell you, email signatures are very important as they usually provide more information than just a standard name and email address from the sender. You can spice up an email signature since Mail offers support for HTML signatures. … Read More »
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