6 things iOS can learn from OS X
Plenty of iOS features have found their way into Apple’s desktop OS over the past couple of years. But Apple should also consider moving some Mac features into its mobile OS. Read more »
Alex Layne
Former Windows user/hackintosher. Now a Mac geek.
5 iOS news app alternatives to Google Reader
Heartbroken over the news of Google Reader’s demise? RSS isn’t the only way to keep up with the news. Here are five news reader apps for iOS that we like. Read more »
iTunes 11 review: Hands-on with Apple’s refined jukebox
iTunes 11 is the best version of Apple’s software yet. It is a major redesign, but one that aims to keep its legacy going and dispell the opinion that iTunes is bloated and outdated. Read more »
My Siri wish list: 5 things I want to see
Movies and restaurants are a good start, but I wish Siri could tell me what concerts are happening in my area, or give me information about my device, have more specific voice control actions, and even help translate conversations into foreign languages. Read more »
Hands on: Shared Photo Streams in iOS 6
Coming in iOS 6 this fall is a more social photo feature called Shared Photo Streams. We walk you through how it will work: how to set it up, and how you can then start sharing, liking and commenting on your iPhone-owning friends’ photos. Read more »
Diving into iOS 6: The subtle design changes
Apple’s announced iOS 6 update is set to bring a lot of changes to its mobile platform, and after using it for a day, I’ve found plenty of new features Apple didn’t mention in the keynote: mostly design changes, and even a subtle dig at Google. Read more »
Apple silently updates AirPort Express
Coming in stealthily under the din of our WWDC coverage, Apple today has updated its AirPort Express wireless router. It’s redesigned to look more like an Apple TV now, now has AirPlay, and lets you use 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands at the same time. Read more »
6 things I want to see in iOS 6
WWDC starts Monday morning, with the likely preview of iOS 6 planned for the keynote. Here’s a list of the things I want to see out of the latest mobile operating system from Apple: improved notifications, better inter-app communication, updated Siri, AirDrop and more. Read more »
Mountain Lion creeps forward: new features in the developer preview
Apple continues to tweak the upcoming version of its Mac desktop operating system, OS X Mountain Lion. The changes made recently to the developer preview are good indications of what we’ll see when the final version goes live this summer. Here’s an overview of those changes. Read more »
Quick tip: Reclaim space in a pinch on iOS devices
Don’t have enough space to download your favorite app’s update? For those of us that fill our phones to the brim with apps and media, it’s a familiar scenario. However, there’s a neat trick to easily and temporarily reclaim space on your iOS device. Read more »
7 iOS features I wish Apple would bring to the Mac
This summer Apple continues the strategy begun with OS X Lion of integrating some iOS features into OS X. iMessage, system-level Twitter integration and notifications were great additions, but there are still features not in Mountain Lion that I’d like to see migrate from iOS. Read more »
Digging deeper: Smaller changes in OS X Mountain Lion
The major new features in Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion are what everyone is talking about, but with every release of OS X, the company makes some smaller changes that escape the notice of most. We take a look at some of those changes. Read more »
5 music-focused iTunes alternatives for Mac
iTunes may be great for syncing your iOS devices, or buying songs, movies, apps and books, but it’s not exactly the most nimble music player anymore. Here are five great Mac-compatible alternatives that focus on the music, without the bloat that iTunes brings. Read more »
iPad or Kindle Fire: Which should you buy?
Amazon’s first foray into the tablet market, the Kindle Fire, is widely perceived as the first real competitor to the iPad. Here’s an outline of how the two compare, and which is better suited to which kind of gift recipient this holiday season. Read more »
Switching from Android to iOS: What I’ll miss and what I won’t
As someone who regularly blogs about Apple, it’s a bit surprising that the iPhone 4S is the first iPhone I’ve owned. Until now, I’ve been an Android user, so here are my thoughts about the good and bad that come with going all-in on Apple devices. Read more »
Apple unveils white iPod touch, tweaked iPod nano
Apple on Tuesday announced some slight changes to two of its iPod models, the iPod touch and the iPod nano. The iPod shuffle remains exactly the same, as does the iPod classic. The nano features a redesigned interface, and there is now a white touch. Read more »
Sleipnir for Mac: A new OS X browser with unique features
Sleipnir, for those not versed in Norse mythology, was the eight-legged horse of the god Odin. It’s also the name of an iOS browser that has a reputation for doing things a little differently. A new Mac beta version could change your desktop browsing habits, too. Read more »
7 Lion annoyances and how to fix them
With every OS upgrade, there’s always some new annoyances that pop up, and since Lion is such a big update to OS X, it stands to reason that it has more annoyances than usual. Here’s how to remedy seven of them quickly and easily. Read more »
The road to Lion: How Lion’s new features evolved
The latest update to our favorite OS code-named after felids, Lion, is due out sometime this month. To celebrate, we’re going to take a look at how Lion’s new features evolved from its predecessors, its little brother (iOS) and other sources. Read more »
6 ways to make Snow Leopard roar like Lion
If you can’t wait to try out some of Lion’s new features, but don’t have access to the developer preview, I’ve got good news: You can get many of Lion’s new features in Snow Leopard using these third-party apps, tweaks and downloads. Read more »
Mac RSS reader roundup: Reeder, NetNewsWire Lite, and Pulp
For all the talk of social media replacing RSS, I still find it to be the best way to get news efficiently. A quick look at the Mac App Store shows quite a few RSS reader options, so here’s a look at three of the best. Read more »
Apple could kill the finder. Would you miss it?
At the WWDC keynote this week, Steve Jobs remarked that the file system is the trickiest part of adjusting to a new OS. Apple seems intent on a future where the file system is invisible to the user. Is that a good or a bad thing? Read more »
Mac OS X through the ages
Apple has come a long way since it first introduced OS X at WWDC 1998. Lion arguably represents the biggest shift for the Mac operating system we’ve ever seen. Here’s a look back at how OS X has grown over time to put it in context. Read more »
iA Writer for Mac: Minimalism at Its Finest
iA Writer for iPad has been popular as a distraction-free writing app, and I’ve been looking forward to the Mac version. Now that it’s finally here, I take it out for a test drive and let you know whether it’s worth the money or not. Read more »
Mac OS X Lion Includes Many Small but Significant Changes
The Lion developer preview was released about two weeks ago, and while the marquee features such as Launchpad and Mission Control are getting most of the Mac blogosphere’s attention, there are some smaller changes in Lion that I think are worth pointing out. Read more »
3 Alternatives to Twitter for Mac
Reactions to the design of Twitter for Mac have been mixed; some love it, and some hate it. Luckily, the official client isn’t the only game in town, with a number of third-party clients available. Here are three good alternate choices. Read more »
How the Mac App Store Could Lead to a Better iTunes
Much of the discussion surrounding the Mac App Store has been around the repercussions it will have on Mac application development, but I think it could finally signal a significant change in the role iTunes plays in media management on the Mac. Read more »
Why I Bought a Used MacBook Instead of a MacBook Air
The new MacBook Air is guaranteed to be on many a Christmas list this year, and I’ve been dead set on getting one ever since it was announced. So how did I end up typing this on a four-year-old black MacBook that I bought on eBay? Read more »
Quick Fix: Get Your Music Back After the iOS 4.2 Update
The update to iOS 4.2 that rolled out last Monday went pretty smoothly, but there were many cases of people who updated to 4.2, then seemingly lost all their music. My own iPod touch was affected, but luckily there’s a quick fix available. Read more »
iPad Writing Apps: PlainText vs. Writer
Among the minimalist writing apps for iPad, two have come out on top: Hog Bay Software’s PlainText and Information Architects’ simply-named Writer. Here’s a look at some of the differences and major features of both apps so you can decide which one better fits your needs. Read more »
Lion’s App Resume: How it Will Probably Work
In my coverage of OS X Lion, I wondered how the app resume feature would work. I noticed that in the preview, the activity indicators in the Dock (those white dots) were all gone. Then I realized: There are no activity indicators in iOS. Read more »
OS X Lion: Lessons Learned From iOS
Yes, the name for Mac OS X 10.7 is Lion. Steve Jobs introduced the OS today by going into the philosophy behind it. Lion takes what Apple learned from iOS and applies it to OS X. As Jobs puts it, “Mac OS X meets the iPad.” Read more »
Quick Tip: Use a Custom Background in OmmWriter
OmmWriter is a full-screen writing application for the Mac designed to block out distractions, similar to WriteRoom. The developers behind OmmWriter recently released a new free version, which you can customize with a little elbow-grease and some image and sound files of your own. Read more »
A Safari User’s Switch to Chrome
I’ve used Safari as my default browser since 2008, but lately I’ve decided to give Google Chrome a shot at becoming my new standby. I made the switch owing to Chrome’s reported performance advantages. Would they prove convincing enough to make the change permanent? Read more »
Quick Tip: Command+Click a Title Bar to Show Root Directory
I stumbled upon this trick a while ago when I was moving a background Safari window by holding down the command key while dragging. I hit the title of a Safari window, and a popup sprung up showing me a directory list. Read more »
iTunes 10 Interface: Where Apple Went Wrong
Almost every year, Apple releases a new version of iTunes with some new feature. Last year it was Home Sharing. This year, it’s Ping. Apple also usually tweaks the UI, many times creating a backlash. This year Apple has outdone itself. Read more »
Apple Updates iPod shuffle, Brings Buttons Back
I wasn’t a huge fan of the third-generation iPod shuffle. The lack of proper controls was just not my thing. Today, with the release of the fourth-generation shuffle, Apple seems to have seen the light and gone back on itself (something it doesn’t do often). Read more »
Netflix App Released for iPhone/iPod touch
Today, while most of the U.S. was sleeping, Apple approved the Netflix update which brings universal support for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. On the iPad, it doesn’t do much beyond adding a new icon, but I couldn’t access Netflix until I updated. Read more »
Browser Wars: Pixel-Friendly Browsers on the Mac
Kyle Dreger responded to a Lifehacker article comparing Windows browsers based on pixel-usage by making his own version with Mac browsers. What struck me was how few browsers he used: only four, and all of them were cross-platform. Read more »
Quick Tip: Eject a CD/DVD via the Menu Bar
If you want to eject a disc from your Mac, there are currently two ways of doing this in OS X that most users know of, but there’s actually a hidden app that you may not know about that resides in the menu bar. Read more »
