• November 12, 2020

    Home Screen Widgets Take Center Stage in iOS 14

    A significant new feature in iOS 14 is Home screen widgets, information-rich tiles that share space on a Home screen with app icons. iPhone users familiar with Google’s Android smartphone operating system have long clamored for widgets because they provide quick information at a glance, without having to launch an app or swipe right on the Home screen for Today view. In fact, you could think... Read more
  • November 11, 2020

    Apple Unveils New M1-Powered MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini

    Continuing its pandemic-driven approach of short, focused announcements, Apple once again took to the Internet to stream its “One More Thing” event. On center stage this time was the Mac, or specifically, three Macs, all of which replace the longstanding Intel chip with Apple’s new M1 chip. All three Macs can be ordered now and will be available within a week or so.

    What Is the M1 and Why ... Read more

  • November 4, 2020

    New Back Tap Feature in iOS 14 Provides Two Customizable Shortcuts

    We all have things we do regularly on our iPhones, whether it’s checking the weather, searching Google, or invoking the magnifier. Apple has long provided ways of making your most common actions easier to access. You might put an app on your Dock, open Control Center, or take advantage of the triple-press Accessibility shortcut. With iOS 14, Apple has opened up a new and customizable way of tri... Read more
  • November 2, 2020

    Amazing New Tips for Rearranging Apps on Your iPhone or iPad

    You’ve likely seen our tip on using the Dock on an iPhone or iPad as a temporary holding place that makes rearranging apps easier. We’ve learned two new tips that help even more! First, you can move multiple apps at once. Start by touching an app, waiting to feel a tap, and then moving it (or just touch and hold and tap Edit Home Screen to enter jiggle mode first). Once you’ve picked up an app,... Read more
  • October 26, 2020

    Want Better Goals? Customize Your Move, Exercise, and Stand Rings in watchOS 7

    Ever since Apple introduced the Activity app to watchOS, you’ve been able to adjust your Move goal, which is measured in kilocalories, but your Exercise goal was locked at 30 minutes and the Stand goal at 12 hours. In watchOS 7, you can finally change these last two. In the Activity app on your Apple Watch, scroll to the bottom and tap Change Goals. Then, for each screen, adjust the goal number... Read more
  • October 21, 2020

    Scribble: Why the Pencil Is Mightier Than the Finger in iPadOS 14

    With iPadOS, you have to remember that it shares most of its capabilities with iOS. So if it seems that iPadOS 14 doesn’t have as many major new capabilities as iOS 14, that’s not quite fair—many of iOS 14’s new features also appear in iPadOS 14. You’ll get pinned conversations in Messages, cycling directions and city guides in Maps, privacy reports and translation capabilities in Safari, and m... Read more
  • October 19, 2020

    Too Many Home Screens in iOS 14? Here’s How to Hide Them!

    The App Library in iOS 14 ensures that you can find all the apps installed on your iPhone without having to hunt through Home screens. So if you already have a lot of Home screens that contain a random assemblage of apps, it might be easier to hide those screens than to remove all the apps on them. To do this in iOS 14, touch and hold any empty spot on the Home screen to enter jiggle mode. Then... Read more
  • October 19, 2020

    Make Your Finder Window Columns the Right Size

    We’re big fans of column view in Finder windows (choose View > as Columns). You never have to worry about missing icons that are outside the window, everything is sorted alphabetically, and selecting a file shows a preview. But the column widths can be too thin, such that they cut off file and folder names, or too wide, forcing you to scroll unnecessarily. You probably know you can drag the ... Read more
  • October 14, 2020

    Apple Releases Four iPhone 12 Models and the HomePod mini

    For the second time in less than a month, Apple has made a splashy announcement. In its “Hi, Speed” event, the company unveiled a new lineup of four iPhone 12 models along with the new HomePod mini.

    HomePod mini

    Just as Apple did in its event, let’s get the HomePod mini out of the way first. T... Read more
  • October 5, 2020

    Remember to Enable Text Message Forwarding When You Get a New Mac or iPad

    You’ve long had text messages forwarding from your iPhone to your Mac and iPad, but after you get a new device, it might be a while before you realize that it’s not receiving texts sent to your iPhone. It turns out that, when you get a new Apple device, you must manually enable it to receive forwarded texts from your iPhone—the setting is off by default. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Mess... Read more