How Tos - Page 34

Apple in iOS 15 introduced a Focus feature that's designed to let you set up your device to help you be in the moment and zone in on a single thing. When a Focus mode is active, it displays a little customizable emoji/icon in the status bar of your iPhone, next to the time. Setting up a Focus mode can be complicated, but if all you want is to see a symbol in the status bar, it's easy to do once...

If you've ever handed your iPhone or iPad to a baby or toddler to entertain them while you do something else, you'll probably know just how easily their little fingers can navigate into all manner of screens and settings they shouldn't be messing with. Fortunately, Apple includes a feature in iOS that allows you to keep your device locked into a single app and control which features are...

If you've forgotten the passcode for your iPhone or iPad, you can erase and reset or restore the device using your Apple ID and password. This article explains how. ‌iPhone‌ passcodes are usually six digits long, but they can still be forgotten, especially if the device hasn't been used for a while. If you find yourself in this predicament, you have the option to erase and reset it, after...

In macOS Monterey, Apple brought several enhancements to FaceTime on Mac, including new visual and audio effects to improve the video call experience. One of the new visual features is Portrait mode in calls. With this mode enabled, you can blur your background so that the focus is on you rather than what's behind you. The feature is commonly used by other video conferencing apps like...

If you're wondering what the green and orange dots are that you sometimes see in your Mac's menu bar, just next to the Control Center icon, you've come to the right place. Apple has added these to macOS as a privacy feature in order to indicate when an app is using your Mac's microphone or camera. The feature was first introduced on iPhone and iPad, after it emerged that some popular apps...

In macOS Monterey, Apple introduced a feature called Shared with You that takes content you've received in Messages and makes it available in the relevant app on your Mac. So when a friend shares content with you, such as a link to a news story or TV show, that content will show up in a dedicated Shared with You section in the corresponding app. If you don't want content that's been shared...

In macOS Monterey, Tab Groups are a new Safari feature that aim to make organizing and preserving your open browser tabs more manageable without having to have those tabs active and taking up space. Tab Groups are a way to easily save and manage related tabs, such as those used when planning trips or shopping, or groups can be used to store the tabs you visit daily. If you're planning a...

Spotify is the biggest music streaming service available, so it's not uncommon to receive a Spotify link from someone to something they want you to listen to on your iPhone or iPad. If you're an Apple Music subscriber, however, that link isn't going to work for you. The opposite of course is also true – if a Spotify subscriber receives an ‌Apple Music‌ link, they'll have to search for the content ...

There are many third-party apps available for Mac that will convert images for you, but if you're running macOS Monterey or later, you can convert an image or a selection of images from directly within Finder using a new default Quick Action. If you're not familiar with them, Quick Actions help you perform certain tasks, such as creating a PDF or rotating an image, right from the Finder or...

In macOS Monterey, Apple introduced a new email privacy feature called Mail Privacy Protection, which prevents companies and advertisers from tracking how you interact with their emails. This article explains the feature and how you can control it. Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature is designed to allow users to opt out of the surreptitious tracking that third-party apps have...

Since macOS Monterey was released, Apple has included a tool to check the quality of your Mac's internet connection without having to rely on benchmarks from third-party websites. After you've joined the Wi-Fi network that you want to test, the tool is accessed via the command line, so you'll need to open the Terminal console (found in Applications/Utilities) and type in the following at the...

In macOS Monterey, Apple allows you to change the color of the mouse pointer from the standard white outline and black fill, to pretty much any color combination you want. So if you're having a hard time working out when it moves or changes to an insertion point, crosshair, hand, or other shape, it's worth switching things up. The following steps show you how. Launch System Preferences...

In iOS 15, Apple has introduced the ability to add a hotel room key to the Wallet app on your iPhone, allowing users to consult their phone or Apple Watch for reservation details, as well as use them to check in and unlock their room. For example, Hyatt, a well-known hotel chain, in December 2021 announced its adoption of Apple's Wallet technology, with guests able to use Apple Wallet room...

In iOS 15, Apple's stock Weather app received a major design overhaul, thanks in part to a number of features brought over from the popular weather app Dark Sky, which Apple acquired in 2020. These features have made the Weather app interface a lot more detailed and extended existing sections to include things like weather maps, rainfall, air pressure, and more. Apple has also...

Apple in May 2020 introduced an Exposure Notification System, which lets public health authorities and governments worldwide help people figure out if they've been exposed to COVID-19, and if so, what steps to take next to minimize the spread of the virus. Apple and Google developed the underlying APIs and Bluetooth functionality, and that technology has been incorporated into apps designed...

YouTube in recent years has been increasing the number of ads that viewers see in and between videos, all in an attempt to get more people to subscribe to its YouTube Premium plan, which removes all ads for a monthly fee, amongst other benefits. If you're a regular user of YouTube, paying a few dollars a month to enjoy an ad-free experience is probably worth the outlay, especially if you...

In macOS Monterey, you can enable anyone, even if they don't have an Apple device, to join a FaceTime call with you by creating a link to a ‌‌FaceTime‌‌ conversation that can be shared anywhere. Using this new link function, friends and family members who do not have an Apple account can log into a ‌‌FaceTime‌‌ call with you using a web browser opened on any non-Apple device, whether...

Spatial audio is a sonic feature exclusive to AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, Beats Fit Pro, and AirPods Max that adds surround sound to Apple's premium audio wearables. By utilizing dynamic head tracking, it brings a theater-like audio experience to the movie or video you're watching, so that it seems as if the sound is coming from all around you. This article explains how to listen to...

In iOS, Apple's stock Files app is a handy place for keeping PDF documents on your iPhone or iPad. Not only can you view and organize your documents in the Files app, but it also provides you with editing tools that go beyond the usual Markup features like highlighting passages and adding your signature. It's not immediately obvious, but when viewing PDF documents in the Files app, there are ...

When you want to move data from an old Mac to a new one, the most reliable method is to use Apple's Migration Assistant. Found in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder, Migration Assistant copies all of your files from your old Mac to your new Mac, so you don't have to transfer them manually. The first set of steps in this article assume that you have both the old Mac and the new...