How Tos - Page 73

Apple's HomeKit framework allows you to easily control compatible connected smart devices you have installed in your home using the Home app on iOS. However, there are some features of ‌HomeKit‌ that require you to designate a device as a Home Hub, which remains powered on and connected at your home when you're away. The main benefit of setting up a Home Hub is that it allows you to use...

Apple's HomeKit framework allows you to easily control compatible connected smart devices you have installed in your home using the Home app on iOS. However, there are some features of ‌HomeKit‌ that require you to designate a device as a Home Hub, which remains powered on and connected at your home when you're away. The main benefit of setting up a Home Hub is that it allows you to use...

Apple's HomeKit is integrated with Siri, which means you can use the personal assistant to control HomeKit-compatible accessories like lights, thermostats, and power outlets, even when you're away from home. Here's everything you need to know to get things up and running. Devices That Support "Hey ‌Siri‌" First, in order to use ‌Siri‌ to control your ‌HomeKit‌ accessories handsfree, you'll need...

Whenever you add a HomeKit accessory to Apple's Home app, a default icon is assigned to it. Smart lights, for example, are given the default bulb icon, but if you have various types of light fittings, that's not very helpful for identifying them in the app at a glance. What you may not know is that you can change the icons of many third-party ‌HomeKit‌ accessories to something that lets you...

In Apple's Home app, you can set particular HomeKit scenes and accessories as "Favorites" so that you can access them quickly and easily from the app's Home tab and in Control Center on your iPhone or iPad. Once you've added some ‌HomeKit‌ accessories and/or created some scenes, follow the steps below to start adding them to your Favorites. The second set of steps shows you how to access them ...

If you have a second home outfitted with HomeKit devices, you can easily add it to Apple's Home app and keep all of the device settings you own in that location completely separate from your primary home. Once you've set up a second home in the Home app, you can set up rooms and zones in it and control any device remotely, just like you can in your main home. To add a second home to ‌HomeKit‌, ...

Using a login password on your Mac is a simple way of ensuring your macOS user account stays private, and using FileVault to encrypt your startup disk means only users who can log in to your Mac can read the disk's data. However, neither security method will prevent someone from booting your machine from an external hard drive. One way to eliminate this vulnerability is by setting a firmware ...

There are a number of things you can try if your Apple Watch stops responding for whatever reason. This article outlines your options. The first and most straightforward solution is to reset your Apple Watch, which is basically a way of turning it off and on again. This is useful if, say, an app has crashed and a standard force quit doesn't work, or if the live data transfer between your...

Mac issues can occur for a variety of reasons, but in general most errors can be traced back to unstable software. The best way to prevent problems from cropping up is to make sure you are using the latest versions of Apple's programs and third-party applications. However, if you've troubleshooted software and the problem persists, it's time to consider whether it's your Mac's hardware...

This tutorial explains how to force restart Apple's iPhone 6s and earlier models, and how to activate Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) mode to troubleshoot your device if needed. A hard reset basically force-reboots your ‌iPhone‌, which is useful if the device is freezing, throwing up errors, or has stopped responding completely. DFU mode, on the other hand, restores an ‌iPhone‌ if a reset or stand...

If you subscribe to Apple Music and you have an Amazon Echo with Alexa enabled, you can get the smart speaker to play songs, artists, playlists, and more from ‌Apple Music‌ or playlists from your Library. The following steps show you how to set up ‌Apple Music‌ on your Echo device. Keep reading to learn how it's done. (Note that, as of writing, this feature is only available in the U.S., the...

Apple Music offers subscribers several radio station options including its flagship Beats 1 live station, but thanks to Apple's intelligent algorithms you can also create automated, personalized stations on the fly based on the kind of music you like. The following steps show you how to create your own ‌Apple Music‌ station on your iOS device via the Music app, or on your computer using...

As an Apple Music user, you can share songs and albums with friends who also subscribe to the streaming service. You can share ‌Apple Music‌ songs and albums over Messages, Mail, AirDrop, and more. This is also the method to use if you want to create a link to share on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Keep reading to learn how it's done. Sharing Songs and Albums on Your iOS Device...

As an Apple Music user, you can share ‌Apple Music‌ catalog playlists and playlists you've personally created with friends who also subscribe to the service. You can share playlists through Messages, Mail, Twitter, Facebook, using AirDrop, and more. Keep reading to learn how it's done. How to Share Playlists on Your iOS Device Launch the Music app on your iPhone or iPad. Find the...

If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can stream the service to any Sonos speakers you own using the Sonos Controller app on your iPhone or iPad. After you add your ‌Apple Music‌ subscription through the Sonos Controller app, you can listen to the entire ‌Apple Music‌ catalog or your personal music library, get music recommendations, and more through your Sonos system. How to Link Apple...

Adding an accessory to your smart home setup is fairly straightforward, though there are a few areas where it's not entirely intuitive. Before you get started, it's helpful to locate the HomeKit Setup Code for the accessory you're adding. This is usually in 2 places: printed on an included user guide or the package, and on a sticker somewhere on the device itself. It will have a ‌HomeKit‌ icon...

Controlling individual devices with the Home app is easy enough manually or with Siri, but sometimes you need to change the state of several devices at once. Instead of making these changes one by one, the easiest way is to create a Scene. For example, creating a bedtime Scene could turn off all the lights in your home at once and set your thermostat to a more economical temperature.Here's...

More and more smart home products include compatibility with Apple's HomeKit framework, allowing easy and automated control through an iOS device or Mac. Yet there are some actions that require the presence of a home hub, a device that remains powered on and connected at your home that can relay the commands you give via Siri while you're away. Apple's HomePod can act as such a hub, offering...

Apple still doesn't offer an official online web player for Apple Music, but if you want to enjoy the streaming service on a computer that doesn't have iTunes installed (your office PC, for example) there is another solution. It's called "Musish," a free third-party web player for ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers, created by software engineer Brychan Bennett-Odlum and his team, Raphaël Vigée, James ...

Apple Music's flagship Beats 1 radio station has been running since 2015 and has since broadcast several top DJ shows and multiple live performances by famous artists. If you're a new listener to Beats 1, you'll be happy to know that ‌Apple Music‌ includes an archive of its most popular radio shows and playlists from years past. Here's how you can find them and start listening right away. La...