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November 14, 2019

Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems

Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems

If you’re experiencing a sporadic problem with your Mac, the sort of thing that happens often enough to be annoying but not so frequently as to be reproducible, allow us to suggest one little-known troubleshooting tip. Malfunctioning USB devices—keyboards, mice, hubs, printers, etc.—can sometimes cause truly inscrutable problems ranging from startup issues to kernel panics. USB-caused issues aren’t common, but when they do happen, they can be challenging to track down. If you’ve tried everything else, disconnect all unnecessary USB devices and, if possible, swap your wired keyboard and mouse for another set. Then see if the problem goes away.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Looking for more troubleshooting tips?

November 14, 2019
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trash
November 7, 2019

Be Careful in iOS 13’s Mail App—the Trash Button Is Where Reply Used to Be!

Be Careful in iOS 13’s Mail App—the Trash Button Is Where Reply Used to Be!

For unknown reasons, Apple redesigned the toolbar in the iOS 13 version of Mail. Such things happen, but this time, Apple made a big mistake and moved Mail’s Trash button to where its Reply button used to be. Lots of people who have become accustomed to tapping Reply are now finding themselves deleting messages inadvertently, since a tap in the same location in iOS 13 deletes the message. It’s hard to retrain muscle memory—the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought—but if you find yourself deleting messages accidentally, you’ll need to slow down and remember to tap the new location of the Reply button.

(Featured image by Skitterphoto from Pexels)

More tips to make the most of your iOS devices.

November 7, 2019
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noise
November 5, 2019

Apple’s New AirPods Pro Offer Active Noise Cancellation and Better Fit

Apple’s New AirPods Pro Offer Active Noise Cancellation and Better Fit

Are you a fan of Apple’s AirPods, or have you had trouble with them staying in your ears? Either way, you might like the just-released AirPods Pro, which offer a new design with three sizes of soft, flexible, silicone ear tips and welcome new capabilities. The ear tips should make the AirPods Pro fit better for more people, and an Ear Tip Fit Test will tell you which size is right for your ears. The hot new feature is Active Noise Cancellation mode, which significantly cuts down on the background din of planes, trains, and automobiles. Alternatively, Transparency mode reduces surrounding noise while still letting you hear important announcements and stay aware of the environment around you. And, of course, Apple promises superior sound quality. The AirPods Pro cost $249 and come with a Wireless Charging Case.

(Featured image by Apple)

Other Apple Hardware Announcements

November 5, 2019
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power
November 3, 2019

Need to Charge Your iPhone or iPad More Quickly? Get a Higher Wattage Power Adapter

Need to Charge Your iPhone or iPad More Quickly? Get a Higher Wattage Power Adapter

By default, most iPhones and iPads ship with Apple’s tiny 5-watt power adapters. They work, but not quickly. However, the iPhone 8 and later, all models of the iPad Pro, and the most recent iPad Air and iPad mini models support fast charging when connected to higher wattage power adapters. You may have an older one of these around, or you can buy a new one. Apple has bundled with iOS devices or sold 10-watt, 12-watt ($19), and 18-watt ($29, USB-C) power adapters, and the company has also produced 29-watt, 30-watt ($49), 61-watt ($69), and 87-watt ($79) USB-C power adapters for Mac laptops. Plug your compatible iPhone or iPad into one of these chargers with an appropriate cable (for a USB-C charger, you’ll need a USB-C to Lightning Cable, $19), and it will charge significantly more quickly. Look for a wattage rating on the adapter itself, or multiply the output volts and amps together to get watts.

(Featured image by Matthew Henry on Unsplash)

Soooo many iOS tips….

November 3, 2019
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eta
November 1, 2019

Use the Driving ETA Feature in iOS 13’s Maps App to Share Your Arrival Time

Use the Driving ETA Feature in iOS 13’s Maps App to Share Your Arrival Time

A small but welcome new feature of iOS 13 is Driving ETA, which helps you share your estimated time of arrival with a contact whenever you’re navigating with the Maps app. To use Driving ETA, start navigating to a destination in Maps, tap Share ETA at the bottom of the screen, and pick the person with whom you want to share your location and arrival time. (You’ll share in Maps with iOS 13 users and via Messages with everyone else.) The other person will receive a notification of your ETA and if you’re delayed, updated times. You do have to start navigation in Maps to use Driving ETA, so it’s a little inconvenient when you already know the route, but it’s a brilliant feature for long-distance trips.

(Featured image by Dan Gold on Unsplash)

We’ve got tips and tips and tips…

November 1, 2019
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flash
November 1, 2019

You Can Now Access Flash Drives on an iPhone or iPad—Here’s How

A welcome and useful new feature of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 is support for external storage devices. But it’s not easy to find or figure out—and you likely need a special adapter for your existing USB devices.
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November 1, 2019
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backup
November 1, 2019

Data Backup Strategies Go Only So Far—What’s Your Plan If Your Mac Dies?

How would you get your work done if your Mac died today and you had to wait for it to be repaired or for a replacement to arrive? We offer a few suggestions aimed at getting you thinking about how to respond to such a disaster.
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November 1, 2019
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joshua-coleman-ZcsfQbsCq5c-unsplash
October 15, 2019

Want to Use Your Friends’ Nicknames in iOS? Here’s How

Want to Use Your Friends’ Nicknames in iOS? Here’s How

If you have a friend whom you refer to only by his nickname, it can be annoying to feel like you should use his proper first name when adding him to Contacts. Worse, then he shows up in Messages with a name you don’t recognize as easily. Here’s how to convince iOS to use his nickname instead. Open his card in Contacts, tap Edit, scroll to the bottom, tap Add Field, and tap Nickname. That puts a Nickname field at the top, under his proper name, for you to fill in. To get iOS to use it, go to Settings > Contacts > Short Name and enable Prefer Nicknames. From then on, you can enter your friend’s nickname instead of his proper name in apps like Messages and Mail, and iOS will also display it instead of his name everywhere.

 

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

Moroe great iOS tips!

October 15, 2019
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roberto-nickson-TB_cvdUHUuc-unsplash
October 13, 2019

Everything You Need to Know about Multitasking in iPadOS 13

Read this article to learn all the ways you can use multiple apps at the same time on an iPad running the new iPadOS 13.
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October 13, 2019
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bank-vault-T2-photo
October 11, 2019

What Does Having a T2 Chip in Your Mac Mean to You?

If you have an iMac Pro, or a Mac mini, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro introduced in 2018 or later, your Mac has an Apple T2 security chip. Read on to learn about what the T2 does for you and the tradeoffs it requires.
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October 11, 2019
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