MacMost: Archives

Apple has been moving forward this week on software plans announced at its developers conference. There are reports that the second beta of iOS 7 has been released, with support for both the iPad and iPhone. They have also started testing iWork for iCloud by inviting all Apple employees to try the new web-based versions of the apps.
American Airlines completed its transformation to using iPads in place of flight bags across its entire fleet. Following them will be Jet Blue which announced similar plans just yesterday. Using iPads instead of heavy flight bags will save space, paper and fuel.
In other news, Apple extended the online Apple Store to cover Russia this week. There is no official retail store in the country, and up until now anyone wanting Apple products would have to buy them from third parties.

Things that would not be better with a “flat” design.

The Chrome browser is a good free alternative to Safari for Mac that is very similar in many respects. But it does offer some interesting features such as the incognito window, task manager, site information menu and Flash encapsulation. It is a good idea to have multiple browsers on your Mac and familiarize yourself with the features of each.

Google Maps has been around for a while and there are many advanced techniques that users may no know about. For instance, you can adjust routes to include more locations by simply dragging. You can show someone a map location by sending them a short URL. You can also get directions for public transportation, walking and biking.

You can create a chart in Numbers and then copy and paste it into a Pages or Keynote document. When you do so, the chart is linked and changes to the chart data in Numbers can be synced to your Pages or Keynote document. However, only data can be updated. Labels and the table itself cannot sync between apps, though copy and paste is a decent work-around.

It has been a quiet news week following the Worldwide Developers Conference. Both Adobe and Microsoft have moved their cloud apps forward with new developments. Adobe has released the next versions of some of its major applications, now calling them CC (Creative Cloud) rather than CS (Creative Suite). Subscribers to Adobe’s Creative Cloud can simply download and install the applications as part of the service, but they are not available otherwise.
Microsoft has released a light iPhone version of Office, only available to Office 365 subscribers, the first major advantage of the subscription over owning the pre-cloud version of Office. It looks like Microsoft will limit these apps to only small screen devices, not wishing to compete with its own tablet devices by releasing them for the iPad.

In 2019, Mac Pros will make nice planters.

Use Guided Access if you need to hand off your iOS device to a young child, and you want to keep them in a single app. This prevents them from accidentally exiting the app or putting the device to sleep. It can also be used to stop others from accessing more than one app on a device when it is used as a demonstration machine or kiosk.

Normal copy and paste of text will include the text font, style and other attributes. But if your intention is to just copy and paste the raw text, then you will want to learn how to use Paste and Match Style. You can use this in most apps, including Pages, TextEdit and Microsoft Word.

The next version of iOS seems to be a big leap forward in looks and features. In addition to a whole new look for many of the primary apps, we'll see new features in Photos, Camera, Weather, Safari and other apps. You will be able to access iCloud Keychain password, have better compatibly with future cars, and be able to share files with nearby iOS users without a network. iOS 7 will come out this fall, most likely at the same time as a new iPhone or iPad.

Brody wondered why there were so many people with MacBooks on his beach near Half Moon Bay all of a sudden.

Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote was packed full of announcements. Apple showed everyone the new look and features of the next generation of both desktop and mobile operating systems. They also introduced new MacBook Air models, a re-designed Airport Extreme and Time Capsule, and gave us a sneak peak of a new Mac Pro model coming out later this year.
The next version of Mac OS X will be called “Mavericks” and will have new features such as Finder tabs, file tagging, flat design in apps like Calendar, better handling of multiple screens, and new iBooks and Maps apps. iOS 7 will have a completely different look with new icons, backgrounds, fonts and colors all around. We can expect both of these in the fall.
Apple also announced a new music service called iTunes Radio. This streaming service lets you listen to music based on criteria you select. It will directly compete with existing services such as Pandora.

Here is what we know about Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks so far. We'll get new iBooks and Maps apps, and changes to Safari and Calendar. There will be better multiple screen support. The Finder will include tabs and tags. We can expect Mavericks in the fall, most likely through the Mac App Store.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference Apple announced new versions of both OS X and iOS. They also launched new MacBook Air laptops and Airport base stations. A new Mac Pro was shown with a whole new design. A new streaming music service called iTunes Radio was also announced. See some of the new features of the operating systems.

You can get and modify information about a file or folder with the Info window. You can also use the Inspector as a way to quickly look at information about any file or folder you select.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference starts Monday with a keynote address that is likely to include new product announcements. Rumors touch on just about every part of the Apple hardware and software line, though most agree that new MacBooks are the most likely to be introduced. In addition, we’ll probably hear about the next versions of Mac OS X and iOS.
Also rumored is a new service called iRadio, which could be a streaming radio service like Pandora, or a streaming music library service like Spotify. However, WWDC announcements usually focus on developers so it is more likely that we will hear about new hardware and new features of the operating systems. Many also hope that Apple will reveal plans for a new Mac Pro machine.
OS X version 10.8.4 was released this week and can be downloaded using the update feature of the Mac App Store. No major new features were added, as the update is mostly bug fixes and compatibility improvements.

Sam thought his new hash tags were so clever.

With the help of Siri on your iPhone, you can listen to and reply to text messages without ever looking at or touching your iPhone's screen. This can be useful when cycling or running, or just quicker than typing. Setting up your contacts correctly can help.

When you type a quote or apostrophe symbol on your Mac, it will usually automatically convert to the curly version. However, you can control when this happens on a per-app basis. You can also make exceptions to the process while typing. See examples in TextEdit, Pages and Mail.

You can come up with creative solutions using combinations of apps on your Mac. For instance, to scan documents with your MacBook's camera, you can use Photo Booth to take the pictures, and then Preview to flip them and convert them to a single PDF document. This could be a good alternative to using the copy machine while doing school research.