MacMost: Archives

With iOS 14 you can now trigger Shortcuts automatically without needing to confirm the action. You can set up personal automations to run at specific times or with actions like when you turn on Do Not Disturb or launch an app. However, many actions can't complete if your iPhone is locked, making this of limited use.

You don't need to launch Affinity Photo to use some of its tools. You can access basic adjustments, haze removal, retouch tools and other things right in the Mac Photos app.

You can use Keynote on your Mac to create digital flash cards to study or quiz others. Each slide can contain the question and answer, but you can use builds to have only the question shown at first. You can shuffle these cards manually and also print them.

The App Library is an extra screen to the right of the Home Screen pages on your iPhone. It contains a categorized list of all of your apps, and you can also bring up an alphabetical list. With the App Library, you no longer need to have all of your apps on Home Screen pages.

The three main browsers for most Mac users are Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Safari should be your main browser for a variety of reasons. But you can also use the others when needed.

The new iOS 14 for iPhone is packed with new features. Take a look at some of these features, big and small, to see that you can use.

Mac Finder Aliases, also known as Shortcuts, allow you to access a file or folder from a different location. There are a variety of useful and creative ways to use aliases.

Apple released new minor versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote this week for both iOS and macOS. Each app gets some new shapes. On iPadOS, you can use the new Scribble feature to write in text with an Apple Pencil and have that writing converted to text.

iOS 14 allows you to place custom widgets on your Home Screen mixed in with your apps. You can also use a trick to create custom app icons to create a Home Screen that looks unique.

In Safari 14 the new Start Page replaces Top Sites. The Start Page has several sections, including your Favorites, Frequently Visited sites and more. You can customize the Start Page to act much like the old Top Sites page, while also including your Reading List and iCloud Tabs pages.

If you need a clock or countdown timer in your iMovie video, you can create one in Keynote and export it to use in iMovie. You can manually create each second as a slide, or use this simple script to add all of the slides automatically. In iMovie you can adjust the size, color and even reverse the overlay to count down or up.

Learn 10 Siri commands for your Mac that may be faster than doing the same thing using the cursor and keyboard. You can open folders and files, get answers to calculation, schedule events and set reminders, and send messages or emails.

In a surprise move, Apple has released the new major version of iOS for iPads and iPads. It is generally expected that new releases come closer to the availability of new iPhones, but new iPhones are delayed this year.

Learn how to sort your tables in Mac Numbers. You can quickly sort by any column, or set up soem complex sort rules and resort by those rules at any time. You can also use Categories to group rows together and sort those Categories in various ways. Sometimes you need to set up special columns for meaningful sorts.

In a special event today, Apple announced a new Apple Watch Series 6, plus a low-priced Apple Watch SE model. The main feature of the new Apple Watch 6 is a blood oxygen level monitor. You can now also get a band that is a single loop, without a buckle or clasp.

By using a Shell script in an Automator Folder Action you can create a "drop zone" folder that moves any file placed into it. By using a Shell script it is easy to add new conditions and destination folders.

Learn how to get the most out of your Mac while at college. You can use iCloud Drive to protect your files from disaster, take notes and study with Pages and Keynote, put your class schedule into the Calendar app, and even use your iPhone's camera to scan documents right to your Mac.

Learn about the folder structure of your Mac's drive from the top level to your user folder. Find out what different folders are for and how using iCloud Drive changes things.

Many people online claim that there are certain third-party apps that you need on your Mac. But usually this isn't true, or only applies if you use your Mac in a specific way. As a super user, I often see these lists and notice I don't use any of these "must-have" apps.

When you buy a MacBook Pro you get a narrow touchscreen display at the top of your keyboard that charges as you move between apps. You can customize this Touch Bar to have it display things like F-keys, system controls, desktop switching and more. Even some of the app-specific controls themselves can be customized.