Apple released new iPhone battery cases for the XS, XS Mac and XR models. These cases feature a sizable battery as part of the back of the case, giving you extra hours of battery life for those that need it. They cost $129. (more...)
The DuckDuckGo search engine started using Apple Maps in its search results today. Previously it used OpenStreetMap, Google, Bing and other solution to display locations. DuckDuckGo cited privacy as the primary reason they chose to go with Apple’s solution. The search engine’s main feature is a commitment to user privacy. (more...)
A Japanese rumor site reported today that suppliers are mentioning Apple may be looking at developing a new iPod Touch. The current model is from 2015 and at $199 is the cheapest way to get an iOS device. However, while it supports iOS 12, it may be getting too old to support future versions of iOS. (more...)
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the high-end 2019 iPhone could feature three cameras on the back to match some of the high-end Android phones already on the market. The current iPhone models already have two cameras on the front, a standard camera and an infrared one for Face ID and Portrait mode photos. The back has high resolution and telephoto cameras. The new camera could potentially be a wide-angle lens. (more...)
Email signatures are easy to set up so that you can have your name and other information automatically displayed at the bottom of any email you compose. You can also add multiple email signatures and assign them to different email accounts. You can set a signature to use as your default, or change your signature each time you compose a new message.
FileVault is a feature of macOS that offers full-disk encryption for your Mac. This protects your files if someone were to steal your Mac. Without FileVault, someone with possession of your Mac's hard drive could view the data in your files. With FileVault, that data is encrypted and can't be read. It is unlikely that you will need FileVault, but it is still recommended if you are using a portable MacBook that could easily be stolen. Some companies also have policies that force employees to use disk encryption.
You can't resize or position an overlay and also apply a green screen effect in iMovie at the same time. However, you can do the scaling positioning over a green background, export, and then use the resulting video in another project to get the same result.
Some people like to put web location files on the Desktop or in the Dock as an alternative to using browser bookmarks. A better idea may be to create a folder to hold web location files and then add that to the Dock. You can set it to List mode and then use file names and folders to further organize your Dock bookmarks.
In an unexpected move, Apple announced that it will soon make iTunes content available through an app on Samsung, LG, Vizio and other smart TVs. These TVs already have apps for accessing Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and so on. But Movies and TV shows available through iTunes have only been available on Apple TV boxes and other Apple devices. (more...)
You can do a lot more than just simple addition and multiplication in Spotlight. You can use parenthesis to set the order of operations. You can use functions and symbols to do trigonometry and logarithms. You can use powers and roots, and even scientific notation. You can even do factorials, percentages and trig functions using degrees instead of radians.
You can create professional-looking video end credits with Keynote using only a single simple animation on a single slide. You can incorporate a long list of names, and add shapes, photos or other elements into a group. The result is easily modified and exported as a video to bring into iMovie, Final Cut or any other video editing app.
While private browsing windows do not really give you privacy, they are useful for a variety of things. You can use them to log into the same site as multiple users, or to view your own site or accounts as someone who is not logged in at all. You can search and shop without building up a history that can haunt you later on. It is also useful for giving presentations and getting around soft paywalls.
You can create a photo collage using any number of apps and techniques on your Mac. But the quickest, but still very versatile, method is to use Keynote. You can easily drag and drop images from Photos onto a slide and arrange them with lines, borders, text and other elements. You can then export as an image.
You can animate charts in Keynote, with 2D and 3D charts having different types of animations. With 3D charts, you can rotate the chart, watch it grow, and even have it come in from in front of the screen. You can choose whether to have the entire chart come in at once, or build piece by piece. Once you are done, you can use the animation to punch up your presentation, or export to a video file to use in iMovie or Final Cut.
You can work with other people on a Pages document in real-time or at separate times. All you need to do is to share the document with them using the Collaborate feature inside Pages. This relies on iCloud, though the other person can use the Web-based version of Pages if they don't have Pages or even a Mac.
I’m putting my Mac courses on sale for the end of the year. Get any of these courses for only $12 (US) each before 2018 ends. Once you sign up for a course at Udemy, you can start it whenever you want, take your time, and refer back to it later on as well. Click on any of the links below to read more about each course and apply the discount. — Gary
