MacMost: Archives

Owners of the Apple Watch Series 4 will get a watchOS update to 5.1.2 today, featuring the new ECG app. This app allows the wearer to take an electrocardiogram which can predict possible heart issues. (more...)

If you are using more than one screen with your Mac, you can set where each screen is located relative to the others in your desktop's virtual space. You can choose which screen is the main one by dragging the menu bar representation to that screen. You can also adjust the rotation of your screens to use them vertically.

Unlike most minor updates, this one includes quite a few new features. You can get iOS 12.1.1 by going to Settings, General, Software Update on your iPhone or iPad that is already using iOS 12. It will roll out gradually throughout the day, so you may have to wait until you see it. (more...)

Apple has removed the direct link between the Photos app and Facebook in macOS Mojave. But it is still easy to upload Photos to Facebook using the Facebook website. You can use the Media option in the file open dialog, drag and drop into the file open dialog, drag directly onto the Facebook page, and a variety of other options. If you have trouble picking out a photo this way, you can always enlarge the photos you are viewing, or drag and drop direct from the Photos app or the Finder.

You can use the Shortcuts app to apply a watermark to a photo before sharing it on your iPhone or iPad. In this example, we'll take a transparent image file and have a Shortcut place it at the bottom right corner of the photo right from the Photos app. We can then share the photo. The watermark can be any image file. You can also manually size and place the watermark.

Keynote allows you to add links to text or elements to link to other slides. You can use this to build a presentation that allows you to jump to different slides while presenting, or use as a simple app that can be controlled by others. You can use some settings in Keynote to allow others to look through a presentation on their own.

For almost three decades Photoshop has been the king of image editing apps on the Mac. But it is clearly a professional tool, with a professional price and learning curve. The Photos app that comes with your Mac has a great set of image adjustment functions that meets the needs of most users. And Preview has some image editing tools too. But what if you need more? Here is a list of apps you can get directly from developers or the Mac App Store that won’t break the bank. These developers come out with new versions all the time, so be sure to check the sites for the latest prices, features and options.

Amazon has announced that Apple Music will be available through their Echo home devices starting the week of December 17. (more...)

HTML, Hypertext Markup Language, is the primary code behind most web pages. Hypertext is the idea that set can contain links to other documents. A markup language is one that includes instructions for styling, links and media along with text. HTML was created by scientist Tim Berners-Lee and has grown quite a bit more complicated over the years.

It can be tricky to get Flash content on a webpage to work in Safari. If you need Flash, make sure you get it only from the official Adobe site. Then only update Flash from System Preferences, never follow a link to update or install Flash. To use Flash, sometimes you get a button to activate the content, and other times you need to turn on Flash for a website in Safari's preferences.

A company is offering a service to the public that unlocks the iPhone if you forgot your password or the owner is deceased. This expensive ($3,900) service may use the hardware box talked about earlier this year that is available to law enforcement to break into iPhones. (more...)

You can bring video into GarageBand as a track and then use that video to sync your music, recording or sound effects to the action in the video. The preview window lets you operate with precision. You can then export the result as audio to bring into your video editing software, or export both the video and audio as a finished product.

Pages, Numbers and Keynote for Mac share a common code base and can support many of the same elements, like text boxes, shapes, images, tables and more. You can copy and paste elements from one into the other. This can be handy when you wish to include tables or charts from Numbers in a presentation of word processing document. Or, when you want to take a slide from Keynote and use it in a spreadsheet or Pages document.

A class-action suit that started in 2011 may be moving forward in the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether Apple’s App Store is a monopoly. Developers and publishers can only distribute paid apps through Apple, and usually charge 30 percent to do so. (more...)

You can use the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad to create scripts that calculate the results of complex formulas. In this example, we'll ask for the inputs needed for the simple physics position formula: time, initial position, initial velocity and acceleration. We'll then calculate the position of the object at that time. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to process a formula in Shortcuts yet, but we can use a series calculator functions to do it.

Here are some suggestions for gifts for Apple fans. You can buy some pricey accessories like AirPods, an Apple TV or Apple Pencil. You can also find Appel Watch bands at almost any price, as well as battery and charging accessories at a variety of prices too.

You can send a control signal through your AirPods by double-tapping them. These signals can pause your audio, advance to the next track, or activate Siri. You can customizing what tapping each AirPod does in your Bluetooth settings on your iPhone.

If your Dock gets cluttered with minimized windows on the right side, then you may want to switch to let windows minimize into the application icon instead. You can always find minimized windows in the Dock or the Window menu. You can also start using Tabs to reduce the number of windows on the screen.

Apple stock has dropped almost 25 percent over the last few weeks due to news that suppliers of iPhone parts have cut production, leading analysts to think that iPhone demand is slowing. In addition, Apple announced that they will no longer be breaking out numbers for product sales categories in their quarterly reports, a move not received well on Wall Street. (more...)

You can search a specific website using Safari's address field and Quick Website Search. Make sure this feature is enabled and then you can check the list of sites already added. You can add most other sites by performing a native search at that site. Once added, when you type the domain name of that site and a search term you then have the option to search that site directly instead of through a search engine. This works on Mac and iOS.