Posts By: Gary Rosenzweig

Often you need to type a name, special word or non-dictionary word on your iPhone or iPad. Autocorrect will then replace that word with something else from its dictionary. You can easily force iOS to accept anything you type by tapping one button.

There are four basic techniques that every pro Mac user knows and practices every day to get the most from their Mac. Learn how to use these four techniques to use your Mac more productively and efficiently.

A new feature in Mac OS X 10.11.4 and iOS 9.3 allows you to lock some or all of your notes in the Notes app. You can assign a single password that works for all locked notes in your iCloud account. You can lock and remove the lock on notes on your Mac, iPad or iPhone. This provides an extra layer of security if you store sensitive information in some of your notes.

Uninstalling apps is usually very easy and straight-forward in OS X. Most apps can be uninstalled either using Launchpad or by simply dragging the app to the Trash. Some apps will require an uninstaller or for you to search the developer's website for instructions.

When it is time to change your email address, there is a lot to consider. You'll need to notify people you correspond with, but also update a lot of online accounts that use that email address as an ID. The key is to continue to monitor your old email address for a while to make sure the transition is smooth.

The new Night Shift feature in iOS 9.3 changes the color of your iPad and iPhone's screen to fit studies that show that a warmer display will make it easier for some people to get to sleep. You can try Night Shift with your iOS device if you read in bed at night to see if it helps you.

You can slow down a section of a recorded track in Garageband. You'll need to isolate the track in its own Garageband file and then set things up just right to slow down the track.

In OS X you can use Gatekeeper to protect your Mac from malicious software. Most users should have it set to only allow apps from the Mac App Store. When you do so, it is easy to allow other apps on a case-by-case basis, so even export users should consider this setting as the default.

You can add footnotes to your documents in Pages. You can set styles for both the note symbols and the footnotes themselves. Footnotes can be placed at the bottom of each page, or at the end of a section or the entire document. Pages takes care of the number references so you can add and remove them easily.

You can sign PDF documents in the Preview app and in Mail. You save your signature using either the trackpad or your Mac's camera. You can then insert that signature in any spot in the PDF. It then becomes a permanent part of that PDF just as if you had printed out the document, signed it, and then scanned it back in. You can do the same in Mail, but only the copy sent will contain the signature.

Besides the alternate calculator types or conversion functions in the Mac calculator app there are some advanced features that you may not know about. You can use copy and paste, the delete key, set a number of decimal places, and have your Mac speak the results. The most useful feature is the paper tape window where you can record your calculations.