Welcome to my blog
Join me on my journey as I share my insights and experiences on web development, business, and content creation.
Join me on my journey as I share my insights and experiences on web development, business, and content creation.
Why are App Updates Important? Many people discount the importance of running app level updates on your computers. Programs like Chrome, Firefox and Adobe Creative Suite all have built it update utilities that will look for and apply critical security and functional updates from their respective development teams. Part of the job of software vendors is providing quality assurance meaning they are testing their software to make sure that it is stable and usable for their users. However little is known about how each vendor actually tests their software. Many...
Moment Helps You Gauge Your iPhone Use and Offers Parental Oversight Option Smartphone addiction is real. Do you check your iPhone before you get out of bed? During family dinners? Right before you go to sleep? Constantly during the day even when you’re on vacation? If you—or your family members—feel that you’re disappearing into your phone too often or at inappropriate times, it may be time to do something about it. To start, you might want to quantify the problem, and for that, you can turn to a free iPhone...
Junk calls are one of the great annoyances of the modern world. You’re minding your own business when your iPhone vibrates in your pocket. You pull it out, curious as to who’s calling, but don’t recognize the number. You may notice that it’s in the same exchange as your phone number, suggesting that it’s a neighbor. But no. When you answer, it’s “Heather,” a pre-recorded voice wanting to sign you up for a resort vacation, give your business a loan, or help with your credit card debt. Angered by the...
Apple has started preorders for its new HomePod as of yesterday. Priced at $349, the audio accessory focuses on premium sound, offers Siri AI support and taps into Apple Music’s 45 million songs repository. Positioned as a higher audio quality device to provide superior music streaming quality in the home or work, Apple’s HomePod is meant to differentiate from the popular Amazon Echo and Google Home devices that focus on personal assistant service via voice-driven AI. Apple’s HomePod does offer integration with Siri, supports AirPlay for third-party music services and...
Last week Apple Pay Cash launched with iOS 11.2 for iPhone and iPad and with watchOS 4.1 for Apple Watch. After you install watchOS 4.2, you will see on your paired iPhone with iOS 11.2 installed, an Apple Pay Cash option within the Watch app’s Wallet settings. Just turn the option to “ON” and sign in with your Apple ID. Next, you will see an Apple Pay Cash prompt appear with “Continue.” Press that and your iOS device will start setting Apple Pay Cash up to work. After the process...
Sometimes whether it is for backup purposes or for hosting, you will want to move your photos stored in your Apple Photos application library on your Mac to an external drive instead of the startup boot drive. Making the change is simpler than you think. First, quit the Photos app. Next, copy the entire Photos Library by dragging it from the startup volume to the external volume that you want to move it to. After you have completed the transfer, hold down the Option key while you launch the Photos...
Earlier this week we reported that Apple had acknowledged some iPhone’s are being throttled to prevent unexpected shutdown see our previous post. If your like me you want to check the status of your iPhone’s processor speed to see if it is being throttled and/or check if your iPhone battery needs replacing here’s how you can do it for free. In the first instance to check the status of your iPhone battery; go to: Settings > Battery And if your battery needs to be replaced a message saying “Your iPhone...
It is the season for giving so here is a run down of our free Apps to install on your Mac. iBooks Author With its iWork like workflow if you are used to Numbers and Pages iBooks author will get publishing your eBooks in no time. It’s available free from the Mac App Store or the App store on your iPad or iPhone: https://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/ Wunderlist This productivity tools is fantastic and free for basic use. Not only is it useful to create simple lists you can easily collaborate on your...
Apple has made accessibility for differently abled people a cornerstone of iPhones and iDevices since 2007, and most of us never bother to explore these controls on our iPhone unless there is a specific need. Well one really useful Accessibility tool is the AssistiveTouch feature, if your iPhone power button stops working for example how can you restart the device or lock the screen? (hint the iPhone will turn on if it has switched itself off when you connect the charging cable). Enabling AssistiveTouch Go To: Settings > General >...
If like me you use the Boot Camp Control panel in Windows to restart your Mac into High Sierra and you are using an SSD drive for High Sierra, you may or may not notice that you can no longer choose your Macintosh startup disk in the Boot Camp Control Panel in Windows. The Windows “Boot Camp” partition will be selectable but that is all. And if you have set the Windows Boot Camp partition as the Startup Disk in System preferences > Startup Disk in High Sierra then you...
High Sierra has some new features for the mail App, and here is how they work. Better Search Just like Spotlight the Mail App now supports natural language search, if that phrase leaves you stumped it means you can search using in a more natural way such as using “from Jon last week” rather than specifically jon@gmail.com 11/13/2017. You can be even more vague here is an example “jon@ November 2017”. Other examples include searching for a spreadsheet with “Numbers file” rather than searching for a “.xls” or “.numbers” Split...
With the introduction of Apple Pay Cash, Apple makes it easy to have quick person-to-person money transfers, similar to apps like Square Cash or Venmo. The feature is now available for beta testers in the US via iOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2. For the last two months, Apple has tested out the new option via its corporate and retail employees. While Apple Pay Cash did not ship out in iOS 11, it is now ready for iOS 11.2. Apple Pay Cash works through the Messages app allowing you to transfer...
Apple has announced the iMac Pro will be available to order on the 14th of December 2017. Here at Grove Technologies we already announced the iMac Pro providing a run down the specs back in June of this year. The iMac Pro will start from $4,999 which sounds high but it would be no cheaper to build a Windows PC with the same specs! As of today’s announcement the only real downside we can see is that the iMac Pro will lack upgradeability, including the Memory as the opening a...
Did you know you can print right from your iPhone or iPad? All you need is to be connected to a printer on a wireless network and to use AirPrint or a third-party app. It’s very easy when you have a compatible printer. You can print wirelessly with just the click of a button. Check the list of AirPrint printers available on Apple’s website. Apple’s AirPrint technology has been available for several years. Today the technology can be used on printers that do not have AirPrint installed but are wirelessly...
System Preferences (gear icon) on your Mac offers easy ways to customize menu options to access important settings on your computer. The menu has built-in items to adjust your computer’s operating system from its appearance to energy settings, network connectivity and more. It can also contain third-party icons from third-party software or hardware. You can remove any of these items from System Preferences at any time. Start with opening the System Preferences menu. This is the gear icon. You may have it in your Dock already (appears by default). You...
Most of you that use Photos on your Mac will use it to download or upload your photos and videos from your iDevice (iPad’s and iPhone’s) and maybe even use some of the advanced features for sorting, filtering and organizing your collection see: https://jonbrown.org/blog/photos-smart-albums/) The Photos App on your Mac also comes with a range of pro editing tools allowing you to make quick edits to your photos right from the App.3 To reveal the editing tools press the “edit photo” button: Once in the editing window a list of...
Tracking any package is fast via macOS with an instant package tracking ability that recognizes most tracking numbers and helps you take action faster. Similar to the tracking feature available on iPhones and iPads, macOS offers a convenient way to track packages you are receiving without having to log into a browser. You can quickly track your package via email or a message that contains the tracking number. This data detection feature quickly recognizes any active tracking number you have received such as FedEx, UPS, Amazon or other. Click on...
iPhone X users have reported when using Face ID they can’t see previews of the lock screen notifications. Before Face ID on the iPhone X recognizes you, the notifications show but with no detail. This is happening because Notification previews are set by default to “When Unlocked” on the iPhone X whereas other iPhones still get the notifications with the previews that we are so used to. In terms of privacy and security this is actually an improvement something Apple waxes lyrically about when discussing Face ID, because currently anyone...
A brave new world I have been using Macintosh computers for a long time. As long as I can remember its always been said. Macintosh computers are not vulnerable to malicous intent. While malware, spyware and now ransomware plaque the Windows and Linux landscape, Mac had always been a trusted alternative. In fact Apple themselves highlighted this very sentiment during their, “Im a Mac” commercial campaign, which ran many years ago. We live in a very different world now. Macintosh computers are just as vulnerable to malicous attacks. Spyware and...
So what right? Well this means Siri could always be on, and working seamlessly inside the new iMac Pro. This could make the iMac Pro the first Mac to feature an A series Microprocessor, which are the same chips found in iPhone’s. “Looks like the iMac Pro’s ARM coprocessor is arm64 Seems to handle the macOS boot & security process, as expected; iMac Pro lets Apple experiment with tighter control without the rest of the userbase freaking out. More info & download here” It’s exciting as the level of integration...
Predictably ;-) Apple has released an iOS update to iOS 11.1.1 , this quickly follows on from iOS 11.1. This latest iOS update fixes the keyboard bug that can cause the letter “I” to be mysteriously replaced with another character. See (our previous blog) You can find the update in the Settings app in General > Software Updates. We went over this bug last week, however there was another bug with Siri that we did not report on as we were unaware of the bug at the time of writing....
If you are new to Apple News, News is a preinstalled application on every iOS device (iOS 9 or later). The app provides text-based content, videos, and photos from various sources, and now you can publish straight to Apple News yourself! When you do this you will be creating your own channel which people can subscribe to, any good or popular articles you produce may also appear in other people’s News feed. If like myself you will be using a web browser to publish to Apple News you will need...
At the end of last week Apple’s support forum was lit up by users complaining of the letter “I” mysteriously being replaced with another character. This bug affected iPhone’s , iPad’s, and the iPod touch. If like myself your fingers are too large for the visual touch keyboard on iDevice’s already then this is another Typo hell waiting to happen. Embarrassingly for Apple it also affects their flagship iPhone X, coming in at $999 it’s a bug you would not expect after buying such an expensive piece of tech. Interestingly...
Former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts has been reinventing Apple Stores to be thriving community centers at a time when traditional retail has taken a hit. While retail as a whole has taken a major hit with well known chains like Macy’s cutting jobs and closing stores, others declaring bankruptcy and many shoppers turning to Amazon increasingly, Apple has chosen to reinvest in retail. 2015 was a difficult year for iPhone sales in the U.S. with only 11% of Americans buying new phones at Apple Stores and majority of consumers going...
Apple’s latest software release iOS 11, available for download via the App Store on your iPhone or iPad, offers a quick way to free up space now on your iPhone or iPad via suggested options. You can find these suggestions via the Settings app (black gears on gray background icon). To use the space saving options, open the Settings app and scroll down to General. Click on General and go down to iPhone Storage. A new menu opens showing your current usage with three options below - Offload Unused Apps,...
This error message may appear on MacOS laptops. Learn how to fix it pronto. Sometimes Mac users have run into an unexpected snafu where they realize they cannot connect to their WiFi and get an error message ‘Wi Fi No Hardware Installed.” This message appears when you click on the Wi-Fi symbol on the upper right of your screen. Most computers today, including desktops are usually connected to the Internet via wireless networking so getting this message can be very frustrating. We all use the Internet for communicating and researching...
Continuing our tips on using iOS11 this week we will look at the Photos App. Finally Apple has included a QR scanner in the Photos App I’ve been waiting for this since the original iPhone! You no longer need a third party App to use a QR code. In case you don’t know, this is a QR code: Simply open the Camera App and point your iDevice at the QR code and a pop up appears. Tap the pop up to use the information in the QR code. In this...
Letting go of the ubiquitous Home button, a constant on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch since the first iPhone in 2007, is a bold change in the new iPhone X. Over time, this button has gained more functionality. However, in building the new iPhone X with an edge-to-edge OLED display, Apple has eliminated the Home button entirely. How do you use the iPhone X without the Home button? Here’s a quick introduction. You can view Apple’s intro video here. New Touch Gestures and Commands of iPhone X Most gestures...
Apple’s widely anticipated iPhone X is now available for purchase as a pre-order and will be available in stores Friday November 3rd. The most innovative iPhone since the original iPhone debuted in 2007, iPhone X heralds the start of a new era with groundbreaking technology such as Face ID and an edge-to-edge OLED display with remarkable color resolution. iPhone X also features a glass and stainless steel design with its all-screen display. Today you can order the new iPhone X via many outlets - direct from Apple’s online store as...
This week we talked about the fact over 50% of iDevice users have updated their devices to iOS 11. Well this Tuesday the 31/10/2017 Apple has released iOS 11.1 which fixes a security concern know as a KRACK attack. The KRACK attack is a hack on wireless networks allowing hackers to decrypt Wi-Fi traffic which means the hacker can: eavesdrop on communications, perform man-in-the-middle attacks, hijack connections, and more. This is not a fault specifically with iDevices or one caused by Apple but an industry wide security flaw with any...
iOS 11 is reported to have been installed on nearly 55% of iOS devices after only one month of being launched. So what? Well it makes the platform more secure as Apple can focus it’s team on supporting the latest version(s) of iOS instead of providing patched to older versions. It makes Apps better quicker as App developers do not need to make as many versions of their Apps to support outdated versions of iOS. Apple has already released several small updates to iOS 11 , addressing bugs discovered since...
If like me you use iCloud Drive across your devices that is Windows Laptops, iPads, iPhones, and Macs you may have noticed with the iOS 11 update this is now called “Files”. Other than the fact Apple has changed the name from Drive to Files (at least 20 minutes lost googling what happened to my iCloud Drive) there is nothing I don’t like about Files in iOS 11. It’s easier to use, it integrates with Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud and more. Files also supports macOS Servers, if...
With the tech industry getting hot under the collar for Augmented Reality where does Apple stand in this exciting new sector for the tech world? We touched on the possibilities of Augmented Reality in our news of the Apple Watch 3 and Apple is in a very strong position to provide "AR" tech with ARKit framework being rolled out by Apple back in 2016. Tim Cook the CEO of Apple has already been talking widely about "AR" and it's clearly something he wants to position Apple in as an industry...
One of the major updates to macOS High Sierra has been Safari, the default web browser for the Mac. Here is how to use the new contextual menu (pop up) “Website Settings”: After visiting a website simply right click on the address bar and choose “Settings for this website”. Or go to Safari > “Settings for this website” A pop up will then open. These settings will then be the default behavior for the website you are currently viewing every time you visit it with Safari, in this example we...
A new strain of ransomware called BadRabbit is spreading through Eastern Europe. Likely created by the same authors as the Petya/Not Petya ransomware outbreak in June, BadRabbit ransomware uses a website to drop a fake Flash update and then drops its payload. Bad Rabbit Lock Screen Countries we know to be impacted so far are Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Germany, with attacks centered on targets as wide-ranging as infrastructure, transportation, and media outlets. It is unknown at this time whether the attack will continue to spread, but it does...
Apple’s listened to feedback and now offers a quick way to free up space on your iPhone or iPad via iOS 11. Apple’s latest software release iOS 11, available for download via the App Store on your iPhone or iPad, offers a quick way to free up space now on your iPhone or iPad via suggested options. You can find these suggestions via the Settings app (black gears on gray background icon). To use the space saving options, open the Settings app and scroll down to General. Click on General...
On Thursday, Apple announced the launch of its new Chicago store on Michigan Avenue and new events to be hosted at the new Apple store. Apple’s latest Apple Store is one of its most ambitious. Located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, the store is designed with community in mind and connects North Michigan Avenue, Pioneer Court and the Chicago River. Apple worked closely with the city of Chicago, reviewing historical records, to develop the store design on the riverfront in the heart of the city. Launching Friday Oct 20th Apple...
With iOS11 now on your iPhone or iPad, the latest revision to the control center allows you to customize which items are shown and all the controls have been consolidated onto a single screen, the controls are also grouped and organized, here is how to hit the ground running with the new control center. The default controls are now , Flight Mode, Mobile data, WIFI, Bluetooth, Music, Screen Lock, Do not disturb brightness , Volume, Screen Mirroring, Torch, timer, Calculator, and the Camera. For myself Screen Mirroring, Mobile Data, and...
Not being a massive Microsoft aficionado I cannot say that I am a major fan of what has been called the Wintel environment. However it is a necessary evil and if you purchase your hardware from a good manufacturer such as HP or Dell, and do not but the cheapest offering Windows machines are not the glorified food trays they once could be. The main reason for Microsoft bringing Edge to iOS will be to integrate the “Continue on PC” feature of Windows 10. This has been available on iOS...
While initially it made sense for Apple to keep strong limitations on third-party access, the company has moved towards relaxing standards in the past year and open up platform for third-party development. Apple is known for having stricter standards than other companies and associated software platforms, both for security reasons and maintaining the company’s standards for product development. However, in recent years, the company has opened up its platform and ecosystem increasingly to third-party developers while still maintaining high standards. HomeKit Integration At its most recent WWDC event this past...
Save your data from a folder or connected device in a disk image. This is our second post on disk images. Creating a disk image is helpful in backing up and transferring data. Here’s how you do it. Pull up Disk Utility to create a disk image that contains the content inside a saved folder or connected device such as a USB device. Doing this will not copy over the free space from the device on to the disk image. After saving the disk image, you an restore the disk...
The original Apple watch was launched with great expectations from the Apple faithful back in April 2015. However most owners have bemoaned the lack of functionality such as making calls from the Apple WATCH, or streaming music to the WATCH. Well not any more with the Series 3 Apple WATCH these things are now possible and their is a good chance Apple will have a new customer for the WATCH although I hate wearing things on my wrist! Unlike many companies making wearable Tech such as Pebble, which arguably started...
High Sierra is now available in the App store for most Macs from 2009 onwards, if it’s not available to you in the App Store it is likely not an available update for your Mac, you can check manually the models supported here. Most Mac users cannot wait to install and get running with the most elevated macOS so far. Follow these 6 steps for a Happy High Sierra! Make a backup with Time Machine, don’t rely on an out of date backup make a fresh backup right before you...
Apple’s iPhone X is the first Major Redesign in 3 Years with an OLED Super Retina Display The new iPhone X is the most technologically advance d smartphone in the world, with its A11 Bionic Chip, TrueDepth camera, facial recognition software and OLED screen. As expected, Apple’s new iPhone X is a premium luxury model offering new features and capabilities unlike any other smartphone previously. CEO Tim Cook called iPhone X “the future of the smartphone.” Members of the press who got to test out the new iPhone X during...
Has your Mac Status or Menu bar become too crowded that it is no longer useful? Here are some tips to remove programs, organize and simplify your menu bar. The Menu bar on your Mac display, flush against the top of the screen offers convenient, quick access to your current apps on the left side and static Status icons on the right. Some third-party apps like Dropbox and Adobe may also install icons in the Menu bar for quick access next to your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplay, Battery, Time, Siri, Spotlight...
Sometimes it’s best to wipe your hard drive and start afresh if you’ve been troubleshooting a problem for a while. You’ll need to backup your old files first. Whether you are looking to archive old user accounts because you are reformatting your hard drive or you are backing it up for safekeeping, here’s how you do it. You’ll need to be logged in as a local administrator, but not for the user account that you want to back up. Doing this process will help you also restore all other user...
How to use WiFi Calling from ATT / Verizon on Your iPhone All four major U.S. cellular carriers support Wi-Fi Calling on iPhones. Here’s how you can turn on this feature on supporting networks. In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it is useful to know how you can activate Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone. This could make a difference in an emergency situation for you or people you care about. Supporting Wi-Fi calling is simple for iPhones. Just go into the iOS Settings app (Gear icon on a...
Widely anticipated, Apple’s new iPhones launched last Tuesday, September 12 in the new Steve Jobs theater on the company’s new campus. Here we take a closer look at the iPhone 8 series. Apple’s new iPhone 8 series builds upon its popular existing model. The latest model iPhone 8 series is a premium series for its tenth anniversary. At the same time that Apple introduced its best and most expensive smartphone option, it also lowered the price on prior models, therefore making the iPhone 8 a compelling upgrade only for buyers...
While text messaging your friends and family, you’ve noticed some iPhone messages are blue or green. When you text message a friend, family member or colleague via your iPhone, your text message may appear blue or green. The color indicates the method you’ve used and also at times, the type of device you are sending to. Blue Background When your text message has a blue background, it means that your message exchange happened via iMessage and that you sent or received your message to and from another iOS device. iMessage...
Crash Plan’s Unexpectedly Exits Consumer Market to Focus on Enterprise and SMBs Many diehard CrashPlan users were shocked to find out that their favorite secure storage backup option Crash Plan is leaving the consumer market. CrashPlan for Home, owned by Code42, has provided secure storage backup options for consumers across the country since 2001. Code42, a privately funded software company based out of Minneapolis, made the decision to exit the consumer market and focus primarily on enterprise level and small business audiences as of August 22, 2017. The move came...
Apple Plans to Spend $1 Billion on Original Programming for its new TV Shows Apple is a new player in the TV market, joining big players Amazon and Netflix in video streaming with a $1 B investment in original programming in the next 12 months. Apple’s new TV show ambitions became evident with its ‘Planet of the Apps’ reality TV show available via Apple Music, headlined by Hollywood actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba earlier in June 2017. The two women are also entrepreneurs of lifestyle brands Goop and Honest...
Information about Face Recognition Software on Apple’s new OLED iPhone X Surfaces Facial recognition is expected to replace Touch ID in a new ‘Face ID’ feature available on the OLED iPhone X. Rumors have been circulating about a new facial recognition software that will be replacing the Touch ID software entirely on the new OLED iPhone X. These rumors were confirmed by developers who had access to beta software and were able to test out some features including the setup process of the new ‘Face ID’ feature. Face ID and...
Although macOS is more secure than most other operating systems, the increasing user base for macOS is drawing in hackers. So long as you keep your system up to date with the latest updates from Apple most malware is kept at bay. However it is still possible to get malware (viruses, adware, and spyware) on a Mac that infect other systems on the Mac such as JAVA or third party browsers such as Google Chrome. Plus you could be passing on Windows viruses that do not affect your Mac but...
Being predominantly known for its excellent hardware you would be right in thinking most of Apple’s revenue comes from selling hardware such as the Macintosh. With a total revenue predicted to be between $49 billion and $52 billion for the final quarter of 2017 Apple is one of the biggest Tech Giants out there with greater revenue than Facebook and Amazon. So if other manufacturers are selling their hardware a lot cheaper than Apple with hopes to make money on the downstream with App purchases, Music and Video sales why...
Apple Park Features a Steve Jobs Theater and is Powered 100% by Renewable Energy. Earlier this year, Apple announced that its new corporate headquarters was nearing completion and would be ready to house over 12,000 employees. First known as Campus 2, Apple’s HQ was renamed Apple Park and is officially open. Construction is still underway to finish the construction of adjacent buildings and parklands through the summer. View aerial drone footage here. Powered by 100% Renewable Energy Apple takes a dramatic leap ahead into the future by embracing renewable energy...
Parallels 13 has just been released by Parallels International GmbH, one of the major reasons to upgrade will be version 13 is Optimized for macOS High Sierra. Version 13 of Parallels promises faster access to your Windows files up to 47% faster compared with Parallels 12. With support for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro’s using Parallels Touch Bar Wizard it will be possible to customize the Touch Bar to work with your Windows Apps when using them in a Parallels virtual machine. One of the better updates...
If you own an iPhone or an iPad you will be well aware of the limitations of your device when it comes to storage and the quantity of data that you are trying to store on it. To make it simpler the iPhone and iPad now have great quality cameras, and it takes a lot of drive space to store these high quality images and videos. Hopefully the new standards (HEVC and HEIF) being adopted with better compression will go some way to resolve this. The easiest method to free...
Yes please! I can count on one hand the number of times I have been to the Cinema in recent years, while being able to get popcorn without making it myself is appealing I prefer the comfort of my own home to watch a film. And yes you can watch them on websites that are mostly illegal depending on the country and jurisdiction which you live under, however after you have spent twenty minutes finding the film and 10 minutes downloading malware you have lost valuable viewing time if not...
Downloading the latest apps you love and taking a lot of photographs may soon fill up your iPhone or iPad faster than you intended. Clearing out junk files, unwanted items in your device’s cache and files that hog up memory, can free up space on your iPhone or iPad and get your devices running faster and smoother than ever. Here’s how you can clean up your mobile devices and get them running better. Clearing up space on your iPhone or iPad will improve performance especially on older models and clearing...
One of the most widely anticipated features in Apple’s new iPhone set to be released this fall is facial recognition, where the iPhone can recognize approaching people quickly. The advanced facial recognition technology is expected to replace existing Touch ID fingerprint scanner, approving quick log-ins and payments as well. The new software is also expected to work with third-party apps similar to TouchID and will recognize multiple faces. The new iPhone 8 has an OLED screen, which makes it difficult to embed a Touch ID fingerprint scanner. Apple is expected...
Having a workstation (Desk?) as such is part and parcel of being an IT professional, you need somewhere to keep all of those paper documents for bills and the IRS plus somewhere to keep your USB pen drives, Hard Drives, Printers, 3D printers scanners etc. If like me you’ve opted for a non portable Mac for your day to day office tasks such as writing these articles, then that Mac probably has files that are not practical to make copies of to carry about with you when using your MacBook...
The World Wide Developers Conference from Apple did not disappoint when it came to software , with iOS 11 being rolled out in Fall of 2017 we are currently on the 5th Public Beta which if you are brave you can install and test on your iDevice now. iOS 11 brings great new features to the iPhone , iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV with closer integration with macOS High Sierra also due for release in Fall of 2017. As well as the usual refinements to the icons and graphics...
Your Mac makes it easy to sign documents - a common task that is often tedious - by using Preview or QuickLook, both available on every Mac with OS X Lion or later. For the longest time, in order to sign a document that you had received via email such as a PDF file, you would have to print out the file first, sign it on the dotted line using a pen, scan the docu-ment and send it to yourself using a USB flash or email, and then finally send...
The latest OS update offers refinements to popular apps such as Photos, Mail and Safari. Apple released macOS High Sierra, its latest version of its desktop operating system earlier in June at WWDC in San Jose, CA. The beta version of the software was available to developers to download immediately and now a public version will be available this month at beta.apple.com. The software will be available as a free software update from the Mac App Store this fall. Here’s a preview. Updates include the addition of a new filing...
You can share your Internet connection on your Mac with others locally. Your Mac makes it easy to share your Internet connection locally. Start by opening the Sharing Preferences via System Preferences. Click on Sharing and select Internet Sharing. Next, choose Share Your Connection From in the menu that pops up and choose the Internet connection that you want to share. This could be Internet over Ethernet or other options available to you. Next choose how you want to share your Internet connection in the To Computers using list. If...
CEO Tim Cook emphasized Apple’s interest in the technology during the Q3 earnings call Monday. For a while, it’s been apparent that Apple is developing an autonomous driving system. This is clear from information shared by California’s DMV where Apple got a DMV permit to test autonomous driving systems this past April. Apple joined a list of 30 companies that have been granted autonomous car testing permits by the state of California. This list includes automotive manufacturers, automotive suppliers, startups and tech players. Initially, there was a lot of excitement...
Apple has cut the price of iPads in a bid to increase sales, as such sales are now up over 10% on iPads in 2017 compared with the tail end of 2016. This tactic on reducing iPad prices is the oldest trick in the book with iPad sales flagging in comparison to growing iPhone sales in recent years, however this increase in iPad sales has not increased revenues greatly for Apple as the price cut has hit profit margins. Although Apple sells roughly three iPads for every Mac sold the...
In this week’s how to I’m going to go over one of the basics in macOS Sierra, the App switcher can save minutes in each working day freeing up time to do other things. Switching Apps If like me you regularly use multiple apps to complete a task such as Photoshop , BBEDIT, & Pages. Switching between the apps can be time consuming moving the mouse around looking for the correct icon in the Dock. To quickly switch between running Apps press Command (Apple Key) + Tab (⌘ + ⇥...
As the September announcement of the iPhone 8 approaches here are some insights on what we may expect. The name You may expect “iPhone 8” to be the name as it follows all of the names Apple has given to previous iPhones however with some of the new nomenclature (naming convention) that is being used for other Apple products it would be reasonable to expect a name such as the iPhone Pro, you have to admit it has a nice ring to it. The features More cameras, if Apple follows...
Apple ID has included 2FA (Two-factor authentication) on macOS and iOS devices for some time and it is strongly advised you use it. Thanks to Apple using 2FA across all of your devices it is very easy and makes accessing Apple’s Cloud Services very secure such as iCloud Drive, you will now need more than just the email address and password you use for your Apple ID. You will also need to have a trusted device in hand or alternatively have a verification code sent via SMS or phone call...
Apple has blocked ad blocker Apps that work outside of Safari, this has always been in the App Store terms for developers as Apple has always recognised advertising as being one of the main revenue streams for App Developers. The review process on ad blocking apps seems to have changed recently with several ad blocking apps updates being blocked by Apple. This relates to 4.2 of the App Store Developer Guidelines: “Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If your app is...
If like myself you often find yourself working late into the night on your Mac you can find your eyes starting to hurt. The good news is there is a way to make the screen less harsh on the eyes. You can find Night Shift in: Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Displays. If automatic brightness is enabled on your Mac the screen will also be dimmer if the ambient light is not as strong which can make your eyes even more strained. Apple describes Night Shift as:...
You can easily share and transfer files between iPhones, iPads and Macs. AirDrop uses Bluetooth LE to discover connections and broadcast them and Wi-Fi to transfer data. It’s fast, easy to use and secure. Files you can AirDrop include: photos videos contacts docs passbook passes voice Memos map Locations Turn on AirDrop On Mac computers, select Go from the Finder menu. AirDrop appears in the menu. On iOS devices from iPhones to iPads, you can turn on AirDrop from the Control Center by just swiping up from the bottom of...
Apple continues to unveil interactive HomeKit demos at Apple retail stores worldwide, for free customer testing. Recently, Apple started sharing interactive HomeKit experiences at 46 Apple retail stores so that customers could try out the smart home platform and get familiar with HomeKit. New stores keep being added and having HomeKit available to test out with different devices and environments, makes it easier for customers to understand how it could work for them. With just the one Home app, you can control all your home accessories from one place, simplifying...
You’ve opened the box and here’s what you can do next to get your Apple TV set up and running. Apple has improved upon its popular Apple TV and even brought Amazon Prime into its fold of popular shows. You know you want one now, and here’s a quick walk-through with tips to set up. After you have unpacked the box, take out the power and HDMI cables. Plug the HDMI right into a free TV port (usually on the back of your TV). For some folks who use an...
High Sierra the new macOS being released later this year will be the last macOS to support 32-bit apps. This year you will need to look at which apps you cannot live without if you want to continue upgrading macOS after High Sierra, making sure you have versions of the apps you need that will run on a 64 bit system because as of macOS 10.14 32-bit apps will no longer be supported. You can see which apps you have that are 32-bit by opening the Activity Monitor which you...
Back in 2008 I was burgled and lost a MacPro G5, on that Mac I had been working for months on a 3D render of my local town’s high street in Bryce 3D of all programs. Not only did the thieves steal my Mac they stole the backup hard drive which was connected to it :-( . Luckily I had my MacBook which I use for work safely in the trunk of my car, but no copy of the 3D files to continue with, hence months of work was lost...
With watchOS4, you’ve got smart activity coaching, proactive Siri watch face, GymKit and more. Earlier last month, Apple previewed watchOS 4 at WWDC. The new watch software features a proactive Siri watch face that contains information you find relevant every day and a new way of experiencing music. The update also offers an updated Workout app and introduces GymKit, that helps you connect your workout to existing cardio equipment. View Apple’s Preview here. Siri Intelligence Siri intelligence available via the new Siri watch face helps you stay up to date...
The macOS finder which powers the desktop, file manager, and more it’s likely to be your most used app, Apple describes it as “The Macintosh Desktop Experience”, the Finder has some great hidden features, here are some to get you started and make your work flow better. Resize Columns If like me you organize your files into a folder structure of some kind, you will find from time to time that the columns do not fit the file names: And if like me you have been dragging the columns out...
Apple launched the first public beta of macOS High Sierra at the end of June, which means you can download and install it without being in the Apple developer program . This is beta software so it is not the best idea to install this on your everyday Mac as bugs will be present and your apps may not work. You might think that macOS High Sierra is not the most inspiring name for the latest macOS however Apple’s own marketing team said it is “fully baked”. And they’re right...
Your Mac makes it easy to do things by opening up any files you click on right away, using default applications. Sometimes though, you need a different application to open up a certain kind of file. It’s very convenient how your Macintosh computer immediately opens up any file you double click on in its default application. You can get going on what you want to do right away. For example, when you click on a Microsoft Word file that you have, your computer opens up the file for you in...
Basic copy and paste on a Mac has not changed much since the 1990s, Right click copy or ⌘ Command + C . You can also print screen which saves a screenshot of your monitor(s) to the desktop by pressing ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 3, if you have multiple monitors this command will save a screenshot of each screen to the desktop. There are however some great third party apps available, I’m going to outline my favourite which is “Skitch” and if you use Evernote it integrates with...
The HomePod is powered by Siri intelligence and can interact with your messages, relay sports scores, the news, provide translations, and control your home. HomePod is being touted as the privacy focused smart assistant, which could be seen as a shot across the bows of the offerings from Amazon and Google which are known to be data hungry “they’re analysing what you do”. HomePod speaker comes with a seven-array, beam-forming tweeter, with directional control, and a bass woofer – and it’s powered by an A8 chip. The really clever touch...
Eagerly anticipated, the new iPhone 8 coming this fall is Apple’s 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone. For its 10th edition of the iPhone first, Apple is expected to have a dramatic redesign. Since 2012, Apple has unveiled new iPhone editions in the first or second week of September consistently. Expectations remain that Apple will follow this schedule, announcing its new iPhone 8 in roughly 80 days from now. iOS 11, Rich Graphics and Augmented Reality (AR) WWDC earlier this month offered a preview of iOS 11 as well as...
Retrieving an old password that you have forgotten may seem difficult at first, but in most cases, can be done easily if you are using Mac OS X Keychain. Whether you need access to an old password or you’re helping a friend or family member, it helps to know how to retrieve an old password on your Mac. It’s easy to forget old passwords you have not used in a while. Maybe you got a request like this: “I have to get into my old email account, but I cannot...
The new update to the ageing HFS+ file system will bring higher performance, better data integrity, and a vastly improved Time Machine. Don’t worry it is not a step into the unknown APFS is already running on your iOS device (ipad,iphone etc). When and if you upgrade your system to High Sierra (macOS 10.13), it will automatically during installation upgrade the file system to APFS on the system drive, the internal drive usually named Macintosh HD. External drives and non system drives must be upgraded manually, via Disk Utility. Select...
Disclaimer: Great care should be taken when altering the behavior of the cooling fans if you overheat your Mac for an extended period you will destroy it! As such do this at your own risk and if you need to consult an expert. That being said this tip can really help extend the working life of your Mac. One of the most common hardware failures on all computers not just Macs is continued over heating of the internal components especially the GPU (graphics card), and traditional HDD modules (hard drives...
Earlier this month at WWDC, Apple shared its new 10.5 inch iPad Pro model with larger display and ProMotion technology. Apple has improved upon one of its best-selling and well made products, the iPad Pro this year with the addition of 2 new models, the 12.9 and 10.5 inch iPad Pro models that offer larger displays by using smaller bezels. The 10.5 inch iPad Pro replaces the prior 9.7 inch model. Apple said that it chose the new screen 10.5 screen size because it allows for a full on-screen keyboard...
Roundup of 3 Fast & Clever Mac Tips and Tricks Here are three macOS 10 tips, tricks and shortcuts to help you keep be productive and keep your Mac running well. Change System Preferences with Siri Before you go searching for your system preferences, try using Siri instead for simple changes. Talking to your Mac may feel a bit strange at first, but you’d be surprised how much Siri’s grown in the past two years alone! Press ⌘ + SPACE and Siri will pop right up. For example, see how...
Using Photos in Mac OS Sierra to create Smart Albums Photos has been included with OS X since Yosemite 10.10.3 2 years ago now! If like me you’ve resisted using it in favor of what you are used to you are missing out. Photos has some really great features that work quickly from within MacOS allowing you to quickly access the photos from all your Apple devices. Organizational abilities. One of the better features Photo’s provides are its organizational abilities. Extending the built in features such as geotagging and face...
For some time now Mac users have often opted for an iMac with all the upgrades for their workstation rather than the Mac Pro since it’s latest re-incarnation in the “dustbin” case has been shunned for it’s lack of upgradeability. Apple has caught onto this fact and has promised to revamp the Mac Pro line (watch this space), in the meantime Apple has decided to launch the iMac Pro range due to launch later this year in December. The iMac Pro Range will offer upto 128GB of RAM and up...
Apple unveiled its new speaker, HomePod at WWDC, showcasing its superior sound as a differentiator from both the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Apple has forayed into the smart speaker world dominated by the popular Amazon Echo and Google Echo with the new HomePod, set to be released in December 2017. Apple’s device differentiates itself by focusing on superior sound quality that is both immersive and high fidelity. Reinventing Music for the Home Equipped with Siri and connected to Apple Music, HomePod goes beyond competing with just Amazon Echo and...
After reading the Solarwinds WHD SSL Guide it was not obvious to me how to properly secure WebHelpDesk and so after many hours of trying different things, with some help from this guide, I will be demonstrating the ssl recipe that worked for me. At my company we already had a proper SSL certificate so I was able to skip a good third of the pdf that discusses in detail the proper way to generate the CSR and to create the certificate. WebHelpDesk recommends the use of a program called...
We don’t often talk much about web development or web optimization but recently we started investigating alternative methods / means to our web hosting environment. Currently we are using JustHost’s shared web hosting for jonbrown.org/blog. We are using their lowest shared hosting tier at which costs us $6 per month. We recently did quite a bit to optimize our site and I figured I would share our secret recipe for success that helped us improve our overall web speed rank by almost 90%. Having a website that is faster obviously is...
Apple computers recently have exploded in popularity, Apple stock is soaring and Apple computers are now and have been for some time prime real estate for sticky fingers. So what is an Apple user to do, keep your beloved computer locked up? With the threat of loss, or theft of Apple devices being a reality many companies and many solutions have emerged in the marketplace. While looking at the options out there for laptop security and recovery, and reviewing all the options, it seemed wise to take a step back...
If your like me and need to deploy VMWare in your environment and are unsure the approach to use, then you have several options. If you use Casper, JAMF has come out with a PDF outlining the best methods for packaging and deploying VMWare, its preferences and VMMachines. Since VMWare Fusion 5 however VMWare has included a nice manageable way to deploy VMWare to all your machines. Note, I was struggling to get this to work and realized that if you do not have a mass deployment serial number or...
Let me preface this article by saying that Munki is an open source tool that allows system administrators trying to take hold of their Macintosh environment with little to no budget. Munki is a tool that was developed by a systems administrator over at Disney Animation Studio’s. It is now used by small companies and large alike (Disney & Google). Now its also true that both of these giant’s also use Casper a top shelf product by JAMF software. Munki has a few things going for it. It has a...
As a Mac System Admin working in the Private sector, I must confess I find myself like a kid in the candy store looking, and trying out new products created by third party vendors that make my life, job and the user experience for my clients easier and more productive. I must stress that most admins can not fully share in my joy due to job or security restrictions. Admins in the Government sector for example can only use sanctioned tools and or methods for dealing with common Server Admin...
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