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November 14, 2019

Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems

Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems

If you’re experiencing a sporadic problem with your Mac, the sort of thing that happens often enough to be annoying but not so frequently as to be reproducible, allow us to suggest one little-known troubleshooting tip. Malfunctioning USB devices—keyboards, mice, hubs, printers, etc.—can sometimes cause truly inscrutable problems ranging from startup issues to kernel panics. USB-caused issues aren’t common, but when they do happen, they can be challenging to track down. If you’ve tried everything else, disconnect all unnecessary USB devices and, if possible, swap your wired keyboard and mouse for another set. Then see if the problem goes away.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Looking for more troubleshooting tips?

November 14, 2019
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trash
November 7, 2019

Be Careful in iOS 13’s Mail App—the Trash Button Is Where Reply Used to Be!

Be Careful in iOS 13’s Mail App—the Trash Button Is Where Reply Used to Be!

For unknown reasons, Apple redesigned the toolbar in the iOS 13 version of Mail. Such things happen, but this time, Apple made a big mistake and moved Mail’s Trash button to where its Reply button used to be. Lots of people who have become accustomed to tapping Reply are now finding themselves deleting messages inadvertently, since a tap in the same location in iOS 13 deletes the message. It’s hard to retrain muscle memory—the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought—but if you find yourself deleting messages accidentally, you’ll need to slow down and remember to tap the new location of the Reply button.

(Featured image by Skitterphoto from Pexels)

More tips to make the most of your iOS devices.

November 7, 2019
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noise
November 5, 2019

Apple’s New AirPods Pro Offer Active Noise Cancellation and Better Fit

Apple’s New AirPods Pro Offer Active Noise Cancellation and Better Fit

Are you a fan of Apple’s AirPods, or have you had trouble with them staying in your ears? Either way, you might like the just-released AirPods Pro, which offer a new design with three sizes of soft, flexible, silicone ear tips and welcome new capabilities. The ear tips should make the AirPods Pro fit better for more people, and an Ear Tip Fit Test will tell you which size is right for your ears. The hot new feature is Active Noise Cancellation mode, which significantly cuts down on the background din of planes, trains, and automobiles. Alternatively, Transparency mode reduces surrounding noise while still letting you hear important announcements and stay aware of the environment around you. And, of course, Apple promises superior sound quality. The AirPods Pro cost $249 and come with a Wireless Charging Case.

(Featured image by Apple)

Other Apple Hardware Announcements

November 5, 2019
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power
November 3, 2019

Need to Charge Your iPhone or iPad More Quickly? Get a Higher Wattage Power Adapter

Need to Charge Your iPhone or iPad More Quickly? Get a Higher Wattage Power Adapter

By default, most iPhones and iPads ship with Apple’s tiny 5-watt power adapters. They work, but not quickly. However, the iPhone 8 and later, all models of the iPad Pro, and the most recent iPad Air and iPad mini models support fast charging when connected to higher wattage power adapters. You may have an older one of these around, or you can buy a new one. Apple has bundled with iOS devices or sold 10-watt, 12-watt ($19), and 18-watt ($29, USB-C) power adapters, and the company has also produced 29-watt, 30-watt ($49), 61-watt ($69), and 87-watt ($79) USB-C power adapters for Mac laptops. Plug your compatible iPhone or iPad into one of these chargers with an appropriate cable (for a USB-C charger, you’ll need a USB-C to Lightning Cable, $19), and it will charge significantly more quickly. Look for a wattage rating on the adapter itself, or multiply the output volts and amps together to get watts.

(Featured image by Matthew Henry on Unsplash)

Soooo many iOS tips….

November 3, 2019
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eta
November 1, 2019

Use the Driving ETA Feature in iOS 13’s Maps App to Share Your Arrival Time

Use the Driving ETA Feature in iOS 13’s Maps App to Share Your Arrival Time

A small but welcome new feature of iOS 13 is Driving ETA, which helps you share your estimated time of arrival with a contact whenever you’re navigating with the Maps app. To use Driving ETA, start navigating to a destination in Maps, tap Share ETA at the bottom of the screen, and pick the person with whom you want to share your location and arrival time. (You’ll share in Maps with iOS 13 users and via Messages with everyone else.) The other person will receive a notification of your ETA and if you’re delayed, updated times. You do have to start navigation in Maps to use Driving ETA, so it’s a little inconvenient when you already know the route, but it’s a brilliant feature for long-distance trips.

(Featured image by Dan Gold on Unsplash)

We’ve got tips and tips and tips…

November 1, 2019
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flash
November 1, 2019

You Can Now Access Flash Drives on an iPhone or iPad—Here’s How

A welcome and useful new feature of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 is support for external storage devices. But it’s not easy to find or figure out—and you likely need a special adapter for your existing USB devices.
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November 1, 2019
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backup
November 1, 2019

Data Backup Strategies Go Only So Far—What’s Your Plan If Your Mac Dies?

How would you get your work done if your Mac died today and you had to wait for it to be repaired or for a replacement to arrive? We offer a few suggestions aimed at getting you thinking about how to respond to such a disaster.
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November 1, 2019
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roberto-nickson-TB_cvdUHUuc-unsplash
October 13, 2019

Everything You Need to Know about Multitasking in iPadOS 13

Read this article to learn all the ways you can use multiple apps at the same time on an iPad running the new iPadOS 13.
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October 13, 2019
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Scammer-photo
October 10, 2019

Beware Scammers when Selling Your Old Tech Hardware Online

Beware of Scammers, when Selling Your Old Tech Hardware Online

Whenever Apple releases hot new hardware, it’s tempting to order the latest and greatest and then put your old Mac or iPhone up for sale on a classifieds site like Craigslist. If you do that, be cautious about potential buyers—it’s increasingly common for a scammer to request that you ship them the device and then to “pay” you by forging payment email from PayPal or using a stolen PayPal account (whose owner will likely get PayPal to take the money back from you). Instead, insist on an in-person meeting in a public place and payment in cash or via a digital method like Apple Pay Cash or Venmo that can’t be canceled once you accept the money. Or, if the location and payment amount (under $1000) work, meet in a nearby post office and request payment via money order (US or Canada) that you can verify on the spot. Craigslist has more advice.

(Featured image modified from an original by Vitabello from Pixabay)

Thinking about security? Read these.

October 10, 2019
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October 8, 2019

iOS 13 Replaces 3D Touch with Tap-and-Hold

iOS 13 Replaces 3D Touch with Tap-and-Hold

Do you use 3D Touch on your iPhone? From 2015 through 2018, every iPhone from the iPhone 6s through the iPhone XS supported 3D Touch, other than the iPhone SE and iPhone XR. With 3D Touch, you could (sometimes) press a control, and then press a little harder to make additional options appear. But because the 3D Touch hardware was expensive, it never made its way to the iPad or iPod touch. Apple replaced 3D Touch in the entire iPhone 11 line this year with the iPhone XR’s simpler Haptic Touch hardware that provides haptic feedback—the sensation of touching something—when you tap-and-hold (or long-press, if you prefer) on an object. With iOS 13, 3D Touch is gone, and almost everything it could do, you now accomplish with a tap-and-hold. So give it a try—long-press icons on the Home screen, panels in Control Center, messages in Mail, links in Safari, and a lot more.



More iOS tips!

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash
October 8, 2019
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