productivity Archives

December 9, 2019

The iPhone 11 Camera App’s Shutter Button Works Differently—Here’s How

With the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple changed the way the Camera app’s shutter button works in ways that could cause confusion. Tapping it once still takes a single still photo, but if you press and hold on the shutter button, it now captures a quick video. (Previously, pressing and holding on the button took photos in burst mode; to do that on the iPhone 11 models, slide the shutter button to the left.) Once you’ve started taking a quick video, slide your finger to the right to lock recording, so you don’t have to keep holding the button down. Tap the white shutter button to take a still image while recording; tap the red record button to stop recording. For even easier quick video recording, press and hold either of the volume buttons; a single press still takes a photo. Note that quick videos always record with mono sound and at a resolution of 1920-by-1440; for stereo sound and the resolution set in Settings > Camera, use the Camera app’s Video mode.

(Featured image by Agê Barros on Unsplash)

A few of the 437 times we talked about cameras.
(Just kidding… or are we?)

Tired of Skewed Lines in Your Photos? Use the Camera App’s Hidden Level.
Use Continuity Camera to Scan Documents and Take Photos Right into Mac Documents
Remember That You Can Search for Nearly Anything in Your Photos Library
The Secret Keyboard Shortcut for Comparing Before/After Edits in Photos on the Mac

Tim Pearson

December 9, 2019

Need to Move Lots of Data Between Macs? Try Target Disk Mode

If you ever have to move tens or hundreds of gigabytes of data between Macs, give Target Disk Mode a try. It’s fast, easy, and reliable.

Tim Pearson

December 9, 2019

December 3, 2019

Did You Know You Can Drag the Scroll Bar in iOS 13?

In previous versions of iOS, a scroll bar would appear on the right edge of the screen while you were swiping through a long Web page, email message, or document. But the scroller was merely an indicator of where in the page you were and how much content there was (the bigger the scroller, the less content). In iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, however, Apple has made the scroll bar more helpful, and you’ll want to use it to scroll long pages more quickly than you can with swiping. To use the scroll bar, swipe slightly to make it appear, press and hold the scroller, and drag it to scroll. The only hard part is that it can be tricky to grab since it disappears a few seconds after you stop scrolling, and it’s a thin target to hit with a thick finger. But give it a try since it makes scrolling in long pages so much easier.

(Featured image background by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash)

More iOS tips just for you.

iPhone Not Charging Reliably? Clean Its Lightning Port with a Toothpick
Try Using a Magic Trackpad 2 with Your iPad Running iPadOS 13.4
The Fastest Way to Change Wi-Fi Networks in iOS 13
Set Your Preferred Name and Photo for Messages in iOS 13

Tim Pearson

December 3, 2019

November 1, 2019

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…

Set Your Preferred Name and Photo for Messages in iOS 13
iCloud Photo Library Users: Do NOT Turn Off iCloud
iPhone Not Charging Reliably? Clean Its Lightning Port with a Toothpick
In Case of Emergency, Create an iPhone Medical ID
Did You Know You Can Save and Share Voicemail Files from Your iPhone?

Tim Pearson

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.

Tim Pearson

November 1, 2019

October 9, 2019

Do You Put Dates in Filenames? Use This Format for Best Sorting

There are plenty of situations where it makes sense to put a date in a filename, but if you don’t use the right date format, the files may sort in unhelpful ways. For instance, using the names of months is a bad idea, since they’ll sort alphabetically, putting April before January. And although the Mac’s Finder is smart enough to sort filename-3 before filename-20, most other operating systems are not (because 2 comes before 3). So, to make your life—and the lives of everyone with whom you share files—a little easier, use this date format, which is guaranteed to sort correctly everywhere: YYYY-MM-DD. That translates to a four-digit year, followed by a two-digit month (with a leading zero if necessary), and a two-digit day (again, with a leading zero if need be).

(Featured image by Henry & Co. on Unsplash)

Got another minute? Check these tips out.

Avoid Ransom Requests with a Unique iCloud Password
Apple Music Can Be Your Personal DJ
Did You Know You Can Make a Video of Anything on Your iPhone or iPad Screen?
Did You Know Families Can Share Mac and iOS Apps Purchased from the App Store?

Kyle Pauley

October 9, 2019

October 1, 2019

iOS 13 Makes Editing Text Easier

Today’s article will make text editing in iOS 13 faster and more fun. Read about important new and improved techniques for selecting, copying, and moving text, plus a new slide-to-type option.

Tim Pearson

October 1, 2019

September 3, 2019

Two Secret Key Combos for Forward Delete on the Magic and MacBook Keyboards

Traditionally, extended keyboards come with a Forward Delete key that, when you press it, deletes characters to the right of the insertion point, unlike the main Delete key, which deletes to the left of the insertion point. Forward Delete still exists on Apple’s Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, but it’s missing from the Magic Keyboard and all Mac laptop keyboards. If you like using Forward Delete (and well you should!), the secret key combinations that simulate it for any Apple keyboard that lacks it are Fn-Delete and Control-D. You can often add Option to the mix to delete the word to the right of the insertion point instead of just a character.