• April 18, 2024

    Six Reasons Why You Should Restart Your Mac Periodically

    Long ago, before macOS was as stable as it is today, Mac users restarted their Macs regularly. Back then, Macs couldn’t sleep, either, so it was common for users to shut down at the end of the day and start up the next morning, effectively restarting daily. With modern Macs using the barest trickle of power in sleep and both apps and macOS almost never crashing, many Mac users have gone to t... Read more
  • April 16, 2024

    How to Sync Your Text Messages across All Your Apple Devices

    Although many of us think of Messages as an iPhone app, Apple’s platform integration lets you read and reply to conversations in Messages on other Apple devices, including the Mac and iPad. All your devices must have the correct settings to make this work reliably. We regularly hear from users who don’t see all their messages on all their devices. If that’s you, check these settings:
  • April 11, 2024

    Looking for Apple Manuals? Check the New Documentation Site

    Apple publishes a multitude of manuals and tons of technical documentation for its products on its support site, but until recently, it could be challenging to find something specific because the search engine on Apple’s site is poor. For a better path into Apple’s online support materials, check out the company’s new Read more
  • April 9, 2024

    Want an Event List in Apple’s Calendar App? Try This Trick

    Along with day, week, month, and year views, most calendar apps offer the option of a simple chronological list of events, which can be a handy way to see what’s coming up. Apple’s Calendar app on the Mac is unfortunately not among those apps. However, there is a trick you can use to get it to show all your upcoming events in a scrolling list. Click in the Search field in the upper-right corner... Read more
  • April 4, 2024

    Tips for Working with Mac Display Resolutions

    You can change the resolution of your Mac’s screen—how many pixels appear—to make text and graphics larger and easier to see or smaller to fit more content onscreen. In System Settings > Displays, Apple shows thumbnails for five likely possibilities. Hover the pointer over a thumbnail to see its numeric resolution underneath. If you prefer the traditional list of numeric resolutions, Option-... Read more
  • April 2, 2024

    Apple Podcasts Adds Transcripts

    In iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, and macOS 14.4 Sonoma, Apple enhanced its Podcasts app to include transcripts of all podcasts in the Apple Podcasts catalog as long as they’re in English, French, German, or Spanish. (It doesn’t translate from one language to another.) Mu... Read more
  • March 28, 2024

    For the Best Mac Webcam, Use Your iPhone

    The near-ubiquity of videoconferencing is a lasting effect of the pandemic. The ease of gathering a group virtually usually more than makes up for the downsides. Despite that, many people still appear in video calls with low-resolution, poorly lit video that makes the call less effective. A better webcam is an easy way to improve your video, and the best readily available webcam may already ... Read more
  • March 26, 2024

    Changing Passwords Periodically Doesn’t Increase Security

    Does your organization or some financial website require you to create a new password periodically? This practice was recommended long ago, but some organizations haven’t kept up with current recommendations that discourage such policies. If you’re bound by a password expiration policy, you can use this article to encourage your IT department or financial institution to update its approach to p... Read more
  • March 19, 2024

    The Importance of Staying Updated

    Does it feel like your Apple devices are always asking you to install operating system updates? You’re not wrong—from September 2022 to January 2024, we saw the following releases in Apple’s previous set of operating systems:
    • macOS 13 Ventura: 20 releases
    • iOS 16: 25 releases
    • iPadOS 16: 20 releases
    • watchOS 9: 15 release... Read more