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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 -
Use 1Password to Enter Your Mac Login Password
We think of 1Password as being helpful for entering passwords on websites and in iPhone and iPad apps. But its Universal Autofill feature has a hidden capability that lets 1Password enter your Mac login password when you have to provide it to change certain system settings,... Read more -
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
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Send Photos in Messages Faster with This Hidden Shortcut
On the iPhone and iPad, to send a photo to a Messages chat, tap the ⊕ button and then tap Photos in the list that appears to reveal the photo picker. That’s not difficult, but it requires an extra step you can avoid with this tip. If you’re running iOS 17 or iPadOS 17, instead of tapping the ⊕ button, touch and hold it for a second to bring up the photo picker immediately.Read more
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Use the Command Key to Rearrange and Remove Menu Bar Icons
Is your Mac’s menu bar overwhelmed with icons? They’re helpful little critters, but finding one can be difficult when you have too many and they’re in no particular order. The hidden trick to cleaning up your menu bar relies on the Command key.- Rearrange the menu bar icons in an order that makes sense to you by Command-dragging them around. You can’t move the Control Center icon or... Read more
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Did You Know Text Entry Boxes in Web Browsers Are Easy to Expand?
Have you ever noticed the shading in the corner of text area fields in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and most other Mac Web browsers? These “handles” let you resize the field—always vertically and sometimes horizontally. That’s handy when the website designer has provided only a small text box and you want to enter more text than will fit. Just drag the handle to make the text box the size you need.... Read more -
Apple Announces New MacBook Air Lineup with M3 Chip
In November 2023, Apple unveiled the M3 chip in new versions of the 24-inch iMac and MacBook Pro, causing speculation about when other Mac models would be updated to match. If you’ve been longing for a MacBook Air with an M3 chip, your wait is over. (And we expect Apple to update the Mac mini soon.) Apple has now announced M3 versions of the 13-inch and 15-inch Read more -
How to Search Directly in Your Favorite Websites from Safari’s Search Bar
We’re all accustomed to searching the Web generally in Safari by typing in the search field and pressing Return or tapping Go. Most of us are also familiar with the search suggestions that Safari shows below the search field as we type. But did you know that Safari has a feature that lets you use the search field to search directly within your favorite websites, so you don’t have to wade thr... Read more -
Help! My Account Has Been Hacked—What Should I Do?
How would you realize that one or more of your Internet accounts—email, social media, financial—have been hacked? (Some prefer the terms “compromised” or “breached”—you may hear them from support techs.) Unfortunately, there’s no telltale warning sign because “hacked” could mean any number of things. Here are some possible indications:- People you trust report receiving email that y... Read more
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You Can Now Have Zoom Meetings on an Apple TV
When Apple introduced tvOS 17 last September, an eagerly awaited feature was its support for FaceTime calls, using Continuity Camera on an iPhone or iPad to equip an Apple TV with the necessary camera and microphone. FaceTime on the Apple TV requires a second-generation Apple TV 4K or ... Read more