Indholdsfortegnelse for No. 204 i iCreate

“They’re the same model of iPhone, just used differently…” Do algorithms exist within our iPhone data that tailor the smoothness of updating the iOS depending on the supposed tech-savviness of the user? My iPhone, that regularly browses tech-related sites and is well used across all of the native apps and features, updated to iOS 13 just fine. My daughter’s on the other hand, that mainly launches social media apps and online shopping sites, didn’t. They’re the same model of iPhone, just used differently, and upon her device becoming what can only be described as right royally buggered up, her first thought was to buy a new iPhone – as luck would have it a whole new range of which has just been launched! Thankfully, super-dad here managed to get her…

Apple Watch Series 5 unveiled Apple Watch Apple Watch 5 is now out and the headline feature is an Always-On Retina display that makes it easier to read the time and view notifications. New location features help users better navigate their day, while international emergency calling allows customers to call emergency services directly from Apple Watch in over 150 countries – even without an iPhone nearby. “The seamless integration of new hardware and software delivers an enhanced experience that makes it even easier to stay active and connected to the people and information users care about,” says Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. New Research app coming later this year Apple news Following in the footsteps of ResearchKit, CareKit and the Apple Heart Study that they enabled, Apple is launching…

Crop overlay Drag the Crop tool’s corner handles to remove unwanted edges. Drag inside the Crop overlay to reposition key features. The Rule of Thirds grid helps you create a more balanced and aesthetically pleasing composition. Clear the beach The Retouch tool does an effective job of clearing clutter from a landscape. It samples adjacent pixels (such as pebbles) and uses them to hide unwanted subjects (such as people). Go straight This angle wheel enables you to counteract tilted horizons by dragging it up or down. The wheel’s blue angle guides indicate that we’ve rotated this shot by eight degrees to create a straight horizon. Enhance the sky We used the Selective Colour panel to enhance our overexposed sky by darkening the blues and cyans in the shot. This helped…

Superheroes on TV such as The Flash and The Six Million Dollar man could run at tremendously fast speeds thanks to some post-production tinkering with frame rates. It’s a simple job to give characters the power to run at superspeed by retiming the footage in Final Cut Pro X. You can then complement their accelerated movement by adding motion trails that streak behind them as they run, courtesy of the Trails effect. We’ll also show you some on-location production tricks that help sell the superspeed illusion, such as shaking the camera when the subject passes by and shooting a high-speed POV shot using the hyper-lapse technique. To complete the superspeed effect we’ll plunder Final Cut Pro X’s audio assets for some ‘speeding bullet’-style sound effects. Step-by-step  Add superspeed effects 1…

Transposition track This special track transposes pitch to change project key and is shown by choosing Track>Show Transposition Track. It features a horizontal line or ‘curve’ that automates key shifts up or down an octave (-12/+12). Transpose slider This manual Transpose control is in the Region tab of the Editors inspector, and is effectively automated by the Transposition track. Audio regions also have a Follow Tempo & Pitch checkbox below that requires selection. Project key The project’s overall key signature is displayed within the LCD panel. Click it to choose a key other than the default C major before you begin, with any Apple Loops added matching this chosen starting key. Transposition points Add multiple transposition points with Cmd-click to drag the transposition curve up or down and offset from…

Screen Time has been a feature in iOS for some time and now it has come to macOS courtesy of Catalina. The difference here is that you can use the feature to check your screen, and overall device usage, for any compatible Apple product connected to your iCloud account. This added usage is carefully hidden under a very small area of the Screen Time panel and you can access each device and indeed each person in your group with two clicks. All of the reporting and notifications you need are present and correct with lots of familiarity thrown in for good measure, and Screen Time will spend the vast majority of its life simply collecting the data you need in the background. It’s a nice macOS addition. Step-by-step  Monitor and…

Sidecar is an unusual name, but it is a feature you will absolutely love if you own a compatible iPad. In essence it turns your iPad into a second screen for your Mac and it does so in such a natural way that you may soon feel like your iPad is part of the Mac. From the moment you enable it everything works as it should and in typical iPad style the feature has not been overdone to the point that the content onscreen gets lost. It offers just the features you need and does so in a way which ensures that using two or more apps suddenly becomes easy which should offer some huge productivity and entertainment gains for all of your Mac usage. Step-by-step  Get started with Sidecar…

Reminders had a slow start and was typically sparse in terms of features and visual tricks which is what we tend to expect from Apple. However, most Apple solutions are improved over time to the point where they become indispensable to the user. Reminders is a good example of this philosophy and it has been dramatically improved in Catalina, and in iOS 13, to the point that the features are comparable with many of the most popular third-party solutions. You will need to know what has changed to make the most out of the new Reminders app and once you are aware, you may well find that you can dispense with any alternative solution. We believe that it now competes with the very best task managers. Step-by-step  Set intelligent reminders…

When you consider its influence and the way it shaped digital content, iTunes was a legendary app; but truth be told it was time for a change. It simply did not fit the visual way in which Apple apps have developed over time and TV and Music have arrived in Catalina to bring the aesthetics up to date and to offer all of the content you need. As you would expect there is not a lot to learn here with all of the hallmarks of Apple programming running throughout each of these offerings, making everything as obvious and natural as can be from the start. We will take you through what you need to know and all you then need to do is enjoy the content forever more. Step-by-step  Understand…

What is the most used feature on the Mac? For many people it is the clipboard – we copy and paste within apps like word processors, spreadsheets and photo editors, and we copy between apps like web pages and text or image editors. Yet the clipboard is very basic and holds only one item. Copy something and it replaces what was there, which is frustrating when you have several items to copy and paste. Paste Queue, free in the Mac App Store, adds new features to the clipboard that makes it far more powerful and useful. For example, you can copy multiple items including text and images, then paste them one by one or all at once. You can view clipboard items and select the one to paste next, and…

Automator is a great tool for creating small but useful utilities for the Mac and it is the simplest way to create standalone apps. Start Automator, click ‘New document’ and select ‘Application’ for all but the last of the apps here. Then just browse the library and double-click the functions that are needed in your app. Sometimes a library item has options that must be set, but that’s as hard as it gets. All of the Automator apps here work with Safari or the Downloads folder and some need the browser open and viewing a web page. They can be downloaded from http:// bit.ly/2z7Bll5 and either run or opened in Automator, but you will learn more by trying to recreate them yourself. Save the apps to the Applications folder or…

One of the great benefits of Shortcuts is the ability to streamline menial processes so that you’re not forever tapping at the screen to get things done. If you’re a user of Pages, for example, and you want to get down to work, you don’t need to search for the app and then select a new document to work with. You could, with minor effort, have those two steps taken care of with a simple spoken command. In this tutorial we look at how Siri will pick up on your use of Pages and make the shortcut suggestion for you. We also look at manually creating it should you want to go down that path instead. In either case, you’ll be left with a new simple Siri utterance to use.…

Notes is a handy app for storing all manner of information, including text, images, PDFs, tables and lists. Notes that contain personal or private information that you don’t want anyone to see can be locked with a password. This is useful if someone else borrows your Mac, iPhone or iPad, or if you leave your device to go and grab a coffee, potentially giving someone access. Notes uses one password for all notes, or does it? Can you use a different password with each note? Yes, there is a way around Apple’s one-password limitation. This means you can have some notes unlockable by a simple password while others remain locked with an impossible-to-guess one, giving two or more levels of security to Notes. Here’s how it works. Step-by-step  Use multiple…

Add a filter There are three formats for your scan. You can save it as a black and white image, convert it to a whiteboard look or else retain the original. Start to edit You will reach this edit screen by tapping the slider icon which appears when you take a fresh scan using your iPhone camera (see Step 4). Move the dots Use your finger and move the dots, ensuring the box is positioned around the information that you wish to retain in the scan. Alter the contrast For some of the filters, you will see a slider that allows you to adjust the contrast so move it left and right. Select ‘Done’ when you’re finished. Knowledge base Add more pages to a scan You can have scans that…

Find a contact Tap the To: box and start typing the name of a friend. A list of names will appear if there is more than one that matches – just tap the one you’re after. Send your request When you’re ready, tap ‘Send’ and your location will be shared with them. When they agree to share their location with you, you’ll be able to view them. Select a length of time Indicate how long you wish to share your location for – whether it’s an hour, the rest of the day or indefinitely. Select Add When you open Find My Friends on your iPhone, tap ‘Add’ in the top-right corner to reach this screen. Knowledge base How are locations shared? Friend locations are determined by the whereabouts of their…

Today we’re increasingly consumed within our own digital worlds. A family can sit in the living room engaging with numerous screens – so the trick is going about your own business without being disturbed or disturbing others. If you’re watching television via Apple TV, you could pair the device with your AirPods, allowing you to listen to your favourite content in comfort. In doing so, you can make use of some of the earphones’ wizardry such as letting someone catch your attention and not miss a thing. If you remove an AirPod from your ear while you’re watching a show, the video and audio will immediately pause. You are able to tap an AirPod for the same result. With great stereo sound and convenience, what’s not to like? Step-by-step  Manually…

Background App Refresh This refers to when certain apps, such as various news and store apps, refresh their content while you aren’t using the app so that they present only the most up-to-date content when you are using them. To save battery, this can be turned off in Settings>General. Markup Tools Both macOS and iOS feature a built-in toolset that allows you to quickly mark up certain files, such as PDFs and photos. Through these tools you can add annotations, signatures, shapes and notes to files before sharing them with other people. Memoji Introduced with the iPhone X, Memojis were coined by Apple to be an enhanced version of traditional emojis that are more personal to you. You can create a Memoji in your own likeness and even have it…

David Crookes Did you know that you can control your iPhone using just your eyes? This month our resident iOS expert guides you through the process of setting up and using this feature. Shaun McGill This month our tech expert helps you master all of the new apps and features in iOS 13 to help you get the most out of the update and use your devices in new and exciting ways. George Cairns This issue, our creative expert shows you how to improve the composition of your iPhone photos, master iMovie on the move and add heroic speed effects to footage. Facebook iCreateMagazine Twitter @iCreateMagazine Instagram icreate_mag Email icreate@futurenet.com…

The iOS version of iMovie is well worth a look, especially if you source your footage on a mobile device such as an iPad. While on holiday you can use iMovie to trim and arrange clips to present your holiday highlights and even use layered effects such as picture in picture and split screen to add visual variety. You can also add titles to identify various locations that you’ve visited. Once you’ve hooked up to a local Wi-Fi connection you can share your adventures via social media for friends and family to enjoy and comment on. The downside of the iOS version of iMovie is the absence of tone and colour correcting tools, but you can pop your iOS project onto your Mac when you get home to fine-tune it…

Retiming tools To speed up or slow down a selected clip in the timeline, click here to access retiming options. Alternatively you can use the Modify>Retime menu to slow down or speed up a clip. Sound advice Complement your retimed and motion blurred footage with some whooshing sound effects from the Sound Effects browser. Whoosh 02 is an effective clip for accelerating sequences. Whoosh 13 helps the subject skid to a stop. Adjust effects The Trails effect has adjustable properties. Increase Echoes to create a more blended motion blur effect. Trail On changes the way the blurred echoes merge with the rest of the scene. Trail effects To add streaks of motion blur to your retimed footage go to the Distortion section of the Effects browser. The Trails effect adds…

When working with audio, one of the most important things to bear in mind is what can happen when you make an edit in the middle of an audio waveform. If you split, trim or join two regions together anywhere other than where the waveform crosses the zero line, you’ll most likely end up with an audible click as the playhead passes the edit point. To help combat this, you can use a fade to transform an abrupt change in level to a gradual change across a short period of time, lessening the likelihood of a jarring click or ‘blop’. Like sonic sandpaper, fades can be applied at the start or end of regions to smooth off the edges, or to crossfade between two adjoining regions from different parts of…

Hidden within the file structure of photos is a lot of interesting information called EXIF data. The iPhone, for example, stores the time, date and location a photo was taken, the ISO rating, focal length, flash usage, aperture setting, shutter speed and more. However, the iOS Photos app doesn’t let you see it. If you just take selfies and holiday snaps, you may not care, but if you are interested in photography, seeing camera settings could help you take better shots, especially when using manual settings. An EXIF viewer app shows them. There are privacy issues when sharing photos and one taken at home contains sufficient information to see your address. Do you want people online knowing it? Strip it out before the photo is shared! Exif Viewer Lite by…

Our iPhones are so addictive that many of us struggle to put them down, especially at night where we like to check emails, messages and news right up to the point at which we close our eyes and descend into a peaceful slumber. But how peaceful depends on you because too much stimulation can make it difficult to drift off. Fortunately, iOS features a neat Night Shift mode, which shifts the screen colours of your iPhone to a warmer palette that is much easier on the eyes to ensure that your brain doesn’t get over-stimulated when it needs to be winding down. You can schedule Night Shift to kick in at a particular time every day by going to Settings>Display & Brightness>Night Shift, or you can initiate it to start…

Postcodes and GPS coordinates are familiar to us all but they’re not perfect. The former usually relates to a fairly wide area (and sometimes takes you off the beaten track as you may have found when entering one into a sat nav) while the latter can be tricky to remember given their double series of numbers. Step forward What3Words which has divided the world into 57 trillion blocks covering a tiny area of just nine square metres. By giving each block a unique three-word address, the app is not only better able to pinpoint a rather precise location, it is also able to do so without taxing your memory too much. Here we look at two sides of the app: how to generate three words related to your location via…

Select your AirPods Use the Remote to navigate to your AirPods in the list and select them. They will be highlighted and ticked so you know you’re connected. Alter the volume You’ll have the opportunity to alter the volume here (just press and hold) but you’ll also be able to do so when you’re watching a show as well. Visit the Homepage When you are on the Apple TV homepage, you can reach this screen by pressing and holding the Play button on the Remote. Knowledge base Change to the AirPods mid-show When you’re watching a programme on your Apple TV, you can pull down on the remote to see a menu. By navigating to the audio tab you are then able to select the speaker you wish to output…

I tried to update my iPhone 7 to iOS 13 but now it is totally screwed up! I can’t connect to Wi-Fi, I can’t erase it (the option just freezes) and loads of other apps don’t work. What can I do? First, connect your iPhone to your Mac and launch iTunes, then hold the Sleep/ Wake button on your iPhone and move the slider to turn it off (make sure that it has completely powered down). Now press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for three seconds and, while still holding that, press and hold the volume down button – hold both for about ten seconds – then stop holding the Sleep/Wake button but continue to hold the volume down button for a further five seconds. Your iPhone screen should remain…

Sometimes problems with a photo are down to the photographer’s handling of the camera, such as the tilted horizon in this tutorial’s start image. Other problems can be beyond our control while on location, such as the presence of unwanted people in a landscape. Our start image also features some litter in the foreground cliff edge which spoils the view (and is too near the cliff edge to remove by hand!). Fortunately the Photos app’s suite of digital darkroom tools enables you to crop out unwanted objects, straighten tilted horizons and even remove unwanted people from the scene with a bit of invisible retouching. You can also turn a quick snap into a more balanced and considered composition courtesy of the classic Rule of Thirds grid, as we’ll demonstrate. Step-by-step…

Trim clips Tap on a clip to target it and drag the start and end yellow handles to trim its duration. Tap the ‘+’ icon to add it to the timeline. You can trim a clip in the Media browser or fine-tune the trim in the timeline. Overlay options Tap this icon to access extra layer-based editing options such as Cutaway, Picture in Picture, Split Screen and even Green/Blue Screen for compositing layers together. Picture in picture When editing in layers you can combine clips in creative ways. Here we’re using Picture in Picture. These tools enable you to resize and reposition the inserted clip and turn a border on or off. Editing options After selecting a clip in the timeline tap these icons to perform a host of edits,…

Think about how your favourite songs make you feel. The very best ones tend to evoke an emotional response, be it uplifting or melancholy and everything between. This is achieved in no singular way, of course, but most often through changing key. GarageBand projects start in the key of C major by default, however a feature called the Transposition track allows us to change this throughout a composition. Using a horizontal automation curve and a series of points to dictate upward or downward pitch changes, this method works with all tracks that have a defined key but most commonly MIDI regions. Over the next few steps we will identify the Transposition track before demonstrating the adding and editing of transposition points when changing project key. Step-by-step  Change key with Transposition…

Removing experience To remove fades from a region, select the region in question and select ‘Remove Fades’ from the local Functions menu. Alternatively, right-clicking a fade also brings up a remove option. Speed demon Right-click on a fade and you can change it from a volume fade to a speed fade, slowing down or speeding up the audio, or removing it altogether. Speed fades are a quick and easy way to achieve ‘tape stop’-style effects. Escape to victory The Fade tool is also accessible from the tool menu that pops up beneath your cursor when you hit your computer’s Escape key. Throw a curve Curved fades allow you more control over the rate at which the volume of the sound fades in or out than straight, linear fades. Knowledge base…

Safari lets you save web pages to read later in the Reading List sidebar. It is useful for storing a small number of web articles, but if you add too many it becomes hard to find items later because there are few features. Pocket is a free Mac app and website that enables you to store any number of web articles and it goes beyond Safari’s Reading List feature. With Pocket, you can save web articles and add tags that enable you to search and filter them. You could tag all articles about Apple for example, and view them later by viewing saved items with the Apple tag. Read articles can be moved to an archive and you can create a collection of favourite articles that you need to refer…

Google is a great internet search engine, but it is not the only one and some alternatives offer better privacy. For example, DuckDuckGo is a popular choice; but there are even more, like Ecosia. It is almost ten years old, but has been flying under most people’s radar, so let’s take a closer look. Ecosia.org is focused on privacy and it does not collect or sell your data to third parties. Searches are encrypted and anonymised. Search at Ecosia and you will see adverts, but 80 per cent of all revenue is used to plant trees. According to the counter on the home page, over 66 million have been planted. Each search removes 1kg of CO2 from the atmosphere, and its servers run on renewable energy. Search results are good…

As Mac users, Apple’s Safari internet browser is a staple of our everyday lives. Whether it’s for checking Gmail, catching up on the latest news or watching YouTube videos, Safari is a simple and robust app for enjoying the best that the worldwide web has to offer. However, as is the case with most Apple apps, there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. For example, did you know that you can bump up the size of the website text outside of Reader mode? And did you know that you can watch videos in an entirely separate window free from the usual clutter? We’ve dug deep into Safari’s vast array of options and lesser-known features to provide a fun insight into how far you can take your…

The way we communicate with our devices is evolving. We can use touch gestures, bark commands at Siri and use our faces or fingerprints to unlock. Now, developers at Hawkeye Labs have introduced eye-tracking, allowing devices to be controlled using your peepers. It’s experimental and restricted to use in-app rather than iOS as a whole but, with a web browser and social media, it’s already rather versatile. You can see some natural uses. Anyone with motor impairment will obviously benefit but it could also come in handy if you’re looking for online instructions when your hands are dirty or if you’re wearing gloves. It’s certainly a clever curiosity put together at WWDC last year. Maybe Apple will look to incorporate it in a future version of iOS. Step-by-step  Set up…

Dropbox users can make good use of their online storage space by scanning and saving paper-based documents using their iPhone. The app’s in-built scan feature lets you call up the camera, snap an image and instantly convert it into a readable document. What’s more, you can take shots of multiple pages and keep them all together in a single folder. In order to encourage this feature’s use, the app’s developers have streamlined the process to make it even quicker to carry out. You’ll therefore need to update the app to version 156.2 or later. It’s also possible to convert images in your Camera Roll to scans. Just tap the Home or Files tab, find an image, select the ‘…’ icon next to the filename and select ‘Save As Scan’. Step-by-step…

Have you ever been on a night out and spent a good chunk of it sending messages back and forth to ask where your friends are and how long they’re likely to be? Or have you wondered when you should be putting the kettle on for a friend who is popping around to your house? With Find My Friends, you don’t need to ask. Instead, you can fire up the app and see where they are – assuming they’re allowing you to view their location data, anyway. In this tutorial, we look at how you can access such useful location information from the comfort of your wrist which means you’re not going to be forever whipping out your iPhone in anticipation. You can instantly see where someone is on a…

Navigate to location If you wish to travel to that location, then select ‘Navigate Here’ and you can select the Compass, choose Apple Maps or tap another map app that you have installed such as Google Maps. Enter the words If you have a What3Words location, then you simply need to enter it into this box, either using the keyboard or speaking them into the microphone. Choose a viewpoint The iPhone app allows you to switch between a Google 2D map or a top-down satellite view. The precise location of the three words is highlighted with an outlined box. Share or save Locations can be shared with others on social media or via text message or email. If you select ‘Save to a List’ then you will need to set…

How do I access the Markup tools in macOS Mojave – I haven’t needed these so far but thought I’d have a play? Eric Kibwi 1 Locate a file While in Finder, find and highlight the file that you would like to edit in Markup mode and then press the spacebar. This will open your selected file in Quick View mode. 2 Click tools While in Quick View mode, click on the pen icon and this will display your Mac’s Markup tools. You can now draw on, write on – and add shapes and even signatures to – your file. 3 Save or discard You can remove and redo any of your annotations and when you are happy, click on the ‘Done’ button. This will effectively save your file, so…

“With this being Jaws, all plausibility flies out of the window” Requirements iOS 9.0 or later • 446.2MB Available from App Store Learn more jaws.io IN THE MARKET FOR SOME cheap, throwaway nonsense to entertain you and hone your reflexes during a time out from the serious business? Then look no further than JAWS.io, an addictive distraction that has you, as the titular shark, wreaking havoc across Amity Island. With this being Jaws, all plausibility flies out the window and you simply have to direct your shark around the water first feasting on bite-sized swimmers before you ‘size-up’ and are able to start chowing down on bigger things, like buoys, yachts and even skyscrapers. The aim is to destroy as much of the map as is possible within the time…