Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i MacLife

1 Choose the drive To make a clone you’ll need an external drive with enough space to fit everything on your current Mac: a bootable clone has to be an exact replica of everything. Click Allow CCC to Erase “Drivename.” 2 Check your settings Once you’ve set the options, you’ll see this screen with a summary of what’s going to happen: CCC is going to clone your Macintosh HD volume on your backup disk and it’ll make an exact copy of the source. 3 Start the cloning Carbon Copy Cloner will take you step by step through some system preferences so it can do its job, and it’ll then begin to make your clone. This will take a long time if your external drive isn’t USB 3 or Thunderbolt.…

MIGRATION ASSISTANT WORKS on Windows too — although unlike Macs it isn’t already there on your PC. To get it, go to bit.ly/mac362wma on your PC to download the Windows Migration Assistant for Big Sur. This works in much the same way as it does on the Mac. Close everything on your Windows PC (using apps such as Acronis True Image or Macrium Reflect Free), run Migration Assistant on your new Mac, and run the Windows Migration Assistant on your PC. You can then choose what data you to carry across from your PC to your new Mac. The biggest difference between the Windows Migration Assistant and the one on your Mac is that it can’t copy your apps across: Windows apps don’t run in macOS. But you’ll usually find…

1 Mac and PC together Make sure both your PC and Mac are connected to the same network, then open Migration Assistant on your PC. Do the same on your Mac. Most of the work will be done here. Choose “From a Windows PC,” let your Mac find your PC. 2 Pick what to transfer The Migration Assistant will automatically choose the key folders for each user account on your PC, including some files in the system folders. It’ll also show you how much space the folders will require on your Mac. 3 Set up user accounts If you have several user accounts from your PC, Migration Assistant can replicate them on your Mac. It’ll give the other users a temporary password — make sure you write it down. All…

1 Find all your files The Windows File Explorer only shows the current user’s folders, so if you have multiple users on your PC you’ll need to make sure you copy the other users’ data too. You’ll need to be authorized to view other users’ folders. 2 Export old emails Cloud–based email like Outlook.com or Gmail will work on your Mac. But if you have a POP3 email account where your messages are downloaded to your PC you’ll need to export those messages to an mbox file and import it into Mail. 3 Export bookmarks If you plan to use Safari on your new Mac, export your browser bookmarks so it can import them: open your browser’s bookmarks or favorites and export them to a bookmarks file. Sign out of…

> YOU’VE SUCCESSFULLY MOVED in! Now what? The first thing you should do when you’ve got your new Mac just–so is to make a complete backup of everything that’s on it, ideally in a different place or on a different device to the clone or backup you used to migrate to it. If you’re using Time Machine, you can import the previous backups from your old Mac and just update them each time, but with a new Mac we think it’s best to start a brand new backup from scratch. That means the first one will take a while to complete, but it won’t be full of things left over from your previous Mac. There’s no right or wrong app for making a backup — some people like Time Machine,…

1 Find gas nearby Low on fuel? This shortcut will help. Create a new shortcut and name it “Find Gas Near Me” using the “…” button. Tap Add Action, tap Location, then Get Current Location. Tap “+” and scroll to Search Local Businesses. Tap the words Local Businesses and type “Gas stations,” then tap Done. Tap “+” and add Show Directions. In the top–right, tap Done. Now when you run the shortcut you’ll see a list of gas stations; pick one for directions. 2 See everyone’s birthday We all forget birthdays, even if we don’t like to admit it — but no longer. Create a shortcut called “Upcoming Birthdays.” Tap Add Action, then type “Find Contacts” into the search box and tap the top result. Tap Add Filter. Tap Group…

SHORTCUTS’ AUTOMATIONS ARE powerful because they operate on their own without the need for you to start them. When a certain requirement is met — the time of day, when you arrive at a defined location, when your battery hits a certain level, and more — they spring into action. That works especially well if you have an Apple Watch. Because you take your Watch everywhere you go, you can always make use of its automated shortcuts. Just stroll up to your destination (or whatever you have set as your trigger) and your shortcut is already underway. Below, we have created a three–part shortcut that is perfect for working out at the gym. Once you have tried that, there are shortcuts for enabling the Water Lock on your device (also…

1 Set trigger phrase A shortcut can take you to a shared file. Create a new personal automation and tap Message. Under Sender, pick the contact (or leave blank to apply it to everyone). Tap Message Contains and enter a trigger phrase. We’ve entered dropbox.com. Tap Next. 2 Gather input data Add an action to Get Contacts from Input and change the variable to Shortcut Input. This will get the name of the person sending a text containing “dropbox.com.” Now add Get URLs from Input. Tap Contacts, then the keyboard icon. Delete Contacts and tap Shortcut Input, then Done. Tap Shortcut Input and change it to Content. This fetches the Dropbox link. 3 Display an alert Add an action for Show Alert. Type “You received a link from.” Tap Contacts…

$99.99 ($149.99 Pro) From Corel Corporation, roxio.com Needs macOS 10.14 (64–bit) or later, including macOS 11.0 Those who rely on burned optical discs for home or work projects have learned to temper their expectations when it comes to new features with annual Roxio Toast upgrades. Aside from 64–bit and Dark Mode support, recent versions have remained largely unchanged. For the most part, Toast 19 attempts to shake things up a little, debuting a welcome user interface overhaul which offers a more intuitive workflow. At launch, the first thing users are greeted by is a Home window which can be customized with up to eight of your favorite one–click tasks. This feature comes in particularly handy for guiding Toast novices to specific tasks, but will also appeal to veterans who want…

$49.99 a year/$6.99 a month From Algoriddim, algoriddim.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch This DJ app enables you to mix from local and streaming libraries, add effects, synchronize song tempos, and even control video output. The (sadly Spotify-free) library has been given an overhaul, and you can now DJ without even touching your iPad. Gesture Control uses your device’s camera to track your hands, and it doesn’t just watch where your hands are — it also watches what your hands do. For example, to select something you grab the air; to adjust an effect you grab with one hand and point with the other. It’s tons of fun but it isn’t available on all iPads: it needs the A14 Bionic chip, so the minimum hardware requirements are an 11–inch…

With Apple focusing on augmented reality (AR), you might not be aware of how many great virtual reality (VR) apps are available. Unlike AR, which overlays digital content onto the real world, VR takes you to a new place entirely, shut off from the world in a fully immersive virtual realm. You don’t need a hugely powerful Mac to enjoy it — just a relatively modern iOS device and a headset. While many headsets can be expensive, they don’t have to be: Google Cardboard, for example, lets you build your own. Now is the ideal time to give VR a try — if it sounds like your thing, we have the perfect apps for you here. YOUTUBE VR Free (IAPs) Made for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV The world’s most famous…

Sleep and wake are functions controlled by the System Management Controller (SMC) and a complex series of settings, some of which are exposed in the Energy Saver pane. Your first step is to reset the SMC following the instructions relevant to its type, at bit.ly/mac361nvram. In the case of desktop Macs without a T2 chip, that means shutting it down, disconnecting all peripherals apart from keyboard, mouse/trackpad, any Ethernet connection, and any external display. Disconnect the power cable for at least 15 seconds, reconnect it, wait a further five seconds, and start up normally. Once your iMac is running, carefully review the settings in the Energy Saver pane. Also worth a visit is the Screen Saver tab in the Desktop & Screen Saver pane, where you should ensure that you…

Each major new version of macOS has brought substantial changes to Time Machine’s backups, and although they seem to have worked out quite well in early releases of Catalina, they’ve become steadily less reliable and more likely to choke on certain folders. The most likely to cause backups to grind to a halt is the hidden versions database on your Data volume, which often slows the rate at which files are copied to your backup from 50MB/s or more to less than 0.1MB/s. This can also occur with other folders containing very large numbers of smaller files, or many hard links. If your Lightroom files contain a folder named Previews with tens of thousands of files, that could be responsible. You can check this using the free utility T2M2 from…

1 Start a conversation Make sure both you and the person you’re helping are logged in to iCloud in Messages > Preferences > iMessage. Open a new chat window in the app, type in their contact details, and start up your conversation. 2 Open Screen Sharing If your friend or relative is struggling with an issue on their Mac, you can see what the problem is via Screen Sharing. To do that, choose Conversations > Ask to Share Screen from the menu bar to request remote access. 3 Remote access Once they’ve accepted your request, their desktop will appear in the Screen Sharing window on your Mac, so you can see what’s happening on their machine. Messages will switch to a voice call so you can chat directly. 4 Take…

EACH YEAR, ADOBE Photoshop Elements faces the challenge of providing enough new features to make existing users upgrade while attracting new customers. Adobe realizes that while there’s a growing desire to share images via social media sites, people may not want to spend ages mastering complex editing skills. As a result, it has added a range of new Guided Edits that enable us to quickly create striking shots without being photo fixing experts. Beautiful landscapes are sure to attract a few likes in your media feed, so here we’ll demonstrate how the new Perfect Landscape Guided Edit enables you to overcome common problems — and even change the weather! It can be a challenge to compose shots of children and animals, so we’ll show you how the new Move &…

1 Open image Open a photo in the Quick editing workspace. Images shot using an iPhone’s Portrait mode work well due to the difference between the sharp subject and blurred background. Choose Enhance > Moving Photos. 2 Choose a movement Double–click on a motion thumbnail to apply an effect such as Zoom In. Make sure the 3D Effect option is on. This makes the main subject and background move at different speeds, creating a 3D depth effect. 3 Export as GIF Click the play icon to preview the motion. Click Export. Label the animation in the Save As window. Click Save to create a social media–compatible animated GIF. Reduce the GIF’s size to make it easier to share.…

1 Installation media Open your web browser and navigate to bit.ly/mac361dldubtudsktp. Click the Download button next to Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS — this version is supported by VMware’s Linux Easy Install feature. It’s a 2.8GB download. 2 Create new VM Open VMware Fusion and choose File > New. Open a Finder window and drag ubuntu-20.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso on to the “Install from disc or image.” Click Continue to bring up the Linux Easy Install screen. 3 Customize setup With Use Easy Install selected, enter your Display Name and password. Choose whether to make your Home folder accessible to the VM, and whether it’s read/write or read–only access. Click Continue. 4 Check settings The machine’s default settings will appear — click Customize Settings to set a bigger hard disk (20GB is a bit tight).…

THERE ARE PLENTY of times when your Mac dozing off to sleep is the last thing you want to happen. Whether you are watching a movie or downloading a large, important file, being interrupted by a blank screen as your Mac shuts down can be a real pain. However, it can be prevented with the help of a free app called Amphetamine. This lightweight, highly customizable app keeps your Mac awake indefinitely at the touch of a button, preventing disaster. It’s simple on the surface but offers plenty of depth, letting you adjust its hot keys, stay–awake session durations, and even its appearance. It also lets you set triggers that kick off a session, prompted by opening an app or connecting to a Wi–Fi network, for instance. The app can…

1 Adjust default time Open preferences and click the Sessions tab. Here you can change the default session duration in minutes, hours, or a custom time. This is useful if you mainly activate Amphetamine by Ctrl–clicking its menu bar icon. 2 Keep drives awake Amphetamine’s Drive Alive feature writes tiny amounts of data to your hard drives to keep them awake (this isn’t so necessary for SSDs). You can enable it in preferences and set how often it writes data. 3 Customize hotkeys Click the Hot Keys tab. Here you can set keyboard shortcuts that will activate various Amphetamine features. You can also set whether a new session will end and overwrite an existing one, and how long it lasts.…

CLIPS 3.0 IS the latest version of Apple’s video editing tool for social media. If you love posting Instagram stories, or uploading video clips to TikTok, SnapChat or Twitter, it’s designed for you. And if you haven’t yet given it a try, now is the perfect time. Clips 3.0 is free to download and great fun, and if you follow our guide here you’ll be posting videos in no time. The most significant new feature of Clips 3.0 is that it now enables you to create videos in landscape mode on iPad and vertical mode on iPhone, instead of just square. You will find that Clips defaults to 16:9 vertical on iPhone and 4:3 landscape if iPad. Also new in version 3.0 is support for Scribble (see p90) using Apple…

WHEN APPLE LAUNCHED iOS 14, it heralded a new era for the iPhone. One of the biggest new features was the introduction of widgets, which can display snippets of information from the app of your choice on your Home screen. Although Apple has opened the widget system to third–party developers, there’s not as much control as you might like. Apple’s apps allow for little visual customization — if you don’t like how they look, you’re stuck. Widgetsmith does an excellent job at solving that. It has a wide range of widgets that can be tuned to your liking. What’s more, the app opens the way to Home screen customization that simply wasn’t possible before, letting you create a theme that matches your taste. The basic version of the app is…

FOR THE LAST few years the word “pro” has sat uneasily as a label across a range of Apple’s products. In times past the simplest explanation of what “pro” meant for Apple’s laptops or desktops was: more power. Faster processors or more cores, and usually some extra expandability. But more recently it’s been fuzzier, and 2020’s releases have made it more so. The iPhone 12 Pro is no more powerful than the iPhone 12, the iPad Pro is on roughly the same level as the iPad Air, and both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air now share one extremely powerful chip. Making such incredible processor advancements means Apple has effectively commodified “pro” performance. It’s normal now to be able to edit 100–megapixel, multilayer images on a MacBook Air. So what…

WELCOMING A NEW family member is always a joy, and there’s nothing quite like the rush of excitement you get from unboxing a new Mac. But like all newborns, your pristine new Apple machine needs some help with the basics: while every Mac comes fully loaded with Apple apps, it doesn’t come with your stuff or your settings. Don’t worry, though. As we will discover here, whether this is your very first Apple computer or the latest in a long line of Macs, it’s really easy to get everything just–so. Although our focus is on data, moving to a new Mac might raise some hardware issues. For example, if you’ve just moved from an iMac to the new MacBook Pro, you will have lost a lot of ports. Where the…

> TIME MACHINE HAS a bit of a reputation; in its early days it often slowed down your Mac in everyday use and took ages to restore anything from a backup. Today, though, it’s solid and reliable. For many users we think it’s by far the simplest and most effective way to transfer everything from one Mac to another. Time Machine can be a pain when you want to do something such as copying one folder from an attached USB drive. It uses exclusion, not inclusion, so to include that folder you need to un–exclude the external drive and then exclude the top–level folders you don’t want backed up. For example, if you want to back up an external Pictures folder but not Applications, Documents, Movies, Music and so on,…

1 Get the right version There are different versions of the Migration Assistant for different versions of macOS. If you’re moving to a new Mac you’ll want the Big Sur version, but for used Macs you might need an earlier version to match its OS. 2 Download more bits Although Windows 10 already includes Microsoft’s.NET programming framework, the Migration Assistant is specific about the version you need and will show you this message when you first run it. Choose Download and Install. 3 Run the assistant Don’t panic if the download seems to have stopped: sometimes it’s very slow. If it does crash, you can restart by killing the task in Task Manager (Ctrl+ Alt+Delete) and running the Migration Assistant again.…

1 MIGRATION ASSISTANT When you boot your new Mac for the first time, you’ll see Apple’s Migration Assistant. This can move all your data, apps and settings from your old Mac to your new one, or move documents and other personal files from a PC. It works simply and effectively, but there are a few things to be aware of. If you’re migrating from another Mac, that Mac needs to have a name — check yours in System Prefs > Sharing. Migration Assistant needs both Macs to have the same version of macOS down to the decimal point, so you may need to update the new Mac before you start. Migration Assistant can use a peer–to–peer connection where your two Macs are connected by a cable (Thunderbolt/USB 3 is best)…

FOR THOSE WHO have used Migration Assistant to transfer some or all of your things, happy days! Logging in and using your new Mac should be just like the old one, but even faster and more efficient. But while Migration Assistant does a great job of copying from one Mac to another, there are some things it can’t do. That’s one reason why you shouldn’t erase or get rid of your existing Mac until you’re sure you have absolutely everything you need — something we've learned the hard way! As with any Apple device, when you use your new Mac you’ll be asked to sign into iCloud. If you’re coming from another Mac or have other Apple devices using iCloud it will take care of the essential stuff such as…

Why won’t the TV app recognize any of my downloaded shows? You may need to re–download them. In the TV app, click on Account > Family Purchases and you’ll see a list of the shows and movies you’ve bought. You might also find that you’ve fallen foul of Apple’s authorization limits, which limit your purchases to five computers. You can authorize your new Mac in the TV app with Accounts > Authorize This Computer. Remember to de–authorize your old one. Two–factor authentication won’t let me in… Two–factor authentication (2FA) supplements the usual password with an extra layer of security, usually in the form of a code sent to another device or generated in an authenticator app. The first and simplest thing to do is to make sure that it has…

THERE ARE A lot of ways you can change your device’s appearance, from setting a fresh wallpaper to overhauling its whole look and feel with Dark Mode. The problem is that many of these interactions require to you search deep within menus and settings for the controls you need. Rather than wasting time fiddling about with the Settings app every single time you want to make a slight adjustment, it’s far quicker and easier to create a few simple shortcuts that do the work for you. Then you can just say the Siri trigger phrase and let them work their magic. Not only can Shortcuts make tasks much more straightforward, it can do things that otherwise would be impossible, such as changing your app icons to whatever you like. This…

1 Going to the gym To get Shortcuts to recognize when you’re at the gym, tap Create Personal Automation on the Automation tab, then Arrive. Enter the address. Choose Anytime so it activates regardless of when you start working out. Tap Next. 2 Workout tunes Tap “+” and search for Wait, then enter a wait time in seconds to give you a bit of time to get ready. Tap Next, then tap Add Action and search for Play. Choose either Play Music or Play Podcast, then specify what you want to be played. 3 Stay focused Tap “+” and search for Set Do Not Disturb. Tap Off so it changes to On and change Turned Off to I Leave. That filters out distractions. Tap “+” and add Start Workout from…

MAKING MISTAKES WITH shortcuts is easy, especially when you’re starting out. It’s part of learning how to use Shortcuts in the first place. You can test a workflow by pressing the Play button in the bottom–right corner when creating a shortcut, and if something doesn’t work it will be highlighted in red. Likewise, if you test a shortcut outside the Shortcuts app and it does not go as expected, you will see an error notification explaining what the problem is. CHECK YOUR VARIABLES Be sure to check whether your shortcut is complete. For example, if you have one that scans for trending GIFs and saves them to a folder, have you remembered to add the save action? Likewise, check you are asking Shortcuts to get the correct input for your…

Free (IAPs) From CleverFiles, cleverfiles.com Needs OS X 10.11.6 or later, including macOS 11.0; 64–bit processor Nothing causes us to panic faster than realizing we’ve accidentally deleted important files! Fortunately, there’s Disk Drill 4, a free utility to back up failing disks. It also scans volumes to preview and confirm which files can be successfully recovered before upgrading to the $89 Pro version. Other core features like finding duplicate files and creating bootable drives or macOS installers are free. With the latest release, Disk Drill scans and performs limited recovery on late–model Macs, specifically those equipped with a T2 security chip (any system released since 2018). When paired with Guaranteed Recovery — which stores a hidden copy of every deleted file — the software is even capable of recovery from…

THE iPAD IS the perfect platform for creating digital art. Not so long ago touch–based design interfaces were prohibitively expensive, but now anyone with an iPad and one of the very affordable apps on the market can dive into the world of design. It’s not just that iPad hardware has improved, though of course innovations like the Apple Pencil make working with graphics much more naturalistic. It’s also that developers have worked hard to make their apps advanced yet usable, bringing all the power and features of desktop design apps to the iPad platform in a way that hasn’t generally been achieved yet with other creative tools. Obviously you’ll get the most out of design apps if you bring some design skills to the table, but the apps we test…

That’s a giant leap for a Mac, which requires converting your startup disk to APFS and total reorganization for Big Sur’s new Sealed System Volume. Many of your apps may also require major updates. It may be wise to perform a clean install, then migrating from a clone or backup. To do that properly, you should install Big Sur on an external disk and copy the installer app there. Restart from that, format your internal storage, and install macOS 11.0.1 onto that. Do that with your clone or backup connected so that when the installer prompts you to migrate from another system you can select that disk as the source. Although a direct install using the downloaded Install macOS Big Sur app should still work, it has a lot to…

For reasons which remain obscure, many of this specific model stopped being able to update their firmware over a year ago, when Catalina was released. Until now, running their old firmware version with newer versions of macOS hasn’t caused any widespread problems; with Big Sur, this seems to have changed for the worse. Normally, when your Mac starts up in Recovery mode, the keys you use to engage that determine which version of macOS is offered should you want to reinstall it. With this old firmware, the only version offered to affected Macs is the original El Capitan with which they were supplied when new. Internet Recovery, obtained using the Cmd+Opt+R keys at startup, may offer Catalina or fail with an error code. Some users have tried reformatting their internal…

Most users who’ve upgraded to Big Sur have been able to continue to use Sidecar as normal. The first trick to try is to sign your Mac out from iCloud: open the Apple ID pane, click on Overview at the left, and Sign Out at the foot. Leave your Mac for a minute, then sign back into your iCloud account before trying to connect your iPad in Sidecar again. If that doesn’t resolve the issue with Sidecar, open the Bluetooth pane, but don’t try turning it off. Instead, select your iPad there and click on the “X” tool to the right to remove it. Then wait a minute before trying to pair the iPad again.…

THE MESSAGES APP in Big Sur is a major improvement on the version in Catalina. It’s now on a par with most of its rival messaging apps and has features that bring it much more into line with Messages on the iPhone and iPad. Among those useful new features are the ability to pin up to nine messages to the top of the messages list and the option to reply directly to a message in a group conversation, thus creating a separate thread. You can now also create a custom image for group conversations and “mention” others by typing their name. Messages now allows you to configure notifications so you only get an alert when someone mentions you. If you love sharing GIFs you can now search for them within…

1 Open image In the Photoshop Elements Editor choose File > Open. Browse to a landscape photo. Click Open. The shot will appear in the Photo Bin. Click the Guided workspace button. Go to Special Edits. Click on Perfect Landscape. 2 Straighten out Click to select the Straighten tool. Click and drag to draw a line that follows the tilted horizon. The image will then rotate to counteract the tilt. Click the Remove Haze button to restore color and detail to the hills. 3 Replace sky In Choose New Sky, click a thumbnail. Elements automatically selects the original sky and replaces it with the new one. Click the Move Tool button and drag the sky into position. Click the Next button to save your work.…

Another new feature in Photoshop Elements 2021 is the ability to add creative text to your photos to create social media–compatible posters. In the Quick workspace, click on Create and choose the new Quote Graphic option. Here you’ll be presented with a range of attractive templates that you can customize to make a personal statement. You can also easily format the graphics to suit a specific social media destination (such as creating a Facebook banner). You can also add camera zooms to the background photo to create animated GIFs.…

FORMS AREN’T ACTUALLY a new feature in Numbers for iOS, but they have been made easier to create in version 10.2. Along with Scribble, which allows users to input text naturally using the Apple Pencil on a supported iPad, you can now set up Numbers for simple data gathering for jobs like carrying out a survey, taking an inventory, marking class attendance, and more. There’s a new Basic Form template in Numbers’ template browser — it has a green dot next to it the first time you open it — but we’ll be creating one from a new spreadsheet instead in this tutorial. Another new feature is Reading View, which moves all the clutter of icons from around your spreadsheet data, allowing you to focus on it without distraction. A…

1 Quickly toggle a session To start or stop a session just Ctrl–click the Amphetamine menu bar icon. This will change to show your session has begun or ended. Its default session settings can be adjusted in preferences. 2 Set session length If you want a bit more control over your session, click the menu bar icon. Under Start New Session, choose the session duration. You can set a time in minutes or hours, for a custom length, or until a certain time. 3 Apps & downloads As well as that, you can tell Amphetamine to start a session when a particular app is running or while a file is downloading. For the former, click the menu bar icon and choose an app from the While App is Running menu.…

The Amphetamine developer has released an open source add–on called Amphetamine Enhancer. This brings power–user features, including a fail–safe for the function to keep your Mac awake when the lid is closed, plus the ability to use all running processes in triggers and sessions (not just standard apps). The main app is distributed on the App Store, meaning it’s sandboxed, which blocks these features. To download Amphetamine Enhancer, get it from bitly.com/MFAmphEn (the URL is case sensitive).…

IF YOU’RE A fan of Apple Pencil, you’re probably familiar with having to switch back and forth with the on–screen keyboard. In iPadOS 14 a new feature called Scribble stops that by delivering handwriting input and recognition across all kinds of apps. The best feature of Scribble on iPad is the one you can’t see: it’s really, really fast. Taking these screenshots of the handwriting to text conversion in apps was hard because it happened so quickly, and converting even large blocks of text to typed text was instantaneous. In addition to handwriting recognition, Scribble on iPad also offers instant handwriting conversion. We found that most useful when we were in the middle of doing something with the Apple Pencil and we got a notification of a message, had to…

1 Get started In Widgetsmith, choose your widget size. Here, we will choose Medium. Tap Default Widget, then decide what you want your widget to do. We’ve selected Clock, giving us a calendar and clock together in one widget. 2 Customize the details Each widget can be tweaked. For instance, the clock widget lets you change its overall style, theme, location, clock style, and min/sec hand type. Under Aesthetic/Theme, tap Customize Theme for more options. 3 Choose a name & save When done with visual adjustments, tap the name of your widget in the top–left corner. Tap its name in the top–center to rename it, then tap Save. The widget is now added to Widgetsmith’s library on your device. 4 Place your widget Tap and hold a blank area of…

MESSAGING APP SIGNAL has seen a surge in signups following panic about changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world by a long way, with around two billion monthly active users. Facebook acquired the company for $19bn in 2014, and soon afterwards added end–to–end encryption, ensuring the privacy and security of users’ messages. In 2016, WhatsApp users received a one–time opportunity to opt out of sharing account data with Facebook. Now WhatsApp has notified users that as of February 8, 2021, their data will be shared with the parent company, with no opt–out. (It’s not clear whether any 2016 opt–out will continue to be honored.) The data collected includes your phone number, the phone numbers of other people in your address books, profile…

In your response to the Letter of the Month in the January 2021 issue about music CDs and ripping them, you said this regarding using an Apple SuperDrive: “The Apple SuperDrive reads and writes… plugged into an USB port (obviously on newer MacBooks you’ll also need a hub to do this).” At least on my older Macs, if I don’t plug the SuperDrive directly into the USB port, it will not work. Plugging into a powered hub (either of the two different hub brands I have) is not sufficient to get my SuperDrive to be recognized by my Macs. The disk will not get sucked into the SuperDrive. So, are you certain that on USB–C Macs you can go through a hub with a SuperDrive? MIKE SAKARIAS According to Apple…

THIS IS PARAMOUNT. If you want to make a perfect copy of your old Mac on your new one, the best option is to clone it. That means copying some or all of your existing Mac to a fast external disk or SSD and then copying the clone to the new computer. There are three key apps that can help you to do that: Apple’s Time Machine and the third–party apps SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner. Each can copy your entire system to an external drive, then transfer that copied data to your new Mac. SuperDuper! (shirtpocket.com) and Carbon Copy Cloner (bombich.com) are paid apps, but they have trial versions you can use to do a simple clone. As they’re good backup apps too, it’s likely you’ll want to buy…

1 Show the sidebar Tap the Show Sidebar icon at the top–left and you should now see a list of available drive volumes in the lower–left corner. The one we’re interested in is Backup Disk — Data where Backup Disk is the name of your external drive. 2 Select the snapshot To the right of the big blue pane you should see a section headed “snapshot date” (see step 1). If this is your first time cloning, there’ll only be one entry here. Ctrl–click or Opt–click on it and then select Browse In Finder. 3 Browse your clone Because we’ve cloned our drive, the Finder should contain the same folders, files and data as the original drive — and you can browse it just as you would browse your Macintosh…

> MAC CLONING APPS and Time Machine can also do regular system backups, but if your backup is in the same place as your Mac and there’s a break–in or other disaster you can lose your data. That’s why it’s wise to also have an external, off-site backup. Cloud services are great for that. Apple’s iCloud is the obvious choice for many, but you’ll need to pay for a decent amount of storage: 50GB or 200GB isn’t enough for our Photos library, let alone the rest of our data. iCloud is great but it’s important to remember that it’s a synchronization service, not a backup service. If a file is accidentally deleted, replaced or corrupted that change will be copied to all devices when they next connect. A better option…

1 Pick your folders If you want to copy your Mac’s data and apps manually to an external drive, the place to start is your Home folder: Macintosh HD/Users/[Your user name]. This contains the key folders for things like your documents, music, and photos. 2 Get all the apps Apps may live in multiple places on your Mac. Macintosh HD/Applications (and its subfolder Utilities) is where most of them will be, but some apps may be tucked away in the Applications folder in your Home folder. 3 Know what to copy There’s no need to copy apps such as TV, Music, or Stocks — they’re on your new Mac already. You can also choose to download Apple’s free apps from the App Store if you’re short of space on your…

1 Log in with Apple ID Whether you migrate with the assistant or manually, the first thing to do on your new Mac is log in with your Apple ID. You might have to do so a few times — not everything is authorized the first one or two times. 2 Check your iCloud In System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud, switch on the iCloud services you want to use and switch off any that you don’t. Click on Options if you want to change what apps iCloud Drive will store and sync data for. 3 Enable Touch ID If you new Mac has a Touch ID sensor you’ll be asked whether you want to use Touch ID for unlocking the Mac, Apple Pay, authorizing payments, and auto–filling passwords.…

SHORTCUTS ARE CLEVER, but they get even smarter when you pair them with some other tricks and features built into iOS. That’s especially true of iOS 14, which adds a number of ways you can raise your shortcuts to the next level and add some extra spark to automated tasks. For example, you can add shortcuts to your Home screen, putting them within easy reach. This can be done in one of two ways. The first is to tap the “…” button next to a shortcut on the My Shortcuts page, then tap the “…” button again. From here, tap Add to Home Screen. This will add a quick link to your shortcut that looks just like an app icon. The second method is to long–press on a blank area…

$19.99 From Apptorium, apptorium.com Needs macOS 10.14 or later Do you struggle to stay on top of projects or regular tasks? Workspaces is a tool that promises to bring order to chaos while saving you time in the process. It’s a dashboard where you create individual workspaces, which can then be populated by multiple resources — apps, files, folders, websites and so on — in the form of shortcuts. These resources can be launched manually or configured to open automatically (either immediately or after a customizable delay) when you open the workspace itself. Adding most items is as simple as dragging them into the appropriate space then configuring whatever options are appropriate (for example, choosing a specific application to launch individual files, or opening an application with a specific folder…

From $74 From Keychron, keychron.com Features Bluetooth, USB–A to C cable, backlighting Keychron makes a range of keyboards for people who prefer a more traditional typing experience with significant travel and click, two things Apple has deliberately minimized in its own keyboards. This fourth version of the K1 adds Bluetooth 5.1 support, slightly curved keycaps, a caps lock indicator on the 87–key version and a white backlit 104–key model. Supplied with a USB-A to C cable for data and charging, it can also be switched to Bluetooth mode and easily paired with your Mac or PC. A switch on the rear enables Windows and Android support, and you can swap function keys using the bundled keycap puller. Battery life is rated at up to 190 hours with backlighting off and…

From $169 From iStorage, istorage-uk.com Features 7-15 digit PIN, IP68 waterproof rating, shockproof Macs offer several good options for securing and safeguarding sensitive data, including APFS encryption and sparsebundles. But two requirements often left unsatisfied are protection from physical damage and loss, and audit trails for compliance with policy or standards. Those are the strengths of a specialist SSD which is physically robust and can enforce password policies and more, such as the diskAshur M2. It’s available from 120GB to 2TB and weighs just three ounces with its protective aluminium sleeve. Security is controlled by its own processor and keypad, whose keys are wear-resistant so regular use won’t reveal the digits of your PIN. When powered from a USB–A or USB-C port, you enter your password and macOS mounts it…

If you have your TV in a large room, try repositioning your furniture to hit an optimal distance from the screen. This will depend on your screen size and the resolution you’re watching content in. With a 32–inch screen, aim for a minimum of 4ft; if you’re rocking a 65–inch panel, then you’ll want somewhere around 8ft at 1080p, or 7ft at 4K. Having your TV at eye level is optimal. When using a projector, recommended distances do somewhat go out of the window, but try to make it comfortable. Think about your audio setup too; positioning yourself as close to the center of your surround setup makes a huge difference. Subwoofer position is not important, as low frequencies are not positional, but rear speakers need to be pointing in…

Get official documentation at support.apple.com | Get help with hardware at support.apple.com/repair This almost certainly isn’t a problem at your end, but the person sending out these newsletters isn’t doing this in a way which is compatible with modern email client apps. Email messages are quite primitive, and almost always use a system known as MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) to embed attachments in messages. The message contents are divided into parts, each marked out as being the text, any encoded binary file, and other data. When the Mail app receives a message in MIME format, as most are, it recognizes each of those parts and handles them according to their contents. The message itself is displayed, and those attachments received in other parts are decoded and shown appropriately. An…

Although normally easy to enter, it’s worth preparing your Mac carefully before holding the D key during startup to enter Diagnostics. If you have a firmware password enabled, turn that off first or it won’t work. Shut down and disconnect all peripherals apart from keyboard and mouse/trackpad, which should be wired not wireless, any Ethernet cables, and external displays. If your Mac still won’t enter Diagnostics, shut down, ensure your Mac has a good wired or Wi–Fi internet connection, and try again, this time with Opt and D held down together, for Remote Diagnostics. The software for Diagnostics is hidden on your startup disk, and can get removed, for example if your Mac’s internal storage has been replaced. This is a surprisingly difficult issue to resolve: you should go to…

Estimates of free space in APFS are approximate and can sometimes be inaccurate. Most reliable is Disk Utility, and the Finder is often less reliable. Least trustworthy is the Storage tab of About This Mac, which can be wildly incorrect. There are other factors which change how much data needs to be copied. iCloud storage is one culprit, especially when you allow Optimize Mac Storage. That lets your Mac “evict” many files in iCloud Drive so they take almost no local space, but when you migrate them to a new Mac they may be downloaded and occupy full space. As you can’t appeal decisions made by Migration Assistant, your choices are to proceed with the migration, but reduce the files that you want copied across, or to stop and perform…

1 Pin a conversation Pinning a conversation displays that particular conversation at the top of the list of messages. Navigate to the conversation you want to pin in the list, Ctrl–click on it and choose Pin. You can unpin it in the same way. 2 Reply inline Ctrl–click on the conversation you want to reply to and choose “Reply…”. Your reply can be seen beneath the message, rather than as a new one. You can also Tapback a message with a quick reaction by Ctrl–clicking on 3 Set a group photo Find the group in the messages list and select it. Click on the “i” at the top–right of the main window and choose “Change group name and photo.” Click the photo icon, scroll through the images from your Library,…

1 Select subject Open an image in the Guided workspace and go to the Basics section. Click on Move & Scale Object. Click the Auto tool and draw a rectangle around your subject. A selection marquee will appear around its edges. 2 Scale and move Click the Add button and draw a rectangle around other areas such as the subject’s shadow to include them in the selection. Click the Move button. Drag a corner handle to scale the subject. Drag to move their position. 3 Tidy up Click the check mark to apply the transformation. The app uses AI to hide the original subject with suitable pixels. Select the Clone Stamp Tool. Opt–click to sample pixels and spray over any traces of the original subject.…

VIRTUALIZATION SOFTWARE ALLOWS you to explore other operating systems — Linux, Windows, and even earlier versions of macOS — without leaving your Mac’s desktop. With the release of VMware Fusion 12, a new product — VMware Fusion Player — enables you to set up and use virtual machines (VMs) for free. Go to bit.ly/mac361vmwfusion and click Register Now under Get a Free Personal Use License. Click Create an Account to set up an account, then you should find the software under License & Download — save the DMG file to your Downloads folder, then double–click it and follow the prompts to install the software. The guide shows how to set up an Ubuntu VM, but you can install other flavors of Linux as well as macOS and Windows. You can…

1 Create a new Form Start by creating a new spreadsheet, then tap the “+” button at the top left — not the one at center–right — and select New Form. You then have a choice of creating a new table to house your data, or link to an existing one. 2 Form setup On the next screen you can edit the existing fields, and add new ones, so that it reflects the data you want to gather. You’re building a table behind the scenes, with a friendly face on it. 3 Format fields Tap the green “i” button and you can choose what kind of data is recorded in the fields. It can be text, numbers, a check–box, a star rating, currency, or more. Delete unwanted fields with the…

1 Add your first trigger Open Amphetamine’s preferences from the menu bar, click the Triggers tab, then select Enable Triggers. Click “+” to add a new trigger and give it a name in the bar at the top of the window. 2 Set the criteria Click the “+” to add criteria — there are lots of options. You can set a trigger for the number of displays you have connected or for when you add a new audio output. Click one and you will get options to define its values. 3 Finalize options Below are some additional options. You can let the display sleep while keeping your Mac awake, decide whether closing your MacBook’s lid lets the machine sleep, and if a screen saver can run (and for how long).…

1 Enter your text If you can see a text field, you can Scribble in it. Here we’ve scrawled “Apple Park” into Apple’s Maps app, and as you can see it’s turned our scrawl into search criteria. This works in apps such as Safari and Messages too. 2 Make a note We think Scribble’s natural home is in Notes, where it’s ideal for jotting down ideas, commenting on things, and anything else you might use a normal pencil for. But Scribble has some additional tricks up its sleeve. 3 Convert the text If you tap and hold on your handwritten text, you can select a word and then drag the selection handles to encompass some or all of your text. If you choose Copy As Text, iPadOS copies machine–readable text…

1 Record a clip Open Clips. Tap the rotate button to change cameras, if you want. Tap and hold the record button to start recording, or tap and swipe up to lock recording on. Release the button or tap again to stop recording. 2 Add a Memoji or filter Tap on the clip you want to add the effect to, then tap either the Memoji or filter icon. Swipe left to scroll through the available Memoji or filters then tap to choose the one you want. Tap Done to apply it. 3 Add a soundtrack Tap the top–left corner and choose a project. Tap the musical note in the top–right corner, choose Soundtracks. Scroll through the list, tap on one you like, then tap again to listen to it. Tap…