Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i Essential Apple User Magazine

“With industry-leading performance and the world’s most advanced camera systems, people love iPhone. And we keep making iPhone better.”Tim Cook, CEO Apple Inc, at the iPhone 13 series launch. Full story starts on Page 10.…

“Our customers rely on iPhone every day, which is why we’ve made iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini more powerful, more capable, and more fun to use. Both phones have beautiful designs, industry-leading performance and advanced camera systems with impressive computational photography features, all with incredible durability, water resistance, and a big jump in battery life to ensure customers can depend on their iPhone when they need it.”Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing “iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max make up our most pro iPhone lineup ever, with the biggest advancement for our camera system, the best battery life ever in an iPhone and the fastest performance of any smartphone. The new pro camera system offers even more pro photography capabilities like improved telephoto zoom,…

What is 5G? 5G is the latest standard for getting onto the Internet with your smartphone. It follows previous standards 3G and 4G. Most major mobile phone networks offer 5G services, and if you’re somewhere where there isn’t 5G coverage, your iPhone can still use older 3G and 4G networks too. The new 5G standard is much faster than previous cellular technologies, making downloads faster, video streaming more reliable and online gaming snappier. It’s also much better at coping when there are lots of devices close by, all accessing cellular data networks at once. We’ve all had problems going online with mobile devices when in a crowd, right? With 5G, this is much less of a problem. “The arrival of 5G marks the beginning of a new era for iPhone,…

Earlier in the year we saw the release of the NEO P2 4-Port GaN Charger. This is a remarkable and extremely useful multi-port charger that’s bristling with features and comes in at a fantastic price. However, MINX has since upped its game yet again and released the P2’s smaller but just as capable brother, the NEO P1. The MINIX NEO P1 is a three-port charging station, with a pair of USB-C Power Delivery 3.0 ports offering 65W, 5~15V/3A, 20V/3.25A and a single USB-A1 36W Quick Charge 3.0 port at 5V/3A, 9V/3A, 12V/3A and 20V/1.8A. While it may lack an extra port over its sibling, it certainly makes up for that in portability. The NEO P2 wasn’t a huge charging station by any stretch of the imagination but the P1 is…

According to Urbanista, Miami headphones are ‘inspired by the city’s vibrant pulse.’ We’re not sure what that means, but they certainly look vibrant. Available in black, white, red or green, they feature shiny bodywork with matching cushions. They’re Bluetooth, offering up to 50 hours of playtime on a full charge, or you can use the supplied audio lead for cabled connectivity. Charging is through a supplied USB-C cable, and you also get a two-jack converter for listening on aeroplanes. There’s a carry case for transporting your headphones too. A feature we really appreciate is On-Ear Detection, whereby sensors built into the earpads detect when you remove the headphones and automatically pauses your music, restarting when you put them back on. Classy! They’re comfortable to wear, fitting tightly on the head,…

The iPad is a near-perfect platform on which to express your artistic tendencies. Its large display and professional-quality surface and capabilities make for an excellent drawing pad. The iPhone, on the other hand, is a little more difficult. But with the release of Procreate Pocket, artists can now unleash their talents on the smaller screen. Don’t be fooled into thinking the iPhone version of Procreate is a cut-down release; it’s not. In fact, it’s matched with the iPad in terms of features, technicalities and abilities. There are hundreds of handmade brushes available, alongside a suite of tools and the new Valkyrie Graphics Engine – the latest, and fastest, 64-bit painting engine. Highlights include UHD canvases, up to 16k x 4k, a Dark Mode interface, a QuickShape feature for creating perfect…

The Mac’s internal webcams have never been their crowning glory. Chances are, the camera you have above your screen is not as good as the one on your phone. So why not use your iPhone as a webcam? Not only will it give you a much better video feed, but you can position it anywhere you like; it doesn’t have to be sat atop the screen. EpocCam Pro lets you do just that. Launch the EpocCam iPhone app (there’s a free version if you want to try it out), and you’re taken through the setup process step by step. You need to install a small driver on your Mac (or PC for that matter); and you’re shown how. Connect your iPhone to your Mac through USB or Bluetooth and give…

From the people that brought us Camera+ comes REC – Pro Video Camera, a new app that promises pro-quality videos and simple, intuitive controls. While the iPhone and iPad’s own Camera apps do a great job of general snapping and filming, they’re designed with simplicity rather than versatility in mind. If you plan to take your photography more seriously, you need a third-party app and that’s where REC comes in. Unlike Camera, REC gives you full control over settings such as focus and exposure; and you can set your own white balance, bitrate and more. For the audio side of things, you can record in regular stereo or choose a polar pattern, omni, subcardoid or cardiod. What does this mean? A polar pattern sets the sensitivity of a microphone as…

James Gale Managing Editor Being a serial dropper of smartphones, I really appreciate the Ceramic Shield front cover. I haven’t broken a screen since they were first introduced. Martin Smith Group Senior Designer Being a graphic designer, it’s the iPhone’s visuals I most appreciate. The screens are wonderful; rich colours, deep blacks and no lag. Alan Hulme Staff Writer The 20 percent smaller notch at the top of the screen is welcome. Rumour has it they’re getting rid of it entirely with next year’s iPhones, but hey, rumours… David Hayward Staff Writer Being a keen sportsman, I loved the tennis demo at the keynote. Real-time shot analysis and video coaching? What will they think of next? Ian Osborne Editor MagSafe was a revelation last year, and now we’re getting even…

Device Guide While most of our reviews cover most devices, we have added these icons to give you a quick reference to what device is best suited for the product or software. Scores// Our ratings explained: 5 - excellent 4 - good 3 - average 2 - poor 1 - avoid…

Are you the sort of person who is forever losing track of where you’ve put your keys, your wallet, or anything else for that matter? Tired of hunting around the obvious places while stressing over the time? You could greatly benefit from the Apple AirTag. Remember those key fobs that used to make a noise when you whistled? James Bond had one; his blew up if you whistled ‘God save the Queen’, mind. Apple’s AirTags don’t blow up. But both ideas are based around the common theme of helping you locate objects you’ve misplaced. The technology has certainly moved on a bit since the whistling days. Now we use the magic of Bluetooth to help us located our lost items. Flag an AirTag as missing, and whenever it comes into…

As soon as you open the box you can see the unimaginatively named TWS NB2 earbuds are something special. They’re supplied in a hard plastic charging case that feels comfortable in the pocket. They’re Bluetooth 5.0-compatible and last for seven hours on a full charge, with another 18 hours of playtime in the case. Also supplied are a USB-C cable for charging and a drawstring bag to carry it all in. But it’s when you open up the hardshell case that things really take off. The earbuds are black and silver in design, with a matt black bodywork augmented by a shiny outer panel. Each earbud encloses a 10mm driver, and has IP54 water and dust-proofing for outdoor activities, though unlike the older TWS NB2 model, they’re not fully submersible.…

After six months in development and a complete ground-up rewrite, Squash 3 is here. It features a new interface and some great new features. The app’s key capability is batch processing images. You can resize, convert to other picture formats, compress the files, rename them and add watermarks should you wish to sign your work in this way. Both the user interface and the features offered by the app are very easy to use. There’s no significant learning curve here. Your picture sits in the main window, while a sidebar on the right offers options such as resizing, adjustments, filters and more. Activate a switch to access that feature’s options. When adding a filter or making adjustments, you can see what the picture looks like before and after editing by…

Universal Purchases are awesome. Rolled out earlier this year, the feature lets developers bundle iOS, iPadOS and macOS versions of an app into a single purchase. Instead of having to pay once on the Mac App Store and again on the Mobile App Store, a single payment unlocks the software on all your Apple devices. GoodLinks is a read-later app that syncs your links across all your Apple gear and being a Universal Purchase isn’t the only thing it gets right. Using GoodLinks is very straightforward. When surfing the web in Safari or a third-party browser, you might come across an article you’d like to save for later perusal. Sure, you can bookmark it or add it to Safari’s Read Later list but GoodLinks gives a more comprehensive and flexible…

Clue Period Tracker, Ovulation Developer: BioWink GmbH Price: Free (IAP) System requirements: iOS 10.0 or later Track your period, record energy levels and learn how your cycle affects your fitness routine. Subscribe for more features. Runkeeper Developer: FitnessKeeper, Inc. Price: Free (IAP) System requirements: iOS 10.0 or later Whether you’re running professionally or just for fun, this running tracker with GPS for iPhone and Apple Watch is great. Calorie Counter + Developer: NutraTech Ltd Price: Free (IAP) System requirements: iOS 10.0 or later A calorie-counting app, used for scanning barcodes, with a database of over 240,000 foods. After a seven-day trial, it needs a subscription. Fitocracy – Fitness Collective Developer: Fitocracy, Inc. Price: FREE (IAP) System requirements: iOS 8.0 or later One for the competitive keep-fit fans, work out with…

Triple Camera System All three rear-facing cameras feature new sensors and lenses, which have been designed and optimised to work seamlessly with iOS 15 and the new image signal processor (ISP) in the phone’s A15 Bionic processor The all-new Wide camera has a larger sensor with 1.9 μm pixels. It’s the largest ever on an iPhone, for less noise and faster shutter speeds needed across lighting conditions, producing even more detailed photos. Coupled with the larger ƒ/1.5 aperture, the Wide camera on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max offers a massive improvement in low-light situations; up to 2.2x when compared to iPhone 12 Pro, and nearly 1.5x when compared to iPhone 12 Pro Max. Sensor-shift optical image stabilisation (OIS), which keeps your pictures steady in trying conditions,…

If you’re new to vlogging (video blogging), or have already made a few home movies but your only equipment is your iPhone, this all-in-one vlogger’s kit could be a real boon. Everything you need is here, along with a few things you might not realise you need. At the heart of the vlogging kit is the GorillaPod tripod. This comes in five separate parts. There’s the ‘legs’, which can be bent into any shape you want. Have them stand like a regular tripod, raise one or two of them to accommodate uneven surfaces, and even wrap them around a branch or post to set up your camera off the ground. If you bring the legs together, you can hold the tripod in your fist and use it like a monopod.…

This wireless charger powers three of your Apple devices at once. The vertical stand on the left holds – and charges – your Apple Watch. The charger is built-in. You don’t have to use the one that came with your watch like you do with some charging stands, so you can keep that for travel. In front of it is a recessed area where you place your AirPods (2nd gen or Pro). On the right of the unit is a regular wireless charger for your iPhone, as long as it’s wireless-charging compatible. Three chargers in one. Unfortunately, there’s no USB port around the back for cabled charging. The charger is available in both black and white. The black model has a premium Ultrasuede fabric finish, while the white one boasts…

Device Guide While most of our reviews cover most devices, we have added these icons to give you a quick reference to what device is best suited for the product or software. Scores// Our ratings explained: 5 - excellent 4 - good 3 - average 2 - poor 1 - avoid…

What a lousy start to the day. You wake up in a strange apartment, stark naked and covered in blood with a wound to your ribs and a dead body in the bathtub. You have no idea where you are or how you got there. What are you to do? Unmemory, the first game from a small team in Barcelona, offers a great new take on the text and graphic adventure. There’s a lot of reading to do but don’t let that put you off. The story is well written and engaging; and really draws you into the strange world of the protagonist. Every few paragraphs, the text is interrupted by a graphic of something nearby. You can frequently interact with these graphics, sometimes immediately, sometimes later in the story…

‘Prosumer’ is a dreadful word. It reeks of men in suits talking rubbish in management meetings, before going to the local wine bar for a liquid lunch and leaving the actual work to the marketing department. Yet however terrible the term, some of the software apps it’s applied to are genuinely awesome. Take Amadine. On the Mac, it was a revelation; a low-cost, high-powered vector graphics drawing app that’s a fraction of the cost of Adobe Illustrator and a lot easier to use. A year and a half later it’s been ported to the iPad and iPhone, and it retains all the features and only costs around a tenner for the full app; no subscription required. As well as offering the full range of features enjoyed by Mac Amadine users,…

BBC News Developer: BBC Media Applications Technologies Limited Website: www.bbc.co.uk/news/ Compatibility: iOS 11.0 or later Get the latest news on your iPad, directly from the BBC. Stories are arranged in topics including top stories, UK news, world news, politics, business, technology and sport; and you can even play videos directly from the app. It’s regularly updated and benefits from the BBC’s huge army of journalists reporting from all over the globe. You can watch the BBC’s 24-hour news TV channel through the app too. Catchup Apps Developer: Various Website: Various Compatibility: Various If you like to watch TV on the go, why not use your iPad? There are many apps available for watching live or catchup TV right there on your mobile device. There’s the BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, My5…