Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i MacLife

APPLE’S EAGERLY-AWAITED HomePod has arrived, and we have a first look at it in this issue. Its audio quality is all you’d expect from a premium speaker, but it is shipping without key features — notably AirPlay 2, meaning no multi-room audio or intelligent stereo balancing. What’s more, Bluetooth is not supported, and there’s a question mark over whether it’ll work with the likes of Spotify rather than Apple Music. For now at least, HomePod seems to work exclusively within the Apple “ecosystem.” This got us thinking. This integrated “ecosystem” has actually long been one of Apple’s strengths. In 1997, one of the first changes Steve Jobs made when he returned as Apple’s interim CEO was to radically cut back the range of products the company was producing. They were…

CONTROLLING YOUR HOME with the mere sound of your voice has always looked cool on screen, but felt far away. Until recently, most “smart” tech gadgets were anything but. That might finally change soon, thanks to Apple’s HomeKit technology. After a mixed launch and a slow start, the platform is shaping up to put the “art” in “smart home.” Apple launched HomeKit in 2014 as a platform for smart home appliances. The idea was to make it easier for companies to build smart gadgets, from doorbells to dishwashers, and HomeKit would make it easy for us to integrate and control it all with Siri and apps on our iPhone and iPad. I have some HomeKit-friendly LED lights, a home security camera, and a doorbell I plan to install soon. Everything…

In iOS 11 Apple introduced ARKit, a framework for developers to create augmented reality apps. So where might this lead? “We’ve been talking about augmented reality for a while — about a year. We did a lot of work understanding both VR and AR. We know there is a place in the world for both technologies, but of the two, augmented reality is perhaps the greatest opportunity to change how we use technology and how we do many tasks in our lives. We think it’s the most ubiquitous technology in front of us; we’re at the beginning of this gigantic curve that’s going to happen. So this is pretty thrilling. We can probably talk for hours about what it could be, but the truth is, nobody knows. And that’s the…

Dig deeper into Apple’s spreadsheet app by going beyond its templates. Whether you need to track your budget, monitor investments, or plan a project, these quick tips will get you started. 1 THE FUNCTION BUTTON If you’re an ex Excel user and miss its AutoSum function, don’t worry: Numbers offers a versatile alternative. Select a series of cells and choose one of the common functions from the toolbar’s Function button. Numbers will insert the result of the function’s calculation in the nearest empty cell, either above or to the side of the selection you made. 2 QUICK CALCULATIONS Numbers’ Quick Calculation bar appears at the foot of the window when a range of cells is selected, giving at-a-glance calculations for that selection (sum, average and so on), which you can…

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are free for most Apple users, and the iCloud versions are free for all to use, but many people use Microsoft Office and Google Docs. Here are tips to ensure your docs work for others. 1 LINE MANAGEMENT When you convert an iWork doc to Office format, text reflow is inevitable. Stick to common fonts to mitigate this and, as Pages and Word see lines and paragraphs differently, you’ll get better results if you set line and paragraph spacing in fixed-point sizes rather than relative measures. 2 TRANSLATION ISSUES Apple’s apps work well with Office docs — comments and tracked changes transfer seamlessly — but there are gaps. Macros are unsupported, linked text boxes and watermarks don’t transfer from Word, and Excel’s pivot tables are missing.…

$2.99 From Tantsissa, autosleep.tantsissa.com Made for iPhone, Apple Watch Needs iOS 10, watchOS 3.2 or later Apple’s watchOS has never offered a native sleep tracking feature, initially because the battery life wasn’t up to it. But with newer models lasting longer, third-party developers have filled the gap, and AutoSleep has been the popular choice. Now in its fifth version, the app has two big draws. First, it works automatically (unlike other sleep tracker apps that rely on you telling them when you’re going to bed). Second, it can boast strong Apple Watch integration. For instance, its automatic tracking is bolstered by a feature called Lights Off — tap your watch when you turn out the light and it tracks how long it takes you to fall asleep. In previous versions…

Free From Sickweather, sickweather.com Made For iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Needs iOS 9.0 or later Crowdsourcing has been a real boon to navigation and travel services, but Sickweather offers a more compelling concept: collecting real-time illness reports from more than six million people each and every month, and sharing this information with others through a free iOS app. Combine such data with geolocation, and you’ve got a pretty powerful way to get a region-specific heads-up on the cold and flu season, as well as 20 other illnesses including ailments common among children like pink eye and whooping cough. Sickweather touts patent-pending technology to keep tabs on illnesses that pop up on social media, along with a healthy(!) dose of crowdfunded reports from users. The watchOS app displays a trademarked “SickScore”…

1 NEW APP FOR 2018 Past versions of Foursquare Swarm were great for quick check-ins from your wrist, but often picked the wrong place, with no way to change it. 2 CHECK-IN With version 5.2, check-ins are greatly improved. Launch Swarm on Apple Watch, turn the digital crown to select from nearby places, then tap Check In. 3 LOCATION UPDATE While Swarm is open, use a Force Touch gesture to view the Refresh option; tap the button to update the list with places around your current location.…

$39.99 From Algoriddim, algoriddim.com Needs OS X 10.11 or later The robots are here, and not just for your job: As well as refinements and improvements, this update of Algoriddim’s award-winning app brings a really big new feature: machine learning. Algoriddim calls it Automix AI, and it can do the DJing for you. Sort of. It doesn’t quite deliver the hands-free sets that some people think certain superstar DJs do, but Automix AI does a really good job of mixing between tracks based on real DJs’ sets, creating appropriate fades and intelligently applying EQ and filters for the best transition. That makes it ideal for background music, DJ restroom breaks, or events where the DJ isn’t the star. If you’re a DJ who wants to be the star, we have…

Apple’s HomeKit software for home automation has actually been around since 2014, when it was launched as part of iOS 8. But the first version of HomeKit was buried deep inside iOS, and the smart home revolution was somewhat ignored. So, with iOS 10, Apple introduced a new Home app, which acted as a visible central control point for HomeKit devices. The Home app was updated with iOS 11 in 2017, to provide new automation controls — but also to work with the forthcoming HomePod smart speaker. Many manufacturers have updated existing smart devices to work with HomeKit, and we’re starting to see new security cameras, sensors and other smart hardware that can now be controlled with HomeKit. MAKING A SCENE Whenever you buy a home automation device — such…

Free Outside of James Bond films, card games aren’t the sort of thing you’d necessarily want to sit around and watch all day. But for diehard poker fans who can’t get enough of their favorite professional sport, it’s now easy to sit back and binge on tournaments from all over the world. World Poker Tour TV is the official Apple TV app for WPT, an organization that has been staging televized poker from the most prestigious casinos for over 15 years. With locales including London, Paris, Las Vegas, South Africa, and Atlantic City, there’s plenty of eye candy to be had, and it’s all on-demand. You’ll also learn from poker celebrities like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and Antonio Esfandiari, who spice up the potentially slow-moving action with their own style…

Make sure you check out these important support articles on Apple’s website to better understand the latest features. SECURITY UPDATES Apple has issued updates to macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), iOS (11.2.5), watchOS (4.2.2), and tvOS (11.2.5), as well as security patches for older versions of macOS, to address the Meltdown vulnerability and other security issues. Find the details on the security updates summary page at bit.ly/ml139ask1 SAFARI 11.0.3 Separately, Safari has also been updated for High Sierra, Sierra, and El Capitan. Find details at bit.ly/ml139ask2 iPHONE BATTERY AND PERFORMANCE ISSUES Worried about iOS updates slowing down your iPhone as its battery ages? Find out exactly what Apple is doing in its tech note at bit.ly/ml139ask3…

Other users have reported problems running that app in that version of macOS, and Nikon has several support notes about compatibility with various versions. Other image preview / basic editing apps are available, but if you’re sure you want to continue using this one despite such issues, the most important step is to contact Nikon’s software support (see bit.ly/asknikon) and ask them. Let them know exactly what versions you’re using — it’s vital for developers to understand users’ needs. At the time of writing a High Sierra compatible update is promised but not available yet. You’ve already tried the next generic step in troubleshooting an app that “unexpectedly quits” when you open it: Starting in safe mode blocks third-party extensions and potentially problematic components from loading, ruling them out as…

APPLE DEVELOPED CLIPS in early 2017 to enable a social-media-savvy audience to combine videos, images, and music ready to be shared on the likes of Facebook and Instagram, as well as iMessage. While there’s no doubt that the app took special effects in social videos to a whole new level almost instantly, Clips offers even more on iPhone X. New features in the enhanced Clips include Disney and Star Wars stickers, 21 new royalty-free soundtracks from indie artists, and Selfie Scenes, which immerse you in backgrounds, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the camera in iPhone X. Let’s take a closer look at what’s now possible in Clips. REQUIRES iOS 11 YOU WILL LEARN How to use Clips, including enhanced features for iPhone X IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes…

HARD ON THE heels of recent Apple security scares comes a new bug called a “text bomb,” an iMessage that can crash your iPhone, even if you don’t tap the link it contains. The problem was disclosed by software developer Abraham Masri, who discovered that embedding a particular link in an iMessage can cause an iPhone to crash, or in some cases restart, apparently because it tries to auto-load the linked content, which overloads it. This bug is said to affect Safari/ WebKit on the Mac as well as iOS, but there are no reports of actual exploits yet. (There may well be some to come — Masri posted the code that performs this trick on the developer site GitHub, and although he’s since removed it, it’s not impossible that…

A Satechi Type-C 75W Travel Charger satechi.net $64.99 At last, one travel adapter to rule them all? The USB-C port on this unit is rated for 60W, meaning it can charge even a 15-inch MacBook Pro (and fast-charge an iPhone). Plus you get three other regular high-power USB ports, one of which is a Qualcomm Quick Charge port, ready for fast-charging compatible devices (good for your friend’s Android phone, for example). Basically, grab this and you can run your whole electronic life from one socket. B DJI Osmo Mobile 2 dji.com $129 Like a cross between a selfie stick and a tripod, this smartphone gimbal is the ultimate iPhoneography gadget. When you want to record video, put your iPhone in this and it’ll stay steady and smooth against any shakes…

Almost nothing makes us happier that we’re not forced to use PCs than Keynote. It’s far more pleasant to use than PowerPoint. Here are our favorite features to power up your presentations! 1 USE TWO OR MORE SCREENS With your MacBook connected to a projector or TV, you can mirror its display to the external screen, or, in System Preferences > Displays and Keynote’s preferences, show your presentation on the external screen and other stuff on the Mac’s screen — a timer, notes, the next slide, and so on. If you can connect even more screens, you can choose what’s on each with the stacked rectangles icon on the presenter display. 2 TAILOR YOUR VIEW Set up the Presenter View by choosing Play > Customize Presenter Display. It’s wise to…

$3.99 From Yatatoy, yatatoy.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 10 or later With its goofy cartoon characters and simplistic setup, Bandimal is clearly aimed at children. Indeed, it follows Yatatoy’s Loopimal, which cleverly introduced kids to sequencing basics by way of a friendly drag-and-drop interface and entertaining animations. But Bandimal is a much more versatile beast — to the point that anyone who likes the idea of making a noise while watching a somersaulting tortoise or a panda bopping and popping to beepy electronic sounds should consider it. Setup is simple. You get three tracks, and choose an animal for each one. Select an animal and you gain access to a grid of dots, which you tap to define notes for eight available slots. Back in the main screen,…

$4.99 From KO-OP, gnoggame.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 10.0 or later There is nothing better suited for the tactile screen of an iPhone than a toy box game. These are games that revel in colorful, simple shapes, rewarding the curiosity of players and delighting them with animations reminiscent of fancy music boxes. Toy box games almost reinvent play for adults — those whose creaky knees prevent them from driving tiny trucks around on the carpet but whose thumbs are still in perfect working condition. GNOG is a great example of this genre — a sweet thing to explore, with no way to win and no way to lose but plenty of lighthearted fun, pleasant surprises, and toy-like things to pique your sense of childlike curiosity. You are presented…

$0.99 From Orange Think Box, orangethinkbox.com Made For iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Needs iOS 10.0 or later Word games can be maddening, especially when the clock is ticking. Pentaddle is one such game, which presents five letters that you must use to form a single word — but take too long and it’s game over. This deceptively addictive game does a great job of twisting the old brain cells. With thousands of potential words and endless gameplay, all that’s required is a single finger to tap out the correct letter sequence. Can’t visualize the correct word? Tap the shuffle button to jumble the letters in a different way and try again. Pentaddle adapts equally well to iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The graphics are simple yet effective, and sound effects…

$129.99 From Reolink Digital Technology, reolink.com Features Rechargeable battery, wire-free, night vision Needs iOS 8.0 or later Few industries have benefitted more from smartphones than security products. Thanks to mobile apps, surveillance cameras are no longer chained to expensive video recorders, and can stream live video in real time right to the palm of your hand. Reolink Argus 2 is a compact, entirely wire-free indoor or outdoor smart security camera capable of capturing full 1080p HD footage from a 130-degree field of view. (“Fluent” mode reduces resolution to 720p to save bandwidth.) Like its earlier model, Argus 2 works in conjunction with mobile and desktop apps, which can be configured to trigger sirens, start recording, and send push notification or email alerts whenever the unit’s PIR motion sensor is triggered,…

The number of HomeKit-compatible devices is growing all the time — including lights, security cameras, door locks, and much more. To find out about the different types, makes, and models, go to bit.ly/ml-homekit. (Note that exactly what’s available will vary from country to country.) To set up a HomeKit-compatible accessory, open Settings, sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID, and turn on iCloud Keychain. Open the Home app and tap Add Accessory (or +). When you see the desired accessory appear on-screen, tap it. When you’re asked if you want to “Add accessory to Network,” tap Allow. Use your iPhone or iPad camera to scan the eight-digit HomeKit code or the QR code on the device. (If you have an iPhone 7 or later running iOS 11, and the…

With direct LED lighting and individually controlled light zones, this huge but subtly stylish 75-inch panel is one of Sony’s first to support Dolby Vision HDR, which helps provide outstanding picture quality. Aside from its clunky interface (Android TV is still a pain), this is still one of Sony’s LCD TVs of the year. Now available separately from the Apple TV mount, this inexpensive cradle attaches to the side or back of your TV and holds your Siri Remote so you don’t lose it down the back of the sofa. But that’s not all: With a Lightning cable (not included), the holder keeps your remote charged and ready for action when not in use.…

So long as you both have iCloud accounts, the best solution is to share them using iCloud Photo Sharing. It helps if you’re both using the current version of iOS 11, although this should still work acceptably with older versions too, and even with iCloud for Windows if you wish. On your iPhone, turn on iCloud Photo Sharing in Settings > [your name] > iCloud. (On a Mac, it’s in Photos’ preferences, under iCloud.) Then, in Photos, create a shared album containing the images you want your partner to see and review. Do that in the Shared tab, by tapping the + symbol at the top. Enter the name of the Shared Album, add your partner to the list of people to be invited, and tap Create. When people have…

CONTENT CACHING HELPS reduce bandwidth and speed up software installation across Macs, iOS, and Apple TV. Content is stored — or cached — on one of your Macs, and other devices can pull that content quickly from the local network instead of downloading a fresh copy from the internet. By default, all system updates and App and iBooks Store content are cached, plus there’s an option to include your iCloud content too. Content caching works best on a Mac that’s connected to your network via Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi. That Mac needs to be switched on and connected to the internet for the feature to work. The guide below reveals the basics of enabling, configuring, and disabling the feature. When you start setting up the cache, you’ll notice a “Share…

All computers slow down over time, for a whole variety of reasons. In recent issues of Mac|Life, we’ve shown you how to address some of these reasons, decluttering your Mac to “detox” it, for example (Mac|Life #136), and speeding up performance by optimizing your input devices, automating everyday tasks, or upgrading your hardware (Mac|Life #137). Next issue we’ll tackle some common causes of slowdowns in High Sierra, particularly those relating to preferences and the configuration of your system. But first, let’s look at probably the most common cause of poor performance in any version of macOS: your apps. Don’t panic! Of course the whole point of having a computer is to do things with it. But when your Mac seems sluggish, this is often because of apps running in the…

Recently, I purchased a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I have added a Duola Bluetooth keyboard, which works wonderfully with my iPad and gives me “near MacBook” capability. Now, if Microsoft would just come out with Office Home & Business 2016 for the iPad, I could use my iPad for all my daily work needs. I know that 365 is available, but I am just not a 365 fan. ROBERT CONLEY While you’re waiting, have you tried using Pages, Numbers, and Keynote? All three can open Microsoft Office files, and save to Office formats for sharing with work colleagues. See this issue’s iWork tips feature for much more. Thoughts on HomePod I’ve been using a Sonos speaker set for the home theater and a spare room’s speaker. I also use an Amazon…

APPLE CONFIRMS THAT iOS 11.3, currently in beta testing, will be able to send your location to the emergency services automatically. But your Watch is already fast becoming an important diagnostic aid. Thanks to advances in sensors, new accessories, and improved deep-learning software, our wearables could soon become as important as our doctors. We spoke to Rachael Fisher, a Customer Service Adviser for recycling company Bywaters, who last year had her life potentially saved by her Apple Watch. “I decided to randomly check my heartbeat to see what my resting BPM was using the Apple Watch. To my shock it was showing it was 140/150bpm (the average is between 70 to 100bpm),” Fisher told us. “As the weeks progressed into months, I realized that my heart was never slowing down.…

LONG-RANGE CHARGING? According to a recent patent application, Apple may be working on a long-range wireless charger. The radio-frequency-based system has a few tricks up its sleeve, too: The charger could gather usage information from your iPhone and Apple account, use this to predict your usage patterns, then distribute power accordingly. That is, the charger could send enough power to your iPhone to get it through the day, based on how you use it, then automatically switch to charging your iPad. RF-based remote charging gets weaker the further your device is from the charger, so Apple’s application details a way to efficiently manage and prioritize charging devices. As always, there’s no way of knowing when or if this tech might become a reality. MICROSOFT OFFICE FOR MAC GETS A MAJOR…

Pages is fantastic app for word processing and page layout. Here’s how to use its powerful tools to best effect, controlling how text flows around images, adding hyperlinks for navigation around docs, and personalizing them even further. 1 CREATE AND APPLY STYLES Styles make it very easy to quickly apply or change text attributes throughout a document. Pages provides several default styles, or you can create your own: Select some text, click the paintbrush icon in the toolbar to open the Format inspector, and open its Style tab. Set the font (typeface), size, weight, and other attributes, then click the arrow next to the current style name at the top of the inspector, and click the + symbol at the top right of the list. Give your style a name,…

Once, collaborating on an iWork document meant sending colleagues a copy of your file and waiting for it to come back with their changes in it… But it’s different now. Big improvements to iWork for iCloud mean multiple users can work on the same doc simultaneously, whether using a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or even a PC. Here’s how to get the best from collaboration features. 1 ALL OR NOTHING You can either share a document publicly — so anyone with the link can open the document and pass the link on — or share with specific people. Sharing with named people is more secure, because collaborators need to sign in with an Apple ID. 2 FEATURE LIMITATIONS Some features are disabled when you share a document. For example, in Numbers…

Free 2-week trial ($14.99 after) From IdeasOnCanvas, mindnode.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 11 You’ve probably made mind maps before. The problem is, they can end up looking like the productions of an angry mutant spider when you edit and re-edit as ideas coalesce. Software can bring clarity, as earlier versions of MindNode proved, and this version speeds things further. You can blaze through the brainstorming stage. Where you’d once have started with a blank canvas, MindNode 5 offers Quick Entry input: Make a bullet-point list and, when you’re done, MindNode squirts your ideas into a new diagram. On iPhone in particular, this is the perfect way to start, rather than constructing nodes when you’re firing on all cylinders. Alas, maps can’t be edited in this manner from MindNode’s…

$2.99 From Rajesh Bhargava, thetangible.in Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 11.0 or later Traditional dictionaries have clearly fallen out of favor, with the web full of made-up words like “totes cray-cray” and people talking about pictures of cats as “memes.” So we were looking forward to LookUp, which describes itself as “an elegant dictionary.” The app makes a good first impression, with an illustrated Word Of The Day sitting at the top of the screen, followed by a selection of additional words to browse through. Tap a word, and LookUp gives you its meaning and offers to speak it aloud for you. You’ll also get some background on the development and usage of the word — although this is often just taken from Wikipedia. As you’d expect, there’s a…

$9.99 From Feral Interactive, feralinteractive.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 11 or later Grid Autosport is in part exciting because of what it represents. After years of people dismissing iOS gaming, here we have a genuine AAA console racer squeezed into your device. Whether you’ve experienced the original or not, Grid Autosport is the real deal. You get 100 cars and 100 circuits, a slew of challenges and tournaments, and a huge range of configuration options. Beginners can get a relatively accessible introduction to simulation racing by using all manner of driving assists, while confident console racing aficionados can disable these aids, delve into a racing season, and abruptly find themselves backwards in a gravel trap, having first gracelessly driven into a wall. You see, even at its most…

If the “new life” spring vibes have given you the overwhelming urge to start scrubbing — or just gotten you feeling guilty — then you’re probably thinking about giving your place its annual deep clean. If you do it more often than that, you’re clearly better people than we are. We know it can be overwhelming, with rooms to declutter, hidden dust bunnies to banish, and all that stuff left to get rid of, but we’ve got your back. From sharing chores around the family to holding an online garage sale, these apps will see you through — you’ll soon be on your way to a clean and organized home. OURHOME Free Made for iPhone, iPad One of the best ways to get organized is with a master task list,…

Free trial ($99 a year after) From Skyfit Sports Inc., aaptiv.com Made For iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Needs iOS 9.0 or later Audio-based fitness developer Aaptiv has been slower than most in the fitness market to adopt Apple Watch support, but it’s done it right. Aaptiv is home to more than 2,500 personal training classes designed to work anywhere — at home, in the gym, even on the road. It’s all audio-based, so the Watch app acts as a remote control for starting and stopping workouts. An annual in-app subscription of $99 ($14.99 monthly) is required, but there’s a 30-day free trial with unlimited workouts to help you decide if it’s right for you. That money gets you a huge assortment of fitness routines ranging from outdoor running to walking,…

Belkin Boost Up wireless charging pad $59.99 From Belkin, belkin.com Features 7.5W charging, 4.7-inch diameter DESIGN Casually glance in Boost Up’s direction as you set down your coffee cup and you might mistake it for a saucer. Its body is slightly wider at the top than the bottom, with a grippy rubber ring on top for your iPhone, and the same material on the bottom to stop slippage. Of these mats, its diameter is the better fit for iPhone 8 Plus, but still with overhang. POWER ADAPTER & CABLE Under the pad’s rim is a small cavity where the power cable connects. The other end of the (non-detachable) cable runs into the plug’s top — a practical design, so you won’t have trouble if using a wall socket that’s low…

$29.99 From Adonit, adonit.net Made for iPhone, iPad Adonit’s Pro 3 is a passive stylus, requiring no Bluetooth and no batteries. The stylus has a very fine point; to persuade your iPad to recognize this, it’s attached by a ball joint to a fingertip-sized plastic disc, which skates across the screen. It looks weird — but it works brilliantly. After a few moments you forget the disc and use the Pro 3 like a ballpoint. The body is slim, maybe too slim for big hands, but it’s beautifully made; the lid snaps on over the tip with a satisfying magnetic clunk, connecting in the same way to the other end (which has an integral pocket clip) to keep it safe while in use. The Pro 3 lacks the precision of…

THIS, DEAR READER, is the last time I’ll write about my Smart Home. I know it’s a blow, but as you move through the stages of grief, I’m confident you’ll come to live with this altered reality. So, while I know I’m preaching to the choir, I feel like this is my last chance to plead the case of smart tech in an everyday, rented, slightly mildewy home. I spend a lot of time explaining (the Philips Hue lights) and defending (the Wi-Fi coffee machine) my home kit to guests. I can clearly remember the day I told my babysitter she’d have to download an app if she wanted to watch the monitor, but I’ve never been swayed from my love of the Things by all those raised eyebrows. After…

Free (requires subscription) There are plenty of ways to enjoy SiriusXM Internet Radio: in your satellite-equipped car, via mobile devices or Amazon Echo, even in the living room with a Roku, Sonos wireless speakers, or smart TV. One glaring omission has been Apple TV, until now. Subscribers can now enjoy over 200 channels, plus hundreds of other shows on-demand via Apple TV. The operative word is subscribers — you’ll need a paid sub or an All Access trial to enjoy all this (see siriusxm.com for details). With a subscription, however, you can customize music and comedy channels to hear more of your favorite artists, and stream SiriusXM from your iPhone or iPad using AirPlay. The graphically rich user interface provides a nice visual flourish while you listen, and of course…

WHY DOES ACTIVITY KEEP NUDGING ME TO EXERCISE? Sometimes Apple changes default settings in an update, or we might inadvertently alter something when trying to do something else. If you’re getting these notifications on your iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications to turn them off. For an Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone and you’ll find finer controls available in Notifications there. HOW CAN I CHANGE BIZARRE AUTOCORRECTIONS? If a device keeps offering strange completions or autocorrections to text, the sure-fire fix is to teach it a better alternative. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Tap the + icon to add a new item, and enter the correct text in both the Phrase and Shortcut fields there. Test your shortcut in Notes or a…

Our advice may refer to the following features; check out the support articles linked below for full instructions. macOS RECOVERY The Recovery system contains tools to help you look up info online when macOS won’t start, and to repair or reinstall the system. Learn more at bit.ly/mlrecovery. SAFE MODE When you start your Mac in Safe mode, macOS performs extra checks and stops certain third-party software from running. See how to use it at bit.ly/mlsafemode. RESET SMC & NVRAM These features handle low-level functions and store key settings for your Mac, respectively. Resetting them can fix various issues described at bit.ly/mlresetsmc and bit.ly/mlresetnvram. HARDWARE ISSUES Your Mac includes tools that check for certain hardware issues without going to a Genius Bar. For Macs introduced in June 2013 or later, see…

WHATSAPP IS A brilliant free app that makes it quick, easy and free to communicate with other people, regardless of what type of smartphone they’re using. In WhatsApp, you can conduct group chats, send media, and much more, but even hardcore WhatsApp users probably don’t know the full extent of what it can do. The app is also even better and easier to use in iOS 11, so it’s well worth digging a little deeper to unearth WhatsApp’s secrets. Here we show you how to change your chat background, save dates, bookmark messages, and even disable those pesky blue checkmarks… So read on to become a true WhatsApp genius! 1 HIDE THE BLUE CHECKMARKS — The blue checkmarks, enabled by default, show everyone else that you have read the message…