Innehållsförteckning för No. 229 från iCreate

I was initially a little sceptical about iOS 15, Apple’s major new mobile update that is due to drop any day now. While swiping, tapping and prodding my way through the beta software (version 6, at the time of going to press), I was thinking, “who cares?” to the FaceTime enhancements, new Messages gubbins and Focus thingies, as I seldom use those apps anyway. But then some of the other stuff really started to grab me. The new Safari interface that felt very wrong to begin with soon began to feel so indelibly right, and the new LiveText feature in Photos, while a little gimmicky, felt like a new app. It’s an iOS that you grow into with more and more nuances becoming apparent the more you scratch away at…

A GROUP OF MORE THAN 90 INTERNATIONAL POLICY GROUPS HAS BANDED TOGETHER TO DELIVER AN OPEN LETTER TO APPLE CEO, TIM COOK, THAT DEMANDS APPLE DITCHES ITS PLANS TO CHECK iPHONES AND iPADS FOR KNOWN CSAM CONTENT IN iCLOUD PHOTOS AND INAPPROPRIATE PHOTOS SENT TO AND FROM KIDS. The letter is in response to Apple’s CSAM efforts that involve checking on-device iCloud Photos images against known CSAM content. CSAM Detection enables Apple to accurately identify and report iCloud users who store known Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in their iCloud Photos accounts. Apple servers flag accounts exceeding a threshold number of images that match a known database of CSAM image hashes so that Apple can provide relevant information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Apple claims…

Photos Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available Alocation photographed at night can look much more dramatic than the same scene captured during the day. Nocturnal shots can be more moody, with strong moonlit shadows accentuating the shape of objects and adding mystery. However, we may not have the time to hang around until dark for a night shoot. There are also technical challenges to capturing night-time shots that aren’t blighted by artefacts such as noise and blur. Fortunately, Photos has all the colour and tone tweaking tools we need to create a high quality atmospheric night-time shot from the comfort of our desktop Mac. Change colour and tone Mimic a night time look Less light The Light panel’s selective tone tweaking tools enable us create a moonlit wash…

Garage Band Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed For guitarists, the ability to just plug in and play effortlessly is crucial. GarageBand is ideal here with so much for players to enjoy without much hassle. But you might be looking at your Mac and scratching your head over how to connect the instrument. For this you require an interface, a device to take a guitar lead and input the signal. One such solution that offers performance and portability is IK Multimedia’s iRig. Compatible with iOS and macOS too, the latest iRig HD 2 model takes that further with 24-bit/96khz sound and USB support. In this guide we’ll use iRig to show the basics of recording a guitar or bass signal correctly. Recording Settings Pointing out the recording controls within the…

Cloudflare WARP Developer Cloudflare Inc Difficulty Time needed There are privacy features coming soon in macOS Monterey, and iCloud Private Relay for iCloud+ users is great. However, it’s only for subscribers – and only for Safari. Cloudflare WARP is similar in some ways, but has more features, is free for everyone, works with all apps and even Big Sur. Unlike Apple’s service, WARP is actually a type of VPN, which is great for boosting security and privacy while using the internet with any browser or app. WARP is a VPN that has been stripped down to basics with just a simple on/off switch. There is no need to create an account, provide any details or payment and it just works. Step-by-step Boost internet privacy and security 1 Download WARP Go…

Tab Space Developer Yuan Difficulty Time needed Bookmarks do not receive the attention they used to and for many of us it is likely that we use the same selection of favourites today that we have for some time. There will be times, however, when saving new sites and reference points will be of benefit and this is where Tab Space comes in. If you are researching a topic, Tab Space will let you save all of the live sites you are viewing with just one click, at which point you can turn them into a collection to access later. It is in effect a live project manager which can store everything you need in one handy space. Sometimes simple is the best way forward. Logical and effective Tab Space…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Audiophiles rejoice! Apple Music subscribers can now listen to millions of songs in a lossless audio format for the very first time thanks to the use of the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). It means every bit of the original recording can be retained when playing tunes through an iPhone or iPad, delivering sound that is at least CD-quality. Even so, there are some restrictions. The main one is the inability to listen to lossless audio on a pair of wireless headphones and that includes AirPods or wireless Beats. Instead, you will have to physically connect a pair of wired headphones via the Lightning port. Also, lossless audio doesn’t include radio or videos either but the feature has been added for free. Step-by-step…

Amazon Alexa Developer AMZN Mobile LLC Difficulty Time needed We love Siri. Apple’s virtual assistant lets us carry out tasks and answers our queries, but we also love Alexa. Amazon’s equivalent offers answers that, in a lot of cases, beat Siri hands down. Alexa is also compatible with more smart home devices. Trouble is, Siri is baked into iOS and iPadOS while Alexa needs an app. To use Alexa, you have to open the app and tap the blue button to talk – or at least that was the case. With a new widget, you can go direct to Alexa’s listening mode, issue your command, and get immediate answers. Having the widget so prominent also reminds you that Alexa is always there to help. Step-by-step Find and add the Alexa…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Every Apple account receives 5 GB of iCloud storage for free. It sounds like a lot, but it is easy to reach the limit and then you must either pay for more storage or free up some space. We think the 50 GB plan for just 79 pence a month is good value for money and goes a long way towards solving iCloud space problems, but some users may want to stick with the free plan. How do you cope with just 5 GB of online storage in iCloud? Here we look at ways to reduce the space being used, and free up storage if you run out. We use an iPad for this and look at the ways it uses iCloud, and…

The Apple Watch was not designed to replace the iPhone, and to this day there is no signal to suggest that Apple wants it to perform this function. However, as time passes and third-party app developers make ever more ingenious solutions, we are fast reaching the stage where an Apple Watch can perform the majority of functions that you would normally undertake on your iPhone, and it is getting more sophisticated every day. A 4G enabled Apple Watch will help a huge amount when using many of the more sophisticated solutions, away from home, and with so many services now available it may be time for you to consider a connected Apple Watch, rather than one that truly needs the iPhone in daily use. Our list of iPhone-like functions may…

David Crookes This issue, our iOS expert will help you find out if your iPhone has been hacked, and show you how to bring Amazon Alexa voice control on your Home Screen to compete with Siri. Shaun McGill Our tech expert will show you how to supercharge your Mac, by providing proven solutions for speeding up old hardware and making your Mac run super-efficiently. George Cairns Our creative genius will show you how to turn day into night in your photos, create captivating trailers in iMovie and turn photos into moving pictures in Final Cut Pro.…

iMovie Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available Thanks to social media sources such as Facebook and Twitter we are flooded by content choices. As a result our attention spans have grown short as we flit from one clip to the next without watching anything through to the end. An effective way to share your summer holiday highlights is to present them as a Hollywood trailer. Trailers are short, give a flavour of the story and show the best bits! iMovie’s trailer template has a handy shot list that you can quickly populate with a variety of clips. It then automatically places the shot list’s clips into an ordered story complete with Hollywood trailer titles and graphics. Create a quick trailer Use templates to edit footage Used content You…

Logic Pro Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed The concept of Logic’s Track Mute and Solo buttons is based around the same features you’d find on a real mixing desk – the Mute button removes a track from the mix and stops it sounding, while Solo removes everything other than that track from the mix, allowing you to hear what you’ve solo’d in isolation. However, there are several different ways in which you might want to use these functions, such as soloing more than one track at once, toggling between solo’d and unsolo’d states or muting individual regions rather than a whole track. Luckily, Logic features a wealth of keyboard shortcuts and power user commands. Mute points Enhance your workflow using mute and solo shortcuts Solo colours Whenever a solo…

Font Book Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed If you like to try different and unique looks for documents, like Pages newsletters and fliers, or Keynote slide shows, you probably spend time searching through fonts. A good font can make a big difference, and there are many to choose from. We don’t know why, but there are actually more fonts available in macOS than are installed in the system. There are extra fonts that appear in name only, and they are not currently available. However, if you want to use these additional fonts, they can easily be added using the Font Book app. Let’s see how to enable these optional fonts. Use Fonts Add extra fonts and use them See all fonts Select ‘All Fonts’ in Font Book, and both…

OpenMTP Developer ganeshrvel Difficulty Time needed There is no denying that Android devices are popular. Even though we’re firmly on the side of Apple, and couldn’t imagine life without the iPhone or iPad, there are times when we end up using Android devices, and we certainly come across other people who do. During these dalliances with the ‘other side’, we sometimes find the need to transfer files to a Mac. More often than not they’ll be attached to an email, but that’s not an elegant solution. Here, were present some alternative methods, the primary one being to physically connect an Android device and access the files. We also look at an AirDrop-like service. Step-by-step Manage Android files on a Mac 1 Install OpenMTP For a straightforward way of transferring files…

iVerify Developer Trail of Bits Difficulty Time needed Psst! Here’s a little secret: Your iPhone is generally safe but it can be hacked with spyware. Recently, it emerged that the surveillance outfit NSO Group had created software called Pegasus which is capable of infecting our devices, no matter how new they are. And while the company says it is only used to “investigate terrorism and crime”, Pegasus has been found on the phones of many journalists around the world. Luckily, it’s possible to discover if your iPhone is infected while also checking for other potential hacks. All you need is an app called iVerify. It scans your device and keeps a lookout. Stay one step ahead of the spies Turn your iPhone into the digital equivalent of Fort Knox! Allow…

Google Developer Google LLC Difficulty Time needed Whenever you look for something using Google, the company keeps a log of your search history and uses it to deliver more personalised results. It also lets you view that history, but – what if you’re not the only person to use your account to search the web? What if someone grabs your phone to look at your search history? Maybe you’ve been searching for a present or a surprise getaway. To prevent anyone seeing this, Google now lets you delete the last 15 minutes of your search history. Protect your searches by locking them away, and determine how long searches should remain in your history. Take control over your search history Essential settings to protect your privacy Select the Control tab Go…

Safari Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Websites can access the iPhone’s location information to tell where you are in the world. This raises privacy concerns, so the iPhone lets you control location information and choose who can access it. There is a master location on/off switch, but this is a blunt instrument, and sometimes websites (and apps) need to know where you are. For this reason, there are extra controls and individual settings for each website. This enables you to block location access for some sites, but allow it for others. You can change your mind later and block, or allow on a site-by-site basis. Website location requests Manage the location information sites can access Access site settings If you want this website’s location access to be different to…

Control Centre Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed There are many reasons why you would want to record your iPad screen. Perhaps you want to showcase your gaming skills, or need to demonstrate how to perform a particular task or find a new feature. Whatever the reason, it’s easy to do. But there are some things to bear in mind first. Everything on your screen will be recorded, so watch out for notifications or accidentally exposing messages and emails: maybe flick the iPad into Do Not Disturb mode. Be aware too, that videos gobble up storage. Going to share on social media? Why not clean up the Home Screen (is the wallpaper suitable?), or place the app that you’re demonstrating on a clean page. You should also consider locking the…

Apple TV Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Sometimes you want to keep up with a video while you’re doing something else, so having to quit what you’re watching, perform the task and then jump back in can feel frustrating. If you’re using the Apple TV app, however, you don’t need to do this. Instead, you can allow it to continue playing in a picture-in-picture window. The feature is available for users of the fourth-generation Apple TV and Apple TV 4K as long as you have tvOS 14 or later installed but, it has to be said, with a lack of third-party support it can feel a little limited. Thankfully, there’s good news on that score (see Knowledge Base) and the more you play around with these features, the more…

• Processor: Motorola 68000, 8 MHz • Memory: 1 MB RAM (expandable to 4 MB) • Hard Drive: N/A (relies on a double-sided 800K disk drive) • Display: 9-inch monochrome, 512 x 342 • Graphics: 72 ppi • Original macOS: System 3.0 • Connectivity: SCSI port • Original price: £1,999/$2,599 • Price now: £130/$140 Launched against a backdrop of neon fashion and huge hair, the Macintosh Plus – Apple’s third Macintosh model – was a huge deal. Dubbed the ‘Big Mac’, it shipped with one megabyte of RAM (expandable to four) and was the first Mac to feature a SCSI port, which allowed users to connect a range of external devices including, crucially, hard drives. The Macintosh Plus didn’t have a built-in hard drive, instead it relied on an 800…

Download available Tutorial project files All the assets you’ll need to get creative with our projects. Look out for the above icon to see if there are downloads available. Exclusive video tutorials Discover how to get more out of your devices with a selection of iOS and macOS video guides from MacMost. Loads of other cool stuff! Customise your Mac with stunning wallpapers, grab some royalty-free fonts and watch more how-to guides. Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/icreate Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets Free for digital readers too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future Publishing Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access for…

Final Cut Pro Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available The 3D photo effect is a new trend that’s popular on social media sites. This involves adding a camera move to a photo. As the camera tracks forward, the foreground and background move at different speeds, creating a sense of 3D depth. Before adding a 3D effect to a photo in Final Cut Pro, you need to use a third-party app to select a photo’s foreground, midground and background so you can turn them into three layers. We’ll talk about creating the layered file in Photoshop so you can prepare your own photos, but we’ve also provided you with a layered Photoshop document so you can dive in and create the 3D photo effect. Make some moves Add movement…

Automator Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Quick Note is a great new feature coming to macOS Monterey that enables you to call up a notes window by pressing a keyboard shortcut. You can then write or paste notes and save them. This got us thinking: how do you run an app with a keyboard shortcut? If we could do that, we could simply open the Notes app to simulate Monterey Quick Note. All it takes is a simple Automator service with a single command. It couldn’t be simpler. Although we run the Notes app in this guide, use the same technique to run any app you want from a keyboard shortcut. Many other apps can be run with keyboard shortcuts, too. Run apps with a keypress Automator and keyboard…

Finder Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed We are not as organised as we would like when storing files on the disk. We create photos, documents and videos, but then forget where we put them. Spotlight search is great for finding files, but it only finds one at a time. What if there are several files stored in different places on the disk? One solution is to use tags, which are keywords attached to a file. For example, you could add the ‘Work’ tag to all work files, or the ‘Project’ tag to ones that are used or connected to a particular project. Use a smart folder to show all files with a tag in a virtual folder. Smart folders show files regardless of where they are. Step-by-step Create smart…

The internet is reliable for most people, most of the time, but occasionally problems arise, and it is either very slow or not working at all. Sometimes it is not even the Mac’s fault, and it is useful to check social media using your phone and see if the internet, a particular website or internet service provider is down for anyone else. Problems with the Mac are often easy to fix and obvious when you know how, and the first item in our list is the most obvious solution to network issues. Some of the other possible fixes are slightly less well known, like renewing DCHP leases or deleting the networking settings and letting macOS create new ones. The simplest fixes are first, but none of them are particularly hard.…

Health Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed We all know that Apple likes to keep their services and products secure within their ecosystem and this works well, but it can cause problems if you want to use non-Apple products with some of the more useful Apple services. Add to this the fact that other manufacturers, such as Fitbit and Garmin, try to urge users to use their own ecosystems and it can lead to a lack of choice for the consumer when it comes to managing all of their health data in one place. There are, however, a few things you can do to bring your data together, and although it means jumping through some setup hoops, the end result will be well-worth the effort. We will cover example options…

Safari Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Given how vast the web is, we’ve become very accustomed to using search engines to help us find the information we need. Many of us also use a few search tricks to speed things up, such as typing ‘define [word]’ or ‘weather [location]’ to view dictionary definitions or check if it’s going to rain. More advanced users will search within a site using ‘site:[url] [word]’, and it’s also possible to ensure words are included or excluded by using a ‘+’ or ‘-’. Even so, there’s more you can do. Why not search using your voice by saying, “Hey Siri”, or by using the keyboard’s microphone button. Take a look at the tips on these pages to make Safari work much harder for you…

WhatsApp Developer WhatsApp LLC Difficulty Time needed WhatsApp is an encrypted messaging service, but it doesn’t mean you have total control over what you send. If you share a video or image, it can sit in a chat thread for ages. It’s one of the reasons why many will welcome a new feature that lets you send media that disappears after it has been viewed once. Those images and videos can’t be saved, forwarded or starred and they won’t automatically end up saved on the recipients’ phone. Likewise, if you take a fresh snap, it won’t end up in your Camera Roll either. This is ideal, says WhatsApp, for sharing an image of a Wi-Fi password, perhaps, or something fleeting that you don’t necessarily want to be taking up space.…

Spotify Developer Spotify Difficulty Time needed It’s taken a long time, but you’re now able to download songs available on Spotify straight to your Apple Watch. This means you can go for a jog or nip to the shops, without having to pop your iPhone in your pocket if you fancy listening to some tunes. Simply fire up the songs you’ve downloaded and play them offline, using Spotify’s playback features to control what you’re listening to. It’s not perfect. The biggest restriction is that you’re going to need a Premium subscription which is sad – but understandable news for all those on the free tier, who will have to continue using a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. That said, you can often find some offers to upgrade to Premium for free,…

Oblio Wireless Charging Station £79.90/$79.90 lexon-design.com Perfect for the hyper-diligent, post-COVID age, this attractive wireless charging station from Lexon Design is like a decorative vase that you place your iPhone in. But why does it encapsulate your device? Because it also doubles as a sanitiser too, so all of those beastly germs will be nuked as your battery power is restored. The advanced, anti-bacterial UV-C light with ionizer technology within the unit is capable to killing up to 99.9 per cent of germs and an LED light indicates correct handset placement and charge status. ★★★★☆ MyFirst Camera Insta 2 £93.50/$95.99 myfirst.tech If you want your children to enjoy the magic of photography away from the glare of a smart screen, then this pick-up-and-snap camera is perfect. The robust unit –…