Innehållsförteckning för June 2018 från MacLife

TRADITIONAL CABLE SUBS have steadily declined for a decade, while the sheer quantity, variety, and quality of internet streaming services has flourished. You could argue that consumers won — having escaped the shackling of cable bundles while gaining more choice and flexibility. In the coming years, though, we may have to reflect on an old adage: be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. These days, we have no shortage of options for streaming just about anything we want. Newer companies like Netflix quickly gained dominance, while the old guard like HBO, Sony, and the broadcast channels can apparently learn new tricks. Apple and Amazon are now also streaming providers and even create new, original series. We’re in a golden age of movie and TV show accessibility.…

WHILE APPLE OFFERS discounts from time to time, you’ll often get more money off from third–party resellers. But before you get started, it’s a good idea to buy from an authorized reseller or service provider; that way, you’re buying from Apple-approved companies. Moreover, any repairs at an Authorized Service Provider are done using genuine parts by people trained by Apple. Many of these resellers offer deep discounts around Black Friday, so if you’re not in a huge hurry it’s a good idea to wait until then. But it’s not necessary to save your shopping to one time of the year — B&H Photo offers excellent discounts on Apple products, such as $200 off the price of a top-of-the-range Macbook Pro 15-inch with Touch Bar. That’s as good as the education…

Free (IAPs) From Manything Systems Ltd, manything.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 8.0 or later The downside of buying new iPhones and iPads is that it’s easy to accumulate older devices — especially if you don’t trade them in or gift to friends or family members. Fortunately, app developers have come up with some clever ways to repurpose damaged or unwanted hardware. One such app is Manything — the name is a mash–up of “monitor anything” — which transforms spare devices into home security cameras. As long as your devices run iOS 8.0 or later and have a working camera, you’re in business. (The app can be used on older devices running iOS 6 or iOS 7, but only if you install on a newer device first.) Getting started…

$9.99 From Cultured Code, culturedcode.com Made for iPhone, Apple Watch Needs iOS 10 or later Things 3 sports a fresh new modern look. The refreshed interface isn’t the only addition to Things, however. There’s a long list of new features. Perhaps the most important is the addition of time-based reminders. You’ve always been able to schedule tasks, but you can now specify a time to be reminded to do them as well. And it supports both natural language and Siri. Other additions include an Upcoming list, rather than just Next; category headings; and checklists. A new “Magic +” button enables you to create items precisely where you want them in a list, add them straight to your inbox from anywhere, or create headings. You can also select and edit multiple…

$0.99 From Albert Frischmann Consulting, frischmann.biz/bremer/en/home Made for iPad Needs iPad, iOS 9 or later I really wanted my children to love this, because it’s a work of art — or rather, lots of works of art. Lev Kaplan’s beautiful illustrations, more than 1,000 hours in the making, are brought to life with the help of professional voiceovers, 800 animations and more than 120 sounds. But neither my four-year-old nor my 10-year-old liked it. My son prodded the interactive bits then demanded YouTube Kids; his big sister admired the artistry, for seven minutes. “It’s pretty,” she said. “But it’s pretty boring.” The problem isn’t the app, or the artistry, and it’s not that my kids are philistines either. It’s the delivery. Grimm’s version of the famous fairy tale, a story…

Free From Cross Forward Consulting, david-smith.org Made For iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Needs iOS 11.0 or later With Apple’s recent acquisition of sleep monitor maker Beddit, it seems like only a matter of time before this kind of technology winds up built into Apple Watch. But you won’t have to wait that long, because there’s a free app that gets the job done today. Sleep++ uses Apple Watch’s motion and health monitoring capabilities to measure the quality of your sleep, recording data to your Health account. The result is a clear understanding of how much restful sleep you’re getting each night, how long you were restless or awake, and when you had the best sleep. Best of all, with the latest 3.0 app update, the process is entirely automatic. All…

1 BETTER NOTES Apple Notes are missing from watchOS, but SnipNotes is the next best thing — you can even browse clipped images or save a location right on your Watch. 2 REMEMBER WHERE To save your current location, open SnipNotes and swipe left. Tap Save Location and the address, map, and GPS coordinates are saved as a note. 3 QUICK FIND Pull up previously saved notes quickly by tapping the Search Notes button. Then choose the dictation or scribble method to input the text you’re looking for.…

To make the test fair, given the differing number of nodes included with each system, we set up two nodes of each in matching positions, in a three-storey house with known signal dead spots. One node was then moved close to the front of the house to measure signal distance outdoors, and signal strength was tested from predefined points. Each node was set up and configured using its respective iOS app. ▲HIGHER… UBIQUITI AMPLIFI amplifi.com $349.99 Not much tops the Orbi Pro’s price. Ubiquiti’s AmpliFi system, which includes a router and two socket-mounted nodes (with adjustable antennas), comes pretty close though at $350. ▼ …OR LOWER? NETGEAR WN3000RP netgear.com $39.99 Netgear’s socket-mounted extender isn’t mesh, and it’s not the fastest with its single 802.11n radio, but it’s only $40 and…

WHAT ABOUT APPS? > There are dozens of gardening apps available, with one of the top rated being GardenTags. This is a social media app for gardeners, where you can share information or ask for advice from thousands of other gardeners, or use in-app purchases to get personalized advice from professionals such as TV gardener Michael Perry. IS IT SAFE? > You don’t have to worry too much about accidents with a smart sprinkler, but robot lawnmowers can potentially be dangerous. Check what safety precautions are built in, such as sensors that can spot a person nearby, or a child lock that can prevent a mower being activated by accident. WHAT ABOUT SECURITY? > Most security cameras are designed for indoor use, but there are a number of outdoor cameras…

THERE’S A funny thing that occurs at this time of the year. In the middle of Spring, when the weather is starting to get its warm and sunny hat on, the world outside starts calling my name. And it’s saying: “It’s a nice day, get outside, put down that cell you’ve been playing with and stop worrying about all that smart home stuff you’ve filled your house with!” Suddenly, everything I’ve worked hard on improving on the inside of my home over the last six months — whether it’s making my heating easy to control from a smart thermostat or asking Siri on my HomePod to turn on all the lights as soon as I get in from work in the evening — becomes less interesting. And, well, just less…

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…

IT’S TOO EARLY TO TELL because at the time of writing this, our previous issue still isn’t on sale, but I’m looking forward to reading your views on Mac|Life in our reader survey (p6). But I almost needn’t wait, as the continued feedback I receive in our inbox has given me a pretty good insight ahead of the much-anticipated results. It’s interesting to note that a great deal of you are very outspoken about the use of iPads for, shall we say, more practical purposes. It seems the majority of you are using an iPad of some description (usually a Pro, I might add) alongside a MacBook. Many of you are impressed with what the iPad is capable of from a productivity standpoint, but nobody has yet felt the need…

iOS UPGRADE BRICKS IPHONE 8 SCREENS The iOS 11.3 upgrade reportedly disabled the touch functionality in some iPhone 8 screens repaired by third parties. AppleInsider notes, however, that the problem can apparently be fixed “with a fairly routine DFU restore,” it is unknown how widespread the issue was, and it remains “unclear if the glitch was intentional or accidental, or if a future software update will provide a fix.” In early 2017, Apple revised its policy on repairs carried out by shops that are not Apple Authorized Repairers: These now will not automatically invalidate a device’s warranty. So if yours is still under warranty or AppleCare, contact Apple Support for advice. TIM COOK SAYS APPLE WON’T MERGE MAC AND iPAD. Apple has no intention of melding macOS and iOS, CEO…

A FEW MONTHS ago, in Mac|Life 139, we reported on technologies that make Apple Watch a key healthcare and diagnostic aid. New developments reinforce the trend, and business news website Quartz says “the next stage of the platform wars may be in health,” with Apple ahead of the curve. In February, Quartz reports, Apple was granted a patent for an AirPod-style charging case that can hold both your Watch and a number of “smart bands,” each of which might be a specialized sensor in its own right. Apple also holds a separate patent for a modular Watch attachment containing sensors. This raises the prospect of being able to choose from a range of sensors for different health needs, or even combine options to manage complex conditions. As Quartz notes, AliveCor…

THESE DAYS, YOUR network is put to much greater use than simply getting your Mac online to browse the web and check email. Inevitably, that means enduring a lot more disruption if something goes wrong with it — no more Netflix, tunes won’t stream from Apple Music or Spotify, and you may be unable to access files on your networked storage until the problem is fixed. But, how do you go about identifying the root cause of the problem, which could originate anywhere from your internet service provider to the location within your home that you’ve chosen to use your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or some other kit? Here you’ll learn about diagnosing network interference, kit that can boost your network, ways to improve security, new things to do…

THESE DAYS, YOU’RE missing a trick if you’re only using your home network to browse the web, send an email and perhaps share a file or two. Networking has an ever-growing list of possibilities, and by choosing the right hardware you can save both money and space in your home, too. Other network additions can help improve the quality of your life while making sharing that bit simpler and easier, while a feature that’s built in to macOS makes it easy to access your computer from wherever you are. Here you’ll find five different ways in which you can make even better use of your network. 1 Central sharing Shared folders on your Mac are only accessible while your computer’s turned on. See if your router has a USB port…

APPLE IS THE master of bringing out new products, with each launch hotly anticipated. But if you can resist the urge to buy the latest shiny computer, you can save yourself a load of money. A lot of resellers will drop the price of previous-generation Macs when new ones go on sale. If you don’t mind a less up-to-date model, this is an option to consider. As we mentioned on page 31, it’s important to make sure you know what you want in a Mac. If a previous-generation Mac does exactly what you need it to, there’s no need to go for a more expensive model just because it’s newer. Auction websites such as eBay are a particularly good place to look for deals. Lots of people sell their old…

Free (IAPs) From Dmitry Obukhov, pasteapp.me Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 10.0 or later Apple’s Clipboard seamlessly copies and pastes between Mac and iOS, but the current implementation falls short. Instead of simple one-time data transfer, a true clipboard manager would enable saving and organizing frequently used clippings. After making a splash on the Mac three years ago, Paste 2 has arrived for iOS, giving power users exactly what they’ve craved all along. This free mobile app uses iCloud to sync text, images, links, files, or other content saved with Paste for Mac 2.3 or later — and vice versa — organizing clippings into folders called Pinboards. You can rearrange, delete, rename, or share snippets, but there’s no way to directly add new content into the Paste iOS app…

Free/Pro from $0.99 monthly From Faber Acoustical, faberacoustical.com Made For iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch Needs iOS 10.0 or later With SoundMeter X, you can turn your cell into a portable sound level meter. The free version supports time exponential weighted sound levels, Lp, with flat frequency weighting and fast time weighting (LpAF). That’s plenty for most users, but a subscription adds a raft of additional features including data logging, Leq and Lx sound levels, and support for up to eight channels. On Apple Watch, SoundMeter X acts as a remote control for sound levels, so you can tap play to see your chosen meter update in real time. There’s only one view available with the free version, but you can view or control octave, recorder, signal generator, and dose options…

LINKSYS’ VELOP is, as far as we’re concerned, the top home mesh network on the market today — it’s no wonder Apple has started selling it through its own storefront. The individual nodes are elegant and don’t take up too much surface space, the setup process is flawless, and the app, despite offering relatively few controls, is perfect for what Velop aims to achieve: utter simplicity. It also manages to top the rest of the networks on offer, bar the business-class Orbi Pro, in terms of range and power, coping with whatever we could throw at it. That’s not to say Velop is without its flaws. Its relative lack of Ethernet ports could be a curse if you’d rather keep your smart home bridges in one place, although a cheap…

$33.90 From LXORY, lxory.com Made for iPhone X, iPhone 8, or other Qi-compatible smartphone Apple took forever to embrace wireless charging, but it didn’t take nearly as long for accessory makers to hop on the iPhone bandwagon, hence this Dual Wireless Charging Pad from LXORY. Available in white or black, this eight-inch wide, 0.4-inch thin pad is made to simultaneously charge a pair of iPhone 8 and/or iPhone X handsets, or other Qi-ready devices. The hardware also has a USB-A output on the back for charging a third wired device at the same time. Together with the stylish design and an affordable price, this three-in-one approach offers an unbeatable combination for wireless iPhone owners. The pad is identical to the company’s previous model, with one noteworthy change: 9W output on…

Make sure you check out these important support articles on Apple’s website to better understand the latest features. MACOS 10.13.3 UPDATE ISSUES SOLVED Learn about the latest update to MacOS 10.13.3 which addresses various issues, and find out how you can get the update at bit.ly/ml142ask1 32-BIT COMPATIBILITY IN MACOS 10.13.4 Apple is making the transition to 64-bit apps as of MacOS 10.13.4. To find out how this affects you and your Mac apps, and what you can do to make sure you can continue using your favorite apps, go to bit.ly/ml142ask2 GREEN PIXELS IN ITUNES VIDEO CONTENT If you’re incurring green pixelation when you watch videos bought from iTunes, even if you’ve installed to the latest version of MacOS, find out what to do at bit.ly/ml142ask3…

YOUR TRACKPAD RECOGNIZES far more gestures than Apple provides access to in System Preferences’ Trackpad pane. But BetterTouchTool can unleash the full power of the Multi-Touch surface. The app enables you to choose from additional gestures and assign actions to them. Treat the examples we give here as a starting point and experiment with ideas of your own. (In Manage Presets, export a backup of your BetterTouchTool settings, then reimport them later — a great way to reuse them on a second Mac.) BetterTouchTool also offers more nuanced general trackpad controls. In the app’s toolbar, click the Advanced button and then Trackpad. You’ll see a range of options for fine-tuning how your trackpad works. If things go a bit weird, you can click Reset All Settings. You can install a…

YOUR IPHONE, AND gadgets such as the GoPro Hero 6 Black camera, can record video footage at different resolutions and frame rates. The iPhone’s default video recording resolution is 1080p HD at 30 frames per second (fps). This footage looks excellent on TV and YouTube. However, you might want to drop the resolution to 720p HD, to save storage space, for example. This smaller HD resolution will still look okay when viewed on social media, but may look fuzzy when combined with higher resolution files in an iMovie project. You can also record slow-motion (slo-mo) clips on your iPhone using the 720p HD resolution. This is worth doing to benefit from a higher frame rate of 240fps, which ensures smoother motion in a slo-mo sequence than you’d get by simply…

We have several Apple TVs and we stream 100% of everything that we watch. I think the price to rent movies or shows is way too high. I have a RedBox nearby that I have considered spending a couple of bucks renting stuff from instead, but the convenience of streaming wins every time. Buying movies at $10.00 a piece doesn’t seem to sting so much, so I tend to buy movies instead of renting them. With a cold snap that we recently had, I wanted to binge the whole Death Wish series with Charles Bronson. The rental price per movie was $3.99 and the purchase price was $4.99. In that case, it is a no brainer. But, when it is $7.00 to rent and $20.00 to buy, that does make…

iPHONE X SALES “POOR”? Almost since the day it launched, commentators have been sniping at iPhone X, saying its sales have been disappointing. Far from it: In Apple’s quarterly earnings statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said “iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.” A study by Counterpoint Research (cited by AppleInsider) says iPhone X alone accounted for 35% of the profits in the global smartphone market in the December quarter of 2017, despite shipping only in November. In total, Apple had eight out of the top ten smartphones in terms of profit share, grabbing 86% of global smartphone profits. HOMEPOD SALES “POOR”? Okay, this one’s a bit less clear-cut. Bloomberg says Apple has lowered its sales forecasts for HomePod…

Wi-Fi FREQUENCY Fix congestion issues These days, many wireless networks overlap due to their number and extended range, which can cause interference that manifests with poor performance and connection issues at shorter-than-expected ranges. Add in an ever-growing number of devices trying to share a single channel and you can see how problems can occur. If you have an 802.11ac router that can broadcast on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, which are divided into several narrower channels, try moving some devices onto the less crowded and congested 5GHz band, particularly those close to the router. 2.4GHz networks also transmit over several overlapping channels — 1 through to 14 in the US — and moving your network to a less crowded one can also have a marked impact on performance. Use Spotlight…

In the market for a new router? Start by making sure it supports 802.11ac for the latest wireless technologies, including faster connections at the same distance. Check the router’s AC rating. The higher the figure, the faster it is, but note the number is a combo of the maximum 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi speeds, specified in Mbps — megabits per second. Detachable antennas can help you direct the signal to where reception is weak. Look for a model with a built-in modem to reduce clutter. Make sure it’s compatible with your internet connection — that means ADSL for regular broadband, VDSL for fiber-optic or DSL for cable. Also, make sure it has sufficient Ethernet ports for your needs, and that they’re Gigabit Ethernet if you need them to reliably handle…

WHEN IT COMES to buying a Mac directly from Apple, there are several ways to save some money. Before you hand over your hard-earned cash, there are a few places you should check first. One is the clearance section on Apple’s website, which offers slightly older Macs (such as those from 2015 and 2016) for a lower price. If you don’t mind not having the latest and greatest Mac available, this is a great place to get a deal (see page 34 for more). Separately, there’s also a section offering second-hand Apple products that have been refurbished by the company, also sold at a discount. While these are not unused, brand-new Macs (unlike clearance items), they have still been tested and certified by Apple, so you know they’re in a…

Know what you need Do you need powerful parts, or will a simpler Mac do the job? Research, read reviews and make an informed decision before you overspend. Be patiently active If you’re not in a hurry, wait until the big sales, for the very best deals. At the same time, if you see a top deal or a clearance Mac, make sure to move quickly! Shop around Don’t buy a Mac without seeing what others are charging. If you do find a seller that has a great warranty but high prices, then see if they will agree to price match. Try before you buy If you’re buying a second-hand Mac, view it in person if possible. Before you make a commitment, check its battery cycle count and other indications…

$2.99 From Nice Boy, jaredsinclair.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 11 or later Simplicity is a laudable goal in life. It speaks of focus and clarity, and of not letting outside clutter get in the way of what you’re trying to do. ‘Sodes is simple, almost minimalist in its pursuit of podcast purity, describing itself as a “casual, cozy way to listen to the occasional podcast.” There’s an overall similarity to Apple Music thanks to the white background and friendly buttons, but ‘Sodes has its own aesthetic that works well in foregrounding the important things — the podcasts. The app only subscribes to and streams podcasts, there’s no downloading capability, so you need to be happy about it potentially burning through your data allowance, or be always aware of…

$1.99 From Crescent Moon Games, crescentmoongames.com Made for iPhone, iPad Needs iOS 8 or later First of all, apologies for the dark images: Reed’s dark, pixelated aesthetic is great in motion and terrible in screenshots. Reed really is as pixelated as it looks, though, and that made it a tough play on the iPad Pro: what’s cute on an iPhone feels like too much of a close-up on a big screen. This is a platformer of the old-school, if you went to a particularly sadistic school. You play the eponymous Reed, created by an ancient supercomputer to try and save the world by collecting crucial components. To do that you need to face ever more complex puzzles and ever more dangerous traps armed with nothing but a double-jump. It’s murderously…

Free From Weav Music, weav.io Made For iPhone, Apple Watch Needs iOS 10.0 or later Music is essential to most runners, but sometimes it can be hard to keep in step as the tempo changes between songs. Weav Run is dedicated to resolving this first-world problem. This app uses motion-triggered technology to seamlessly change the tempo of a song between 100 and 240 steps per minute, which has been proven to decrease fatigue and pain while running. Weav Run works on a treadmill as well as it does outdoors on the street or sidewalk, and hooks into popular services like Nike+ Run Club, Strava, Runtastic, and more. Your Watch becomes a remote control for the Weav Run iPhone app, offering comprehensive control over the most important Weav Run features, so…

1 HOME SIZE Do you really need a mesh network? If you’re living in reasonably close quarters, the answer is probably no. Mesh networks are best suited to larger homes, or those built of particularly dense materials that cause Wi-Fi dead spots. 2 HOW MANY NODES? If your Wi-Fi does need the range extension that mesh offers, how many nodes will you require? Check the specs of the mesh network you’re looking at — there’ll generally be a suggested range per node — and compare it to your home’s dimensions. 3 CURRENT KIT If your router is currently working fine, don’t jump on the mesh bandwagon if you’re looking for speed; while mesh networks are efficient, you won’t find a big speed boost unless you’re currently struggling along on an…

1 RACHIO 3 SMART WATERING SYSTEM From $229.99 rachio.com This comprehensive kit includes a smart sensor controller and a wireless flow sensor. It’s perfect for upgrading existing sprinkler systems, offering automatic garden watering of up to 16 zones, smart weather detection and compatibility with a variety of smart home platforms. 2 B-HYVE HOSE FAUCET $69.95 bhyve.orbitonline.com An affordable option for controlling your sprinkler or watering system. Just attach the valve to your faucet, and the hub to your router and you can control it from anywhere. You can also create schedules to automate watering, and the smart weather detection adjusts the level of watering accordingly. 3 NETGEAR ARLO PRO 2 From $479.99 arlo.com It’s a little pricey, but this two-camera security kit is ideal for use in the garden. The…

SONY XBR-65X900F $2199.99 • SONY.COM The new models for 2018 have started shipping, and Sony’s 65-inch with direct LED lighting and local dimming offers some serious bang for the mid-range buck. Picture quality for both SDR and HDR content is fantastic, but the value is somewhat hampered yet again by the inclusion of Android TV and a love-it-or-leave-it overall design. BEAR MOTION CASE $6.99 • AMAZON.COM Rather than complain about how svelte Siri Remote is, why not pick up this rugged, inexpensive silicone shock resistant case instead? Available in four colors (black, blue, green, or red), you’ll not only protect the back and sides but also make it harder for the remote to slip out of kids’ hands while playing games.…

HOW DO I CONNECT WATCH AND IPHONE AFTER UPDATING TO IOS 11.2.5? Try shutting down both devices and then turning both on again. If that doesn’t work, unpair them following Apple’s instructions at bit.ly/unpairwatch. For best results, start the pairing process on your Watch. When the devices are once again paired, restore the Watch‘s contents from its most recent backup. Note that the process can take a while. WHY DON’T IPHONE NOTIFICATIONS APPEAR ONSCREEN WHEN MY IPHONE IS LOCKED? This can get changed during an iOS update, or simply by mistake. To restore notification previews, go to Settings > Notifications. At the top of the page, tap Show Previews and choose Always. You can also choose whether notifications are silenced when your iPhone is locked — go to Settings >…

HAVING A COMPUTER strapped to your body at all times isn’t just useful for making sure you don’t miss alerts and easily setting timers when you’re cooking. The Watch can really come through for you if there’s an emergency. The Emergency SOS feature is built in to watchOS, and we’ll show you how easy it is to trigger a call to the emergency services when you need them. For most Watch models, your phone will need to be within range of your Watch, because your phone is what actually makes the call — however, you don’t need to actually touch your phone. If you have a Watch Series 3 with 4G built in, you don’t need your phone nearby, because the Watch can make the emergency call directly, even if…