Shrink Apps to Prevent the MacBook Pro Notch from Obscuring App Controls

The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models feature a camera housing built into the screen, resulting in a notch like that on the iPhone. Most developers are updating their apps to ensure that no controls or menu bar items appear blocked or hidden by the notch, but if you use an older app [...]

By |2022-01-04T15:28:05-04:00January 4th, 2022|Mac Tips|Comments Off on Shrink Apps to Prevent the MacBook Pro Notch from Obscuring App Controls

Keep the Menu Bar Showing in Full Screen in macOS 12 Monterey

Do you like using full-screen mode on your new M1-based MacBook Pro but hate having the menu bar disappear unless you move the pointer to the top of the screen? Happily, in macOS 12 Monterey, Apple has at long last added a setting to keep the menu bar visible at all times. Open System [...]

By |2021-12-02T17:26:13-04:00December 21st, 2021|Mac Tips|Comments Off on Keep the Menu Bar Showing in Full Screen in macOS 12 Monterey

FaceTime Gains Cool New Features in Apple’s Latest Operating Systems

It’s no exaggeration to say that videoconferencing went mainstream during the pandemic. However, Apple’s FaceTime didn’t stack up well against Zoom and others due to its emulation of the telephone call experience, questionable interface decisions, and lack of cross-platform compatibility. However, with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12 Monterey, Apple has nearly brought [...]

By |2021-12-02T17:31:00-04:00December 17th, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on FaceTime Gains Cool New Features in Apple’s Latest Operating Systems

Need to Resize Images in Various Ways? Give Preview a Try

Even those of us who don’t work with graphics professionally often find ourselves needing to resize images. Perhaps you have a large square headshot, but the site to which you’re uploading requires it to be exactly 100 by 100 pixels. Or maybe you have an iPhone 13 Pro photo that’s 4032 by 3024, but [...]

By |2021-11-01T17:55:23-04:00December 3rd, 2021|Mac Tips|Comments Off on Need to Resize Images in Various Ways? Give Preview a Try

Avoid Unusual Top-Level Domains in Custom Domain Names

Remember the heady dotcom days, when businesses were desperate to get a short, memorable, easily typed .com domain? It quickly became difficult to get what you wanted—so much so that deep-pocketed companies paid exorbitant sums for just the right domain. Before we go any further, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page. [...]

By |2021-11-01T17:52:23-04:00November 19th, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on Avoid Unusual Top-Level Domains in Custom Domain Names

Safari 15.1 Reverses Course, Reverts to Old Tab Interface

With the betas of Safari 15 on the Mac and iPad, Apple experimented with a variety of interface tweaks related to tabs. By the time Safari 15 shipped, however, Apple had pulled back on the more radical changes from the betas, offering the new Compact Tab Bar layout and colorized tab bar as options. [...]

By |2021-11-01T17:59:03-04:00November 16th, 2021|Mac Tips|Comments Off on Safari 15.1 Reverses Course, Reverts to Old Tab Interface

Beware the Bulging Battery! (And What to Do If Yours Expands)

We’ve been seeing a spate of bulging batteries of late, both in Mac laptops and iPhones. A bulging battery is a Very Bad Thing and must be dealt with immediately because it could catch fire or even explode. As lithium-ion batteries age, the chemical reactions that produce power no longer complete fully, resulting in [...]

By |2021-10-03T12:29:46-04:00November 12th, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on Beware the Bulging Battery! (And What to Do If Yours Expands)

When It Comes to Wi-Fi Networks, Sometimes It’s Better to Forget

It’s easy, particularly when traveling, to end up connecting to a Wi-Fi network that doesn’t provide Internet access, requires credentials you don’t have, or lacks access to the network’s printer. Unfortunately, once your iPhone, iPad, or Mac has connected to such a network, it may reconnect to it later, causing consternation when things don’t [...]

By |2021-10-03T12:10:13-04:00November 2nd, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on When It Comes to Wi-Fi Networks, Sometimes It’s Better to Forget

What Is iCloud+ and What Can You Do With It?

As you upgrade to iOS 15, iPadOS 15 (and macOS 12 Monterey by the end of the year), you’re going to see references to iCloud+. You might even already be an iCloud+ subscriber! That’s because iCloud+ is Apple’s new name for what you get if you pay for additional iCloud storage for yourself and [...]

By |2021-10-03T12:24:38-04:00October 29th, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on What Is iCloud+ and What Can You Do With It?

New Features to Try (Or Not) in Safari 15

Along with a new version of Safari in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple has released Safari 15 for macOS 11 Big Sur and macOS 10.15 Catalina. Why do this before macOS 12 Monterey ships? Some of the browser’s new capabilities—notably the Tab Groups feature—integrate it more deeply into your Apple device experience by [...]

By |2021-10-03T12:21:49-04:00October 22nd, 2021|iOS Tips, Mac Tips|Comments Off on New Features to Try (Or Not) in Safari 15
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