Tips & Tricks

As you may know by now, Apple Intelligence includes handy writing tools and summarization features. One of the more useful ways to take advantage of the Apple Intelligence features on iPhone, Mac, and iPad is to have the AI feature write emails for you. Can’t think of what to say? Or maybe you simply don’t … Read More

Image Playground is an artificial intelligence tool from Apple available for iPhone, Mac, and iPad, that allows you to quickly create and generate images and artwork based upon descriptions or even photos and people from your image library. It’s a fun tool to use, and also super easy.

The Type to Siri feature on Mac is super useful, particularly now that Siri has Apple Intelligence features. Using Type to Siri is perhaps even more handy for Mac users than using the voice activated Siri commands, but some Mac users may find themselves accidentally triggering Type to Siri by inadvertently pressing the initiating command … Read More

Did you know that, by default, your Mac search queries entered into Spotlight, Safari, Siri, Lookup, and #images, are sent to Apple? While this information is anonymized so as not to be identifying, and Apple says it’s used to improve search results, many Mac users may not want this search information being shared with Apple … Read More

Siri has been considerably improved in recent MacOS versions, mostly because it’s now linked to ChatGPT. One of the other recent changes to Siri in modern MacOS versions is that it’s now easier to access the “Type to Siri” feature, no longer being relegated to an Accessibility setting that has to be enabled separately like … Read More

Some MacOS Sequoia users have discovered that the com.apple.mediaanalysisd directory in MacOS is taking up very large amounts of disk storage capacity with cache files. If you have discovered your Mac disk space has reduced since installing or updating to MacOS Sequoia, the inordinately large com.apple.mediaanalysisd cache file issue could be to blame. A variety … Read More

You may occasionally find a situation where a question mark icon appears in the Mac Dock, sometimes it’s even several question mark icons. If you click on the question mark icon in the Dock, nothing happens. What is the question mark? Why is there a question mark icon in the Dock? How do you remove … Read More

While you’re visiting family this holiday season, if you’re the family tech guru you might get asked some questions about iPhone. This year, why not be a little more proactive and sit down with someone less tech savvy, and with a few tweaks, improve their iPhone experience?

OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool, has introduced a new phone-based ChatGPT client experience. By calling 1-800-ChatGPT (1-800-242-8478), you are able to have a phone conversation with ChatGPT to get AI answers by phone. Essentially the phone line for ChatGPT means that you can access and use ChatGPT entirely by voice, … Read More

Apple recently introduced a completely new redesign for Mail app on iPhone including a Mail Categories feature that many users have strong opinions about, and along with that design change are new large prominent sender profile icons, which sit next to every item in the inbox. These large prominent mail sender icons squeeze the Mail … Read More

The iPhone has pretty great battery life, especially when they’re brand new devices, but like all electronic devices that are battery powered, over time and with usage the battery on iPhone will drain down. If you are new to iPhone, you may be wondering how you can check the remaining battery life of iPhone, and … Read More

Many Mac users, IT staff, and systems administrators like to have on hand full MacOS installers, for both current and prior versions of MacOS system software. Additionally, many advanced Mac users and IT professionals need to have readily available MacOS IPSW firmware files for performing restores to Apple Silicon Macs, for virtual machines, even for … Read More

If you have recently opened the Mail app after updating to iOS 18.2 or iPadOS 18.2, you likely discovered that Mail now defaults to a Mail “Categories” view, showing distinct mail category inboxes; “Primary”, “Transactions”, “Updates”, and “Promotions”. Presumably Apple chose to redesign everyones inbox and enable Mail Categories by default on iPhone and iPad … Read More

Some iPhone users may be interested in learning what the battery cycle count is on their iPhone. A battery cycle is counted when a full charge and discharge cycle has completed, and this number can help to determine battery usage, health, as well as longevity. Up until recently and with the latest model iPhone devices, … Read More

A handy app-specific security feature is available for iPhone and iPad that requires authentication with Face ID or a passcode before a chosen app can be launched. Essentially this lets you lock any iPhone or iPad app with Face ID or a passcode, and this lock applies even if your iPhone or iPad is already … Read More

The Tapback reaction feature in Messages for iPhone, iPad, and Mac is popular, and with the latest versions of system software for these devices, you can now Tapback with any Emoji, rather than just the handful of defaults. This offers a nice way to further customize a response to a message, and it’s pretty easy … Read More

One of the potentially most useful newer features on iPhone is available in iOS 18.1 and later, offering a remarkably simple way to record calls on iPhone. Now, iPhone has an easily accessible call record button, available on the same phone screen that you use to toggle speaker phone, mute, and end the call. When … Read More

While there are plenty of paid options to get a business plan, from business plan software, to books, to working with a consultant, or even outsourcing the entire thing, another option is available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, and it uses the magic of Apple Intelligence features and ChatGPT to instantly create a business … Read More