Tips & Tricks

Tips and tricks for all things Apple! Whether you want to learn tips for a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or much more, you will find many tricks, tips, tutorials, and excellent walkthroughs for Apple devices and software here.

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How to Get Bokeh Light Effects with the iPhone Camera

Mar 31, 2013 - 7 Comments
iPhone bokeh

Bokeh is a photography effect that creates strong light blurs on any out of focus light, frequently rendered as circular blurry elements where a point of light is visible in the image. You’ll see it often in professional photography as well as more abstract artistically oriented photography, and it can help to create a depth … Read More

Delete App Data from iCloud via Mac OS X

Mar 29, 2013 - 2 Comments
Delete specific documents from iCloud

Many apps for both iOS and OS X store documents and app data directly in iCloud, this allows easy syncing between devices and also provides a certain extra level of backup for some apps, since it’s all stored in the cloud. On the other hand, you may want to remove some of those documents and … Read More

How to Hide Apps on the iPhone & iPad

Mar 28, 2013 - 21 Comments
Hide apps from the Home Screen in iOS easily

Want to hide an app or two from appearing on the iOS home screen? Maybe you want to hide all apps downloaded from the App Store, but keep the defaults visible? Or maybe you just want to hide a stock app that shipped with your iPhone or iPad like Safari or iTunes? You can do … Read More

How to Sync Safari Bookmarks Between Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone, & iPad

Mar 28, 2013 - 4 Comments
Safari

Bookmarks saved within Safari will sync between all of your other iCloud equipped devices, assuming you have iCloud configured correctly do so. This means a website you bookmark on your Mac will sync over to an iPad, and something bookmarked on your iPhone will sync back to your Mac, iPad, and Windows PC, and vice … Read More

Create an Instant Notepad in Any Web Browser Window

Mar 27, 2013 - 15 Comments
Instant Notepad from any web browser

Ever needed a quick place to paste some text or make a quick note while you’re doing web work? Using a neat trick, you can turn any web browser window or tab into an instant notepad that you can write in, copy and paste out of, and even adjust the font sizes within. There really … Read More

Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius & Other Temperatures on the iPhone with Siri

Mar 27, 2013 - 6 Comments
Change temperature scale on the iPhone

Some countries use fahrenheit, others use celsius, and if you’re an alien on an unusually extreme planet maybe you even use kelvin… whatever the case we’ve all run into the situation where someone from elsewhere is referring to a temperature in a scale you’re unfamiliar with. Obviously if someone in the USA says “wow it … Read More

Nmap for Mac OS X Explores Networks, Scans Ports, and More

Mar 26, 2013 - 9 Comments
nmap for Mac OS X

Nmap is a powerful command line network discovery utility that lets you review network inventory, host response and uptime, and perform security auditing through port scans, OS and firewall detection, and more. Though it’s free (and open source) and ships along with many versions of linux, it doesn’t come standard with Mac OS X installations, … Read More

Turn Off the iPhone Camera Shutter Sound Effect to Take Photos Silenty

Mar 25, 2013 - 45 Comments
iPhone camera icon

As we all know, any time a photo is taken with the iPhone camera, a little shutter sound accompanies the snapping of the picture. That sound effect is all software, and so though you might expect there to be a simple settings change to toggle that sound effect off, well, you may be disappointed to … Read More

How to Set the Equalizer for Specific Genres, Songs, & Albums in iTunes

Mar 25, 2013 - 3 Comments
Set equalizer for a music genre in iTunes

Unless an entire music library consists of only a single genre of music, it’s fairly rare to have find one equalizer setting for your iTunes collection to rule every single song or album. Sure there are some pretty good general settings, and the preset options are great too, but for the best experience with diverse … Read More

Automatically Log Out of a Mac After a Period of Inactivity

Mar 23, 2013 - 8 Comments
Automatic Log Out in Mac OS X

Using the automatic log out feature is a good way to bring an additional layer of security to a Mac. It works just as you’d expect; after a predetermined amount of time has passed without activity, the active user account logs itself out. This means all currently running apps close out as well as all … Read More

Start a Photo Slideshow on iPhone That Plays to Music

Mar 23, 2013 - 2 Comments
Photo slideshow with music on iPhone

If you ever want to show off some great pictures from your iPhone, you can instantly start a slideshow from the Photos app. This under-appreciated feature is extremely easy to use, and it can be livened up a bit by adding some fitting music to play alongside the slideshow. Everything is remarkably easy to set … Read More

Find When You Are Eligible for a New iPhone Upgrade Subsidy & Get a Reminder

Mar 22, 2013 - 10 Comments
Check iphone upgrade eligibility and get a reminder

Itching to upgrade to a new iPhone but don’t want to pay full price? You can easily find out when you are eligible for the subsidized upgrade rate, plus set an automatic reminder for when the new upgrade rate is available for your current plan. This is great if you want to upgrade your iPhone … Read More

7 Simple Window Management Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac OS X to Improve Workflow

Mar 22, 2013 - 17 Comments
Window Management keystrokes in Mac OS X

Overloaded with too many active windows from too many apps? Want to quickly flip through them, minimize one, maybe maximize another? Maybe you’d just like to really focus and go full screen? We’ve got this all covered with some simple keyboard shortcuts that can improve workflow by speeding up window management and how you interact … Read More

Set Up Two-Step Verification for Apple ID to Increase Account Security

Mar 21, 2013 - 8 Comments
Set up two step verification for Apple ID's

Apple has added an optional two-step verification security authentication feature to Apple ID’s, the login which is used to manage everything from iCloud storage settings to iTunes and App Store purchases. With Two-Step Verification enabled, you’ll login as usual, but then be required to verify your identity by entering in a special verification code on … Read More

Change the Notification Center Alert Sound in Mac OS X

Mar 21, 2013 - 8 Comments
Change Notification Center alert sound in Mac OS X

As you know, OS X plays a sound when a new Notification pops up in Notification Center. That default sound is called “Basso”, a low toned sound effect that is kind of like a short tap on a low note piano key. CultOfMac hilariously describes the sound as a “frog fart”, and if you aren’t … Read More

How to Merge Multiple Contacts on iPhone from Mac OS X

Mar 20, 2013 - 3 Comments
Contacts icon

It’s not unusual for peoples names to change, for someone to switch jobs or phone numbers, or even for a company to change their name or information. It’s frustrating to wander into the Contacts app on the iPhone to discover a ton of entries for a single person or entity to cover each of those … Read More

Trim Voice Memo Recording Length on iPhone (iOS 6)

Mar 20, 2013 - 5 Comments
Shorten Voice Memo Recordings on iPhone

The Voice Memo app bundled with the iPhone allows you to use the device as a personal recorder, in much the same way people used to carry tape recorders to jot down thoughts, meeting notes, or just personal messages. But if you’ve recorded something that is either too long for your purposes, or just contains … Read More

How to Turn Off Screen Shot & Empty Trash Sound Effects in Mac OS X

Mar 19, 2013 - 10 Comments
Stop the screen shot and empty trash sound effects in Mac OS X

Anytime you take a screen shot in Mac OS X or empty the trash you hear a little sound effect that accompanies the action. With a screenshot it sounds like a camera shutter clicking, and with the Trash it kind of sounds like a bunch of papers being crumpled and dumped out. Cute sound effects, … Read More

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