Apple has released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 as a small security and bug fix update for Mac users running Big Sur. The macOS 11.2.1 update resolves a security issue with sudo, and also resolves some battery charging issues with select MacBook Pro models.
Separately, Apple also released macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update and macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2021-002 for Mac users still running Catalina or Mojave operating systems.
The updates are recommended for all Mac users running compatible system software to install.
Having trouble booting up an Apple Silicon M1 Mac normally? Booting into Safe Mode can help troubleshoot issues on a Mac, and help to determine if a particular problem is software related, MacOS related, or even hardware related. If you have an Apple Silicon MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac mini however, you’ll find the process of booting into Safe Mode on M1 Macs is different from how it worked on Intel Macs.
Wondering how to perform some common troubleshooting tasks like force restarting an Apple Silicon M1, M2, or M3 Mac? If you are an early adopter an Apple silicon MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac mini, you might be curious how some some tasks are different, since M1-powered Macs are based on a completely different chip architecture.
Did you recently start using Signal messenger to text your friends, family, and colleagues? You’re certainly not the only one in that regard, as many iPhone and Android users have been making the switch due to privacy or security concerns. Considering you’re new to the platform, you may not know how to get started with groups within the Signal app.
If you’re an Android user who longs for iMessage on your Android phone, you may already be familiar with Screen Sharing options (that also work with Windows and Linux PC’s), and WeMessage. But another option is available called AirMessage, which brings iMessage sending and receiving to Android as well.
If you’re a Homebrew fan and an Apple Silicon Mac user, you’ll be happy to discover the latest versions of Homebrew (3.0.0 and beyond) now natively support Apple Silicon architecture. You’ll still need Rosetta 2 to have some packages and formulae to work, but many are already native supported by the command line package manager.
Are you not content with the text size of your subtitles while watching videos on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV? Don’t worry, regardless of your device, you can change your subtitle font size within a matter of seconds.
Is the microphone on your iPhone not working as intended? Or, does your voice sound muffled during voice calls and video calls? There are several factors that could hamper the performance of your iPhone’s microphone, so let’s take look at how to resolve what can be a frustrating issue.
Have you ever wondered if the passwords to any of your online accounts have been compromised in a data breach? You’re certainly not the only one in that regard, but now you can now check for breached password security easily right from your iPhone and iPad.
If you’re a Signal messenger user, you can further improve the security and privacy of your Signal communications and messages by enabling and using the disappearing messages feature. Just as it sounds, disappearing messages causes Signal to automatically disappear and remove messages after a specified time period. Even better is that it’s customizable, so you can set disappearing messages to be enabled for specific contacts, and you can toggle the feature off and on at any time (as can the other person you’re communicating with).
For some quick background for the unfamiliar; Signal is a popular and highly regarded free secure messaging client that not only enhances communication privacy and security with end-to-end encryption, but is also popular because of it being cross-platform compatible, available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. That cross-platform availability makes it more versatile than iMessage, which while also encrypted, is limited to the Apple ecosystem. Signal requires a phone number to setup, but once you have it configured on an iPhone or Android you can then easily setup the client on a Mac, Windows PC, and other desktops too. And this might be obvious, but anyone you want to communicate with using Signal will need to have the Signal app on their device or computer as well.
Let’s walkthrough how to setup disappearing messages in Signal, including Signal messenger for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux:
Downloading complete macOS installers has long been possible via the App Store and from Apple CDN and the command line, but some users encounter difficulties with those approaches, or find them too cumbersome. Another option is to download a full macOS installer by using an app called MDS.
MDS stands for Mac Deploy Stick and is third party software, it’s free to download but if you want support for the app you’ll need to pay for it. For our purposes here, we’re simply aiming to use the MDS app to download complete installers of macOS system software, without going through the usual channels of the Mac App Store, or the Terminal.
Are you tired of seeing unwanted camera and microphone access pop-ups with certain websites on Safari for iPhone and iPad? Or maybe you just want to manually disable camera access for some websites due to privacy concerns? Fortunately, this is actually pretty easy to do with iOS and iPadOS.
Telegram might be one of the most secure messaging services out there, but that doesn’t stop someone from reading your incoming messages through notifications that pop up on your iPhone screen. The developers have thought this through however, as they offer an in-app setting that allows you to disable message previews. If you use Telegram on iPhone and are concerned about having more privacy, this may interest you.
How’d you like to use your iPhone camera buttons for both camera burst mode and QuickTake video? With supported devices and the latest versions of iOS, you can use the volume buttons for camera burst and QuickTake video on an iPhone.
Apple has released the first beta versions of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4, and tvOS 14.5.
The new betas arrive not long after the final versions of iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 became available to iPhone and iPad users.
A first beta for macOS Big Sur 11.3 is not yet available, but is likely to arrive soon as well, considering macOS Big Sur 11.2 update was just finalized and released to all Mac users.
Apple has released macOS Big Sur 11.2 for Mac users running macOS Big Sur. The new software update includes bug fixes and enhancements to the operating system, and is therefore recommended for all Mac users running macOS 11 Big Sur.
Specifically, macOS Big Sur 11.2 is said to improve the reliability of Bluetooth connections, resolves an issue with external displays and some M1 Macs, fixes a problem where iCloud Drive could erroneously turn off, amongst other various improvements and bug fixes. The full release notes for macOS Big Sur 11.2 are further below.
Additionally, smaller software updates are available for Mac users running macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave, versioned as Security Update 2021-001 Catalina and Security Update 2021-001 Mojave. Previously, Apple had also released iOS 14.4 for iPhone, iPadOS 14.4 for iPad, tvOS 14.4 for Apple TV, and watchOS 7.3 for Apple Watch.
We all love a bit of music and Apple Music subscribers are no different. But with so much music including explicit language, you might want to turn it off, ensuring you only hear the clean version of every song. That is especially the case if you have kids who use your device – or they have their own device – and listen to music.
