Mac users can respond to Messages faster than ever by replying directly from a message notification, without ever having to open the Messages app. This effectively means that you can have an entire conversation through the message pop-ups in Mac OS without using the Messages app, though keep in mind the experience will be limited for multimedia messages of pictures and video, leaving this tip best for replying to normal text based communications.

Read more »

Pages for Mac has gained the ability to use Tabs, allowing for tidy document management within the Pages app when having multiple documents open simultaneously.

Read more »

If you have some picture(s) you’d rather not shown alongside your regular photo album in Photos for Mac, you can hide those photos and then use a special Hidden Photos album to contain the hidden images and browse them separately. These hidden pictures will be self contained and separate from the regular album views, though they can still be easily accessed from the Photos app on Mac. We’ll show you how to hide photos, and then how to access the Hidden album, and how to unhide pictures as well.

Read more »

Restrictions on iPhone or iPad prevent a user from making many changes to the devices settings and allow the disabling of various iOS features, including some apps, functionalities, to disallow certain content types, and the ability to prevent making in-app purchases or buying from the App Store. Restrictions are very commonly used by parents to make a kid friendly iPhone or iPad, and iOS restrictions are also frequently used in academic and public environments to limit a device in various ways.

Restrictions are an excellent feature of iOS, but what happens if you forget the Restrictions password in iOS? Can you reset a forgotten Restrictions passcode on iPhone or iPad? How do you remove a Restrictions passcode if you don’t know the password? These are all valid questions, be sure to read thoroughly below to learn how to work with the scenario of a lost restrictions password.

Read more »

Wondering how to use the 2x zoom telephoto lens on iPhone camera? Many new iPhone models include dual or triple camera lens systems, with the secondary lens allowing for 2x optical zoom with a 10x digital zoom modifier. Using the 2x optical zoom feature on iPhone Plus is excellent and easy, but it works slightly different from zooming on a regular iPhone camera, which is accomplished with a pinch gesture. This article will show you how to use and access the 2x telephoto zoom lens feature, assuming your iPhone supports it.

Read more »

iTunes error 9006 may appear when attempting to download, restore, or update an iPhone or iPad. Typically you’ll see an iTunes error message that states something like “There was a problem downloading software for the iPhone. An unknown error occurred (9006).” or you’ll notice an “err = 9006” message alongside a stopped or failed download of an iPhone software update.

Usually iTunes error 9006 can be resolved with some simple troubleshooting steps, allowing the user to update iOS on their iPhone or iPad without incident rather quickly.

Read more »

It’s officially the last minute, and you still need to get a gift for someone. Welcome to the present shopping procrastinators club! But seriously, this happens, maybe someone makes an unexpected appearance at a holiday gathering or maybe you just forgot that cousin Billy exists, or maybe you quite literally waited until the last minute to get any presents, whatever the reason there’s no need to panic, there ARE last minute gift options that don’t involve frantically running to whatever store is open and buying whatever is available off the shelf.

Read more »

The new iPhone models offer subtle system haptic feedback when performing various actions in iOS. This physical haptic feedback is performed through the Taptic Engine built into iPhone, and you’ll notice it throughout iOS when activating different features, toggles, buttons, and functions.

You’ll find system haptic feedback when opening Notification Center, Contrl Center, toggling UI switches, opening Spotlight, using onscreen zoom, when scrolling through date and number pickers, refreshing Mail, activating the arrange app icon or delete apps feature, and more.

Some users may not like the system haptics on iPhone however, and may prefer to turn this feature off.

Read more »

The modern releases of iOS allow you to see and send fun iMessage effects while retaining the Reduce Motion setting to remove the sometimes nauseating zoom effects found elsewhere throughout the iPhone and iPad user interface.

Read more »

You can add additional fingerprints to Touch ID equipped Macs, providing the option for more than one fingerprint to unlock the Mac, be used for Apple Pay, and to make purchases from the iTunes and App Store.

Read more »

The News app on iPhone and iPad includes a large number of publications, some of which you may be interested in, and likely some that you have less interest in reading, or maybe even some news you don’t want to see at all.

Fortunately it’s really easy to adjust the News app in iOS to block or hide a news source, so if you’re tired of seeing stories from a particular outlet or a trashy tabloid source you can hide them and clean up your News app feed a bit. This offers a simple way to customize the News app to better suit your preferences, and to hide all stories and publications from media outlets you either aren’t interested in or just don’t like.

Read more »

Apple has released the second beta versions of MacOS Sierra 10.12.3 and iOS 10.2.1 to users enrolled in the beta testing programs.

Read more »

Many of you may use the excellent Picture-in-Picture mode on the Mac to watch a video or movie while doing something else on the computer. In doing so you have likely noticed that the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) windows snap into one of the four corners of the Mac display.

But what if you want to move your Picture-in-Picture window somewhere else on the Mac screen?

Read more »

The latest versions of Safari for iOS allows users to easily close all browser tabs that are open, all at once, again. This great Safari feature makes it easier to manage and close out tons of browser tabs on the iPhone and iPad, rather than relying on closing individual tabs in Safari for iOS.

Read more »

Need some holiday gift ideas for this season? Read on!

I know, it’s late in the season, but if you’re anything like me, you tend to wait until you’re down to the wire to shop for gifts. That’s OK because Amazon can come to the rescue and will deliver in time, right? So whether you’re shopping for someone for Christmas, Chanukah, Festivus, or all or none of the aforementioned, you’re sure to delight someone (or yourself, there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself!).

Read more »

Some Mac users have discovered that Mail app has stopped showing attachments after updating to Mac OS Sierra, despite not having manually removed the attachments themselves. Additionally, existing emails with attachments may appear as if the email attachments disappeared entirely.

While having disappearing Mail attachments can be alarming, you can usually resolve this issue with a two-step process.
Read more »

Tapback messages offer an in-line visual icon response to any message, it’s a fun feature on iOS Messages app that is also one of the few message effect features available on the Mac.

Read more »

By default Mac OS will name a Bluetooth device like an Apple Magic Mouse as “Name’s Magic Mouse”, which makes it easy to identify. Some Mac users may wish to change that and assign a different name to their Magic Mouse or to rename the Magic Mouse however, perhaps to resolve a conflict, to not confuse multiple devices synced to the same Mac, for privacy purposes, or any other number of reasons.

This quick guide will show you how to rename an Apple Magic Mouse or Magic Mouse 2 in Mac OS.
Read more »