Apple has released the second beta versions of iOS 17.2 for iPhone, iPadOS 17.2 for iPad, and macOS Sonoma 14.2 for Mac. The beta versions are available now to users participating in the beta testing programs for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

iOS 17.2 beta includes the Journal app, which lets users track their lives in digital journal entries with photos, video, voice recordings, media, and whatever else you feel like feeding into the digital machine and iCloud.

Betas of macOS Sonoma 14.2, iPadOS 17.2, and iOS 17.2 also include an ability to add stickers from iMessage contextual menus. Presumably the versions will also patch bugs, add security enhancements, and provide other smaller changes to the operating systems as well.

Read more »

StandBy Mode is perhaps the most interesting feature for iPhone users who update to iOS 17, transforming the iPhone into a customizable display clock whenever the iPhone is placed horizontally and is charging.

With StandBy Mode, your iPhone can become a table clock, a photo frame, an information display, amongst other possibilities, and since it’s easily customizable, how you use the feature is up to you.

Read more »

Amazon is offering a great deal on the all new Apple Watch Series 9 for just $349, taking $50 off the retail price of $399.

The Apple Watch Series 9 features fitness tracking capabilities, heart rate monitor, blood oxygen reader, ECG capability, ovulation tracking, an always-on display, GPS, and a powerful new chip to make the watch speedier than ever. You can get the deal in a variety of color options and sizes.

• Apple Watch Series 9 – $349 (Down $50 from $399)

FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running.

The Disk Utility application on MacOS has a command line counterpart, that allows Mac users to run disk maintenance and disk administration tasks, including verifying and repairing disks. There are obvious advantages and benefits to using the command line for tasks like this, particularly for troubleshooting scenarios, and remote management, but some advanced users may also simply prefer to use the command line rather than the GUI app of Disk Utility.

Let’s review how you can use the Mac command line to verify a disk on your Mac, and repair it if necessary.

Read more »

Apple has released iOS 17.1.1 for iPhone, along with iPadOS 17.1.1 for iPad. The point release updates offer bug fixes and security enhancements, and are therefore recommended for all users to install on their devices.

Specifically, iOS 17.1.1 fixes an issue where the Lock Screen Weather widget may not display snow correctly, and an issue where Apple Pay and NFC features are not working with wireless charging in certain cars and the iPhone 15 series. The full release notes are included further below.

Separately, Apple has released macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 with unspecific bug fixes and security enhancements, along with an update for watchOS 10.1.1 that resolves an issue where Apple Watch battery life was draining quickly.

Read more »

Apple has released macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 for Mac users running the Sonoma operating system. The update is said to include bug fixes and security enhancements for Sonoma, though no bugs are specifically mentioned in the release notes, which are included below.

Separately, Apple has released iOS 17.1.1 for iPhone, iPadOS 17.1.1 for iPad, watchOS 10.1.1 for Apple Watch, and macOS Ventura 13.6.2 for select Macs running Ventura.

Read more »

If you’re a Mac gamer, you’re likely excited about Game Mode in macOS, and it may even be the reason you installed MacOS Sonoma in the first place.

Game Mode is a new feature in MacOS Sonoma that allows games to run at their absolute best, by prioritizing the game for both CPU and GPU, and deprioritizing other background processes and apps. Additionally, Bluetooth performance and sampling rate doubles, which helps to improve the performance of Bluetooth game controllers, wireless devices, AirPods, and headphones.

One of the big questions that many Mac users havre about Game Mode on the Mac is obvious and reasonable, and that is how do you enable Game Mode on MacOS? That’s exactly what we’re going to cover here, so you’ll understand how Game Mode works, and how to enable and use it so that you can optimize your Mac gaming experience.

Read more »

Contact Posters are a feature added to iPhone with iOS 17 and newer, that allow you to choose a custom photo, poster, and name that appears when you call another iPhone user (or send them a message). These personalized Contact Posters can be a fun way to further customize your iPhone experience, and they’re unique in that it impacts how your name and photo appears on another persons device, allowing for plenty of creativity and all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Setting up a Contact Poster on iPhone is not particularly difficult, however like so many other features on iOS, it can be a mystery on how to setup a Contact Poster or how to access the settings for the feature. This is particularly true because iOS tells you that you can access the feature in Settings, when in fact the Contact Poster feature does not exist in iPhone Settings at all. Fascinating, right? But a little bit of mystery won’t stop us from showing you how to create a custom Contact Poster for yourself on iPhone.

Read more »

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks in the world, where people post and share videos, reels, pictures, and so much more. You may occasionally come across a situation where you need to find your exact Instagram username, login information, or even Instagram password, and that’s what we’re going to help you out with.

Read along and you’ll find out how to find your Instagram username, how to find your Instagram password, and even how to get a new Instagram password if you can’t remember it or you forgot it. We’ll cover five different tips to locate Instagram passwords, instagram usernames, and to manage both of them as well.

Read more »

WhatsApp now offers the ability to edit sent messages, a convenient feature for correcting typos, errors, mistakes, or hastily sent messages that you soon regret. If you’re ever in this situation and using WhatsApp, there’s no need to freak out, because you can simply edit the message, correct or modify whatever you typed or sent, and regain some peace of mind.

You can edit any sent message on WhatsApp for 15 minutes after it has been sent, and you can do anything from edit the text, to delete the text, to add or remove images and media.

If you’re already familiar with the process to edit Messages on iPhone or iPad, or editing Messages on the Mac, then you’ll find this procedure to be quite simple and familiar.

Read more »

Dropping a pin on Google Maps allows you to mark a location on the map for sharing with others, for saving that spot for yourself to reference later, or even for getting directions to that pinned location. It’s a very useful feature of Google Maps that has wide applications, so if you’re a Google Maps user for iPhone or iPad, you’ll almost certainly want to know how to drop pins in the Google Maps app.

Read more »

If your Mac feels excessively slow at random, or unreasonably slow for seemingly no apparent reason, you may want to check to see if the Messages app is open, as the Messages app for Mac has been known to use heavy amounts of processor and system resources. Next, you can investigate Activity Monitor for CPU utilization regarding the Messages app to confirm if this is the case.

Many Mac users have been reporting that Messages app on the Mac often uses inordinately high amounts of CPU, sometimes even maxing out the processor or otherwise consuming huge amounts of CPU, simply by the Messages app being open, whether or not you’re actively using the app. This has been an issue with many versions of MacOS system software, and it is not limited to MacOS Sonoma, macOS Ventura, Monterey, Mojave, High Sierra, etc, it can seemingly impact all Messages versions on the Mac, though the more recent versions with features like Stickers may have a greater propensity for slow performance and high CPU consumption.

We’re going to cover common reasons why Messages can slow down a Mac and lead to high CPU usage, as well as cover some solutions, and troubleshooting tips.

Read more »

Your iPhone can help to decipher those crazy laundry symbols on your clothes, but if you didn’t know that, you’re certainly not alone.

Anyone who has ever done laundry in their lifetime has undoubtedly looked at the back of a clothing tag and seen a variety of symbols, some of which may seem sort obvious, while other symbols look like some convergence of hieroglyphics and greek. But, your iPhone has a great built-in feature that will translate those laundry symbols, helping you to make sense of what you’re supposed to do with your clothing, towels, sheets, and whatever other laundry you’re doing.

Read more »

Amazon is offering some nice deals again today on Apple products. This time we’ve got a nice 10% discount on the latest iPad Pro 12.9″ model, $60 off AirPods Pro 2nd gen, and a whopping 42% off Beats Studio Pro headphones. Check out the deals below!

Read more »

You can use the built-in microphone on your iPhone as an external microphone on your Mac, thanks to the Continuity Camera feature of MacOS. Yes, the same feature that allows you to use iPhone as a FaceTime camera on a Mac also lets you just tap into the microphone if you’d like to. The iPhone has a good quality microphone and is obviously much more mobile than the internal microphone on a Mac, so this can offer a great solution for improving the audio quality of VOIP and audio calls, podcast recordings, and much more.

Read along and you’ll be using your iPhone as an external microphone for your Mac in no time.

Read more »

Apple has used their Halloween-eve “Scary Fast” event to release updates to the MacBook Pro and iMac lineup, both featuring the all-new M3 processor.

And, for the MacBook Pro, there’s an all new Space Black color option, but only for the M3 Pro and M3 Max versions of that computer.

Read more »

YouTube is the webs most popular video site by a long shot, practically serving as a television replacement for millions. But as any Youtube viewer knows, the ads can be very aggressive and there are times where you’ll have to watch a 30 second ad before you can watch one minute of content, which is not exactly a great experience. Other times you may be watching a video of music or a movie, or even a workout, and suddenly your watching experience is interrupted by interstitial ads and commercials, that can be distracting and annoying. Wouldn’t it be nice to watch YouTube without the ads?

Is an ad-free YouTube experience possible, for free? And the answer to that question is yes, thanks to FreeTube.

Read more »

Amazon is back with more great deals on Apple products and gear. From knocking up to $50 off AirPods Pro, to $80 off iPad 9th gen, to $250 off M2 MacBook Air 15″ models, $150 off Beats Studio Pro headphones, and more, if you’re in the market for some Apple hardware, enjoy these rare discounts from Amazon on coveted Apple products.

Read more »