Universal Control is a fantastic feature for Mac and iPad that allows you to share a keyboard and mouse or trackpad between devices. But aside from the convenient ability to share the keyboard and mouse, there are some additional handy tips and tricks available to Universal Control that you may not be familiar with, and we’ll be covering some of those here.
From copying and pasting, to dragging and dropping files, using keyboard shortcuts, arranging displays orientation to represent your physical setup, using gestures, reconnecting devices, and more, read along to better understand a wide variety of tips and tricks for Universal Control for both MacOS and iPadOS.
Some Mac users have found it difficult to see keyboard shortcuts in macOS Sonoma and Ventura, specifically within the freshly redesigned new System Settings experience that replaced System Preferences. Gone is the obvious and here comes obscurity, so it’s not too surprising that some users aren’t able to see the keyboard shortcuts for custom added App Shortcuts, for example, or perhaps able to find the Keyboard Shortcuts section at all.
Let’s walk through how you can see the Keyboard Shortcuts in MacOS Sonoma and MacOS Ventura System Settings, and how to see individual keyboard shortcuts and specific App Shortcuts.
By default, the Mac desktop will show external drives and volumes, including things like external hard drives, USB flash keys, and other external storage. If you wish to not show those external volumes on the desktop, you can adjust a setting in MacOS to hide external drives form the Mac desktop.
Hiding external drives from the Mac desktop offers a cleaner and more simplified desktop experience, and you can continue to access the external drives and volumes from the Finder at any time.
Apple has issued release candidate builds for iOS 16.2 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.2 for iPad, and macOS Ventura 13.1 for Mac.
All release candidate builds include support for iCloud Backups and iCloud Photos end-to-end encryption, a feature that has long been requested by data privacy advocates and security conscious individuals. Additionally, the release candidate builds for iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS 13.2 offer support for the new Freeform app, which is a collaborative canvas that allows multiple users to contribute content to a virtual canvas simultaneously. Support for Apple Music Sing, which is basically karaoke for Apple Music, will be included. Also, Apple has now limited AirDrop to be open to everyone for only 10 minutes, a change that recently helped a government in quelling protests.
If you work with a lot of PDF files, you’d probably appreciate having the ability to press a keyboard shortcut to save files, webpages, and documents as PDF files on the Mac. You can set that up rather easily, and we’ll walk through the process.
If you have long been using the old trick to create a Save as PDF keyboard shortcut and recently updated to MacOS Ventura, you may have noticed your old keyboard shortcut doesn’t work anymore. This is because Apple has renamed the menu title for the action, so if you’re using the old keyboard shortcut it will not register. But with a little adjustment you’ll be able to use the Command+PP trick again for saving as PDF in no time.
Renaming your Mac computer name offers a way to customize your Mac, differentiate it between other machines when using AirDrop, and make it easy to identify on a network.
With modern versions of macOS Ventura 13 and newer, how you change a Mac computer name is different than before, and you may have become accustomed to the previous approach which was fairly obvious in a system preference. With macOS Ventura, the setting is less than obvious, but you can still change and rename your Mac easily once you learn how to perform the action.
Amazon is back with some great discounts on various Apple products, ranging from hefty price reductions on everything from the latest iPad Air, iPad Mini, AirPods Pro, M2 MacBook Air, M1 MacBook Air, and more.Whether you’re shopping for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, why pay full price when you don’t have to?
iPad Air M1 64GB for $499 (reduced from $599)
The iPad Air features the M1 processor, 12MP camera, and a 10.9″ display, and is currently 17% off:
AirPods Pro are fantastic earbuds, featuring water resistance, active noise cancellation, head tracking, 6 hours of listening time on a single charge, a MagSafe charging case, and more.
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Instagram Stories are a popular way for people to share photos and videos of moments throughout their day that are presented in a slideshow. One fun way to customize your Instagram Story posts is to add music to your stories as you add them.
Spotify Wrapped is a fun annual tradition that allows Spotify users to check out their most listened to music for the year, as well as review some other fun stats on their music and podcast listening habits.
You’ll even find a Spotify Wrapped 2022 playlist of your top songs, so you can enjoy them all again and again. Taking screenshots of Spotify Wrapped and posting them to social media is all part of the annual trend, with the hashtag #spotifywrapped of course, so why not join in on the fun (or embarrassment)?
There are a few ways to access Spotify Wrapped 2022 on your iPhone or Android, so let’s check out how to do that.
The Files app on iPad and iPhone offers the ability to always show file extensions, making it easy to determine what file types certain documents or files are, and is a welcome feature for power users and those who simply like to see file extensions and file types at a glance when looking at file names.
We’ll show you how you can set Files app on iPad or iPhone to always show file extensions in file names.
Electrical power outages are not particularly fun, but should you have the experience of encountering one, you may find this tip helpful which aims to determine if a power outage is impacting only your specific location or if it is neighborhood wide. All that you need is any battery powered device with wi-fi, meaning any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, MacBook, or Mac or PC laptop can be used to learn a bit more about a power outage.
Apple has released iOS 16.1.2 for iPhone. The software update includes security updates and bug fixes, and is said to improve compatibility with wireless carriers. Additionally, the iOS 16.1.2 is said to improve crash detection on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, a feature which aims to detect if the user has been in a car crash and then offer assistance by contacting emergency services on your behalf.
The iOS 16.1.2 update may address an issue some users were reporting where their cellular reception and connectivity diminished after installing iOS 16 onto their iPhone, either leading to the perception of reduced cellular signal quality, or an increase in dropped calls.
There are currently no corresponding updates to iPadOS or macOS, making iOS 16.1.2 a standalone iPhone software update.
System Preferences has been replaced by System Settings in MacOS Sonoma & MacOS Ventura, and it’s quite a change not only in name but in how the system control panels are navigated, and also where many preferences, settings, and toggles are located.
You can access the new System Settings from the Apple menu just the same, but once you get there, it’s very different than what you may be accustomed to as a longtime Mac user. It looks like Apple copy and pasted the iPhone Settings directly onto the Mac, and the change can be jarring to some.
If you like scrolling through text lists of settings and toggles rather than using long established visual cues and familiar icons to navigate, you will really appreciate the all new and improved System Settings in MacOS Sonoma &. macOS Ventura.
Some users may be confused or bothered by the System Settings interface in MacOS Sonoma & Ventura, however, so we’re going to provide some tips on how you can better navigate and utilize the System Preferences replacement.
Stage Manager is the intriguing multitasking interface that allows for multiple app windows to be open at the same time on iPad. It’s an optional multitasking experience that some iPad users may really like and appreciate, but to make that determination you will need to turn Stage Manager on and see if you like it.
The Holiday shopping season is upon us, and Cyber Monday deals are here from Amazon on tons of great Apple products. With nice discounts on AirTags, AirPods, MacBook Air, iPad, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, and more, you’ll find something you like for either yourself or someone special on your list.
AirPods 2nd gen starting at $79.99 (down from $129)
The entry level AirPods 2nd generation are fantastic wireless earbuds, even if they don’t include fancier features like water resistance or active noise cancellation hwich are parts of the Pro and 3rd gen models.
AirPods Pro feature active noise cancellation, head tracking, 6 hours of listening time on a single charge, water resistance, a MagSafe charging case, and much more.
AirTags rarely get discounted but if you want to try out the Find My network powered personal trackers, you can grab a single AirTag or a pack of them at some nice discounts from Amazon.
Apple Pencil 2 is compatible with 2018 and newer iPad Pro models and M1 iPad Air models or newer, it’s an excellent accessory that any artist, doodler, or notetaker will appreciate with their iPad.
The iPad Magic Keyboard transforms your iPad Pro or iPad Air into a laptop of sorts, complete with an excellent keyboard and great trackpad. These are rarely discounted by right now Amazon is offering both with a nice price cut:
M1 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD – $799 (Reduced from $999)
The M1 MacBook Air continues to be sold for $999 from Apple, by there’s no reason to pay full price when Amazon offers the same MacBook Air at a 20% discount:
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Do you remember the lovely space-themed galaxy and nebula wallpapers from Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard, and Leopard? We covered them when they were released roughly a decade(!) ago, but those images are all now considered lower resolution thanks to todays high-res displays.
Well, now you can enjoy those all over again but resampled at 6K resolution, fitting for large retina display Macs (or iPads, iPhones, PC’s).
