Sommaire pour April 2020 de MacFormat

It’s been five months since Apple officially launched Catalina – and it’s certainly been one of the most transformative and radical macOS updates to date. 32-bit support went the way of the Dodo, as did iTunes – replaced instead with separate apps named Music, TV and Podcasts. In all there were over 100 new and improved features – and they’re just the ones Apple told us about. In this month’s lead feature, we’ve come up with 97 more, although the tips, tricks and secrets we’re including should help make using Catalina easier, slicker and quicker than before. You’ll find them all starting on page 20. Talking of secrets… turn to page 62 and you’ll discover 33 incredible apps that can help you do all kinds of weird and wonderful things…

Apple looks set to offer ‘unified purchases’ across iOS, iPadOS and macOS, if a new feature in the iOS 13.4 beta is anything to go by. Developers will be able to offer buy-once bundles of their apps on iPhone, iPad and Mac, saving you the hassle (and expense) of having to buy separate versions for each device you own. In-app purchases (IAP) will also be covered by the move, which is optional for developers. Other exciting new features discovered in the iOS 13.4 beta include a CarKey API that could enable you to lock and unlock your car using the NFC chip in your iPhone or Apple Watch, plus new CarPlay features for third-party apps. It also looks like iOS 13.4 will finally deliver iCloud folder sharing – a feature…

1 Phonocut £TBC > phonocut.com This is a vinyl recorder. That is, it enables you to create your own vinyl albums, which you can play on regular turntables. It takes special 10-inch blank discs, which offer 10-15 minutes of sound on each side. You place one into the Phonocut, connect a music source, and start playing music, which will be written onto the vinyl. You can bring back the era of the mixtape (but rounder), or record your own music or voice. If you love vinyl, this lets you take it to the next level. Well, it will when it’s released in December 2020, for around £1,700. 2 Logitech 4K Pro Magnetic Webcam From £179.95 > logitech.com For all the advanced technology packed into Apple’s Pro Display XDR, there’s one…

Apple is well known for its dispute A with the FBI over its refusal to unlock an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter in the USA. That dispute has led some people to characterise Apple as being ‘anti-police’, a characterisation that Apple vigorously denies. For its part, Apple claims to comply with lawful requests for appropriate customer data. But what safeguards are in place to ensure the company doesn’t just give away info freely or inappropriately? And how does Apple balance its customers’ privacy with the fight against crime? We decided to investigate. At the time of the San Bernardino incident, the FBI demanded Apple create a piece of software that could decrypt the shooter’s phone. Apple refused, stating that creating a backdoor in its software would put all…

Some people have found Bluetooth glitches after upgrading to macOS Catalina. To be fair, we’ve also found Bluetooth glitches when there are sunspots, next door’s cat throws up, or it’s a Wednesday. But if you do have problems, there are fixes. In System Preferences > Bluetooth, tick ‘Show Bluetooth in menu bar’. Hold shift and option while clicking the menu bar icon to see a Debug submenu. Try ‘Remove all devices’ to forget all your Bluetooth accessories, allowing you to re-pair them, which should sort out the problem. Also here, you can try resetting the Bluetooth module. If macOS Catalina doesn’t see your mouse and/or keyboard on startup, try a shutdown and cold start; or you may need to use a wired device to try the tips we’ve mentioned here.…

Days view If you liked Moments, the Days view is the most similar, grouping photos by date. But there’s no way to reduce the size of thumbnails to see more photos at a glance; dragging the slider at the top left just shrinks the whole timeline. All Photos All Photos is similar to the previous Years view. Here, dragging the scale slider gives you a good range of thumbnail sizes, all showing photos in a grid. At smaller sizes, photos are always cropped to squares, shown without gaps. Show file names As you drag the slider to the right in All Photos, the icon at the far left lets you switch from squares to show photos uncropped in full aspect ratio. You can also show titles and other metadata (as…

Some people initially reported serious issues in Mail when upgrading to Catalina, including messages disappearing – a particularly worrying problem, since deleting messages from iCloud Mail and other IMAP-based platforms on your Mac will also delete them from the server. However, many more users (including us) have seen all their email update with no trouble. Some of the issues may have been associated with third-party platforms, including Microsoft Exchange, and others with transient iCloud server problems not directly related to Catalina. Rule out simple problems: ensure you’re logged in with your Apple ID in System Preferences > Apple ID and Mail is ticked. In Mail, use Window > Connection Doctor to check for any problems accessing mail servers. In Mail > Preferences > Accounts, ensure your iCloud IMAP and any…

Adobe Premiere Elements 2020 IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to improve contrast, boost colour and counteract colour casts YOU’LL NEED Adobe Premiere Elements 2020 Premiere Elements’ post-production tools make your clips’ colours and tones look their best Your video recording device – whether it be an iPhone, GoPro or D-SLR camera – will automatically attempt to capture accurate colours and details. However, you may need to tweak colours and tones in a post-production app like Premiere Elements 2020 to overcome problems with the picture. In a high-contrast scene, the camera might prioritise exposure to capture detail in the brighter sky, causing shadows to be underexposed and lack detail. Cameras also need to perform an Auto White Balance (AWB) operation to capture accurate colours. If this AWB…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to remotely control your smart home tech YOU’LL NEED You’ll need an iPad or Apple TV and your iPhone Genius tip! You can combine multiple smart devices into Rooms or Zones in the Home app. You can then create automation for that Room or Zone. The Home app may be even more clever than you first thought… If you’ve got one, several or many HomeKit-enabled devices and an Apple TV or iPad that’s running the latest version of its operating system, you can control your home from your iPhone or even your Apple Watch – and you don’t need to be in your home to make it happen. The trick is to turn your Apple TV or iPad into a home…

Expect better battery life and faster connections that will work well in congested areas Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of wireless internet, and we’re happy about that for two reasons. First of all, it’s faster and has more capacity. And secondly, it means that the Wi-Fi Alliance has finally got the hang of giving things sensible names. Well, nearly: technically Wi-Fi 6 is really Wi-Fi Certified 6™, but we’re just going to ignore that. A trip to the AirPort Let’s go back to 21 July 1999. Steve Jobs is passing an iBook through a hula hoop to demonstrate that the Mac is connected to the internet, without a cable, thanks to the magic of ‘AirPort’. AirPort was Apple’s name for the 802.11b Wi-Fi standard, a technology for establishing wireless…

Whenever you get a new Apple device, it’s likely you have a go-to list of essential apps that you always install first. Whether that’s professional-grade apps like Adobe Photoshop or social media favourites such as Facebook and WhatsApp, we’ve all got our favourite apps that we can’t live without. But there’s much more to discover if you dig a little deeper. The Mac and iOS ecosystems are chock full of small developers and independent programmers making superb software that can take your Apple kit to the next level. The trouble is that many of these superb apps are actually hard to find, buried in the darkest recesses of the App Store or the web. That’s where we come in. We’ve scoured the web to find the best apps you’ve never…

TEAM PICK ToothFairy £4.99 FROM C-Command Software, c-command.com NEEDS OS X 10.11 or later ToothFairy makes life simpler if, like us, you use AirPods or Bluetooth headphones regularly with your Mac. It saves you extra clicks, making connecting and using your AirPods so much easier. OnyX Free FROM Titanium Software, titanium-software.fr NEEDS macOS 10.15 or later Sometimes, macOS doesn’t behave as it should. There are a few built-in things you can try, but they’re often deeply hidden, confusing to use, or both. OnyX is a brilliant app that gives you power-user features with no cost attached. If you suspect macOS isn’t working properly because something is broken, OnyX can come to the rescue. It lets you repair your disk permissions, rebuild Spotlight and Mail indexes, and restore various databases and…

W’Air £179.99, justwairit.com Persistent stains? Pit bacteria problems? A general funk that just won’t quit? It’s probably not worth taking that favourite T-shirt to the dry cleaner, but a blast with W’Air’s micronised combination of water and detergent will deal with even the most stubborn clothing bugbears, and it’ll dry in minutes. Nextbase 622GW £TBC, nextbase.com Action camera-inspired stabilisation for your dash cam, 4K footage at 30fps (or 1080p at 120fps with the option of slo-mo playback), outrageously good night vision and even integration with What3Words so you can determine the precise location of an accident. Nextbase’s car cams just keep getting better. Belkin Soundform Elite $299 (around £230), belkin.com A Google Assistant smart speaker with a Qi charging pad built in, the Soundform Elite’s looks might not be too…

IN PRINT ON iPAD & iPHONE ISSUE 349 MARCH 2020 Detox your Mac – and iOS devices! Best free apps for iPhone and iPad Super-fast portable SSDs Tested: USB-C docks ISSUE 348 FEBRUARY 2020 Be an Apple Genius – 58 top tips! iPhone photography superguide Master the Podcasts app Tested: AirPods Pro vs rivals ISSUE 347 JANUARY 2020 Verdict: new 16-inch MacBook Pro! 54 reasons to love your Apple kit Use your iPad as a Mac replacement Tested: Password managers To order back issues of the print magazine, go to bit.ly/macformat_back or phone +44 (0)844 848 2852 and we’ll post them out to you. Download back issues onto your iOS device at any time and keep them forever in your personal library. bit.ly/macformatipad NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! IN…

£499.99 FROM Philips, philips.co.uk FEATURES 3440x1440 resolution, VA panel, USB–C with PD (90W) dock, KVM switch, built–in speakers The stand offers tilt, height and swivel adjustment The Philips 346B1C is a very nice package for all-round productivity. While it doesn’t necessarily come top of class for colour accuracy and gamut support, there are plenty of extras like full USB Type-C connectivity for a slick single cable hook-up, a KVM switch, and support for up to 100Hz refresh. It’s also looks good, feels very nicely made, and the stand is stable and offers tilt, height and swivel adjustment. As for the display itself, the core specs involve a 34-inch 21:9 aspect panel with the obligatory 3,440 by 1,440 native resolution. Dig a little deeper into the spec list and you’ll find…

£79.95 FROM Rapoo, rapoo.com FEATURES Multi-mode Bluetooth 3.0/4.0/2.4GHz keyboard, sensor adjustable from 600 to 3200dpi, rechargeable mouse battery The keyboard and mouse can be synced with up to four devices The big selling point of the Rapoo 9900M keyboard and mouse combo is the ability to switch between up to four different devices. The peripherals are, in theory supposed to be able to intelligently connect to the working device. Great for switching seamlessly between a Mac and an iPad then? Well, in practice, the transition is not so smooth… Let’s take a look at the keyboard first. The aluminium finish is smart and it sits well with the iMac aesthetic. The keyboard is functional with a fully fledged numeric keypad on the right-hand side. It’s a bit bigger than the…

Free (offers in-app purchases) FROM Salavat Khanov, 1blocker.com NEEDS macOS 10.15 Custom rules allow you to create your own rules for blocking content There’s no shortage of ad blockers available for both macOS and iOS. However, 1Blocker has gained fans thanks to its customisation features. New in version 3 is a tool that allows you to point and click on an element on a web page to block it – much easier than manually creating a rule to block objects. Version 3 also improves content blocking, updates rules twice a week, allows you to see what resources were blocked on a page, and adds new customisation tools. 1Blocker allows you to block more than just annoying ads. You can use it to block trackers and data collectors, cookie notices, social…

Free (offers in-app purchases) FROM Yi Lun Zhao, noto.ink NEEDS iOS 13/iPadOS or later Noto 1.0 is already as polished as many more mature apps Why use separate writing, notetaking and to-do apps when a single app can do all three? Noto is a simple, elegant writing app for iOS that can sync with its Mac sibling. Where most writing apps tend to go down the distraction-free route Noto is more colourful and action-packed. The interface may be a bit more exuberant than its rivals, but Noto still has simplicity at heart. You can switch between list and grid views, reorder by dragging and pinning documents to the top, and easily nest docs in a folder. Each document has a preview that includes images (if they’re at the top). On…

Everyone has a book in them! We just don’t all know how to get it out. Well, a handy dedicated writing app will help. Note that we didn’t say everyone has a novel in them… We’re talking about all kinds of books here: recipe journals, a personal account of your family history, obscure-but-crucial methodology for a job, kids’ stories… and, yes, also novels. You don’t have to get into making books in the hope of being the next JK Rowling, just like you don’t have to expect to be this century’s Picasso just because you like painting. It can simply be a way to relax. Most of us know stuff that could be useful or fascinating to other people if we wrote it down, so why not get started? Pages…

OF ALL THE activities your Mac enables, backing up your files is not the most obviously enthralling. Yet backup was first on the bill when Steve Jobs delivered his San Francisco Expo keynote in January 2008. Introduced as a “Back-up Appliance” for Mac OS X’s Time Machine software, Time Capsule was a version of the AirPort Extreme router with a hard drive built in. Not only did this combined tech leverage wireless networking, then a novel concept and a headline-grabbing selling point, but it allowed one or even several Macs to be backed up with absolutely no effort whatsoever. Starting at £199, the initial capacities of 500GB or 1TB would suffice for up to four typical contemporary systems. Eyebrows were raised at Jobs’ claim that Time Capsule featured a “server-grade…

Which rumoured Apple product are you most excited about? Log on and see next issue’s big question! twitter.com/macformat facebook.com/macformat Slowed-down iPhones cost Apple £21m Apple has been slapped with a £21m fine for slowing down old iPhones. The ruling by France’s Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Suppression of Fraud (DGCCRF) also mandates that Apple will have to display a press release on its website for a month. The fine was issued after the DGCCRF ruled that “a lack of consumer information [by Apple] constituted a misleading commercial practice by omission”. This is in relation to the dynamic power management tool in iOS 10.2.1, that deliberately slowed down iPhone 6, 7 and SE models to extend their battery life.…

Whether you just want to be more aware of your alcohol intake or you’re thinking of actively reducing the amount you drink, Less is a useful app. The app offers a simple interface that allows you to set weekly limits and log your drinks. On the Tally tab, a + button allows you to add the number of drinks you’ve consumed. As you continue to log your libations, the app offers a calendar where you can check out your drink-free days (highlighted in green), hopefully motivating you to stay off the booze. The app then offers key stats like your weekly and monthly averages. There’s also a Tips tab, where you can learn about the effects of alcohol on your body, other ways to help you reduce consumption, and more…

In 2013, Apple provided data for 65% of requests for device info such as IMEI* and serial numbers; in 2019, that figure was 79%. In Europe, Germany was the most data-hungry. It submitted 13,558 device requests in the first half of 2019; the UK submitted 617. Even the USA submitted fewer (4,796). Germany also topped the global charts for financial identifier requests, and was first in Europe for account requests. At 259, our government submitted the highest number of emergency requests in the world (53 more than the USA). It also submitted the most account preservation requests in Europe at 42, although that was miles behind the USA’s 2,476 requests. Apple also faces requests from bodies other than governments (such as in legal cases). However, of the 243 requests in…

PRIZES WORTH £810 If you have a lot of Wi-Fi connected devices at home, a good mesh system will ensure you get the kind of speed and stability you need – and eliminate dead spots. So this issue, we’ve partnered with devolo to give away three Magic 2 Whole Home WiFi kits. Each Powerline pack comes with one LAN adapter (for connection to your router) plus two Wi-Fi adapters, capable of speeds of up to 2,400Mbps. With a range of up to 500m, you’ll be able to enjoy high-speed Wi-Fi anywhere in your home. Each adapter also comes with two Gigabit LAN ports, so you can easily connect a smart TV or console too. You don’t have to worry about setup either. devolo’s innovative plug-and-play installation means there’s no fuss…

Unfortunately, in Catalina, Gatekeeper will refuse to run apps that aren’t ‘notarised’ through Apple’s developer programme. To bypass this, ctrl-click the app icon in the Finder, choose Open and confirm. A bunch of macOS’ services – features under the bonnet that can be accessed by apps – are now classed as ‘restricted’, requiring your permission, and you’ll also see more privacy alerts inviting you to allow or deny access. None of this means anything bad is happening, but just think whether you recognise the named app and were expecting it to do something; if not, Catalina might have alerted you to an inadvertently installed malicious app.…

Touch Bar tweaks If you have a Touch Bar, the controls it can display, set in System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard > Touch Bar shows, now include Spaces – very handy if you use that feature. You can set Spaces as the default or to appear when you hold fn. Kill them all! In Activity Monitor, you can now select multiple items in the list of running processes and click the cross icon at the top left to force-quit them all at once. After sorting by name, this can help kill all components of a crashed app. Shut up, Siri Catalina introduces Siri Suggestions within apps. For example, if a time or place is mentioned in a Messages thread, Siri will suggest setting a reminder. If you find this…

Catalina’s replacement of the iTunes app with a suite of new software divided by media type is a bit of a culture shock, but if all goes well it should be less dramatic than it sounds. When upgrading a Mac to Catalina, your existing media should migrate automatically to the apps that replace iTunes when you first run them. Some initial problems with this process were fixed in macOS 10.15.1. If you don’t see your content after launching the Music app on a Mac that you’ve just upgraded, close the app and open it again while holding option. Then navigate to the iTunes Library.itl file that you were previously using. (By default, it’s in ~/Music/iTunes, where ‘~’ is the named Home folder for your user account; but you may have…

Audiobooks have moved to the Books app, and any audiobooks you’ve bought from the iTunes Store should appear here. But there’s no Account menu where you can sign in. Instead, go to System Prefs > Apple ID > iCloud and click Options next to iCloud Drive. Tick Books to sync your library, and in Books > Prefs > General, make sure ‘Sync collections, bookmarks and highlights across devices’ is ticked to enable these convenience features. You can import your own audiobook files into Books using File > Add To Library, but there’s no way to edit metadata or artwork within the app. Some users with audiobooks on CD have worked around this by importing them first into the Music app, editing the album and track titles, updating album art, then…

Screen Time Catalina brings Screen Time to the Mac, accessed from System Preferences. As well as monitoring usage of apps, you can use the features below the line on the left to restrict usage or enforce downtime. This replaces the previous Parental Controls; most of the features from that are now under Content & Privacy. Rather than logging in with your Administrator account and then setting up restrictions for each user account, you’ll need to log in as the user account you want to set up. Click Options, at the bottom, to set a Screen Time passcode to prevent changes. The Communication Limits feature, which (as in iOS and iPadOS) restricts who the user can contact via FaceTime and Messages, is missing, but coming in macOS 10.5.4. Notes In the…

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to reveal colour and tone YOU’LL NEED Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 Genius tip! When painting on a layer mask using the Brush tool, resize the brush tip to give the strokes more variety. Tap [ for a smaller tip or ] for a larger one. Photoshop Elements 2020’s filters can produce a wide range of artistic looks but they tend to make your computer-generated art look like everyone else’s. The techniques covered in this walkthrough will enable you to add the human touch to your digital art by showing you how to paint brush strokes that reveal colour, tone and detail from an original photograph. Because you’re manually painting brush strokes (rather than simply slapping on a…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to sync with Macs and other devices YOU’LL NEED SyncMate, some other devices Genius tip! Syncing isn’t backing up! If you sync a bad or wrong version, it could overwrite the original. Always back up your important stuff. Syncing is a wonderful thing: just last night we were finishing a Keynote presentation on iPad that we’d started on our Mac and rehearsed on our iPhone. But Apple’s approach, to sync via iCloud, has some flaws: it isn’t interested in devices that don’t have an Apple logo on them – and it can sometimes be a little hesitant to update things, as we’ve learnt the hard way when our devices didn’t have the files we thought they did. Wouldn’t it be great…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to personalise your Apple News feed YOU’LL NEED An iPhone running iOS 13 or later, iPad running iPadOS, Apple News app Genius tip! Touch and hold a story to access settings like Save, Share, Suggest more/less and Follow Channel. Apple’s built-in news curating platform, Apple News, allows you to pick your sources, topics and areas of interest and then brings them all together in a tailored feed. While there are plenty of news aggregators on the App Store, Apple News offers some significant benefits over the competition. The content is curated by a dedicated editorial team, so the suggestions you see are from high-quality sources. The app then works with Safari to suggest news stories and topics based on your browsing…

Two ‘Data’ volumes after a reinstall Q I’ve ended up with two ‘Data’ volumes when trying to reinstall Catalina. What should I do next? by VIV GORDON A When Catalina installs correctly, you should see two regular volumes. If you’re using the default name of ‘Macintosh HD’ for your startup volume, those two will be named ‘Macintosh HD’ and ‘Macintosh HD - Data’. The first is the new read-only System volume, and the other is the volume containing your Home folder and writable files. These are joined into a Volume Group so they can work together properly. If there’s already a volume named ‘Macintosh HD - Data’, the installer may create another named ‘Macintosh HD - Data - Data’, and so on. To fix this, ensure you have all your…

TEAM PICK Just Press Record £4.99 FROM Open Planet Software, www.openplanetsoftware.com NEEDS iOS 13 and watchOS 5 or later We love this app for its ease of use: it just takes one tap (or a Siri shortcut) to start recording on your Watch or iOS device, so you never miss a one-off moment again! Keyboard Maestro £34.15 FROM Stairways Software, keyboardmaestro.com NEEDS OS X 10.11 or later Your Mac already has a lot of built-in timesavers thanks to keyboard shortcuts and trackpad swipes. Keyboard Maestro takes that a step further, enabling you to automate a huge number of tasks with pre-programmed and custom options. You can automate almost any task you can think of. Launch apps at the touch of a button, rearrange the windows on your desktop, control your…

LIVE SMARTER The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! Where else could you find out about a make-up robot (the L’Oréal Perso) that fires out a specially-formulated skincare tincture based on a combination of your face, fears, and the weather outside? Or how about the Prinker S, an inkjet printer that ditches the paper in favour of squirting temporary tattoos straight onto your skin? I mean, yes, there are a lot of fairly standard, conventional gadgets at CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, but it’s the small fry – those cute, out-there inventions – that paint the most perfect picture of what’s still to come. I should make mention here too of the before-CES announcement that Google, Amazon and Apple are to cuddle up together to create an…

Samsung wasn’t the only company at CES showcasing car improvements with its 5G tech (see ‘5G everywhere’ opposite). Bosch, more used to designing gadgets for the garden or the workshop, introduced the Virtual Visor, an LCD sun visor which trains a camera on the driver’s face and intelligently repositions the darkening of its hexagonal cells to stop sun glare. Segway, first famous for wacky stand-up vehicles and later for scooters, revealed the S-Pod, a two-wheeled vehicle which repositions the company’s self-balancing tech into a 24mph sit-down ride. Odd, certainly, but personal electric vehicles – particularly if linked together – could be a big part of the future of transportation. The weird Wello Family, a hybrid solar-powered bike and car, might not be, but it does at least have room for…

£74.99 FROM Satechi, satechi.net FEATURES USB-C, 3x USB 3.0, Micro/SD readers, 3.5mm jack port A smart and useful addition to your Mac mini setup Until 2018, the Mac mini looked like it might become a casualty of Apple’s relentless focus on iOS devices and higher-end Macs. But the much-loved and relatively affordable desktop mini was finally brought up to date with the latest technology. It remains a great option if you need a compact desktop Mac but also want to use your own choice of screen, keyboard and other peripherals. Now Satechi has created a stand and dock for the Mac mini – since the computer’s design changed with the revamp, the dock only fits the newer model. Unlike Apple’s laptops, the Mac mini retains a decent selection of physical…

£129 FROM Telestream, telestream.net NEEDS macOS 10.13 or later Version 9 adds some new tools to improve workflow ScreenFlow is a screen capture and editing package that lets you create screencasts, which have become increasingly popular in our always-on world. While QuickTime has basic screen recording tools, ScreenFlow is much more advanced with animation, titling, graphics and ‘callout’ tools, amongst other things, to let you create professional-looking and sounding videos. To its already-impressive feature set, version 9 adds some new tools to improve workflow. To begin with, there’s the customary under-the-hood improvements that ensure compatibility with the latest version of macOS, and the graphics cards in the most recent Mac models. Although ScreenFlow is very user-friendly, the technology behind high-resolution screen recording is complex, so it’s always good to have…

Free (offers in-app purchases) FROM Stay Sorted, staysorted.com NEEDS iOS 11.4 or later Sorted impressed us before with its ability to auto-schedule tasks according to rules you specify. Upgrades since then retain everything we liked about it while adding more. There’s now support for iOS system Dark Mode, multi-window support in iPadOS, and the ability to draw notes using your finger on the iPhone or an Apple Pencil on iPad. Sorted 3’s biggest strengths continue to be its auto-scheduling and its extensive tutorials, which cover the broader techniques of scheduling as well as using the app. Auto-scheduling lets you specify a default task length, as well as a buffer between tasks. And it’s smart enough not to move calendar appointments in order to make way for tasks thanks to its…

Apple has been seriously affected by a countrywide shutdown in China, caused by a coronavirus outbreak that is believed to have started in Hubei province and rapidly spread elsewhere. Apple was forced to shut down all of its corporate offices, stores and contact centres when the epidemic was first reported in early February, although some had begun to reopen by 13 February. Production of iPhones, AirPods and other Apple products was also impacted as factories run by suppliers such as Foxconn were also closed. Restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities on travel and use of public spaces in early February also led Apple to limit travel to China only for strictly “business critical reasons”. Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail and People, said in a company email: “We…

Apple may make the jump to AMD in 2020, after references to several of the company’s processors were uncovered in the latest macOS beta. The macOS 10.15.4 beta references several AMD processors, according to Twitter user @_rogame who tweeted a screenshot showing the names Picasso, Raven, Renoir and Van Gogh – all of which refer to AMD’s Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), which combines the CPU and GPU onto a single chip. The AMD APUs could debut in a rumoured high-end gaming Mac that Apple is reportedly preparing to show off at WWDC 2020. Apple is also expected to update the 13in MacBook Pro this year, although that’s expected to get Intel’s new Ice Lake chips instead. However, relations between Intel and Apple have been tense for some time, partly due…

Apple has at times received criticism for complying with government requests. In 2019, it was revealed that Saudi Arabian app Absher could be used to allow men to track and restrict the movement of women. Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia are severely limited in comparison to other nations, and Apple was condemned in some quarters for allowing an app like Absher onto its App Store in the first place. After anti-government protests in Hong Kong, at the request of the Chinese authorities, Apple removed several apps that covered the events and notified protestors of police presence. This drew sharp criticism from supporters of the protests, who accused Apple of submitting to an authoritative regime and stifling democratic efforts. The situation highlighted the tightrope Apple sometimes walks when it comes to…

When Catalina launched last October it came with over 100 changes big and small that altered everything from the name of the Trash (oh no, they didn’t!) to the dropping of support for 32-bit apps (oh yes, they did). Six months on and the changes have mostly been for the good, but if you’re still not sure what’s what or how to do things, or even how to fix any problems that have popped up, then let the next 12 pages be your guide. You’ll discover fast fixes for common problems, tips and tricks for the Photos, Music, TV and Podcasts apps, and even a few nips and tucks for Mail, Messages and Safari. By the end you’ll be sufficiently ‘levelled up’ to tackle Catalina with ease. We’ll even show…

On the Window menu, use the Tile Window commands to enter Split View with the current app at the right or left. This only works when the app isn’t already in full screen mode. Opposite, a Mission Control view appears; click a thumbnail to make that window – which may belong to the same app or another – fill the rest of the screen. Alternatively, click on the tiled app to make it full screen, or press ecs to revert it. Exit Split View by using the red button at the top left of either window to close it or the green Exit Full Screen button to revert its window and dismiss the other app. You can no longer drag a window by its green button to tile it to…

The Photos app has changed quite a lot. With Photos selected under Library at the top left, you’ll see the tabs across the top have changed from macOS Mojave’s Photos, Moments, Collections and Years to Years, Months, Days and All Photos. The relationship between these is clearest if, instead of clicking the tabs, you zoom in and out using pinch zoom on a Magic Trackpad. There’s no equivalent for mouse users, but you can double-click an item to zoom in from Years to Months to Days and finally to enlarge an individual image. You can also flick between the tabs using command+1, 2, 3 and 4. There’s no Moments view, even though this still exists in iOS 13. The alternative views on the left include People and Places, organised by…

1 There’s an app for that The Music and TV apps initially lacked the iTunes app’s ability to pair with the iTunes Remote app, but since 10.15.2 it’s back. First, install iTunes Remote (blue icon – not Apple TV Remote) on your iPhone or iPad. 2 Crack the code With this device on the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac, open iTunes Remote, tap Settings, then ‘Add a media library’. You get a four-digit code. Now look in Music or TV on your Mac: your device pops up under Devices on the left. 3 Play your part Click it and enter the code. When you click OK, your device disappears again, but iTunes Remote will list your library and let you browse and play tracks or videos. Playback is on…

Podcasts, previously managed in the iTunes app, now have their own app. Like Music and TV, and unlike Books, this has an Account menu where you can sign in to sync podcasts you previously purchased or subscribed to on the iTunes Store. Podcasts available from Apple are browsed in the sections under Apple Podcasts on the left, and your own collection in those under Library. When you hover over a show (rather than an episode), the Play button plays the latest episode, while the button with three dots gives you the option to subscribe, meaning all future episodes (but not past ones) are added to your library. From here, click Settings to choose how episodes are organised. It’s assumed that you’ll stream episodes rather than downloading them, but if you…

Version 13 of Apple’s Safari web browser feels largely familiar but has a few new tricks. As in macOS Mojave, new windows show, by default, your Favourites, displayed as large icons, plus your Frequently Visited sites – similar to Top Sites in earlier versions. A third section now adds Siri Suggestions, although this section remains unseen until Siri has something to suggest, based on your activities in other apps. ctrl-click any empty part of the window to turn these three sections on or off. You can also still set Safari > Preferences > General > ‘New windows open with:’ to revert to the old Top Sites view or to make new windows show something else, and the content of new tabs can be set separately. If you type a web…

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IT WILL TAKE 45 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to take control of your email inbox using Spark YOU’LL NEED Spark for macOS Genius tip! You can change the category of an email by clicking on the menu and the top right of a message and choosing from the list of options, such as Personal or Newsletter. There’s no shortage of email apps to choose from on the Mac, and with Apple’s own mail app getting a decent upgrade in Catalina, you might wonder why you’d bother with anything else. Well, in Spark’s case, the answer is productivity. Whether it’s customising smart inboxes to surface important messages, collaborating on a draft message with a team, delegating messages, or using actions to move them, Spark has a ton of features to…

Putting Photos in order Q I’m scanning in hundreds of old prints to store in Photos. I’ve been naming each image in sequence, but Photos doesn’t respect their order, showing them more randomly. How can I get them to stay in order? by NICK COOK A As far as we can tell, and it isn’t clear from Apple’s documentation, Photos lists images in its main pool in the order in which they were originally imported. Although this might suggest that giving each image to be imported a file name which is ordered by the Finder in a particular way, that’s not the order in which Photos will import a folder of images. Not only that, but to gain speed, the app will try importing images in parallel, making the order…

There’s little better predictor for what the tech future holds than CES, the annual Las Vegas trade show that traditionally kicks off the year. Major companies turn up to show off new releases, fancy prototypes, and fresh technologies; there’s a slight underlying thread of one-upsmanship between business competitors, which extends all the way from the size of their booths to the brightness of their screens. 2020’s show was absolutely no different – and much of the war was fought on the smart home battlefield. Let’s take the camera sector as an example. We saw a high profile smart camera from Arlo, which unveiled its Pro 3 Floodlight ($249, around £190), a wireless cam with a wired option, toting a bright and customisable floodlight around its 2K HDR sensor – check…

5G is massive, and CES proved that it’s definitely not just for phones. Case in point: Razer, known for its gaming peripherals, unveiled a new version of its tri-band Sila router, part 5G-based home router, part mobile hotspot, with a firmware package designed to prioritise low latency and high bandwidth. Not far enough from phones? Fine. Samsung showed off its 5G telematics system for cars, which should (pending regulatory approval) enable tomorrow’s smart vehicles to sense their surroundings, work out what pedestrians are up to, and communicate that from car to car near-instantly. Qualcomm, definitely all-in on 5G and excited about its effects on vehicles, also demonstrated completely wireless VR and AR solutions. And yes, 5G popped up in laptops, tablets and desktop PCs from just about every major company,…

£194 FROM Samsung, samsung.co.uk FEATURES 1TB, biometric fingerprint sensor, USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2), AES 256-bit hardware encryption By adding biometrics, the T7 Touch raises the baseline for securing data on the move Samsung’s T7 is available in two versions; a plain-vanilla model and one that packs a fingerprint reader and is known as the T7 Touch. Three different capacities are available (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) and two colour schemes (black and silver). Both the T7 and T7 Touch come with a three-year limited warranty, Samsung’s Portable SSD Plus 1.0 software and AES 256-bit hardware encryption. The 1TB T7 Touch on test here costs £194. The T7 Touch looks very similar to the old T5 but is a tiny bit bigger and heavier. The hardware needed for the biometric feature…

Free (offers in-app purchases) FROM Red Sweater Software, red-sweater.com NEEDS macOS 10.12 or later Any crossword source that uses the Across Lite format can be imported Crosswords are great for both relaxing and exercising the mind. And if crosswords are your thing, Black Ink 2 may hit the spot. The veteran Mac game has been updated with its second version, which brings visually appealing accessibility improvements. For example, you can have Black Ink 2 highlight incorrect letters as you type them, giving you a visual indication of where you’ve gone wrong. There are numerous options for changing the focus as you enter solutions, and it even works with macOS’s Dark Mode. Importing puzzles Another welcome change is the fact that the app is now totally free to play. A number…

£6.99 (offers in-app purchases) FROM Readdle, readdle.com NEEDS iOS 11 or later Calendars has long been a solution for combining tasks or reminders and calendar events. And recent versions have added new features. Calendars 5 has gained a Dark Mode, support for Outlook/Exchange calendars, an interface overhaul, and the ability to specify which calendars can send you alerts and notifications. One of Calendars 5’s strengths is its support for natural language input. Type ‘meet Carol for lunch at 13:00 tomorrow’ and it will fill in the details at the correct date and time. It also supports Apple’s new Reminders lists, and groups tasks according to the list you’ve allocated them to in Reminders. We also like the extensive support for Siri Shortcuts and the ability to drag and drop appointments.…

MONITOR Dell P2219HC £170 dell.com Dell’s monitor offers great colour accuracy and impressive performance at a very affordable price. The monitor packs four USB-A ports, one USB-C, two DisplayPorts and an HDMI input, all with a 21.5-inch 1920x1080 resolution screen. It’s also lightweight and easy to move. IN-EAR EARPHONES M&D MW07 Plus £299 www.masterdynamic.com Master & Dynamic’s MW07 Plus offer 10 hours of listening time, and the charging case holds an additional three charges (so you get 40 hours in total). These great-sounding earbuds are IPX5 rated, so they’re excellent for workouts and commuting. The marble-effect finish gives them a premium aesthetic, as does the stainless steel charging case. PRINTER Canon Pixma G6050 £319.99 www.canon.co.uk With a refillable ink tank, the Canon Pixma is both economical and environmental friendly. With…