Inhaltsverzeichnis für January 2022 in MacFormat

Whether you’re getting a brand new Mac or have recently upgraded an existing one, there are stacks of things to surprise and delight you in macOS Monterey – the macOS 12 upgrade that landed in October. But delve a little deeper and you’ll discover all kinds of nifty tips and tricks that can help you make the most of it – and you’ll be able to discover 71 of them in this month’s in-depth guide, which starts on page 20. After that, you might fancy doing something equally entertaining and to that end we have ‘AirPlay Everything’. Starting on page 62, you’ll discover everything you need to know to stream audio and video to and from all your Apple devices, plus we make recommendations on compatible kit – from AirPlay-compatible…

Which new Mac do you most want to see in 2022? Log on and see next issue’s big question! twitter.com/macformat facebook.com/macformat Apple scores privacy own goal Apple often makes a point of its focus on privacy, but the company might have shot itself in the foot. According to security researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk, Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, which hides your IP address from email senders, is undermined by the Apple Watch, which downloads Mail content using your real IP address. Even receiving a Mail notification on your Watch can reveal your data. The researchers state the same is true for iCloud Private Relay, which encrypts Safari traffic leaving your device. This isn’t available on Watch, meaning opening links on your smartwatch reveals your IP address. Oops.…

Another Apple product that has long been doing the rounds of the rumour mill is a mixed-reality headset. According to a report from analysts at Morgan Stanley, there are clues that the launch of this device is rapidly approaching. That’s because the headset’s development is closely mirroring that of the Apple Watch before its own 2014 reveal. Before the Apple Watch was unveiled to the world, there was an uptick of patents relating to its underlying technologies, including those covering sensors and step detection, iPhone connectivity, lowpower Bluetooth, and more. Similarly, Apple has published a spate of headset-related patents in recent months, such as those for the hardware, interface, and input mechanisms of the upcoming device. The headset is widely expected to blend virtual reality and augmented reality, with other…

1 Hasselblad 907X Anniversary Edition Kit £13,900 > hasselblad.com Hasselblad is known for its incredible cameras and incredible prices to match. If you’re the ultimate fan of the company and have plenty of money to burn, the 907X Anniversary Edition Kit will be right up your street. Made to mark Hasselblad’s 80th anniversary, the camera takes its design cues from its much-loved SWC camera. Included in the kit is a 907X body with a large medium format 50MP CMOS sensor, a CFV II 50C digital back, a control grip, an optical viewfinder, and an XCD 3,5/30 lens, all with anniversary edition trimmings. Not only will all that help you take great pictures, it’ll mark you out as someone with far more nostalgia and cash than they know what to do…

Mail may not have had much of an overhaul, but is steadily recovering important features which were lost when it was rewritten, and gains welcome improvements in privacy. Safari’s intended redesign nearly became a disaster, but Tab Groups are magic for many users. 1 Bookmarks to tabs You can now organise your long list of Bookmarks into Tab Groups, according to subject. Step through each Bookmark you want to add to a given Tab Group, opening each in a new tab. Once you’re happy that you’ve got all of them open, and in the correct order, select the ‘New Tab Group with [n] Tabs’ command from the New Tab Group button at the top right of the sidebar to add them to a new Tab Group, and give it an…

Automation makes tasks easier and less error-prone. Shortcuts has been a huge success on iPadOS and iOS, and has now come to macOS, eventually to replace Automator. Documentation is limited, and it has some rough edges. Here’s how to smooth them. 1 Custom shortcut icons Make your shortcuts icons distinct in colour and mini-icon. Either bring up the contextual menu (using a two-finger tap on trackpads), or open the shortcut and click the icon to the left of the name. Sort shortcuts into folders; they’re created using the New Folder command in the File menu. 2 Find actions Finding anything in the Action Library is tricky, and some appear in listings for apps which you wouldn’t associate them with. Control flow actions like ‘If’ and others are available in the…

IT WILL TAKE > 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to help Photos recognise and organise friends and family YOU’LL NEED > Photos app Apple’s Photo app scans your Library and gathers any shots of people that it finds into collections in its dedicated People album. However, it may not recognise every shot of a particular person in the Library (especially if they’re being viewed side-on or wearing a mask). We’ll demonstrate how to help Photos recognise extra shots of specific people so that you don’t miss a memory. You can then favourite particular people so that they show up more frequently in automatically curated Sharing Suggestions and Memories (and feature other people less frequently). We’ll also look at some handy troubleshooting tips. For example, Photos might get confused…

IT WILL TAKE > 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to tailor the Weather app to your needs YOU’LL NEED > iOS/iPadOS 15 We’re obsessed with the weather. We check the forecast when we’re planning to walk the dog, we check it when we’re deciding what to wear, and we check it when we’re deciding when or even whether to go out. So we’re delighted by the new Weather widgets in iOS/iPadOS 15, and by the new iPhone Weather app. It does all the basic stuff brilliantly but it can also warn you of imminent downpours, of air quality issues, and of potentially dangerous UV levels. As we’ll see in this tutorial, it looks pretty amazing too. You’ll notice that while the Weather widget is available on iPad, the…

Mail fail and missing mailboxes Q Search has stopped working in Mail. When I tried rebuilding mailboxes, my mail archives vanished. How can I recover them and get search working? by MIKEA THERTON A Sometimes this can be fixed by simply restarting your Mac. If that doesn’t help, try starting it up in Safe mode (on an Intel model, with the Shift key held), leaving it for a couple of minutes, then restarting in regular mode. Losing Mail search seems relatively common, and on its own isn’t a serious sign, although it can be tricky getting it to work again. One common suggestion is to start Mail up with the Shift key held to stop it from selecting a message when it opens, or to rebuild its mailboxes manually in…

AirPlay is even more amazing on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. That’s because the difference between what your device can do and what an AirPlay device can do is more dramatic; even the smallest smart TV has a screen many sizes bigger than the biggest iPad Pro, let alone the iPhone 13 mini, and while Apple does amazing things with its iPhone, iPod touch and iPad speakers they’re no match for a HomePod for volume. AirPlay enables your device to hand off media to different hardware. For example, you might have been listening to a podcast on the way home and want to pick up where you left off on your HomePod mini, or you may have found an interesting looking YouTube link you want to see on your…

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Passwords are everywhere, and two-factor authorisation (2FA) keeps creeping up too. One solution, ideal for anyone with more than one means of connecting to the internet, is a password manager. macOS and iOS provide basic management so long as you use Safari, but if you want to access your passwords from Android or Linux, then you’re on your own. Apple’s new iCloud Keychain Password Manager for Windows could help many. The password managers on test here go where Apple’s doesn’t. All bar one store your passwords and other data in a private vault on the app’s own servers, independently of Apple and iCloud. To do this securely, the information you save in the app is encrypted there using your master password, and the only data to leave your Mac or…

£4.99/month (Apple Arcade) FROM Konami, konami.com NEEDS macOS 11.0 or later Dracula has returned – apparently no one learned the old stake-through-the-heart trick Going strong since 1986, Castlevania is a series beloved the world over. That’s why the latest instalment on Apple Arcade, Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls, is such a disappointment. That’s not to say it’s a bad game, but it’s certainly not a great game. Grimoire of Souls sees Dracula return for the umpteenth time (apparently no one’s learned the old stake-through-the-heart trick) and he must be purged from the world by Genya Arikado and a roving band of characters from past games, including Alucard, Simon Belmont, Charlotte Aulin, and others. Our heroes delve into mystical Grimoires – ancient books that contain info on past Castlevania events – and…

DESKTOP SPEAKER Ruark MR1 £329.99 ruarkaudio.com Winner of MF357’s head to head, the MR1 speaker set looks and sounds the business. The dome tweeter and long-throw woofer can handle a variety of audio styles with aplomb. You get a good variety of connectivity options, and we love the chunky function/volume dial too. IN-EAR WIRLESS EARPHONES Sony WF-1000XM4 £250 sony.co.uk The WF-1000XM4 are slightly smaller than their predecessor and the case is 40% smaller – and more eco-friendly. The true wireless earbuds have a good audio ability, support voice-assistant control and the Headphones Connect app provides lots of customisation and ease of use. As well as LDAC, the WF-1000XM4 are compatible with SBC and AAC codecs. KEYBOARD (MAC/iOS) Logitech MX Keys For Mac £99.99 logitech.com If you spend a lot of…

Apple devices are well known to be labyrinthine constructions where repairing something yourself is next to impossible due to the tortuous complexity involved. To the chagrin of right-to-repair activists, Apple has steadfastly refused to change things – until now. In a surprise move, in mid-November Apple announced a self-service repair programme, first for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models and later for M1 Macs. This will give users access to genuine Apple parts and tools to carry out their own repairs at home. The program will start in the US in early 2022 and will then roll out to other countries throughout the year (it’s unclear when it will come to the UK). It will initially focus on what Apple says are the most commonly serviced parts of its devices,…

BetterTouchTool has long been a great tool for Mac users who want more control over swipes and gestures. Now, its latest version brings macOS Monterey compatibility, plus strong integration with Apple’s Shortcuts automation app. That means you can assign specific trackpad gestures to certain shortcuts, giving you a speedy way to launch complex workflows or favourite tasks. As well as the trackpad, gestures work with your mouse, the Touch Bar, keyboard shortcuts, and more. BetterTouchTool brings its own tools to Shortcuts. You can use it to create a floating Netflix viewer, for example, or a standalone shortcuts launcher, all activated by a customisable swipe. As you can imagine, there’s a huge number of possibilities with the new Shortcuts integration. This all makes the software a must for power users. [iOS…

While for many companies and individuals 2021 was another year of pandemic-induced struggling, Apple has emerged stronger than ever. It seems to have weathered lockdowns, chip shortages, and all manner of other disruption whilst launching the iPhone 13 range, new Macs and iPads, the latest generation of the ever-popular AirPods, the Apple Watch Series 7, and rapidly updating the M1 series of chips. After production delays, there was also a host of new content on Apple TV+. This included hit movie Finch, starring Tom Hanks, and the blockbuster success that is the Ted Lasso series. So, what’s next? What can we expect from a firm that is, depending on the day, the world’s most valuable? iPhone 14 and iOS 16 Let’s start with the obvious. Around September next year we…

Recent years have brought ever-increasing interruptions. Whether you want to work, watch a movie or play a game, turning those off is key. Quick Notes also enables you to record things on the spur of the moment without losing your train of thought. 1 Tag Notes Notes, including Quick Notes, are easy to tag, and the Notes app has a new section for those tags. Add your tag with a hash sign ‘#’ immediately before it, such as #MacFormat, and the app shows the tag in blue, adding that to the list at the left, so you can browse all your notes for a given tag. 2 Share notes Work on your notes with a colleague by sharing them. Select a note and click the Share This Note tool. Send…

Everyone who uses a Mac is different, and revels in customising its features to get it to work better for them. Each of these suggestions can help you tailor your system for each day, and your every activity. 1 Power management While Monterey manages your notebook’s charging to extend its working life, you still make decisions about how to use that power. Low Power Mode is available on most supported notebook models to help eke out a bit more juice. The select few with an M1 Max in their MacBook Pro now get High Power Mode, to run theirs at full pelt. The Battery pane also lets you override Apple’s charge management when you need to start the day with a full battery. 2 Login looks When you type your…

IT WILL TAKE > 30 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > To sync your tree with FamilySearch YOU’LL NEED > MacFamilyTree 9, FamilySearch.org account (free) Link your tree to FamilySearch for access to free family history material Last issue we showed you how to record your family tree with MacFamilyTree, providing you with the tools required to input each person’s details, attach photos and link them to other family members. This issue, we’re going to reveal how to link your tree to the familysearch.org website, giving you access to the largest collection of free family history material on the web. FamilySearch not only provides access to millions of records that can reveal more about your ancestors, but it’s also the home of the world’s largest family tree, inviting everyone to sign…

Apple likes to throw around words like ‘magical’ and ‘incredible’ like confetti at a wedding, but AirPlay really is both. With a single tap or voice command you can share photos, videos, music and more with all kinds of devices. You can even use it to mirror your iOS, iPadOS or macOS device’s screen on your TV to watch a movie or home video or present a Keynote on the big screen. AirPlay is incredibly easy to set up and use, and there’s a huge ecosystem of AirPlay-compatible devices you can share to and from. And chances are, if you’re using it at all, you’re only scratching the surface of what it can do. Over the next few pages we’ll discover how AirPlay works, what it works with, and how…

Once you’ve got the AirPlay bug, you won’t just want a single AirPlay device all on its lonesome, you’ll want AirPlay in every room of your home. Once you start adding multiple AirPlay receivers, some interesting things become possible including multiroom audio. You can use AirPlay to create multiroom audio in two ways. You can share the same audio to multiple speakers in different rooms. For example, you might want to play the same song at the dining table and in the kitchen. To do that, it’s just a matter of selecting multiple speakers in the AirPlay pop-up in the Music app’s Now Playing view. In most cases that works flawlessly, but when you stream the same thing to multiple speakers you may discover that some of your speakers are…

When Apple first launched the Watch, it didn’t quite seem to know its full potential. Over the years it’s become clear that one of its core jobs is to help you live better. You can see that on the product web page, where the first features listed are the health ones: the Blood Oxygen app, ECG app, heart rate notifications, fall detection. And it’s also apparent in the latest OS improvements. The headline new feature is respiratory rate tracking, which counts your breaths as you sleep and works out your breathing rate per minute. Data is then sent to the Health app. This is useful because irregular breathing can be an indicator of sleep apnoea, lung disease and other respiratory issues. The respiratory tracking is activated when you’re in Sleep,…

£2,999 FROM Apple, apple.com/uk FEATURES Apple M1 Pro chip (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU), 1TB storage, 32GB of unified memory, 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display (3456x2234 pixels), MagSafe 3, 3x Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 1x HDMI 2.0 port, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0 This is the MacBook we’ve been hoping and praying for… a super-fast lean machine that banishes the bad memories and questionable design choices of the recent past in favour of new crowd-pleasing features. Such as? Such as proper function keys, a Liquid Retina XDR Display, usable ports and M1 Pro performance. The fact that this machine is only surpassed by the M1 Max is mind boggling. We are blessed. The 2021 MacBook Pro is certainly a sight to behold. Consciously echoing the look of pre-Touch Bar era Apple laptops,…

£109 FROM logitech.com FEATURES Full-size QWERTY keyboard, ergonomic design, pairs with multiple devices Most modern keyboards tend to follow Apple’s ‘thin and light’ template. But, as the name suggests, Logitech’s new Ergo K860 keyboard instead focuses on ergonomics rather than mere eye candy. The ‘split’ layout of the keys may look odd, but it’s designed to allow your arms and wrists to rest at a more natural angle when typing. (It has ‘54% more wrist support’, according to Logitech.) The keyboard layout will probably feel strange initially, but it’s worth persevering with if you’re concerned about preventing wrist strain and other injuries. You can also adjust the legs on the keyboard to find a typing angle that suits you, and there’s a comfortable (non-removable) wrist rest that’s cushioned with foam…

£86.56 (upgrade for £70.91) FROM adobe.com NEEDS macOS 10.15 or later Animated Overlays provide a quick way to convert stills into eye-catching clips that will draw attention on social media The full version of Photoshop can seem too big (and time-consuming) to master, especially to the casual photographer who may just want to tweak colour, tone and composition before sharing their shots via social media. They may also prefer to buy a photo-fixing app outright instead of paying the monthly £19.97 subscription for Adobe Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud). Fortunately, Photoshop Elements 2022 is available for a one-off purchase price. As with its predecessors, Photoshop Elements 2022 is designed to help photographers create eye-catching images with the minimum of effort. It focuses on overcoming common photo problems, such as revealing missing…

Apple’s ecosystem is sometimes talked about in negative terms – people tend to refer to being ‘locked in’ as if you’re trapped in a dungeon with no way out. But we all know there are many positive things that come with buying an iPhone – not least the huge array of brilliant apps at your fingertips. Indeed, there are many incredible apps that are not only available on iOS, but are exclusively available on Apple’s systems. Miss out on an iPhone and you miss out on these apps too, and no one likes to settle for second best. So, join us as we chart the best apps that you simply won’t find on Android. And, as they’re all available on the App Store, you know they have the Apple seal…

Significant older Apple products make fairly regular appearances in auction houses, predominantly in the US. In early November 2021, a particularly eye-catching item went under the hammer – a previously unseen-in-public Apple VideoPad 2. The prototype device was labelled as a ‘rare early Apple tablet design’ by auctioneers Bonhams. Indeed, it was ‘the only surviving concept prototype for the VideoPad personal digital assistant’. It had been developed between 1993 and 1995, during John Sculley’s difficult tenure at Apple. The model seen at auction was actually based on sketches drawn by Sculley himself. Measuring 180x232x33mm, the device included a fold-up screen and the aim was to have a built-in camera too. Video conferencing was on the agenda, even then… This tester model was made of heavy-duty plastic and included a mock…

Clumsy types might want to look away now! Recently unearthed patents show Apple is considering building all-glass devices, including iPhones, Apple Watches, and a Mac tower. As discovered by Patently Apple, the iPhone concept would be made of glass on all six sides. It could contain a force-detection system that senses when and where it is pressed and then respond, much like current Macs’ Force Touch trackpads. And since all sides would be glass, they could all be used to display info. As for the Apple Watch, this could also have all-glass sides. If sensors were to be placed under these surfaces, you would be able to interact with the Watch’s sides, such as performing gestures and taps. The glass Mac tower is an interesting idea, not least because the…

The Apple Car has been rumoured for years, but it might finally be accelerating towards the finish line. There have been many recent developments, including a patent granted to Apple in mid-November for a car suspension system that would lower and lock into place when passengers enter or exit. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, known for his extensive sources, has claimed Apple has settled on building a fully automated self-driving car, rather than a car that incorporates more modest self-driving elements. This is thanks to a push from the new Apple Car lead, Kevin Lynch. Ideally, Apple wants to design a car that lacks a steering wheel and pedals, Gurman said, but could include an emergency override system. Additionally, Gurman believes Apple recently hit a key milestone with the chip that…

With thousands of teams of Apple’s engineers working on macOS Monterey, the list of new and changed features is long enough to fill a short book. To complicate matters, some of the key enhancements slated to appear, like Universal Control, are still on their way, and others aren’t supported on all the Macs that can run macOS 12. Few parts of macOS and its bundled apps have escaped change. Even long-neglected tools like QuickTime Player and Disk Utility have been refreshed and improved. In many cases, these latest improvements are concealed behind new menu commands or controls far that are far from obvious. Our tour starts with the apps you use most, Mail and Safari, which are rich in new features when you know where to look. After those it’s…

Monterey does a great deal for communicating and collaborating, whether it’s with your colleagues or friends. Even before the slightly delayed arrival of SharePlay features to integrate rich media in your calls, FaceTime and Messages have enhancements which are tucked away in the Control Centre. 1 Portrait Mode Depending on your Mac and its peripherals, you may be able to use FaceTime’s new audio and video effects. If you have an M1 model, Portrait mode should be available at least when you’re using the internal camera. With the app open and camera on, open the Control Centre, and at the top click Video Effects to reveal the Portrait option, which blurs the background. 2 Mic Mode If you have either an M1 or a recent Intel model, with FaceTime open,…

Over the last few years Macs have gained powerful features like APFS snapshots which haven’t been readily accessible. At last Disk Utility can manage them, and Monterey empowers the more advanced user in many other respects. 1 Split Screen While Full Screen mode lets you concentrate on one window, splitting it into two is often better. Hover the pointer over the green button at the top left of one of the two windows you want to see until a floating menu appears, and decide whether to put that window to the left or right. With that in place, click on the other window you want and the pair will be shown in Split Screen mode until restored with Escape. 2 Go to folder To find folders in the Finder uses…

IT WILL TAKE > 30 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to use the new Passwords feature in Monterey YOU’LL NEED > macOS 12 or later Apple has done much in recent years to make it easier to create and use secure passwords, by adding an auto-fill feature to Safari that can suggest secure passwords and store them safely so they can be filled in automatically when you log in to particular sites. Now, in Monterey, it has gone one step further. Recognising that most of us don’t just use passwords on websites, the feature has been pulled from Safari and placed in a new Passwords pane in System Preferences. You can now see all your saved passwords there, as well as edit them, delete them, and create new ones.…

IT WILL TAKE > 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to improve your fitness in a balanced way with Gentler YOU’LL NEED > Gentler, iOS 13 or later There are a lot of apps that claim to help visualise your fitness data, but few like Gentler. Instead of pushing you to ever greater feats of fitness and endurance, this app helps you find a balance between overwork and inactivity. One of the ways it does this is with its Activity Cloud, a green bar that serves as a ‘compass’ for your condition. If your activity level goes above the Activity Cloud, you should rest more. If it’s below, try to be more active. The app determines your position in the cloud based on your age, gender, resting heart rate,…

A new application layer standard, once known as Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP) and now nattily renamed Matter, will be one of the key drivers for Thread over the next few years. Developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) – a who’s who of smart device companies that includes Apple, Amazon, Hue parent Signify and Google – Matter is essentially digital Esperanto, aiming to unite future smart home and IoT devices under a single unified language. Sounds like a familiar refrain, but with so many big names both on board and seemingly committed to making their hardware interconnectable, this one might actually stick. Given what we know about Thread, it’s no coincidence that the CSA has chosen its network layer (along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low-Energy) as the delivery…

Slow backing up over the network Q I’ve set Monterey’s Time Machine to back up my MacBook Pro wirelessly to a shared disk on my Mac mini, which also connects wirelessly to my Wi-Fi router. How can I get backups to run faster, as they’re taking an age? by SCOTT CRAIGIE A If both Macs are connecting over Wi-Fi, then this will significantly reduce the speed of transferring the files in a backup between them, as both Macs are contending for the same wireless connections with your router. If you’re going to use a shared disk or a network-attached storage (NAS) system for Time Machine backups, then you should connect it to your router using wired Ethernet, as that will improve transfer speeds considerably. The very fastest are achieved when…

AirPlay uses Wi-Fi to transmit high-quality audio, video, image and other data from device to device. Relevant Apple apps include Bluetooth speakers alongside AirPlay devices, but they are separate streaming technologies. There are tons of AirPlay devices from tiny speakers to massive OLED TVs, and your Mac can talk to them using the AirPlay 2 standard if it’s running macOS Catalina or later (or iTunes 12.8 or later) and connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Using AirPlay on your Mac couldn’t be simpler. When you’re watching a film or show in the TV app or listening to songs in Apple Music, you’ll see a little icon showing a TV on top of a triangle. That’s the AirPlay icon, and if you click it you’ll see a list of all the…

IN PRINT ON iPAD & iPHONE ISSUE 372 DECEMBER 2021 New MacBook Pro: M1 Pro and M1 Max! 55 Apple essentials – all the best kit iPadOS 15 superguide: tips and tricks Streaming soundbar group test ISSUE 371 NOVEMBER 2021 In-depth guide to macOS Monterey New Apple kit rated and reviewed: iPhone 13 Pro, iPad 10.2in and iPad mini We celebrate 20 years of the iPod ISSUE 370 AUTUMN 2021 Upgrade time: your iOS 15 superguide Get set for macOS Monterey Group test: portable printers Make your photos pop! To order back issues of the print magazine, go to bit.ly/macformat_backissues or phone +44 (0)330 333 1113 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…

£169 FROM Apple, apple.com/uk FEATURES H1 headphone chip, Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, MagSafe compatible wireless charging case, touch controls with Force sensor, Hey Siri; sweat and water resistant to IPX4; up to 30 hours’ listening time (6 hours AirPods/24 hours charging case) It’s staggering how much tech Apple manages to pack into these tiny buds Apple’s AirPods are iconic for good reason – they look great, sound great and can hold their own against copycats and rivals. And it all comes down to one thing: great design. It’s staggering, really, how much tech Apple manages to pack into these tiny buds, with the new third-generation packing in even more smarts than before. For one thing, Apple has redesigned the AirPods so they fit more easily and more comfortably…

Not everyone wants, or even needs, to carry a rucksack when they’re heading out the door. But if you want to stow pocket-unfriendly items like an iPhone, a camera, keys, cables, and snacks, what do you do? A hip bag is a great alternative when you’re travelling light, but need to carry essentials. It’s small, lightweight, and all your items are easy to access in a pinch. And if you’re not a fan of the waist pack look, you can sling the bag over your shoulders in satchel style instead. Here, we test four hip bags to find out which is the best. AER Day Sling 2 £65 FROM aersf.com FEATURES 4.5l, 300g, 1680D Cordura ballistic nylon 1 San Francisco-based AER has thought of everything with its Day Sling 2.…

£44.99 or £10.49/year FROM Lux Optics Incorporated, halide.cam NEEDS iOS 13 or later Halide lets you shoot in Macro mode with more convenience and control The iPhone 13 Pro range opened up a whole new world of subject matter thanks to its ability to shoot in Macro mode. One key reason to buy (or enjoy a free update to) version 2.5.3 of camera app Halide Mark II is that it gives you the ability to shoot macro subjects without splashing out on an iPhone 13 Pro model. Shooting a macro subject such as an insect can be a challenge when using the Camera app on an iPhone 13 Pro. As you move the iPhone closer to the insect, the Camera app automatically switches to the Ultra Wide (0.5x) lens to…

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