iOS 26 Can AutoFill Credit Card Details

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
woman in a red shirt holding her iPhone in one hand and her credit card in the other

Sadly, not all websites and apps support Apple Pay, so we’ve become accustomed to manually entering our credit card information into fields, like animals. No longer! In iOS 26, the Wallet app now supports AutoFill. If you need to add a card—those set up with Apple Pay are already available—open Wallet, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, tap AutoFill, then tap Add Card. You can scan the card with your camera or enter details manually. Then, whenever you’re checking out on a website or in an app that doesn’t support Apple Pay, tap a payment field. You may be able to select a saved card from the suggestions above the keyboard, or you may have to tap in the field to bring up the text menu, and tap AutoFill > Credit Card (below left). When you invoke AutoFill from above the keyboard, your card number, expiration date, and security code will be automatically entered. Using the menu requires tapping the blue text for the field you want to fill (below right). Read More from “iOS 26 Can AutoFill Credit Card Details”

Apple Refreshes Studio Display and Introduces Studio Display XDR

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
two women visible between two large Apple monitors with an Apple laptop open in the middle.

Apple has updated its Studio Display with an improved 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with Desk View support, two Thunderbolt 5 ports, and improved bass from its six-speaker system—all for the same $1,599 starting price. More significantly, Apple introduced the Studio Display XDR at $3,299, bringing professional-grade HDR technology to a broader audience at a much lower price than the $5,000 Pro Display XDR it replaces. The Studio Display XDR features a 27-inch 5K panel with mini-LED backlighting, 2304 local dimming zones, up to 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 120 Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync. Both displays require macOS 26.3.1 Tahoe and work with all Apple silicon Macs. Read More from “Apple Refreshes Studio Display and Introduces Studio Display XDR”

Apple’s Focus Is Powerful but Unpredictable

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
man in pink shirt and green pants sitting on the floor in a criss cross position. his hands are resting on his knees, facing upward.

Sometimes you just don’t want your phone to ring, chirp, or even vibrate. Maybe you’re asleep, in an important meeting, having dinner with family, meditating, playing a game, or simply enjoying some quiet time.

Apple’s Focus feature on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac can silence those interruptions, but Focus is considerably more complex than the straightforward Do Not Disturb feature it replaced in 2021. Misconfiguring Focus such that it activates unexpectedly can cause you to miss important calls, messages, and other notifications. Read More from “Apple’s Focus Is Powerful but Unpredictable”

Why Cloud Storage Isn’t a Backup

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Backup, Macintosh, Security/Privacy
background is a person typing on a laptop. overlay is a bunch of computerized symbols and drawings. most prominent drawing is of a cloud with arrows pointing both up and down.

Many people assume that storing files in iCloud Drive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive means those files are backed up. After all, the files exist on remote servers maintained by large companies with professional IT teams and redundant storage. But that doesn’t mean they are backed up.

Cloud storage is tremendously useful and can play a valuable role in recovering from disasters, but it is not a backup. Understanding the difference could save you from a devastating data loss. Read More from “Why Cloud Storage Isn’t a Backup”

Customize Folder Colors and Icons in macOS 26 Tahoe

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
close up of a set of manila folders in a rainbow of colors

In macOS 26 Tahoe, Apple has made it easier to customize folder appearance in the Finder. Control-click any folder and choose Customize Folder. In the panel that appears, click a colored circle to apply that color and then select an icon to display on the folder. Click the Emoji button to choose from the full set of emoji instead of the icons. A few notes: Customization is available for everything except macOS’s Applications, Library, System, and Users folders. These colors are associated with Finder tags, which you can change in Finder > Settings > Tags. Although the colors and icons should sync via iCloud Drive, don’t assume they’ll survive other cloud-based syncing services or other actions (like archiving) that may not preserve Finder metadata. In other words, they’re mostly useful for individuals, not workgroups. Read More from “Customize Folder Colors and Icons in macOS 26 Tahoe”

New Apple Creator Studio Bundles Pro Apps

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
standing behind a guy at his desk. the desk has a media recording set up with two monitors, a bright light (turned off), Mac, and a microphone.

Apple has introduced Apple Creator Studio, a subscription bundle of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage, priced at $12.99 per month or $129 per year (with education pricing at $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year). The bundle also includes premium content and a few AI tools for the iWork apps: Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. These apps will prompt you to download the new version 15, but don’t worry—they remain free for all existing features; only the new AI capabilities and premium content require a subscription. You can also still purchase Mac versions of the pro apps, though the iPad versions of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro are now available only to subscribers. Up to six family members can share a Creator Studio subscription via Family Sharing. Read More from “New Apple Creator Studio Bundles Pro Apps”

How to Look Up a Saved Wi-Fi Network Password

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh, Passwords
fuzzy image of a person in a orange-yellow shirt leaned over and typing on a PC. Translucent overlay of a wifi icon and a place to type a password

Apple offers several simple ways to share Wi-Fi network passwords. When someone nearby tries to connect to a Wi-Fi network with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and they are in your Contacts app, you will be automatically prompted to share the network password with them. Additionally, in the Passwords app, you can display a Wi-Fi network QR code that anyone can scan to join the network. However, sometimes you need to share a password via email or text. To look up a Wi-Fi password on an iPhone or iPad, open Passwords, tap Wi-Fi, select the desired network, and tap the obscured Password field. A Copy Password button makes it easy to copy. In the Mac version of Passwords, hover over the obscured password and click the revealed password to copy it. Read More from “How to Look Up a Saved Wi-Fi Network Password”

Make Finder Window Columns Resize to Fit Filenames

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
two people in a room standing in front of a wall of windows and holding a tape measure between two panels

Column view in the Finder has an annoying tendency to either show overly wide columns that waste space or truncate long filenames, forcing you to drag a column divider to see more of the name. In macOS 26.1 Tahoe, Apple added an option to the Finder’s View Options window that automatically adjusts column widths to display the longest visible filename in each column. Read More from “Make Finder Window Columns Resize to Fit Filenames”

What Can You Do With the iPhone’s Action Button? Nearly Anything!

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
up close and personal with the top left corner of an iPhone. It's laying sideways on a light colored wood desk.

Starting with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, Apple replaced the Ring/Silent switch on the top-left edge of the iPhone with the Action button, making the new button standard across the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 lineups in subsequent years. The Action button is a dedicated hardware button you can configure to perform one of many different tasks. Although Apple prompts everyone setting up a new iPhone to configure the Action button, our experience is that many people haven’t integrated it into their everyday usage. Read More from “What Can You Do With the iPhone’s Action Button? Nearly Anything!”

Keep Your IT Budget Working During a Slowdown

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Security/Privacy
Blurred pic of an open laptop with someone's hands typing on it. Translucent overlay of a bar chart measuring something by month with red arrows arcing downward off the December edge of the chart.

When business slows down, it’s tempting to reduce IT spending. But that approach often backfires, creating bigger problems—and larger bills—down the road.

Beyond the productive work you accomplish on your Macs, your technology infrastructure enables you to communicate with clients, send invoices, manage schedules, and get paid. A downturn is precisely when you need those systems working reliably, not when you should neglect them. Read More from “Keep Your IT Budget Working During a Slowdown”

Be Very Careful with AI Agents!

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Security/Privacy
AI-generated image of a shiny metallic human-shaped robot tapping a finger on a virtual screen in the air

AI agents—software that can take actions on your behalf using artificial intelligence—are having a moment. The appeal is obvious: imagine a robot butler that triages your inbox, manages your calendar, and handles tedious tasks while you focus on more important work.

That’s the promise driving the recent surge in popularity of OpenClaw (formerly known as Clawdbot and Moltbot), which is now all the rage in tech circles. Token Security found that at least one person is using it at nearly a quarter of its enterprise customers, mostly running from personal accounts. That’s a shadow IT nightmare—employees connecting work email and Slack to an unsanctioned tool that IT doesn’t know about and can’t monitor. Whether you’re an individual tempted by OpenClaw’s promise or a manager wondering what your users are up to, you need to understand the risks these AI agents pose. Read More from “Be Very Careful with AI Agents!”

Why Your Windows Reopen (Or Don’t) As You Expect

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
AI-generated image of a keyboard with a big red Restore button on it

Have you noticed that when you restart your Mac or relaunch an app, your previous windows and documents sometimes reappear exactly as you left them, but at other times you’re greeted with a clean slate?

This behavior is controlled by Resume, a technology introduced in OS X 10.7 Lion back in 2011. Resume automatically reopens app windows and documents so you can pick up where you left off after a restart or app relaunch. Read More from “Why Your Windows Reopen (Or Don’t) As You Expect”

Try macOS 26.2’s Edge Light for Low-Light Video Calls

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
woman in a dark room wearing over the ear headphones while watching something on her computer screen

We can’t always guarantee optimal lighting for video calls, especially when using laptops on the go. A new feature in macOS 26.2 Tahoe called Edge Light might help. It’s a video effect that uses the outermost pixels of your Mac’s display to create a bright white rectangle that illuminates your face during video calls. It acts like an on-screen ring light in low-light conditions. Read More from “Try macOS 26.2’s Edge Light for Low-Light Video Calls”

New Outlook isn’t Robust and Legacy Outlook is being Retired

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Email, Email
Outlook mail image

If you use Outlook for Mac, especially for business purposes, it’s time to seriously review your use and consider switching to another email client such as Apple Mail or eMClient or the recently released MailMaven.

Legacy Outlook is moving towards being retired and New Outlook, in my opinion, is inadequate for business users and has been problematic even for personal use.

One of my biggest concerns is that New Outlook no longer stores a local copy of your email messages on your Mac. Instead, New Outlook stores recently viewed emails in a cache. This cache is not a usable mailbox database. You cannot reliably back up the cache. This means that if you use Time Machine to backup your Mac and you use New Outlook then you no longer have a backup copy of your email messages. I highlight this difference since previous versions of Outlook, now called Legacy Outlook, by Microsoft, used to store a copy of your email mail collection on your Mac.

Read More from “New Outlook isn’t Robust and Legacy Outlook is being Retired”

Control Song Transitions in Apple Music

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
DJ wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt against a neon-lit blue-violet background.

A new feature for Apple Music subscribers in the Music app in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 is AutoMix, which Apple says causes songs to “transition at the perfect moment, based on analysis of the key and tempo of the music.” It fades between songs as a DJ would, but it’s not always successful. If AutoMix’s transitions aren’t to your taste, navigate to Settings > Apps > Music > Song Transitions in iOS and iPadOS, or Music > Settings > Playback > Song Transitions in macOS, and switch back to the longstanding Crossfade option, which transitions between songs over a user‑specified number of seconds. Or, just turn off the Song Transitions switch and let one song end completely before the next one starts. Read More from “Control Song Transitions in Apple Music”

Five Invisible Characters That Still Matter in Word Processing and Layout

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh, Word Processing
blurred image of hands on a keyboard. overlay of mock ups of pages of text.

In earlier eras of word processing, users were much more likely to encounter explanations of document structure—not because everyone had to become an expert, but because knowledge was shared differently. Software shipped with detailed manuals, user groups and training classes focused on how documents worked under the hood, and power users routinely shared mental models and tips. (Who remembers being turned onto WordPerfect’s Reveal Codes?) Today’s writing tools are simpler to use and much better at hiding complexity, but that also means fewer opportunities for users to learn that invisible characters even exist, much less that they have different attributes and consequences.

We’ll look at five invisible characters that shape how text behaves: the regular space, non-breaking space, tab, hard return, and soft return. You already use regular spaces and hard returns, but understanding the other three—and when to employ them—can help you create cleaner, more professional documents and troubleshoot layout problems. Read More from “Five Invisible Characters That Still Matter in Word Processing and Layout”