How to Search Directly in Your Favorite Websites from Safari’s Search Bar

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh

We’re all accustomed to searching the Web generally in Safari by typing in the search field and pressing Return or tapping Go. Most of us are also familiar with the search suggestions that Safari shows below the search field as we type.

But did you know that Safari has a feature that lets you use the search field to search directly within your favorite websites, so you don’t have to wade through unnecessary search engine results or navigate somewhere manually before searching? Read More from “How to Search Directly in Your Favorite Websites from Safari’s Search Bar”

After “Mother of All Breaches,” Update Passwords on Compromised Sites

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Passwords, Security/Privacy
Hands of a person over a laptop keyboard. An image of a security icon hovers over the hands.

January’s big security news was the Mother of All Breaches, the release of a massive database containing 26 billion records built from previous breaches across numerous websites, including Adobe, Dropbox, LinkedIn, and Twitter. It’s unclear how much of the leaked data is new, but it’s a good reminder to update your passwords for accounts on compromised sites, especially those you reused on another site. Cybernews has a leak checker that reports which breached sites include your data. More generally, password managers often have a feature that checks your passwords against the Have I Been Pwned database of breaches and helps you change compromised passwords—1Password’s is called Watchtower, shown below. You can also search Have I Been Pwned directly. Don’t panic if your email address appears in numerous breaches because some of the theoretically compromised accounts may be defunct sites, trivial sites you used once 10 years ago, or duplicate password manager entries for a site whose password you already updated.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Prae_Studio)

Keep Your Contacts Current by Adding Siri-Suggested Content

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
Picture of a Rolodex on a yellow background.

Remembering to update your contacts with new email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses can be hard. But if you’ve received that information in Mail or Messages, Siri’s data detection capabilities can help. Open Contacts on the Mac and press the Down arrow to cycle through your contacts. When you see one with information in light gray and a parenthetical like (Siri Found in Mail), click the ⓘ button to the right ➊ to see some context in the source message. If the information is correct, click Add to Contact ➋ to keep it.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Brett_Hondow)

Time Machine Now Offers Daily and Weekly Frequencies

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Backup, Macintosh, Time Machine
Time Machine calendar page photo

Since its inception, Time Machine has backed up on an hourly schedule. It then keeps hourly backups for the previous 24 hours, daily backups for the last month, and weekly backups back to the start of the backup. Once free space on the backup drive gets low, Time Machine deletes older backups to make room for new ones, always maintaining at least one copy of every backed-up file. The traditional hourly backups are usually fine, but starting in macOS 13 Ventura, Apple lets you choose a daily or weekly schedule instead. Read More from “Time Machine Now Offers Daily and Weekly Frequencies”

Use StandBy to Make Your iPhone into a Clock, Photo Frame, and More

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Photo
The new Standby mode turns your iPhone into a digital picture frame, clock, or customizable widget display—and it remembers which approach you prefer in different locations.

iOS 17 brings a new mode for the iPhone: StandBy. All you have to do is connect your iPhone to a charger wirelessly or with a cable, position it on its side in landscape orientation, and press the side button to lock the screen. Standby works best with a MagSafe charging stand. Read More from “Use StandBy to Make Your iPhone into a Clock, Photo Frame, and More”

Concerned by the Privacy or Results of Google Search? Try These Other Search Engines

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

Google is big. Google Search generated $225 billion in revenue in 2022, thanks in part to being the default search engine on all Apple devices. To retain that position—and continue to reap the ad revenue that it generates—Google pays Apple about $18 billion every year. Along with Apple, Google pays billions to phone manufacturers like Samsung, LG, and Motorola; major wireless carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon; and browser developers like Mozilla and Opera.

So is Google Search’s 90% market share because it’s the best search engine or because Google has enough money to pay distributors for top placement? Read More from “Concerned by the Privacy or Results of Google Search? Try These Other Search Engines”

Improve Your Digital Security in 2024 with These New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Backup, Email, Security/Privacy, Time Machine
Get ready for a safer 2024 with New Year’s resolutions that will help you secure your devices, avoid scams, block malware, and enjoy the security and ease of use of password managers.

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2024! For many of us, starting a new year means reflecting on fresh habits we’d like to adopt. Although we support any resolutions you may have made to get enough sleep, eat better, exercise more, and reduce social media usage, allow us suggest a few more that will improve your digital security and reduce the chances that bad things will happen to you online. Read More from “Improve Your Digital Security in 2024 with These New Year’s Resolutions”

Everything You Need to Know about Taking Screenshots on the Mac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh

Many people use screenshots to clip portions of their Mac screen for later reference. For example, you could save a screenshot of an error dialog to show tech support, store a confirmation number from a Web page, or keep a chat from social media. You can even record screen movies to show a developer how their app is misbehaving. Read More from “Everything You Need to Know about Taking Screenshots on the Mac”

Locate a Featured Lock Screen Image in Photos

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

iOS’s Photo Shuffle wallpaper does a great job of identifying attractive photos for your Lock Screen. However, if you’re like us, you’ll sometimes wonder when or where you took a Lock Screen photo. Here’s how to figure that out. Touch and hold the Lock Screen when it’s displaying the photo in question, tap Customize, tap the Lock Screen wallpaper, tap the ••• button in the lower-right corner, and tap Show Photo in Library. Then you can swipe up to reveal more information about the photo, swipe left and right to see the photos on either side, or pinch to see it in the context of your entire photo library. Read More from “Locate a Featured Lock Screen Image in Photos”

Use This Hidden Setting to Stop Triggering Caps Lock Accidentally

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh

There’s little more annoying than accidentally touching the Caps Lock key while typing and having your text suddenly TURN INTO CAPITAL LETTERS, which we all know is seen as shouting. Unless you have some reason to type in capital letters regularly, you can prevent this mistake by disabling the Caps Lock key or remapping it to another modifier key. In macOS 13 Ventura and later, choose System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Modifier Keys, and choose from the pop-up menu next to Caps Lock. (In earlier versions of macOS, open System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys.) Read More from “Use This Hidden Setting to Stop Triggering Caps Lock Accidentally”

If Mail Fails to Send, Try, Try Again (Instead of Changing Servers)

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Email, Macintosh

Sometimes, something goes wrong, causing Mail on the Mac to have trouble sending a message. When it does, you may see an error like the one below, encouraging you with a default button to try another configured server. Don’t do it! Always click Try Later. If that still doesn’t work, contact your favorite tech support professional to troubleshoot the problem with the SMTP server associated with the account from which you’re sending. Attempting to send through another SMTP server is a recipe for trouble because various anti-spam checks may fail, causing your message to be filtered as spam or bounced back to you. Worse, if you select a different server and click Try With Selected Server, Mail remembers that choice going forward, so you will have to reset it manually later. Read More from “If Mail Fails to Send, Try, Try Again (Instead of Changing Servers)”

Feel Free to Upgrade to macOS 14 Sonoma When You’re Ready

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh

Although we’re cautious about recommending that people upgrade to the latest major release of macOS, we think Apple has done a good enough job with macOS 14 Sonoma that anyone who wants to upgrade can do so now. That doesn’t mean you have to upgrade immediately, but there’s no major reason most people need to delay. Read More from “Feel Free to Upgrade to macOS 14 Sonoma When You’re Ready”

No, NameDrop in iOS 17 Isn’t a Privacy Concern. Here’s How to Use It

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Apple Watch

One of the prominent new features in iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 is NameDrop, which makes it easy to exchange contact information with someone merely by putting your iPhone or Apple Watch next to theirs. When you do that, you can share your contact card and receive theirs, or just receive theirs—nothing happens unless you initiate an action. Read More from “No, NameDrop in iOS 17 Isn’t a Privacy Concern. Here’s How to Use It”

Use iOS 17’s Check In Feature to Reduce Worry

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

We’ve all had a friend or family member say, “Text me when you get home,” because they want the peace of mind from knowing you arrived safely. But what if something goes wrong—or you forget—so they never receive that text? They’ll be worried and won’t know where you are, if you’re OK, and so on.

In iOS 17, Apple has introduced the Check In feature to provide peace of mind—or in the worst case, to help emergency services. Read More from “Use iOS 17’s Check In Feature to Reduce Worry”

The “Hey” Part of “Hey Siri” Is Now Optional

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

If you use Siri, particularly on a HomePod, you’re probably accustomed to saying “Hey Siri” as the trigger phrase before your requests. In Apple’s new operating systems for 2023, you can now choose to invoke Siri using the traditional “Hey Siri” or just “Siri” (at least in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US). You might appreciate being able to stop saying “Hey” every time, or you might find that using just “Siri” generates incorrect activations. (And if someone in your family’s name sounds like Siri, you may want to turn the feature off entirely!) There are four places to look: Read More from “The “Hey” Part of “Hey Siri” Is Now Optional”

New M3 Chip Family Powers Updated MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics

At Apple’s Halloween-themed Scary Fast event on October 30, the company unveiled its next-generation Apple silicon chips for Macs, the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. Apple also showcased new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models and a faster version of the 24-inch iMac based on these chips. They’re available to order now, with units in stores and orders starting to arrive on November 7, apart from the M3 Max models that will arrive in late November. Apple also dropped the awkwardly positioned 13-inch MacBook Pro model from the lineup, leaving the low end to the highly capable MacBook Air. Read More from “New M3 Chip Family Powers Updated MacBook Pros and 24-inch iMac”

Is Your Mac Running Low on Disk Space? Here’s How to Delete Unnecessary Files

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh, Maintenance
Is your Mac low on drive space? Learn how to use Apple’s built-in storage management capabilities—perhaps supplemented with a third-party utility—to find and delete gigabytes of unnecessary files.

Between apps, photos, videos, music, and downloads, it’s easy to fill up your Mac’s drive, particularly one with just 128 or 256 GB of drive space. macOS warns you when you get too low on space, but those warnings may come late—for optimum Mac performance, we recommend you keep at least 10–20% of your drive free for new downloads and virtual memory swap files. There are excellent utilities that help you find and delete unnecessary files, such as the free GrandPerspective, the $9.99 DaisyDisk, and the $14.99 WhatSize, but Apple’s built-in storage management capabilities will likely be all you need. Read More from “Is Your Mac Running Low on Disk Space? Here’s How to Delete Unnecessary Files”

Want to Password-Protect a PDF? Follow These Best Practices

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh, Passwords, Security/Privacy
If you have a PDF with confidential information that you want to share, you can set a password to restrict opening, printing, or editing. We have instructions for Preview and Adobe Acrobat, plus advice on ensuring your document stays secure.

We periodically field questions about password-protecting a PDF to prevent the wrong people from reading it. Lawyers want to ensure that drafts of legal documents don’t fall into the wrong hands, financial advisers want to keep confidential financial information private, and authors want to prevent their writing from being shared broadly on the Internet. Others don’t worry so much about a document being read but want to ensure that it can’t be changed or printed.

PDF provides options for password-protecting documents for just these reasons, and you can add such protection to your PDFs in both Apple’s Preview and Adobe Acrobat. We’ll explain how to do that, but before we do, we want to share some best practices to increase the likelihood that your PDFs will remain protected as you wish. Read More from “Want to Password-Protect a PDF? Follow These Best Practices”

Keep a USB Keyboard and Mouse for Troubleshooting

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware
The minimalist approach with a wireless keyboard and mouse is good most of the time, but if things go wrong, it can be handy to have a wired USB keyboard and mouse available for troubleshooting.

Steve Jobs famously railed against cable clutter, and it’s now easy to use a desktop Mac with a wireless keyboard and mouse, either from Apple or another manufacturer. That’s fine for regular usage, but Bluetooth keyboards and mice aren’t always sufficient. Batteries wear out, pairing can fail, and wireless interference can cause lags or spurious inputs. Plus, if you need to boot into macOS Recovery, wireless input devices may not work. We recommend keeping an extra USB keyboard and mouse—preferably from Apple, but any brand will work—to use in case you have problems with your wireless versions. If you don’t have a keyboard and mouse left over from an old Mac, a friend or family member may be happy to give you theirs, or you can probably find them for next to nothing at a local reuse store. Read More from “Keep a USB Keyboard and Mouse for Troubleshooting”