If you use CrashPlan Home then you need to make a change. Code42, the company that makes CrashPlan sent out emails announcing that they are sunsetting their CrashPlan Home product and will focus on CrashPlan for Business. As of August 22, 2017 it’s no longer possible to renew or extend an existing CrashPlan for Home subscription. Additionally, everybody’s subscription was extended by 60 days at no additional cost. This way, everybody has at least 60 days to take action. If you recently renewed your annual subscription, say in August 2017, then you have 14 months, until October 2018, to take action.
See If You Rely On Older Apps Before Upgrading To iOS 11
Before you install iOS 11 on your iPhone or iPad, please check to see if you rely on older apps which are not compatible with iOS 11. iOS 11 is Apple’s latest major release of software for iPhones and iPads, released at the end of September, 2017. For many years, I’ve recommended holding off on installing major upgrades since Apple often introduces major redesigns to the user interface and major upgrades often have anmnoying bugs. With the upgrade to iOS 11 there is another reason to hold off on upgrading. iOS 11 no longer supports 32-bit apps. This means that older applications that haven’t been updated in several years will no longer work. Here’s how you can check to see if you have any incompatible apps on your device. Read More from “See If You Rely On Older Apps Before Upgrading To iOS 11”
Make Sure You Backup Your iPhone While Traveling
When you are away from home, you need to make sure your iPhone connects to wi-fi networks to ensure that it’s getting backed up. This tip assumes that you have automatic backups to iCloud enabled. If you need help turning on this feature or checking to see if it’s on, then please refer to my previous tip, How To Backup Your iPhone or iPad. Read More from “Make Sure You Backup Your iPhone While Traveling”
Make Your iPhone Easier To Read
Would you like to make the text on your iPhone or iPad easier to read? I believe the following 3 ways to enlarge text have been available since at least iOS 7 and they continue to be available in the current version of iOS. To turn on any of these options do this:
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on General
- Tap on Accessibility
- Then tap on either Bold Text, Larger Text or Zoom.
I’ll talk about each in turn.
Bold Text – If you tap on Bold Text to turn it on, you’ll be notified that you need to restart your iPhone. Go ahead and do this. Upon restart you’ll see that the text names of apps is bold. In fact, this is a systemwide adjustment. Text everywhere will be a bit thicker.
Larger Text – If you tap on Larger Text you’ll be able to turn on this feature and adjust a slider to control how much larger you want the text to be. Unlike Bold text, this is not a systemwide adjustment. Only apps which support Dynamic Type will use larger text. The Contacts app is an example of one app that uses Dynamic Text so use it to figure out where you want to position the slider. I recommend that, for starters, you position the slider to the right of center.
Zoom – If you tap on Zoom, you’ll be able to turn on this feature. Once this feature has been enabled you then need to know how to invoke it. You must double-tap 3 fingers on the screen. When you do this, the entire screen will zoom in. Thus, you’ll only be able to see a portion of the screen. To move around the screen, you can drag three fingers. Finally, to get out of zoom mode, double-tap 3 fingers again.
Share A Bluetooth Speaker With An iPhone and iPad
Have you ever wanted to share a Bluetooth device with 2 or more iOS devices? For example, do you want to share a Bluetooth speaker or a pair of Bluetooth headphones with both your iPhone and iPad? Sharing one Bluetooth device with multiple iOS devices can cause confusion. This tip will help you to understand and handle the confusion. Read More from “Share A Bluetooth Speaker With An iPhone and iPad”
How Edit Text On An iPhone or iPad
Do you know how to edit text you’ve typed on your iPhone? I am regularly surprised to find people who do not know it’s possible to do this. Let’s imagine that you’ve typed several lines of text in the Notes app, then you notice a typo back on the first line. You don’t need to delete all of the text back to the first line. Instead, you can do this:
- Simply tap your finger next to the typo. This will move the cursor, aka the flashing vertical line, to this location.
- Press the backspace key to remove the typo and then type the correct letter(s)
How To Empty Safari’s Cache
Are you having problems viewing one or two particular web sites in Safari? Were you previously able to view these web sites? If so, a common cause of this problem is corruption in Safari’s cache. Cache is temporary storage. Specifically, it contains recently viewed web pages. Occasionally, these temporarily stored web pages can get damaged. Thus, it can be useful to know how to empty this temporary storage. Here’s are instructions for emptying Safari’s cache on your Mac.
- Open Safari
- Click on the Safari menu and select Preferences
- Click on the Advanced button, at the far right end.
- Insert a checkmark next to Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- Click the red dot to close this window
- You’ll now see that the Develop menu is listed between the Bookmarks and Window menus at the top of your Mac’s screen.
- Click on the Develop menu and select Empty Caches, which is about half-way down the list.
Unfortunately, you will not see any confirmation that the caches have been emptied. Just trust that they have been. Next, open a new window in Safari and try to visit the web site that was giving you problems previously. Hopefully, this web site will now be displayed properly.
NuGuard iPhone Cases Are Great
Are you looking for a good case to protect your iPhone? Would you like the case to be easy to put on and take off? Would you like your iPhone well protected when you drop it? If so, I think you should consider NewerTech’s NuGuard iPhone case. It is a great value and comes in a variety of colors. It is a one-piece case that easily slides on and off. Its drop protection meets military standards (MIL-STD-810G). You can currently buy NuGuard cases for a range of iPhone models from the 4 through the 7. They also sell iPad cases but I’ve never used any of them. Read some reviews or watch some drop test videos. My last two iPhones have been protected by NuGuard cases. I dropped each phone dozens of times and they escaped unharmed every time.
Use Mail’s VIP Feature To Highlight Your Most Important Messages
Do you have a cluttered Inbox? Do you value emails from a few people more than all the rest? If so, you should make those few people VIPs. By designating a person as a VIP then emails from that person will appear in the VIP Mailbox which appears, separate from and below your Inbox. Here are some instructions on how to use this VIP feature. Read More from “Use Mail’s VIP Feature To Highlight Your Most Important Messages”
How To Make Sure Time Machine Backs Up Your External Drive
Do you want to make sure that Time Machine backs up an external hard drive, USB flash drive or an SD card that is connected to your Mac? If so, here are instructions to make sure this happens.
If your Mac is using macOS 12 Monterey or older, use the instructions listed in Section 1
If your Mac is using macOS 13 Ventura or newer, jump to Section 2.
Section 1 – if your Mac is running macOS 12 Monterey or older
- Click on the Apple menu and select System Preferences
- Click on Time Machine
- Click on the Options button in the lower right corner
- Look at the list of items under “Exclude these items from backups”
- If your external hard drive, USB flash drive or SD card is listed, click on it to select it and then click the minus sign icon. This will remove it from the list of excluded items. Thus, Time Machine will backup this drive or card.
- Click Save
- Click the red dot to close the Time Machine Preferences window.
Section 2 – if your Mac is running macOS 13 Ventura or newer
- Click on the Apple menu and select System Settings
- Click on General
- Click on Time Machine
- Click on the Options button in the lower right corner
- Look at the list of items under “Exclude from Backups”
- If your external hard drive, USB flash drive or SD card is listed, click on it to select it and then click the minus sign icon. This will remove it from the list of excluded items. Thus, Time Machine will backup this drive or card.
- Click Save
- Click the red dot to close the Time Machine Preferences window.
How To Create A Digital Photo Contact Sheet
Do you take digital photos and would you like to quickly create a file with thumbnail size versions of photos from a trip or family event? This file is called a contact sheet. Professional photographers commonly want to create contact sheets of all photos from a wedding or other photo shoot. Here are a couple of ways to create a contact sheet if you use a Mac. Read More from “How To Create A Digital Photo Contact Sheet”
Using Apple Mail’s Two Mail Display Layouts
Apple’s Mail application offers two layouts, that is, two different ways for you to view your email messages. This article will show you how to switch between and customize each of these layouts. Read More from “Using Apple Mail’s Two Mail Display Layouts”
AppleCare+ For Mac
In most situations, I tend to recommend that you buy Apple’s extended hardware warranty, called AppleCare. Apple enhanced AppleCare in 2017 so I think it’s an even more compelling option. Read More from “AppleCare+ For Mac”
How To Restore A Time Machine Backup To A New Mac
When you buy a new Mac you likely want to transfer all of your data and applications from your current Mac to a new Mac. Here are instructions on how to accomplish this migration using a current Time Machine backup of your current Mac. I’m going to provide instructions for two different scenarios.
If you’re just taking your new Mac out of it’s box and turning it on for the first time follow the instructions in Scenario 1 – Setup Assistant.
Alternatively, if you’ve already turned on your new Mac and created a user account then follow the instructions in Scenario 2 – Migration Assistant. Read More from “How To Restore A Time Machine Backup To A New Mac”
Using Amazon’s Prime Video App
Are you an Amazon Prime subscriber? One of the benefits is access to Amazon’s video streaming service called Prime Video. You can watch Prime Videos in a web browser on your computer or using the Prime Video app on your iOS device, such as an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. This Tech Tip will give you an introduction to using the Prime Video App on your iOS device. Read More from “Using Amazon’s Prime Video App”
How To Change Your AppleID Email Address
Is your AppleID tied to an email address that you no longer have access to or no longer use? If so, Apple offers step-by-step instructions on how to change your AppleID to use a new email address. Before we jump to the instructions, let’s start by reviewing some important background information and talk about some caveats. Read More from “How To Change Your AppleID Email Address”
DriveSavers Provides Excellent Data Recovery Services
Do you need to retrieve data from a sick or dead hard drive? If you do not have a backup of the data on this disk, then you should consider hiring a professional data recovery company like DriveSavers. DriveSavers has been an industry leader for 30 years. They have a stellar reputation and success rate. In the rare cases that I have had a client who needed professional data recovery, I always use DriveSavers. Fortunately they have been able to recover most of the needed data. The downside of professional data recovery companies is the relatively high cost. Read More from “DriveSavers Provides Excellent Data Recovery Services”
Social Engineering Scams Are The Easiest Way to Hack Into Your Mac
You are the weakest link in your computer’s security! Please keep reading this important Tech Tip. If you’re not already aware of this fact, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the easiest way for a hacker to get into your Mac is through you. Tricking you into divulging information, installing software or giving remote access to your Mac is the easiest way to break in to your Mac. Tricking you is often called social engineering. Read More from “Social Engineering Scams Are The Easiest Way to Hack Into Your Mac”
Subscribe And Listen To Podcasts Using Overcast
Here are instructions for subscribing to and listening to podcasts using the Overcast web site and Overcast app on your iPhone or iPad. If you missed it, my previous article provided an overview of podcasts. Here are step-by-step instructions on using Overcast, which is the podcatcher app that I use on both my iPhone and iPad. Read More from “Subscribe And Listen To Podcasts Using Overcast”
Podcasts Are Like On-Demand Radio
Have you heard of podcasts, but don’t really understand what they are or how to listen to them? If so, this article gives you an overview of podcasts. My next article will give you step-by-step instructions on subscribing to and listening to podcasts on your iPhone and Mac. For what it’s worth, the word Podcast is a portmanteau of iPod and broadcast created by a BBC journalist in 2004, when Apple’s iPod was having its heyday. Read More from “Podcasts Are Like On-Demand Radio”