Índex per June 2023 a MacLife

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly prominent topic in today’s technology landscape. With its ability to learn, adapt, and make decisions autonomously, AI has the potential to revolutionize various aspects of our lives. From business and healthcare to education and entertainment, AI is already playing a significant role in shaping the future. In this article, we’ll explore the basics of AI, its applications, and its potential impact on the world we live in. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or just curious about the latest advancements in the field, this article will provide you with a comprehensive overview of AI and its potential to transform our lives. THE POWER OF CHATGPT Confession: your author did not write the previous paragraph. Instead, it was generated, in mere seconds, by text–based AI…

ARE YOU CONFIDENT that your Mac is running to its maximum efficiency? Is it still the powerhouse of modern computing it was when you first bought it, or has it gradually been cluttered with duplicates, space–hogging data, and endless media? If your Mac’s internal drive is groaning under the weight of endless files, it’s likely to run slower as there’s less space to use as virtual memory. So it’s always wise to keep tabs on what you have on your machine, and declutter it regularly to make sure you’re not storing stuff you don’t need. And are you using its time–saving and organization features to the fullest? The Mac has all manner of features to help you keep on top of your work, with some great tools for the Finder…

WHEN YOUR MAC is clutter–free, you can optimize the way you use it. Finder is the utility that underpins everything. It’s the Finder that lets you launch apps, use the Mac’s desktop, and arrange files and data into folders. It opens automatically, and is always on when you’re using Mac apps. Click on a Finder window and you can change how your files and folders are displayed using the window’s Toolbar icons and the View menu found in the Finder’s menu bar. Also in View, you can Hide or Show the Preview, Toolbar, Sidebar, Tab Bar, Status Bar, Path Bar and more. Give them a go — experiment and see how you like it. You can use the search field in a Finder window to look for files, and tag them…

AFTER ALL YOUR best clean–up and organizational efforts, if your Mac still feels a little wheezy, one solution could be to move some of the biggest space hogs onto an external drive. This frees up space on your boot drive for the Mac to use as virtual memory, speeding it up and benefiting greatly when you have multiple applications open at once. If you have a lot of documents on your Mac, consider moving them to a cloud storage service such as iCloud or Dropbox. Not only does this save local drive space by not having them stored on your Mac, you can access and edit them from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. But the biggest space hogs on your Mac are likely to be your…

PART 1 of 3 REQUIRES Affinity Photo 2 ($69.99) YOU WILL LEARN How to use masks, creatively displace text, and perform non–destructive Raw edits IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes AFFINITY PHOTO 2 lets you process Raw format files, edit images in layers and push pixels around to change reality! If you’re familiar with Adobe Photoshop then Affinity Photo 2 will be easy to adapt to, and a great bonus is that you don’t need to pay a monthly subscription. Affinity Photo 2 features a collection of new features, updated tools and interface tweaks that help this photo–editing app remain a viable alternative to Photoshop. One of the most useful new features is non–destructive Raw editing. This enables you to tweak the colors and tones of a Raw file even after it…

REQUIRES Hand Mirror (free, offers IAPs), macOS 12 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to preview your video feed on your Mac using Hand Mirror IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes GENIUS TIP Click Settings > General and tick the “Open Hand Mirror at Login” checkbox to ensure you never forget to launch the app before a video call. WITH THE ADVENT of the COVID–19 pandemic, we found ourselves doing a lot more video calls than we were used to. Suddenly, the prospect of appearing in front of friends and colleagues with wild hair and strange clothing choices became all too real. Video calls aren’t going away but, fortunately, there’s an app that enables you to check you’re still looking great before joining a call. It’s called Hand Mirror, and it’s free…

REQUIRES An Apple Watch with watchOS 6 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to customize your Apple Watch IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes GENIUS TIP Use your iPhone’s Shortcuts app to create custom automations for your Apple Watch. We use Shortcuts to change our Watch face at specific times. WATCHES ARE AMONG the most personal devices we own, and that means every Apple Watch owner will want something a little different. watchOS’s Watch faces and Complications enable you to create all kinds of great combinations, with Apple’s own designs supplemented by Complications from Apple and third–party apps, but that’s not all you can customize. You can also change the way your Apple Watch displays your apps, how it responds to your movements, and what it does when you’re no longer…

> Checking NAS backups I’m just setting up a new NAS with mirrored hard disks to store my backups in APFS. How often should I check its integrity? Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems use file systems different from HFS+ and APFS as used by Macs. To store Time Machine backups on a NAS, macOS creates a virtual file system inside a sparse bundle, a structured set of files storing the virtual disk in a great many “band” files. To the Mac connected to that share, the sparse bundle looks just like a disk, in this case formatted in APFS. Using HFS+ in the past, these sparse bundles have normally functioned well until they suffer errors in their file system, when they may suddenly stop working. Failure has been associated with…

Even if it’s only a modest concrete square in your backyard, if you’re lucky enough to have a bit of outside space, you’ll know that in the warmer months this can become an extra room, albeit one without a roof. If you have a bigger footprint to deal with, you’ll need to nurture it. And when the sun is shining, you can enjoy some outdoor dining. The gadgets featured here will help your garden grow, ensure you enjoy it to its full potential, and keep you and your property safe from unwanted attention. Whether you want to entertain friends and family and show off your culinary skills, chill out with a good movie, or keep watch on both the weather and your house, you’ll find the right tech here to…

$20 From www.jlab.com Features Audio control dial, connects to three devices, switches between three key layouts, 2x AAA and 2.4GHz dongle included, 11.24 x 0.96 x 5.13 in TYPING ON THE JLab GO is decent for a $20 keyboard. It’s not in the same league as Apple’s Magic Keyboard, but it’s not a million miles away either. Keys are not too firm to press, and the arrow keys are in an inverted T shape, which makes them easier to find by touch than on Apple’s equivalent. It’s also an impressively lightweight device, and its slimline profile aids its portability, meaning you’ll have no trouble slipping it into a bag if you need to work on the go. The downside to its portable nature is that it feels a little flimsy. Place…

PERHAPS I AM in the minority, but it’s been a long time since I was excited about anything happening with Apple’s software on the Mac. Hardware, sure: the M–series chips have obviously been a seismic event, and the miniLED screens on the new MacBook Pros are gorgeous. But even the M–series chips didn’t enable new software that thrills me. The biggest change made possible there was having iOS apps on the Mac, and this didn’t exactly get me jumping on the couch, Tom Cruise–style. I’ve written in these pages in the past that I think Apple has failed to build on what it could be doing with a modern–day iLife suite — a dedicated podcasting app, a simplified HyperCard–like app creation tool, a version of iMovie that includes more effects…

Housekeeping apps: good or bad? Some Mac owners swear by clean–up and maintenance apps such as CleanMyMac X and MacKeeper, while others have their doubts. Those in favor argue they’re great for emptying caches of unwanted system junk, freeing memory, and more. Others say these apps are unnecessary, and perhaps even harmful if used incorrectly. And the same is true of us here at Mac|Life; while some of the team are fans of apps such as CleanMyMac X, others won’t go near them. Only you can decide what’s right for you. SHOULD YOUR MAC be groaning under the strain of unused files, duplicated data and other detritus, a clear–out and spruce up can work wonders. Here you’ll discover some of the most common slowdowns and how to fix them, and…

MISSION CONTROL GIVES an excellent bird’s–eye view of what’s open on your Desktop, including those in full–screen or Split View. Click on the window you want to use and Mission Control closes, with the chosen app on top and active. It’s great for when you have lots of overlapping windows open at once. To activate Mission Control, swipe up with three or four fingers on your trackpad, double–tap with two fingers on a Magic Mouse, or press F3 on your keyboard. With Mission Control open, you can add another desktop, or space. Move the pointer to the Spaces bar at the top of the screen, and it expands. Now every Desktop currently available to you is shown. You can add a new Desktop with the “+” on the right– hand…

REQUIRES Ulysses app (from $5.99/month), macOS 11 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to use Ulysses’ simple but powerful writing and editing tools IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes GENERALLY SPEAKING, THERE are two kinds of Mac writers. There are people who love Ulysses, and there are people who just haven’t tried it yet. We’re in the former camp; many of the contributions for this very magazine have been written in Ulysses. Ulysses is fast, and it’s easy to organize and search your writing. It’s available for iPhone and iPad and, most importantly, it’s easy to export your documents to pretty much anything; blogs, Word, PDF, ebooks, emails and more. Ulysses uses Markdown, a fast and finger–friendly way of formatting and organizing documents that makes it an absolute breeze to repackage the…

HOW IT WORKS YOU WILL LEARN How VR headsets work, and how Apple’s rumored offering might compare to what’s already available THE RUMORS SUGGEST THAT IT WILL BE A HIGH–END HEADSET AIMED AT PROFESSIONAL USERS KEY FACT Augmented reality (AR) — sometimes referred to as mixed reality (MR) — isn’t the same as true VR. Rather than creating an entire 3D virtual world, AR/MR glasses or headsets superimpose computer graphics over the real world that you see all around you. That’s already possible using games like Pokémon Go, which displays cute little critters on your iPhone screen, rather than an expensive headset. IT’S BEEN MORE than a decade since Apple launched the first iPad back in 2010, and although Apple has introduced new products since then, such as the HomePod and…

SHARE WITH US! EMAIL: ask@maclife.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife > Break a macOS update loop When trying to update to macOS 13.2, each time my Mac finishes preparing the update, it loops back and downloads it again. How can I install it? First, try restarting your Mac then looking for the update again in System Settings > General > Software Update. If it still won’t install correctly, start your Mac up in safe mode. On an Intel Mac, restart it with the Shift key held; on an Apple silicon model, start it up with the Power key held until it’s loading Startup Options, then select its disk, hold the Shift key and click on the Continue in Safe Mode button. Open Software Update again and try to update. If that still…

Whether your preferred mode of transport is a car, RV or a bicycle, there are gadgets that will help you travel lightly and still be able to do everything you want when you get to your destination. If you’re going somewhere remote, you’ll need a means of powering your gear, and you’ll want to rest assured that your kit is secure while you’re away from it. If you need to work while you’re on the move, an extra monitor and a hub to connect accessories to your MacBook may come in useful. And, of course, you’ll need somewhere to stash all your tech and be able to carry it with you. Here’s the best gear for hitting the road this summer. 1 EcoFlow River 2 Max Portable Power Station > $469…

Adjusting your Home and Lock Screens is easy: just tap and hold on your Lock Screen then tap Customize. Next, tap either Lock Screen or Home Screen and you’ll see various options, from adding new widgets to applying gradient effects. You can use different wallpapers when your iPhone is locked and unlocked, tweak everything from fonts to colors, and much more. We’ll show you how it’s all done. A WIDGETS Widgets live at the top of your Lock Screen. Tap one to replace or edit it. B MOVE OR SCALE You can move or rescale the wallpaper by pinching your fingers together or apart. C SWIPE FOR EFFECTS Swipe left or right or tap the dots to apply a color effect to your wallpaper. D CHANGE IT UP Change your…

$149.99 From www.tp-link.com Features AX3000 dual–band Wi–Fi, Wi–Fi 6 compatible, IP65 waterproof and dustproof, PoE/AC Power Supply, 2 × Gigabit WAN/LAN Ethernet ports, covers up to 2,500 ft squared DO YOU NEED Wi–Fi all the way at the bottom of your backyard? With this neat weatherproof device, you can have it. It’s designed to be used indoors or out, and can be mounted on a post or screwed into a wall instead of sitting on a shelf or table if you wish. Download the Deco app to incorporate it into your current Wi–Fi network using its Access Point Mode, or use it as a replacement for the router you got from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). It’s compatible with TP–Link’s other Deco wireless products, so you can create a Wi–Fi…

$299 From www.audiopro.com  Features AirPlay 2, Home app compatibility, Bluetooth, RCA inputs, Dimensions: 5.1 x 9.8 x 5.9in IN A SEA of smart speakers, Audio Pro’s C5 MkII leans very much on the “speaker” side of things. Although it has some software control it does not feature a microphone or any kind of digital assistant, so it’s really nothing like a HomePod, for example. Compact but very well built, the C5 MkII is designed to be somewhat portable with its leather carrying handle, though it needs to run off wall power so is really meant only for indoor use. Around the back you’ll find a bass port as well as RCA inputs and a subwoofer output should you wish to connect a turntable or some bass extension, respectively. In addition…

APPLE HAS UNEXPECTEDLY introduced iPad versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Both apps will each be available on a subscription basis through the App Store for $4.99 per month or $49 per year, with a one–month free trial. Final Cut Pro will run on iPads with M1 chip or newer, and Logic Pro on iPads with A12 Bionic chip or newer. Both require iPadOS 16.4. Final Cut Pro for iPad introduces a powerful set of tools for video creators to record, edit, finish, and share, all from one portable device. A new jog wheel makes the editing process easier than ever and enables users to navigate the Magnetic Timeline, move clips, and make fast frame–accurate edits with just the tap of a finger. With Live Drawing, users can draw…

I believe that a significant improvement for your magazine, and your readers, would be being able to translate the text like we can do when reading other digital titles. Reading an article that’s a bit too technical? Simply convert it to the language you would like — French in my case — and voilà! Anyone that does non speak English can fully read any text in the magazine! This would be great for us and for you. In addition, this allows the reader to copy part of the text to insert in a note or email. On another equally important subject: are you still planning an index or search engine for MaclLife? It is not available yet. I couldn’t find the edition you last promised to your readers, but I…

Stay up to date One of the best ways to make sure your Mac performs at its best is to keep its operating system and apps up to date. Click the Apple menu; if there’s a number next to App Store, you have updates. The MacUpdater app is great for identifying apps bought or downloaded from outside the Mac App Store that need updating (https://corecode.io/macupdater). WHEN YOU’VE FIXED and removed the most obvious slowdowns and clutter, it’s time for a deeper clean. Here we explore some other steps you can take, such as off–loading your Desktop and Documents folders to your iCloud Drive, saving valuable space on your computer’s local drive. Removing leftovers from deleted apps is also a good idea. If the app comes with an uninstaller, this is easy;…

NOW WE’VE CLEANED out the clutter from your Mac and mastered the Finder’s organizational features, it’s time to make sure your files and folders are managed efficiently. For example, if you get back from a wedding with two dozen photos of anonymously named images (such as “image001.jpg”), why not replace the generic “image” with something meaningful like “Mike and Sue’s Wedding”? There are plenty of apps that let you change file names in batches, such as Renamer, Hazel, DropIt and more. You could also set up a routine in Shortcuts, which is included with recent versions of macOS. As well as giving your files a more readily identifiable name, you can also add notes to the metadata of individual files and folders. Just click on the file or folder in question…

REQUIRES A HomePod (second–gen) or HomePod mini, iOS/iPadOS 15 YOU WILL LEARN How to do more with your HomePod mini or HomePod using your iPhone or iPad IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes GENIUS TIP You can also use your Apple TV box to control your HomePod and display artwork and lyrics for the currently playing HomePod track. THE HOMEPOD (SECOND–GEN) is not only a great–sounding speaker, but an incredibly smart one, thanks to built–in Siri and support for smart home protocols such as HomeKit, Thread and Matter. The latest HomePod and HomePod mini can even take on some smart home duties themselves as both have built–in temperature and humidity sensors, enabling you to keep tabs on the health of your home. Both also include sound recognition, which enables them to…

Spring has sprung, and it’s that time of year when many of us start to think about summer and the great outdoors. Warmer weather, longer days, and stunning scenery draw us from the confines of our homes into the fresh air. For some of us, that means time spent in the yard growing plants and veg, or just enjoying the space. For others, it means hitting the road and exploring, or even adventuring to a far–flung land. Whatever your preference for spending time outside, there’s a gadget or ten that will make the experience more fun, more relaxing, and safer too. It may be a projector so you can create your own outdoor movie theater in the backyard, a robotic lawn mower so you can put your feet up rather than…

We all have different ideas when it comes to going on vacation or taking a trip somewhere. For some of us it means lying on a beach with a good book. For others, it’s a non–stop, adrenaline–fueled adventure. Regardless of what you like to do, there are some types of gear that you shouldn’t be without. A good bag, for example. And a pair of noise–canceling headphones to drown out the background noise on a flight or train journey. A powerbank wouldn’t go amiss either. If you’re going camping in the wild, a small stove is essential. And if you’re the adventurous type, an action cam is a must. Here’s our selection of the tech that checks those outdoor boxes. 1 Campstove 2+ > $149.95 > www.bioliteenergy.com Fill this camping…

Free (with IAPs) From https://outlook.com Needs macOS 11.0 or later; Intel or Apple silicon Mac MICROSOFT RECENTLY TRIED to carve inroads into Apple’s world by making its Outlook for Mac email client free instead of requiring a Microsoft 365 subscription. But is it actually worth using? When you first open Outlook, you’ll notice it’s a pleasant app to look at. Your inbox is neatly organized, there are plenty of customization options, and Microsoft has included a few helpful extras for managing your mail (and your time). On the left is a sidebar with your accounts and sub–folders. To the right of that is your inbox, with Focused and Other tabs at the top. The former shows your most important messages, while the latter contains things like newsletters and offers. That’s about it…

$149.99 From www.belkin.com Features MagSafe for iPhones, adjustable Apple Watch puck height, charge at up to 15W (iPhone 12, 13 and 14); 7.5W (iPhone 8–11), Apple Watch fast charging (7, 8 and Ultra models) CARRYING MULTIPLE CHARGERS and cables can get tiresome, but Belkin’s 3–in–1 charging pad is designed to make your life easier if you own a recent iPhone, AirPods or Apple Watch, and preferably all three to really get the best value out of your purchase. Compact but very well built, it comes in black or white finishes and with a 40W power supply which plugs into the underside neatly. In terms of its size, the pad is easy enough to carry around while traveling, or will sit unobtrusively on a desk. There are three sections, one for…