iOS | Mac Support DC

Tag: iOS

New M1 Pro and M1 Max Chips Power the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros

Last year, Apple started to transition Macs away from Intel processors to its custom M1 system-on-a-chip. The M1’s performance is...

Jon Brown

Oct 19, 2021

Safari 15

New Features to Try (Or Not) in Safari 15 Along with a new version of Safari in iOS 15 and...

Jon Brown

Oct 18, 2021

Forget Wi-Fi Networks

When It Comes to Wi-Fi Networks, Sometimes It’s Better to Forget It’s easy, particularly when traveling, to end up connecting...

Jon Brown

Oct 14, 2021

434: Interview With Jon Brown CEO of Grove Technologies

Topics: We welcome Jon Brown of Grove Technologies. Jon is a long time VIP supporter of the show. Jon recalls...

Jon Brown

Oct 13, 2021

iCloud Plus

What Is iCloud+ and What Can You Do With It? As you upgrade to iOS 15, iPadOS 15 (and macOS...

Jon Brown

Oct 12, 2021

Update DND in Focus

After Upgrading to iOS 15, Check Do Not Disturb in Focus Settings In iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple expanded...

Jon Brown

Oct 7, 2021

Bulging batteries

Beware the Bulging Battery! (And What to Do If Yours Expands) We’ve been seeing a spate of bulging batteries of...

Jon Brown

Oct 5, 2021

About That Worrying Message Saying Your Password Has Been Breached?

In iOS 14, Apple added a feature that warns you when one of your website passwords stored in iCloud Keychain...

Jon Brown

Sep 28, 2021

The Plug Is Mightier Than the Puck - Wireless Charging Is Wildly Inefficient

In 2017, Apple added support for Qi wireless charging to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, and with the iPhone...

Jon Brown

Sep 23, 2021

Sort Your Lists Differently in Reminders in iOS 14 and Big Sur

For many years, Apple’s Reminders app let you sort your lists, but in just one way that applied to all...

Jon Brown

Sep 21, 2021

Losing the Occasional Important Message? Set up a Ham Filter

Although spam remains as much of a scourge as ever, spam filters have improved enough that most people see relatively...

Jon Brown

Sep 16, 2021

Apples 2021 Crop. Four iPhones, Two iPads and an Apple Watch

September is traditionally when new iPhones are ripe for the picking, and this year’s crop is no exception. At its...

Jon Brown

Sep 15, 2021

When Should You Upgrade to macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15?

September is here, which means that Apple will soon start releasing major upgrades for all its operating systems. Apple previewed...

Jon Brown

Sep 14, 2021

Solve Networking Puzzles with Powerline Networking and MoCA

For most homes and offices, a standard or mesh Wi-Fi network works fine for providing Internet access throughout the building....

Jon Brown

Sep 9, 2021

Need to Share Files Securely? Try Password-Protected ZIP Archives

Imagine you’re staring at a file or folder—perhaps confidential employee information that you need to send to your accountant. If...

Jon Brown

Sep 7, 2021

Frequently Asked Questions Surrounding Apple's Expanded Protections for Children

Apple’s recent announcement that it would soon be releasing two new technologies aimed at protecting children has generated a firestorm...

Jon Brown

Sep 2, 2021

Ever Have Trouble Printing- Try a Different Printer Driver

Some clients have reported problems with HP laser printers failing to print. Sometimes there’s an error. Other times, the print...

Jon Brown

Aug 23, 2021

Filter What's Showing in Photos to Focus on Specific Types

You know you can make albums and smart albums in Photos, and do searches to find photos that contain particular...

Jon Brown

Aug 21, 2021

How to Take the Annoyance Out of Your Key Passwords and Passcodes

We constantly say, “Use a password manager!” for good reason. Password managers make it easy to generate, store, and enter...

Jon Brown

Aug 17, 2021

Nightstand Mode Makes Your Apple Watch a Helpful Bedroom Companion

Most Apple Watch users charge their watch every night, putting it on a charger as part of a bedtime routine....

Jon Brown

Aug 15, 2021

Picking the Best Mac for a College-Bound Student

Do you have a child heading off to college soon? As you’re undoubtedly aware from high school, a computer is...

Jon Brown

Aug 11, 2021

Ransomware is on the Rise. Learn How to Protect Your Macs

In cybercriminal circles, ransomware is all the rage. Once it has infected a computer, it encrypts all the files and...

Jon Brown

Aug 9, 2021

Share Files, Photos, and other Data between Apple Devices with AirDrop

It’s common to want to share files, photos, and other data between your devices—or with friends and family. When the...

Jon Brown

Aug 5, 2021

The Mac's Magic Shortcut to Trashing Files and Photos Quickly

Sure, you could select a file in the Finder and choose File > Move to Trash or drag it to...

Jon Brown

Aug 3, 2021

Two Important Tips for External Storage Devices

It’s tempting to think that most external storage devices—whether simple hard drives or more complicated network-attached storage (NAS) units—are relatively...

Jon Brown

Jul 29, 2021

Reopening Your Office? Now's a Great Time to Evaluate Your IT Infrastructure

As vaccination rates climb, many businesses are starting to think about reopening their offices and bringing back employees who have...

Jon Brown

Jul 27, 2021

Grove Technologies Ranked Among Elite Managed Service Providers

JULY 27, 2021: Grove Technologies has been named as one of the world’s premier managed service providers on the prestigious...

Jon Brown

Jul 27, 2021

Reduce Your Email Load with Three Features in Apple's Mail: Mute, Block, and Unsubscribe

Complaining about getting too much email is like complaining about bad traffic—we brought it upon ourselves, and while it’s impossible...

Jon Brown

Jul 22, 2021

Name That Tune with Siri or Control Center

Don’t you hate it when a familiar song is playing but you can’t think of what it’s called? Or worse,...

Jon Brown

Jul 20, 2021

Live in the Future by Using Apple Pay on Your Apple Watch

With mask wearing over the past year rendering Face ID ineffective at cash registers, we’ve become fond of using the...

Jon Brown

Jul 15, 2021

Going on Vacation? Learn How to Write an Effective Out-of-Office Message

For many people, increasing vaccination rates mean that long-delayed vacations are now possible, and in-person conferences are slowly starting up...

Jon Brown

Jul 13, 2021

Don't Cook Your Digital Devices in the Summer Heat

As climate change continues to wreak havoc on our weather, many areas are seeing record temperatures this summer—Seattle just recorded...

Jon Brown

Jul 8, 2021

Disable Unused Sharing Options on Your Mac If You're Not Using Them

Many security breaches—even high-profile ones—stem from simple oversight. There’s one spot in macOS that has long been particularly susceptible to...

Jon Brown

Jul 6, 2021

What Is the Cloud

People talk about “the cloud” all the time these days, but what do they really mean? There’s no agreed-on definition,...

Jon Brown

Jun 22, 2021

What Is This App Tracking Transparency Apple Added to iOS 14.5

You’ve likely seen mention of the dispute between Apple and Facebook. It revolves around App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a technology...

Jon Brown

Jun 20, 2021

Two Tricks for Fixing a Mac Thats Restarting Unexpectedly

Although extremely uncommon, it’s not unheard of for a Mac, particularly an older model, to restart unexpectedly. If it happens...

Jon Brown

Jun 16, 2021

Share Your Apple Card with People in Your Family Sharing Group

pple did a good job rethinking some aspects of credit card use with the Apple Card, but one omission was...

Jon Brown

Jun 14, 2021

AirTag Basics and How to Protect Yourself from Stalking

Apple’s new AirTag tracking device is an amazing bit of technology—it’s an elegant disc about the size of a stack...

Jon Brown

Jun 10, 2021

The Ten Upcoming Mac, iPhone, iPad, Features We Think You’ll Most Like

At its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 7th, Apple shared details about what we can expect to see later...

Jon Brown

Jun 8, 2021

Pin Your Chats in Messages for Faster Access

A new feature of Messages in both iOS 14 and macOS 11 Big Sur is the option to pin up...

Jon Brown

Jun 8, 2021

How Grove Technologies Has Changed in the Era of COVID-19 and What It Means for You

2020 Recap With 2020 fading into the distance, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year. It...

Jon Brown

Jun 4, 2021

How to Digitize Your Signature So Youre Ready for Online Document Signing

Over the last decade, and particularly during the last year of pandemic life, documents have become more likely to arrive...

Jon Brown

Jun 4, 2021

Looking for More iOS Widgets Be Sure to Launch Seldom Used Apps

Home screen widgets are one of the coolest features of iOS 14. They enable apps to offer quick access to...

Jon Brown

Jun 2, 2021

Use Messages to Share Your Current Location Quickly

We’ve all gotten that panicked “Where are you?!?” text message at some point. Sometimes it’s an easy question to answer,...

Jon Brown

May 24, 2021

Are You Incurring Technical Debt? Avoid It by Staying Current

Have you heard the term technical debt? It’s what you incur whenever you delay upgrading software and hardware for too...

Jon Brown

May 22, 2021

Privacy Tip. Don't Post Vaccination Record Cards on Social Media

So you’ve gotten your COVID-19 vaccination. Congratulations, and thank you for nudging the planet closer to the herd immunity needed...

Jon Brown

May 18, 2021

Nine Reasons to Put Your Mac's Pointer in a Corner

If your Mac is like ours, it’s a busy place, with oodles of open windows and lots of icons lying...

Jon Brown

May 16, 2021

Learn How to Paste Text So Its Style Matches the Surrounding Text

When you copy text from a Web page, PDF, or word processing document, macOS usually includes the associated formatting, so...

Jon Brown

May 12, 2021

Four Ways to Reduce Zoom Fatigue

After a long day of video calls, you might feel like your brain has been wrung out like a wet...

Jon Brown

May 10, 2021

Intuit Has Stopped Updating the QuickBooks Online Mac App. Switch to a Web Browser

If you’re using QuickBooks Online with the service’s Mac app to manage your business’s accounting, you may have seen a...

Jon Brown

May 6, 2021

Upgrade to iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4 to Unlock Face ID iPhones with Your Watch

You have to feel for Apple sometimes. The company’s engineers put an astonishing amount of work into the hardware and...

Jon Brown

May 4, 2021

Work with iOS App Updates in Your Account in the App Store

If you’ve turned on automatic App Updates in Settings > App Store on your iPhone or iPad, you might wonder...

Jon Brown

Apr 29, 2021

Try iCloud Drive Folder Sharing Instead of Paying More for a File Sharing Service

Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive all have their place, but as of March 2020, Apple users no longer...

Jon Brown

Apr 27, 2021

Not a Fan of Big Sur's Translucent Menu Bar Here's How to Disable It

In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple went back to a design direction from the earliest days of Mac OS X:...

Jon Brown

Apr 26, 2021

Apple Announces New M1-Based 24-inch iMac, iPad Pro, AirTag, Apple TV 4K, and More

On April 20th, Apple took to the Internet to stream its “Spring Loaded” event. Pundits had been unable to figure...

Jon Brown

Apr 22, 2021

Make Better Documents and Edit More Easily with Show Invisibles

Some of the trickiest editing and proofreading problems are related to characters you can’t typically see on the screen: spaces,...

Jon Brown

Apr 20, 2021

How to Avoid Embarrassment During Online Presentations or Screen Sharing

Along with the now-ubiquitous videoconferencing, screen sharing and online presentations have become vastly more common during the pandemic. This isn’t...

Jon Brown

Apr 15, 2021

Don't Store Confidential Files in Online File Sharing Services

Given their integration into the Mac’s Finder, it can be easy to forget that online file sharing services like Dropbox,...

Jon Brown

Apr 13, 2021

Archive Email to Avoid Mail Quotas, Improve Performance, and Reduce Clutter

Email is a major part of all our lives, both personally and professionally, and as such, it can add up....

Jon Brown

Apr 8, 2021

Apple Hid the Proxy Icon in Big Surs Finder Heres How to Reveal It

This is a twofer tip. You may not have known that every document window in macOS has long had a...

Jon Brown

Apr 6, 2021

Choose Your Preferred Default Web Browser and Email App in iOS and iPadOS 14

Since the earliest days of the iPhone, Apple’s Safari and Mail have been the default Web and email apps for...

Jon Brown

Mar 28, 2021

Having Trouble Finding Files on Your Mac Heres How to Reset Spotlight

For the most part, Spotlight works well. Press Command-Space or use the Search field in a Finder window, and it...

Jon Brown

Mar 23, 2021

Its Time to Consider Upgrading to macOS 11 Big Sur

We’re cautious when it comes to recommending upgrades to new versions of macOS. Apple makes the upgrade process easy—though it...

Jon Brown

Mar 21, 2021

Welcome Nikki Lewis Mac Expert at Grove Technologies

Nikki Lewis Mac Expert Full Time Nikki, a prior Apple trained Support Technician, is committed to providing exceptional Mac Support...

Jon Brown

Mar 18, 2021

PostScript Type 1 Fonts Losing Support This Year Heres What to Do

For you graphic designers out there, Adobe has announced that it will be ending support for PostScript Type 1 fonts...

Jon Brown

Mar 17, 2021

Manage Your Apple Purchases and Subscriptions on the Mac and iPhone

Last quarter, Apple’s Services segment generated a whopping $15.8 billion in revenue, 14% of the company’s total—sales of apps, media,...

Jon Brown

Mar 15, 2021

Stop Apple Watch Timer Alerts with a Press of the Digital Crown

For those who cook, the Apple Watch provides a helpful Timer app that ensures we don’t forget whatever’s in the...

Jon Brown

Mar 11, 2021

Web Ads Making the Best of a Lose Lose Scenario

Typically, we like to help you solve problems in these articles. But there’s one problem we all face that has...

Jon Brown

Mar 9, 2021

When Asking about Phishing Email, Make Sure to Write Separately Too

Sadly, email is not an entirely reliable communications medium, thanks to spam filters, addressing errors, and server failures. With certain...

Jon Brown

Mar 4, 2021

Keep iPhone 12 and MagSafe Accessories Away from Pacemakers

Remember when we had to keep magnets away from floppy disks to avoid scrambling them? Modern storage is no longer...

Jon Brown

Feb 28, 2021

M1 Macs and Silver Sparrow Malware

Hot on the heels of the release of the new Apple Silicon architecture, a new piece of malware for the...

Jon Brown

Feb 25, 2021

Keep Your Mac Quiet at Night and During Presentations with Do Not Disturb

We’re all accustomed to the Do Not Disturb feature on our iPhones since they’re with us for most of the...

Jon Brown

Feb 25, 2021

Home Sharing Lets You Access Media on Your Mac from Other Local Apple Devices

In the heyday of iTunes, Apple users stored their music, movies, and TV shows on their Macs and shared them...

Jon Brown

Feb 23, 2021

Reclaim Local Storage Space by Removing iCloud Drive Downloads

With iCloud Drive, Apple provides an Optimize Mac Storage checkbox that, when checked, stores the full contents of iCloud Drive...

Jon Brown

Feb 18, 2021

Forget Adobe Acrobat Preview May Be All You Need to Work with PDFs

We regularly hear from people who think they need Adobe Acrobat DC to manipulate PDFs. Don’t misunderstand: Adobe Acrobat is...

Jon Brown

Feb 16, 2021

Want an Early Warning System for COVID-19 Infections Install NOVID

With vaccinations underway, there’s light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel. But given the enormity of the task...

Jon Brown

Feb 11, 2021

Getting Started with 1Password

We’ve long recommended that everyone use a password manager like 1Password instead of attempting to memorize or write down passwords....

Jon Brown

Feb 9, 2021

Welcome Mikaela Donelan to Grove Technologies!

Mikaela Donelan Client Success & PM Full Time Mikaela partners with clients to develop strategic solutions for their business needs....

Jon Brown

Feb 5, 2021

What Are Those Orange and Green Dots in Your iPhone's Status Bar?

In iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple added two new status indicators to the right side of the status bar...

Jon Brown

Feb 4, 2021

Apple Provides Sensible Device and Data Access Safety Advice

Our iPhones are the keys to our digital lives, holding our most private photos, conversations, and financial data, among much...

Jon Brown

Jan 31, 2021

M1 Based Macs Have New Startup Modes, Here's What You Need to Know

For many years, Macs have relied on sets of keys held at startup to enable specific modes. Most notably, pressing...

Jon Brown

Jan 26, 2021

Apple Expands the AirPods Line with AirPods Max Headphones

If you think of AirPods as earbuds, you’re not alone. But just as Apple has given us larger iPhone Max...

Jon Brown

Jan 21, 2021

Need to Save Bandwidth on Your iPhone- Try Low Data Mode

Even as we get 5G cellular connectivity and high-speed Wi-Fi networks, there are plenty of times when you might want...

Jon Brown

Jan 19, 2021

Happy One Year Workiversary Tiara Thornton!!

Tiara Thornton Mac Expert Full Time Tiara, a prior Apple trained Support Technician, is dedicated to providing great Mac Support...

Jon Brown

Jan 18, 2021

8 Ways Apple Improved the Camera App in iOS 14

It’s difficult for most of us to imagine that a camera—something that still feels like it’s a standalone object—could be...

Jon Brown

Jan 15, 2021

Some New iOS Features You May Have Missed

We’ve published overviews of the major features in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, along with detailed looks at our favorite...

Jon Brown

Jan 12, 2021

5 New Years Resolutions That Will Improve Your Digital Security

Happy New Year! For many of us, the start of a new year is an opportunity to reflect on fresh...

Jon Brown

Jan 7, 2021

Not Enough Space to Install iOS 14 or iPadOS 14? Try This Approach

Suppose you have an older iPhone or iPad, especially one with only 16 GB of storage. In that case, it’s...

Jon Brown

Jan 5, 2021

So Are Apples New M1 Based Macs Any Good

In November, Apple unveiled its new M1 chip and three new Macs that use it: the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook...

Jon Brown

Dec 24, 2020

Pinch to Zoom in All Photos View in iOS 14

Photos in iOS 14 provides four views of your library: Years, Months, Days, and All Photos. For the first three,...

Jon Brown

Dec 23, 2020

Take a Few Minutes to Lock Down Your Facebook Privacy Settings

Even beyond its often controversial behavior in the 2020 US presidential election, Facebook continually makes news headlines for its numerous...

Jon Brown

Dec 18, 2020

Flash Is Dead Uninstall Flash Player to Keep Your Mac Secure

In July 2017, Adobe announced that it would stop distributing and updating Flash Player on December 31st, 2020. Web standards...

Jon Brown

Dec 16, 2020

Want to Send Holiday Cards This Year Try Building Them with Motif for Photos

In 2018, Apple dropped support for creating print projects from within Photos, including greeting cards, calendars, and books. Instead, Apple...

Jon Brown

Dec 11, 2020

Did You Know That Your iPhone Can Name That Tune

Several years ago, Apple bought a company called Shazam, which made an app that identified songs by listening to the...

Jon Brown

Dec 9, 2020

Overwhelmed by Apps- Use iOS 14s App Library to Manage Your Home Screens

Many of us have been using iPhones for years, and apps we bought or downloaded long ago molder in corners...

Jon Brown

Dec 4, 2020

A Quick Shortcut to Create an Instant Slideshow from a Folder of Images

You probably know that you can select an image in the Finder and press the Space bar to preview it...

Jon Brown

Dec 2, 2020

Whats MDM, and Why Is It Useful for Organizations

For those who work in organizations, regardless of size, you know how much effort is involved with coordinating a group’s...

Jon Brown

Nov 26, 2020

Use These Settings to Show or Hide Filename Extensions

On the Mac, nearly every file has an extension, a set of characters after a period that indicates what type...

Jon Brown

Nov 24, 2020

The Best Apple-Related Gifts for 2020

The holiday shopping season is fast approaching! Given the significant stresses placed on society’s fulfillment, distribution, and delivery systems by...

Jon Brown

Nov 19, 2020

BigSur Is Here, Our Official Stance, and Recommendations

With the release of the next OS from Apple, macOS 11 Big Sur, you may be tempted to upgrade right...

Jon Brown

Nov 19, 2020

New Back Tap Feature in iOS 14 Provides Two Customizable Shortcuts

We all have things we do regularly on our iPhones, whether it’s checking the weather, searching Google, or invoking the...

Jon Brown

Nov 17, 2020

How to Make Sure Your iPhone Doesn't Make Noise in the Night

You likely know that you can use Do Not Disturb to prevent random notifications on your iPhone from waking you...

Jon Brown

Nov 12, 2020

Apple Unveils New M1-Powered MacBook Air MacBook Pro and Mac mini

Continuing its pandemic-driven approach of short, focused announcements, Apple once again took to the Internet to stream its “One More...

Jon Brown

Nov 11, 2020

Home Screen Widgets Take Center Stage in iOS 14

A significant new feature in iOS 14 is Home screen widgets, information-rich tiles that share space on a Home screen...

Jon Brown

Nov 10, 2020

Don't Worry about an Occasional Not Charging Message on Your MacBook

Starting with macOS 10.15.5 Catalina, Apple introduced a battery health management feature that improves your battery’s lifespan by adjusting charging...

Jon Brown

Nov 5, 2020

Amazing New Tips for Rearranging Apps on Your iPhone or iPad

You’ve likely seen our tip on using the Dock on an iPhone or iPad as a temporary holding place that...

Jon Brown

Nov 3, 2020

Stop Snoops with Private Browsing and by Clearing Your Web Browsing History

With so many of us working at home these days, it’s worth remembering that spouses, children, and housemates may have...

Jon Brown

Oct 31, 2020

Want Better Goals - Customize Your Move, Exercise, and Stand Rings in watchOS 7

Ever since Apple introduced the Activity app to watchOS, you’ve been able to adjust your Move goal, which is measured...

Jon Brown

Oct 29, 2020

384: Interview With Jon Brown, founder & CEO of Grove Technologies

Topics: This week we welcome Jon Brown of Grove Technologies and VIP sponsor of Command Control Power! Jon takes us...

Jon Brown

Oct 27, 2020

Scribble - Why the Pencil Is Mightier Than the Finger in iPadOS 14

With iPadOS, you have to remember that it shares most of its capabilities with iOS. So if it seems that...

Jon Brown

Oct 27, 2020

Too Many Home Screens in iOS 14 - Heres How to Hide Them

The App Library in iOS 14 ensures that you can find all the apps installed on your iPhone without having...

Jon Brown

Oct 22, 2020

Our Four Favorite Features of watchOS 7

The small screen of the Apple Watch prevents new watchOS features from being as obvious or splashy as those in...

Jon Brown

Oct 20, 2020

Apple Releases Four iPhone 12 Models and the HomePod mini

For the second time in less than a month, Apple has made a splashy announcement. In its “Hi, Speed” event,...

Jon Brown

Oct 19, 2020

Remember to Enable Text Message Forwarding When You Get a New Mac or iPad

You’ve long had text messages forwarding from your iPhone to your Mac and iPad, but after you get a new...

Jon Brown

Oct 15, 2020

iOS 14 Four Favorite Features

Our Four Favorite Features of iOS 14 Harvest season is here again, and Apple has deemed iOS 14 (along with...

Jon Brown

Oct 13, 2020

App Store Making Double Google Play

In the third Quarter of 2020 Apple’s App Store made double what Google’s Play store made. With over 30 Billion...

Jon Brown

Oct 12, 2020

Make Your Finder Window Columns the Right Size

We’re big fans of column view in Finder windows (choose View > as Columns). You never have to worry about...

Jon Brown

Oct 8, 2020

Custom icons in iOS 14

Some of us like to customise the look and feel of our Home Screens whether it is to match our...

Jon Brown

Oct 6, 2020

A Third Party App Store in the Near Future

This year Apple reached a valuation of $2 Trillion which is both an achievement and a curse at the same...

Jon Brown

Oct 2, 2020

When Should You Upgrade to macOS 11 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14

As we get into September, it’s a good bet that Apple will soon—either this month or next—be pushing out major...

Jon Brown

Sep 29, 2020

Extend your Mac battery

Although Macs are great at managing their energy use which allows MacBooks to maximise the time they are able to...

Jon Brown

Sep 28, 2020

What's the Deal with All the Privacy Requests in Catalina?

Over the last few releases of macOS, Apple has been beefing up the Mac’s privacy controls so they more closely...

Jon Brown

Sep 24, 2020

Apple will launch an all in one subscription service this fall

Imaginatively called Apple One, you can now pay for a single subscription which will provide access to the following Apple...

Jon Brown

Sep 23, 2020

Rename Bluetooth Devices for Easy Management

It’s all too easy to end up with a boatload of Bluetooth devices connected to your Mac. Apple devices will...

Jon Brown

Sep 22, 2020

iOS 14 - Four Favorite Features

Harvest season is here again, and Apple has deemed iOS 14 (along with iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14)...

Jon Brown

Sep 21, 2020

Reduce Arrival Time Anxiety by Sharing Your Location Temporarily

If you’re flying, driving, or biking to visit an iPhone-using friend or family member, you can reduce anxiety related to...

Jon Brown

Sep 17, 2020

Did You Know You Can Close a Mac Laptop When It Has an External Display?

We wanted to make sure that those of you who work on a Mac laptop with an external display know...

Jon Brown

Sep 15, 2020

Beware iCloud Phishing Phone Calls

We’ve been hearing reports of an uptick in the scam phone calls that claim to be from Apple. If you...

Jon Brown

Sep 10, 2020

Are You Making the Most of the Touch Bar on Your MacBook Pro?

In 2016, Apple introduced the Touch Bar with the MacBook Pro. It’s a long, thin display above the number keys...

Jon Brown

Sep 8, 2020

Advice for Successful Online Schooling

In a normal year, most kids would be back in school by now. But the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many...

Jon Brown

Sep 3, 2020

Older ScanSnap Scanners Get New Life in Catalina with ScanSnap Manager V7

About a year ago, Fujitsu informed owners of older models of the company’s ScanSnap scanners that it wouldn’t be updating...

Jon Brown

Aug 31, 2020

Your Time Machine Drive Just Filled Up What Should You Do

It’s inevitable—your Time Machine backup drive is going to fill up. Time Machine is smart about backing up only files...

Jon Brown

Aug 27, 2020

Where Did Your Scroll Bars Go? Use This Setting to Ensure They Show

On the Mac, scroll bars are essential for both orienting yourself and navigating within a Web page or document window....

Jon Brown

Aug 25, 2020

Want to Make Your iPhone and Apple Watch Easier to Read

If you have 20/20 vision or are still wondering why your parents have reading glasses, count yourself lucky. But if...

Jon Brown

Aug 20, 2020

Use This New Setting to Prevent iOS Updates from Consuming Precious Space

People whose iPhones or iPads have relatively little free space have long struggled with the fact that iOS likes to...

Jon Brown

Aug 18, 2020

How to Downgrade Adobe Creative Cloud Apps to Regain File Compatibility

Here’s the solution to a problem that clients have run into on occasion. In a workgroup that relies on Adobe...

Jon Brown

Aug 13, 2020

Two Quick Tricks You Can Use with the iOS Space Bar

Sure, you know that the Space bar in the iOS virtual keyboard types a space character. But did you realize...

Jon Brown

Aug 11, 2020

Apple Significantly Enhances the 27-inch iMac

Apple’s workhorse desktop Mac, the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display, hasn’t seen an update since March 2019—nearly a year...

Jon Brown

Aug 7, 2020

How to Choose the Best Uninterruptible Power Supply for Your Needs

With so many people working from home, lots of attention has been dedicated to making sure everyone has a functional...

Jon Brown

Aug 6, 2020

501 Best MSP DC Winner 2020

Grove Technologies Ranked Among World’s Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers Annual MSP 501 Identifies Best-in-Class Global MSP Businesses &...

Jon Brown

Aug 3, 2020

Use This Trick to Find a Missing App Window

Every so often, we hear from a Mac user with a seemingly impossible problem: a document window in some app...

Jon Brown

Jul 23, 2020

Three Connectivity Problems Remote Workers Are Having During the Pandemic

The pandemic has forced large numbers of those who are still employed—nearly half the American workforce, by some estimates—to work...

Jon Brown

Jul 21, 2020

Rearrange Icons on Your iPhone or iPad Home Screens More Easily

If you have lots of apps on your iPhone or iPad, rearranging their icons on your Home screens by dragging...

Jon Brown

Jul 16, 2020

Prevent Unsightly Tab Buildup in Safari on Your iPhone and iPad

Whenever you tap a link to open a Web page on your iPhone or iPad, it automatically opens a new...

Jon Brown

Jul 14, 2020

Need to Schedule a Group Meeting or Sign Up Volunteers Try Doodle

Have you ever set up a group meeting, whether in person or via videoconferencing, but found it cumbersome to find...

Jon Brown

Jul 9, 2020

Do You Know What the Scroller in a Scroll Bar Tells You

Whenever you view a document that’s longer than will fit onscreen, a scroll bar appears (often only if you’re actively...

Jon Brown

Jul 7, 2020

Munki Theme Creator: A Theming Engine for Munki’s Managed Software Update

Introducing Munki Theme Maker For many Mac administrators in a variety of sectors an open source tool called Munki, a...

Jon Brown

Jul 3, 2020

Macs Switching from Intel Chips to Apple Silicon—Answers to Your Questions

At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, the company dropped a bombshell: in the future, Macs will no longer be powered...

Jon Brown

Jul 2, 2020

Stop Group FaceTime Video Tiles from Bouncing with Recent Apple OS Updates

Since iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave, Apple has supported Group FaceTime, which lets you have a video call with...

Jon Brown

Jun 30, 2020

What We Can Expect from macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7

Every year at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple lays out its roadmap for the next releases of each of its...

Jon Brown

Jun 29, 2020

Mac to Run on Apple Silicon From Late 2020

We called it earlier this week saying Apple is likely to move Macs to their own ARM based processors, Well...

Jon Brown

Jun 27, 2020

Pages one of the best desktop publishing program for MacOS

Rather than just a word processor Pages does much more it’s also a Desktop Publisher “DTP”. At one stage around...

Jon Brown

Jun 26, 2020

How to Back Up an iPhone or iPad with Your Mac Running Catalina

One of the most significant changes in macOS 10.15 Catalina was the breakup of the long-standing iTunes app into separate...

Jon Brown

Jun 25, 2020

How to Ask for Tech Support So You Get Good Answers Quickly

Need help with something? On occasion, we all need tech support. Speaking as the people who are sometimes on the...

Jon Brown

Jun 23, 2020

NIST Compliance and Systems Hardening in an All Mac Environment

NIST security controls are often the most rigorous and attested cybersecurity requirements for any organization to implement. NIST controls, specifically...

Jon Brown

Jun 19, 2020

Heres How to Set a Default Printer on the Mac

If you have access to multiple printers, you probably know that you can choose one from the Printer pop-up menu...

Jon Brown

Jun 18, 2020

Using an iPad as a Second Screen for Your Mac

The following prerequisites are required, unfortunately you cannot use any iPad or Mac: A compatible Mac running macOS Catalina A...

Jon Brown

Jun 17, 2020

Heres How the Exposure Notification System from Apple and Google Protects Your Privacy

Apple recently released iOS 13.5, incorporating a new Exposure Notification API in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve seen...

Jon Brown

Jun 16, 2020

Symptoms Section in the Health App under iOS 13.6 Beta

Have you ever been to the Doctors gotten home and thought “I forgot to ask about the pain in my...

Jon Brown

Jun 12, 2020

Got a Mac Laptop Heres What You Need to Know about Battery Health Management in Catalina

We all want Mac laptops that can run for days on a single charge and never need their batteries serviced....

Jon Brown

Jun 11, 2020

Top 10 Essential Mac Tips and Tricks for 2020

1. Speak to your Mac! The Mac’s ability to listen and talk is excellent using Dictation. Since Siri’s launch on...

Jon Brown

Jun 10, 2020

Find Files in the Finder Better by Specifying a Search Scope

This isn’t about periscopes or mouthwash—when it comes to searching, a scope is the area in which a search takes...

Jon Brown

Jun 9, 2020

Apple and Googles contact tracing API gaining momentum

The Covid-19 (coronavirus) contact tracing API from Apple & Google has yet to be adopted across the board with countries...

Jon Brown

Jun 6, 2020

Approve App Authentication Requests with Your Apple Watch in Catalina

Tired of typing your admin account password whenever you try to install software or change security settings on your Mac?...

Jon Brown

Jun 4, 2020

The No Longer Shared Bug has been Patched in iOS

Tuesday 26th of May, Cupertino stated the bug in Family Sharing that caused apps not to open has been fixed....

Jon Brown

May 29, 2020

Ever Wondered Which Words to Capitalize in a Title? Use Capitalize My Title

When you’re writing a blog post or email newsletter, you’ll eventually hit the question of how to capitalize words in...

Jon Brown

May 26, 2020

Install VLC Media Player on your Mac

QuickTime is great, but it won’t play an AVI file out of the box or the lesser-known MKV for example....

Jon Brown

May 22, 2020

iPhone Not Charging Reliably- Clean Its Lightning Port with a Toothpick

If you’re plugging your iPhone in regularly but getting low-battery warnings when you shouldn’t, consider the possibility that something is...

Jon Brown

May 21, 2020

No More Lightning Port

If like me Apple’s move from the original 30-pin port in 2012 to the Lightning ports you saw this as...

Jon Brown

May 20, 2020

Do You Know Who Can Track Your Location? It's Worth Checking Periodically

Sharing your location works well when you’re out with friends or family and want everyone to be able to see...

Jon Brown

May 19, 2020

Internet Explorer is back on the Mac

So the Tech world’s software giant has released a version of its web browser for MacOs again after a 17-year...

Jon Brown

May 18, 2020

When will your Apple Store Reopen

If like us you are itching to get into your local Apple store to check out the latest offerings from...

Jon Brown

May 15, 2020

Use the Macs Built-In Screen Sharing to Provide Remote Help

Are you the person your friends and family members turn to for questions about the Mac? In normal times, those...

Jon Brown

May 14, 2020

Top 10 Apple Business Resources you may have forgotten

Video Blog We work with lots of businesses, all Mac based businesses. The biggest point of confusion for many Mac...

Jon Brown

May 13, 2020

Customize What Appears in New Finder Windows with This Tip

When you’re in the Finder, choosing File > New Finder Window does, as you’d expect, open a new Finder window....

Jon Brown

May 12, 2020

Want to Push Some Buttons- Make the Most of Control Center in iOS

Starting back in iOS 11, Apple made Control Center significantly more useful by letting you customize it more to your...

Jon Brown

May 7, 2020

Audiovisual Tips for Better Videoconferencing

Whether for work or socializing, we’re all spending a lot more time in video calls these days. But—surprise!—it turns out...

Jon Brown

May 5, 2020

Apple Updates 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard and Twice the Storage

In a move that completes the transition of the MacBook line from the troubled butterfly keyboard to the Magic Keyboard,...

Jon Brown

May 5, 2020

Pandemic Response IT Event to Raise Funds for COVID-19 May 18-20, 2020

Futureproof IT a 100% online summit aimed to raise awareness of critical IT issues facing small businesses and money for...

Jon Brown

May 1, 2020

Grove Technologies Offers Free Cybersecurity Training to Help Organizations Educate Their Remote Workforces Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Washington, DC: Grove Technologies today announced free cybersecurity training, an engaging online video-based training program. The robust cybersecurity training program...

Jon Brown

Apr 30, 2020

Having Mac Troubles Running Apple Diagnostics May Help Identify the Problem

If your Mac is acting up and you suspect a hardware problem, there’s an easy first step that you can—and...

Jon Brown

Apr 28, 2020

Tips for Setting Up a Comfortable and Effective Home Work Space

Vast numbers of people who previously reported for work at an office every day are now working from home due...

Jon Brown

Apr 23, 2020

Create Your Own Chat Group Via Slack

Whether you’re working from home or just stuck at home, it can be tough to communicate with colleagues, friends, or...

Jon Brown

Apr 21, 2020

Apple Introduces New iPhone SE Starting at $399

Four years after the release of the original iPhone SE, Apple has introduced a second-generation iPhone SE with aggressive pricing...

Jon Brown

Apr 20, 2020

Need to Stay in Touch Try One of These Videoconferencing Apps

With many people under stay-at-home orders, videoconferencing is going mainstream. If you work in a sufficiently large organization, you probably...

Jon Brown

Apr 16, 2020

Upgrade to iOS 13

In iOS 13, in what can only have been a prank gone wrong, Apple simplified the message toolbar in Mail,...

Jon Brown

Apr 14, 2020

Futureproof IT Summit to premiere in May - All proceeds go to Heart to Heart International

Technolutionary, Alectrona, and Abelionni all Apple Consultants Members, and all active IT Providers for those who need IT Support Services...

Jon Brown

Apr 10, 2020

You Can Now Export and Download Apple Card Statements

Apple’s credit card, the Apple Card, offers a nice mix of integration with Apple Pay, daily cash back, and an...

Jon Brown

Apr 9, 2020

Try Using a Magic Trackpad 2 with Your iPad Running iPadOS 13

When Apple released iPadOS 13.4 recently, it came with an unexpected feature: trackpad and mouse support. Apple plans to release...

Jon Brown

Apr 7, 2020

ZOOM reduces bandwidth of conference calls in US & enables security features by default

Early today ZOOM started alerting its customers that “in order to preserve bandwidth and to ensure that they were making...

Jon Brown

Apr 5, 2020

Grove Technologies adds Apple Business Chat support channel

We are proud to be able to offer SMS based and Apple Business Chat support to our valued clients. Adding...

Jon Brown

Apr 3, 2020

Apple Release COVID-19 Screening Tool App and Web Site

In partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control, Apple has released a free COVID-19 Screening Tool iOS app and...

Jon Brown

Apr 2, 2020

ZOOM Alert - Protect Yourself from ZOOM Bombing attacks

Note: This is a re-post of this article over at Bleeping Computer’s website. ZOOM has been in the news recently...

Bleeping Computer Website

Apr 2, 2020

Avoid COVID-19 Scams

We have received notifications from our federal partners that there are scams you should be aware regarding to Coronavirus. Some...

Jon Brown

Apr 2, 2020

Troubleshooting Steps for When Your Mac Wont Print

There’s little more frustrating than being unable to print a document when you need it. You choose File > Print,...

Jon Brown

Mar 31, 2020

COVID-19 Update - DC, MD & VA ALL Issue mandatory stay at home orders

At 3:00pm ET today Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan, used the emergency broadcast system to alert all MD residents that there...

Jon Brown

Mar 30, 2020

COVID-19 update & introducing a new support channel, SMS!

To our valued clients, This is an unprecedented time in our history. The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on...

Tiara Thornton

Mar 26, 2020

How to Choose Between iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream

For quite a few years, Apple enabled users to download their iPhone or iPad photos to their Macs with a...

Jon Brown

Mar 26, 2020

Disable or Remap the Caps Lock Key to Avoid Accidental ALL CAPS

As you undoubtedly know, TYPING IN ALL CAPS is considered shouting on the Internet. Doesn’t it bug you when you...

Jon Brown

Mar 24, 2020

Set Your Preferred Name and Photo for Messages in iOS 13

In your list of conversations in Messages, you probably have lots of people who have generic icons next to their...

Jon Brown

Mar 19, 2020

MacBook Air and iPad Pro

In a widely expected update, Apple has introduced a new MacBook Air that replaces the much-maligned butterfly keyboard with the...

Jon Brown

Mar 19, 2020

Invoke Split View More Easily in Catalina

Split View on the Mac helps you focus on your work in one app—perhaps a word processor—while providing access to...

Jon Brown

Mar 17, 2020

Preparing Your Organization for a Possible COVID-19 Quarantine

Grove Technologies cares about your business and the safety of your employees, its on that note that we have decided...

Jon Brown

Mar 16, 2020

Unsubscribe from Marketing Email to Lighten Your Inbox Load

Are you overwhelmed by email? Is your Inbox filled with promotions, special offers, and the like? These messages aren’t spam—you...

Jon Brown

Mar 12, 2020

What to Do If You Run Low on iCloud Storage Space

By default, Apple gives every iCloud user 5 GB of storage space. That disappears quickly, given how it’s shared between...

Jon Brown

Mar 10, 2020

Strategies for Moving from Mojave to Catalina

For some Mac users, macOS 10.15 Catalina is no longer a choice. That’s because the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and...

Jon Brown

Feb 27, 2020

To Prevent Spearfishing, Set a PIN or Passcode on Your Cell Phone Account

Spearfishing. It’s no longer just a tropical ocean sport that could provide seafood for dinner. In today’s tech world, spearfishing...

Jon Brown

Feb 26, 2020

Learn How to Examine Your iPhones Battery Usage

A common question we hear is, “Why is my iPhone/iPad battery draining so fast?” Luckily, Apple provides tools that help...

Jon Brown

Feb 25, 2020

Heres How to Mark Up Photos and Screenshots with Text and Graphics in iOS 13

Ever wanted to take a photo of a receipt and circle the item for which you should be reimbursed? Or...

Jon Brown

Feb 18, 2020

Make Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts on the Mac

Power users like keyboard shortcuts because it’s faster to press a couple of keys than to navigate lengthy menus. If...

Jon Brown

Feb 13, 2020

Make Your Mac More Useful by Managing Menu Bar Icons

If your Mac is anything like ours, it’s suffering from an infestation of menu bar icons. Sure, the Wi-Fi menu...

Jon Brown

Feb 11, 2020

The Fastest Way to Change Wi-Fi Networks in iOS 13

Historically, picking a new Wi-Fi network has required you to open the Settings app and tap Wi-Fi, forcing you to...

Jon Brown

Feb 6, 2020

Is Your iPhone Reporting No Service When You Know Theres a Signal

Have you ever seen the dreaded “No Service” label at the top of your iPhone’s screen, even when you’re pretty...

Jon Brown

Feb 4, 2020

Location Privacy

The New York Times recently published a bombshell article revealing just how completely our every movement is tracked by companies...

Jon Brown

Jan 30, 2020

Guided Access

Let’s get one thing straight. You know that you should never, ever share your iPhone or iPad passcode with anyone...

Jon Brown

Jan 23, 2020

Share Voicemail

For many of us, voicemail replaced answering machines, so we don't think of voicemail messages as being something we can...

Jon Brown

Jan 21, 2020

Email Signoffs

Email has been around for decades, but there are no hard-and-fast rules for how you should close a message with...

Jon Brown

Jan 16, 2020

Photo Finding

Digital cameras have been around long enough that people have stopped making snarky comments about how hard it is to...

Jon Brown

Jan 14, 2020

Apple Watch Unlock

If you’ve resisted requiring a password on your Mac after it wakes up or comes out of the screen saver...

Jon Brown

Jan 9, 2020

Migration Assistant

The next time you buy and set up a new Mac, make sure to migrate data and apps from your...

Jon Brown

Jan 7, 2020

AirDrop-Setting

AirDrop has become a fast and reliable way to transfer data from one iPhone to another that’s nearby. Just tap...

Jon Brown

Jan 2, 2020

Apple Releases Redesigned Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR

We’re not going to beat around the bush. Apple’s new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR redefine what “pro” means....

Jon Brown

Dec 23, 2019

Did You Know You Can Drag the Scroll Bar in iOS 13

In previous versions of iOS, a scroll bar would appear on the right edge of the screen while you were...

Jon Brown

Dec 21, 2019

Don't Succumb to iOS 13 Update Fatigue

Does it seem like that red badge on the Settings app indicating that there’s a new iOS 13 or iPadOS...

Jon Brown

Dec 17, 2019

In Case of Emergency Create an iPhone Medical ID

Accidents, particularly those involving automobiles, are all too common, and while no one plans to be in one, you can...

Jon Brown

Dec 15, 2019

Make Sure to Test Your Backup System with Occasional Restores

Did you know that the word for the irrational fear of Friday the 13th is paraskevidekatriaphobia? Neither did we, but...

Jon Brown

Dec 11, 2019

Need to Import Photos from a non-iPhone or Want to Keep Images out of Photos

Most Mac users rely on iPhones and iPads to take photos and store them in the Photos app, which happens...

Jon Brown

Dec 9, 2019

Need to Move Lots of Data Between Macs Try Target Disk Mode

we can move data between Macs. You can send files via AirDrop, attach them to an email message, put them...

Jon Brown

Dec 5, 2019

The iPhone 11 Camera App's Shutter Button Works Differently-Here’s How

With the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple changed the way the Camera app’s shutter...

Jon Brown

Dec 3, 2019

Need to Charge Your iPhone or iPad More Quickly?

By default, most iPhones and iPads ship with Apple’s tiny 5-watt power adapters. They work, but not quickly. However, the...

Jon Brown

Nov 29, 2019

Whats Your Plan If Your Mac Dies

We assume you have a backup strategy. Hopefully, it includes a bootable duplicate to minimize downtime in the event of...

Jon Brown

Nov 25, 2019

Consider USB Peripherals When Troubleshooting Mac Problems

If you’re experiencing a sporadic problem with your Mac, the sort of thing that happens often enough to be annoying...

Jon Brown

Nov 22, 2019

Why Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Firms

If you run a company, you know how much work onboarding a new employee can be. Beyond teaching them the...

Jon Brown

Nov 18, 2019

New 16 inch MacBook Pro

New 16-inch MacBook Pro Model Sports a Redesigned Scissor-Switch Keyboard Responding to customer complaints and media mocking, Apple has introduced...

Jon Brown

Nov 15, 2019

Be Careful in iOS 13s Mail App

For unknown reasons, Apple redesigned the toolbar in the iOS 13 version of Mail. Such things happen, but this time,...

Jon Brown

Nov 15, 2019

You Can Now Access Flash Drives on an iPhone or iPad

An unexpected and useful feature of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 is also nearly invisible, and for most uses, requires...

Jon Brown

Nov 11, 2019

Use the Driving ETA Feature in iOS 13s Maps App to Share Your Arrival Time

A small but welcome new feature of iOS 13 is Driving ETA, which helps you share your estimated time of...

Jon Brown

Nov 8, 2019

Apple’s New AirPods Pro Offer Active Noise Cancellation and Better Fit

Are you a fan of Apple’s AirPods, or have you had trouble with them staying in your ears? Either way,...

Jon Brown

Nov 4, 2019

New Organization and Editing in Photos in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13

Taking photos is a popular use of the iPhone, and Apple has said that the improved cameras gave this year’s...

Jon Brown

Nov 1, 2019

Which Precise Mac Model Do You Have

Apple likes to keep Mac names simple, but that’s not always helpful. For instance, if you want to add RAM...

Jon Brown

Oct 24, 2019

What Does Having a T2 Chip in Your Mac Mean to You

If you own an iMac Pro, or a Mac mini, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro model introduced in 2018 or...

Jon Brown

Oct 22, 2019

iOS 13 Replaces 3D Touch with Tap and Hold

Do you use 3D Touch on your iPhone? From 2015 through 2018, every iPhone from the iPhone 6s through the...

Jon Brown

Oct 17, 2019

iOS 13 Makes Editing Text Easier

Let’s be honest—text editing in iOS has never been anywhere near as good as it is on the Mac. We...

Jon Brown

Oct 15, 2019

Everything You Need to Know about Multitasking in iPadOS 13

With this year’s operating system updates, Apple has formally acknowledged that the iPhone and iPad have different uses and different...

Jon Brown

Oct 11, 2019

Do You Put Dates in Filenames

There are plenty of situations where it makes sense to put a date in a filename, but if you don’t...

Jon Brown

Oct 8, 2019

Beware Scammers when Selling Your Old Tech Hardware Online

Whenever Apple releases hot new hardware, it’s tempting to order the latest and greatest and then put your old Mac...

Jon Brown

Oct 3, 2019

We Recommend You Delay Upgrading to macOS Catalina

Dear clients, Apple plans to release macOS 10.15 Catalina sometime in October, and like all major operating system releases, Apple...

Jon Brown

Oct 2, 2019

Two Secret Key Combos for Forward Delete

Traditionally, extended keyboards come with a Forward Delete key that, when you press it, deletes characters to the right of...

Jon Brown

Sep 26, 2019

Some of Our Favorite Features of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13

It’s hard to sum up iOS 13’s benefits succinctly because Apple has made so many improvements (we’ll get to what’s...

Jon Brown

Sep 24, 2019

Want to Use Your Friends Nicknames in iOS Heres How

If you have a friend whom you refer to only by his nickname, it can be annoying to feel like...

Jon Brown

Sep 19, 2019

Some of Our Favorite Features of Catalina

In a break from Apple’s pattern of alternating cycle of releases, macOS 10.15 Catalina is not a refinement of 10.14...

Jon Brown

Sep 17, 2019

The Scoop on the New iPhone 11 Apple Watch Series 5 7th-gen iPad and Apple Services

At its September 10th special event, Apple unveiled a slew of new products and services, including the iPhone 11, the...

Jon Brown

Sep 14, 2019

When Should You Upgrade Catalina

As we get into September, it’s a good bet that Apple will be pushing out the next major versions of...

Jon Brown

Sep 12, 2019

Personalize Your Mac with Custom Document Icons

Do you have a document that you open regularly, perhaps from your Desktop? If you’d like to make it stand...

Jon Brown

Sep 10, 2019

Make a Backup before Upgrading to Catalina or iOS 13

Confession time. If there’s one topic we can’t stop talking about, it’s backups. Backups are essential, since no one can...

Jon Brown

Sep 5, 2019

How to Get Custom Alerts for Email from Your VIPs

Few people get so little email that they want an iPhone notification for every message that rolls in. But many...

Jon Brown

Sep 3, 2019

What Can You Store in Apple’s Wallet App? Credit Cards, Boarding Passes, Tickets, and More!

Have you wondered what you can do with the Wallet app on your iPhone? Although it started life called Passbook,...

Jon Brown

Aug 29, 2019

Use AirPods to Improve Your Hearing

An ever-increasing number of people have hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise and age. If you’re in that...

Jon Brown

Aug 27, 2019

Six Tips for Writing Better Email

Apple has put a lot of effort into Mail, providing lots of features you can employ to get through your...

Jon Brown

Aug 22, 2019

Need to Restart a Mac That Has Frozen? Here’s How

It’s extremely uncommon for a Mac to freeze or crash these days, but it can happen. What should you do...

Jon Brown

Aug 20, 2019

Migrate Your Data from an Old iPhone to a New One with iOS 12

Most people are probably waiting until September to buy a new iPhone, but Apple is laying the groundwork for making...

Jon Brown

Aug 15, 2019

Learn How to Autofill SMS Login Codes in iOS 12 and Mojave

An ever-increasing number of Web sites boost their security via two-factor authentication (2FA), which requires you to type in a...

Jon Brown

Aug 13, 2019

Go Beyond External Hard Drives with Network-Attached Storage

If you’ve filled up your external hard drives or become frustrated by their limitations, it’s time to look into a...

Jon Brown

Aug 9, 2019

Annoyed by Your Holiday Music Playing out of Season? Stop It with This Tip

Winter Wonderland may be a great song to listen to when the snow flies, but if you’re sweltering in summer...

Jon Brown

Aug 6, 2019

Use macOS’s Guest Account to Protect Your Privacy from Temporary Users

We’ve all had it happen. “Can I use your Mac for a minute to check my email?” The answer can...

Jon Brown

Jul 30, 2019

The Secret Trick That Lets You Paste Phone Numbers into the Phone App

Most iOS apps and many Web sites make phone numbers “hot” so you can tap them to call. But it’s...

Jon Brown

Jul 26, 2019

Never Send Someone a Password in Mail or Messages- Do This Instead!

One of the big no-nos with passwords is sending them to other people as plain text in email or a...

Jon Brown

Jul 21, 2019

Here’s How to See Full URLs in Safari’s Smart Search Field

By default, Safari on the Mac hides full Web addresses—technically known as URLs—from you, showing just the site name in...

Jon Brown

Jul 19, 2019

Use Spotlight on the Mac to Convert Units Track Flights Find Movies and More

Most Mac users probably think of searching on the Mac in relation to finding files on their drives. That may...

Jon Brown

Jul 16, 2019

Some May Like It Hot But Your Technology Prefers to Stay Cool

When summer brings sunny days and rising temperatures, you may have ditched your business suit for shorts or skirts to...

Jon Brown

Jul 12, 2019

Munki Customization & Branding

Today we’re going to explore branding and customization of a few popular open source Mac management tools Munki and Munki...

Jon Brown

Jul 10, 2019

Did You Know You Can Make a Video of Anything on Your iPhone or iPad Screen

You know how to use the Camera app on your iPhone or iPad to take a video, but did you...

Jon Brown

Jul 8, 2019

Buy Quality Cables to Avoid Possible Device Damage or Even Fires

Apple’s prices for Lightning, USB-C, and Thunderbolt 3 cables often seem high—$19 for a USB-C to Lightning cable or $29...

Jon Brown

Jul 4, 2019

Read More Easily on the iPhone with Safari Reader-Header

Customize Your Macs Dock for Increased Productivity

By default, Apple populates your Mac’s Dock with all sorts of apps and arranges them in a particular order. But...

Jon Brown

Jul 2, 2019

A Quick Way to Check Battery Levels on Your iOS devices

Apple’s Batteries widget is a little known but highly useful tool for quickly assessing which of your small Apple devices...

Jon Brown

Jul 1, 2019

Heres What You Need to Know about the Butterfly Keyboard

When Apple introduced the 12-inch MacBook in April 2015, the machine was the thinnest Mac ever, with a tapered design...

Jon Brown

Jun 25, 2019

Apple Issues Voluntary Recall for Certain 2015 15 inch MacBook Pro Units

Heads up! If you’re using an older 15-inch MacBook Pro—the version with lots of ports that predates the current Thunderbolt...

Jon Brown

Jun 21, 2019

iCloud Link Photo Sharing

It’s easy to share a single photo from your iPhone or iPad with a friend, but if you want to...

Jon Brown

Jun 19, 2019

Use Dropbox's Selective Sync to Save Space on Small Drives

If you’re like many of our clients who use Dropbox intensively, you have a desktop Mac with a large drive...

Jon Brown

Jun 14, 2019

New MacBook Pros, New iPod touch, OS Updates

Apple is well known for its splashy media events, now usually held in the Steve Jobs Theater at the company’s...

Jon Brown

Jun 10, 2019

Here's What’s Coming from Apple in 2019

Here’s What’s Coming from Apple in 2019 At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference on June 3rd, the company unveiled the next...

Jon Brown

Jun 5, 2019

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using a Password Manager

We often recommend using a password manager like 1Password or LastPass, but we’ve gotten a few questions asking why we’re...

Jon Brown

Jun 4, 2019

The new Mac Pro Tower: Wheels optional

Dual sided Logic Board So happy to see that Apple is going back to its ability to allow users to...

Jon Brown

Jun 3, 2019

MacOS 10.15 Catalina Releasing this Fall

MacOS Catalina 10.15 Wow things move quickly from year to year. No surprise here. MacOS Catalina brings a whole new...

Jon Brown

Jun 3, 2019

Senior Executives Pose a Danger to Cyber Security

You Can’t Teach an Old Dog…. or Can You? I remember trying to explain a VCR to older relatives. It...

Jon Brown

Jun 1, 2019

Did You Know iOS 12 Lets You Add a Second Person to Face ID

Touch ID lets users register up to five fingers that can unlock an iPhone, which has long been a boon...

Jon Brown

Nov 29, 2018

Need to Limit How Much Your Kids Use Their Devices Use Screen Time in iOS 12

It’s a constant refrain in many homes—a kid clamoring to use an iPad or iPhone to play games, watch videos,...

Jon Brown

Nov 27, 2018

How Apple Changed Sending a Photo in Messages in iOS 12

Before iOS 12, you’d tap the camera button in a Messages chat in order to share either a brand-new photo...

Jon Brown

Nov 22, 2018

How to Make Screenshots and Screen Recordings with Mojaves New Interface

You probably fall into one of two camps: people who haven’t the foggiest idea what pressing Command-Shift-3 or Command-Shift-4 do...

Jon Brown

Nov 20, 2018

To Update macOS 10.14 Mojave Use This New System Preferences Pane

For years, you’ve used the App Store app to install operating system and app updates on your Mac. That’s still...

Jon Brown

Nov 15, 2018

What Are All These New Privacy Request Dialogs in Mojave

With macOS 10.14 Mojave, Apple has beefed up the Mac’s privacy so it more closely resembles privacy in iOS. You’ve...

Jon Brown

Nov 13, 2018

So What Are All Those Stacks of Notifications in iOS 12

It can be easy to become overwhelmed by iOS notifications, particularly if you have chatty friends or apps. In iOS...

Jon Brown

Nov 8, 2018

The Best Apple-Related Gifts for 2018

Black Friday and the start of the holiday shopping seasons are nearly upon us. If you’re looking for gift ideas...

Jon Brown

Nov 6, 2018

Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air and Mac Mini

At a special event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Apple threw back the curtains on significant updates to the...

Jon Brown

Oct 31, 2018

Make Safari Tabs Easier to Identify by Adding Icons

Do you end up with so many tabs in Safari that it becomes impossible to read the truncated tab titles?...

Jon Brown

Oct 30, 2018

iOS 12 Screen Time Feature Helps You Manage Your iPhone Usage

Do you frequently reach for your iPhone for a quick check of Facebook or Messages? It’s all too easy to...

Jon Brown

Oct 24, 2018

Have You Noticed That Mojave’s Dock Shows Recent Applications

The Mac’s Dock gives you quick access to frequently used apps, documents, and folders, and makes it easy to switch...

Jon Brown

Oct 22, 2018

In iOS 12 Do Not Disturb Can Turn Itself Off—No More Missed Alerts

We love the Do Not Disturb feature in iOS—it’s essential for keeping notifications from waking us up at night or...

Jon Brown

Oct 19, 2018

Finally iOS 12 Lets You Use Google Maps or Waze in CarPlay

Before iOS 12, Apple Maps was the only mapping app you could run on the dashboard in a CarPlay-equipped automobile....

Jon Brown

Oct 16, 2018

Understanding Dark Mode in macOS 10.14 Mojave

The feature Apple is promoting most heavily with macOS 10.14 Mojave is Dark mode, which the company advertises as “a...

Jon Brown

Oct 12, 2018

Apple Moved Control Center in iOS 12 on the iPad—Here’s Where to Find It

Although most of what’s new in iOS 12 are new features, one change for change’s sake may throw you. In...

Jon Brown

Oct 10, 2018

Use Continuity Camera to Scan Documents and Take Photos Right into Mac Documents

Have you found yourself composing an email message on your Mac while staring glumly at the receipt or document you...

Jon Brown

Oct 8, 2018

A Simple Technique for Decluttering Your Reminders List

A Simple Technique for Decluttering Your Reminders List Productivity experts recommend offloading things you have to remember to a task-management...

Jon Brown

Oct 5, 2018

A Hidden Trick that Lets You Navigate Your iPhone with One Hand

A Hidden Trick that Lets You Navigate Your iPhone with One Hand Unless you can palm a basketball, you may...

Jon Brown

Oct 4, 2018

Here’s How to Load the Desktop Version of a Web Site on an iPhone or iPad

Some Web sites have separate desktop and mobile versions, each theoretically providing the best browsing experience for its platform. Unfortunately,...

Jon Brown

Oct 3, 2018

Look Up All Sorts of Information with a Quick Click or Tap on the Mac

Look Up All Sorts of Information with a Quick Click or Tap on the Mac Apple makes it easy to...

Jon Brown

Oct 2, 2018

Make More Space for Documents by Putting Your Dock on the Side of Your Mac’s Screen

Make More Space for Documents by Putting Your Dock on the Side of Your Mac’s Screen By default, Apple locates...

Jon Brown

Oct 1, 2018

Teach Siri How to Pronounce Names Properly

Teach Siri How to Pronounce Names Properly Siri is supposed to be a competent voice assistant, but sometimes Siri can’t...

Jon Brown

Sep 28, 2018

The Secret Keyboard Shortcut for Comparing Before After Edits in Photos on the Mac

The Secret Keyboard Shortcut for Comparing Before/After Edits in Photos on the Mac Photos on the Mac provides so many...

Jon Brown

Sep 27, 2018

Back Up Before Upgrading to Mojave or iOS 12

Back Up Before Upgrading to Mojave or iOS 12! Poll a room of Apple experts about the one topic they...

Jon Brown

Sep 26, 2018

Tired of PDFs or Other Documents Opening in the Wrong App

When you double-click a document, macOS uses the document’s file extension to figure out which app should open the file....

Jon Brown

Sep 25, 2018

Tired of Sent from my iPhone as Your Email Signature

Tired of “Sent from my iPhone” as Your Email Signature? When you use Apple’s Mail app on your iPhone to...

Jon Brown

Sep 24, 2018

Update AirPort Express Base Stations to Add AirPlay 2

Update AirPort Express Base Stations to Add AirPlay 2 Apple may have discontinued its AirPort Wi-Fi base stations, but in...

Jon Brown

Sep 21, 2018

Use Copy as Pathname to Help Someone Find a File on the Mac

Use Copy as Pathname to Help Someone Find a File on the Mac Have you ever needed to write directions...

Jon Brown

Sep 20, 2018

Top Features of iOS 12 to Take Advantage of Right Away

Top Features of iOS 12 to Take Advantage of Right Away Feeling left behind because you don’t have the latest...

Jon Brown

Sep 19, 2018

Did You Know This Hidden Trick for Opening System Preferences Panes Directly

Did You Know This Hidden Trick for Opening System Preferences Panes Directly? The System Preferences app on the Mac contains...

Jon Brown

Sep 18, 2018

Tired of Skewed Lines in Your Photos? Use the Camera App’s Hidden Level

Tired of Skewed Lines in Your Photos? Use the Camera App’s Hidden Level. If you’ve ever photographed a sheet of...

Jon Brown

Sep 17, 2018

Apple Unveils New iPhone XS XS Max and XR and the Apple Watch Series 4

Apple has thrown back the curtain on its latest batch of iPhones and a new model of the Apple Watch....

Jon Brown

Sep 14, 2018

Did You Know You Can Customize the Columns in a Finder Window

Did You Know You Can Customize the Columns in a Finder Window’s List View? When a Mac folder contains a...

Jon Brown

Sep 14, 2018

Did You Know Your EarPods Work as a Remote Shutter Button for Photos

Did You Know Your EarPods Work as a Remote Shutter Button for Photos? Have you ever composed the perfect photo...

Jon Brown

Sep 13, 2018

How to Recover Space by Offloading Unused Apps in iOS 11

How to Recover Space by Offloading Unused Apps in iOS 11 Running low on space on your iPhone or iPad...

Jon Brown

Sep 12, 2018

Seriously Cool Features of macOS 10.14 Mojave You Won’t Want to Miss

Seriously Cool Features of macOS 10.14 Mojave You Won’t Want to Miss With last year’s macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple...

Jon Brown

Sep 11, 2018

When Should You Upgrade to macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12

When Should You Upgrade to macOS 10.14 Mojave, iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12? It’s that time of year...

Jon Brown

Sep 10, 2018

Remember That You Can Search for Nearly Anything in Your Photos Library

Remember That You Can Search for Nearly Anything in Your Photos Library Apple’s Photos app on the Mac can identify...

Jon Brown

Sep 10, 2018

Here’s How to Hide All Windows on Your Mac So You Can Work on the Desktop

Here’s How to Hide All Windows on Your Mac So You Can Work on the Desktop If your Mac is...

Jon Brown

Sep 9, 2018

Fix a Frozen Finder with This Quick Tip

Fix a Frozen Finder with This Quick Tip Finder freezes. They shouldn’t happen at all, and they don’t happen often,...

Jon Brown

Sep 8, 2018

Apple Is Discontinuing Its Photo Printing Services—Here Are 7 Alternatives

Sad news: Apple is discontinuing its photo printing services, which enabled you to create and order physical prints, cards, calendars,...

Jon Brown

Sep 4, 2018

Here’s Why You Should Always Keep the Find My iPhone Feature Enabled

On the face of it, Apple’s Find My iPhone feature does what it says. If you lose your iPhone, you...

Jon Brown

Sep 1, 2018

13 Essential Trackpad Tricks for Mac Users

A trackpad is not a mouse. In some ways, that’s obvious—you swipe your fingers on it, rather than dragging it...

Jon Brown

Aug 24, 2018

Being an Apple User Means You’re Not the Product

There’s an Internet saying: “If you’re not the customer, you’re the product.” The point is that, if you’re getting a...

Jon Brown

Aug 10, 2018

What’s the Deal with Apple’s New Messages in iCloud Feature?

When Apple first announced macOS 10.13 High Sierra and iOS 11, one of the promised features was Messages in iCloud,...

Jon Brown

Aug 6, 2018

Invoke Special Views and Features on the Mac with a Flick of Your Wrist

Most Macs are busy places, with oodles of open windows cluttering the screen. If you want to look at the...

Jon Brown

Aug 3, 2018

How to Make the Most of Apple’s New AirPlay 2

For many years now, Apple’s AirPlay feature has made it possible to stream audio from an iOS device or Mac...

Jon Brown

Jul 27, 2018

Have Your Online Passwords Been Stolen? Here’s How to Find Out.

Data breaches have become commonplace, with online thieves constantly breaking into corporate and government servers and making off with millions—or...