Newsletter

Meeting information

Minutes for MAGIC September 15 2021 meeting

The SEPTEMBER meeting of MAGIC was held per Covid rules via Zoom. There were about 17 people in online attendance.

President Harry Anderson called the meeting to order shortly after 4:00.

BUSINESS MEETING

Treasurer Gary McIntyre stated that our current bank account has re- mained rather static with a balance of $8,635.58 as of September 1. As a reminder, since we are not meeting in person and collecting dues, people can go to our website to make online donations to MAGIC on this webpage

Note that MAGIC minutes will no longer include details of the presentation, as these can be viewed on the MAGIC WEBSITE http://www.whidbey.com/magicmug/data/zoom.html
Look on the Home Page of MAGIC and click on the Zoom meeting link. It usually takes a couple of days after the meeting to get the presentation up- loaded to the webpage.

Harry announced that our Magic Board met yesterday to discuss what to do next year for in-person meetings. Covid is not currently letting up and it is not yet safe to meet in person. Board came to the conclusion that we would continue Zoom meetings through the end of March. Hopefully by then we can assess the situation and see if we can meet live. We have two potential locations for in-person meetings: Freeland's Trinity Lutheran Church has classrooms available, and also there is a classroom we've used before at Pacific Rim Institute south of Coupeville. Currently we have told both venues that we are waiting three more months before making a decision.

Look for a survey in an upcoming newsletter to see what everyone thinks about future meetings. Please give us your opinions. One downside of Zoom is how to ask questions not related to the meeting presentation topic. If you have an unrelated question, think about sending that ahead of the meeting to Ron Sharp, by replying to the newsletter notice.

Also note: We will continue holding our meetings by Zoom throughout the remainder of 2021.

UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS: in October, Ron Sharp will present the topic, FINDING FILES; and in November, Robert-Elphick will show us HOW TO STAY SAFE. Since we are not meeting in person this year the December Holiday party will not take place.

Zoom rules: Please do not ask questions during the presentation, but send your question via CHAT. Harry will either interrupt the presenter, if appropriate, or will call on you later.

TODAY'S PRESENTATION - Gary McIntyre on OS and iOS UPDATES

How to update Mac OS for iMac and laptops and also how to update iOS on iPhones and iPads. Always back up your device before updating. You should know what version your operating system is. Use Time Machine or if you want a bootable backup use Super Duper or CarbonCopyCloner. To do the iPhone backup, Gary recommends plugging it into the main computer, but a backup is also possible via iCloud.

Note that the newest Mac OSX, called Monterey, is coming this fall. Any devices older than 2012 will not be able to run Monterey. You can check online to see if your computer will take the newest Mac OS at this website Please go to this MAGIC web page to view this presentation.

Q&A

Q: I looked at the App store and didn't find any updates available.

A: You need to go to Apple through your System Preferences to update system OSs I recommend everybody upgrade now on all devices. When the new system comes out you can upgrade to that if your computer is not too old. Remember to do updates for the computer, iPhone, iPad and also the Apple watch.

Q: What is the best phone system for our area? T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.

A: Harry has had Verizon and is relatively happy with it, but has had some problems. Robert said that the answer depends on where you live. In your browser, search for "Whidbey island cell coverage" and see what has best coverage for your area.

Q: Is there a better place than the Apple store to buy a computer?

A: Perhaps the Navy store, but be careful because they sometimes sell older versions. Also Robert said MacMall is another alternative. BestBuy on Black Friday might knock about $100 off the price. NOTE: You can also buy a refurbished machine through the Apple store. If you find what you want there, it is usually a good deal because it has Apple's like new warranty.

Q: We bought a refurbished computer and it has a non-working speaker. How can we get the sound to be heard?

A: Connect it with a bluetooth speaker or speakers that connect via the headphone jack.

Q: Why do I get multiple entries on my contacts.

A: That can happen if you use multiple cloud systems. You need to decide to have only one address book. From there you need to make the copies yourself to other devices. If you use the Apple Mail app for your email then it uses the Contacts app on your computer. In the Contacts app Preferences > Accounts, you can turn on or off other synced address books.

With no further questions being posed, Harry adjourned the meeting at 5:10. Our next MAGIC meeting is on the third Wednesday of October via Zoom. Ron Sharp will present the topic, FINDING FILES.

Note: This Software Update section of the newsletter lists the most relevant Apple updates. Not all updates are listed for all products. Additionally, I'll add other pertinent updates on occasion.

Apple releases redesigned Safari 15 with Tab Groups, better performance

by Mile Peterson, Appleinsider

On Monday, Apple released Safari 15, bringing new macOS Monterey features and design changes to current versions of Apple's Mac operating systems.

The Safari 15 update can be installed on Macs running macOS Big Sur or macOS Catalina. It introduces faster performance, improved security, and several new features that will debut on macOS Monterey when it's released later in 2021.

The updates include Tab Groups, which lets users save and organize tabs into specific groups. Apple has also redesigned tabs to be rounder and more defined, and to take on the color of the webpage a user is currently on.

Safari 15 also introduces the option to switch to a "compact tab bar," which shows more of the webpage on a screen. This specific tab design was supposed to be the default, but proved confusing and controversial for some users. In Safari 15, it's still an option.

Additionally, the new version of Safari will also automatically switch sites from the less-secure HTTP to HTTPS whenever possible.

Users can download Safari 15 by heading to System Preferences and selecting Software Update. The update is relatively small, and doesn't require a restart.

It isn't clear when Apple will release macOS Monterey to the public, though it could debut the software update after a Mac-focused event unveiling 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models later in 2021.

Click for article.

watchOS 8 and tvOS 15 Released for Apple Watch & Apple TV

by osxdaily

Apple has released watchOS 8 for Apple Watch, alongside tvOS 15 for Apple TV, and HomePodOS 15 for HomePod.

The software updates for Apple Watch, Apple TV, and HomePod, arrive alongside the iOS 15 update for iPhone and iPadOS 15 for iPad.

watchOS 8 includes new Watch faces, updates to bundled apps like Contacts, Weather, Photos, and Find My, a Mindfulness app, new workouts for Fitness+ subscribers, and some other minor changes. c

tvOS 15 includes new Aerial screen savers, a Shared With You feature like iOS/iPadOS 15, spatial audio support, improved AirPods support, and other smaller changes.

How to Install watchOS 8 on Apple Watch

You will need to use the paired iPhone for updating watchOS:

1. Open the Watch app on iPhone
2. Go to the Watch tap, then go to "General" and "Software Update"
3. Choose to download and install watchOS 8

watchOS 8 Compatible Apple Watch Models

watchOS 8 is compatible with the following Apple Watch models:

• Apple Watch Series 3
• Apple Watch Series 4
• Apple Watch Series 5
• Apple Watch SE
• Apple Watch Series 6
• Apple Watch Series 7

How to Update tvOS 15 on Apple TV

Updating tvOS system software is pretty straight forward:

1. Open the Settings app on Apple TV
2. Go to System, then to Software Updates
3. Choose to download and install tvOS 15

tvOS 15 Compatible Apple TV models

tvOS 15 is compatible with Apple TV 4k and Apple TV HD.

And in case you were wondering, the release of new Aerial screen savers for tvOS 15 also means they're available on the computer with the Aerial Apple TV Mac screen saver.

Click for article.

iOS 12.5.5 Security Update Released for Older iPhone & iPad

by osxdaily

Apple has released iOS 12.5.5 for users with older iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices that are incapable of running iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.

iOS 12.5.5 includes important security fixes and is therefore recommended to install for all devices that can get the update.

Separately, Mac users running macOS Catalina will find Security Update 2021-006 Catalina available for Macs that are not yet running Big Sur.

Installing iOS 12.5.5 on iPhone & iPad

iOS 12.5.5 is only available for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch 6th generation. Other devices will not find the update available.

It is recommended to backup your device before installing any software update. Open the "Settings" app on iPhone or iPad Go to "General" and then to "Software Update" Install iOS 12.5.5 when it shows as available

The update will require the device to reboot.

Newer model iPhone and iPad devices will instead continue to find iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 available, or the iOS/iPadOS 14.8 releases.

Click for article.

iWork update brings major changes to Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps

by Roman Loyola, macworld

Apple on Tuesday updated Keynote, Numbers, and Pages, the three apps of its iWork software suite for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The version 11.2 features make iWork accessible to more users and allow people to create more engaging content.

The new features included in all three apps are:

1. Instant translation in 11 languages (iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey required)
2. The ability for participants to add others to a shared document (iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 required)
3. Audio graph to make charts accessible to those with vision impairments (iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 required)
4. Radar charts for comparing multiple variables
5. The ability to create new documents from the Keynote, Pages, or Numbers macOS Dock icon

Below are the details for the new features for each specific app.

Keynote: Live video and multi-presenter support

Apple's presentation app, Keynote, adds a couple of new features to make presentations more engaging. Keynote now allows presenters to use the front-facing camera on iPhone, iPads, and Macs to be able to implement live video. The video feed appears alongside the Keynote slides, and can be resized and "styled with masks, frames, drop shadows, and reflections."

Users who are able to put more production effort into their presentations can take advantage of Keynote's ability to connect to multiple external cameras to further enhance the live video experience, and you can also connect an iPhone or iPad right to a slide and use the device for a live demo.

The new multi-presenter support can be used with presenters who are in the same room or joined remotely on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. And Apple says presenters can "seamlessly" switch between each other.

Keynote now lets you add a live video feed that appears with your slides.

Other new features include new slideshow controls, and iPhone drag and drop support between apps (iOS 15 required).

The Keynote update is 498.5MB on iOS or iPadOS and 305MB on macOS. It can be downloaded through the App Store.

Pages: Better optimized for iPhone

According to Apple's press release, "People read Pages documents on iPhone more than any other device." So the update to the Pages writing app has the iPhone in mind. The new Screen View option displays documents in a single iPhone-optimized column. Users still have access to all of Pages' tools in Screen View, which can be switched off anytime.

Other new features include improved book publishing features, and a new Quick Format bar on the iPhone version for modifying documents.

The Pages update is 493.8MB on iOS or iPadOS and 287.3MB on macOS. It can be downloaded through the App Store.

Numbers: Pivot tables

A key reason Microsoft Excel users won't touch Apple's Numbers was the lack of support for pivot tables. That has finally changed with version 11.2—not only are there tools for making pivot tables, but you can also even import pivot tables made with Excel. And pivot tables are available in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions.

Other new features include redesigned Quick Filters to show or hide rows that match a specific value, and new filter options to find duplicate data entries and unique values.

Pivot tables finally come to Numbers.

The Numbers update is 527.6MB on iOS or iPadOS and 255.9MB on macOS. It can be downloaded through the iOS or Mac App stores.

Click for article.

New AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max firmware updates are now available

by Mike Wuerthele, appleinsider

As part of a wide update, Apple has issued new firmware revisions for AirPods, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, Beats Solo Pro, Powerbeats 4, and Powerbeats Pro.

Expected in the update are Apple's standard performance improvements, and bug fixes. The update also brings support for Conversation Boost for the AirPods Pro.

Announced at Apple's worldwide Developers Conference in June, Conversation Boost leverages microphone beamforming and machine learning technology to isolate human voices. The feature is tuned to focus on a person speaking directly in front of a user, making it easier for AirPods Pro owners to listen during face-to-face conversations.

Conversation Boost can also filter out distracting ambient noise.

All devices get firmware version 4A400.

The new firmware is installed automatically for users, with no mechanism available to manually force an update. As long as AirPods or AirPods Pro are in a charging case and connected to an iOS device, the firmware will install by itself.

AirPods users can check the current firmware for their audio accessories within the Settings app, selecting General, then About, then select the relevant device from the menu.

Click for article.

13-inch MacBook Pro: Buy now or wait?

by Jason Cross, macworld

While the MacBook Air is tremendously popular, some users need a little bit more. More performance, a bigger battery, more ports, a larger screen…if you need more, you need a MacBook Pro.

Before you spend all that money (often upwards of $2,000) on something you hope to keep and use for years, it's worth asking if this is a good time to buy. In the world of computers, there's always something better on the way, but if it's a lot better and it's coming soon, you might want to wait. Here's what we know about the MacBook Pro and our buying advice.

13-inch MacBook Pro: Pricing and specs

Released: November 2020
Late in 2020, Apple updated the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini with its new M1 processor. We think the M1 MacBook Pro is a great laptop, but we think there's something even better on the way.

The M1 MacBook Pro has the same lackluster webcam (though with much better image processing), the same silver clamshell aluminum body, the same keyboard, the same limited port selection…even the battery size is the same, it just lasts longer with the efficiency of the M1.

It's a great system at a reasonable price, but we're looking forward to a big design change—especially slimmer bezels around the display and a better webcam.

Apple also still sells a 13-inch MacBook Pro with an Intel processor, starting at $1,799. It's almost certainly not worth it for most people. The only real advantage it has over the M1 version is four Thunderbolt ports instead of two.

If you're interested in a lower-priced 13-inch MacBook Pro, then the M1 chip is a great upgrade. It's faster than the Intel chip it replaced, and it delivers much better battery life. Apple sells it starting at $1,199 but you definitely want to get at least the $1,399 version with a 512GB SSD, and it may be worth upgrading the memory to 16GB since it can't be upgraded later. You can often find it on Amazon for $150 off or more.

13-inch MacBook Pro: Why you should wait

We expect a big update to the MacBook Pro in the fall of 2021. Not only is it expected to feature an M1X processor that's a lot faster than the M1, but also a new design and size as well. If the rumors are true—and there are a lot of them—we're looking at a new 14-inch model, the return of the SD card slot and maybe HDMI port, a MagSafe charger (or some sort of new MagSafe thing), a display with mini-LED backlighting, thinner bezels, and no Touch Bar.

To put it mildly, we may be a few short months away from a massive improvement to the MacBook Pro. We're not sure if the 13-inch model will get a refresh or price cut or get cut from the lineup, so it's worth waiting to see what that is before you drop a big chunk of money on something you'll keep for years.

Macworld recommends: WAIT

A new MacBook Pro is a big investment that typically costs at least $1,500 and often much more. What's more, most people tend to hang on to their laptops longer than their phones—4 or 5 years. So you don't want to buy one if there's a big change on the horizon, and with the MacBook Pro, we think there is.

Unlike the MacBook Air, which is both more affordable and will probably not be updated as soon, the MacBook Pro is a bigger expense with a shorter wait for the new version. So we recommend you wait until the fall of 2021 to see if Apple does unveil a new MacBook Pro as expected before spending all that money.

Click for article.

How to Add & Delete Calendars on Mac

by osxdaily

Did you know that you can have multiple calendars, for different purposes? The Mac Calendar app makes it easy to help manage your schedule by adding and deleting calendars.

The native Calendar app on macOS (and iOS too for that matter) allows you to create multiple calendars, this may come in handy for people who are looking to keep their professional and private lives separate. Using a separate calendar for work and personal use makes it much easier to manage all your scheduled events and keep those aspects of your life separate. And of course if you no longer need a specific calendar, you can delete or even merge the unwanted or duplicate calendars. This article will review how to use more than a single calendar on a Mac.

How to Add Calendars on Mac

Adding an additional calendar and using it for a different purpose is pretty simple on macOS.

1. Launch the stock Calendar app on your Mac from the Dock.


2. Make sure the Calendar app is the active window and click on "File" from the menu bar.


3. Next, click on "New Calendar" from the dropdown menu to proceed.


4. This will create a new calendar and it will show up in the Calendar List on the left pane as indicated in the screenshot below. You can give it any name you prefer.


5. This step is for the users who cannot see the Calendar List. Click on View from the menu bar and choose "Show Calendar List" from the dropdown menu and it'll show up in the app.

That's it. You now have multiple calendars for different purposes.

How to Delete Calendars on Mac

Deleting an existing calendar from your Mac is just as easy.

1. Select the calendar you want to delete from the Calendar List and then click on "Edit" from the menu bar. Next, choose "Delete" from the dropdown menu.
   
2. Now, just click on "Delete" when you're prompted to confirm your action and you're done.
   

Removing unwanted calendars is just as easy.

This is only one way of deleting calendars on your Mac. Alternatively, you can right-click or Control-click on a calendar from the Calendar List to access the same delete option, which is a slightly quicker way to get it done. Likewise, you can quickly create a new calendar using the keyboard shortcut Option+Command+N.

Deleting a calendar will result in permanent removal of all the events stored in that calendar. If you have any important event in a calendar you want to remove, you can move them by merging two calendars on your Mac. This allows you to keep all your events while removing the unwanted or duplicate calendar at the same.

If you mainly use the Calendar app for managing your work schedule and meetings, you may also be interested in learning how to hide holidays from your calendar, as many are included that may not apply to you or your schedule.

This obviously focuses on the Mac, but you can also add and delete calendars on iPhone and iPad too if you want to do it from the mobile side of things.

And now you know how to use multiple calendars in the stock Calendar app for Mac. Do you use multiple calendars? Will you after learning how this trick works? Let us know your thoughts and experiences.

Click for article.

How to Set Safari Preferences to Zoom in and out of Web Pages

by Dennis Sellers, macsales rocketyard

Do you ever find yourself having to zoom in or out of images when using Safari on the Mac? I know I do. Thankfully, Apple makes this convenient to do right in the Safari preferences.

In my case, I look at Apple's patent filings each Tuesday and Thursday to see if there are any of interest to readers of "Apple World Today," of which I'm the editor/publisher. I often have to zoom in or out on images to take a screenshot for articles.

Zooming in and out of images

You can do this by pressing command-hyphen to shrink (scale back) the view of an image and command-equal to enlarge (scale back) an image. Press Command and the zero (0) keys to return to the original size of the image or web page.

Also, a few site websites, such as that of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, have a pop-up window with "+" and "-" signs for zooming in and out of an image.

Making content bigger for web pages

You can also make the content larger for all web pages—or make the content larger for a specific web page.

In the Safari app on your Mac, choose Safari > Preferences > Websites.

Click Page Zoom.

You'll see a list of currently open websites. Each one will have a popup window that allows you to set and save the zoom/enlargement percentage anywhere from 50% to 300%. Also, you can click the "When visiting other websites" pop-up menu, to set the percentage.

You can also set Zoom features in the Mac System Preferences app. Go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom.

You can set keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out. You can also set a scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom.

Click for article.

macOS 'Device Support Update' ensures iPhone and iPad upgrades work correctly

by Ed Hardy, cultofmac

Apple released a rare Device Support Update on Thursday for macOS Big Sur. While details are thin, the patch fixes a problem with Macs communicating with iPhones and iPads.

It's a free download available now.

What's in the macOS Big Sur Device Support Update

Essentially all that's known for sure about the patch is Apple's release note that says, "This update ensures proper updating and restoring for iOS and iPadOS devices with a Mac." It didn't make it onto Apple list of Big Sur updates.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 reached customers last week. As did the iPhone 13, iPad 9 and iPad mini 6. That's a lot of fresh hardware and software that potentially could be causing interoperability problems with macOS Big Sur.

And the issue is apparently severe enough to justify a stand-alone patch. Otherwise, it would have been built into a larger update, like the recent macOS 11.6 release. It seems an important update for anyone who uses an iPhone or iPad.

To install the update on your Mac, go to System Preferences > Software Update. Select Device Support Update then tap on Install Now.

Click for article.

How to use Apple Notes tags in iOS 15 & macOS Monterey

by William Gallaghr, appleinsider

You always could use tags in Apple Notes, but now it's as if the app pays attention, and it is so much useful in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, that tagging will become a habit.

Even before Apple Notes transformed from its origins as a Comic Sans kind of joke, and into the powerful app it is now, you could use tags. And people did, they just weren't recognized as tags by Apple Notes, they weren't anything the app could leverage.

Any note app tends to struggle to remain quick to use when you've got a lot of notes. It's not as if the app actually slows down, nothing you add is really going to test your Mac or iPhone's resources. But the job of finding what you want gets ever harder.

Continue reading....

[Wizard sez: Note that Monterey is not out yet and so Tags do not yet work in Notes.]

iPhone 13 Diary: The iPhone-to-iPhone transfer process is now beautifully seamless

by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5mac

Back in the day, I used to do an iTunes backup and restore when buying a new iPhone, because that was both faster and more comprehensive than an iCloud transfer. However, Apple's direct iPhone-to-iPhone transfer process now works so beautifully that it is, in my view, a complete no-brainer to use it.

I've just done it with my shiny new iPhone 13 Pro Max, and it really couldn't have been a smoother experience …

iPhone-to-iPhone transfer process

First, simply switching on the iPhone 13 while it was close to my iPhone 12 automatically triggered a prompt on my old phone. I simply accepted the offer, and the transfer process got underway.

The progress bar admittedly needs a little work! While the bar moved okay, the initial time estimate was "About two hours" and that text didn't change until about 40% of the way through, when it changed to "About one hour." After that, however, it did decide to show estimates in minutes, and overall it was pretty accurate.

Apple has gradually increased the number of things that get included in iPhone-to-iPhone transfers. This now includes not only logins for almost all apps, but also Apple Pay cards. The only thing I had to do was confirm I wanted the same cards, enter their CCV numbers and the 2FA codes. That was much quicker than registering cards from scratch.

An even more welcome surprise was when my Apple Watch asked me, unprompted, if I wanted to pair it with my new phone. I confirmed, enter ing the phone passcode on my Watch, and that process too was automatic.

Continue reading....

iPhone 13 Diary: Putting macro photography capabilities to the test

by ben lovejoy, 9to5mac

One of the new features of the iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max is its macro photography capabilities. Early reviews seem to indicate that there is essentially no limit to how close you can get to the thing you're photographing, so I put this to the test.

I half joke that photographing gadgets is 5% photography, 5% editing, and 90% cleaning. When it comes to macro photography, that would be more like 99.9% cleaning…

The way macro photography works on the iPhone 13 is you just get closer to your subject until it switches to macro mode. That sounds like the perfect user interface, but it's really not.

I understand Apple's decision to have macro photography (a) be discoverable and (b) just work, but it snaps out of macro mode as readily as it snaps in. When it does so, it switches cameras - which is, as early reviewers said, intensely annoying.

You start carefully framing, creeping closer, then, bam, you're looking at an out-of-focus shot of something outside your frame. Apple says it will fix this with a software update.

On a DSLR, macro photography usually requires the camera on a tripod, as you'd be manually focusing, and the depth of field is wafer thin. On the iPhone, the good news is that you can take macro shots handheld, but the bad news is that you don't really get too much control over what's in focus. Tap-to-focus is pretty much impossible when you're so close, and the tap itself will shift the framing.

But provided you are happy with lacking fine control, the results are pretty impressive. You can easily get some interesting abstract shots from things as ordinary as a wool sweater, an office chair, and flowers.

Continue reading....

How to use Focus Mode in iOS 15, macOS Monterey

by William Gallagher, appleinsider

Focus Mode is reason enough to update to macOS Monterey when it's available, and iOS 15 now iot' out. Here's what Focus Mode can do, and why you will love it.

Apple gave us more notifications, bleeps, and distractions with the iPhone than anyone could have imagined. Then it tried to take them all away with the mostly good Do Not Disturb.

When we all just used that overnight, or let it kick in automatically while we drove, Apple tried appealing to our better nature by bringing us Screen Time. That was really a sop to people who said Apple should do something about distractions, and it was a really a bit insulting to the rest of us who don't need nannying.

Except maybe we do. For now with the Focus Mode, it feels as if Apple has got it right.

And right or wrong, cure or placebo, Focus Mode also feels fantastic. You do need to set it up, you do need to think about it, but when you've found that you've not been distracted for an hour, you're sold.

Wither Do Not Disturb

Focus Mode is like a superset of Do Not Disturb. Just as before, if you don't change anything, Do Not Disturb will kick in when you're driving as it does now, and it will automatically run overnight when you're sleeping, too.

Let it.

Focus Mode is really for when you're working, or concentrating. Do Not Disturb shuts out everything, bar phone calls from your VIP list, or from persistent callers trying to get through urgently.

By comparison, Focus Mode lets you fine-tune what you will allow to distract you. For instance, sometimes you need, say, notifications from Slack. Or if your partner needs you, he or she shouldn't have to remember they can only phone.

Do Not Disturb can recognize that you have an event and, when you tap and hold, offer to turn on DND until the end of meeting or whatever it is. Focus Mode can turn on when you arrive at an office, or when you launch an app.

Click on Control Center, then the name of your focus mode — it'll just say "Focus" if none is running

Across macOS Monterey and iOS 15, Focus Mode can also figure out that you need it. Using Machine Learning and Siri Suggestions, Focus Mode can quietly switch on at the moment it's most useful.

So you're walking into that client's office for a meeting. Or you're opening Excel and it's near year-end. Focus Mode can just happen.

You have to set that up, though, and you have to tell it exactly what how you want to focus. Currently, during the beta process, it helps to know which device to set it up on, too.

Focus Mode works across all your Apple devices, once they're updated to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. There is current a subtle difference between the various devices, but they're all to do with how you turn on a Focus Mode that you've already set up.

How to set up Focus Mode on iOS 15

1. Go to Settings on your iPhone, and choose Focus
2. Click on the Focus tab toward the top of the screen
3. Either choose an existing Focus Mode from the list shown, or
4. Or click on the plus icon at top right to add a new one
5. Pick from suggested Focus Modes such as "Gaming," or choose "Custom"
6. Name your Focus Mode and tap Return
7. Optionally, choose a color
8. The optionally, choose an icon
9. Tap Next
10. Set who is allowed to distract you, and which apps are allowed to interrupt
11. Tap Done

It's the same on macOS Monterey, although iOS 15 steps you through the process more.

There are some general options for all Focus Modes

There are also two options to do with phone calls. You can choose to Allow Repeated Calls, which is a good idea because it means if you're needed urgently, you're not completely cut off.

And you can elect to Allow calls from everyone. You might not like that option, but if your work is on a help desk, for instance, it could be necessary.

How to set the details of your Focus Mode

Beyond the general, overall options, every new Focus Mode you create comes with its own controls. On the Mac, that's in three parts.

First, there's who or what you will allow notifications from. Here you can list any app you like, for when the mail must get through. Or you can list a person.

This is one of the smartest parts of Focus Mode. Unlike most other parts of macOS and iOS, there's no selecting someone's cell or office or home number. There's no selecting whether you'll take Messages or calls or FaceTime.

There are just the people you decide are important enough that you want to hear from them whenever, or if ever, they try to reach you.

Click on Apps to decide which can bleep at you, and People to choose who you're happy to be interrupted by

Next, there's the automation side, the ability to have Focus Mode turn on to a particular setting. On the Mac, you get three options.

• Time-based Focus Mode
• Location-based
• App-based

Time-based is the most like Do Not Disturb's overnight setting. You can tell it to come on automatically at 07:00, and go off again at 18:00, Monday to Friday.

Maybe you don't work regular hours, but you do work in the same office on weekdays. Location-based lets you have it to so that a particular Focus Mode switches on automatically as you near the place. And switches off again when you leave.

The last one may be the most useful. We each of us have an app we most use for our work, such as Excel or Numbers. With the app-based option, you can have a particular Focus Mode switch on as soon as you launch that app.

Notice the icon under the clock in the first screen. It's showing you're in Focus Mode, and is displaying the icon you set

Switching on Focus Mode

This ability to have Focus Mode shut out distractions at the very moment you need to concentrate is fantastic. But most of us know when we need to get down to work, whether or not we want to.

So alongside all the automated ways of turning on precision Focus Modes to suit your work, there is also a straightforward On switch.

1. On the Mac, click on Control Center
2. Choose Focus
3. Pick a Focus Mode from the list, or Do Not Disturb
4. Optionally, set how long you want it to stay on for

On the Mac, with macOS Monterey, you can also drag a copy of Focus out of the Control Center and place it in your menubar. Do that if you're going to be in and out of Focus modes a lot.

1. On iPhone and iPad, swipe down to open Control Center
2. Tap on Focus
3. Choose to select a Focus mode, or
4. Tap on the ellipses icon to bring up options over how long you want Focus to stay on

On both the Mac and iOS, there's a Control Center option that lets you do more. On macOS, it's called Focus Preferences..., and is at the very bottom of the list of Focus Modes.

Over on iOS, the button appears under the current Focus Mode, and is called Settings.

You'll chiefly use this to make new Focus Modes. On iOS, though, there is a button at the bottom of the screen, called New Focus.

Once you've made new Focus Modes tailored for your needs, you'll keep switching them on. But it's not only you that they affect.

First two shots: get to Focus Mode through either Control Center (first on left) or Settings (second on left). Then the options are the same regardless of which way you access them

How others see you in Focus Mode

If you have set Focus Mode to allow your partner to contact you, they'll never even know anything is different. Their call, email, text, or whatever, will just get through you as normal.

For anyone else, though, one of two things happen. And they're possibly not going to like either of them.

The one you might get away with most is if you do nothing. Literally nothing. When you don't reply as quickly as you normally do, they may figure it out, or you may have started training them to cut down how often they text.

Alternatively, though, you can set an automatic reply. Just as you have with Do Not Disturb While Driving, your Mac or iPhone can send a message back to someone saying forget it, you're concentrating.

It's worded a bit better than that. And this is good, since currently Apple does not give you a way to personalize the message that it sends.

How to switch on automatic responses on Mac

1. Go to System Preferences on your Mac, and choose Notifications
2. Click on the Focus tab toward the top of the screen
3. Select Turn on auto reply

There's a good chance that Turn on auto reply is already turned on, but now you know.

If you can't see that option, it's because you've selected one of your Focus Modes. To get back to seeing these general settings, click on Options at the bottom of the list of Focus Modes.

How to switch on automatic responses on iOS <

It's not flawless

You've picked up on how we might just be a little bit keen on Focus Mode. The time we really realised how much we liked it, though, was a brief patch during the beta where we got it wrong and it seemingly stopped working.

What really happened was that instead of just allowing interruptions from a couple of specific, named people, we also let Mail be one of the apps that could interrupt us.

Until we figured that out, though, it felt so wrong to be getting email bleeps from people we hadn't listed as being allowed to. Just days after we'd first turned on Focus Mode, it felt wrong to be getting notifications from apps we didn't need at that precise moment.

Doubtlessly, Focus Mode is going to take time to get used to and to explore. You can very easily end up with multiple Focus Mode settings which automatically kick in at different times.

One problem, though, is that you could very easily get overwhelmed with the possibilities of Focus Mode. And that is rather the opposite of what it's meant for.

But it does make the old Do Not Disturb seem woefully inadequate by comparison.

Click for article.

[Wizard Sez: Monterey is not out yet so you will have to wait for Focus on your Macs.]

iOS 15 now available with Health sharing & improved device intelligence

by Wesley Hilliard, appleinsider

Apple has released iOS 15 to customers with a focus on user-facing control and features like FaceTime scheduling, dynamic Do Not Disturb modes, and Visual Look Up for photos.

Many of the features announced during Apple's WWDC presentation made it through the beta period for iOS 15. The biggest no-shows for release are SharePlay and Universal Control, but those are still expected at a later date.

See movies and continue reading....

iPhone 13 mini review: The most powerful small smartphone on the market

by Mile Wuerthele, appleinsider

The iPhone 13 mini has both fans and detractors of its size, and has spawned debates about where it fits in Apple's lineup — but there's no denying that it's a flagship smartphone.

Once upon a time, we all had mini iPhones. The original iPhone was sleek metal and plastic, and was smaller than every iPhone currently shipping.

Times changed. The iPhone 5 got bigger, and the iPhone 6 Plus, bigger still.

In 2020, Apple decided it was time to roll back the incredible enlarging iPhone to appeal to the folks looking for a smaller, more pocketable model. It then released the iPhone 12 mini.

Fans of the form factor expected it to blow the doors off the place, and set new records for iPhone sales. It didn't appear to set those records by any visible measure, with the iPhone 12 Pro taking that crown for the year after the early success of the largest phone.

Rumors of production stops happen every year. They're generally accurate, but more reflect the stock that Apple holds, versus what it expects to need for the next six months to year after initial shipment. Those rumors happened months earlier for the iPhone 12 mini than any other model, all in a blockbuster iPhone year.

Continue reading....

7 reasons the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 makes a worthy upgrade for iPhone 11 or XR [Review]

by Ed Hardy, cultofmac

Those looking for an upgrade for the iPhone 11, XS or 8 need search no further than the 6.1-inch iPhone 13. Apple's latest midsize handset offers far better performance than those older models, a noticeably longer battery life and a better camera. Plus there are some other nice additions, like a smaller notch.

Skip the annual upgrade

If anyone is here to find out if it's worth upgrading from the iPhone 12, I have an easy answer: no. But that's not at all unusual. There's rarely a justification for replacing an iPhone (or Android or TV or car) with the following year's model.

It's a completely different story for those upgrading from an iPhone 11 or older. Two years or more is enough time for the newest model to include significant improvements. Seven major ones that I counted.

This isn't a slam against people who do want to upgrade every year — I do it myself. But I'm always aware that there's no real justification for this besides my desire to own the latest and greatest. That said, the iPhone 13 is a bit better than the iPhone 12 in a couple of ways, including battery life.

Continue reading....

Ophthalmologist using iPhone 13 macro feature responds to criticism

byBen Lovejoy, 9to5mac

We recently reported on an ophthalmologist using the iPhone 13's new macro photography feature to document patient progress.

Thanks to the Macro mode, Dr Tommy Korn can take extremely detailed photos of the eyes, which lets him observe and record important details about patients' health.

Korn came under fire in some quarters, with people suggesting he should instead be using a DSLR with proper macro lens, and has now explained why this isn't necessary …

Photography site Petapixel interviewed Korn.

The photos were shared by 9to5Mac and other news outlets and across social media. But based on some of the comments he has seen, he says that he believes that there is some confusion as to why he uses the iPhone in the first place.

"There is some confusion on if the camera is going to replace exams or larger cameras," he said in an interview with PetaPixel. "Let's say you have an eye condition or eye problem and you have to see a doctor and you see them six months later and you ask 'hey, how does it look compared to last time.' Do you think the doctor remembers? They can't remember. They look at notes and verbal descriptions."

Dr. Korn says that this is why doctors who want to be conscientious will take photos to monitor progress in addition to copious notes. Some comments in response to his post on LinkedIn have encouraged Dr. Korn to use a higher quality standalone camera so that he can see more detail, but the doctor explains that's not the point of what he is doing.

"I'm using it for documentation. I have just enough information to know if it's serious or not," he clarifies.

The ophthalmologist says that he has used DSLRs in the past, as well as a $15,000 slit-eye camera with an iPhone adapter, but neither is now necessary. The iPhone 13 images are sufficient for their purpose, and it's a much faster and simpler process - so one likely to be used by doctors who would otherwise rely simply on written notes.

Additionally, he says, patients can use the iPhone 13 at home.

"They can now send me pictures remotely and I can conduct a televideo visit with them and ask them to show me their eye," he says. "And that improves telemedicine. I can then bring in the people who really need to be seen in person, and those who are not an urgent case can still get care conveniently at home."

That, to me, is the real power of this kind of iPhone development. Not that it replaces high-end professional equipment, any more than Cinematic Video replaces cinema cameras, but that it makes these kind of features easily accessible to all.

Click for article.