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Worldmags.net January 2015 CONTENTS I N C O R P O R AT I N G M A C U S E R

MacUser Review: iMac with 5K Retina display 7 3 key things to know about Yosemite and security 13 5 cool widgets for Yosemite’s Notification Center 19 Video: How to easily batch-convert images to black and white 23 MacUser Reviews 24 Hot Stuff 36

iOS Central 10 cool new features in iOS 8.1 41 Apple’s deregister tool prevents disappearing messages 47

The real Apple Watch revolution 88

Microsoft Office for iOS goes free on phones and tablets 50 Review: iPad Air 2 56 What’s new at the App Store 69 Cases of distinction 70

Working Mac Microsoft unveils Outlook app 94 How to simplify overlapping cloud storage services 97 Video: Capture the action on your iOS device with Yosemite 102

Playlist What’s to be done about iTunes? 104 iTunes 12 introduces new look 110

Create 8 ways to take better photos 128 Review: Adobe Photoshop Elements 13; Premiere Elements 13 139

Apple Pay field test 76 COVER PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF APPLE

Help Desk 151

MASTHEAD

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CCO & SVP, U.S. MEDIA AT IDG John Gallant EDITOR IN CHIEF, CONSUMER BRANDS Jon Phillips EXECUTIVE EDITOR Susie Ochs DESIGN DIRECTOR Rob Schultz

Editorial SENIOR EDITOR Christopher Breen ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Sally Zahner ASSOCIATE EDITOR Leah Yamshon SENIOR CONTRIBUTORS Adam C. Engst, Glenn Fleishman, Lex Friedman, Rob Griffiths,

John Gruber, Jim Heid, Andy Ihnatko, Joe Kissell, Ted Landau, Rick LePage, Ben Long, Kirk McElhearn, John Moltz, John Siracusa, Derrick Story

Design DESIGNER Liz Marken Fiorentino CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Peter Belanger

Advertising Sales SALES MANAGER Duane Hampson (415/978-3133)

Production DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION Nancy Jonathans SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER Tamara Gargus

INTERNATIONAL DATA GROUP CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Walter Boyd IDG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. CEO

Michael Friedenberg

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January 2015, Volume 32, Issue 01 Macworld is a publication of IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc., and International Data Group, Inc. Macworld is an independent journal not affiliated with Apple, Inc. Copyright © 2014, IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc. All rights reserved. Create, Playlist, Mac User, Macworld, and the Macworld logo are registered trademarks of International Data Group, Inc., and used under license by IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

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News and Analysis About Macs, OS X, and Apple

iMac with Retina 5K display is among Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brightest lights BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF APPLE

MACUSER

iMAC WITH RETINA 5K DISPLAY

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mong the many new and improved technologies promoted by Apple, one of the most attractive has been the “Retina display.” This is a marketing term rather than a technical one and refers to displays with a pixel density where individual pixels are indiscernible to the human eye. You see it touted for iOS devices as well as Apple’s MacBook Pros. Like much of Apple’s marketing, it’s catchy and appealing to those who’d prefer to not dig deeper. However, there are occasions when the term just won’t do—particularly when Apple wants to boast about the specific number of pixels that a display houses. Such is the case with the $2,500 iMac with Retina 5K display. And it wants to boast for good reason. The display is stunning.

Compensation Film, which helps ensure solid contrast even when viewing the display off-axis. I had the opportunity to test the base model iMac with Retina 5K display alongside a late 2012 27-inch iMac, and did so largely to compare the look of each display. At first glance, when viewing Yosemite’s default JUST HOW desktop on each GOOD IS THE iMac, I didn’t see DISPLAY? a great difference THIS iMAC Specifically, this iMac between the two. PROJECTS FOUR projects 14.7 million With brightness TIMES THE PIXELS pixels (at a native cranked all the OFFERED BY THE resolution of 5120 x way up on each, 27-INCH iMAC, 2880 resolution), the Retina iMac AND IT DOES SO which is four times was brighter than WHILE USING 30 the pixels offered by the other but PERCENT LESS the standard 27-inch otherwise I’d POWER. iMac. And it does so, have been hard according to Apple, pressed to tell while using 30 percent less power. one from the other. Off-axis viewing This is accomplished through the use was slightly better on the new iMac— of more efficient LEDs along with a the display was clear up to about 45 special timing controller that coordidegrees off-axis—but the difference nates the pixels. Additionally, Apple wasn’t breathtaking. has introduced something it calls However, when I moved in closer, 8

Apple iMac with Retina 5K display specs

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Worldmags.net the menu bar text on the older iMac appeared hazier than that on the Retina display. As I opened a window the difference was more apparent as text was clearly sharper on the Retina iMac. It’s not radically different however—not like switching from a first- or second-generation iPad to an iPad Air, for example. Rather, it’s a bit like having your eyes examined and looking through one lens that’s very slightly blurry and another that’s tack sharp. It’s when you zoom in on text and high-resolution images that you see just what the Retina iMac is capable of. The images below were taken from iBooks, using the zoom feature built into OS X. As is clearly apparent, the text pulled from the older iMac is far less crisp than the text displayed on the Retina iMac.

Obviously, most of us don’t spend our time zoomed in hundreds of percent to admire our Mac’s screen resolution. In many cases the benefits of the Retina display will be subtle—an effect that may make staring at a display for hours on end less fatiguing. Where you’ll see differences is in very high-resolution images and video. The example below should give you some idea of the difference in details with a high-resolution image. Note the crisper lines in the bottom image, taken from the Retina iMac.

HOW GOOD IS THE PERFORMANCE? The iMac with 5K Retina display is being touted by some as a viable alternative for professionals who can’t quite make the jump to Apple’s new

ZOOM IN on text and you can clearly see the difference a Retina display makes. 27-inch non-Retina (top), Retina iMac (bottom).

MACUSER

iMAC WITH RETINA 5K DISPLAY

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Mac Pro. After all, it offers a display that, from another manufacturer, would cost the $2,500 Apple asks for the iMac. The base model includes a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, a 1TB Fusion Drive, an AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3 ports, and 802.11ac wireless. That’s a mighty powerful package. But can it can come anywhere close to Apple’s top of the line Mac? I thought I’d find out by conducting a few performance tests between it, Apple’s top of the line Mac Pro (3.5

GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 16GB RAM), and the late 2012 27-inch iMac (with a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 with 8GB RAM). The Mac Pro and Retina iMac, with their SSD and Fusion drives, have a significant edge in regard to reading and writing data—the older iMac’s spinning hard drive just can’t match their speed. So I chose tests that focused on processing and graphics power rather than disk-intensive tasks. Here’s what I found.

BY THE NUMBERS For those who like raw performance numbers, I ran Cinebench’s CPU and 10

THE NEW IMAC has ports aplenty

Worldmags.net OpenGL tests on each computer. The Mac Pro scored an average CPU score of 930, the Retina iMac scored 530, and the older iMac, 452. This is a multi-core test. In the single core test, however, the Retina iMac bested the Mac Pro. The Retina iMac scored 142, the Mac Pro 133, and the older 27-inch iMac, 125. This is in line with other reports on the iMac’s single-core performance. In Cinebench’s OpenGL tests it also came out ahead, producing an average 88

frames per second versus the Mac Pro’s 72 fps and the older iMac’s 56 fps.

TASKING THE RETINA iMAC Performance numbers are all well and good, but how does the Retina iMac handle the kind of chores that professionals conduct day in and day out? I tested this as well. I began by asking each Mac to bounce a dense Logic Pro X project to a 16-bit AIFF stereo track. The Mac Pro accomplished the job in 50 seconds.

WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING at the screen, the new iMac looks the same as its predecessors.

MACUSER

iMAC WITH RETINA 5K DISPLAY

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The Retina iMac took 1 minute 12 seconds, and the older iMac, 1 minute and 29 seconds. I then imported into Final Cut Pro X a five minute 1080p clip, bumped up the clip’s volume by five points, applied three effects to it (50s TV, Vignette, and Super 8mm), and exported it as a 720p video using the Apple ProRes 422 codec. The Mac Pro did the job in 54 seconds, the Retina iMac finished in 1 minute and 9 seconds, and the 2012 iMac accomplished the task in 1 minute and 30 seconds. Previous to this, I exported the same clip with effects using Final Cut Pro’s Apple Device 720p preset. In this case each iMac outdid the Mac Pro, with the Retina iMac doing the job in 1 minute and 26 seconds, the older iMac in 1 minute and 47 seconds, and the Mac Pro coming in last at 2 minutes and 31 seconds. This can be explained by the iMacs taking advantage of Intel QuickSync Video, which allows i5 and i7 Macs to render H.264 video more quickly than can Macs with Xeon processors. To hit each Mac as hard as I could, I then ripped the Maximum Movie Mode track from the Blu-ray disc of 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and ran the resulting .mkv file through HandBrake, using the Apple TV 3 preset. It took the Mac Pro 1 hour and 36 minutes, the Retina iMac finished second at 2

hours and 24 minutes, and the older iMac pulled up the rear at 2 hours and 53 minutes. During this process the Retina iMac’s fan came on about four minutes into the process and didn’t stop until the job was complete. The older iMac’s fan, however, remained quiet throughout. Given the results of these tests, it’s pretty clear that for tasks that take advantage of a processor’s multiple cores, the Mac Pro remains the champ. And for a computer that costs $1,500 more than the Retina iMac, it should. That said, in regard to single-core tasks, the Retina iMac appears to be the faster machine. So while well-heeled audio, video, and image professionals may not prefer the Retina iMac, typical users will. And, after all, that’s the primary point of today’s iMac—a computer powerful (and beautiful) enough for just about everyone.

THE BOTTOM LINE The iMac with Retina 5K display has a lot going for it. The display is gorgeous, at $2,500 it’s like getting a free computer with your high-resolution display, it has enough ports to please all but the most demanding user, it won’t jack up your power bill, and it’s no slouch when it comes to performance. Apple should be proud to have made such a thing. You’ll be just as proud to own one. ■

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3 key things to know about Yosemite and security BY CHUCK LA TOURNOUS

MACUSER

YOSEMITE SECURITY

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ike its National Park namesake, Apple’s newest operating system can be imposing, perhaps even a little daunting to newcomers. And although you won’t find any bears in the digital version of Yosemite, that doesn’t mean it’s danger free. After all, online security is rarely a walk in the park—and these three features of Yosemite could potentially impact your security.

SPOTLIGHT KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE

location of your Mac at the time you submit a search query to Spotlight or Spotlight became a lot more useful in Safari will be sent to Apple to make Yosemite, but it also became more Spotlight Suggestions more relevant talkative. That’s because in order to and to improve other Apple products return information about local and services. If you turn off Location services such as restaurants and Services for Spotlight Suggestions, other retail establishments it needs your precise location will not be sent to know your to Apple. To location. That deliver relevant IF YOU TURN sounds logical, search suggesOFF LOCATION but it raised tions, Apple may SERVICES FOR concerns (go. use the IP address SPOTLIGHT macworld.com/ of your internet SUGGESTIONS, concerns) from connection to YOUR PRECISE privacy advoapproximate your LOCATION WILL cates—and location by matchNOT BE SENT TO privacy-minded ing it to a geoAPPLE. users—about just graphic region. what information In a response to was being transmitted and what else The Verge (go.macworld.com/ it might be used for. response), the company got even For its part, Apple says it’s taken more specific, saying it uses a privacy concerns into consideration temporary identifier that resets every with Spotlight’s new features, and 15 minutes and that only a user’s spells out its policy in the Security and approximate, “blurred” location is Privacy pane in System Preferences: transmitted. Additionally, the informaWhen you use Spotlight or Spottion is transmitted over a secure light Suggestions in Safari, the HTTPS connection. 14

Worldmags.net If you’re still not comfortable with that kind of information being transmitted, you can opt out of locationbased search results by launching System Preferences, selecting Security & Privacy, clicking the Privacy tab, clicking the Details button next to System Services, and disabling Spotlight Suggestions in the resulting sheet.

CONTINUITY: SHARING YOUR DATA WITH YOURSELF Yosemite’s much-touted Continuity features allow you to use your Mac and iOS device in a more tightly integrated way. You can start composing an email message or Pages document on one device and continue working on it on another device. You can do much the same with iMessages, SMS texts, and even

phone calls. You can even connect your Mac to your nearby iOS device and send files via an improved implementation of AirDrop—all without ever entering a password. How secure can that be? The trick to keeping it secure is in Apple’s implementation. It uses a secure form of Bluetooth LE (for Low Energy) 4.0 for the connection, and will only connect devices that use the same Apple ID, signed into iCloud. Only then will the Handoff features be enabled. Given the systems limitations imposed and the fact that adding a Bluetooth LE dongle to your older Mac won’t enable Continuity, it’s likely there are other checks in place as well. But in typical fashion, Apple’s not saying. Still feeling cynical? You can opt out of this feature as well, even if you FOR YOUR MAC to tell you what’s around it, it needs to know where you are.

MACUSER

YOSEMITE SECURITY

Worldmags.net WITHIN THE SECURITY & Privacy system preference you can disable Spotlight’s location powers.

want to stay logged into APPLE’S NEW DISPLAY iCloud on all your METHOD CUTS THROUGH devices. Just go to the THE CLUTTER AND SHOWS General pane in System US THE REAL DOMAIN. Preferences and make sure the box next to Allow Handoff between this Mac and annoying quirks. You may even be your iOS devices is unchecked. considering changing it back to the old behavior. It’s certainly easy enough to YOU CAN CHANGE SAFARI’S do (and I’ll even tell you how shortly), NEW URL DISPLAY BUT YOU but before you jump on the give-meMIGHT NOT WANT TO back-my-full-web-address bandwagon, You may have noticed a change in the allow me to suggest that you leave way Safari displays web addresses in things just the way they are. Yosemite. If you don’t like it, you’re Prior to Yosemite, Safari (and most certainly not alone—our own Kirk other web browsers) displayed a web McElhearn (go.macworld.com/kirk), page’s full URL—or at least as much dubbed it one of Yosemite’s most of it as would fit in the address field. 16

Worldmags.net Beginning with iOS 7 (and continuing with Yosemite), Apple showed only the domain of the web page. In other words, if you visited www.apple.com/ mac or apple.com/iphone, both would appear simply as apple.com in Safari’s address field. It’s easy to assume that Apple altered the URL display solely because it liked the cleaner look. But the change also carries a security benefit, and aesthetics aside, that’s why you might want to leave things just as Apple intended.

Say what you will about hackers, phishers, and other seedy denizens of the Internet, they can be a clever bunch. For one thing, they figured out that people were used to incredibly long, server-generated URLs, and stopped paying much attention to what appeared in the address field. They took advantage of this by creating intentionally long and convoluted addresses that spill out the back of the visible address field so that you can’t see the real domain appended at the end. That .com you YOU CAN DISABLE Handoff if you think it’s a security threat.

MACUSER

YOSEMITE SECURITY

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see early in the address may have another dot to the right, rather than a forward slash, which means that first whatever.com is bogus. Apple’s new display method cuts through all the clutter and shows us the real domain—front and center and stripped of all misdirection. It’s also worth noting that when you’re on a legitimate, secure site, even the padlock indicator shares center stage with the domain name, arguably making it even more noticeable than in previous iterations. So, before you revert back to that pre-Yosemite display, consider that it might be doing you a favor. And bear in mind that if you want to see the full URL in Yosemite, simply click in the address field and you’ll see

your web page’s full URL in all its geeky, near-infinitely-long glory. If you’re still not convinced, open Safari’s preferences, select Advanced, and enable the Show full website address option near the top of the window.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL Staying safe online is a balance between convenience and security. Yosemite boasts lots of new features that make your Mac more useful than ever—especially in combination with your iPhone or iPad. Apple has put a lot of thought into its security and privacy implications. But to the company’s credit, these features are all optional for those who don’t consider the rewards worth the risk. ■

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5 cool widgets for Yosemiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Notification Center Power up with widgets that calculate, keep tabs on email, and order your to-do list. BY DEREK WALTERS

MACUSER

5 COOL WIDGETS

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ith Mac OS X Yosemite, Apple has largely left Dashboard behind. Instead, it’s replaced the tired apps that once lurked to the left of the home screen with polished and useful widgets in the updated Notification Center. To access these widgets, just click on Notification Center in the top-right of the Mac’s menu bar or, if you’re using a trackpad, swipe left with two fingers from the right edge and, in no time, you’ll be checking the weather, performing some quick math, or zipping through your email.

Although Notification widgets are new with Yosemite, several developers have already jumped on board by adding widget support to their apps. To add a widget, just open Notification Center, click the Edit button, and click the plus (+) button next to the widget you’d like to add. All set? Then let’s take a look at five of the best widgets we’ve seen.

PCALC PUTS QUICK CALCULATIONS UP FRONT PCalc (go.macworld.com/pcalc10, $10) is one of the top calculator apps on iOS (as well as on the Mac), with robust calculation abilities that can be used for basic math as well as for higherlevel needs. PCalc’s ability to appear in Notification Center was temporarily nixed by Apple as the company tried to bar any third-party calculator widgets. (After all, why would you need such things when Apple’s Calculator already works as a widget?) Fortunately Apple relented to

user feedback—likely understanding that PCalc’s ability to perform advanced math within Notification Center (something Apple’s Calculator can’t do) was reason enough to allow it. If you need a scientific calculator that can work in RPN mode—which is essential for many engineering fields—PCalc is a wise choice.

AIRMAIL 2.0 CONQUERS YOUR INBOX Airmail 2.0 (go.macworld.com/ airmail2, $10) is one of the best-looking email clients on the Mac. It handles just about any email service you throw at it, including iCloud, Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, or Outlook.com. And it’s a good option for anyone who juggles multiple email addresses but wants to handle them all from within one application. The second iteration of Airmail makes smart use of Notification Center by including email messages, to-do items, and any memos you create 20

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inside of Notification Center. The memos also sync with Apple’s Notes app, so any notes you crank out on an iOS device or your Mac will be available from within Airmail. It works like a cleaner version of Microsoft Outlook, bringing together into one application many of your productivity tasks.

iSTAT MINI IS FOR COMPUTER GEEKS Are you interested in the details of your Mac’s performance? Then iStat Mini (go.macworld.com/istatmini, $2) may be a good choice. This is a widget-only download and one that displays basic information in Notification Center—showing you the percentages of CPU and memory

used, the amount of storage your Mac’s consumed, and the speed of your network connection. As a standalone widget it doesn’t provide the kind of information that you get in Bjango’s full-blown $16 iStat Menus 5 (reviewed in this issue), but it may provide enough information to give you a picture of how things are running on your Mac. It’s a helpful tool that can tell you when it’s time to kill some running apps or free up some hard drive space.

WUNDERLIST GETS EVEN BETTER Wunderlist (go.macworld.com/wunderlist3, free) was already one of the productivity kings for Mac users. Its 21

KEEP UP WITH all your email accounts through Airmail.

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5 COOL WIDGETS

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integration with Notification Center will be a nice touch for those already invested in the service. For example, to see if a task is overdue you can swipe over to Notification Center instead of launching the app. Yes, it sounds like a first-world problem, but it’s a one-click convenience I appreciate.

OBSESS OVER YOUR PACKAGES WITH PARCEL If you’re like the rest of us, when you’re waiting for that new iPhone to arrive, you constantly check shipping updates. Parcel (go.macworld.com/ parcel, free) can make your obsession easier. Just expose Notification Center, click Add New Delivery, enter your tracking information, click Done, and

WIDGETS ARE SMALL, HELPFUL, EASY TO OBTAIN, AND DEVELOPERS ARE JUST GETTING STARTED WITH THEM. you’ll be able to easily keep an eye on your deliveries (and lots of them as Parcel supports over 230 services). If you’d like to track more than three packages, Parcel asks that you pay an annual $2 subscription fee.

THE FUTURE OF WIDGETS Widgets are small, helpful, easy to obtain, and developers are just getting started with them. Keep an eye out for updates in the Mac App Store, as your favorite app could get even more convenient with a slick new widget. ■ 22

Worldmags.net VIDEO: How to easily batch-convert images to black and white BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN

VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/batchbw

In this video Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to show you how to quickly turn a bunch of color images into black and white. And not just once, but any time you like simply by dragging your images into a folder. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how it works.

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Reviews

MAC GEMS ARE APPS THAT OFFER STANDOUT UTILITY OR UNIQUE FEATURES AT A GREAT PRICE.

UTILITY SOFTWARE

iStat Menus 5 brings a wealth of information to your menu bar NO MATTER HOW many features OS X borrows from iOS, one big difference Mac and iOS users is that we want to know whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on under the hood of our computers. Where you might be content to quit a wonky app or restart an iPad, on your Mac you want to investigate the problem up close and personal, even tracking page outs and diving into crash logs. Apple offers such tools as Activity Monitor and Console for monitoring system performance, but Bjango has always understood that this information is most useful when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instantly at your disposal, not tucked away in the Utilities folder. With the fifth version of its popular iStat Menus app, the company has improved on nearly every aspect of the multitasking menu bar monitor, bringing the interface in line 24

iStat Menus 5

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Worldmags.net with Mavericks and Yosemite, and putting a greater emphasis on which apps are slowing you down. Whether you’re a longtime iStat fan or a first-time user, you’ll immediately be struck by its modern look. From the settings to the dropdown graphs, no pixel has been left unturned, and a modern, minimal elegance pervades every element. iStat’s wealth of information has been thoughtfully caliWHERE iSTAT 5 TRULY brated and organized, and all of EXCELS IS IN ITS HANDLING your data is even easier to see at a OF INDIVIDUAL APP glance. And if you’re running PERFORMANCE Yosemite (and its accompanying dark menu bar and Dock feature), iStat will blend right in. The classic white background is still available, but once you see how vibrant the various graphs look using the black theme, you’ll have a hard time switching back.

AN ARRAY OF NEW PERFORMANCE STATISTICS While it’s wonderful to look at, iStat 5’s improvements are more than skin deep. Dive into its menus and you’ll find an array of new performance statistics, including advanced multi-core CPU and GPU monitoring, improved battery tracking, and more control over network status. There is also a greater emphasis on memory usage. iStat takes full advantage of the color-coded compressed memory and memory pressure indicators that Apple introduced in Mavericks. But where iStat 5 truly excels is in its handling of individual app performance. Much like iOS 8 will show you which apps are draining your iPhone’s battery, iStat will break down CPU usage, network access, and disk activity for individual apps, and call out any energy or bandwidth hogs so you can deal with them appropriately. It does the same for RAM usage, though I would have liked to see the inclusion of an “optimize” button to quickly alleviate some of the strain.

TRACK YOUR POWER CONSUMPTION Along with the mountain of statistics in your menu bar, iStat can also replace your Mac’s battery icon with its own supercharged version. You’ll find graphs that track your power consumption as well as the 25

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condition of your battery and the cycle count—all useful things that are otherwise hidden in the System Information utility. iStat’s Time menu could easily be sold as a standalone utility. Digital horologists will certainly get their $16 worth: The dropdown menu goes far beyond hours and minutes, providing everything you could ever need to know about your day—from the current azimuth angle of the sun, to when it will set, and which phase of moon will appear in the sky. The maps and charts are gorgeous to look at, and with data for more than 120,000 cities, it’ll likely be just a matter of time before it replaces your default OS X version. The other icons, however, are an acquired taste. I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of menu bar doodads, but I do keep a few up there to help with my workflow. With iStat, each menu has its own set of live icons that give real-time feedback as you work. Bjango did a fine job with updating them to match the app’s new look, but the concept is still a bit too distracting for my tastes. Thankfully these are all optional; iStat’s excellent customization panels let you choose exactly what you want to see, and I have my dropdown menus boiled down to a single clean icon.

BOTTOM LINE Whether or not you want to busy up your menu bar with iStat’s numerous icons, there’s no debating its usefulness. Its bevy of monitoring and diagnostic menus will keep you apprised of every little thing going on with your Mac—and, perhaps, cause you to visit your Utilities folder less frequently. —MICHAEL SIMON

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UTILITY SOFTWARE

Carbon Copy Cloner 4 brings increased usability to trusted utility TALK TO ANY “expert” in computing and if they’re really an expert you’ll eventually hear, “Always back up your data!” And they’re right. If you’re a Mac user, you should definitely be using Time Machine as one of your backup methods. But there are times when that’s not enough. You might want to keep a backup off-site, for instance, or back up really important files using something in addition to Time Machine. Enter Carbon Copy Cloner, version 4. Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) has been around for a long time—I reviewed an early version way back in April of 2002. Things have definitely changed in the intervening years, and Carbon Copy Cloner 4 is now all grown up, with a pleasant and easy-to-use interface.

GETTING STARTED When you launch CCC, you’re greeted with a single window interface that 27

Carbon Copy Cloner 4

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displays a left sidebar, and a work area with three obvious interaction zones: Source, Destination, and Schedule. The left sidebar presents a list of saved backup tasks; click any task to bring it up on the right-hand side of the interface. This feature alone makes the upgrade to version 4 a worthwhile investment. Previous versions of CCC did not allow you to edit saved tasks. Now editing is not only possible, but very well implemented. In addition to the task list, the sidebar holds a list of all mounted volumes. You can click any volume to see a quick summary of it—space used and available, operating system, disk format, and even a simple data read/write THE SCHEDULE ZONE benchmark. CONTROLS HOW OFTEN YOUR The Source zone is where BACKUP TASK RUNS; THE you specify the drive to DEFAULT IS TO RUN ON DEMAND duplicate. If you don’t want to replicate your entire drive, click the Clone pop-up and specify which files and folders to exclude. While this is a good feature, the exclusion list is in a narrow window that can’t be resized. When you drill down into a deeply nested folder, you can lose a sense of context. The Destination zone is where you’ll clone the Source to. A SafetyNet feature (which is on by default) will keep deleted and modified files on the Destination volume (as space allows), to further protect you from errors you’ve yet to make. The Schedule zone controls how often your backup task will run; the default is to run on demand. You can also pick from hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly timed tasks. If you choose one of these timed options, another dialog appears offering control over repeat (Yes/No), exact schedule, and more. Perhaps the most powerful option, though, is the ability to run automatically when the destination drive is reconnected (or the source, if you remove your source drive). When set in this mode, your backup tasks execute as soon as you connect the destination drive, even if CCC isn’t running. After configuring your source, destination, and schedule, click Clone and your backup will begin. An optional—but very useful—menu bar status item shows all your tasks, including a progress indicator for those currently underway. The menu bar icon is especially handy when using the “run on reconnect” option, as you can keep an eye on the backup tasks without launching the full app. 28

Worldmags.net ADVANCED FEATURES CCC runs in what it calls “simple” mode, with most of its advanced options hidden. Click the Use Advanced Settings button, though, and the interface changes to reveal many more settings. The advanced options give you fine-grained control over the SafetyNet feature, provide some destination and troubleshooting options, and let you specify tasks that occur before or after a backup runs. Most users won’t have any need for these settings, save one: you can tell CCC to run another backup task after the specified one is finished. This lets you string together a number of disparate tasks into one larger operation, but one that runs sequentially instead of all at once.

IN USE In my testing, CCC worked flawlessly. I was able to boot from a clone of my startup disk and I restored a number of files from various backups. (The backups are standard OS X files, so you don’t need CCC to restore files. You can just access the backup in Finder.) Overall, I found the interface to be clear and easy to use—it stands out in a market crowded with powerful yet complicated competitors. The advanced features are there if you want them, but remain hidden from view until needed. My only minor complaint is that you can’t reorder the tasks in the sidebar, nor can you organize them into folders. With a dozen or so separate tasks in the sidebar I resorted to naming them with a numeric prefix, so I could at least control the sort order.

BOTTOM LINE Carbon Copy Cloner 4 is a major upgrade in both usability and feature set over its predecessor. If you’re serious about backing up—and you should be—it’s well worth a look. —ROB GRIFFITHS

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SECURITY SOFTWARE

1Password 5 offers state-of-the-art protection IF YOU’RE A FREQUENT Macworld reader, the topic of “good” passwords is unlikely to be new to you. My colleagues and I never seem to tire of recommending the use of a password manager to help you keep tabs on your digital secret handshakes—alongside other bits of private data like credit card numbers—and avoid falling into bad practices that can have dire consequences on everything from your job to your finances. Luckily, Apple’s software ecosystem suffers from no shortage of apps dedicated to this very goal; among these, AgileBits’ 1Password has always occupied a genre-defining role as one of the most comprehensive solutions available. Their latest release, 1Password 5.0, is no exception. 30

1Password 5 for Mac

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AgileBits.com

Worldmags.net IN WITH THE NEW One of the hardest feats to pull off in software development is designing a user experience that feels familiar and yet conforms to new paradigms: On one hand, you don’t want the app to look dated or out of place in its intended running environment; on the other, you don’t want to introduce changes so drastic that existing users will suddenly find themselves disoriented and incapable of performing tasks that were hitherto second nature to them. Launched to coincide with the release of OS X Yosemite, 1Password 5.0 aces this particular problem by limiting its user interface changes to a fresh coat of paint that looks perfectly at home inside Apple’s latest operating system. With the exception of a little more flatness, therefore, you can literally install the new version over the old one and continue using it without skipping a beat. The 1Password Mini helper app (which sits in the menu bar and provides a quick way to grab a password or credit card number without having to launch 1Password), has received more significant interface changes. In its latest incarnation, the helper sports both dark and light interfaces to match Yosemite’s menu bar, and can be quickly invoked with a global keyboard shortcut that makes it appear in the middle of your primary screen. Again, no paradigm-shifting changes, but a few nice touches that, as a frequent user of this feature, I’ve found very useful.

BUT ALSO IN WITH THE OLD Outside of these cosmetic changes, most of the functionality provided by 1Password remains unchanged—not a bad thing if you consider that the established user interface works very well. Of note, the iCloud sync functionality has been rewritten from scratch using the new CloudKit framework, which will hopefully bring increased stability to those who choose to store their 1Password vault using Apple’s cloud storage solution. One feature that I think will get more use is the ability to securely share passwords and other bits of private data. This has existed inside 1Password since at least version 3, but was rarely used by regular users, if only because online privacy and security issues affected just an unlucky few. Given Apple’s big push in this arena—and the birth of technologies like Family Sharing—I expect that 1Password’s sharing will be more commonly used. Given that, I hope that AgileBits will find ways to improve the functionality to provide multi-user sync in the future. Even though password 31

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sharing is generally frowned upon in the security community, it is sometimes necessary when dealing with service providers that don’t allow multiple logins to the same account (a more widespread problem than you’d think, particularly in the IT community).

KINKS AND ISSUES I have very few negative things to say about 1Password. I’m glad that the AgileBits folks decided to forego a major update just for the sake of piling on new features over their existing software, and instead chose to perfect the existing user experience with a number of small but significant improvements. That said, for the first time since I started using the app several years ago, I had trouble installing 1Password on my Mac. I’ve been running Yosemite in its own partition alongside my previous installation of Mavericks—which also contains an older copy of 1Password. When I upgraded to 1Password 5, Yosemite decided to open the main 1Password app from the new download, but then tried to run the 1Password Mini helper—which runs as a 1PASSWORD IS MUCH BETTER separate executable—from THAN ICLOUD KEYCHAIN AT my Mavericks partition, SAVING NON-PASSWORD DATA resulting in a cryptic “Cannot LIKE CREDIT CARDS. launch 1Password Mini” error. The solution turned out to be as simple as removing the old copy of 1Password from my Mavericks partition, but it took several minutes to figure out. I imagine that a less technically-inclined user would have had a much harder time figuring things out. I hesitate to blame AgileBits for this problem—a half-dozen things had to go wrong in order for it to happen—but in the end there was no good reason for Yosemite to run half of one version of 1Password and half of the other. As with past versions, 1Password also has a tendency to clash with OS X’s built-in iCloud Keychain. Since neither is aware that the other is running, they will each try to save your Safari passwords and then suggest them at the same time, resulting in a confusing flurry of competing popovers and dialog boxes. The solution I chose here was to disable iCloud Keychain, for the simple reason that I need my passwords to work across multiple browsers, and 1Password, unlike Apple’s own system, plays nice 32

Worldmags.net with both Chrome and Firefox in addition to Safari. (1Password is also much better than iCloud Keychain at saving non-password data like credit cards. As much as I appreciate Apple promoting better security, the functionality offered by AgileBits’s software is, at least for now, far superior.)

BOTTOM LINE As a well-supported app that receives frequent updates, 1Password 5.0, which clocks in at just under 31MB and requires Yosemite to run, is well worth its $50 price—particularly if you consider that, if you already own a copy of version 4, you will be able to upgrade for free. The price of the app is even easier to digest now that you can purchase a single copy from the App Store and share it with every member of your family through Family Sharing. Not only does this give you an opportunity to introduce your loved ones (particularly children) to the importance of good password practices, it also allows you to spread the safety 1Password provides to all your data, and at no additional cost. This is a great deal by any measure.—MARCO TABINI

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INPUT DEVICES

NewerTech Wireless Keypad a perfect match YOU’LL KNOW YOU’RE in the presence of a seasoned Mac user when they start speaking of “The Keyboard”—a favorite incarnation of Apple’s input device. For many, that revered device was the Apple Extended Keyboard II; a mechanical marvel that, while enormous, was known for its smooth feel. Although I maintain a preference for the good old IBM Selectric, I’ve been just fine with Apple’s offerings over the years, including the current brushed aluminum, Chiclet-keyed, Bluetoothenabled Apple Wireless Keyboard. It’s sleek, the keys have a nice amount of resistance, and best of all, there’s no cord to tether me to my iMac. What this keyboard doesn’t have—and what I’ve come to sorely miss—is a dedicated numeric keypad, which is only offered on Apple’s wired keyboard. Fortunately, the folks at NewerTechnology recently introduced a wireless aluminum keypad, which they cleverly named Wireless Aluminum Keypad. It’s a 28-key dedicated numeric keypad with all the buttons I missed, set in an aluminum housing that perfectly—and I mean perfectly—complements Apple’s keyboard.

NewerTech Wireless Keypad

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$49

COMPANY:

NewerTech.com

Worldmags.net THE NUMBERS GAME The keypad is powered by two AAA batteries and pairs to your Mac via Bluetooth. A cleverly hidden light under the Equal (=) key lets you know when the keypad is in pairing mode. It also lights briefly when you power it on or off and blinks red to alert you to when the battery needs replacing. (Unlike Apple’s own devices, the NewerTech keypad can’t report battery strength via the menu bar icon.) NewerTech did a remarkable job matching the texture, color, and style of Apple’s keyboard—there’s nothing about it to indicate it’s a third-party peripheral. Also included with the keypad is a white plastic bracket that attaches the keypad to the Apple keyboard, which creates a single, multipurpose unit. If I have one quibble with the product, it’s that the bracket could be less visible. (I’ve taken to using the keypad without the bracket, and am considering taping it to the keyboard from underneath to give them a more seamless look.) The keypad is recognized as quickly on startup as are my keyboard and Magic Trackpad and in several weeks of testing has never once dropped the connection or given me a wrong or unrecognized keystroke. I absolutely love the implementation of the indicator light—it’s clear and bright when needed, but invisible otherwise. The corners of the keys may be ever-soslightly sharper than on Apple’s keyboard, but it’s a difference I discovered by sight rather than feel—my fingers never suspected a thing. The font used on the key caps is an exact match for the one imprinted on Apple’s keyboard, as is its angle, height, and depth. In short, it appears to be an Apple product, through and through.

BOTTOM LINE There can be arguments about which Apple keyboard is the best, but there’s no doubt that adding the NewerTech Wireless Keypad to the current version makes it better than ever. The NewerTech keypad has earned its place on my desk and put any thoughts of going back to a wired keyboard firmly to rest. —CHUCK LA TOURNOUS

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Hot Stuff

What Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Raving About This Month

STEELSERIES STRATUS XL The iPad and iPhone are capable of console-quality games, but controlling those on a touchscreen can hamper the experience. SteelSeries took user feedback into account when designing the Stratus XL (steelseries.com), a full-sized wireless controller that works with all the controller-enabled games in the App Store, like FIFA 15, Minecraft, and Real Racing 3. The $70 controller connects with Bluetooth 2.1 and is rated to last 40 hours on two AA batteries. Game on.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;SUSIE OCHS

Worldmags.net SATECHI F3 SMART MONITOR STAND If your monitor or iMac is propped up on some books or a few reams of copy paper…come on, you can do better than that. Satechi’s F3 Smart Monitor Stand (satechi.net) is reasonably priced at $45, plus it has a built-in four-port USB 3.0 hub along with ports for your headphones and microphone, so you don’t have to keep reaching around to the back of your iMac to plug those in. Satechi says it can hold up to 22 pounds, and the 27-inch iMac is only 21. —SUSIE OCHS

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Hot Stuff MOMENT LENSES At $100 each, Moment’s Wide Lens and Tele Lens (shown) are for serious iPhone shutterbugs. Born on Kickstarter, they snap onto a little accessory mount that you attach to your phone with (nonpermanent) adhesive. The Wide Lens is the equivalent of 18mm and the Tele Lens is 60mm, and they’re both specially designed to avoid distortion— check out some stunning photos taken with them at momentlens. co.—SUSIE OCHS

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Worldmags.net iOS CENTRAL

The Latest on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and App Store

10 cool new features found in iOS 8.1 Not your average iOS update BY BRIAN S. HALL

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10 NEW iOS 8.1 FEATURES

on’t be fooled: iOS 8.1 (go.macworld.com/ios8.1 ) is no mere “dot” release. This rapid update from Apple is chock-full of great new features, several of which could change how you work, shop, and share.

iOS 8.1 is available for the iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, and iPod touch (5th generation) and later— although many of its standout features are only compatible with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3. To get this latest release, go to Settings → General → Software Update. To take advantage of the many Continuity (go.macworld.com/ continuityios8.1) features included with iOS 8.1, make sure to also install OS X Yosemite on your Mac OSX. Read on to learn the ten most notable features of iOS 8.1.

APPLE PAY

launch, and then you’ll simply take a picture of the card. It may take a few seconds for the issuing bank to verify the information, but once that happens, you’re ready to begin using Apple Pay—assuming you’re in the U.S. (You can add multiple credit and debit cards to Apple Pay, and you can also change the default card for payments by going to Settings → Passbook & Apple Pay.) Several retailers, apps, banks, and card providers are already on board (go.macworld.com/applepay.) To use it in a brick-and-mortar store, place your iPhone on the cash register’s payment terminal. Your iPhone will detect the terminal and launch

This is the big one— using your iPhone to THANKS TO APPLE’S “SECURE pay for your purchases. ELEMENT” CHIP, NEITHER THE RETAILER It’s a snap to set-up. NOR APPLE HAS ACCESS TO YOUR Launch Passbook, and ACTUAL CREDIT CARD NUMBER. if you already have a card linked to your Apple ID—which is how you buy apps Passbook, and then Touch ID will and media from the App Store and request your fingerprint to complete iTunes—your card should be listed the purchase. there if it’s one of Apple Pay’s partner Yes, it’s that simple, and yes, it’s cards. If you don’t have a linked card, secure. Thanks to Apple’s “secure or you want to add a different one, element” chip, which encrypts your you’ll see the option to add a card to payment information, neither the Apple Pay. Your iPhone’s camera will retailer nor Apple has access to your 42

Worldmags.net actual credit card number. Retailers don’t even see your name. Hardware requirements limit Apple Pay to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, and the upcoming Apple Watch. Because the new iPads do not include an NFC chip, they can only use Apple Pay for in-app purchases and not at retail point-of-sale terminals.

trusty Camera Roll album. Photo Stream, a folder of your synced photos, still remains…er, sorta. Beginning with iOS 8.0, Apple introduced iCloud Photo Library. Switch on this beta service and “Camera Roll” disappears, even with iOS 8.1, replaced with a catchall “All Photos” album.

iCLOUD PHOTO LIBRARY CAMERA ROLL Hello there, old friend! Apparently, Camera Roll on the iPhone mattered a great deal to tons of users—and for some third-party app functionality. Apple brought this feature back with iOS 8.1. Once again, your iPhone’s local photos are kept inside the

Apple’s iCloud Photo Library stores the full-res versions of all your pictures across all of your Apple devices in iCloud, including iPhone screenshots and any edited photos. This beta service is now accessible to all devices running iOS 8.1. Just go to Settings → iCloud → Photos →

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10 NEW iOS 8.1 FEATURES

iCloud Photo Library. However, this feature is not without issues. Lots of pictures mean lots of space. Apple still provides 5GB of free iCloud storage for all your needs. After that, however, it costs $1/month for 20GB or $4/ month for 200GB of storage space. Need more than that and you may wish to consider non-Apple alternatives, such as Dropbox. Another thing to consider is that your photos are uploaded to iCloud Photo Library at full resolution. This matters because all your connected iOS devices will now automatically download these same photos, which chews up the hard drive on your mobile device. To mitigate this, Apple lets you choose to “Optimize iPhone (or iPad) Storage.” Select this setting

and only the iCloud Photo Library will store the full resolution photos and videos, with the optimized (smaller) files stored locally.

CONTINUITY CONTINUED If anything in iOS 8.1 rivals Apple Pay, it’s the build-out of Continuity features Apple first revealed at WWDC. This latest release is bursting with cross-platform Continuity goodies. Draft a Pages document on your Mac, for example, and continue working on it on your iPad, from the exact spot. Work on a Keynote presentation on your Mac, and then finalize it on your iPhone moments before the meeting starts. Your iCloud account keeps everything in sync. To make this magic happen, you 44

Worldmags.net must first enable Handoff (go. macworld.com/handoffios). Go to Settings → General → Handoff & Suggested Apps. Handoff works with Mail, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Calendar, Maps, and other programs. App developers can even incorporate Handoff into their apps.

PHONE CALLS ON YOUR MAC One very cool new Continuity feature in iOS 8.1 is the ability to make and receive calls on your Mac running Yosemite. As with all Continuity features, you must have Handoff enabled on your iPhone. Now, when a call comes to your iPhone—even if it’s being charged in another room—it will also ring on your Mac. Even better, you can call anyone from your Mac. It’s a bit tricky to set up at first, this feature is worth it. Your devices (e.g.

iPhone and Mac) must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network and signed into your iCloud account. On your iPhone, go to Settings → FaceTime → iPhone Mobile Calls → On. On your Mac, go to FaceTime → Preferences, and check iPhone Cellular Calls. Done! To place a call from your Mac, click on a phone number from Contacts, Calendar, Safari, Spotlight, or Messages, or a contact inside FaceTime. According to Apple, your Mac will even auto-dial a conference call passcode if it’s included in the Calendar event.

TEXT EVERYONE EVERYWHERE Apple allows iMessages to be sent between the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod touch. It’s already great service, but it’s even better with iOS 8.1. Now

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10 NEW iOS 8.1 FEATURES

you can send and receive SMS and MMS messages from any device, just as you would send an iMessage. To enable this feature, go to Settings → Messages → Text Message Forwarding on your iPhone. Apple will then send you a code that you must enter to activate this feature. Done! Now you can chat with even noniPhone folks from inside Messages on your Mac. You must have an email address enabled in iMessage before Apple’s activation code can be sent: Go to Settings → Messages → Send & Receive, and add an email address there.

OS 8.1 MAKES SETTING UP A PERSONAL HOTSPOT A BREEZE BUT BE MINDFUL OF DATA LIMITS. MISSING IN ACTION With every new iOS release, several users witness their devices mysteriously rebooting, or experience their battery life depleting more quickly. Unfortunately, at least for older devices, there are no noticeable improvements in speed or battery life with iOS 8.1, but you can figure out which apps suck up the most battery life by going to Settings → General → Usage → Battery Usage.

INSTANT HOTSPOT iOS 8.1 makes setting up a personal hotspot a breeze. Just go to Settings → Personal Hotspot → On to enable this feature. That’s it. Now, your iPhone will show up in the list of Wi-Fi connections on your Mac or iPad— provided your Mac is running Yosemite and has Bluetooth enabled. Be mindful of your carrier’s data limits.

SAVE MONEY Two iOS 8.1 features could actually save users money. You can choose between 2G, 3G, or LTE networks for cellular data—provided these are available from your carrier. Check it out by going to Settings → Cellular. Another clever feature: With iOS 8.1, Apple has made it possible to share Passbook passes via AirDrop.

TRICKS AND TREATS We’ve already revealed several tricks with iOS 8, but since the iOS 8.1 release is still new, there are probably some hidden gems that we’ve missed. Cult of Mac (go.macworld.com/ cult) found one hiding amongst the many Accessibility features. This trick lets you adjust the brightness on your device by tapping the home button three times. Go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Zoom. Turn zoom on, and tap your screen three times with three fingers to pull up the contextual menu. Select “choose filter,” then select “low light.” Still with me? Now go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcut, and set to “Zoom.” ■ 46

Worldmags.net Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new deregister tool prevents iMessages from being lost in limbo BY LOEK ESSERS

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APPLE’S DEREGISTER TOOL

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pple is at last offering a simple way for former iPhone users to receive text messages sent into limbo by the company’s iMessage service. The problem affects former iPhone users who transferred their SIM card or phone number to a non-Apple phone. If they had set up their iPhone to route text messages to other iPhone owners via iMessage rather than their carrier’s SMS (Short Message Service) servers, they were often unable to receive text messages from those people after ditching their own iPhone. Affected messages continued to be routed through Apple’s proprietary iMessage service, which sends them direct to the specific device Apple has linked with the phone number, rather than the one the carrier currently associates with the number. Because iMessage only works with iOS devices, those messages would not arrive on non-Apple phones. To solve the problem, Apple previously advised deregistering the affected phone number from its iMessage service—but provided no self-service method for former iPhone users to do so. In order to unlink the phone number, users were required to put their SIM back into their old iPhone and manually switch off the service in the phone’s set-

tings. Users who no longer had access to their old iPhone were told to call Apple support. Recently, the company published a Web form (go.macworld.com/deregister) allowing users to unlink their phone from the iMessage service by

THE PROBLEM OF THE DISAPPEARING MESSAGES HAS PLAGUED EX-USERS SINCE SHORTLY AFTER APPLE INTRODUCED IT IN 2011 entering their phone number and, after a short wait, a six-digit confirmation code sent to the number as a regular SMS to ensure it won’t be left in limbo. The problem of the disappearing messages has plagued ex-users of the iMessage service since shortly after Apple introduced it in 2011, and has prompted many online complaints. In May this year it even prompted former iPhone owner Adrienne Moore to file a class action lawsuit against Apple in California. Moore, who 48

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replaced her iPhone 4 with a Samsung Galaxy S5, claimed that Apple “tortiously interferes” with contracts between users and their cellular providers as it prevents them from receiving all of their text messages. Besides demanding damages exceeding US$5 million, she also wants a mandatory injunction

requiring Apple to fix its iMessage service and start delivering all new and previous text messages that were not delivered to Moore and others affected by the same issue. The case is ongoing and Judge Lucy Koh, known for dealing with patent cases between Apple and Samsung, is presiding over the suit. ■

APPLE NOW LETS former iPhone users easily register their phone numbers from iMessage.

iOS CENTRAL

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Microsoft Office for iOS goes free and full-featured on your iPhone BY JEFFREY BATTERSBY

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n November, Microsoft released a new version of Office for iOS that unifies the user experience across all devices— great and small—and opens the door to free editing and content creation, whether you have an Office 365 account or not. This new Microsoft Office for iOS suite includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Previously, there were two versions of Office for iOS devices: The nearly useless Office Mobile for iPhone and the nearly perfect Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad. This release (go. macworld.com/iosoffice) unifies the Office user experience across all iOS devices capable of running iOS 7 or newer and introduces a preview version of the Office apps for Android tablets. While Office Mobile for iPhone lacked every feature necessary to make it useful on your iPhone, Microsoft’s camp insists that the new versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are built on the same codebase as the excellent Office for iPad suite of apps, but each is optimized for the device you’re working on. So the editing experience helps you focus on your content rather than figuring out how to work around interface elements. Each app, whether it appears on your iPad Air or your iPhone 6, offers the same set of features with a slightly different user interface, optimizing the document

editing and creation process so that formatting tools and other features stay out of your way until you need them for formatting changes. I saw these new apps on an iPhone 6, iPad Air, and an Android tablet, all of which were well organized and easy to use. A Microsoft rep said that the apps look excellent on the iPhone 6 Plus and, even given the limited screen

YOU ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED TO HAVE AN OFFICE 365 ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO CREATE AND EDIT CONTENT— YOU CAN ACCESS THESE FEATURES FOR FREE. space of the iPhone 4/4S and 5/5S models, are very usable on those devices as well. While access to Office on all of your iOS devices is welcome news, the bigger news may be that you are no longer required to have an Office 365 account in order to create and edit content—you can access these features for 51

iOS CENTRAL

OFFICE FOR iOS

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free. Without an Office 365 account, previous versions of the iPad apps marked every document you opened Read Only, making it very nearly useless for anyone without an Office 365 account. Microsoft’s recently announced integration with Dropbox will be live as soon as the apps are available. It’s important to note that, while these free apps aren’t hamstrung in significant ways, Office power users will find there are incentives for purchasing an Office 365 subscription, including advanced change

tracking features, no limits on the ways you can use paragraph styles, and advanced chart, table, and picture formatting tools. And if you’re planning on using OneDrive for business documents, you will be required to purchase an Office 365 account. But, most users will not feel constrained by the free app’s limitations. We’ll have a full, detailed review of these apps soon, but I suspect that most users will enjoy access to a working version of Office on their phones. ■

THIS UPDATE LETS YOU EDIT or create documents even if you don’t have an Office 365 account, which was previously locked.

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Office goes free on phones and tablets What you get, and what you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t BY JEFFREY BATTERSBY

iOS CENTRAL

OFFICE FOR iOS

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ith the news that Microsoft is making all of its mobile Office apps free—the iPad and upcoming Android tablet versions—you knew there had to be some caveats. Of course, Microsoft still wants users to consider an Office 365 subscription, so in addition to offering unlimited cloud storage for subscribers, it’s also putting some of Office’s more advanced features behind the paywall. We reached out to Microsoft and got the full rundown on what will be free, and what will require a subscription. Here’s the high-level overview: Phone and tablet users will be able to view, create and edit documents for free, and they’ll be able to sync those documents with Dropbox or OneDrive cloud storage. Certain advanced editing features, such as the ability to accept or reject Track Changes in Word, will require an Office 365 subscription. And for commercial use rights, you’ll need Office 365 for Business. Now for the nitty-gritty details:

MICROSOFT WORD Microsoft’s document editor has the longest list of paid-only features, but the free version still supports basic editing features such as creating text, adding styles such as bold and italics, changing the font and choosing from a list of colors. Here’s what specifically requires a subscription: Only paid users will be able to change the orientation of a document between portrait and landscape

mode. Free users can open landscape documents, but can’t change them, and will create all new documents in portrait. Paid users can format documents into columns. Free users can open existing documents with columns and edit the text, but can’t modify or undo the columns themselves. Only paid users can create section breaks such as Next Page, Continuous, Odd and Even Pages. Free users can still view section breaks from existing documents and create new page breaks. The ability to accept or reject Track Changes is limited to paid users. With the free version, Track Changes will be turned on by default in any marked up document, and can’t be turned off, and any changes will be tracked. Free users also can’t turn on Track Changes in a new document. For text editing, any drop-down menu options for things like font size, text style and color are free, but custom changes such as specific colors are behind the paywall, as are Text Styles and Word Art. 54

Worldmags.net For charts, changing the display options on things like data labels and the legend will require a subscription. For tables, only paid users can change the color or shade of any cell, row or column. Only paid users can apply reflections and shadows to images, though these won’t be removed from existing documents when opened in the free version.

MICROSOFT EXCEL The free version of Microsoft’s spreadsheet editor has the same restrictions on text, charts, tables and pictures that apply to Word. In addition, there’s one restriction related to Pivot Tables: While free users can pivot the data and refresh the spreadsheet for existing Pivot Tables, only paid users can change the layout or style of the Pivot Table. It’s not currently possible to create a Pivot Table in the mobile version of Office, with or without a subscription.

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

THE FREE VERSION OF MICROSOFT’S SPREADSHEET EDITOR HAS THE SAME RESTRICTIONS ON TEXT, CHARTS, TABLES AND PICTURES THAT APPLY TO WORD. editor has the same restrictions on text, charts, tables and pictures that apply to Word and Excel. However, advanced presentation tools require a paid subscription. That includes the Presenter View (go. macworld.com/presenter) that lets users view notes and upcoming slides on a separate computer. (Users can present a slideshow without these tools for free.) Inking and highlighting are also a paid feature. In Word, Excel and PowerPoint, there ale also restrictions on loading documents from OneDrive for Business, Dropbox for Business or Sharepoint. Saving and editing these documents will require an Office 365 subscription, while free users will be limited to read-only mode. These restrictions don’t apply to files stored in the consumer versions of OneDrive and Dropbox. ■

Again, Microsoft’s presentation

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Worldmags.net VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/air2vid

iPad Air 2 is the best tablet ever (until next year) BY SUSIE OCHS

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t’s a little thinner. It’s a little lighter. It’s a whole lot faster. All of this makes the iPad Air 2 both more of the same and better than ever.

The form-factor didn’t change since last year’s redesign, but even though the iPad Air 2 is slimmer than its predecessor, Apple didn’t sacrifice battery life. The company claims up to 10 hours using Wi-Fi, and in three battery rundown tests I averaged 10 hours and 14 minutes of continuously watching a 720p video. The camera is good enough that you might actually use it. Oh, and Touch ID gives it parity with the iPhone lineup, as well as enabling online-only Apple Pay—at least for now. (Don’t forget, iFixit found an NFC chip (go.macworld.com/mysterious) tucked inside. Apple wouldn’t put one in for nothing, right?)

IT’S A LOOKER The new gold color is lovely. But I wish you could choose the color of the front bezel, because the bezel on the gold iPad is white. I’ve used a couple of silver iPads with white bezels, and I just think videos and photos pop better when framed with black—especially letterboxed video, since those bars are black. But the Touch ID button looks splendid in gold, it must be said. I do miss the switch, which you could previously designate to lock the rotation or mute the iPad’s sound. Now you need to swipe up to engage the rotation lock in Control Center, and mute the volume either with the slider in that same Control Center, or by

iPad Air 2

mmmMmh PRICE: $499

iPad mini 3

mmmMm PRICE: $399 COMPANY:

Apple.com

THIN IS ALWAYS IN for tablets, and the iPad Air 2 is thinner than any of the iPad minis

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iPAD AIR 2

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holding down the volume-down button. Apple did shave 20 percent off the thickness of the iPad Air 2 compared to the last version. It’s just 6.1mm thick. It feels more like a thin magazine t han a tablet. At 0.96 pound for the Wi-Fi version, the weight isn’t dramatically lighter than the previous iPad Air, which weighs an even 1 pound, but if you’re transitioning from a larger iPad (the 4th generation and earlier), you’ll definitely notice how much lighter this is. Its weight seemed to disappear in my handbag, only slightly heavier than an iPad mini (0.73 pound). I held it with one hand for long reading sessions

(turning pages with my other hand) without getting tired. The other most noticeable difference is the antireflective coating on the screen. It’s much easier to see in bright sunlight than ever. I brought it to an outdoor concert on a completely cloudless day, and my son happily played Toca Boca apps all day with the brightness all the way up. I’d still love a couple more notches of brightness for the sunniest conditions, but you can really see what’s on screen, and that’s a big improvement.

IT’S A COOKER Even with a slimmer body, the iPad Air

SCREEN TIME OUTDOORS?! The iPad Air 2 makes it possible. The midafternoon sun washed out the iPad’s colors but the screen was still visible enough for my son to play.

Worldmags.net 2 packs plenty of punch. Its A8X processor clocked a Geekbench 3 (go. macworld.com/geekbench) single-core score of 1812 and multicore score of 4519. That multicore score is 70 percent faster than the iPad Air, which turned in scores of 1463 and 2652, respectively. The same A7 chip in that first iPad Air is also in the iPad mini 3 and the iPad mini 2, and their Geekbench 3 scores were comparable but just a little slower. What does that all mean? The iPad Air 2 does everything faster. Apps launch faster. Resource-heavy creative apps like Photoshop Mix, Pixelmator, and iMovie finish their tasks in record time. I played Modern Combat 5: Blackout and Asphalt 8: Airborne (poorly) with next to no loading times and never a stutter or crash. Before this, I was primarily using an third-gen iPad, and the difference is striking.

IT’S A CAMERA?! Apple beefed up the photo capabilities of the iPad Air 2 as well, giving it an 8-megapixel iSight camera on the back, and a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera on the front. Photos taken with the iSight camera are crisper and more detailed than the 5-megapixel photos taken by the rest of the iPad lineup. In fact, photos I took with the iPad Air are hard to distinguish from photos I’ve taken with my brand-new, 8-megapixel iPhone 6. The iPad Air 2 has

Geekbench 3 Scores iPad Air 2

4519

Multicore Single-core

1812

iPad Air

2652

Multicore Single-core

1463

iPad mini 3

2477

Multicore Single-core

1375

iPad mini 2

2347

Multicore Single-core

1323

Geekbench 3 scores. Higher numbers and longer bars are better.

many of the same camera features as the iPhone, designed to make it easy to shoot great-looking photos and videos: face detection, a f/2.4 aperture (the iPhone 6 is f/2.2), even 720p 120fps slo-mo video and burst mode for stills. The iPhone still outperforms it in low light, but the iPad Air 2 has a much better camera than last year’s version. Does that mean you’ll want to actually use your iPad as a camera? Well, that’s up to you. The big screen does make a nice viewfinder, and the new antireflective screen coating lets you keep shooting in bright sunlight. But compared to a cell phone or even an iPad mini, it’s still awkward to use as a camera. I had trouble holding the thing still while I tried to tap to focus, adjust exposure, and hit the shutter 59

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button. It just felt so unnatural. But as Apple pointed out when introducing the iPad Air 2, plenty of iPad apps use the camera, like apps that scan documents to PDF. And to be fair, shooting video with the iPad works very well—I got smoother footage than I’m using to getting with my iPhone since I could grip both sides while filming.

WHO SHOULD BUY IT? If you already own an iPad Air, you’re probably not in a hurry to replace it, and you shouldn’t be. The iPad Air 2 is faster and takes better photos, but the iPad Air is still plenty capable. If you own a third- or fourth-gen iPad and managed to resist the iPad Air, the iPad Air 2 will feel like the huge step up that it is. I still have a first-gen iPad kicking around my house, and the difference between that and the iPad Air 2 is like going from a rusty banana-seat bicycle to a Harley. It’s remarkable how far the

iPad has come in under five years.

WHAT ABOUT THE IPAD MINI? Apple kept last year’s iPad mini with Retina display in the lineup, dropping the starting price to $299 and rechristening it the iPad mini 2. The iPad mini 3 introduced alongside the iPad Air 2 doesn’t have any new features besides the gold color (which is a color, not a

feature) and the addition of Touch ID. Now, Touch ID is great. I just got my first Touch ID button on my iPhone 6, and barely two months later I’m totally hooked. I recently had to use my iPhone 5c for a couple days and I was constantly trying to unlock it with my thumbprint, because Touch ID had completely overwritten six years’ worth of muscle memory of sliding the screen and punching in my passcode. But still. With no new camera, and no new chip, is the iPad mini 3 worth buying, since you can still get the iPad mini 2 and just deprive yourself of Touch ID? Not really. If you’re in the 60

I TOOK THIS great panorama of Shoreline Amphitheater with the iPad Air 2, but a couple of people gave me funny looks while I did it.

Worldmags.net OTHER THAN TOUCH ID, all the iPad mini 3 got was the short end of the gold stick.

market for a smaller tablet, I’d get the iPad mini 2. That feels like the base model now, with the Touch ID as a fancy add-on, like heated leather seats in your new car. Apple is only offering the iPad mini 2 in 16GB for $299 and 32GB for $349, so get the 32GB version. The iPad mini 3 starts at $399 for 16GB, then jumps to $499 for 64GB and $599 for 128GB. So if you want more than 32GB of storage, I’d go for the more capable, better-future-proofed iPad Air 2.

BOTTOM LINE All of Apple’s tablets are great performers. Having five different models—in various sizes, both Wi-Fi only and with

cellular—makes them more accessible than ever, since the price points range from $249 for the original iPad mini all the way to $829 for the top-end 128GB cellular iPad Air 2. If you need a new iPad, go for the top of the line, the best one you can afford. People don’t tend to update their tablets as often as their phones, and if you opt for a previous-generation iPad, you’ll be left behind sooner when Apple stops supporting it with updates. Then again, if your iPad is only a year or two old, and runs iOS 8 just fine, maybe you’ll want to wait a year—next year’s iPad Air is bound to be even better. ■

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Reviews

PRODUCTIVITY APP

OmniFocus 2 makes life easier with extensions and background syncing BY RAY AQUILERA

Spoiler Alert: OmniFocus 2 for iPad isn’t for everyone. If all you need to keep track of is a grocery list and a few one-off tasks each day, OmniFocus isn’t really the task manager you are looking for. On the other hand, if you juggle multiple areas of responsibility, and frequently need to break down large projects into more manageable steps, OmniFocus will keep your life organized, and turn you into a productive, task-obliterating machine. OmniFocus 2 for iPad represents the last piece of the OmniFocus pie being updated to version 2, bringing the app in line with OmniFocus 2 for Mac and iPhone. Yes, that means that to use OmniFocus across all your 62

OmniFocus 2 for iPad

mmmmh PRICE:

$30

COMPANY:

omnigroup.com

Worldmags.net devices, you’ll have to spring for up to three different paid applications. But again, OmniFocus is industrial strength task management, and the iPad version is well-designed and worth it to anyone who has already jumped on the OmniFocus train.

COVERING THE BASES For newbies, the basic mechanics will already be familiar. OmniFocus lets you enter and check off tasks, and larger projects can be broken up into multiple independent tasks. Due dates are a necessity, and with version 2, it’s even easier to modify dates and push items you can’t yet complete further into the future. Everything syncs across all your devices using Omni Sync Server, which is free for all Omni customers. OmniFocus 2 uses a paned interface that’s now become familiar for iPad users. In portrait mode your task list occupies the iPad’s screen, while a swipe from the left edge of the screen pops out a list of other contexts or projects, which you can jump to with a tap. In landscape mode, OmniFocus 2 displays the list alongside your tasks. Inbox is the core of OmniFocus, where you can quickly add and complete tasks. The Projects tab shows you a high-level view of all your multiOMNIFOCUS GIVES you tons of flexibility for organizing and viewing your tasks by project or context, without too much clutter.

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REVIEWS

Worldmags.net EVERY TASK CAN have a due date as well as a “defer until” start date. That way you won’t even see the tasks it’s not time to worry about yet.

step projects, and from there you can dive into individual projects as needed. It’s pretty standard stuff, but where OmniFocus sets itself apart is in the use of Contexts. Contexts are a concept borrowed from David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy. You can read Allen’s books for more on that, but the TL;DR version goes something like this: A context is a person, place, or thing you need to accomplish certain tasks. If you’re at home, seeing a list of items you need to follow up on with your boss isn’t all that helpful. Adding Contexts to your tasks allows you to drill down to the tasks you can actually complete now, with the resources you have at hand.

NEW LOOK, NEW POWERS OmniFocus 2 for iPad sports a refreshed interface. Gone are the dark grays and blacks of the previous version, in favor of the lighter, cleaner look of OmniFocus 2 for Mac. But the changes are more than skin-deep. Version 2 now supports background syncing, so that your OmniFocus data stays consistent across platforms, without the need to manually sync your information. More flexible Perspectives allow you to build and save highly-detailed 64

Worldmags.net custom views of your OmniFocus tasks, so that you can quickly jump to just the items that are relevant now. OmniFoA TODAY cus’ Forecast view gives you a rolling calendar-style peek at EXTENSION your to-do list in the coming days, and new, subtle color-codALLOWS YOU ing throughout the app indicates the status of each of your TO VIEW projects, without needing to dive into each one individually for OMNIFOCUS a deeper view. It’s handy interface elements like this that make TASKS IN OmniFocus for iPad 2 a standout amongst the various lessNOTIFICATION expensive and less functional task managers crowding the CENTER, AND Productivity section of the App Store. MARK THEM This new version also supports new iOS 8 technologies, AS COMPLETE including Extensions. Now, you can add tasks to OmniFocus WITHOUT from anywhere that supports iOS 8’s sharing panel, making it NEEDING TO much easier to create tasks from web pages, for example. EVER OPEN THE Additionally, a Today extension allows you to view OmniFocus APP ITSELF. tasks in Notification Center, and mark them as complete without needing to ever open the app itself. Taken together, these features greatly enhance the usability of OmniFocus on iOS, and are worth the price of the upgrade on their own. Speaking of upgrades, OmniFocus 2 for iPad follows in the footsteps of its Mac counterpart by offering Standard and Pro features. Buying the app for $30 from the App Store gives you standard features. You can unlock Pro mode via in-app purchase for an additional $20 (Pro features are free for existing owners of OmniFocus for iPad). Opting into Pro mode adds the Custom Perspectives and Custom Sidebar from the desktop version. Experienced OmniFocus 2 users will probably know if they need these features right out of the gate, but newbies might want to wait a bit and see if their workflows will benefit from these powerful additional features.

BOTTOM LINE So is it worth buying? Despite being much simpler to use, OmniFocus 2 for iPad is still OmniFocus—meaning it still takes a certain investment in learning to use it, moreso than a simpler to-do list app. But if your life (and your task list) is sufficiently complex, the time you spend figuring out how to best use OmniFocus will be time well spent. It may not give you more hours in the day to get things done, but at least you won’t ever forget to buy cat food, or send off that year-end TPS report ever again. ■

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YOU SHOULD PLAY

Side-scroller el. is all about the powerful storyline BY SARAH JACOBSSON PUREWAL

IT’S RARE TO FIND A MOBILE GAME that’s as simple, refined, and free as Gree’s new side-scroller, el. El is an effortless take on the side-scrolling flying game with beautiful artwork and a powerfully moving plotline. You play as El, a young boy who wakes up in a mysterious, “forgotten prison,” and “flies off in search of purpose” with the help of a magical umbrella. The game uses simple touchscreen mechanics—to open the umbrella and lift El into the air, you tap and hold the right side of the screen. To manipulate the wind and create a draft, you swipe side-to-side on the left side of the screen. Although most levels can be completed without much draft-work, it’s a useful technique if you’re interested in avoiding tricky obstacles and minimizing damage to your character. El isn’t your typical mobile game: For one thing, it’s wholly uncompetitive—the levels are only moderately challenging, and there are no bonuses awarded for completing the game at a higher difficulty. While 66

el. PRICE:

Free

COMPANY:

go.macworld.com/ gree.

Worldmags.net El may not satisfy your lust for competition or endless gameplay, it’s absolutely worth a look for the following reasons: The simple, yet powerful storyline: I’m not usually a fan of plotdriven games, since I prefer challenges and puzzles to interactive stories. But El does an excellent job of balancing its poignant storyline, which is told in a series of wordless, film-style cut-scenes at the end of each level, with moderately challenging gameplay. El’s story takes you through a depressingly realistic tale of hope, help, and finding one’s purpose in life. The game is only 12 levels long, including a quick tutorial level and a simple finale. As you play through El, you’ll see why the game limits its competitive vibe—the point is for you to fly through the story, rather than focusing on beating time limits or making it through unscathed. El does feature a life meter, however, in the form of a top-down view of an open umbrella, which diminishes each time you tap and hold to open your umbrella and fly. Hitting obstacles, such as birds and trees, will shrink your meter more quickly, while collecting glowing feathers will offer you extra flying power. There are no bonuses for avoiding obstacles or collecting feathers—only making it through to the end of the level matters. Thoughtfully designed: El has a distinctly indie feel, and it’s free, but that doesn’t mean the developer skimped on artwork, sound, or overall polish. El, other characters, and foreground obstacles (birds, bombs, and buildings) are represented as shadows silhouetted against ombre watercolor backdrops. Each level features a different, fully detailed EL TELLS YOU a story without words, even if it’s about loss and war.

iOS CENTRAL REVIEWS

Worldmags.net EVEN THE MENU has been beautifully designed.

landscape for El to fly through—one level has trees and rock formations, while another is a battleground full of tanks and ground-mounted machine guns. El’s soundtrack, which consists of eight separate tracks that range from lonely and mellow to melodically upbeat, rounds out the entire experience. The music is incredibly atmospheric, and each track can be played separately from the game’s music player (located on the main screen). It’s clear that Gree spent ample time perfecting the game’s visuals and music to offer an encompassing experience. Short and sweet: El will take up less than an hour of your time—it certainly is not Candy Crush Saga. But not everything has to offer (seemingly) endless levels to be interesting. El has to be short, because it relies on fully immersing you in its dreamy, watercolor world. The game is much more powerful because you can play it in one sitting and see the entire story unfold without interruptions. Although l is over in what seems like the blink of an eye, that doesn’t mean you’ll never come back to it. I finished El in about 30 minutes, but I’ve played it a few times through since. It’s surprisingly relaxing to play a game in which you’re not racing against the clock or trying to out-build your Facebook friends, and El’s soundtrack puts you in an almost meditative state. El won’t end up being your go-to game for killing time (that spot’s reserved for Words With Friends, and you know it), but it’s definitely worthy of a spot on your home screen. ■ 68

Worldmags.net What’s New at the App Store BY JOEL MATHIS

Molecules We’ll let this $14 iOS offering introduce itself: “Molecules by Theodore Gray (go. macworld.com/molecules) is the extraordinary sequel to The Elements, the bestselling book and app. It continues the story of the elements to show how they are assembled into the rich diversity of compounds, chemicals, molecules, rocks, and stuff that make up our world.” Oh, and it’s pretty neat, with features that let you poke different compounds to see how they react.

Sleep Better Sleep Better (go.macworld. com/sleep) is a free iPhone app from the makers of the Runtastic fitness app: It helps users track their sleep, monitor moon phases, and keep a dream diary all in the service of helping you understand your sleep habits. Just place your iPhone on the bed, fire up the app, and sleep like the wind.

BATTLE ACADEMY 2: EASTERN FRONT Battle Academy 2: Eastern Front (go. macworld.com/battle) costs $20. Twenty dollars! It’s a World War II-themed strategy game set on the Russian front. You can control Axis and Soviet forces in more than 30 missions across four single-player campaigns. There’s enough depth and variety of experience here that playing the whole game could take as long as World War II itself. 69

Note Wars This $2 game for iOS is devoted to the idea that gameplay is more important than graphics: Note Wars (go.macworld. com/notewars) is a tower defense game that appears to be composed entirely of graph paper and pencil. There are more than 30 levels of gameplay available—if you’re not dazzled by the view, let’s hope you’re at least challenged by the game itself.

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Cases of Distinction In this week’s roundup of new iPad cases, we turn our attention to cases designed for your kids’ iPads—without, of course, forgetting about the adults. BY MARCO TABINI

SPECK The iGuy (all iPad mini models; $30; speckproducts. com) features a playful buddy-like design, with two big handles on each side for easy holding. Designed with the little ones in mind, this flexible case doubles as a stand in landscape orientation, features a soft foam material for additional protection and easier handling, and comes in lime, mango, chill pepper red, grape purple, or caribbean blue.

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ILUV The Urban Folio (iPair Air 2; $30; iluv.com) sports an elegant, classic design with emphasis on all-around protection. Soft and smooth to the touch, the black or pink case features an elastic closure, doubles as a viewing stand in landscape orientation, and provides precise cutouts for all of your tabletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ports and cameras.

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Cases of Distinction

KENSINGTON The SafeGrip (iPad Air; $55; kensington.com) is a tough padded case designed to withstand the harshest handlingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;perfect for your kid. Available in blueberry or charcoal, this rugged case protects your screen against scratches and smudges, features an oversized handle for easy carrying, and doubles as a viewing and typing stand in landscape orientation.

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SKINIT The Superman (iPad Air 2; $30; skinit.com) is a vinyl skin that personalizes your tablet with an iconic Superman design.The skin is easy to apply and remove thanks to its no-residue adhesive backing. It also offers easy access to ports and buttons, features a high gloss, UV resistant protective coating, and provides protection against scratches..

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Cases of Distinction

FELIX The FlipBook Air (iPad mini and iPad mini 2, iPad Air and iPad Air 2; $60; felixbrand.com) offers versatile protection for your tablet without skimping on style. Made of durable, vegan leather, the case doubles as a viewing and typing stand in portrait and landscape orientation, features magnets along its spine to hold your iPad into place, and comes in black or tan.

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URBAN ARMOR GEAR The Rogue Folio (iPad Air 2; $50; urbanarmorgear. com) offers a comprehensive yet lightweight protective solution for your tablet. Manufactured to meet military drop-test standards, the case provides easy access to ports and buttons, is compatible with the iPad Air 2â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnetic sleep/wake feature, and sports a bezel around the camera opening to prevent glare while taking pictures.

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le We put App its h g u ro Pay th paces. Is theile ob future of m ere? h ts n e paym HON BY LEAH YAMS RRY GA MC IN ITL CA AND

TWO COASTS, 10 DAYS

MACWORLD FIELD TEST:

APPLE PAY ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL DOWNEY

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pple Pay’s eventful early days were full of highs and lows. Excited iPhone users rushed to test the mobile payment service on day one and found it to be superseamless. At the same time, cashier confusion (go.macworld.com/cashier,) Bank of America’s double-charging foul-up, and Rite Aid’s and CVS’s move to block support for Apple Pay by disabling NFC recognition (go.macworld.com/ cvsriteaid) marred the rollout, but a major product launch is never smooth. And who knew CurrentC, a QR code–based app that isn’t even on the market yet, would turn into such a huge thing (go. macworld.com/currentc?) As early reviews poured in, Macworld hit the streets of San Francisco and New York City to give the service a real-life test run in two vastly different environments. We didn’t try to replace our wallets with Apple Pay or any other such gimmicks. We wanted to see how Apple Pay could fit into our daily routines. Is it easy to use? Convenient? And, most importantly, does it have the potential to change the way we pay for everything? New York–based Associate Editor Caitlin McGarry and San Francisco–based Associate Editor Leah Yamshon have the answers.

FEATURES

Field Test: Apple Pay

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How easy is easy?

Using Apple Pay is a breeze. Hold the your phone near d an er ad NFC re watch your screen come to life Caitlin, New York: I really thought setting up Apple Pay would be time-consuming. I sat down with my wallet and opened Passbook ready to tap in every number. And you can do that, if you want. But holding my credit and debit cards in front of my camera and watching it lift the numbers was infinitely coolerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and easier. All I had

to do was enter the security codes and confirm the expiration dates. One credit card company required me to verify Apple Pay using its own app, which was easy enough. My bank didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require any verification, but did send me an email to let me know that my card had been set up on Apple Pay, just in case. Actually using Apple Pay is a 78

Worldmags.net breeze. Simply hold your phone near the NFC reader and watch your screen come to life—all you need to do is verify your identity with Touch ID. Toggling between debit and credit cards was as simple as tapping your preferred card (my cards appeared in various colors, with each one matching the color of the corresponding physical card). The toughest part of using Apple Pay is remembering that Touch ID takes more than a tap to recognize your fingerprint.

Leah, San Francisco: Generally, I’ve found Apple Pay to be a cinch to use when buying stuff, but I was particularly curious to see how merchants would handle processing returns with Apple Pay. I used to be a cashier at a major chain clothing store, and I remember our return process all too well: We had to make sure the customer had the original card they’d used to buy the item, because we could only refund

VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/returns

I was curious to see how merchants would g handle processin th wi s rn tu re Apple Pay.

FEATURES

Field Test: Apple Pay

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customers in the same way they paid. my iPhone, and also showed where That meant I would check the receipt the transaction was logged in and the card to make sure the last Passbook. four digits matched, and then I’d Stumped, the associate called his swipe the card myself. manager over, and we filled her in. Sure, every store has its own policy, The manager told me that she still but my store’s policy seemed to be a needed to see my actual credit card common one. And since Apple Pay to make the return, explaining that I randomizes the card couldn’t get a refund without number for merchants swiping the card. I obliged, and prints out that but then asked if I fake card numcould tap my phone ct pe ex I With time, ber on the on the terminal just le pp A returns with receipt, I had a to see what would st ju e m Pay will beco feeling that happen. Boom! a ith as easy as w returns would The return went , rd regular credit ca be problemthrough, and the e nc but your experie atic, even random four-digit may vary across though Apple number that Apple stores for now. insisted it Pay had issued wouldn’t be. earlier flashed on the As it turns out, I was American Eagle register, so right…and I was wrong. I the employees could see that the purchased items from Macy’s and Apple Pay card matched. It was a American Eagle Outfitters and then learning experience for both of us. returned them later that day to test it Macy’s, on the other hand, didn’t out. There was a brief hiccup at require anything except for my American Eagle, when the cashier original receipt and my signature. No asked if he could see my credit card credit card to verify, no Apple Pay to confirm that the last four digits info, no photo ID—just my signature matched what was on my receipt on the pin pad—which was both ( just like my old store!). I explained superconvenient and also a little that I had used Apple Pay, and that unsettling. With time, I expect returns the receipt wouldn’t match my card with Apple Pay will become just as because of the system’s security easy as with a regular credit card, but measures. I then showed him my your experience may vary across receipt and the card info stored on stores for now. 80

FIELD TEST: APPLE PAY

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Where we used it

Caitlin, New York: My first Apple Pay experience was a late-night food run, because why not? My partner was craving a snack after watching the San Francisco Giants handily defeat the Kansas City Royals. After we got off the subway,

we headed toward the closest food option that was still open: Conveniently enough, it was McDonald’s. I’m not much for fast food, but I’ll happily buy someone else a giant pack of McNuggets—plus, it was the perfect chance to test out Apple Pay. We ordered, I held my 81

Leah and Caitlin each first used Apple Pay at McDonald’s, because why not?

FEATURES

Field Test: Apple Pay

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phone near the card reader, and the process was over almost before it even began. “Did it go through?” I asked the cashier. She nodded, excited to see Apple Pay in action. “Others here have seen it, but you’re my first customer to use it!” she said. It felt like a high-five moment, but I was too busy photographing my receipt. The makeup artist who rang me up at the MAC counter inside Macy’s in downtown Brooklyn wasn’t quite as thrilled when I used Apple Pay—actually, she couldn’t have cared less. I waited longer for her to turn on her computer than I did paying for my item. I usually grocery shop near my apartment, but Whole Foods is

within walking distance, so I ventured off my usual path to procure food for the week. Whole Foods is, without a doubt, Apple Pay’s most supportive partner. There was signage outside the store advertising Apple Pay, and the card reader in the checkout lane was emblazoned with the Apple Pay logo. The cashier didn’t blink twice when we tapped my partner’s iPhone 6 Plus screen to pay. Success. I didn’t experience any cashier confusion or glitches when I used Apple Pay, except when I tried to buy pumpkin-shaped Snickers at Rite Aid—but we all know why that happened. Rite Aid and CVS are my only neighborhood drugstores,

Whole Foods wants the world to know that they’re ready for Apple Pay.

Worldmags.net so my Apple Pay usage would skyrocket if they turned NFC back on. Which brings me to my only problem with Apple Pay: It’s not available at most of my usual spots. Lunch options in midtown Manhattan are bad enough without having to resort to McDonald’s and Panera when I need to eat. Hopefully, Apple’s support of contactless payments will encourage more stores to embrace NFC. Leah, San Francisco: My first experience with Apple Pay was in Lost Hills, California, at a McDonald’s truck stop off Interstate 5. It was the second day Apple Pay was available, and I was really interested to see if merchants statewide were ready for the rollout—not just in tech-centric San Francisco. Luckily, I happened to be driving back from Los Angeles and could check Apple Pay out in a small town in the Central Valley. After ordering, I noticed the bright red and yellow McDonald’s NFC pad attached to the credit card terminal, but saw no mention of Apple Pay anywhere. So I asked the cashier about it. She was a little confused at first, but when I pulled out my phone and started talking, she nodded. “Oh yeah, that. We’ve been able to do that for a while,” referring to Google Wallet. She didn’t react at all when I tapped my iPhone 6 Plus

time, I expect

With against the termiturns with Apple re nal, and giggled just Pay will become when the transacas easy as with a tion went through. , regular credit card At Panera, I, of nce but your experie course, picked may vary across the one register stores for now. that wasn’t NFCequipped, but the cashier didn’t mind moving me over to another register (props to the Panera in Dublin, California, for being so cool about that despite the long lunch-hour line behind me). That’s something you may encounter, too—that some registers can handle Apple Pay, but others can’t. I filled up my car’s tank at a Chevron a few days ago, but I didn’t use Apple Pay. Why? Because there was no NFC terminal at the pump, and I assumed that my local Chevron didn’t have the technology yet. However, I later learned that this wasn’t the case—the human-operated cash registers could handle it, meaning I would have had to go inside to the cashier to complete the transaction there. That’s problematic for drivers who typically pay at the pump: It creates an extra step. It’s not that I’m too lazy to walk over to the Chevron mini mart to pay for gas, but it’s certainly not more convenient than swiping my credit card there at pump. I’d love to pay for gas with Apple Pay due to the added security measures, so hopefully we’ll see tap-to-pay terminals at the pumps soon. 83

FIELD TEST: APPLE PAY FEATURES Field Test: Apple Pay

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Don’t forget apps Leah, San Francisco: Using Apple Pay within apps on your iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, or iPad mini 3 can vastly change the checkout experience, depending on the app. I used it to pay for a Lyft ride and to buy a top through Spring. Both of these apps already had a supersmooth checkout process, so on my end, Apple Pay didn’t feel very different. For Lyft, you have to preset your Apple Pay account as your default method of payment before you hail your ride. Once your ride is over, you add your tip and pay as usual, only this time you’re prompted for a Touch ID thumbprint. Spring (shopspring.com) is my favorite shopping app and has been since it launched—its Instagram-esque approach to following brands makes it easy to find gorgeous new pieces to buy. Better yet, once you’ve set Spring up with your credit card, shipping, and billing info, all you have to do is swipe on an item to buy it. Apple Pay requires your thumbprint after the swipe, which just feels like a natural part of the process instead of an extra step.

Panera’s Apple Pay integration makes ordering lunch a breeze.

Caitlin, New York: Until Apple Pay rolls out to more of the stores I shop at, I’m interested in how apps can integrate with Apple Pay to make their payment process 84

Worldmags.net more secure (and faster for me). I tested two: Panera and Threadflip (www.threadflip.com), an app where women can buy, sell, and trade clothes. There’s nothing worse than waiting in line to buy lunch, which is why I usually bring my own or go to places I know I can duck in and out of in less than five minutes (Pret A Manger, I’m looking at you). Panera’s online ordering and pickup process is nothing new, but with Apple Pay, I chose my Southwest flatbread and apple, and with the touch of a fingerprint, paid without any hassle. I walked over to pick up my food at Panera 10 minutes later and bypassed the hungry suckers waiting in line. This is the future, and I love it. Threadflip was a bit more complicated. I had already entered my shipping information, but for some reason I had to enter it again at checkout, along with my billing details. I also struggled to figure out where to enter a promo code all new users get when they sign up for Threadflip. Retailers need to streamline their own checkout processes to make their Apple Pay

integration easier, but online shopping now feels more secure with Apple’s tokenization. Brickand-mortars—who have proved they can’t protect your financial info—need You have to y to get their act together. enable Apple Pa

in the Lyft app’s settings before you can use it.

FIELD TEST: APPLE PAY FEATURES Field Test: Apple Pay

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Tap to the future

pple Pay isn’t the wallet killer it’s cracked up to be…yet. But we didn’t expect it to be, right at launch. Although Apple Pay has an impressive list of partners (go.macworld.com/apay), retailers and customers are still figuring it out—it’s unrealistic to expect shoppers to remember every single store where they can use Apple Pay, and in turn it’s unrealistic for merchants to plaster Apple Pay signage all around their

cash registers (though we did expect to see that more than we actually did). However, the potential is massive. Apple Pay is secure, easy to use, and quick—rummaging through your bag or pocket for your phone takes considerably less time than digging for your wallet and then fumbling through until you find your card. Plus, users activated 1 million cards in Apple Pay’s first three days, so clearly people want to use it. It can only get better with time. ■

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Worldmags.net TAPTIC,HAPTICS, AND THE BODY FANTASTIC

BY BRIAN S. HALL

THE REAL APPLE WATCH REVOLUTION PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF APPLE

Worldmags.net The next user interface requires your body. You will literally feel signals chock-full of timely, contextual data delivered from all manner of touchscreens, gadgets and wearables. It’s called haptics, and while it’s been around for years, most notably in game controllers, the Apple Watch is set to deliver this technology to the masses Haptic technology—haptics (go. macworld.com/haptic)—uses force upon the skin to deliver real-time tactile feedback. These physical sensations are created by tiny motors called actuators. Done right, haptics can mimic the feeling of a pin prick by a wearable that tracks your blood sugar, simulate the plucking of virtual guitar strings on a tablet screen, or re-create the physical recoil of a phaser from your favorite

game controller. To date, the technology has been held back by a lack of real-time accuracy. This is why even though we are surrounded by billions of computer screens, widespread consumer use of haptics has been limited. Several companies are working to improve accuracy (go. macworld.com/improve), so that you literally feel exactly what you expect

APPLE WATCH IS THE TOUCHSCREEN DEVICE THAT CAN TOUCH YOU BACK.

FEATURE

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APPLE WATCH

Video: Immersion Wearables Demo VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/demo

when you tap an image on your screen or open a virtual door inside an Oculus (oculus.com) game. Apple, however, has found a way to make haptics work now, leveraging what this tech can do in its present stage and clearing a path for making haptics a part of our everyday life.

THE FEEL OF APPLE WATCH For its beautiful Watch, Apple constructed a modified iOS user interface. The company developed an innovative “digital crown” (go. macworld.com/crown)as an entirely new context-optimized input method. It is the haptics, however, that may

prove most useful, possibly even revolutionary. This is not a bold prediction. Consider how Apple is already marketing its “most personal” (go.macworld.com/fashion) device: “We found a way to give technology a more human touch. Literally.” “More immediate, intimate ways to connect.” “A new dimension to the way you communicate.” Apple created what it calls a “taptic engine” to deliver physical sensations to your wrist. According to the company: “The Taptic Engine creates a discreet, sophisticated, and nuanced experience by engaging more of your senses. It also enables some entirely new, intimate ways for you to 90

Worldmags.net WITH SURPRISINGLY LITTLE FANFARE, APPLE HAS EMBRACED A NEW USER INTERFACE.

communicate with other Apple Watch wearers. You can get someone’s attention with a gentle tap. Or even send something as personal as your heartbeat.” With surprisingly little fanfare, Apple has embraced a new user interface. When you pay with Apple Watch, you will both hear and “feel” a confirmation. A “gentle tap” on the device can be sent to another Watch wearer, who will feel the touch on their wrist. Is this a reminder? A nag? Longing? Answer: this is an entirely new form of humanto-human communications. It’s no

surprise that Apple Watch “taps” can be customized for different people and different interactions. What might app developers create using the taptic engine? Right now, that’s difficult to say. An Apple spokesperson told me the company is not yet ready to announce “any plans or details regarding the WatchKit SDK,” though hinted such plans would be forthcoming.

Video: Tactile Rendering of 3D Features on Touch Surfaces VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/tactile

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APPLE WATCH

Video: BABYBE, BE WITH YOUR BABY VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/baby

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to imagine the near-term possibilities. Perhaps a Watch weather app will zap you when you are about to leave the house without an umbrella. You may feel an annoying pinch as you pass the grocery store on the way home from work, a physical reminder to not forget the milk. An hour before lunch, a short series of hot taps could mean the (second-generation) Apple Watch senses your blood sugar is too low, discreetly reminding you to eat something.

CAN TOUCH THIS A caress on the arm means some-

thing different than a stern squeeze of the shoulder, or a pat on the back. These minor physical actions convey a great deal: love, concern, gratitude, disappointment. As haptic technology evolves, our bodies are poised to become the next computing interface. Fitness trackers, smartwatches, even Star Trek: The Next Generationlike wearables on our shirt will use haptics to alert us, remind us, and share something uniquely human, a secret between friends and loved ones, perhaps. These interactions will come in the form of vibrations, pressure, repetition, customized force, a distinctive sequence of 92

Worldmags.net touches and tactile feedback. Last year, Apple was awarded a patent for a haptic feedback system for use on multi-touch surfaces. The patent listed a “virtual keyboard” as an example of how this system might work. That’s just one small possibility of what this technology will support, as this Disney research project (go. macworld.com/research) reveals.

GAME ON

That means it can convey human emotions. The Babybe (go.macworld. com/babybe1) system was designed to transmit a mother’s heartbeat to her premature baby. Premature babies are typically kept in isolation for the first several weeks of life. This is medically necessary but disrupts and potentially limits the emotional and physi-

FORGET BUZZING CONTROLLERS. HAPTICS FOR GESTURE CONTROLS, ALERTS, EVEN PAIN, COULD REVOLUTIONIZE GAMING.

Forget buzzing controllers. Haptics for gesture controls, alerts, even pain, could revolutionize gaming. Just last month, Miraisens showed off its haptic technology for use in virtual reality gaming (go.macworld.com/virtual). The firm’s small, coin-shaped device delivers real-time tactile feedback for users immersed inside a virtual 3D world, tricking the gamer into thinking they are pushing a physical button or actually feeling a gold coin or magic sword, for example. Since gaming is really just another mode of learning, expect haptics to spread to educational software, interactive exhibits and be used for teaching music, among other use cases.

HEALING TOUCH It’s not all fun and games, of course. Haptics can replicate human touch.

cal bond between child and mother. The Babybe system helps mitigate this by using haptics to replicate the mother’s heartbeat, as if the baby was laying on her chest. No doubt a similar system will be devised to enable grandparents to hug their grandchild from miles away, or allow traveling parents to stay physically connected with their children. With computers surrounding us from the time we wake to the time we go to sleep, the potential use cases for haptics grows exponentially. We can’t know exactly where this technology takes us, but it’s already creating new modes of truly human interactions previously not possible. Our body is the new user interface. ■ 93

Worldmags.net WORKING MAC

Tips, Tricks, and Tools to Make You and Your Mac More Productive

Microsoft says new Office for Mac due in 2015, unveils Outlook app The public beta for Office for Mac is due in the first half of 2015 BY MARK HACHMAN

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t’s been four long years since Microsoft released the last version of Office for the Mac, in 2010. And it will be one more before the next version arrives, Microsoft said Friday.

But to tide you over until then, there’s a new version of Outlook. Although Microsoft released the latest version of its email client on Friday, the roadmap to the next version of Office is the real news. In the first half of 2015, Microsoft will release a public beta version of Office for Mac, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. In the second half of 2015, the company said, Microsoft will ship the final version. Current Office 365 subscribers will be able to upgrade for free, as expected; Microsoft also said that it would ship a “perpetual license of Office for Mac” (aka a standalone version) in the same timeframe. Given that Office 365 users are still stuck using Office for Mac 2011, however, there hasn’t been much incentive to sign up for Office 365— save for the excellent Office for iPad apps, OneDrive cloud storage, and free Skype calls. Microsoft issued an apology of sorts for the delay, noting that it had put the Mac on the back burner while it developed mobile versions for the iPad and other platforms. “[F]ollowing the release of Office 365 we made

the conscious decision to prioritize mobile first and cloud first scenarios for an increasing number of people who are getting things done on-thego more frequently,” Microsoft’s Office team said in a blog post (go.macworld.com/msblog.) “This meant delivering and continuing to improve

FOR THOSE FAMILIAR WITH THE OUTLOOK WEB APP, THE NEW OUTLOOK CLIENT SHOULD HOLD FEW SURPRISES. Office on a variety [of] phones (iPhone, Windows Phone, and Android) and tablets (iPad and Windows)—brought together by the cloud (OneDrive) to help people stay better organized and get things done with greater efficiency at work, school, home and everywhere between.”

OUTLOOK FOR WINDOWS, NOW FOR THE MAC For those familiar with the Outlook Web App or Outlook for Windows, the new Outlook client should hold few, if any surprises. 95

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Among the new features Microsoft promised for the new Outlook client are better performance and reliability; push support for real-time email; faster first-time syncing with Exchange, and better syncing with Windows and the Outlook Web App; plus online archive support for searching Exchange. And, of course, the new Office interface. Aesthetically, the new Outlook for the Mac looks a lot like Outlook for Windows, part of the perpetual Office 365 upgrade cycle. (Note, however, that Microsoft has pushed changes much faster to its OWA Web client than to the standalone or Office 365 version.) Here’s how to get it: Consumers

should visit their My Account (go. macworld.com/account) page, while commercial subscribers should click on their Software page (go.macworld.com/software) for accessing their Office 365 portal. Why this matters: Basically, Microsoft hopes to lure Mac users to its perpetual subscription model, in much the same way it’s hoping to persuade its traditional Windows customers to do the same. The new version of Outlook is just an example of what you’ll receive. Nevertheless, it will have been five years since Microsoft has released a new version of Office for the Mac by the time it finally ships. Will that be too late? ■ 96

MICROSOFT RELEASED a screenshot of the new Outlook client, which looks a lot like Windows.

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How to simplify overlapping cloud storage services BY JOE KISSELL

WORKINGMAC OVERLAPPING CLOUD STORAGE

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here’s no shortage of choices for cloud storage, but that leads to another problem: how do you decide which services you truly need, and which files to put where? If you’ve signed up for as many cloud providers as you have files, it’s time for an intervention (or at least a moment of clear-headed contemplation).

I’ll admit it: I’m an online storage junkie. At one time or another I’ve synced files to the cloud using Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon S3, Bitcasa, Box, DollyDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, SpiderOak, SugarSync, Wuala, and probably a few others I’m forgetting—not to mention using online backups from Backblaze, CrashPlan, and Mozy, and storing photos with services such as Flickr and SmugMug. Some of these services are free (at least for a limited amount of data) while others are inexpensive, but inexpensive times a dozen or more starts to hurt. Meanwhile, I had the same folders syncing to three or four services simultaneously, which slowed down my Mac, wasted bandwidth, and tested the limits of my ISP’s monthly data transfer allowance. The challenge was what to do about it. “Just pick one!” you may say. Fine, but if I pick Dropbox, then Google Docs can’t see my online files. If I pick Google Drive instead,

then my iOS apps that support only iCloud won’t have access. And so on. Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft benefit when you stay within their respective ecosystems, so they tend to make it easier to

EACH PERSON’S NEEDS AND PREFERENCES WILL VARY, BUT I’D LIKE TO OFFER SOME TIPS BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCES IN SIMPLIFYING CLOUD STORAGE. use their own cloud storage services than those of their competitors. (Microsoft’s recent decision to integrate Dropbox support (go. macworld.com/integrate) in its Office apps for iOS—supplementing OneDrive—is a welcome exception.) Even if interoperability weren’t a problem, it’s not as though these various cloud storage services are otherwise interchangeable. Each one is different when it comes to matters such as privacy and secu98

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rity, saving older versions of files you’ve since modified or deleted, APIs for integration with third-party products, storage limits, and pricing. Each person’s needs and preferences will vary, but I’d like to offer some tips based on my own experiences in simplifying cloud storage.

So I use Dropbox as my all-purpose cloud storage provider, and probably will for the foreseeable future. If you prefer to use, say, SugarSync for general-purpose cloud storage and all the apps you care about happen to support SugarSync natively, that’s terrific— but the odds are against it.

BROAD COMPATIBILITY Whatever else you might say about Dropbox, far more apps support it than any other cloud service, particularly on iOS. (It’s also quite inexpensive, which doesn’t hurt.) Perhaps the scale will tilt toward iCloud Drive at some point, but even if that happens for iOS, Dropbox works on more platforms, including Android and Linux.

ELIMINATE REDUNDANCY Offers of free (or cheap) storage are tempting, but don’t add an account just because you can. Each cloud storage account you use should serve a unique and useful purpose. I cancelled my accounts with several providers because they all duplicated capabilities I already got elsewhere. On the other hand, I 99

WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? Microsoft letting me access Dropbox in Word for iOS? Wow. Now if only Google Docs would give me access to iCloud Drive.

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keep Google Drive and iCloud Drive, despite their similarities, because each one offers features the other doesn’t: namely, integration with the provider’s proprietary software.

DON’T CONFUSE CLOUD STORAGE AND CLOUD BACKUPS Cloud backup services such as CrashPlan copy files to distant servers, and let you retrieve those files from another computer or an iOS app. That sounds a lot like cloud storage. On the other hand, Dropbox stores deleted files and old versions for 30 days, or up to a year if you pay extra for Extended Version History (drop-

box.com/help/113). That sounds a lot like cloud backup. But services that specialize in storage are generally better at keeping your files in sync across devices, while services that specialize in backup are generally better at long-term retention and data restoration (and often have superior encryption, too). Each service meets a different need, so I don’t consider cloud storage and cloud backup of a given folder to be redundant. I use both.

LET EACH SERVICE STAND ALONE Suppose you use iCloud Drive because that’s what Keynote works best with, and Google Drive because

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OTIXO IS AN AGGREGATOR that lets you see and search the files stored in many cloud services in one place, and move files between providers easily.

Worldmags.net that’s what Google Docs works best with. Fair enough—let each service hold its own documents. If the two sets of files sync independently with your Mac (and in most cases they will), that’s even better. But trying to sync all your documents between cloud services is usually a waste of effort (and perhaps, depending on how you do it, a waste of money). That brings me to the next point.

USE AGGREGATORS ONLY AS NEEDED Providers such as cloudHQ (cloudhq.net), Otixo (otixo.com), and ZeroPC (zeropc.com) let you aggregate cloud storage services—that is, after you connect all your accounts, you can see your documents from every provider in a single view in the Web or an iOS app, drag files from one service to another to copy or move them, and in some cases even sync files between cloud services. It’s a neat trick, and can be a big help if you have files scattered across many services. But although basic plans are free, you may have to pay as much as your cloud storage itself costs for full-featured aggregation. Besides, if you’re following the previous tip, you should seldom need to move files from one service to another—and even when you do, you can use your Mac as a conduit and avoid paying for a cloud-to-cloud transfer service.

I’M A FAN OF ENCRYPTION— BUT BECAUSE MY FAVORITE IOS APPS DON’T SUPPORT THESE SERVICES, THAT SEVERELY LIMITS THEIR UTILITY FOR ME. GO OFF-CLOUD FOR PRIVACY A handful of cloud storage providers, including SpiderOak and Wuala, offer “zero-knowledge” encryption, which means your data is encrypted in such a way that the provider can’t decrypt it without your personal key, even if the government were to demand it. That’s great—I’m a huge fan of encryption— but because my favorite iOS apps don’t support these services, that severely limits their utility for me. So, when privacy is important, I either encrypt a file myself before uploading it to Dropbox, or use a “personal cloud” product such as BitTorrent Sync (getsync.com), ownCloud (owncloud.org), or Transporter (filetransporter.com). As long as my favorite apps insist on keeping me locked into specific cloud storage services, I won’t be able to pick a single provider and stick with it. But I’ve already reduced my tally significantly, and if more developers make customer-friendly moves like the Microsoft-Dropbox partnership, choosing cloud storage services may be less of a hassle in the future. ■ 101

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VIDEO: Capture the action on your iOS device with Yosemite BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN

VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/captureios8

Today’s tip is how to capture the video and audio of an iOS 8 device that’s attached to a Mac that’s running Yosemite. This isn’t the kind of thing that everyone will want to do, but it’s great for app demos and presentations where you want to incorporate iOS capture. And the quality is better than what I’ve achieved with methods that leverage AirPlay.

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Everything You Need to Know About iPods, iTunes, and Mac-Based Entertainment

What’s to be done about iTunes? Tweak? Strip? Split?? BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN

AITUNES 12’S interface is less cluttered, but is it also easier to use?

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he reaction to iTunes 12 and its rejiggered interface was predictable. While some found the Yosemite-like look less cluttered and easier to navigate, others were confounded by the feature reshuffling and redesign. Each opinion has its merits, but few people would argue that iTunes is perfect. And that invites the obvious question: If iTunes in its current form (and past several forms) is imperfect, what can be done with it? This set me thinking. So. Many. Features. A common rejoinder to complaints about iTunes is to love it or leave it—if you don’t care for it, use a different media manager. But it’s a short-sighted suggestion unless you think of iTunes only as a simple media jukebox. Sure, iTunes can wear that hat, but it handles far more tasks, including: > Rip and play audio CDs > Convert audio and video formats > Obtain, organize, and play media (music, movies, TV shows, music videos, podcasts, audiobooks, iTunes U content) > Obtain and organize iOS apps > Organize and sync ringtones > Create and manage playlists > Sync media to mobile devices > Share media libraries > Tag media > Stream Internet radio > Stream iTunes Radio > Gateway to cloud-stored media > Gateway to the iTunes Store

At one time there were several third-party tools for handling some of these jobs, but nothing then or now can touch all of them. This is partly due to the proprietary nature of Apple’s devices and some of the media obtained from its stores, as Apple’s not interested in having others share in the fun. But it’s also that Apple has—in this

HOW DOES APPLE MOVE FORWARD IN A WAY THAT DOESN’T INVITE COMPLAINT? arena as in others—sucked the air out of the room. What developer in their right mind would attempt to create and sell a media manager with fewer features when iTunes can be had for free? Where some see clutter, others find comprehensiveness. Power users want the majority of these features, yet these are the people who often gripe the loudest as, with each iTunes iteration, their favorite obscure feature 105

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becomes harder to find or use.

THE BIG RETHINK And so we confront both rock and hard place. How does Apple move forward in a way that doesn’t invite complaint? With iTunes 11—and more so with iTunes 12—Apple has attempted to make working with your media a more contextual experience with the idea of simplifying the interface. In iTunes 11, when you hide the sidebar, you choose particular kinds of media from a pop-up menu in the top-left corner. Just select the media type you want and it appears in the pane below. You then navigate through it using one of a series of buttons centered in the toolbar. With iTunes 12, Apple has taken the next step and largely done away with the sidebar. If you now want to navigate through your media, you click on a media button in the toolbar—Music, Movies, or TV shows, for example—and, as with iTunes 11 before it, you then select something from the results below. Underscoring the idea, when you navigate your way

to the iTunes Store, clicking one of those buttons moves you to the associated section in the store, rather than back to your local media—so, click the Music button while you’re in the iTunes Store and you see what new albums and tracks are on offer that day. It’s not difficult to see why some people find these dual-purpose buttons confusing. But if this contextual approach isn’t the entire answer, what might be? Let’s ponder the possibilities.

TWEAK IT Filed under “do the least damage,” this approach acknowledges that Apple’s on the right track with its contextual vision. The majority of iTunes users are simply interested in browsing their limited media libraries and having different media types clearly separated. But it also accepts that some of Yosemite’s interface elements are inappropriate for iTunes. Editable fields must be obviously so. Likewise, buttons. And an Info window, which is mostly the purview of power users, should better reflect the needs of those users. And there might be a recognition that some attempts to unclutter the 106

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interface have made iTunes more difficult to use than it once was. As I’ve pointed out, dual-purpose buttons can lead to confusion. And ungainly though a sidebar may appear to someone interested in a minimal interface, it’s a straightforward way to navigate a media library.

STRIP MAULED And then there’s the “Well, if too many features are the problem…” strategy. If iTunes has become unwieldy because of its many talents, why not simply remove some of them and create a few rich third-party opportunities? And by this I mean cut out the power user.

To a greater or lesser extent, remove features that the majority of people don’t use. This might include media tagging, CD ripping, app management, data syncing, media conversion, iTunes Match, and so on. Or, present iTunes in two views— normal and advanced. The features I mentioned are hidden from normal users and they use iTunes to do little more than organize and play their media. Those who switch on the advanced mode gain all these features and more.

DO THE SPLITS And then there’s the iOS approach: 107

DOES THE iOS approach hint at iTunes’ future??

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Scatter iTunes’ many functions into separate apps. Movies and TV shows go into a Videos app. Podcasts and iTunes U get their own apps too. Your tracks and albums are managed and played in an iOS-like Music app, which also provides access to iTunes Match content. iBooks takes on audiobooks. And App Store and iTunes Store apps earn their place in the Dock as well. While longtime iTunes users may find such singlepurpose apps more than they care to manage, there’s something to be said for the simplicity of this approach under iOS. At least until you factor in practicality. Unless you’re reading these uncredited words on a site based somewhere in the Near East, you’re a Mac-using so-and-so reading Macworld. And because you are, you may forget that the vast majority of people experience iTunes on their Windows PCs. After all, our friends in Cupertino don’t require that you expose your Apple tattoo before being allowed to purchase an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. PC users’ money spends just as well as ours. And so we must consider that were Apple to bust up iTunes into separate apps, its engineers would have to tackle the job not only on the Mac, but within Windows as well. You may have noticed that Apple has its fingers in a lot of pies these days—

operating systems, productivity apps, media apps, mobile phones, tablets, wearables, computers, financial services, home tech, car tech, desktop computers, laptops, music streaming…. In short, the people working at Apple have plenty on their plates. Given this, how anxious do you think Apple is to create a whole slew of apps for Windows users? (And what engineering impropriety would you have to commit to earn an

IF APPLE WERE TO BUST UP iTUNES INTO SEPARATE APPS, ITS ENGINEERS WOULD HAVE TO TACKLE THE JOB NOT ONLY ON THE MAC, BUT WITHIN WINDOWS AS WELL.

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Worldmags.net assignment to the team responsible for this drudgery?) While there may be Apple employees anxious to explore iTunes alternatives on the Mac, I have to believe that the notion of bringing parity to Windows users poops this party in a hurry.

WAIT IT OUT And finally, where I think we’re really going: A new media model. If you’re still purchasing popular music you’re part of a dying breed. Worldwide music sales from the iTunes Store has dropped 13 percent (go.macworld.com/13percent) since the start of the year. This isn’t due to a lack of good music but rather because the population of music buyers is shrinking. Young people consume much of their music from YouTube and streaming services. Older listeners are reluctant to give today’s music a try. Movie-watching habits are changing as well. Theater attendance

(go.macworld.com/theater) has dropped (though not nearly as precipitously as music sales) and neighborhood video stores disappeared years ago. Instead, people are increasingly consuming movies and TV shows through streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime (and cable channels that have embraced a la carte viewing). How much sense does it make for Apple to invest time, effort, and a whole lot of money in an app that’s focused on media ownership when the future promises all-media, all-the-time, anywhere? The company purchased Beats Music and routinely adds new Apple TV channels for a reason. And that reason isn’t to convince you that media ownership is primed for a comeback. Apple understands where this leads. And ultimately, I believe that determines iTunes’ fate—an app that will remain largely as it is until such time that it’s unneeded. ■

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iTunes 12 introduces new look, less intuitive interface BY KIRK McELHEARN

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t’s been two years since the last major update to iTunes, with changes I called “the most radical alterations to the program’s interface since its inception.” I could use those same words to describe iTunes 12, which features yet another interface overhaul. But the other shock is that iTunes 12 is light on new features, just a Recently Added section in some views, and a new Get Info window, along with some minor changes to device syncing. It almost begs the question: Without new features, is it really necessary to alter the look and navigation of iTunes every couple of years? iTunes 12 feels like essentially the same app as iTunes 11, only less intuitive.

NAVIGATION CHANGES In order to explain where the new Recently Added section shows up, I need to describe the sometimes confusing navigation options in iTunes 12. Basically, it takes three separate sets of controls to navigate around and sort your media the way you want. First, a set of buttons at the top-left of the window lets you switch libraries: Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and so on. You can choose which buttons appear here by clicking the More menu (it looks like an ellipsis) and choosing Edit. It’s fine to remove buttons you don’t use a lot, since you’ll still be able to access the other libraries from the

View menu, or use keyboard shortcuts. (Command–1 goes to the Music library, Command–2 to movies, and so on—check the View menu to see all the shortcuts.) With Home Sharing turned on, you can access other iTunes libraries with the house button on the far left, which glows blue when you’re looking at a shared library. Once you’re in a media library, 111

CHOOSE WHICH MEDIA libraries you want to access via the navigation buttons.

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there’s a second set of tab-like controls in the center of the window. The Music library, for example, has My Music, Playlists, Radio, and iTunes Store, as well as Match if you subscribe to iTunes Match. The third set of controls is the View Options menu at the far right of the window (also accessible by pressing Command-J or selecting View → View Options). The options here are only slightly different than in iTunes 11. Within Music you can view your library by Songs, Artists, Albums, Genres, and Composers. Movies and TV Shows offer a default view with artwork, a list view, and a view by genre. Audiobooks let you view by title or author, but not by genre. If you like the list view, you can even approximate a pre-iTunes 11 display. In your Music library, choose the Songs view and then click Playlists—that playlists sidebar should look familiar. You can still use the Column Browser (Command-B) in some views as well, including this one. The View Options menu also lets you choose which columns to display in list views, how to sort items within the list (by album, artist, or genre, for example), and whether you want artwork, and how big. Overall, I find the navigation confusing—it requires too many clicks to get around. While iTunes does remember your selections for each library, once you start changing views and sections, there’s too much thinking required.

RECENTLY ADDED The new Recently Added section shows up in different views and locations. For example, in your TV library, Recently Added is near the top of the TV Shows view. In your Podcasts library, if you click My Podcasts and view by Podcasts, you’ll see Recent Updates in a sidebar, with episodes denoted by age in the main window. But Recently Added section is inconsistent. I can see it in my Music library and in Albums or Artists view, but not when viewing by Composer, Genre, or Songs. It doesn’t show up in list views in Movies and TV Shows, or anywhere in the libraries for Audiobooks, Apps, Tones, iTunes U, and Internet Radio. It’s a handy feature, but I’d like to see a more general Recently Added section with all my content, not filtered by type. I’d also love a timeline, like in Time Machine, so I could click a given month and go back and see what I added to my library then.

THE iTUNES STORE IS EVERYWHERE Since each content library has its own iTunes Store tab, they go to the sections of the store that sell that kind of content. Clicking iTunes Store when you’re in your Music library takes you to the Music storefront. But this means there’s no longer a home page for the iTunes Store. You no longer have the chance to see a banner for a new movie, a best-selling book, and an 112

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album on the same page. To switch sections in the store, you can click the content type dropdown in the store’s sidebar on the right, or click one of the library icons on the left of your toolbar. (Yes, those buttons serve double duty, as you’ll recall they switch between your content libraries when you’re not in the store.) This means it always takes two clicks to leave the store and go to a different local media library. Remembering this keyboard shortcut will help: If you’re anywhere in iTunes and want to get to the currently playing item, just press Command-L. Since there’s no iTunes Store home page, a dropdown menu toward the top-right of the window, labeled with

your name, has links for your Account, Purchased content, Wish List and more. The Wish List is no longer accessible directly from your iTunes library—it’s a page in the iTunes Store, and you can only see one type of content at a time, not your entire Wish List at once.

GET INFO, BUT NOT TOO MUCH INFO Tagging files with metadata is essentail to maintaining an organized library, and iTunes 12 has a new Info window for doing this. I find the lack of borders around the text fields make it a lot harder to visually scan the window, like trying to use a spreadsheet with no borders. It’s also hard to tell which fields are 113

CLICK TO BUY From Shazam’s menu, you can quickly buy a song you like.

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editable. I’m also disappointed that not all available fields appear by default. To add extra fields you have to click Add Field at the bottom. On the plus side, Apple finally provided a clear explanation for what a Compilation is. The auto-complete feature in the Info window is improved. When you start typing in a field, previous versions of iTunes would auto-complete the field to the first similar name in alphabetical order. But that meant when I’d start typing Bach, the

default auto-complete is the alphabetically first “Back, Carl Philip Emmanuel” instead of the more popular J.S. Now, iTunes displays an auto-complete list, and you can use the arrow keys to choose a name.

SYNCING CHANGES When you connect an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, an icon to the right of the media library icons lets you access its sync settings, which appear in a sidebar instead of tabs across the top. If you have multiple devices, you can switch by THE NEW INFO WINDOW is a big change from previous versions of iTunes.

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Worldmags.net clicking a device’s name in the center of the toolbar, or use the popup menu to the right of the media icons, which shows each device’s name, plus its capacity and charge level. Having, for the most part, abandoned the sidebar in iTunes, it’s surprising to see Apple bring it back for syncing. But I find it much easier to understand. With the sidebar exposed, select a media kind under On My Device, and you’ll see an Add To button in the top-right corner. Click it and you can select media, drag it into a sidebar that appears on the right, and click Done. This sort of syncing seems to occur more quickly than a full sync, especially for small additions like a new album or movie.

NEW ICON, FLAT DESIGN Along with the navigation changes, iTunes 12 has a new red icon, the same color as the Music app in iOS. The red icon stands out better in the Dock and the Command-Tab application switcher. iTunes 12 is flat—gone are the drop shadows and relief that made iTunes 11 look slightly three-dimensional. Now Yosemite-style flat design is everywhere, from the album art and app icons to the navigation buttons. It doesn’t particularly add or detract from iTunes—as with the rest of Yosemite, you’ll like the flatness or you won’t.

BOTTOM LINE iTunes 12 will be controversial, just as iTunes 11 was. Some of the interface changes are confusing and add a new layer of abstraction to navigating multiple types of media. If you routinely stick with just your music library, it’s pretty easy, but if you have a fully stocked iTunes library, be prepared to click a lot more to find what you want.

FOR NOW, ITUNES 12’S MOST BASIC OPERATION—FINDING AND PLAYING MEDIA— REQUIRES A LOT MORE THOUGHT THAN IT SHOULD. I’m not on the “split iTunes because it’s bloated” bandwagon. It makes more sense to have one app manage all my media. But I think these changes—particularly the tighter integration of the iTunes Store—will incite more people to campaign for the dismemberment of iTunes. And it’s not all bad. iTunes 12 feels more coherent than iTunes 11, and it fits better with Apple’s aesthetic. It no longer feels like the poor cousin compared to OS X, and that may be a good thing—or it will be a good thing when more order is brought to it. But for now, iTunes 12’s most basic operation—finding and playing media—requires a lot more thought than it should. ■ 115

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Worldmags.net Ask the iTunes Guy Demystifying artwork, wish lists, and alerts in iTunes 12 BY KIRK MC ELHEARN

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL SLACK

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Worldmags.net With more and more users updating to iTunes 12, I’ve been getting a huge number of questions about how to use this new version. In this month’s column, I look at questions about iTunes 12. I discuss adding artwork to files, deleting artwork, and changes to the iTunes Store’s Wish List and My Alerts section.

Q&A

Q: I’m confused by iTunes 12. How do I add album art to my music and movies? A: iTunes 12 has changed the Info window, which appears when you select one or more items and press Command-I. The old window had an Artwork well, where you could either drag or paste graphics to add album art to your files. In iTunes 12, the Info window is different. Note that the window you see above displays information about files that already have album art, but it doesn’t show that album art when you select multiple items. (The iTunes 11 Info window didn’t show graphics in the Artwork well either.) There are now three ways to add album art to your files: Click the artwork square at the top-left of the window—the one with the musical notes—and it becomes highlighted. You can paste a graphic

that you’ve copied to your clipboard by pressing Command-V or you can just drag a graphic onto that square. Click the Artwork tab and paste a graphic, or drag it onto that pane. Click the Artwork tab, click Add Artwork, choose a file that’s anywhere on your Mac, such as one you’ve downloaded, and click OK. These techniques work for multiple items, such as the songs on an album, or for single items, such as a movie or TV show.

Q: How can I delete artwork from all the tracks of an album in iTunes 12 A: An I said above, iTunes 11’s Info window had an Artwork well. If you checked a box next to it and then clicked OK, that told iTunes to reset that metadata to what was in the well. If the well was empty, iTunes would delete the artwork. In iTunes 12, since you can’t see the artwork when you display the 117

HERE’S THE iTUNES 12 INFO WINDOW. On the left is the window that shows a summary and the main tags of your files. On the right is the Artwork tab of that window.

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Info window for multiple items, it doesn’t look like there’s any way to delete artwork. The same is the case on the Artwork tab in the Info window; there’s no artwork visible, and no sign of anything that lets you delete the existing artwork. The trick is to click the artwork square in the Info window, then press the Delete key. That square then looks like the figure to the right. Click OK and iTunes will remove the artwork. Click Cancel if you change your mind.

Q: I used to have several hundred tracks in my iTunes Store Wish

List, but after upgrading to iTunes 12, all but 32 of those tracks have disappeared. I don’t see any button that says “See All” or “Show Entire List” or anything of the sort. Is there any way to get those tracks to appear again? A: Apple did something strange with the iTunes Store Wish List in iTunes 12. Not only is the display different, but it shows, as you say, just 32 tracks. However, the tracks you saved aren’t lost. If you delete some of them—hover over a track and then click the X icon at the top-right corner—and then press Command-R

WHEN YOU CLICK the artwork square, then press the Delete key, iTunes sort of shows you that the artwork is being deleted.

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Worldmags.net to reload the Wish List page, you’ll still see 32 tracks. In other words, the Wish List only shows the most recent 32 tracks in your Wish List. I also tested this with albums. And it’s the same story as only the last 32 albums you’ve added to the Wish List display. (I didn’t test with other types of content, but it’s likely the same.) I admit that this is confusing, especially since Apple wants you to add tracks to the Wish List—notably if you use iTunes Radio—so that you buy more music. There’s also no Buy All button, which seems counterproductive, but that’s been gone for a while now.

Q: I recently updated to iTunes 12, and it seems that now the “My Alerts” section of the iTunes Store is gone. I am disappointed by this, as that was the best way I had of knowing when artists I like have released new stuff. A: Several readers wrote in about this as it seems to be a popular section of the iTunes Store. First, you can set up alerts for any artist by going to their page—to get there click on the artist’s name on an album page, for example—and then look for the tiny share button near the top of the page. Click that button and then choose Alert Me. As the reader pointed out, there used to be a link for My Alerts, but the latest redesign of the iTunes Store removed that. If you go to the

main page of the Music store and scroll down a bit, you’ll see a New From Your Artists section, which seems to include both artists for whom you’ve created alerts, and artists whose music you’ve bought in the past. Click the See All link at the right of that section to see a full page of new releases by your artists. You cannot, however, see only new music from artists who you’ve asked to be alerted about. Interestingly, on my New From Your Artists page, there’s one item that shows as Purchased. You’d think they wouldn’t tell me about something new that I’ve already purchased. Have questions of your own for the iTunes Guy (itunesguy@macworld.com?) Send them along for his consideration. ■ 119

HOVER YOUR CURSOR over an item, then click the X to remove it from the iTunes Store Wish List.

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Worldmags.net VIDEO To view this video, go to go.macworld. com/72hours

72 hours with CarPlay Test-driving the Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX BY SUSIE OCHS

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f all you want to do is play music from your phone in the car, cheap and easy solutions abound, from a regular audio cable, to picking up a head unit with Bluetooth (go. macworld.com/wirecutter). Fancy in-dash “infotainment” systems promise more, combining music, navigation, and hands-free communication. But the few I’ve sampled have had clunky interfaces that made me go right back to performing those tasks with my phone—yes, I’m that jerk futzing with her phone at stoplights until you honk at me to go. Apple’s CarPlay software (go.macworld.com/carplay1) is intended to bridge the chasm between your iPhone and your car stereo, letting you access Maps, Messages, Music, and more, including compatible third-party apps like Spotify, Beats Music, Rdio, and iHeartRadio. CarPlay has a lot going for it—all the data it needs is on your iPhone already, and the Siri integration can be a godsend,

letting you reply to incoming texts without taking your eyes off the road. But in a few cases I found myself reaching for my iPhone when the touchscreen and Siri weren’t getting things done—just like I would have done before upgrading to CarPlay.

GREEN LIGHT Setup is so simple you can hardly call it setup—all you do is plug in your PLUG IN YOUR PHONE, and CarPlay launches to this familiar-looking home screen. That Pioneer icon takes you back to the normal stereo—the one you’d use if you didn’t have your iPhone with you.

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phone. I tested CarPlay on the high-end Pioneer AVIC–8000NEX (go.macworld.com/avic), which has a capacitive touchscreen, and a row of tiny physical buttons along the bottom. It was professionally installed in my colleague’s car, along with a dash-mounted microphone for talking to Siri. The microphone is a nice touch—it’s always listening for the “Hey Siri!” prompt, and I didn’t have to worry about my iPhone being close enough to pick up my voice over its own microphones. You can also pick up your tethered phone and navigate with that (I had to a few times), but the goal is to be able to use your voice most of the time. CarPlay systems that come in a new car will have a Siri button on the steering wheel and preinstalled microphones. But the real beauty of CarPlay is

that you don’t have to install apps, update apps, log into iCloud, or sync anything. The apps and information are on your phone already, and CarPlay just gives you a familiar, car-friendly interface for using them.

DEJA VROOM The interface immediately looks familiar, using the same icons as on the iPhone and iPad. A home button in the bottom-left corner always lets you go back to the home screen, although I did find it a little small compared to the larger, easier-to-tap icons on the home screen grid. If you have an active phone call or navigation session going and you switch to another app, the Phone or Maps icon appears in the top-right corner so you can tap it to quickly go back. That worked well, but I wished that corner also had a THE LITTLE MAPS ICON appears at the topleft so you can quickly jump back to your navigation. You can scroll through long lists faster with the letters on the right, but it’s even faster to just ask Siri to find a contact.

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universal Back button to go back to whatever app I was using last, not just Phone or Maps. The Now Playing icon on the home screen is a nice touch. Tap it to go to the currently playing song, no matter what app is actually playing it. You won’t have to remember if you’re listening to the Music app, Rdio, or iHeartRadio. When you’re presented with a long list of items, like your contacts or a list of songs, you can scroll through on the touchscreen, or scroll faster by tapping or dragging the scrolling list of letters on the right side of the screen. CarPlay-compatible third-party apps like Rdio, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Beats Music, and MLB At Bat simply show up as icons if they’re already

installed on your phone, and for the most part they work the same. I didn’t have to log into my Rdio account, for example, and all my favorites and playlists appeared instantly. But not every Rdio option was accessible on the CarPlay touchscreen—I couldn’t toggle the shuffle feature on and off without reaching for my iPhone. At least the phone stays synced up to what you’re seeing on the CarPlay stereo’s screen. When I was using Rdio on the stereo, Rdio launched on my phone. When I was following directions in the Maps app on the stereo, my phone displayed a list of every turn. You wouldn’t want to consult this while actually driving, but it’s nice to be able to hand off to a passenger. 123

MUSIC IS THE ONLY music-playing app that works with Siri, but she couldn’t clue me in that all these iTunes in the Cloud purchases wouldn’t be playable until I downloaded them to my iPhone first.

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SIRI IS MY COPILOT Hands-free communication worked very well. When you tap Phone or Messages, you don’t see a list of contacts automatically: Instead, it’s a Siri prompt, with a smaller button to access your actual list of contacts. The idea is, assuming you know who you’re trying to contact, you can just ask and Siri will take care of it. During my tests, I was driving in rush hour traffic when my nanny texted me that she and my son wanted a ride home from the BART station. I saw a notification that a text had come in, and asked Siri, “Please read me that text.” She did, and I said, “Reply that I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Siri dictated that back to me, and when I confirmed it was right, she sent it. But I didn’t have my son’s car seat with me, so I then asked Siri, “Call my husband.” The

call was placed, I asked him to do the pickup, and that was that. The whole thing took two minutes at the most, and I never had to take my hands off the steering wheel. Before CarPlay, I could have tried to do this all with Siri while I was driving—just by talking to the phone—but to be honest, I probably would have exited the freeway to pull over and take care of it myself. Still, using CarPlay also reminded me that Siri can’t always parse natural-language requests every time. “Take a note for me!” resulted in a note saying “Me.” I could say, “Are we there yet?” for a driving time ETA, but “When will I get there?” didn’t work. I was able to get weather, sports scores, and directions to the nearest Starbucks. She could tell me who had emailed me last but not read the messages. Siri THE SIRI SCREEN came up when I wanted it to, but I often had to tap the microphone icon to get her to actually listen to me.

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Worldmags.net NAVIGATION WORKED GREAT for me, but Apple Maps is the only option, and some people still don’t like it.

has come a long way since her debut, but I kept running up against situations where she still has room for improvement. Just getting to the point where I could ask Siri a question was frustrating too. Saying, “Hey, Siri!” reliably brought up the Siri screen on the CarPlay unit, but often without the little high-pitched chime that means she’s listening. If I didn’t say anything because I was waiting for the chime, the Siri screen would fade out and I’d have to call it up again. So I found myself having to say, “Hey, Siri!” and then tap the microphone button on the screen— sometimes repeatedly—until I heard the chime.

TOUCHY SCREEN In fact, on the Pioneer AVIC8000NEX that I tested—which is

Pioneer’s nicest CarPlay stereo, with an MSRP of $1400—the capacative touchscreen kind of stunk. As Apple fans, we are spoiled by bright, responsive touchscreens, some of the very best on the market. This screen doesn’t scroll smoothly, and taps often took more than one try to register. In all the music-playing apps, I would tap and tap and tap the Next Track button without the music advancing—then on the fourth or fifth tap it would suddenly advance two tracks. This isn’t the end of the world, but for $1400 the performance of the screen is disappointing. (Pioneer has lower-priced CarPlay systems (pioneerelectronics.com/carplay), but they have resistive touchscreens, and even then the cheapest (go.macworld.com/4000nex) is currently $700.) 125

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Worldmags.net DICTATING NOTES TO MYSELF was neat, once I learned to say, “Take a note,” and then wait for Siri to ask me what it should say. But it’s great to be able to jot down ideas that pop into your head while driving.

BOTTOM LINE CarPlay is cool, and if I was buying a car that had it, I would be stoked to use it—but I’m not going to upgrade the stereo that’s in my 2006 Subaru to this aftermarket Pioneer system. For starters, CarPlay can’t do anything my iPhone doesn’t do on its own, and obviously the iPhone has a lot more apps. I really missed using Waze for navigation—I could still set up a Waze route on my iPhone’s screen and the directions would play over the car’s speakers, but since it’s not a CarPlay compatible app it can’t

show the map on the stereo’s screen. Add in the high aftermarket cost, and the hit-and-miss results from using Siri for everything, and CarPlay doesn’t seem worthwhile just yet. But navigation and hands-free communication work well, and it’s nice to have an Apple-designed interface on a car stereo. Since it’s so easy to update the software and apps on your phone, CarPlay should keep improving. It’s already better than other infotainment systems I’ve tried—and a lot safer than trying to use my phone while I drive. ■

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HELPWorldmags.net KEEP THESE KIDS IN PLAY. 175,000 KIDS WILL BE DIAGNOSED WITH

CANCER THIS YEAR.

Children are our greatest hope for the future. Let’s be their greatest hope too. Cancer strikes infants and children. For teens and young adults, survival can depend on treatment by a pediatric oncologist, designed specifically for them. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer are funding groundbreaking collaborative research to bring the most effective therapies to kids fighting cancer. To learn how you can help keep these kids in play, go to stbaldricks.org/inplay and standup2cancer.org/pediatrics.

Samuel L. Jackson Stand Up To Cancer and St. Baldrick’s Ambassador

St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization funding childhood cancer research. Stand Up To Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c )(3) charitable organization.

Photo by Nigel Parry

Julia Hernandez Diagnosed at 16, in remission.

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Using the Web for Video, Graphics, Publishing, Photography, and Other Creative Pursuits

8 ways to take better photos with any camera BY LESA SNIDER

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WHEN POSSIBLE, try to capture odd numbers of things. In this shot, we have the illusion of three trees.

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ow that ghosts and goblins have cleared the way for the turkeys and reindeer, the prime holiday picturetaking season is upon us. To avoid getting disappointing photos that you can’t reshoot, you can follow these tips to increase your photographic prowess and take better pictures with any camera…including your iPhone. HALF-PRESS YOUR SHUTTER BUTTON If you remember just one thing from this column, remember this: Always half-press your camera’s shutter button before taking the shot. This tells your camera which area to focus on and lets it calculate how to best

capture your scene’s lighting. When you hear two quick beeps, depress the shutter button to capture the shot. On an iPhone, tap the desired focal-point on your screen; a little yellow box appears around the item when you do. To lock the focus on a certain spot (handy if the item might 129

STABILIZING YOUR CAMERA helps you capture sharper shots. Remember to keep those elbows in!

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move), press and hold your finger against the screen until you see a yellow box and a yellow bar that reads AE/AF LOCK; to release the lock, tap elsewhere on your screen.

STABILIZE YOUR CAMERA The only real way to get “tack sharp” pictures is to use a tripod and a remote control to fire your camera’s shutter, but that’s not always practical. Instead, try this: Keep your elbows tucked against your body and then place the camera, or your elbows, onto a stable horizontal surface such as a table or fence railing. You can also place your

shoulder or camera against a stable vertical surface, such as a wall, telephone pole, or another person. If your camera has an optical viewfinder, use it instead of the display screen—pressing the camera against your skull helps stabilize it. Finally, just before you’re ready to fully press the shutter button, take a deep breath and hold it until after the shot.

USE YOUR CAMERA’S SHOOTING (SCENE) MODES Give your camera a little more info on the type of scene you’re shooting by utilizing its shooting or scene mode presets. Doing so optimizes your HERE ARE EXAMPLES of common scene modes; from top left to right, we have portrait, landscape, macro, and action.

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Worldmags.net TO PRODUCE A MORE PLEASING SHOT, POSITION THE IMAGE’S HORIZON ON THE TOP OR THE BOTTOM LINE

camera’s settings for that specific scene—think portraits, landscape, close-ups, action shots, and so on. While finding these modes on your camera may take some doing, the results are worth it. For example, portrait mode produces a sharp foreground and a blurry background. Landscape keeps everything sharp. Macro produces a sharp foreground and blurry background while enabling you to get physically closer to your subject. And action mode freezes motion. For the best results, think about the type of scene you’re going to shoot and set the appropriate scene mode before arriving at the event.

COMPOSE ACCORDING TO THE RULE OF THIRDS This compositional guideline, which dates back to at least the 15th

century, divides a scene into nine equal parts using an imaginary tic-tac-toe grid. If you position the image’s horizon on either the top or the bottom line—never the center— and the focal point (the most important part of the image) on one of the spots where the lines intersect, you produce a more pleasing shot. Happily, most cameras (including the iPhone) can superimpose a grid onto their display screens to help you compose, though you can always crop photos using a grid in image editing software—iPhoto, Aperture, 131

BY IMAGINING a tictac-toe grid atop your scene (shown in red here), and placing the focal point on intersecting grid lines, you can create a more visually pleasing shot.

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Pixelmator, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, and AS YOU CAN SEE here from this before (left) and after Photoshop CC all have grids (right) example, getting closer to your subject often attached to their Crop tools. To turn produces a more memorable shot. on your iPhone’s grid, choose Settings > Photos & Camera, and then scroll WHEN YOU THINK YOU’RE CLOSE down the screen until you ENOUGH, TAKE THREE MORE STEPS. spot the Grid setting near THIS ALLOWS YOUR SUBJECT TO FILL the bottom. THE FRAME, AND CAN ALSO MAKE THE

CROP WITH YOUR FEET

ORDINARY SEEM EXTRAORDINARY.

Moving your body closer to your subject often creates a more dramatic shot. Generally speaking, when you think you’re close enough, you can usually take three more steps. This technique not only allows your subject to fill the frame, but it can also make the ordinary seem extraordinary. Getting closer is also helpful in vacation photography where huge cathedrals, ruins, and the like are just too big to capture in their entirety. Instead, try getting closer to your subject in order to reveal interesting camera angles and details that you can focus on.

SHOOT FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES If you’re taller than the item you’re shooting, try getting down to its level. This is especially helpful when shooting children, pets, flowers—anything that’s shorter than you are. By getting down onto your subject’s level, its true essence comes shining through the shot. Remember also to experiment with vertical shots. Often this orientation lets you include a greater amount of foreground (grass, sand, and so on), which makes your subject feel like they’re standing in the scene. 132

Worldmags.net CAPTURE ODD NUMBERS OF THINGS Odd numbers of things are more visually interesting than even numbers of the same thing. So when you’re composing a scene, try to capture one or three trees instead of two, five flowers instead of four, and so on.

SHOOT AT SLIMMING ANGLES When shooting people, you can slim your subject and reduce the appearance of double chins by holding your camera slightly above them. If you your subject to appear both slimmer

and taller, shoot from your knee so your lens is angled slightly upward. As you can see, these tips are easy to follow and before you know it, they’ll become second nature. PhotoLesa.com founder Lesa Snider teaches the world to create better graphics. She’s the author of the best-selling Photoshop: The Missing Manual books, coauthor of iPhoto: The Missing Manual, author of The Skinny Book ebook series, a founding creativeLIVE instructor, and regular columnist for Photoshop User and Photo Elements Techniques magazines. ■

A SLIGHTLY DOWNWARD camera angle (or upward) can slim your subject.

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9 mistakes you’re making in Photoshop

WITH SMART FILTERS a mask (circled) hides the filter’s effect from parts of the image. Open the filter’s blending options (also circled) to change the filter’s opacity level and/or blend mode.

BY LESA SNIDER

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ach version of Photoshop comes with new features that let you work smarter instead of harder, but old editing habits are hard to break—especially if you’ve been using the program for a long time. Here you’ll find a roundup of some common editing mistakes and how to avoid them. PERFORM EDITS ON SEPARATE LAYERS When you color-correct on one layer, zap blemishes on another, whiten teeth on another, and so on, you can back out of any edit, anytime you want, even after closing the document. You can lower the opacity of individual edits to make changes look realistic (crucial in portrait retouching), and by using adjustment and fill layers, you automatically get a mask that lets you hide layer content from parts of the image. In fact, the first 16 commands in the Image → Adjustments menu are available as super-safe adjustment layers (choose Layer → New Adjustment Layer), wherein the change occurs on a separate layer that you can control. Adjustment layers also make it easy to duplicate an effect onto another image—simply drag and drop relevant layers into another open document. In a pinch, duplicate the original layer and edit it instead.

USE EMPTY LAYERS To safeguard the original, most folks duplicate the layer before using the

tools for healing, cloning, patching, and content-aware moving. However, using an empty layer keeps your file size leaner. To enable tools to function on an empty layer, trot up to the Options bar and turn on the Sample All Layer checkbox, or set the Sample menu to Current & Below or All Layers. This trick works with

ADJUSTMENT LAYERS MAKE IT EASY TO DUPLICATE AN EFFECT ONTO ANOTHER IMAGE—SIMPLY DRAG AND DROP RELEVANT LAYERS INTO ANOTHER OPEN DOCUMENT the Spot and Healing Brushes, the Patch tool (set the Mode menu to Content-Aware to reveal the Sample All Layers checkbox), the ContentAware Move tool, and the Clone Stamp tool. Sweet!

USE FILL LAYERS Instead of adding an image layer and filling it with a solid color, gradient, or pattern, use the Layer → New Fill Layer command. How is this exciting? 135

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Let us count the ways: You can double-click the fill layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel to reopen the Color, Pattern, or Gradient Picker in order to experiment. The fill layer automatically resizes itself to match canvas size changes. And fill layers comes with a mask that lets you hide the fill from parts of your image.

USE THE STAMPED VISIBLE COMMAND Instead of merging or flattening layers to use paint, heal, clone, the Fill dialog’s Content-Aware option, or Content-Aware Scale, use the Stamped Visible command. Alas,

some tools and commands—like paint, heal, clone, content-aware fill, and content-aware scale—only work on single layers. If your document consists of multiple layers, resist the urge to merge or flatten. Instead, use the Stamped Visible command to create a stamped copy, by pressing Shift-Option-Command-E, or by holding Option as you choose Merge Visible from the Layers panel’s fly-out menu. This combines all visible layer content onto a brandnew; just drag it to the top of your layer stack and edit away.

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HERE YOU CAN SEE all the layers in this image.

Worldmags.net USE LAYER GROUPS OR SMART OBJECTS To add a single layer style or mask to multiple layers, you can use layer groups or sandwich ’em into a smart object, instead of merging or flattening those layers. Either way, activate the layers and then, to create a layer group, press Command-G and then add the style or mask to the group. To create a smart object, choose Layer → Smart Object → Convert to Smart Object and then add the style or mask.

USE SMART FILTERS To run filters on multiple layers, or to run filters safely on a single layer, activate the layer(s) and choose Filter → Convert for Smart Filters. Photoshop sandwiches ’em into a smart object, which you can open by double-clicking. This maneuver protects your original, lets you reopen the filter for more editing (double-click its name in the Layers panel), hide the filter’s effect from parts of your image (use the included smart filter mask), change the filter’s blend mode and opacity (doubleclick the icon to the filter’s right in your Layers panel to open the blending options dialog), or delete it.

CONVERT TO SMART OBJECT BEFORE RESIZING LAYERS Each time you summon Free Transform and resize layer content, you lose quality. Resize too many times,

IF YOU’RE CREATING A SOFT SELECTION—SAY, FOR A SOFT OVAL VIGNETTE COLLAGE— CREATE THE SELECTION AND THEN ADD A LAYER MASK and the content becomes unrecognizable. To preserve quality, convert the layer(s) into a smart object as described earlier or choose File → Open as Smart Object in the first place. That way you can resize content till the cows come home without making pixel pudding.

FEATHER THE MASK, NOT THE SELECTION The Properties panel’s masking settings include a Feather slider that lets you perform non-destructive, adjustable feathering. If you’re trying to create a soft selection—say, for a soft oval vignette collage—create the selection and then add a layer mask. In your Layers panel, double-click the mask to open the Properties panel and drag the Feather slider rightward for pure, nondestructive feathering on the fly.

GET OUT OF PHOTOSHOP SOMETIMES Omnipotent as it may seem, Photoshop isn’t suitable for everything. If you’re setting tons of text or creating multi-page documents, use a pro137

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gram like Pages or InDesign. Likewise, it’s far easier to perform some edits in Lightroom, another part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud. That said, Lightroom-like controls live in the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in: either double-click a raw format image to open it or access a version of it in Photoshop CC by

choosing Filter → Camera Raw Filter. The latter is handy for making color and lighting changes to JPEGs, removing sensor spots, creating custom edge vignettes with the Radial Filter, smoothing skin with the Adjustment Brush set to a negative Clarity setting, and more. ■

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THE PROPERTIES panel’s masking settings include a Feather slider that lets you perform non-destructive, adjustable feathering.

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Photoshop Elements 13 adds timely new stuff for beginners BY LESA SNIDER

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dobe’s consumer-level, hobbyist-targeted image editor, Photoshop Elements, has long been a great next step for those who’ve outgrown iPhoto. It’s great for beginners, yet it gives your skills room to grow—plus it plays nicely with Photoshop Lightroom and is available with a perpetual license. Elements 13 isn’t the most featurepacked upgrade ever, but it’s now Retina display-happy and it’s got some timely new stuff for beginners: creating a personalized Facebook Cover image, crop suggestions, variations on Quick mode’s effects, a new selection refinement tool, three Guided Edits for converting photos to black and white, plus tutorials that are more easily discoverable. There’s even a new Photomerge Compose command that steps you through copying an item in one photo and pasting it into another, with matching lighting, to boot! However, the only offering for experts is the Fill dialog’s new Content Aware option—lovingly lifted from big brother Photoshop CC—that, with the right image, can make removing objects a snap.

ORGANIZER UPDATES Elements 13 is now optimized so that its interface and your photos are much sharper on Retina displays. If you use it to import and manage photos, the first noticeable changes are in the Organizer. An eLive button gives you access to online tutorials

and photographic inspiration (the button’s available in the Editor, too), as well as a direct link to the Adobe Elements online support page. Media view now displays photos flush against each other in a grid, sans image details (ratings, capture date, etc.) or the Organizer’s gray background. Albums and folders sport their own tabs, enabling you to view them separately. Opening the Tags panel—to add keywords, face, place, and event info—reveals checkboxes to each tag’s left, making them easier to apply. Slideshow creation was also simplified, and you can now use any email program to send photos from Elements.

FACEBOOK COVER IMAGES In the Elements 13 Editor, you’ll find a Facebook Cover command in the Create menu that summons a variety of photo themes you can use to create a custom Facebook page cover and profile image. Clicking a theme downloads it from Adobe’s servers, enabling them to add new ones. Once you pick a theme, Elements opens it in a new, correctly140

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sized document and plops open photos into the template’s image slots. You can drag to reposition photos within frames or rearrange them from one frame to another, and a handy slider lets you change a photo’s zoom level. You can edit any text the template includes or add your own, and you can take control of the design by using the Graphics panel or by entering Advanced Mode, which reveals Expert mode’s Layers and Tools panels. Click the Upload button and Elements sends the imagery to your Facebook album and plays a video instructing you on how to apply the imagery. Unfortunately, there’s no API that lets

Elements tunnel into Facebook and change profile and cover images. In comparison, iPhoto can change your profile image, but not your cover image, nor can you create the latter in iPhoto.

NEW EFFECTS VARIATIONS AND GUIDED EDITS The popular Effects in Quick mode now include four variations on each of the 10 effects, for a total of 50 single-click treatments. Switch to Expert mode and you’ll find the effects applied to a duplicate layer, complete with a layer mask that, with some skill, lets you hide the effect from parts of your image. iPhoto’s effects are adolescent in comparison 141

ELEMENTS 13 lets you create a profile and cover image that are more reflective of your personality, complete with text. The zoom slider is circled here.

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and they can only be applied to the whole photo. Guided mode also got three new edits involving black and white. B&W Color Pop lets you pick a color to “pop” (remain in color) from four presets—red, yellow, blue or green— while the rest of the photo goes grayscale, something that’s impossible in iPhoto. To isolate a different

color (say, purple), use the Select Custom Color eyedropper. The Fuzziness slider lets you tell Elements 13 how picky to be regarding what remains in color; drag left for fewer tones or right for more. Handy Add and Subtract buttons in the Refine Effect section let you easily fine-tune the behind-the-scenes masking.

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CLICKING AN EFFECT in Elements 13’s Quick mode presents you with four variation thumbnails, circled here in the Pencil Sketch category.

Worldmags.net The B&W Selection edit walks you through using the Quick Selection tool to hide the black and white effect from certain spots in your image (also impossible in iPhoto), and a useful Invert checkbox lets you reverse what’s in color and what isn’t. The Black and White edit converts an image to black and white, and lets you add a diffuse glow for a more ethereal look.

EXPERT MODE IMPROVEMENTS Grab the Crop tool in Expert mode and Elements 13 analyzes your photo for content (faces and horizon lines) and displays four crop suggestion thumbnails in the Options bar, nice starting points for beginners. Any aspect ratio restriction you make is preserved in the crop suggestions. The Quick Selection tool inherited a Refine Selection Brush that lets you drag across selection edges to have Elements 13 reanalyze them. As you drag, the brush switches between add or subtract modes based where you drag (inside or outside of the selection); the inner circle of the brush cursor snaps more closely to edges and the outer circle produces softer edge-snapping. The brush also has an edge smoothing mode which keeps selections from being so jagged. (iPhoto can’t make selections at all.) A new Photomerge Compose command nestled in the Enhance

THE CROP TOOL IN EXPERT MODE ANALYZES YOUR PHOTO AND DISPLAYS FOUR CROP SUGGESTION THUMBNAILS IN THE OPTIONS BAR. menu helps you cut something out of one photo and paste it into another, also impossible task in iPhoto. It uses a combination of the Quick Selection tool, the new Refine Selection Brush, and an Outline tool that detects edges as you drag. Elements copies and pastes the object into another photo, where you can reposition and resize it. You also get masking controls enabling you to hide or reveal extra bits, which is great if you didn’t have a good selection to start with. The Auto Match Color Tone button helps you match lighting conditions between the photos, though you can adjust lighting manually via four sliders. There’s also a new Content Aware option in the Fill dialog box, which is pure magic for removing objects from photos. Simply put, Elements analyzes pixels surrounding your selection and then intelligently fills it. If you have plenty of free background pixels around the selection (grass, sky and so on), it works wonders! While you can remove very small items using iPhoto’s Retouch brush, you can’t really zap anything larger. 143

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BOTTOM LINE If you’ve exhausted iPhoto, or if you’re a beginner looking to be more creative, Elements 13 gives you some very nice new features; however, with enough skill, you can

do all of that stuff in version 12’s Expert mode. That said, if Elements’ old photo email system drove you crazy, or if you routinely remove objects from your photos, you’ll benefit from the upgrade. ■

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ONCE YOU GET the hang of using the Refine Selection Brush (circled) it can be helpful, though you’ll still need the Refine Edge dialog box’s more powerful controls for selecting hair or fur.

Worldmags.net Adobe Premiere Elements 13 turns your home videos into something worth watching BY J.R. BOOKWALTER

SINCE WE TEND to shoot overly long clips, Favorite Moments is a way to mark the parts that really matter.

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f you need proof of Apple’s waning interest in consumer video editing on the Mac, look no further than the latest iMovie update, whose most noteworthy recent “feature” is an “updated look for OS X Yosemite.” Thankfully, Adobe is all too happy to pick up this torch and run with it, thanks to a new annual update to Premiere Elements. Last year’s version awkwardly coupled the software to the cloud by way of Adobe Revel (a union which remains sadly untouched 12 months later), but also introduced features like Guided Edits, which provided step-by-step guidance for video editing tasks. Adobe Premiere Elements 13 follows suit with more of the same, turning home videos from blasé to blockbuster.

FAVORITE MOMENTS

upper-right corner of that section. After you make your adjustments, Favorite Moments assembles selects into an entirely new combined clip. By default, PE13 intelligently adds a brief transition between shots to help them flow smoothly, but you can disable this option in the Settings prior to leaving Favorite Moments mode. You also have the option to place moments onto a timeline as individual clips, should you want to insert additional footage.

By far my favorite feature of PE13 is Favorite Moments. Perfectly suited to overly long clips we all tend to shoot while on vacation or family events, this option allows you to play a single clip while marking only the moments actually worth using. Favorite Moments appear highlighted in yellow, and you can rewind or start over as needed to make sure you’ve selected all the best bits. The beauty of this feature is that it doesn’t require the kind of precision typical of video editing applications— you can adjust the in and out points after playback or even remove them entirely by clicking the X in the 146

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For many people, this rapid-fire distillation of footage may be all that’s needed to share with loved ones, especially when adding a quick music track or fade in/out is just a few clicks away. I’d love to see Adobe bring this kind of functionality to an iPhone app, since that’s where most of us actually shoot such footage now.

HERE’S THE STORY Along the same lines as Favorite Moments, PE13’s new Video Story makes it easy to encapsulate life events into polished movies, complete with titles and music to suit the most common occasions: Birthday,

Graduation, Travel, Wedding, and General, which you can use to construct movies that won’t fit into a more specific category. A variety of prebuilt templates cover a wide range of styles; clicking Get Started will download any required content from Adobe’s servers. After selecting photos or videos to import, PE13 presents a storyboard broken into different chapters, and you drag and drop to add your content. Premiere Elements 13 then takes over, selecting the best parts of each clip, and then adding transitions and music to suit the desired mood. You can add or delete chapters as 147

THE BEST MOMENTS are just a few clicks away, thanks to Premiere Elements 13’s new Favorite Moments mode.

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necessary, and rearrange assets within the chapters until everything is just right. I didn’t find Video Story quite as useful as Favorite Moments, mostly because this feature keeps the user at arm’s length from the editing process. Although it’s not my cup of tea, novices will find it useful for throwing together home movies with a splash of style, assuming they don’t mind relinquishing more control over the end result.

EDITING WITH IMPACT Building upon the Guided Edits

feature introduced last year, Premiere Elements 13 adds several new options, including the ability to place moving video inside of titles, and to use a mask to apply effects to select portions of the screen. Guided Edits are also a great way to get up to speed with PE13, which includes a five-minute “crash course” on adding clips, arranging them in a sequence, and other editing features. Adobe makes the process quite painless using bright yellow arrows and markups, which are overlaid onto various parts of the screen to prompt you to complete each step.

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ONCE YOU’VE CHOSEN a Video Story template and loaded it with content, Premiere Elements 13 will do the rest.

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Another feature enhanced in this version is Shake Stabilizer, which now offers a “Quick” mode to help owners of action cams like GoPro smooth out shaky footage without having to wait forever for the software to process shots. This kind of trick is never flawless, but in my tests, PE13 delivered good results in far less time than the previous version. Along the same lines, Premiere Elements 13 has performed some coding voodoo, which makes saving finished movies faster than ever— there’s far less rendering required to preview and export, a welcome change. Last but certainly not least, the software now includes support for Macs with Retina displays, so photos and videos appear sharp as a tack.

ELEMENTS LIVE If you’ve ever felt stuck in the middle of an editing project with nowhere to turn, Adobe feels your pain, and has added a new, dynamically updated channel called Elements Live to both Premiere Elements 13 and Elements Organizer, which is also included with Photoshop Elements. Available from the eLive tab, Elements Live is intended to be a central hub for quick tips and tutorials, and also as a place where you can gather inspiration from the work of others and maybe pick up a few new tricks in the process. Curated by Adobe, eLive is focused strictly on Premiere and Photoshop Elements, which should help cut down on the noise from traditional search engines. 149

ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 13 users can now use masks to selectively apply effects to portions of a photo or video.

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To further refine which content is viewed on eLive, a menu on the left side of the content bar lets you filter by specific channels—Learn, Inspire, or News. At first release, eLive features a 50/50 mix of new feature education, along with several entries focusing on the creation of outdoor videos. While it’s a nice idea, Elements Live didn’t exactly knock my socks off—clicking web-based content opens it in the default browser, taking my focus away from the task at hand. I’d prefer to see an in-app browser for distraction-free viewing, along

with options to connect relevant information more directly into existing features like Guided Edits.

BOTTOM LINE While it may not be the most featurerich upgrade in Premiere Elements history, version 13 delivers a one-two punch for videomakers looking for ever-faster ways to spice up home movies with Favorite Moments and Video Story—and it’s refreshing to see Adobe seeding the software with innovative new features while the grass continues to grow around iMovie’s feet. ■

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ELEMENTS LIVE provides dynamically updated educational and inspirational content, but ultimately pulls you away from the task at hand.

Worldmags.net HELP DESK

Answering Your Questions and Sharing Your Tips About Getting the Most From Your Mac

Mac 911

Solutions to your most vexing Mac problems. BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN

How to make copies of all your old camera’s pictures Q: I’ve had a number of digital cameras over the years and I’m interested in retrieving all the images shot with a particular one. Any suggestions how I might find them? Kevin Kinkaid

A: I have two, in fact. The first is to open iPhoto, choose File → New Smart Album, and in the sheet that appears create a condition that reads Any Text Contains [camera model], where the last entry is the model iPhoto recognizes for your camera. (If you’re not sure how iPhoto identifies your 151

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camera, just select an image taken with it and click the Info button at the bottom-right of the iPhoto window. In the resulting Info pane look near the top for the model number.) This is the easy way to do it. However, it may not be the best way. When I tried this with images taken with an old Nikon Coolpix 950, iPhoto produced not only the original images, but some thumbnails as well. (The blame for this can be laid at my feet as I apparently performed some import goofiness years ago and cluttered up my iPhoto library with these things.) One way to eliminate this would be to additionally filter images by their size. If I set the bar high enough, none of thumbnails would appear. Regrettably, iPhoto’s smart albums don’t let you use size as a condition. Automator, however, does. And that’s the other option. Launch Automator and from the workflow template select Workflow and click Choose. In the Finder, navigate to your iPhoto Library archive (found in youruserfolder/Pictures, by default), Controlclick (right-click) on it, and choose Show Package Contents. From within this folder drag the Masters folder into the Automator workflow area. This will create a Get Specified Finder Items action. While still in the Finder create a new folder and call it “Copied Images.” In Automator select Files & Folders from the Library pane and drag the

following actions into the workflow area: Get Folder Contents, Filter Finder Items, and Copy Finder Items. In the Get Folder Contents action enable the Repeat for each subfolder found option. For the Filter Finder Items action create one condition that reads Any content contains [camera model] (again, entering your camera model). Click the plus (+) button to the right and create another condition that reads Size is greater than 750KB. This should eliminate any thumbnails. Configure this action to read All of the following are true. Finally, move back to the Finder and drag the Copied Images folder you created to the To pop-up menu found in the last action. You can save the workflow, but if this is a one-shot deal, click the Run button at the top of the window. The workflow will copy all the larger images taken with that particular camera into your Copied Images folder.

How to keep iCloud Keychain from adding old email accounts Q: Since I upgraded to Yosemite, the Mail app has started asking for passwords for accounts that I no longer use. I didn’t add them when I first set up Yosemite. What’s going on? Carrie Lane 152

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A: iCloud Keychain is what’s going on. At one time you added these accounts to another device you own. When you enabled iCloud Keychain on that device, it made note of these accounts. When you then set up Yosemite and enabled iCloud Keychain on your Mac, iCloud—thinking it was doing you a favor—added those old accounts. Regrettably there’s no way to edit out this kind of thing in iCloud Keychain—where you can dictate “Sync this one, but not that one.” But hope isn’t entirely lost. As I suggest below (see next question), you can often put iCloud Keychain to rights by switching it off on every device associated with it, locating the device that has just the information you want synced, configuring iCloud on that device, enabling iCloud Keychain on that device, and then enabling it on your other devices. iCloud should update all your devices with the information from the “master” device. But email accounts are trickier because sometimes we want one collection of accounts on Device A and a different collection on Device B. (When Device A is your personal Mac and Device B is your Mac at work, for example.) The Internet Accounts system preference provides a way to deal with this. Open it up, select an account that you don’t want to use on your Mac, and click the minus (–) button at the

bottom of the accounts pane. A sheet will appear that offers three options— Remove From All, Cancel, and Turn Off Account. Click Turn Off Account and you should see no evidence of this account in the future. If, for one reason or another, that doesn’t work, you can simply disable any options the account has—switch off Mail, Contacts, and Calendars, for instance.

What to do when iCloud Keychain fails to sync Q: When upgrading to OS X Yosemite on my iMac I took your advice (go.macworld.com/install) and installed it on an external drive. I like it so far, but even though I’ve switched on and verified Keychain in the iCloud system preference, Safari doesn’t know about my previously saved passwords. When I launch Safari, open its preferences, and click on the Passwords tab, the 153

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area below is empty. Is there some file I need to copy from Mavericks to make this work? David Collins

A: You needn’t do that. Rather, you just have to give iCloud Keychain a not-so-subtle nudge. Apple outlines the steps for doing so in its Get Help Using iCloud Keychain (go.macworld. com/keychain) document. What Apple suggests is that you switch off iCloud Keychain on all devices that use it. Then, figure out which of your devices has the most up-to-date list of your passwords and switch on Keychain for that device. And finally, turn on iCloud Keychain for all your other devices. This should cause Safari to produce the passwords you’re looking for. As someone who’s dealt with this issue (and one who also has more than a handful of devices that use iCloud Keychain) I might suggest that you first try a shorter route. And that would be to switch off Keychain on your Yosemite drive, restart your Mac from the Mavericks drive, switch Keychain off and on, switch back to your Yosemite drive, and enabled Keychain there. If you’re successful (as I have been) you’ve saved I-don’t-knowhow-many trips to Settings/System Preferences on your other devices and countless keystrokes as you reenter your password and verify

iCloud Keychain on another device.

One email tip every Mac user should know

Q: I upgraded my iPad mini to iOS 8, and suddenly an accidental left swipe mysteriously wipes out an email message. A gentle left-swipe displays More, Flag, and Trash options, but a quicker swipe produces a brief narrow red line, and poof! the message is gone into cyberspace. Can you help? Nancy Hilton

A: I can. As you’ve rightly deduced, this is a behavior introduced with iOS 8, and it works across iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. It was a notion Apple introduced with the idea that it’s an easy way to quickly delete messages. The problem is that if you’re a little too frisky in your swiping you can accidentally delete messages. For IMAP accounts these messages should appear in the Trash folder of the associated account. Just navigate back to that folder and move the messages back to the Inbox. But that’s tedious when there’s an easier way. 154

SHAKE YOUR DEVICE to easily retrieve a deleted message.

Worldmags.net Shake it. And by “it” I mean your iPad (or iPhone or iPod touch). This is the “undo” gesture that far too many of us forget about. When you’ve inadvertently deleted a message, give your iPad a vigorous shake and an Undo Trash window should appear. Tap Undo and the message will reappear. (I say “should” because while this works very well with my iPhone, it can be hit-or-miss on my iPad Air.) “But hold the darned phone (or iPad)!” I hear protested. “Within the Mail, Contacts, Calendar setting there’s an Ask Before Deleting switch.

Surely if you enable that switch you’ll be queried before another message vanishes!” Ah, but no. This switch applies only to those situations where you tap a message to reveal it and then tap on the Trash icon at the bottom of the screen. It won’t interfere with swipe-deletions. Likewise, although you can tap Swipe Options in the Mail, Contacts, Calendars setting; tap Swipe Left; and then tap None; this doesn’t prevent the rapid swipe gesture from deleting messages. It only allows you to switch the Flag option on or off. ■

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