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NEW! iPadOS 15, Make your docs awesome with iOS 15, macOS Monterey & more Pages for Mac

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O T E D I U G E T E L P M O THE C

AUGUST 2021 NO.183

Y H P A R G O T O PH mazing shots a re tu p a c & ls il k s to o Upgrade your iOS ph

Secrets of iPadOS

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HOW TO:

Master Misson Control Tidy up files in macOS Find & fix any Mac issues Make music on your iPad

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Editor’s opinion

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

It feels as if every time Apple announces a new event, there’s always a plague of disappointment when the company doesn’t produce the goods that the tech Twitterati has been rumoring for months beforehand. It’s as if we have this misguided illusion that Apple only makes products or services to suit what we want, and when we want it. And that’s exactly what happened at this year’s WWDC event. Instead of accepting that this event was primarily set up in mind to showcase new software developments to, well, developers, the general public was enraged when Apple chose to only reveal the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS, and not give us a sneak peak of some up–and–coming shiny new hardware. The thing is — Apple does the same OS updates at WWDC every year, come on guys and gals! That shiny new thing in question was the rumored new MacBook Pro or Mac Pro. They didn’t happen, so the event received a lot of negative online press from naysayers. I think that’s probably an indication we’ve either become too spoiled, or the Covid crisis has just made us desperate for anything good to happen.

OK, so OS updates aren’t always the most exciting thing in the world, and I think what didn’t help matters was the fact that the changes this time round weren’t really that big of a deal. At least, not as big of a deal as the move from iOS/iPadOS 13 to 14, and more so — the giant leap from macOS 10.15 to macOS 11. They’re certainly not bad updates, by any means, and you should totally check them out in our roundup of WWDC 2021 on page 8, but a precedence has been set, and expectations were high. I do agree that Apple’s bluster over the FaceTime enhancements felt a little late to the (FaceTime) party, being that we’ve now finally got to a point with battling Coronavirus that a return to normality, with all the IRL face–to–face you could ever want, is just around the corner. What do you think of the new updates? Does it make you excited to use your devices, or hungry for more? Let me know.

>>>THE TEAM

Matt Lochrie

Art Editor Matt wants to know where his Apple Glasses are? It’s only been the third time they’ve been rumored.

Olivia Weaver

Production Editor Olivia has been busy attempting to write an IT joke into the copy. Step aside Ricky Gervais!

George Cairns

NICK ODANTZIS, Editor Twitter: @maclife

Contributor Got the gear, but no idea?

George will show you how to unlock the magic hidden inside your iPhone camera.

AUG 2021 3

AUG 2021 NO.183

14

How to become an expert iPhone photographer

Discover how to master the controls and settings in your iPhone (and Photos app) to capture brilliant shots.

4 AUG 2021

MACLIFE.COM

30

Secrets of iPadOS

There are plenty of new features, tweaks, and improvements in iPadOS 14. We show you how to make the most of them with these tips and tricks.

68

Beginner’s Guides: Pages

Apple’s word–processing and page layout tool is often overlooked, but it’s both powerful and easy to use. Find out how to create great–looking documents.

57 — Infuse 7

54 — OnMail

56 — Planny 5

03 Consider

GEAR UP

APP LIFE

40 iPad Pro 44 Apple TV 4K (2021) 45 Drop + THX Panda Wireless Headphones 46 Movo UM700 48 Group test: Best outdoor Bluetooth speakers

54 OnMail — Fast & Simple Email 56 Planny 5 57 Infuse 7 58 Bike Baron 2 59 Shelter 3 59 DropOver 4.2 60 Filmage Video Converter 61 Drafts 26 62 WaveLab Cast 63 Coloraid 63 WaterMinder 64 Best Watch apps to make your iPhone even better 66 Best of the best

The editor on feeling deflated by Apple events

06 Digital Life

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07 Share

Email us your views at letters@maclife.com

08 WWDC 2021 event

Apple unveils the new iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey updates

12 The Shift

Matt Bolton doesn't want augmented reality to be a slide show in his head

40

Mac|Life’s pick of the best apps and hardware for Mac and iOS

44 Image rights, clockwise from top–left: Edison Software, Kevin Reutter, Firecore.

74 Expert advice

Our tech hotshot solves your Mac and iOS problems

80 Surf safer in Safari 82 Sort your Mac with Folder Tidy 84 Identify and solve Mac issues 86 Master Mission Control 88 Back up your iPhone or iPad the right way 90 Stream media on your devices with AirPlay 92 Make music in iOS 94 Cut food waste with the Kitche app 96 How it works: 120Hz displays

RAM

98 AirPort Express

AUG 2021 5

Stay up to date with the

latest Apple news

EDITORIAL EDITOR Nick Odantzis ART EDITOR Matt Lochrie PRODUCTION EDITORS Iain Noble, Olivia Weaver GROUP PRODUCTION EDITOR Steve Wright GROUP ART DIRECTOR Jo Gulliver CONTRIBUTORS Alex Blake, Matt Bolton, JR Bookwalter, George Cairns, Alex Cox, Craig Grannell, Kenny Hemphill, Charlotte Henry, Hollin Jones, Cliff Joseph, Carrie Marshall, Rob Mead–Green, Howard Oakley, Nick Peers, Alex Summersby ART ART CONTRIBUTORS Apple PHOTOGRAPHY Bath Photo Studio — Phil Barker COVER IMAGE CREDITS: Apple, Sonos DIGITAL EDITION ART EDITOR Matt Smith DIGITAL EDITION SUB Rob Mead–Green Future US, Inc. 15th Floor, 11 W 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036, USA www.futureus.com BUSINESS US CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Luke Edson, luke.edson@futurenet.com EAST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Brandie Rushing, brandie.rushing@futurenet.com EAST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Michael Plump, michael.plump@futurenet.com EAST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Victoria Sanders, victoria.sanders@futurenet.com EAST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Melissa Planty, melissa.planty@futurenet.com EAST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Elizabeth Fleischman, elizabeth.fleischman@futurenet.com WEST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Austin Park, austin.park@futurenet.com WEST COAST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Jack McAuliffe, jack.mcauliffe@futurenet.com DIRECTOR, CLIENT SERVICES Tracy Lam tracy.lam@futurenet.com ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Sheri Taubes INTERNATIONAL Mac|Life is available for licensing and syndication. Contact the International department to discuss partnership opportunities HEAD OF PRINT LICENSING Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER Penny Ladkin–Brand CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Angie O’Farrell CHIEF AUDIENCE & ECOMMERCE OFFICER Aaron Asadi MD TECH SPECIALIST Keith Walker GROUP EDITOR–IN–CHIEF Graham Barlow FINANCE DIRECTOR MAGAZINES & SUBSCRIPTIONS Dan Jotcham PRINT & PRODUCTION HEAD OF PRODUCTION UK & US Mark Constance SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER Matthew Eglinton PRODUCTION MANAGER Frances Twentyman PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Emily Wood AD PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Emma Thomas SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE Mac|Life Customer Care, PO Box 5852, Harlan, IA 51593–1352.

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Your opinions, rants & raves

I’m really surprised that you wrote in the May 2021 issue on page 19 that “you can’t decide to upload some but not all of your photos — it is an all–or–nothing deal.” Then you go on to describe how to create shared photo albums. Shared Albums is in fact exactly how you upload only some of your photos to iCloud. This is how I have been sharing my reference photos for watercolor paintings to and from iPhone, iPad, and iMac. You simply create a shared photo album that only you use. It’s very simple: In your iCloud settings for Photos, skip over iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream; just enable Shared Albums. Then create a Shared Album and add only the images you need in iCloud. They will then appear in the same shared album on all your devices. I’ve never understood why anyone would want to upload all their photos to iCloud since it’s now so easy to create numerous useless photos. Shared Albums is the way to put only your best into a potentially costly storage solution. I’ve been doing this for years and have yet to exceed my free iCloud storage.

ANN NUNZIATA It’s a good tip, Ann, and you can absolutely use Shared Albums if you so wish without using up your iCloud allowance, because photos stored in these albums don’t count towards your iCloud storage limit. However, this clever workaround does come with a few caveats. Firstly, it’s a manual process, so if you take lots of photos or videos on your iPhone, you’ll have to regularly move them to the right folder yourself, first copying them across and then deleting them afterwards. To make this process less painful, you could always just do this once a year, or whenever you hit your free storage limit. Second, each album has a limit of 5,000 photos and videos, and there’s a limit of 200 albums, though admittedly this would still give you plenty of storage space to work with. Obviously, the easy solution would be just to buy more storage space, but Ann’s idea is definitely worth trying!

A

B

Shortcut solution?

In your April 2021 edition of Mac|Life on page 32 you provide the steps on how to build a “find gas nearby” shortcut. This shortcut is great and would be even more useful if the locations presented as results were listed closest first, or better still if rack location cited the distance from your current location. Would you have any advice on how to add this functionality to the

SHARE WITH US! Image rights: Apple.

shortcut? Great practical articles — thanks!

BRIAN HOLROYD This is actually something Alex, the writer, wanted to include originally but Shortcuts doesn’t appear to have this functionality. It's possible there's an obscure workaround we’re not aware of, but most Shortcuts workarounds out there (generally speaking) require

downloading someone else's shortcut from iCloud, which isn't always a great idea.

Hopefully Apple will add "sort by distance" (and a few other useful sorting options) in a future update.

Where’s that article?

I’m a regular subscriber to Mac|Life. Earlier this year, there was an article on VPN recommendations. I’ve looked through my past issues but cannot find the article. Can you tell me, please, which past month the article was in?

I would be very grateful for the information.

J STERNFELD We did a feature in the June 2021 issue (181) about ways to upgrade Safari, and one of the sections was about boosting your privacy using a VPN, on page 38. Here we’ve recommended some VPNs that are worth trying. That said, at some point in the near future we'll do a full group test of the best VPNs for the Mac.

EMAIL: letters@maclife.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife AUG 2021 7

START THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF APPLE

iOS 15 Next big update

introduced at WWDC

BY ALEX SUMMERSBY

8 AUG 2021

A

T THIS YEAR’S Worldwide Developers Conference — like last year’s, a virtual event — Apple announced major updates to all its software platforms.

In iOS 15, arriving this fall, Spatial Audio is added to FaceTime calls, so each person’s voice sounds as if it’s coming from where that person is located on screen. New mic modes optionally isolate your voice from ambient sounds for clarity, while Portrait mode for video calls blurs the background. A new Grid View in Group FaceTime calls lets you see more faces at a time.

While connected with friends over FaceTime, you can use the new SharePlay feature to listen to songs together in Apple Music, watch TV

shows or movies in sync from Apple TV+ and other streaming services, or share your screen to view apps together. It works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with shared playback controls so anyone in a SharePlay session can play or pause.

For the first time, Android and Windows users can join FaceTime calls, using Chrome or Edge and a link you create and share from iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Like a refinement of Do Not Disturb, the new Focus feature filters notifications and apps according to what you want to focus on. It uses on–device intelligence to suggest which people and apps are allowed to notify you, across all your Apple devices — only work colleagues

Image rights: Apple.

The latest news from the world of Apple

Also announced New and enhanced Maps gets a helpful 3D view with new details, Search is smarter, and privacy is enhanced. during working hours, for example — while other people receive an auto–reply in Messages. You can create custom Home Screen pages with just the relevant apps and widgets for moments of focus.

Notifications has been redesigned and, to help reduce distraction, a new notification summary collects non–time–critical notifications for delivery when you schedule it, arranged in order of priority by on– device intelligence.

On–device AI also powers Live Text, which recognizes text in photos, in seven languages — so you can, for example, copy a recipe by

FaceTime calls get Spatial Audio and new screen layout options, along with SharePlay.

Image rights: Apple.

taking a photo of it, or capture a phone number from a storefront or menu. Visual Look Up promises comparable recognition for objects, identifying art and landmarks round the world, species of flowers, breeds of dogs, actors, and more. Spotlight now uses intelligence to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects, and uses Live Text to read text and handwriting in photos.

Maps is revamped with enhanced details including elevations, new road colors and labels, and 3D landmarks. When driving, you can follow your route in a 3D view with new details like turn lanes and crosswalks; on foot, you can scan the area around you with the camera and Maps will generate detailed directions in AR to guide you.

Other apps are also redesigned, including Weather (with graphical displays of data and full–screen maps), Notes (with custom tags and shared notes), and Safari (with a new compact tab bar and Tab Groups for easy access to whole sets of tabs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac).

Wallet gains support for additional types of keys such as offices and hotel rooms, and (later this year) your driver’s license or state ID in participating states in the US.

> PRIVACY CONTROLS ARE enhanced with Mail Privacy Protection to hide your IP address and help stop trackers from snooping on emails, plus an App Privacy Report revealing how your apps are sharing information. With on–device speech recognition, Siri requests are now processed entirely on your device by default for even greater security and faster response. > WITH iOS 15, AirPods now offer Conversation Boost to aid users with hearing difficulties, plus Announce Notifications, enabling Siri to speak notifications and even read you your shopping list when you arrive at the appropriate predefined location. > iCLOUD+ INTRODUCES NEW features including Hide My Email, which generates a unique random address to conceal your real address while it forwards incoming mail, new Account Recovery features, and more. Current iCloud subscribers will be upgraded to iCloud+ automatically at no extra cost this fall. > THE HEALTH APP has a new Walking Steadiness metric, and a new sharing tab enables you to share health data with family, caregivers, or health professionals. Trends tracks personal metrics over time. > HOMEKIT ACCESSORY MAKERS can now enable “Hey Siri” in their products, making it possible for you to talk to Siri and get responses on third–party devices.

AUG 2021 9

>>> Start

iPadOS 15 iPad gets all the new features in iOS 15, and then some

T

HE NEW FEATURES in iOS 15 — including SharePlay, Focus, Safari Tab Groups, and Live Text — are also coming to iPad in iPadOS 15 this fall, plus more. You can now organize and personalize your iPad by placing widgets among app icons on Home Screen pages, including a new larger size widget.

A new App Library automatically organizes your apps into categories such as Productivity, Games, and Recently Added for faster access to apps right from the Dock.

A new multitasking menu appears at the top of apps, making it easier to go into Split View or Slide Over with just a tap, or with an external keyboard you can use new shortcuts

10 AUG 2021

for multitasking. There is quick access to the Home Screen when using Split View, making it easier to get to the app you want. A new “shelf” holds thumbnails of all the open windows in apps for faster switching or quick preview of emails.

Quick Note provides a fast way to jot down a thought or link, anywhere across the system. Quick Notes can be created on iPad or Mac, then accessed and edited in iOS. In the Notes app itself you can add tags to categorize notes, and find them quickly with the all–new Tag Browser and tag–based Smart Folders. If you work with others using shared notes, you can use mentions to notify collaborators and link them back to

the note, and a new Activity view shows recent updates to the note.

The Translate app comes to iPad, iOS, and Mac, with Auto Translate to detect when someone is speaking and in which language. In face–to– face view, you can sit across from someone with iPad between you and each see the conversation translated from your own side. You can download languages for translation even when offline, and it works system–wide, in any app — just select the text and tap Translate. It works on handwritten text and, with Live Text, even on text in photos.

Image rights: Apple.

The latest news from the world of Apple

watchOS 8

macOS Monterey Coming to a computer near you

A

S APPLE’S PLATFORMS continue to converge, the hot new features in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are also coming to the Mac in macOS Monterey this fall.

The Focus feature helps you stay in the moment by filtering out notifications unrelated to your current activity. FaceTime includes spatial audio, optional voice isolation, Portrait mode video, and SharePlay. Safari has a new, compact tab design with Tab Groups to organize tabs, and these sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Quick Notes make it easy to jot down ideas or links, and Notes gains tags, tag–based Smart Folders, and mentions.

In addition, Shortcuts arrives on the Mac, enabling you to automate many tasks, with a range of pre–built actions designed just for Mac and a Shortcuts Editor to customize and create more. Automator is still supported, and Automator workflows can be imported into Shortcuts.

Shortcuts works throughout macOS, including the menu bar, Finder, Spotlight, and even hands–free with Siri.

A new Universal Control feature enables you to use your Mac keyboard and mouse to control both your Mac and your iPad seamlessly — the iPad behaves much like an extended Desktop on a second monitor, and you can drag–and–drop content back and forth between devices.

AirPlay to Mac enables you to stream from iPhone or iPad right to your Mac’s Retina display, playing movies, presentations, and games on its larger screen, and use a Mac’s high–fidelity sound system as an AirPlay speaker.

Image rights: Apple.

> WATCHOS 8 BRINGS new access, connectivity, and mindfulness features to Apple Watch.

A new Portraits watch face includes some clever face recognition and cropping options to create a variety of immersive, multilayered effects. The redesigned Photos app has new ways to view and navigate collections and sync to Apple Watch.

The Contacts app comes to Apple Watch, so you can browse, add, edit, and share contacts directly.

With new tools in Messages you can combine Scribble, dictation, and emoji within a message.

WatchOS 8 introduces new Tai Chi and Pilates workout types, and you can now stop and resume an in–progress workout in the Fitness app. A new Mindfulness app incorporates an enhanced Breathe experience plus a new session type, called Reflect. Apple Watch can now measure your sleeping respiratory rate, and this can be viewed over time in the Health app on iPhone and shared, along with other health–related data.

With Ultra Wideband support for digital car keys on Apple Watch Series 6, you’ll be able to unlock a car at a distance and start it from the driver’s seat. Plus, add keys for your home, office, and hotel room (with compatible locks) to Wallet and tap your Apple Watch to unlock.

With the redesigned Home app, you can control accessories by room from your Apple Watch, connect to a HomeKit–enabled camera to view who is at the door, and tap Intercom to broadcast a message on HomePod, HomePod mini, or other personal devices throughout the home.

There’s a new Find Items app to locate tagged items, and a Find Devices app to locate lost Apple devices signed in with the same Apple ID. AUG 2021 11

>>> Start

>MATT THE SHIFT BOLTON doesn’t want augmented reality to be a slide show in his head… he wants something much messier

A

PPLE’S IDEA THAT augmented reality (AR) is maybe the most important technology of the future continues unabated. In a new interview with The New York Times, Tim Cook talked about how it could be used to improve conversations between two people.

“You and I are having a great conversation right now,” he said to interviewer Kara Swisher, “Arguably, it could even be better if we were able to augment our discussion with charts or other things to appear.”

Would it, Tim? Are we 100% sure about that? He’s used the word “arguably”, so I guess there’s wriggle room, but honestly there are very few conversations with another human where I’ve just wished there could be charts as

Apple’s next big AR play is said to be a “Mixed Reality” headset with cameras and a screen.

part of it. Not just charts — I think if someone started using reaction GIFs or emoji to emphasize their point in AR while I was talking to them, I might snap my Apple Glasses™ in two right on my head.

I thought that Tim maybe meant that it could be useful for him to be able to throw up charts or graphics for an audience to see during a conversation on stage, and then I realized I’d just invented Keynote, and Tim already knows about that.

Now, I can believe that Tim Cook, perhaps the world’s greatest operations manager, really would see being able to put up timelines and visualizations as a boon in many of his conversations. And perhaps so do other Apple execs, and the engineers… but I don’t think it makes it all the way to your average consumer with that raison d’être and lands with anything other than a shrug. Right now, I don’t think there’s a big pent–up demand for AR — the only uses of it I’ve seen are people playing with Pokemon Go or that Ikea furniture app.

There’s this idea that we’d all love glasses that tell us everything about the person we’re talking to, or topic under discussion. But I only like this idea when I’ve forgotten someone’s name. The rest of the time, it feels

I am still waiting for a killer AR app on iPhone that I need to use more than once per year. insufferable. I don’t need glasses to correct me if I’m wrong, or even to back me up with stats that show I’m right — especially since we all know that information online can be wrong, and that data can be just as misleading as a sentence.

A few people have talked about how the smartphone is killing the pub debate. A friendly argument over which film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1998 is now so easily solved. Two people with wildly different memories could dine on that for an hour. While I’d love smart glasses that improve this conversation, just telling me the answer doesn’t do that. Is there any future for computing that augments the imprecision of human reality, rather than ironing it out?

>>> Matt is the AV and smart home editor of Future’s flagship technology website T3 and has been charting changes at Apple since his student days. He’s skeptical of tech industry hyperbole, but still gets warm and fuzzy on hearing “one more thing.”

12 AUG 2021

Image rights: Apple.

SPOTLIGHT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH…

iPod 3G (2003)

The third generation of iPod shifted the four control buttons from around the scroll wheel to above it, and also introduced us to the 30– pin dock connector.

BECOME AN

EXPERT iPHONE

PHOTOGRAPHER Discover how to master the controls and settings in your iPhone (and Photos app) to capture well–composed, correctly exposed and artifact–free shots WRITTEN BY GEORGE CAIRNS WE ALL LOVE taking photos on our iPhones — but are we making the best of them? Over the next 13 pages we’ll show you how to avoid the “rubbish in, rubbish out” syndrome by improving the quality of the images that you shoot, then explain how to make them look even better courtesy of the iOS or macOS versions of Apple’s Photos. (And we’ll look at some third–party Camera apps along the way.)

Newer iPhones give DSLR

(Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras a run for their money.

For example, iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pro users can switch from telephoto to wide to ultra–wide in a few taps (capturing moments that a DSLR user might miss while they manually swap detachable lenses).

Thanks to the new Apple ProRAW format, iPhone 12 users can capture more info about a subject’s colors and tones, narrowing the image quality gap between iPhone and DSLR. The

iPhone has the edge when it comes to exposure thanks to Smart HDR 3, which uses machine learning to combine multiple exposures that reveal maximum detail in different parts of the scene (even when you capture in ProRAW).

In this feature we’ll show you tips, tricks and techniques to help you improve the composition and quality of your photos as well mimic DSLR looks such as slow shutter motion blur!

CAMERA APP OPTIONS GO RAW Tap here to toggle between capturing compressed quality formats such as JPEG or higher quality Apple ProRAW format files.

ASPECT RATIO Tap to change the shape of the frame. 4:3 creates a cropped image.

16:9 captures shots that fill the display (or a widescreen TV).

CHEVRON Tap here to toggle between displaying the shooting modes and their additional options (such as Portrait mode’s f–stop slider).

TIMER Tap to select a 3s or 10s countdown that triggers the back camera to grab a burst of 10 images.

Perfect for family selfies.

EXPOSURE ADJUSTMENT Go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and turn on Exposure Adjustment. Then you can tap here to summon the Exposure slider.

FRONT CAMERA Tap to switch to the front– facing camera to capture a selfie. You can shoot selfies in every mode apart from Pano.

LENS SELECTION Tap to jump between ultra–wide (0.5x), wide (1x) and telephoto (2.5x) on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Other iPhones only go up to 2.0.

Image rights: Apple.

PREVIEW In 4:3 mode you can preview areas outside the frame to help compose a shot. (See the box on page 16 for the settings).

AUG 2021 15

>>> The complete guide to iPhone photography Shooting in Pano mode helps you capture a wider field of view.

Perfect for urban landscapes.

PORTRAIT & LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY You can take incredible photos on your iPhone. Here’s how…

PORTRAITS AND LANDSCAPES are common subjects for a photo, but it can be a challenge to capture decent pictures of these subjects. When we view a snap of a landscape it is often disappointing as it rarely matches up to our memory of the scene. This can be because our peripheral vision takes in a wider field of view than the iPhone’s lens, especially in a narrow 4:3–shaped photo. To capture more of a landscape you can set the Camera app to the Pano shooting mode. This enables you to pan the iPhone left to right (or right to left by tapping the arrow icon) to include more of the landscape. As you pan, the

Camera app stitches the video feed together to produce a wider panoramic image. However, the hit–and–miss Pano mode can lead to some ugly artifacts. If a person moves during your pan then parts

The Rule of Thirds grid helps you create a more classically considered composition.

of their face may become distorted due to the auto stitching process. If you tilt the iPhone during the pan then you may get jagged black blocks of missing detail at the top and bottom of the frame. The straight lines of a building can also appear curved when shot with the Pano mode.

An effective alternative to shooting in Pano mode is to go back to the Camera app’s Photo mode and tap the chevron (see annotation 2 on page 15) to reveal the aspect ratio controls (annotation 5).

By changing 4:3 to 16:9 you can capture a wider shot that better suits the landscape subject. By switching to the ultra–wide (0.5x) lens you’ll capture even

> Common photography mistakes and how to avoid them YOUR iPHONE’S CAMERA app works hard to capture correctly exposed colors and details in different parts of the frame, but you can give it a helping hand to avoid common mistakes. Be aware of how you’re holding the iPhone. Your finger may inadvertently appear in shot if it obscures one of the three lenses. For example, the frame can be finger–free when you shoot using the Telephoto (2.5x) and Wide angle (1x) lenses, only appearing in shot when you tap to access the Ultra Wide angle. If you do capture an obscuring finger then the only cure is to crop it out using the Photos app’s Crop 16 AUG 2021

tool. A blast of flash can cause a subject’s eyes to glow with a case of “red eye.”

Fortunately the latest iPhones work well in low light so the auto–flash is unlikely to be triggered. Tap the Photos app’s Flash icon just in case to make sure that it stays off. When snapping candid street photos switch the iPhone to silent mode to mute the tell–tale shutter button sound effect. Go to Settings > Camera > Composition and turn on View Outside the Frame. This will help you keep (or hide) particular objects as you compose your shot, so you’re less likely to frame a lamppost growing out of a subject’s head.

Here the Telephoto and Wide lenses are clear but an obscuring finger will appear when you switch to Ultra Wide.

Image rights: Apple.

BEST iPHONE PHOTO APPS

FILMIC FIRSTLIGHT $7.99 filmicpro.com The Ultra Wide angle gives you more choice when composing urban landscape shots. more of the landscape with less distortion than the Pano mode produces.

Classic painters adhered to the Rule of Thirds to produce their landscape– themed masterpieces. If you go to Settings > Camera and toggle on the Grid option in the Composition section then a Rule of Thirds grid will be overlaid on your Camera app’s display. The grid’s nine horizontal and vertical boxes help you arrange a more considered composition.

For example, you could use the grid to help you place sky in the top row, sea in the middle and the land in the bottom row.

The viewer’s eye is also drawn to areas in the frame where the horizontal and vertical lines of the grid intersect, so try placing a subject in these intersecting areas for a more aesthetic and classical composition. In the inserted image (left)

Change exposure more quickly by swiping vertically anywhere in the display, and adjust focus by swiping horizontally.

Clipping warnings tell you which areas are over– or under–exposed and focus clipping tells you which areas are sharp or blurred. You can also use Firstlight to capture raw .dng files on older iPhone models.

HALIDE MK II PS CAMERA Free (IAPs) halide.cam Free (IAPs) adobe.com This Camera app uses focus peaking to check that a subject is sharp or summons a focus loupe magnifier to double–check.

A histogram display helps you capture detail throughout the tonal range. Haptic feedback and an overlay ensures your horizons are never tilted. It also enables you to save in ProRaw on an iPhone 12 Pro.

the Rule of Thirds grid helps us center the landmark. The man is offset to the left where two of the horizontal and vertical grid lines intersect. Placing a person in a landscape helps put the viewer in the picture too.

When it comes to capturing an attractive portrait, DSLR cameras enable you to manually open up the aperture to a wide f–stop setting such as f2.6. This

This is well worth a look if you want to make a splash on social media with creatively filtered photos. You can also replace a dull sky with a more interesting one while you take the shot, or add retro effects such as light leakage and scratches for a more analogue look.

You can also add and fine–tune filters after you’ve taken a picture.

creates a background blur (or bokeh) that removes distractions and helps the eye focus on the subject. If you shoot close to your subject using the telephoto lens then you’ll capture a natural bokeh in Photo mode. The Portrait mode uses a depth map to digitally blur the background, with the added bonus that you can change the strength of the blur after you have snapped the shot.

HOW TO Master bokeh on your iPhone

Set f–stop

Tap to select Portrait mode. Tap the f–stop icon to dial in an aperture value. The lower the number, the blurrier the bokeh will be. Here we’ve gone for f8.0. By default we’re using the Natural Light preset. Take the shot.

Adjust blur

In Photos tap Edit. Tap the f–stop icon. Drag the aperture slider to a larger number (such as f16) to reveal more background detail. Drag it to a smaller number for more blur. The 12 Pro Max can open to a wide f1.4.

Image rights clockwise from top–left: FiLMiC, Lux, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Apple.

Adjust lighting

Tap the hexagonal icon to access the Lighting Effects wheel. Drag to experiment with different studio effects such as the face–modelling Contour Light. Here we’ve gone for Studio Light to brighten the face.

AUG 2021 17

>>> The complete guide to iPhone photography

MASTER LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY Here’s how to get the best results in low light using iPhone 12 models

LOW–LIGHT LOCATIONS can be a challenge for photographers.

The built–in flash only has a short range and tends to create washed– out foreground subjects against jet–black backgrounds. The 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner helps the camera focus in low light without having to zap a blast of flash on your subject. Flash photography is often forbidden in locations such as museums and churches. Fortunately the 12 Pro’s Wide lens can open the aperture to f/1.6, which lets in more light than its other lenses. By letting in more light a lower ISO speed will be required to expose the subject, resulting in less noisy (grainy)

images. 11 and 12 Pro iPhones can automatically activate Night mode in low– light locations. This causes the camera app to use a slower shutter speed, again letting in more light and revealing more detail. The Night mode icon will appear automatically when the light is low. It sets the exposure time automatically but you can tap on the icon to summon a slider that lets you dial in a longer or shorter exposure time. This level of control enables you to capture blur–free shots at night even when shooting handheld. Using a tripod and a longer exposure time you can capture creative effects such as streaks of light from moving cars or distant stars.

> Photo formats explained GO TO THE Settings > Camera > Formats and choose a format.

High Efficiency creates a lighter HEIC image file that takes up less space on your iPhone, but it will suffer from compression artifacts. Most Compatible creates a compressed JPEG that contains more information and is easy to share online. Apple ProRaw file is uncompressed, so it is packed full of data that the Photos app can use to restore missing tonal details without adding artifacts.

ProRAW creates much larger files but produces the best results.

HOW TO Take more control of the Camera app

Night mode

Night mode automatically chooses an exposure time (such as 10 seconds), but you can drag the countdown slider to choose a different duration. During the shot a Hold Still message appears. Keep the cross–hairs aligned to avoid blur.

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Change focus

In Photo mode the iPhone focuses on the closest foreground subject.

However, you can tap on a background object to place the square focus/ exposure reticule on that. Drag the sun icon up or down to tweak exposure.

AE/AF Lock

In contrasting locations the Camera changes exposure to reveal highlight or shadow detail. Hold your finger on the screen to summon the AE/ AF Lock. This preserves detail in a bright sky when you reframe the shot.

Image rights: Apple.

BEST iPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY ACCESSORIES

Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 2.5K $49.99,

DJI OM 4

iXpand Flash Drive Go From £36.99,

Anker iPhone LED Flash $49.95,

belkin.com It’s annoying to run out of battery power when on a shoot, which is more likely if you’re shooting HDR Dolby Vision video. This MagSafe wireless charger will boost the iPhone 12 (and 12 Pro’s) battery and is designed to keep clear of your iPhone’s lenses.

shop.western digital.com This useful gadget’s lightning connector enables you to transfer shots from your iPhone to a flash drive to free up storage space (and perform a back–up of valuable photos while still on location). You can then plug the USB 3.0 connector into your Mac to transfer your images across.

Manual exposure

Exposure is set automatically but it may be useful to tweak it manually in high–contrast locations. Tap the Exposure icon above the shutter button. A dial will appear. Drag to open or close the aperture to reveal desired detail.

$149, dji.com This gimbal enables smooth handheld camera moves (which is useful for older iPhones that don’t stabilize the footage in–camera like the 12 Pro does.) It also comes with a stand and a free app that enables the gimbal to track your moves like a virtual camera operator or perform panning and tilting time–lapses.

amazon.com The iPhone’s built–in flash is weak and creates a washed–out subject. By placing this 4x brighter LED flash at the side of the iPhone you can add a little modelling to your portraits and fill in harsh shadows with the optional diffuser. It also provides extra lighting for video footage.

Zoom wheel

The iPhone 12 Pro Max switches between three lenses with a tap to capture Ultra Wide (0.5x), Wide (1x) and Telephoto (2.5). By dragging on these icons you can summon a zoom wheel that lets you dial in a custom increment.

Image rights, left to right from top: Belkin International, DJI, Vitec Imaging Solutions Spa, Western Digital Corporation, Anker, Canon, Apple.

Manfrotto Mini Tripod with clamp $39.99,

manfrotto.com This tripod and clamp helps you shoot in a more disciplined and considered way. It’s handy for capturing time–lapse sequences or snapping a selfie from a distance. The lockable ball head enables you to easily adjust the iPhone’s angle and capture straight horizons.

Canon SELPHY Square QX10 $129.99,

shop.usa.canon. com Having a print in your hands gives extra value to an iPhone– sourced image. This mobile printer uses Wi–Fi to download your favorite shots from your iPhone. Its dye sublimation printing produces vibrant colors and tones on sticky square format prints with a writable border.

Timer

To put yourself in the picture using the back–facing camera lens, pop the iPhone on a tripod and tap the chevron (or swipe) to summon chevron.

This gives you access to the Timer icon.

Choose a three– or 10–second countdown.

AUG 2021 19

>>> The complete guide to iPhone photography

MASTER VIDEO, SLO-MO, LIVE PHOTO AND MORE Capture the world in motion YOUR iPHONE DOESN’T just take stills. You can also use it to shoot video clips in up to 4K resolution, “live” photos, slo–mo clips, time–lapses and more. The iPhone 12 models can also shoot video in a High Dynamic Range (HDR) Dolby Vision format. This new 10–bit format enables you to capture clips with a wider contrast range and more detail and color than you’ll see in the 8–bit SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) clips captured by older iPhone models. To activate HDR go to Settings > Camera and tap on Record Video. Toggle on the HDR Video (High Efficiency) option. Choose a size such as

1080p HD. When you switch to the Camera app’s Video mode you’ll see an HD icon at the top–left (when shooting in landscape).

Tap on HD to choose a larger 4K resolution. A 4K HDR clip will look amazing

The Slo–Mo mode is a fun way to present fast–moving subjects in a creative way.

Time–lapse footage presents moving subjects such as clouds and water in a more dramatic way. on a 4K HDR TV, with more vibrant colors and richer tones. One downside of shooting and viewing HDR clips on your iPhone is a shortened battery life, so take a charger if you’re on a location shoot.

The iPhone provides many ways to quickly swap from recording video to stills and vice–versa, so you won’t miss a thing!

While filming video footage you can snap a photo by tapping on the white circle next to the red video record icon. (This won’t interrupt the flow of your footage.)

In Photo mode you can drag the shutter button right (or up if you’re holding the phone horizontally) to quickly record video footage. Another quick way to

> Quickly share photos and videos IF YOU CAN’T get to your Mac don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to edit and share your photos and video clips with friends, family and followers directly from your iPhone. Select a photo (or video clip) then tap Edit. Here you have a suite of digital darkroom tools to help you tweak color, tone and composition in a few taps. We’ll cover iOS editing techniques in more detail on the following page. Once you’re happy with the look of your still or clip tap Done.

Tap the Share icon at the bottom–left.

You can then tap to send the image to contacts via SMS or email. You can also 20 AUG 2021

tap a social media app’s icon, compose a post and share the shot. If a friend is close to hand tap AirDrop to send the asset straight to their iPhone. Another way to share a shot is via an iCloud Album — go to Settings > Photos and turn on Shared Albums. This enables you to create albums in the Photos app that you can share with other iCloud users. In Photos choose a shot and tap Add to Shared Album. Tap + New Shared Album, tap Next, then invite your contact. Tap Next to comment on the shot and then tap Post. Your friend will receive a link to view the album in their Photos app.

Send your edited photos and clips to a host of destinations by tapping the Share icon.

Image rights: Apple.

To activate HDR recording go to Settings > Camera > Record Video. Toggle on HDR Video.

Burst mode helps you capture the perfect moment during sporting activities.

While recording video you can simultaneously snap a photo by tapping on the white circle.

record video while using the Camera app is by pressing and holding the Volume Down button.

When shooting action photos it can be hard to capture the perfect moment. In Photo mode, hold your finger down on the shutter icon and slide left if holding the iPhone vertically, or down if shooting horizontally. You’ll hear multiple shutter clicks and see a counter indicating the burst of consecutive stills you’ve captured.

You can also capture a burst by pressing the Volume Up button if you go to Settings > Camera and toggle on Use Volume Up for Burst. After capturing a burst of shots go to the Photos app and you’ll see a thumbnail with a Burst label.

The amount of shots in the burst appears in brackets. Tap Select and swipe through the images. Tap to mark the best shots then tap Done to keep your favorites while deleting the rest.

HOW TO Add motion blur effects using Live Photo mode

Go Live

In the Camera app’s Photo mode tap the Live icon to activate Live Photo.

Hold the iPhone steady and tap the shutter button to record a three–second clip of a moving object such as a train.

Snap a couple of shots to be sure.

Image rights: Apple.

Choose effect

In the iOS Photos app tap Albums.

Swipe down to media Types and tap on Live Photos. Tap to view your shot. Swipe up to view Effects such as Loop and Bounce. Swipe left then tap on the Long Exposure effect.

Motion blur

After applying the Long Exposure effect swipe up to see the edited image.

Only the moving subject (such as a train) should appear motion–blurred. Static objects like the background should remain nice and sharp.

AUG 2021 21

>>> The complete guide to iPhone photography When shooting video your iPhone captures 25, 30 or 60 frames (or images) per second and plays them back at the same rate at which they were recorded.

This reproduces movement at a normal speed. Your iPhone’s Time–Lapse mode causes the camera to capture a series of frames at wider intervals. As there’s a gap of time between each captured frame the action plays back at a much faster speed

in the resulting time–lapse video clip.

Time–lapse is an effective way to record the ebb and flow of traffic at a junction.

When shooting time–lapse footage a tripod is essential as any camera moves with be exaggerated. In the Camera app swipe to Time–Lapse mode and tap the Record button. To capture a 20–second time–lapse clip you’ll need to leave the iPhone recording for 10 minutes. At this

duration it will capture one frame every second and play them back at 30 fps.

There’s also a hybrid between still and video thanks to the Live Photo option. A Live Photo captures a three–second video of your subject. In Photo mode tap the Live Photo icon and a LIVE label will appear. Tap the shutter button to snap the Live Photo. To see and hear it, hold your finger on the image in the Photos app.

HOW TO Edit your clips on the go

Wide–angle woes

When shooting a time–lapse using the Ultra–Wide lens you may notice perspective distortion that causes vertical lines to converge towards the top of the frame. A tripod–mounted iPhone’s horizon may be tilted too.

Straighten horizon

Tap the Edit button, then tap the Crop tool icon. This gives you access to a Straighten tool. Drag the Straighten tool’s slider to counteract the tilted horizon. A Rule of Thirds overlay grid will appear to help you get a perfectly straight horizon.

Perspective distortion

Tap the vertical perspective control icon and swipe to make the building’s converging vertical lines run parallel with the edge of the frame. Drag the clip to make sure that the top of the building remains in shot.

22 AUG 2021

Image rights: Apple.

As Live Photos are a series of still frames you can do more with them using the Photos app. For example, if your subject has their eyes closed you can tap the Edit button, tap the Live Photo icon and scrub to a frame where they have their eyes open. Tap Make Key Photo. You can even use Live Photos to add DSLR style long exposure motion blur, as we explain in our walkthrough.

Record video quickly by pressing and holding the Volume Down button.

Improve exposure

If a clip is underexposed, tap Edit.

Tap the Adjust icon. Tap Auto to instantly adjust properties such as Exposure, Shadows, and Saturation. You can then swipe through each icon and tweak slider to fine–tune the look.

Enhance definition

Here we’ve increased Warmth and selectively boosted the saturation of weaker colors by increasing Vibrance.

Definition helps bring out textures such as brickwork. Pinch to enlarge the clip for a closer look.

Trim and save

Tap Done when you’ve tweaked the clip’s look. To create a shorter version that’s easier to share tap the Video icon.

Use the yellow trim handles to select the best bit of the clip. Tap Save Video as New Clip.

Image rights: Apple.

AUG 2021 23

>>> The complete guide to iPhone phot

IMPORT AND ORGANIZE YOUR IMAGES ON MAC Manage your pics with

the Mac’s bigger screen and powerful tools

WHILE YOU CAN perform edits on your iPhone’s version of Photos, the Photos app for Mac gives you greater control due to a more powerful set of tools (such as the Retouch tool for removing unwanted objects). You can also check the quality of a shot more effectively when viewing it on your Mac’s larger display (especially if you need to smooth out noise caused by a high ISO speed, for example).

One way to get iPhone–sourced videos and stills onto your Mac is to automatically upload them to your iCloud account. They will then be ready to edit

By automatically syncing via iCloud you can keep your Photos app’s content identical on any device and share in the Photos app on any iCloud connected device such as an iMac or an iPad. To set up iCloud syncing go to your iPhone’s Settings, then scroll down and tap on iCloud Photos. Set iCloud Photos to On so that your snaps will automatically be uploaded to your iCloud account (and then synced with your other devices). To save storage space on your iPhone turn on Optimize iPhone Storage in Settings > Photos. When the phone becomes low on storage space full–sized shots will be replaced by low–res versions. The original hi–res versions will be stored safely in iCloud. If you need to edit and share

By clicking on Places you can view photos according to where they were shot. Toggle between Map and Grid buttons.

24 AUG 2021

a shot on your iPhone or Mac then the full–sized version will be downloaded to the device.

It’s worth noting that if you shoot a burst of shots on your iPhone then only the favorited frame will be uploaded to your iCloud account by default. To upload the entire burst to iCloud turn on the Upload Burst Photos options in Settings > Photos. You can then choose your favorite frame from the comfort of your Mac’s display.

Uploading clips and stills to the iCloud runs the risk of devouring your mobile data allowance (especially if you shoot in Apple ProRAW format). To preserve your data allowance go to Photos > Settings and tap on Mobile data. Turn Mobile Data off. Now your iPhone will only upload shots to iCloud when it’s connected to Wi– Fi. You’ll also need to turn off the iPhone’s Low Power Mode or the automatic upload process will be paused.

To make sure that your Mac is also talking to the iCloud launch the MacOS Photos app. Go to Photos > Preferences.

Click the iCloud icon. Check the iCloud Photos box to keep your iPhone and Mac’s Photos apps in sync. You can save valuable storage space on your Mac by clicking on the Optimize Mac Storage button. If you choose this option the full size photo or clip will automatically download when you click the Edit button.

Image rights: Apple.

> Master Faces in Photos The Photos app can use AI to tag your people pictures automatically, but it sometimes gets it wrong. Fortunately, you can give Photos a helping hand to identify important people (and remove strangers). Tap on the People category in the Photos panel on the left. A collection of faces will appear. Tap the heart icon to favorite a face. Favorites will appear in larger thumbnails at the top of the People panel. If a face is un-named click in the text field below the thumbnail to identify them. You’ll be shown thumbnails

of that person’s face. Check to confirm their identity (or uncheck a thumbnail if Photos is in error.) Click Done. Double– click on a named thumbnail to view more shots of that person. You may be asked to review possible shots to add them to that person’s collection. You can click to play a slideshow of photos (and Live Photos) containing the selected person.

You’ll also see a collection of photos of them. If you click the Face button then all the photo thumbnails will crop to display a close–up of the chosen person’s face.

HOW TO Get organized!

Favorites

The fastest way to sort the wheat from the chaff is to tap the heart–shaped Favorite icon. You can do this in the iPhone or Mac version of Photos. Click on the Favorites category to display all favorited files.

Making memories

Photos automatically gathers some images into collections based on criteria such as where or when the images were captured. Tap Memories to see collections such as Best of The Year or memories based on a time and location.

Image rights: Apple.

Albums

Photos mimics the traditional way of storing photos by enabling you to place them in albums. Choose File > New Album. Name the album. You can then drag relevant photos to the album in the My Albums panel.

Use keywords

Press Cmd+I to open the Info panel. Type in a description of the photo.

Type in a keyword to describe its contents. Think “what,” “who,” “where,” and “when.” You can then type keywords into the Search field.

Get smart

Choose File > New Smart Album.

Label the album. From the drop down choose a property for Photos to look for (such as Keyword or Camera Model.)

Photos will automatically gather shots that meet your criteria.

Search by object

If you’ve not taken time to keyword shots or pop them into albums then Photos can still help you find subjects. Simply type a word (such as “dog”) into the Search field and Photos will display all relevant results.

AUG 2021 25

>>> The complete guide to iPhone photography

EDIT YOUR IMAGES ON MAC Improve photos and video using the Photos app’s tools.

Plus, go further with third–party apps and extensions ON THE WHOLE the iPhone excels at capturing detail in both shadows and highlights. It can also reproduce accurate colors in various lighting conditions. However you may still run into exposure problems in contrasting light, leading to shots where the sky is over-exposed or the shadows are under-exposed. As different light sources produce different color temperatures your photos may suffer from cold or warm color casts as well as green/magenta tints.

You may also notice unwanted objects or annoyingly tilted horizons when perusing your pictures. Fortunately Apple’s free Photos app has most of the tools you’ll need to overcome typical picture problems and create better looking shots.

You may also want to apply filters to your shots to make them stand out in your social media feeds.

As you’d expect, the macOS version of Photos has more tools than the iOS version (though the iPhone version boasts a unique perspective distortion correction

tool that has yet to appear in the desktop version — see Step 3 on page 22). In this spread we’ll show you how to use the macOS version of Photos to counteract common problems with color, tone and composition, as well as produce more creative looks.

You can expand Photo’s functionality by adding third–party extensions to the app.

After downloading an app that provides a Photos extension (such as Luminar AI) go to Apple > System Prefs > Extensions.

Go to Photos Editing and select the extension apps that you want to access in Photos. In Photo’s Edit workspace click the Extensions icon (…) at the top. Click to launch an extension. You can then use the extra tools provided by the extension, save the results, then continue working with the edited image in Photos.

Photos lacks the ability to composite images on multiple layers so we’ll also suggest some third–party apps that enable you to perform more creative edits such as sky replacements.

HOW TO Master Photos’ editing controls

High contrast

In a high–contrast scene that lacks shadow and highlight detail, use the Brilliance slider to simultaneously lighten shadows and darken highlights.

Fine–tune Shadows and Highlights independently to claw back more detail.

26 AUG 2021

Composition

To tackle a tilted horizon, click Crop. Drag the rotate wheel to counteract the tilt. A grid will appear to help you get a straight horizon. Select a value in the Aspect panel to crop your shot to a common print size and shape.

Color casts

In mixed lighting some skin tones can look too cold (blue) or warm (orange).

In the White Balance panel set the drop down to Skin Tone. Click the eyedropper on skin to automatically counteract cold or warm casts.

Image rights: Apple.

THIRD–PARTY APPS AND EXTENSIONS

Luminar AI

Lightroom Classic

Photoshop Elements 2021

DxO PhotoLab 4

PhotoDirector 365

Capture One 21

$89.99, skylum.com Luminar uses machine learning to recommend a suitable template (or file) for each image. It also enables you to creatively enhance a landscape by adding a new sky (without needing to be a compositing master). You can also summon it as a Photos extension. $99.99, dxo.com PhotoLab 4 uses machine learning to remove picture noise and color fringing while preserving important details.

A powerful Control Point tool enables you to make selective adjustments to a sampled circular region.

The downside is its inability to read Apple ProRAW files.

Noise reduction

In low light the iPhone may use a high (and noise–inducing) ISO value.

When editing a .JPG you can smooth out noise using the Noise Reduction slider.

Raw files add extra Luminance and Color Noise sliders for more control.

$9.99 per month, adobe.com If you have multiple hard drives with thousands of old DSLR photos then Lightroom Classic will help you create a catalog that knows where every file is located (even if the drive isn’t plugged into your Mac).

Its powerful Raw processing tools make it essential for pro photographers. $54.99 per year, cyberlink.com PhotoDirector 365 looks similar in layout to Lightroom Classic but it benefits from a Guided mode that takes you through a range of advanced editing techniques.

It also boasts eye–catching filters that will give your pictures extra impact on social media feeds like Twitter and Instagram.

Creative portraits

If you snap a shot using Portrait mode then you can adjust Depth and Light from in the desktop version of Photos. The High–Key Mono lighting effect removes any background to create a studio style portrait.

$79.99, adobe.com This cut down version of Photoshop still gives you the ability to edit in layers and make powerful selective adjustments using masks. Guided Edits help you get to grips with a range of editing techniques.

Unlike the full version, which is subscription– only, Photoshop Elements can be bought outright. $199, captureone.com Like Apple’s Photos, this app lets you make selective adjustments to shadows and highlights using sliders. It gives you greater control by enabling you to make adjustments to properties using brush– based styles.

Here we’re teasing out more sky detail using a Deep Sky brush.

Filters

To creatively grade your shots’ colors and tones in a few clicks go to the Filters section and experiment with the nine different effects. You can dial down the strength of each effect using the adjacent slider.

Image rights, left to right from top: Skylum, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Adobe Systems Incorporated, DXO, CyberLink Corp, Capture One A/S, Apple.

AUG 2021 27

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AUG 2021 29

14

o s t S e e r c

O d a S P if

Get the most from the new features and improvements in iPadOS 14 with these tips and tricks WRITTEN BY KENNY HEMPHILL

THE LAUNCH OF iPadOS 14 in 2020 wasn’t the seismic shift we saw the previous year when the iPad got its own operating system for the first time. However, there are plenty of new features, tweaks, and improvements in this version.

Today View widgets have evolved and now feature many of the same options as the Home Screen widgets introduced in iOS 14. So, you can

>>>

30 AUG 2021

now add Stacks and choose between large, medium and small widgets, for example.

Lots of apps look different now too, thanks to the addition of sidebars and pull–down menus. App Clips make an appearance in iPadOS with this version, and you can now use an Apple Pencil to write in any text box and have your handwriting converted to text. And in the Notes app you can select and

format handwriting in the same way you would with regular text.

Safari and the App Store get Privacy reports, and the Messages, Maps, Photos and Reminders apps are all updated with the features seen in iOS, many of which also appear in macOS Big Sur. There’s a lot to like in this update and in this feature we’ll show you all the tips and tricks you need to get the most from iPadOS 14.

Image rights: Apple.

THE iPADOS 14 HOME SCREEN 2

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You can’t add widgets to the Home Screen in iPadOS 14 the way you can with iOS 14.

However, the widgets in Today View have been improved, with more iOS–like features such as Smart Stacks.

2

Search has been improved too. As you type a search query in, the results are displayed from web searches,

Image rights: Apple.

apps, and contacts. As you continue to type, the results are refined.

3

Calls in FaceTime and other supported apps no longer commandeer the whole screen when you receive them, instead you’ll find them displayed in the same compact view in which phone calls in iOS 14 are shown.

4

The Files app benefits from interface enhancements, including sidebars and pull– down menus. Files is edging closer to being as useful as macOS’ Finder.

5

In Notes, you can select and format handwritten text in the same way as typed, making it easy to capture text with an Apple Pencil.

AUG 2021 31

>>> Secrets of iPadOS 14

INTERFACE TRICKS Use a keyboard or Apple Pencil to boost your productivity

OF THE things that really >>> ONE differentiates using an iPad from using an iPhone is keyboard shortcuts. If you connect an external keyboard to your iPad, then it makes the experience much more like using a Mac. For example, to search for something, instead of swiping down on the Home Screen and typing a search query on the on–screen keyboard then tapping a result, you can press Cmd+Spacebar, the same as Spotlight

on the Mac, type the query, then press Return on the keyboard. In iPadOS 14, you can now even handwrite the search query with an Apple Pencil.

1

ADD A SMART STACK TO THE TODAY VIEW Tap and hold on any free space on the Home Screen. Tap “+” in the top–left corner. The widgets drawer will appear, with Smart Stack at the top. Tap Smart Stack and swipe left or right to choose the size you want. Tap Add Widget.

2

You can now add Smart Stacks to the Today view on the iPad’s Home Screen.

USE ASSISTIVE TOUCH TO ACCESS UNIVERSAL SEARCH Accessing Universal Search from within an app usually requires an external keyboard, but you can also do it by customizing the floating Home button displayed when Assistive Touch is active.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Assistive Touch and toggle the switch to turn it on. Then tap one of the Custom Actions and choose Spotlight.

3

USE SPLIT VIEW Tap on one of the apps you want to view in Split View. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show the Dock.

Tap and hold on the other app you want to view until the contextual menu disappears.

Drag its icon to the left or right of the screen. To view the second app as an overlay on the first, tap and hold the bar at the top of its window and pull it down over the first app. To get rid of it, tap and hold on the bar on the bottom until the window shrinks, then swipe up over it.

4

SET DEFAULT EMAIL AND BROWSER APPS For your email and browser, you can now choose third–party apps as your default option. Launch Settings and locate the app you want to use as your default, for example Chrome. Tap on it and tap Default Browser App, then choose it from the list. To set a default email app, locate the mail app and tap Default Mail App. As of iPadOS 14.5, you can choose

HOW TO Customize the Files app

Edit the sidebar

Tap Files to launch it. Tap the sidebar icon in the top–left to view it, then tap More and choose Edit Sidebar.

Use the toggle switches to add or remove items from Locations, or tap “–” to remove items from Favorites or Tags.

32 AUG 2021

Change the sidebar order

To change the order of items in the sidebar, tap and hold on the item you want to move, then drag it up or down and drop it in its new location. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Add a folder to Favorites

To add a folder to the Favorites section of the sidebar, navigate to the folder you want to add then tap and hold on it.

Choose Favorite. You can create new tags by choosing Tags and Add New Tag. Image rights: Apple.

7

DRAW ACCURATE SHAPES IN NOTES This one works equally well with either an Apple Pencil or just your finger. Draw a shape then, when you’re finished, hold your finger or the Apple Pencil on the screen for a few seconds and the shape that you have drawn will be turned into a perfect version. your audio app too — ask Siri to play some music or a podcast and it will ask you which app to use rather than picking the Apple default.

5

USE SCRIBBLE Using Scribble is as simple as tapping in any text box with an Apple Pencil. You’ll see a pencil icon appear, which means you can start writing and your handwriting will instantly be converted to text.

6

COPY HANDWRITING IN NOTES AS TEXT Open a note that has handwriting in it and double–tap on a word to select it.

Then simply drag the selection handles over all the words that you want to select.

In the menu that appears, choose Copy as Text. You can now paste it as text in any app.

8

TRANSLATE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES IN SAFARI Launch Safari and navigate to a web page that’s written in a language other than your iPad’s native language. Tap the “AA” button to the left of the address bar and choose Translate to English (or whatever your iPad’s native language happens to be). You might see a pop–up box asking you to confirm your choice. If so, tap Enable Translation.

9

DISABLE SHARE SHEET SUGGESTIONS When you tap on a Share Sheet in iOS 14 or iPadOS 14, it displays contact suggestions based on conversations that you frequently have. In iPadOS 14, you can turn that off. Simply go to Settings > Siri & Search, and then toggle the switch located next to “Suggestions while Sharing” to off.

10

DISABLE PRIVATE ADDRESS FOR WI–FI NETWORKS iPadOS 14 introduced a feature called Private Access for Wi–Fi Networks which is switched on by default. It replaces your iPad’s MAC address with a randomized version to prevent your device being tracked while you use public Wi–Fi. However, if you regularly access Wi–Fi networks that identify permitted devices

by MAC address, you may want to turn the feature off. Go to Settings > Wi–Fi and tap the “i” next to the network you’re on, then toggle Private Address to the off position.

Get more from the Music app ADD A WIDGET TO TODAY VIEW The new Music widget shows recently played tracks, albums and playlists and comes in three sizes. Tap and hold on any free space on the Home Screen and press the “+.” Tap on the Music widget, swipe to the size you want, and tap “+Add Widget.”

TURN AUTOPLAY ON AND OFF Autoplay adds tracks to playlists so the music continues after the playlist finishes, if you have an Apple Music subscription. When a track is playing, tap it to see the Playing Next Screen. You’ll see an infinity symbol highlighted to the right of Playing Next. Tap it to turn Autoplay off, and again to turn it on.

VIEW TIMED LYRICS FULL SCREEN Turn handwritten notes into text in another app by copying the handwriting and pasting elsewhere.

Image rights: Apple.

The Now Playing screen has been redesigned. Tap the currently playing song to enter the full–screen view, then tap the speech bubble icon to see lyrics displayed as they’re sung.

AUG 2021 33

>>> Secrets of iPadOS 14

CAMERAS, PHOTOS, & VIDEO

The Photos app is improved with a new sidebar and Camera gets mirrored selfies

CAMERA AND Photos apps >>> THE don’t get the big upgrade in iPadOS 14 that they did in the previous version.

However, there are some very handy additions and improvements.

The most immediately noticeable enhancement is in Photos, which has been redesigned to take advantage of the new sidebar that has been introduced across iPadOS 14. Photos also now allows you to filter photos in collections by favorites, edited, photos, and videos. And you can add captions to both photos and video.

In the Camera app, you can now take a mirrored selfie that looks exactly as the image in the camera does on screen when you press the shutter.

2

CHANGE VIDEO QUALITY IN THE CAMERA APP You can now toggle the frame rate and resolution in the Camera app. Go to Settings > Camera and choose Record Video. Toggle Video Format Control to on and select from the list of options.

3

SET KEY PHOTO IN ALBUMS When you create an album in Photos, it automatically sets one of the photos in

the album as a key Photo. In iPadOS 14, you can choose your own key photo.

Navigate to the album, tap and hold on the photo, and choose Make Key Photo.

4

LIMIT THE ACCESS TO YOUR PHOTOS LIBRARY You can choose which apps have permission to access your Photos Library, even if you’ve already granted them access. Go to Settings > Privacy > Photos,

1

TAKE A MIRRORED SELFIE Talking of taking a selfie that looks like the mirror image you see on the screen… Go to Settings > Camera. In the Composition section, toggle the Mirror Front Camera switch on.

iPadOS has new privacy features, including more control over which apps can access your photos.

HOW TO Make the most of Memories

View a memory

In the sidebar, tap For You, then tap See All next to Memories. Swipe up to scroll through memories and tap the one you want to view. Tap the play button at the bottom–right of the main image for the slideshow of the Memory.

34 AUG 2021

Choose music style

Locate the Memory you want to edit and tap it. When it starts playing, either wait for it to end or tap Pause.

Choose a style of music from the list — dreamy, sentimental, uplifting, etc — and press play to preview it.

Edit the music

If you don’t like any of the music available in the list of styles, tap Edit.

Tap Music, then either tap on a Mood to choose a different track for it, or tap Your Library and navigate to the track you want to use and tap it.

Image rights: Apple.

How to view and customize the sidebar 1 The sidebar icon at the top–left

The Photos app now allows you to add captions to your still images and videos.

Drag and drop any photo onto an album in the sidebar to add it to the album.

and you will see a list of apps that either have access or have been refused access.

Tap an app and choose an option to change its setting.

Types, can be filtered. Navigate to the album or collection and tap the More button. Choose Filter and then choose how you want to filter the photos.

DRAG AND DROP PHOTOS ON TO AN ALBUM The new sidebar layout makes it easy to add pictures to an album. Locate the photo you want to add in your library, and just tap and drag it on to the relevant album in the sidebar.

ROTATE PHOTOS IN FILES You can rotate any image in the Files app in a similar way to how you would in the Mac’s Finder. Simply tap and hold on the image, and then Rotate Left or Rotate Right.

5

6

FILTER PHOTOS IN COLLECTIONS If you have thousands of photos, finding the one you want can be a chore, even with the excellent search capability in Photos. To make it easier, albums and some collections, like Favorites and Media

of the screen is the easiest way to toggle the sidebar on and off.

You can also swipe from the left of the screen. When you do that, it slides over what’s on screen rather than pushing everything to the right.

7

8

ADD CAPTIONS TO PHOTOS Adding captions is a great way to add more interest to photos. Navigate to any photo, tap it to view it, and then swipe up over it. You’ll see a caption box appear below it. Tap Add a Caption, type the caption, and press Return.

2 Tap Edit in the sidebar and

scroll down to the list of albums. Tap the “–” to delete one, or tap and hold on an album then drag it up or down the list to reposition it. Drop it where you want it.

3 Scroll to the bottom of the

sidebar and tap “+New Album.”

Give it a title. You will be prompted to add photos to the album. You can add photos at any time later by dragging them from the main window onto the album.

Add or delete photos

Tap the Memory, then tap Edit.

Choose Photos & Videos. To delete a photo from the Memory, navigate to it and press the waste bin. To add a new photo to the Memory, tap “+” and choose the photo you want to add.

Image rights: Apple.

Change the title

Launch Notes and tap New Folder at the bottom of the screen.

Choose whether to store it in iCloud or on your device. Type in a name and press Save. To make it a subfolder, tap and hold it then drag it over the other folder.

AUG 2021 35

>>> Secrets of iPadOS 14

THE LITTLE EXTRA FEATURES

There’s lots more, from delegating Reminders to sending audio messages with Siri

BUILT–IN APPS in iPadOS 14 >>> THE are full of improvements and new features. Reminders has been overhauled, we’ve already shown you some great new additions in Mail, and Safari has been greatly improved, too. Shortcuts is now installed by default and is much more powerful. And both Siri and Voice Control are much improved.

1

ASSIGN A REMINDER In addition to sharing lists in Reminders, you can now assign individual reminders to people you share the list with. Tap a reminder in a shared list, then tap the people icon, and choose a contact to assign the reminder to.

trimming the start and finish. But now you can enhance a recording. Open the memo in Voice Memos and tap the magic wand icon at the top of the screen. If you don’t like the sound of the enhancement, tap it again to remove it.

SEND AN AUDIO MESSAGE WITH SIRI Siri now has a very useful extra feature — you can now send audio messages.

To send one, invoke Siri by saying “Hey Siri,” or by pressing and holding the Home or top button, depending on which iPad that you have. Say “Send an audio message to” followed by the name of the contact you want to send the message to. When you’re finished recording, pause and wait for Siri to display a preview. You can listen to the preview by tapping the play button, or say “Send” to send the message.

You can now enhance a recording in Voice Memos to reduce background noise and echo.

Want to know how much space an app is occupying? You can now search iPad storage.

3

2

ENHANCE VOICE MEMOS Voice Memos is a great app for recording everything from short voice notes to podcasts or narration for videos.

Until now, your options for editing them within the Voice Memos app was limited to

HOW TO Get more from Messages

Pin a conversation

If you struggle to find important messages, you can now pin favorite conversations to the top of the list. Find the conversation you want to pin, swipe right over it, and tap the pin. To unpin it, tap and hold on it and choose Unpin.

36 AUG 2021

Specific message reply

In a group conversation, you can reply to a specific message. Tap and hold the message you want to respond to and tap Reply. Your reply will appear under that message.

Mention someone

Messages has gained the ability to “mention” conversation participants.

Start typing the name of the person.

When their name turns gray, tap it and tap the contact preview. The name will now turn blue and they will be notified.

Image rights: Apple.

Using a keyboard

4

DISMISS CALLS WITHOUT REJECTING THEM We’ve all been there. You’re working or focused on something and a FaceTime call comes in. You don’t want to reject it because then the caller will know you’ve rejected it, but you don’t want it to keep ringing either. Now you can have the best of both worlds. When a call comes in, swipe up over the notification to dismiss it. The notification will disappear, but the caller will be none the wiser.

5

SEARCH APPS IN iPAD STORAGE In Settings > General > iPad Storage, you can see how much of the storage on your iPad is occupied and the capacity occupied by each app. Now, you can also search for a specific app. Just tap the magnifying glass at the top–right of the screen and type the name of the app.

New Memoji stickers

There are lots of new Memoji options in iPadOS 14, such as more hairstyles and headgear. Tap in the text box then tap the Memoji stickers button and then the “+” to create a new sticker, or an existing Memoji then “…” to edit it.

Image rights: Apple.

If you connect a keyboard to your iPad you can access even more new features in iPadOS 14. For example, if you press Cmd+Spacebar you’ll pull up the new Universal Search window.

Search for an app in there and, when you find it, you can drag it on to the screen to open it in Split View or Slide

6

ADJUST THE OPACITY OF A SCREENSHOT In the screenshot Markup toolbar you can now change the opacity of screenshots to make your markup standout more. Take the screenshot in the usual way, then tap it when the thumbnail appears to see it in a larger view. You’ll then be able to use the slider to adjust the opacity.

Search in Messages

Messages’ search has been improved. Tap in the search box at the top of the list and you’ll see links, photos, and documents. Start typing and you’ll see results from conversations at the top, followed by photos and other items.

Over. Tapping the globe key on a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard allows you to insert an emoji quickly in any text box. And on a Magic Keyboard with a trackpad you can double–tap instead of tapping and dragging to drag items around the screen. These are in addition to the keyboard shortcuts that already exist in iPadOS and which you can see by pressing and holding the Cmd key.

7

WATCH YOUTUBE IN 4K iPads don’t have 4K screens, but you can watch 4K videos in the YouTube app if 1080p HD videos aren’t high enough quality for you. You’ll need to find videos on the YouTube app that are available in 4K (try The HDR Channel). Pick a video and play it in full screen, then tap the three vertical dots. Choose 2160p for the 4K version.

Preview a conversation

With one conversation on the main screen, you can preview another. Pick the conversation and tap and hold on it to see the preview. You can also pin or unpin a conversation and manage alerts.

AUG 2021 37

The home of technology techradar.com

TOUGHTESTING,TRUSTEDRATINGS HEREATMAC|LIFEwe believe you should only buy the things that you really need, which is why our Reviews section is so important to us, and you. We don’t want you to waste time and money on inferior products, and while we aim to include only the best hardware and apps, occasionally we like to include products that look promising, even if they don’t always deliver.

We only use carefully selected experts, with specialist knowledge in their respective field, so no matter which review you’re reading, you can be confident the person who’s tested it knows their stuff, allowing you to make an informed purchase.

Each review is rated using a five–star system, with half stars, which is easy to understand because we give an explanation next to each one. The products that really stand out, those with a five– star rating, get a Mac|Life Editor’s Choice award.

GEARUP The latest & greatest hardware 40 iPadPro 44 AppleTV4K(2021) 45 Drop+THXPanda WirelessHeadphones 46 MovoUM700 48 Grouptest:Bestoutdoor Bluetoothspeakers

Image rights left to right: Apple, Kevin Reutter, Edison Software.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Only the best…

The products that

really stand out in the mag — those that receive a five–star rating — get the Mac|Life Editor’s Choice award. It doesn’t get any better than this, so you’d be mad not to buy anything bearing this mighty accolade.

APPLIFE

The most interesting Mac, iPhone and iPad apps 54 OnMail—Fast& SimpleEmail 56 Planny5 57 Infuse7 58 BikeBaron2 59 Shelter3 59 DropOver4.2 60 FilmageVideoConverter 61 Drafts26 62 WaveLabCast 63 Coloraid 63 WaterMinder 64 BestWatchappstomake youriPhoneevenbetter 66 Bestofthebest

Mac|Life’s pick of the best apps and hardware for Mac and iOS

AUG 2021 39

>>> Gear Up

12.9–inch iPad Pro (2021) Apple’s largest tablet is better than ever — if you can afford it

From $1,099 ($1,299 model tested) From apple.com Features 12.9–inch Liquid Retina XDR display (2732x2048 pixels), Apple M1 chip (8–core CPU, 8–core GPU), 8GB of memory (128GB, 256GB and 512GB)/16GB of memory (1TB and 2TB), up to 2TB of storage, Pro camera system with 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide lenses, 12MP TrueDepth camera, Wi–Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0, Face ID, Thunderbolt/USB 4 port, 40.88w/hr battery with up to 10 hours battery life

B

ig things are happening to Apple’s biggest tablet. The 12.9– inch model on test here now sports the M1 — the same Apple silicon System on Chip (SoC) found on the Mac mini, MacBook Air, 13–inch MacBook Pro, and 24–inch iMac. The 2021 iPad Pro also includes a much improved display. Dubbed the Liquid Retina XDR display, it features 10,000 miniLEDs with 2,596 local dimming zones for improved color fidelity and brightness — up to 1,600cd/m2 in fact — and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

Like its Mac siblings, the 12.9–inch iPad Pro also now comes with a Thunderbolt/USB 4 port connection, enabling you to connect a huge range of peripherals — from Thunderbolt docks and displays to external drives, making it much more flexible.

And the iPad Pro Wi–Fi + Cellular also includes support for 5G, so you can now get even faster connectivity when you’re on the go (conspiracy theorists need not apply). Also on board are Wi–Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax Wi–Fi) and Bluetooth 5.0, plus a Pro camera system with Wide and Ultra Wide lenses on the back and a 12MP TrueDepth camera on the front.

40 AUG 2021

THE PRO OPTIONS Those are the headlines, now let’s delve into the options list. The base $1,099 model includes all of the goodies mentioned above and comes with 128GB of onboard storage, the $1,199 doubles that to 256GB, and the $1,399 version doubles that again to 512GB. Spending $1,799 nets you 1TB of storage space, while the $2,199 version gets 2TB. These two top–tier models also get more memory. While the

128GB, 256GB and 512GB versions get 8GB of unified memory, the 1TB and 2GB models get 16GB. Those are the Wi–Fi only prices.

Wi-Fi + Cellular models cost even more — expect to pay $1,299 for the 128GB model, $1,399 for the 256GB, $1,599 for the 512GB, $1,999 for the 1TB, and $2,399 for the 2TB. Phew! Oh, and you’ll need an extra $428 to add a second–generation Apple Pencil ($129) and Magic Keyboard ($299).

> Must–have accessories

To really make the most of the iPad Pro, you’ll need to do what the pros do and get these Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

$129 apple.com Apple’s smart stylus makes it easy to write, draw and paint on the iPad Pro’s screen thanks to pressure sensitivity, tilt, and palm rejection. Its chiselled sides mean it won’t roll off your desk, and it attaches to the magnet connector for easy charging.

Apple Magic Keyboard

$299 apple.com Once you’ve used the magnetically attached Magic Keyboard, you’ll wonder how you ever managed to type on an iPad without one. Backlit and with widely spaced keys, it offers a comfortable typing experience while also helping to protect your iPad Pro when not in use.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, P3 wide color, True Tone and ProMotion… the XDR Liquid Retina display looks incredible.

AUG 2021 41

>>> Gear Up If those prices are a little rich for you but you still want to go Pro, the 11– inch iPad Pro has also received an M1 upgrade. Prices start at $799 for a 128GB Wi–Fi model and top out at $2,099 for a Wi–Fi+Cellular model with 2TB of storage. Note that the 11–inch iPad Pro eschews the miniLED backlit Liquid Retina XDR display in favor of an LED–backlit Liquid Retina version.

While Apple has made sweeping changes to iPad Pro’s major components, it hasn’t done so with the design — and that’s no bad thing.

It remains one of the best tablets out there. Build quality is excellent and we love the iPad Pro’s design aesthetic. Its flattened sides, curved corners and aluminium body (available in Space Gray or Silver) look and feel fantastic and it’s a look that’s echoed across other Apple devices like the iPhone 12, iPad Air, and M1 iMac. In 12.9–inch guise, the iPad Pro does feel big, measuring 8.46in wide, 11.04in long and 0.25in deep. That can make it seem slightly unwieldy if you’re used to smaller tablets like the iPad Air. The larger version is also thicker than the model it replaces thanks to the presence of those miniLEDs.

ATTACHING THE MAGIC KEYBOARD TO THE iPAD PRO MAKES IT FEEL MORE MAC–LIKE

Benchmarks: Our analysis explained > GEEKBENCH 5 SINGLE–CORE TEST

> 3DMARK WILD LIFE (2560X1440)

> PERFORMANCETEST MOBILE (PASSMARK)

Index score

Frames per second

Storage read/write speed

We use this cross–platform benchmarking tool to measure a device’s performance, with a single–core processor baseline of 1,000.

Higher scores are better. iPad Pro 12.9–inch 3.2GHz M1 iPad Air 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020

1,697

1,590

iPhone 12 Pro 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020 1,598

42 AUG 2021

This cross–platform benchmarking app measures a device’s graphics performance, running a one– minute test at 2560x1440 resolution. Higher frame rates are better. iPad Pro 12.9–inch 3.2GHz M1 2021 iPad Air 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020 53fps

iPhone 12 Pro 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020 50fps

109.4fps

Another cross–platform benchmarking tool for mobile devices, this one provides individual scores. Here we’re measuring storage read/write speeds — the higher the better. iPad Pro 12.9–inch 3.2GHz M1 2021 1,607 MB/sec (read)

2,535 MB/sec (write)

iPad Air 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020

779 MB/sec (write) 861 MB/sec (read)

iPhone 12 Pro 2.99GHz A14 Bionic 2020

1,105 MB/sec (write) 879 MB/sec (read)

Image rights: Apple.

Tough testing, trusted ratings As before, the iPad Pro comes with four speakers — two on the bottom either side of the Thunderbolt/USB 4 port and two on the top, meaning you can enjoy proper stereo when watching movies.

The iPad Pro also comes with a magnetic connector on one side for securing and charging the Apple Pencil, plus you’ll find a Smart Connector on the back for the Magic Keyboard.

POWER ON TAP One of the most striking things about the Magic Keyboard is that attaching one makes the iPad Pro feel more Mac–like.

When using its backlit, comfortably spaced keys and trackpad, your Mac muscle memory can’t help but kick in.

But, of course, there’s a disconnect: iPadOS doesn’t work like macOS and so some of the interface instincts you want to use here will be wrong (more on this later). The Magic Keyboard is brilliant though, and we love having a proper hardware keyboard to type on rather than an on–screen one. In the Magic Keyboard’s new White finish, it looks great too. However, it probably won’t take long for it to start looking grubby, especially if you frequently take your iPad on the road — a black Magic Keyboard might be a better option here.

Using this big, brilliant iPad Pro is tremendous fun. Apps open in a snap, applying Machine Learning smarts to photos in Pixelmator Pro is a breeze, and playing console–derived games such as Divinity: Original Sin II show off this machine’s incredible graphics prowess

The iPad Pro charges via Thunderbolt/USB 4, and lasts up to 10 hours of general use.

— with the caveat that iPadOS currently limits individual apps to a maximum of 5GB of memory. That seems fair when you remember that most iPads come with 4GB of memory or less (even last year’s model only has 6GB), but feels wrong when the iPad Pro potentially gives you up to 16GB to play with — hopefully Apple will address that in a future OS update. However, there’s so much power on tap that most of us will probably only ever scratch the surface of what the iPad Pro can do.

HI–VIS VISUALS Talking of creativity, fire up an HDR movie and the Liquid Retina XDR display really delivers, with deep dark blacks, excellent contrast and incredible detail and color, especially in darker scenes.

You soon get lost in the on–screen action, especially with the stereo sound emanating from the built–in speakers as

well. The display can also go very bright — almost ridiculously so. Crank up the brightness and you can feel the back of your retinas burning. Retina display indeed.

As we suggested earlier, where things can fall down is with iPadOS itself. Despite the fact that the iPad Pro is effectively a touchscreen M1 Mac, it doesn’t work like one. While the Files app is closer to Finder than ever, and the presence of sidebars helps, iPadOS still doesn’t feel as flexible as macOS. Apps open in full screen by and large (unless you’re using Split View), while dragging and dropping between apps or in Files feels clunkier than in its macOS equivalent. iPadOS 15 goes some way towards addressing this, but the changes feel timid rather than bold. Given the Mac and iPad Pro now share a common platform, the argument for having two separate OSes that work in different ways feels increasingly arbitrary.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The 12.9–inch iPad Pro was already one of the world’s best tablets. Now it’s even better.

ROB MEAD–GREEN 12.9–INCH iPAD PRO (2021)

The Pro camera system combines a Wide 12MP lens and Ultra Wide 10MP lens with 125° field of view.

Big, bright, beautiful display M1 superpowers Thunderbolt — at last! iPadOS feels limiting

EXCELLENT

AUG 2021 43

>>> Gear Up

The tvOS interface is easier to control thanks to clickable buttons on the new Siri Remote.

Apple TV 4K (2021)

Now faster and featuring — at last — a usable remote!

$179 (32GB), $199 (64GB) From apple.com Features A12 Bionic, 4K HDR, Siri Remote (2nd gen), HDMI, Bluetooth, 802.11ax Wi–Fi 6 with MIMO

APPLE TV 4K (2021)

Improved performance Redesigned Siri Remote Expensive upgrade Just buy the remote!

GOOD

44 AUG 2021

Already got an Apple TV 4K (2017)? Then you’d be hard pressed to see much of a difference in the upgraded version for 2021.

So, what’s actually changed?

Well, it’s faster, with a more powerful A12 Bionic chip versus the 2017 model’s aging and dated A10X Fusion chip. The performance leap from A10X Fusion to A12 Bionic isn’t major, but apps are snappier to load, not that the old model was slow. The speed boost also enables the new Apple TV 4K to play back high–frame–rate 60fps HDR videos more smoothly.

The 2021 version also comes with Thread, which is Apple’s new smart home protocol which allows smart home tech from different manufacturers to work together more seamlessly. Life becomes a lot easier when your home tech is able to interact with most, or hopefully all, of your devices.

The biggest draw of the new Apple TV 4K is the redesigned Siri Remote. Unlike the remote of old, it’s easy to hold, and actually stays in your hand. Gone is the superfluous menu button and touch surface, replaced with a far superior touch–enabled clickpad.

You now get a Power button enabling you to turn your Apple TV (and TV) on and off, and the Siri button has moved to the side. It all works great, though deciding whether to use the clickpad or the touch interface can be a bit counter–intuitive, and we had mixed success with scrubbing videos with the touch wheel in some apps (according to reports, this is due to certain video services, like Disney+, using a custom video player).

THE BOTTOM LINE. A small, and strong upgrade, but if you’re happy with your Apple TV 4K (2017), then just buy the new Siri Remote separately ($59). NICK ODANTZIS

Tough testing, trusted ratings

Drop + THX Panda Wireless Headphones High fidelity listening with a personal touch

$399 From drop.com Features Bluetooth audio codec, THX AAA amplifier, and phase–correct planar–ribbon drivers Needs iOS 11 or higher, USB–C

Drop has partnered with Sonarworks, developers of professional audio software, to incorporate the company’s SoundID “personalized audio technology” system into its Panda wireless headphones. The best part is that settings made in the SoundID app are stored on the headphones, so you get the same result whatever device you’re listening from.

The headphones are lightweight but well built, and in the box there’s a USB–C cable and a 3.5mm audio cable for wired operation. Pairing over Bluetooth is simple and there’s a single joystick button for power, volume, and skipping tracks. They are a closed back model for minimal sound spillage, and though the standard ear pads are perfectly comfortable, more plush versions are available as optional extras.

Image rights: Drop.

The app gives you a test to choose your favorite type of sound shaping, and stores this as a preset. You can also create your own presets and there’s even a manual EQ you can set by hand. A selected preset is uploaded to the headphones and the new curve takes effect.

With a high–bandwidth Bluetooth 5.0 codec, zero–distortion amplifiers and a 30 hour battery life, these are great– sounding headphones even using the “flat” reference setting. Manually creating your own EQ curve and storing it on the hardware is a feature that will appeal to those who are choosy about how they like their playback. Most will likely make subtle rather than huge tweaks but it’s a rare and interesting option to have.

THE BOTTOM LINE Great, customizable audiophile headphones. HOLLIN JONES

Main: The headphones charge over USB–C and work wired or wirelessly.

DROP + THX PANDA WIRELESS HEADPHONES

Sonically excellent Unique SoundID system Great build quality A little pricey

EXCELLENT

AUG 2021 45

>>> Gear Up

Movo UM700

A new microphone champion

$99.95 From movophoto.com Features 4 recording modes, 20Hz-20kHz frequency response, mode–control dial, 2.3lbs weight

The pattern–control switch and gain dial are located on the back of the device.

MOVO UM700

Fantastic audio quality Built to last Fair price No USB–C cable or adapter

AWESOME 46 AUG 2021

M

ovo brands its UM700 microphone the “Blue Yeti killer.” Considering the Yeti is generally deemed to be the gold standard in consumer USB mics, this is a strong statement indeed. But does it hold up?

A quick specs comparison shows the UM700 matches the Yeti blow for blow, with the same sample rate, the same bit rate, the same frequency response, and more. You get all that for $30 less than the Yeti, too, which is impressive.

How does that cost saving translate into build quality? Surprisingly well, in fact. The UM700 looks fantastic, and its all–black metal construction adds a touch of class to your desk. It feels solid and weighty, with its substantial foot covered in a soft rubberized layer to prevent scuffs. It is large, but no more so than most rival desktop mics. It comes with a long USB–A to Micro–USB cable, and while that’s handy to have, its heavily kinked length is the only visual let–down here.

Tuck it away out of sight if you can.

As for controls, the UM700 places a headphone volume knob and a mute button on the front, while on the back is a gain dial and a switch for the microphone’s four recording modes (cardioid, bidirectional,

omnidirectional, and stereo). All except the mode switcher feel slightly loose, but nothing too concerning. On the bottom is a thread for mounting the mic on a boom arm or stand, plus a 3.5mm jack.

Specs and buttons only tell half the story, though, and when it comes to mics everything lies in the recording quality.

Amazingly, the UM700 edges ahead, boasting incredibly clear audio that bests that of the Yeti. While both devices excel at suppressing background hum, our voices sounded very slightly tinny on the Yeti. The UM700, however, had more warmth and clarity to its recordings. Ordinarily we wouldn’t notice this issue with the Yeti, but compared to Movo’s mic it was plainly evident. The difference is not huge, but the fact that the Yeti has been knocked off its perch is significant.

We never thought we would describe the Blue Yeti as “slightly tinny,” but then we were not expecting it to lose its crown any time soon either. Movo has achieved something remarkable with its UM700, and if you are looking for a superb consumer–level mic for your Mac, it finishes top of the pile.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Need a USB mic for your Mac? Get the UM700. ALEX BLAKE Image rights: Movo.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

EDITOR’S CHOICE

The UM700’s large foot protects it against desk bumps.

Image rights: Movo.

AUG 2021 47

>>> Gear Up

GROUP TEST REVIEWED BY HOLLIN JONES

ON TEST...

> Anker Soundcore Motion + > AudioPro C3 > Bose Portable Smart Speaker > JBL Link Portable > Sonos Move > Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

48 AUG 2021

PORTABLE BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS The freedom to enjoy your music anywhere

A

S LISTENING HABITS have changed in recent years, more of our music than ever is streamed from the cloud or a portable device. Being able to play your music outdoors, be it in the garden for a party or in the park while working out, no longer requires the kinds of trade–offs it used to. Ranging from ultra– portable to more audiophile– friendly, modern Bluetooth speakers have really upped their game when it comes to things like battery life, volume, audio fidelity, and even waterproofing.

A portable speaker connects to your iPhone or iPad and Macs directly over Bluetooth, and in some cases Wi–Fi: AirPlay makes it really easy to stream your music to compatible devices on your network. Higher–end models can also integrate Spotify and other streaming services, for added ease. Typically providing controls both on the body and via a smartphone app, some also have physical audio inputs for connecting other audio equipment.

Whatever level of features appeals to your particular needs, a portable Bluetooth speaker lets you enjoy your music with others wherever you are, and their sonic capabilities may well surprise you.

How we tested

Starting with ease of setup and connection, we also considered the build quality and portability of each speaker. Battery life was noted, as was the weatherproof status of each model. Then naturally there’s audio performance, how accurately each one reproduced sound, and how loud it could go without distorting. Finally, we looked at other things like extra inputs or additional smart features that may set a model apart from the competition.

AUG 2021 49

Things to consider…

>>> Weatherproofing If you plan to play music away from home or at the pool, a degree of weatherproofing is advisable — maybe even essential. >>> AirPlay AirPlay has a greater range than Bluetooth and uses lossless audio compression for higher quality. Both devices need to be on the same Wi–Fi network. >>> Smart features Higher–end portable speakers often include “smart” features that let you do things like set timers or stream online from services like Spotify, Apple Music, and radio stations. These require a Wi–Fi internet connection . >>> Battery life Periods of extended play will benefit from a longer–lasting battery and the ability to recharge quickly over USB.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

1

> Anker Soundcore Motion +

$99.99 From anker.com Features 30W, IPX7, aptX

1

This solid speaker has IPX7 water–resistance, making it essentially waterproof in everyday situations with its USB–C charging port and an aux input sealed behind a thick rubber flap. It’s Bluetooth only but pairing is simple and the companion app provides various EQ modes. On the top of the speaker are playback controls as well as a Bass Up button, which boosts the low end. Pushing up to 30W of power through its multiple drivers, it uses active crossovers and DSP for better sound separation as well as Bluetooth 5 and the aptX high–quality streaming codec.

50 AUG 2021

Playback is impressive, with a pleasing soundstage and lots of volume available.

A rear port combined with the Bass Up mode adds significant heft to the low end, more so than you would expect from a fairly compact unit, while remaining clear and very musical. With battery life rated at 12 hours on a full charge it’s a great speaker, especially considering its price.

Excellent sound quality Impressive waterproofing A lot of speaker for the price App is relatively basic

AWESOME

> AudioPro C3

$329 From audiopro.com Features 25W, AirPlay, Ethernet

2

Built more like a bookshelf speaker, the C3 uses wall power, which also charges its internal battery for up to 15 hours of playback. Its rear panel has Ethernet and aux–in ports, and for wireless there’s Bluetooth and AirPlay. The gorgeous metal top panel has playback controls and an input selector for Wi–Fi, Bluetooth or aux–in, plus four preset buttons. In the app you can assign these to store any of a multitude of online streams including Spotify, TIDAL, Amazon Music and a host of online radio stations.

The app also provides basic EQ controls as well as

an alarm clock function and the option to set up Amazon Alexa for voice commands.

The 25W amp pushes two tweeters and a woofer and there’s a rear port for bass extension, though no weather sealing to speak of.

There’s plenty of bass and a very decent level available but mid range can get slightly lost at higher volumes, and the front–firing design makes it a little directional.

Excellent build and finish Superb streaming options Sound can be directional Lacks weather sealing

GOOD

Tough testing, trusted ratings

2

3

> Bose Portable Smart Speaker $349 From bose.com Features AirPlay, IPX4

3

With Bluetooth 4.2 and AirPlay, this has an IPX4 water–resistance rating for protection from splashes and a great build and finish.

The app is slick and setup over Bluetooth or Wi–Fi is easy. You can AirPlay any Apple device to the speaker while on the same network or use it in regular Bluetooth mode while away from Wi–Fi. The top surface contains core controls for playback and volume, with a circular light system giving feedback for power and volume.

The app lets you configure Alexa or Google Assistant voice services so you can use voice control via the

speaker’s microphone array to set timers, play Spotify, and the like. You can also share the speaker with other users of the app on your network. Playback is great with an excellent sonic balance, and though Bose doesn’t advertise wattage the speaker can go incredibly loud, even if it loses focus a little at higher levels. Battery life is 12 hours and there’s an optional charging stand.

Voice control Goes very loud indeed Great companion app A little pricey

EXCELLENT

4

> JBL Link Portable

$179.95 From jbl.com Features 20W, AirPlay, IPX7

4

The JBL Link Portable charges over USB–C, offering a battery life of eight hours, and also comes with a charging cradle. Well–built but slightly unsteady on anything other than a robust surface, it is nonetheless rated IPX7 water–resistant and so can shrug off any soaking. It uses 360–degree sound, so it sounds good from any angle and playback is solid if perhaps not stellar, with a decent balance and a well– rounded bass. You can also pair two speakers for stereo.

There’s Bluetooth 4.2 and also AirPlay, with setup via the Google Home app which involves filling in some

personal info before it’s done, which isn’t to everyone’s taste. Once you’re in you can tweak EQ, set reminders and set up Google Assistant, after which the onboard mics will respond to your voice commands and you can use it as part of a Smart Home network. A decent–sounding and very weatherproof speaker, though the reliance on Google for setup may grate with Apple users.

Excellent water sealing Solid all–round sound Relies on Google Home Design a little muted

GOOD

AUG 2021 51

>>> Gear Up

5

> Sonos Move

$399 From sonos.com Features 36W, AirPlay, IP56

5

The largest speaker on test, the Sonos Move weighs in at 6.6lb and has an integrated carrying handle as well as IP56 weatherproofing for protection from rain and dust. It comes with a charging base but also has a USB–C port, and capacitive touch controls on the top as well as a multiple mic array. It uses these not only for voice commands (Amazon Alexa and Google are supported) but also Trueplay, Sonos’ system for adjusting its playback based on the environment it detects.

There is also AirPlay 2.

The app is very well– featured, offering easy setup 52 AUG 2021

and management of everything from EQ to stereo pairing, setting alarms and adding any of a long list of music streaming services and internet radio stations, which you can ask your device to play using your voice. Music playback is very good, with the larger cabinet allowing for a particularly accurate and rich low end. At 36W it’s the most powerful unit on test, though also the heaviest.

Excellent sound Extensive smart features Powerful app Very expensive

GREAT

6

> Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2

$69.99 From ultimateears.com Features 17W, IP67

6

Among the most compact of Ultimate Ears’ portable speakers, the Wonderboom 2 is very small and light, sitting easily in the palm of your hand. With a woven outer mesh it’s IP67 water resistant, meaning it can be submerged in water for a short period. Charging over micro–USB, it’s all super simple to use, with no companion app and just a couple of controls. Pair by holding the Bluetooth button, then there’s playback controls and those large volume buttons on the front side. Battery life is 13 hours.

It uses 360–degree sound, meaning it’s not directional,

and two units can be paired to create stereo sound. Its playback is far better than you’d expect, with a polished and balanced soundstage and plenty of bottom end.

Of course, its size means there are limitations at higher volumes but it’s still impressive. An Outdoor Boost button emphasizes mid and top end at the expense of bass, which tends to get lost outdoors anyway.

Very portable and affordable Great sound for its size Serious waterproofing No app to change EQ

EXCELLENT

Tough testing, trusted ratings

THE WINNER

T

ANKER MOTION +

An affordable, great sounding and seriously waterproof speaker you can take anywhere

HE DIFFERENCES IN price between the speakers has less to do with sound quality and more with smart features. They all sound really good, but if you want voice control and cloud streaming you’re going to pay more. The snag is that those features and AirPlay require you to be on a Wi–Fi network. While that’s fine for your garden, being away from Wi–Fi still means using regular Bluetooth.

The Sonos Move, JBL Link Portable, AudioPro C3 and Bose Portable Home Speaker are all web– connected, with the C3 and Move in particular

having the widest feature sets although also being the largest of the bunch. The Bose is a great balance of portability and features, but at a price.

With an honourable mention for the super– affordable and fun Wonderboom 2, it’s the Anker Motion + that strikes the perfect balance. Well-built yet really portable, it’s effectively waterproof, has great audio quality and battery life, and even an aux input for flexibility. It may not have smart features or AirPlay but considering its price it’s the speaker you will want to take out with you wherever you go.

AUG 2021 53

>>> App Life

OnMail’s inbox organization is great, but individual messages aren’t quite as strong.

OnMail — Fast & Simple Email Sending out mixed messages Free (IAPs) From onmail.com Made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Needs iOS/iPadOS 10.0 or later

OnMail’s app is billed as “email built for today”. It comes with a host of thoughtful features but it really needs a little refinement going forward.

Starting on the inbox view, you will find a few neat tricks.

Swiping from left to right on a message gives the usual options to mark it as unread or trash it. Swipe the other way, though, and you can move it to the “Done” folder, which is a repository for mail you have dealt with but do not want to delete. It’s a great way to keep 54 AUG 2021

your inbox tidy without viciously purging it.

There are other nifty inbox features. You can approve unknown senders before their messages enter your inbox.

Attachments are popped out below their associated emails.

Tracking pixels are automatically removed.

However, there is no way to add flags and starred indicators, which feels like an oversight to us.

Most of the key tools you need are housed in a swipe–up tab at the bottom of the app.

Swipe up on your inbox and

you can search your mail in natural language. You can also jump to various standard folders or OnMail’s AI– powered “smart folders”.

These contain travel documents, parcel tracking details, and more. Leave the tab down and you can switch between your Primary inbox view and any others you have added (annoyingly, right now you can only add new sections from OnMail’s web app, not its iOS app).

Tap the Other button on the tab and you get a taste of Preview Mode, which samples Image rights: Edison Software.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

Use your inbox in a smarter way APP TIPS

The Other tab uses a feed to display newsletters and promotional mail.

Each contact’s page neatly houses their attachments, messages, and more.

your newsletters and promotional emails in a feed. It is a great way to quickly browse through messages, but OnMail misses a trick by not letting you swipe to deal with them. It slows down what is meant to be a quick viewing mode.

The swipe–up tab is also visible when you view an individual email. Here, you can reply, mark the message as done or unread, or access more actions like moving the message to spam from the three-dot menu. Swipe up and OnMail shows the email thread’s participants; tap one and you see their profile, along with any attachments and messages they have sent you (think the search feature in your Messages).

Sending emails is easy and fuss–free. Backing out halfway through composing does not prompt you to save the message to drafts but it should save. However, we encountered a bug where our drafts only appeared in the web app, not in the iOS app, which is a bit annoying and troublesome.

OnMail is totally ad–free. To make money, it offers paid subscriptions. We reviewed the Personal plan ($49.99 per year), which has extra storage, the ability to password protect files, and support for custom domains. Frustratingly, importing third-party accounts is also locked behind this paywall, which we really feel should be a free feature.

There’s also a $99.99 per year Professional plan.

OnMail is a promising email app with some great features built-in for free. It needs a little tweaking, but its main issue is that you have to pay to bring your existing inboxes with you.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Full of great ideas but needs a little fine–tuning. ALEX BLAKE

Image rights: Edison Software.

Long press an email in your inbox to select multiple messages, then triage them however you like.

The Attachments smart folder contains every file you’ve been sent or have sent out yourself in an easy–to–browse list.

ONMAIL

Clean, attractive inbox “Done” action is satisfying iOS app feels limited vs web app Must pay to import accounts

GOOD

OnMail’s search box works with natural language and is pretty good at understanding your intentions.

AUG 2021 55

>>> App Life

Planny 5 An all–new look, but is it any better at organizing your life?

Free (IAPs) From kevinreutter.de Needs macOS 11.0 or later

Planny’s interface is very pretty and looks identical to the iPad version.

PLANNY 5

Improved interface Game–style rewards A few interface quirks Disappointing scheduling

SOLID

56 AUG 2021

Planny combines calendar, reminders, notes and to–do lists in a single app. Version 5 has been rewritten from scratch for iOS, iPadOS, and the macOS version reviewed here, and it has a brand new interface too.

Although Planny is free to download, for the best experience you’ll need a $14.99 annual Premium subscription. This unlocks features like the ability to set priorities and pin items, to create subtasks and to create unlimited lists. It also allows you to create and search by tags — a useful feature.

The new interface has abandoned the very bright gradients of previous versions for something a bit more sober that makes good use of color without burning your retinas.

There’s a color–coded sidebar at the left with your Favorites, which are categories such as Overdue, Upcoming and Pinned, and Lists, which is where you can organize different kinds of content such as your grocery list or project items. As before there are game–style achievements and bright graphs to show how productive you’ve been.

This version of Planny appears to have been ported across from the iPad: not only is it visually identical but its pre–populated items refer to tapping icons rather than clicking on them. That’s good in terms of cross–device consistency but it does mean there’s a lot of empty white space on your Mac as well as some jarring font sizes.

Planny can be frustrating if you’re used to apps such as Fantastical or Todoist. For example anything involving changing dates uses a drop–down with tiny arrows rather than a faster, more efficient calendar control, and repeating events feel unnecessarily long–winded: you can’t set a task as a repeating task or event from the Calendar view, so you need to set it up as a new item in Routines. This is odd: you can tell it to repeat on day X during months Y and Z, but you can’t say “repeat this every two weeks and stop on this date”. We also encountered the occasional crash.

Planny is attractive and affordable but we found it less efficient and intuitive than apps such as Fantastical, which integrates superbly with multiple calendars and Apple’s own Reminders. It’s not that Planny is a bad app; it’s that its rivals are very good.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Planny is capable but rivals are better. CARRIE MARSHALL

Scheduling repeated events is a little clunky and lacks useful options such as non–weekly events and end dates.

Image rights: Kevin Reutter.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Infuse 7 Easy network streaming for your movies Free (IAPs) From firecore.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Needs iOS/iPadOS 13.0

Apple’s push into the streaming market means it’s unlikely to advance its local video playback tools, leaving the QuickTime Player as its only native application. There are third–party solutions like VLC which can use any video file but aren’t refined — and then there’s Infuse. With apps for iOS, Mac, and Apple TV, Infuse aims to take the hassle out of playback and library management of your movie collection.

It’s free to download with a feature set in the regular version including support for 4K HDR video in H.264 and H.265 formats, video upscaling, drag and drop of files via AirDrop, FTP and more, plus UpnP and DNLA for streaming from local NAS or other wirelessly connected

Cloud and local network services are supported for direct movie streaming.

Image rights: Firecore, LLC.

hard drives. You can easily copy movie files to your iOS device but it’s more space– efficient to add a few networked drives, whereupon movies stored on the drives will be playable by streaming them to the app.

The interface is slick, with the app using extensive metadata and cover art for all the movies and TV shows it finds. This makes browsing your video library at least as efficient as using Netflix or Apple TV+, and you can create your own playlists. On a speedy Wi–Fi network, playback is smooth, with hardware decoding meaning there’s no need to convert video formats.

The Pro version ($0.99/ month) unlocks more good stuff. You get full support for a range of video formats, which covers everything you could need to play. It also unlocks an array of cloud streaming options, letting you stream direct from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and more.

Purchasing one of the Pro unlocks gives you functionality not just on iOS, but on macOS and tvOS as well — excellent value.

Unlike Plex, Infuse doesn’t require your Mac to be on, any device can work independently. If you have a digital movie collection, it’s a great way to see your videos.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A superbly efficient way to watch your movies and TV shows. HOLLIN JONES

Point the app at a folder of movies and it downloads cover art and other metadata.

INFUSE 7

Free version has good features Excellent cloud storage support Play any video without conversion Works across all Apple devices

AWESOME

AUG 2021 57

Who stores their naval mines next to oil barrels like that? It’s asking for trouble.

Bike Baron 2 A whole lot of fun on two wheels

$3.99 From Cornfox & Brothers, bikebaron2.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS/iPadOS 14.0 or later

Some levels require perfect positioning to traverse.

58 AUG 2021

Cornfox & Brothers Ltd is the studio behind the Oceanhorn RPGs, but this slice of pure fun couldn’t be more different from the rather serious fantasy games. Similar to Joe Danger in many ways, the titular two– wheeled aristocrat moves forward over increasingly intricate courses.

Controls consist of Stop and Go buttons, and a pair of arrows that control the rider’s rotation. Roar over the top of everything, doing loop–de– loops and pushing blocks into explosives, and all is well. Bang into the wrong thing, and it’s a floppy ragdoll death.

And this is where one of the game’s minor flaws resides: it’s not entirely clear what will kill you. Sometimes an encounter with a girder or explosion will knock off your helmet, or you’ll bounce off.

Most of the time it’ll kill you.

Luckily there’s checkpoints that mean you won’t need to replay the entire level each time you die, but because there’s a points bonus for unscathed completion, you won’t want to ever actually die.

Issues aside — and there have been reports of poor

performance on hardware that really should be able to handle it, we put these down to the pre–release code we were playing so they should be patched out — there’s lots of fun to be had with Bike Baron 2. The levels are imaginative, and once you’ve got a flow going it’s exhilarating watching the plucky peer dive over explosions and pull off a perfect spin to avoid the sharp edge of a platform. Crash, and the trip back to the nearest checkpoint is easy, and the controls are responsive enough that you never feel like it’s being unfair.

Like Joe Danger before it, the fun is in the repetition and the perfecting of your runs as much as in the big air and explosions. It has that compulsive quality that’s essential in a mobile game, yet none of the levels are so long that you don’t feel like you can leave it for another day. If the devs can keep the levels and the quality coming, there’s a hit to be had here.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Compulsive fun on two wheels, with any issues eminently fixable. IAN EVENDEN BIKE BARON 2

Ideal mobile entertainment Good responsive controls Imaginative levels Death can come as a surprise

GREAT

Image rights: Mountain Sheep, Mureena, Cornfox & Brothers Ltd.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

Shelter 3 Third time is not the charm $14.99 From mightanddelight.com Made for Mac Needs macOS 10.15 or later The final game in the Shelter series shifts the focus from a carnivorous lynx family to a traveling herd of elephants.

As the matriarch, you must carefully guide them to their ancestors through treacherous lands.

Or not so treacherous, as it transpires.

Most of the danger is fleeting, and the tensest moments arrive when your sluggishness comes into play. Several areas require you to ford rivers teeming with crocodiles, but your herd swims slowly, so timing is of the essence.

Most other dangers are easily overcome, though. Stamina is never an

issue as long as you keep an eye out for nourishing fruit trees, and you can run through most of the map. You care for the herd — especially your own calf — but Shelter’s hour–long play time is too short to forge a real connection. There are different paths to choose, but the outcomes are often similar. We would ideally like to see a bit more variety with these outcomes, to keep things interesting and a little less predictable.

However, the paths of Shelter’s animated natural world are completely fine if you are looking for a walking simulator, and the design of Shelter 3’s environment succeeds here rather well.

Keeping your baby safe from harm is of paramount importance.

But you get the feeling it was not intended to be this way, and it is a departure from the previous installments in the series, which were fraught with danger throughout.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Short and simple, Shelter 3 is pretty but hardly taxing. ALEX BLAKE SOLID

DropOver 4.2 Make dragging and dropping easier with this handy tool

Free (Dropover Pro is $3.99) From dropoverapp.com Made for Mac Needs macOS 10.13 or later DropOver is a tool that makes it easier to drag and drop files, images, or snippets of text from one location to another, either on your Mac, or to a cloud storage service. Like Yoink, it employs the metaphor of shelves to store items while you move them.

Using DropOver is simple, click on a file anywhere on your Mac to select it, then shake the mouse or your finger on the trackpad and a shelf will pop up onto which you drop the file. The shelf is overlaid on whatever app is active, even if it’s running in full–screen mode. The process is identical for snippets of text or Image rights from top: Might and Delight, Damir Tursunovic.

URLs, though in this case, shaking the mouse is a little tricky, so you can use a keyboard modifier or shortcut instead.

Once on a shelf, files can be previewed, copied to another location, or opened in another app. You can drag files onto an open app to add them to a document, and can share them online using DropOver’s own cloud service, or iCloud or another service like Dropbox.

A menu bar item allows you to access recent shelves, or create a new shelf from the contents of the clipboard.

DropOver lacks several of Yoink’s features, partly because it’s Mac–only, so there’s no Handoff support for moving

Once you’ve added an item to a shelf you have a number of different options for sharing it. files between Mac and iOS devices, and no support for Continuity Camera. There are also no Notification Center widgets for DropOver, which would be handy.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A useful and inexpensive utility for moving files and text snippets around your Mac and sharing them. KENNY HEMPHILL GOOD AUG 2021 59

>>> App Life

Filmage Converter Convert any video or audio format with ease $9.99 From filmagepro.com Needs OS X 10.11 or later

Batch convert movies and audio in any formats that you need.

FILMAGE CONVERTER

Huge range of formats Simple to use Batch process easily Downloader seems hit and miss

GREAT

60 AUG 2021

If you have ever tried to play back or convert movies in anything other than Apple’s preferred MP4 and MOV formats on a Mac, you’ll have found it tricky. You need a third–party app like VLC for playback or Filmage Converter to change legacy or unusual formats such as WMV, AVI, or MKV into Mac–friendly movies. These might be your old camcorder movies, movies you ripped from DVDs or any other video files.

Priced at just $9.99, Filmage Converter puts a simple interface onto video codecs and libraries. You drag any movies for conversion onto the app and choose an output format or device type. Pretty much everything is available here from iPad or Apple TV formats through Apple ProRes, WMV, and more, all with frame size, rate, and quality presets.

You can click to edit any preset and reveal options on the level of quality — as well as codec, frame, and bit rate settings and audio bit and sample rates. Presets can be saved once edited and the presets to save audio

files separately from their video component are really very useful.

The developers call this app a video editor, but this is only true in a certain way. You can merge videos together, but it’s not a linear editor. That said, clicking the Edit button for a video reveals tools to trim videos’ start and end points, crop their frame, add subtitles, effects, and watermarks. These are super easy to use. In Final Cut or Premiere, rendering basic changes like these can mean legwork setting up projects, so it’s incredibly useful to have a quick way to do it.

There’s also an internet downloader where you paste a video’s URL to make a local copy, but this is a little hit and miss and depends on whether the site you’re downloading from has explicitly coded to prevent it. There’s batch processing of course — set up a list of videos, each with unique settings if required, and leave it to run. Performance varies depending on how much you’re crunching a video file and while not fast, is decent. It seemed to load the dedicated GPU on my 16 inch MBP rather than the CPU, meaning the Mac remained responsive and the fans didn’t go crazy during conversion.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A great video toolbox for converting to and from any format.

HOLLIN JONES

Perform quick edits on videos during conversion like cropping, watermarking, subtitles, and special effects.

Image rights: PDF Technologies, Inc.

Drafts 26 A Swiss Army knife for

Tough testing, trusted ratings

words and code

Free (IAPs) From getdrafts.com Needs macOS 10.13 or later

Drafts is a Swiss Army knife for text, enabling you to capture your thoughts wherever you are, and on any device.

Drafts is all about getting your ideas down quickly. Whether it’s a blog topic, research, code, or an idea for a tweet — you can capture it in Drafts and decide where to store or share it afterwards. You can start a draft by clicking the icon in the menu bar, by dictating directly into your Mac, or by using the app or its iOS/Apple Watch companions.

The core Drafts app is free, but its best features, themes, and customization require a Pro subscription ($2.99/month).

That unlocks Workspaces, which enable you to create custom workspaces for specific tags, and the ability to create or edit Actions, which extend what Drafts can do. Actions enable you to automate tasks such as adding text to an Evernote note or a Google Doc, sending it to Twitter, appending it to a OneNote journal, changing the formatting, or uploading it to a CMS. The library of actions is large and if you find yourself thinking “I wish Drafts could do this,” there’s an Action for it.

The key to Drafts is its Actions — allowing you to share your content with other apps and services.

Image rights: Agile Tortoise.

Version 26 is a significant update to an already powerful app. You can now add custom syntaxes, which highlight your text in more languages than the stock selection that includes Markdown, TaskPaper, and JavaScript. As this is a new feature the range is small, but it includes syntaxes for Jira, Fountain, and iA Writer as well as expansions for Markdown. There’s also an online Theme Builder you can use to install edited versions of themes into Drafts.

Another welcome change is that the Drafts Directory now allows automatic installation of new versions.

Unfortunately, this isn’t retrospective, so it only applies to items that you install from this version onwards.

Drafts is for power users: while it’s a suitable writing environment — it shines is in its ability to do pretty much anything with the words or code you type. It’s intimidating for beginners, but it’s a terrific tool for those who like to tinker.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Drafts is an extremely powerful app, if a bit intimidating. CARRIE MARSHALL

There’s a lot going on here, but the interface is flexible and customizable.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

DRAFTS 26

Even more expandable Easy theme editing Automatic updates Steep learning curve

AWESOME

AUG 2021 61

>>> App Life

WaveLab Cast Professional podcast production on a budget Around $84.66 From Steinberg.net Needs macOS 10.15 or later, minimum 4GB RAM, and 4GB free storage space

Create multi–layered projects and easily clean up and enhance your audio tracks.

WAVELAB CAST

Top notch producton tools A lot of bang for your buck For podcasts and video Learning curve for newbies

EXCELLENT 62 AUG 2021

Steinberg is best known as the developer of professional music production software including Cubase and WaveLab. With WaveLab Cast, it brings its decades of experience to a product that’s aimed at podcasters, radio, or video producers.

Anyone who has used the company’s other apps will recognize its look and feel, inherited from the flagship WaveLab suite.

Fire it up and you are presented with a helpful list of project templates, which create the relevant number of audio tracks in a new project. You can import audio files of course, and also record directly into WaveLab Cast in up to 96KHz, 32–bit quality. It can record from any connected microphone or for multi–mic recordings, from a connected audio interface. Routing sound to tracks and setting levels is straightforward.

For absolute beginners there will likely be something of a learning curve while you familiarize yourself with a few core concepts and terms involved in tracking, editing, and mixing sound. Those with a little prior knowledge, and certainly more experienced users, will find it all pretty self–explanatory.

A tab system is used to let you work on your main “montage” of tracks and clips, edit individual clips and use the advanced monitors and meters to keep an eye on volume levels. Wave editing tools are provided to help you cut and slice audio, and there are clever automated tools like silence detection and removal that can save a huge amount of editing time with spoken word tracks. There’s also auto–ducking which will quieten background sounds like music whenever a voice is present.

Plug–in audio effects are supported of course, but Steinberg has also placed essential and easy–to–use sound shaping tools in the Inspector panel for every audio track to let you de–ess, clean up, and EQ your sound amongst other things. Video import is available too, meaning you can dub voice and music over picture while remaining in sync.

When finished, export mixdowns to hard drive or directly to a number of supported podcasting platforms. Attractively priced, WaveLab Cast offers a very solid tool set for recording, mixing and producing all manner of spoken word content to a highly professional level.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A really powerful and well–featured voice production toolkit.

HOLLIN JONES

Render finished projects as high resolution audio files or upload them to one of the built–in podcast networks.

Image rights: Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

Tough testing, trusted ratings

Coloraid For iOS AI–powered impressionist drawing for iOS Free (IAPs) From coloraidapp.com Made for iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac Needs iOS 13.1 or later Coloraid is a somewhat quirky take on iOS drawing apps, providing AI–powered suggestions for colors and shapes as you draw, and leaning heavily on impressionist–style creations. The free version is very basic and you’ll probably want to spend $2.99 to unlock the three purchases. The first is Color Patterns, and these are complementary swatches that you can choose between, and set up your own using the color wheel in the app. When you draw using the pen or brush tools, the app creates colors and sometimes shapes around your strokes.

You can also extract swatches from

photos either in your library or by taking a photo from the app.

The drawing process is a little odd.

Brushes and colors are configurable, but it is quite tricky to be precise with your strokes. Layers and effects are not available, it’s very much a surrealist approach to a canvas. The second unlockable feature is “my gallery”, which lets you save projects and reopen them rather than having to work on and export one at once. The third is the HD package, which allows a higher resolution view and output of pictures, without watermarks.

The SD option is low resolution, so this is a requirement. One interesting feature is

WaterMinder A fun way to stay hydrated

Use Color Patterns to have the app fill in areas as you draw. to convert your picture into the style of Picasso, Cezanne, or Van Gogh before exporting it, which adds elements to the canvas using AI. It’s a fun app, but likely with only niche appeal.

THE BOTTOM LINE. An unusual AI– powered drawing app at a low price.

HOLLIN JONES SOLID

EDITOR’S CHOICE

$4.99 From waterminder.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch Needs iOS/iPadOS 12.2 or later We all know hydration is important, but we’re not all great at staying hydrated.

WaterMinder is here to help.

It’s an iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch app designed to ensure you hit your hydration goals — you can also use it to track your coffee, alcohol, and soda intake, sharing your caffeine consumption with Apple’s Health app.

Using WaterMinder is easy. Tell it about yourself, your activity levels, and the climate you live in, then WaterMinder will notify you when it’s time for a drink.

You can then tap on the appropriate icon to log your consumption.

Image rights from top: Vypno GmbH, Funn Media.

You can quickly log your drinks on your Apple Watch with a Siri shortcut, via a Watch Face complication, or by tapping the on–screen notification, but it works well without the Watch too. As you’d expect from a health and fitness app — it integrates with Apple Health, it enables you to view your consumption over time, and it has game–style achievements that congratulate you after achieving your best results.

There are lots of these apps in the App Store but we like the way WaterMinder has been designed: the interface is clear, the customization options are excellent, the Watch app characters are cute and

Your on–screen avatar fills with water as you rehydrate yourself. there are delightful little touches such as the way your on–screen avatar fills with water that you can slosh around by waggling your iPhone! It’s a fun way to stay hydrated.

THE BOTTOM LINE. WaterMinder is excellent, especially on Apple Watch.

CARRIE MARSHALL AWESOME AUG 2021 63

>>> App Life

6 apps... made amazing by a great Watch companion app These Watch apps hit the big time

The App Store is teeming with Apple Watch apps, but some are better than others. While some cover the bare minimum, others are the total opposite, offering tailored experiences that take advantage of the Watch’s form factor and make the most of everything it offers. We want to highlight those apps here.

Whether you are dashing to catch a train or checking off items on your grocery list, these apps understand the ways you use your Watch and what you need from an excellent wrist–based app. Their companion iPhone apps may be good, but these Watch apps are truly great, and will simplify your life. ALEX BLAKE

JUST PRESS RECORD $4.99 From openplanetsoftware. com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch Sometimes you might want to record something but it is inconvenient to whip your iPhone out. For those times, there is Just Press Record. This app is already great on iPhone, but its Watch app takes it to the next level — to record, just open the app on your wrist and press the big red button. It is quick, easy, and hassle– free — just what a Watch app should be.

CITYMAPPER Free (IAPs) From citymapper.com Made for iPhone, iPod touch, Apple Watch Citymapper is already popular on iPhone, and it’s suited to the Apple Watch too, where quick directions are all you need.

Just raise your wrist to see exactly where to go next on your journey — you can check which bus you need to catch, how many stops are left on your train journey, and more. It has a bunch of handy Watch complications, too.

64 AUG 2021

1PASSWORD Free (IAPs) From 1password.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch One of the benefits of the Apple Watch is that you don’t need to take your iPhone everywhere. With the 1Password Watch app, you can carry your most important data and leave your iPhone at home. It lets you add important passwords, credit cards, and more to your Watch, so all you need to log in, pay for items, or check details is a quick swipe on your wrist.

Image rights from left: Open Planet Software Ltd, Citymapper Limited, 1Password, The Rocket Science Group.

THINGS 3 $9.99 From culturedcode.com Made for iPhone, iPod touch, Apple Watch Things is already a superb tasks app, and it gets even better on Apple Watch. It is focused just on what’s on your plate today, helping you stay on track. You can check off tasks, create new ones, or reschedule tasks. You will have everything you need to get things done each day, with none of the extras that could get in the way on your wrist.

Image rights from left: Cultured Code, Conrad Stoll, Grailr LLC.

GROCERY - SMART SHOPPING LIST Free (IAPs) From smartgrocery.app Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch Grocery is more than just a shopping list app. Its algorithm learns what order you check items off your list and presents them in this order for next time, meaning less time spent scrolling. It’s a great, speedy approach. Just raise your wrist, check off an item, and the most logical next one is right there waiting.

CARROT WEATHER Free (IAPs) From meetcarrot.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch CARROT Weather shows how an Apple Watch app can be packed full of info without ever overwhelming you. By using plenty of color, smart detail organization, and useful complications, you get all the weather info you need without ever having to pick up your iPhone. It all comes with CARROT’s hilariously sadistic AI that brightens up your day.

AUG 2021 65

>>> Best of

Best of the best Can’t find the hardware or app you’re looking for in our reviews section? Then check in here — we’ve highlighted the best in every major category, as voted for by us

> HARDWARE CATEGORY

!WEN

MESH ROUTER 4K USB–C MONITOR THUNDERBOLT DOCK KEYBOARD PRINTER EXTERNAL HDD NAS DEVICE Qi CHARGER HEADPHONES IN–EAR HEADPHONES SECURITY CAMERA SMART SPEAKER USB MICROPHONE

66 AUG 2021

PRODUCT Zyxel Multy U BenQ EW3280U Brydge Stone Pro Logitech MX Keys For Mac

WEB zyxel.com benq.com brydge.com logitech.com

PRICE $269.99 $799.99 $239.99 $99.99

Epson Expression Photo HD

epson.com

iStorage diskAshur M2

istorage-uk.com

FEATURES AC2100, 3 nodes, tri–band, MU–MIMO 32–inch 4K IPS, HDR, USB–C, 65W charging 11 ports, 87W power supply, dual display Backlighting, number pad, USB–C wireless printing, 200 $349.99 Wide–format, capacity $169 7-15 digit PIN, IP68 rated, shockproof

WD My Cloud Pro PR2100 Belkin BOOSTCHARGE TrueFreedom Pro Bose NC700 Apple AirPods Pro EufyCam 2C (two–pack kit) HomePod mini

wdc.com belkin.com bose.com apple.com eufylife.com apple.com

$399.99 $129.99 $399.95 $249 $239.99 $99

Movo UM700

movophoto.com

Up to 20TB, 4GB RAM, 2x Gigabit Ethernet 2x 10W charging, supports 3mm thick case 10 noise–cancelling steps, 20 hours battery Noise–cancelling, wireless charging case Battery–powered, floodlight, local storage 360–degree sound, stereo pair, AirPlay 2 recording modes, 20Hz-20kHz frequency $99.95 4response, mode–control dial Image rights from left to right: Movo, Doist Ltd, The Grizzly Labs, Silvio Rizzi.

> iOS APPS CATEGORY TO DO (PRODUCTIVITY) WRITING EMAIL PHOTO EDITOR VIDEO EDITOR CAMERA RSS READER IDEAS ORGANIZER NOTE–TAKING MIND–MAPPING DOCUMENT SCANNER CALENDAR WEATHER > macOS APPS CATEGORY TO DO (PRODUCTIVITY) WRITING EMAIL PHOTO EDITOR VIDEO EDITOR SCREEN CAPTURE MUSIC CREATION FILE ORGANIZER DESKTOP PUBLISHING BACKUP VIRTUALIZATION TIME–TRACKING PERSONAL FINANCE

PRODUCT

Things 3 Scrivener Spark Pixelmator for iPad LumaFusion 2.0 FiLMiC Firstlight Reeder 5 OmniOutliner3 Notability 10 MindNode 6 Genius Scan 6.0 Fantastical 3 Carrot Weather 5

PRODUCT

Todoist Ulysses 21 Canary Mail 2 Affinity Photo Final Cut Pro ScreenFlow 9 Logic Pro X ForkLift 3 Adobe InDesign Carbon Copy Cloner Parallels Desktop 16 Tyme 3 Quicken

WEB

PRICE

NEEDS

culturedcode.com literatureandlatte.com sparkmailapp.com pixelmator.com luma-touch.com filmicpro.com reeder.app omnigroup.com gingerlabs.com mindnode.com thegrizzlylabs.com flexibits.com meetcarrot.com

$9.99 $19.99 Free $4.99 $14.99 $7.99 $4.99 Free (IAPs) $8.99 $14.99 Free (IAPs) $4.99/month $4.99/month

iOS 10 or later iOS 9 or later iOS 10 or later iOS 11 or later iOS 11 or later iOS 13 or later iOS 14 or later iOS 11.2 or later iOS 12 or later iOS 11 or later iOS 13 or later iOS 13 or later iOS 13 or later

WEB

PRICE

NEEDS

todoist.com ulysses.app canarymail.io affinity.serif.com apple.com telestream.net apple.com binarynights.com adobe.com bombich.com parellels.com tyme-app.com quicken.com

$35.99/year $49.99/year $19.99 $49.99 $299.99 $129.00 $199.99 $29.95 $20.99/month $39.99 $79.99 $3.99/month $35.99/year

OS X 10.11 or later macOS 10.14.4 or later OS X 10.10 or later OS X 10.7 or later macOS 10.13 or later macOS 10.12 or later macOS 10.12 or later OS X 10.11 or later macOS 10.13 or later OS X 10.10 or later macOS 10.13 or later macOS 10.13.2 or later OS X 10.11 or later AUG 2021 67

Beginner’s Guides Introducing Pages

68 AUG 2021

Image rights: Apple.

Use Pages to create a professi o nal – l o oki n g brochure Apple’s word–processing and page layout tool is often overlooked, but it’s both powerful and easy to use WRITTEN BY KENNY HEMPHILL

WHEN IT COMES to all the free apps that Apple makes available for macOS, Pages probably gets the least love. It doesn’t have the wow factor of iMovie or GarageBand, nor is at as close to its competitors in capability as Keynote and Numbers. However, it has a great deal going for it and is a very capable tool when it comes to laying out small documents such as leaflets, posters, and flyers.

Image rights: Apple.

It does have its quirks. The distinction between a word processing and a layout document remains, and how to choose which of the two to create is not obvious. That matters because some features are only available in one type of document, and which one you choose will substantially affect how Pages works.

Many of us wouldn’t dream of using Pages for word processing as the Mac is awash with excellent tools for

crafting and editing text documents.

So we’re going to concentrate here on what Pages does well — creating those posters, leaflets, and flyers. We’ll cover the basics but also take a look at some of Pages more powerful features, like anchoring objects such as images to text so they move with it as the layout changes. We’ll also walk you through how to wrap text around an object, and how to make images look stunning using transparency and masks.

AUG 2021 69

>>> Beginner’s Guides: Introducing Pages

Create a brochure Pages excels when it comes to making documents that really grab your attention

WITH THIS WALKTHROUGH, we’re going to create a brochure by starting with one of the templates from the Template Chooser that appears when you first launch Pages. The Template Chooser can also be accessed from the File menu by choosing New. We’ll use a brochure template here, but the principles are the same for all templates.

Once you’re comfortable using templates to create documents, you can create them from scratch and even make your own templates. Documents in Pages

can either be layout or word processing types. By default, brochures are page layout documents and templates like reports or CVs, and letters are word processing. You can see which type of document you’re working on and change it from one type to the other by clicking on Documents in the toolbar. If the box labelled Document body is checked, it’s a word processing doc, if not, it’s a page layout. Check or uncheck the box to change it. As well as choosing an image from Photos, you can drop any image on your Mac on to a picture box to import it.

EXPLAINED… Getting started with Pages documents FEATURES Pages has several features, including master pages, that you would expect to find in a more professional layout tool.

FORMATS Images, shapes and text are styled and arranged in the formatting palette, which houses a wealth of options.

THUMBNAILS In multi–page docs, pages appear as thumbnails in the sidebar, though you can hide this.

IMAGE STYLES There are lots of options for styling images to make them look more interesting.

70 AUG 2021

Image rights: Apple.

EXPLAINED… Create your first Pages brochure

1 Create a document 2 Customize text style 3 Create new text style

Open Pages, click New Document, then select a template from the Template Chooser. We’re using the Elegant Brochure from the Miscellaneous section. Click it to select and click Create to open it (or double–click on it).

In this template, the right–hand panel is the front of the brochure. Click on the title text box to select it. We’ll create a new title style. Click Text, then the Down arrow and the “+” next to Paragraph Style. Give the style a name.

4 Choose a new photo 5 Edit the photo

The photo on the front doesn’t fit our location, so we’ll choose a new one. Click on the icon at the bottom– right of the photo. Locate the photo you want to use when the window opens, and click on it to add it.

Our photo is a bit boring. To change that, select it and click Style.

Choose from one of the options. Use the options under Border and Shadow to adjust the frame. We also clicked Arrange and used Rotate to add interest.

Choose from the options for font, text size, color and alignment for the new title style, then press Update.

Select the text in the box and type your new title. You can customize the other text boxes in the same way.

6 Change the logo

That yellow flower wasn’t really working so let’s change it for a shape.

Click on the flower to select it then press delete. Click on Shape in the toolbar and choose a shape. Click on it to add it to the brochure.

7 Place & style the logo 8 Finish the brochure 9 Export the brochure Click on the new shape and drag it to where the flower was. Look out for the yellow lines that show when you’ve aligned an object with other elements on the page. Click and drag on a corner to resize it and use the Style options.

Image rights: Apple.

Use the steps above to select and style the rest of the text, photos, and other elements. Type your text directly into a text box or paste it from a text document. To invite others to work on it, use the Collaborate button.

When done, go to the File menu, choose Export To and choose PDF. Click Next, choose a location, and click Export. If you think you’ll create a similar brochure in future, choose “Save as Template” in the File menu.

AUG 2021 71

>>> Beginner’s Guides: Introducing Pages

Make your docs stand out Tips and techniques to elevate your Pages projects and make them shine SO FAR, WE’VE learned how to set up a Pages document using a template and adapt it to our needs. However, Pages has a lot more than that to offer. By using some of its more advanced features, like text wrapping, you can make your newsletters and brochures look very professional.

And by using masking and transparency, images can be made to look exactly as you want them to.

On these pages, we’ll show you how to anchor an object to text so that if you add

more text or move it around, you don’t have to worry about manually moving the object each time, which can be a big time–saver in longer documents.

There is a great deal more to explore in Pages, but hopefully we’ve shown enough to motivate you to explore and discover more for yourself. Play around, dive into menus and palettes, change things for fun and see what happens. You can revert most things with Cmd+Z and, if not, it’s easy to roll back to a previous version from the File menu.

HOW TO… Wrap text around an object

1 Add the object

Choose the object you want and add it to the page, such as the aeroplane here. Drag it into position in the text box and click and drag the corners to resize it (hold Shift to retain the proportions).

With the object selected, click Arrange.

72 AUG 2021

2 Make it wrap

In the Arrange palette, click on the Text Wrap menu and choose how the text should wrap the object. If the object is non–rectangular, you can use Text Fit to make text follow the contours of the object rather than the box housing it.

3 Add more space

Change the amount of space between the object and the text by selecting a value from the Space menu.

If your object has an alpha channel, select a value from Alpha to control the transparency at which the text wraps.

Image rights: Apple.

HOW TO… Use transparency and masking

1 Add the image box 2 Add the image

We can use the masking tool to place images in non–rectangular boxes.

Choose a shape and place it on the page where you want the image, then resize it to the size you want the image to be.

Locate the image you want in Finder.

Drag the image from the Finder onto the object. You’ll see the masking tool appear, showing that the only visible part of the image is inside the shape. Drag the image into position and use the slider to pick what’s visible.

3 Style the image box

Use the options in the Style menu to choose whether your image has a border, what color it is, and whether there’s a drop shadow. Play around with the options and experiment with different shapes and text wrap options.

HOW TO… Anchor an object to text

1 Place the object

This only works in a word processing document — it won’t work in a brochure page layout but it’s worth knowing. Place your object on the page, position it, and make it the size you want. We’re adding an end stop to a paragraph.

2 Anchor it

Choose Arrange in the sidebar on the right. Select Move with Text, then click on the Text Wrap menu and you’ll see “Inline with Text.” Choose that. Now, if you add more text before the object, the object will move with the text.

3 Lock an object

We can do the opposite, too — lock an object so that it never moves. Choose Stay on Page and press Lock at the bottom of the window. Now, when you add more text, the object will stay where it is and the text will move around it.

> HOW TO EDIT IMAGES IN PAGES Make parts transparent or the whole image pop The Image tab in the Format palette has two options to adjust transparency and saturation, as well as a one–click Enhance tool. But click the Settings button and you’ll see a whole suite of tools for adjustments like levels, sharpness, and highlights and shadows. Adjustments are previewed on the image in real time.

If you click Instant Alpha, you can choose to make specific colors in the image transparent so they disappear from the page and text runs over them. Edit Mask pulls up the masking tool so you can make changes to an image mask.

Image rights: Apple.

AUG 2021 73

ASK

TECH SUPPORT & TECHSPLANATIONS

Living in > Exploding backups strange times

EXPERT ADVICE Our resident genius solves

your Mac and iOS problems

Email Mac|Life at ask@maclife.com

Why are my Time Machine backups often so huge when there are only a few files to be backed up? The backups can take many gigabytes on my HFS+ backup disk.

DESPITE BEING PROPOSED as an international standard in 1884, we still haven’t accepted the 24–hour clock. If you’re American or British, you’ll probably prefer AM and PM; if you’re European, then you’ll want 24 straight hours each day.

Internally computers keep 24–hour time then let the user choose how to express it. Set your Mac to English (US) and Big Sur’s Dock & Menu Bar pane gives a choice for the clock in your menu bar.

This works differently in English (UK): the time format can only be changed in the Language & Region pane.

Internal oddities have been appearing since the macOS 11.2 update, with some apps now misbehaving because Apple changed the formatting of time to match that in iOS. Don’t be shocked if time seems out of joint, as that may even break some apps.

74 AUG 2021

This commonly occurs in two situations, both of which you can address. It may be that some of those files are huge, perhaps being virtual machine (VM) files for virtualization software like Parallels. If that’s the case, add the folder containing them to the list of exclusions using the Options button in Time Machine. As they change each time you use the VM, they’ll rapidly fill your backups otherwise. The other problem occurs when your Mac is backing up from an APFS disk to backups stored on an HFS+ disk. APFS can store sparse files, whose

content is mostly empty, in highly compact form. As HFS+ doesn’t support the new file format, they have to be expanded to full size to be added to your backup. A few megabytes of file can then explode to several gigabytes.

In this case, the best solution, if you can’t exclude them, is to change to Big Sur’s new option of making Time Machine backups to APFS. To do that, you’ll need to be running macOS 11, and create a new series of backups on a fresh disk which Time Machine can format in its special variant of APFS.

BackupLoupe and T2M2 can reveal excessively large backups, which you can then also add to your Time Machine’s list of exclusions.

Image rights: soma-zone.

Tech Support & Techsplanations

Get official documentation at support.apple.com | Get help with hardware at support.apple.com/repair

> Resetting the printer to print

Whenever I try to print to my AirPrint printer from my iPhone or iPad, they report that no AirPrint printers were found, until I turn the printer off and on again. Is this how my AirPrint works?

Device network IP addresses are normally assigned by your router; check them for the active Wi-Fi connection in Settings.

AirPrint shouldn’t require you to keep initializing your printer, but should find it easily when in Wi-Fi range.

Problems like this are most likely when your local wireless network is misconfigured, resulting in your printer and devices looking for one another on different networks.

Sometimes this can be solved by enabling support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz connections in your Wi-Fi router. Or check the IP address in each device including the printer. On your iPhone and iPad this is in Settings > Wi–Fi, in the Info symbol next to the checked network.

Configure IP should be Automatic.

Write down the IP Address details, they have your Wi-Fi router’s address.

Image rights: Apple.

All four should be on the same sub–net, with the first three figures in the IP address the same. If they aren’t they can’t see one another on the network, and you’ll need to reconfigure your router or printer. If the Wi–Fi icon on your printer’s LCD screen isn’t active, it may be using Wi–Fi Protected Setup (WPS), requiring you to select one of its WPS options within two minutes of pressing the WPS button in your router’s configuration. Refer to the printer’s documentation for a detailed explanation.

Once all your devices are on the same network, printing should become reliable. Now you can go forth, print, and conquer!

Quick–fire questions & answers HOW DO I SHOW A 12– HOUR CLOCK INSTEAD OF 24–HOUR? In Settings > Date & Time, turn off 24–Hour Time. But beware: this extends far beyond what’s shown by the clock. You’ll find every time on your device now works using AM and PM, which can become tedious when setting times. There’s no simple control which alters only what’s shown in the clock display.

HOW TO GET URGENT TEXTS IF DO NOT DISTURB IS ON? This normally silences all incoming messages, but you can add the phone number of each specific sender as an Emergency Bypass. Open their card in Contacts, tap Text Tone. At the top, turn on Emergency Bypass and set the alert tone. Tap Done when finished.

AUG 2021 75

>>> Ask A good utility to monitor Wi–Fi and Bluetooth signal strength like iStumbler can show dropouts which disconnect Sidecar.

HOW TO DEEP CLEAN KEYBOARDS, MICE AND TRACKPADS? It’s wise to combine this with disinfection. Apple recommends two types: sparing use of a disinfectant containing mild bleach, or better 70% isopropyl alcohol which won’t damage the electronics in keyboards.

Leave them in a light, open area for a day or two afterwards to ensure complete virus destruction.

WHY DO UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLIES (UPS) NEED USB? When mains power is lost, a UPS needs to signal your Mac to tell it to shut down, or it’ll run out of battery power.

Connecting it by USB lets you set its behavior in the UPS tab in the Energy Saver pane. There’s also SNMP for networked devices, but that’s more specialized.

76 AUG 2021

> Sidecar keeps falling off

Why is my iPad Pro’s Sidecar connection so unreliable that it disconnects when in use?

In most cases, connecting an iPad to a Mac using Sidecar just works, but when it doesn’t it can prove tricky to fix. Wireless Sidecar connections rely on good Wi–Fi and Bluetooth signals, which limits the distance between the iPad and Mac to a maximum of about 11 yards of uninterrupted sight, and works best when they’re closer. Neither can be sharing their internet connection, and both should be running the latest version of iPadOS/macOS. Anything causing interference or interruption to wireless

transmission can break this. Domestic appliances such as microwave ovens, poorly shielded USB, or Thunderbolt cables or hubs are common culprits. Sometimes reconfiguring a Wi–Fi router to use different channels can free others for use by Sidecar’s connection.

Monitoring Wi–Fi and Bluetooth signals using an app like iStumbler reveals dropouts which result in disconnection. Those could occur from interference, or if either the Mac or iPad have a hardware problem.

> Compatible docks for an M1

Should I expect problems connecting an M1 Mac to my Thunderbolt 3 Docks?

Of all the hardware built into Apple’s M1 chips, the Thunderbolt sections are the newest, and can give the greatest problems in use. Some docks work reliably, others seem to result in impaired performance of connected devices such as disks connected via USB–C. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t produce a list of known compatible docks, and that’s changing rapidly in any case as the drivers in M1 Macs improve.

Most problems come from connecting a dock which doesn’t fully support Thunderbolt 3 but a variant of USB–C 3 instead. Those aren’t going

to achieve the full potential of any fast SSD which you connect to them. Full Thunderbolt 3 docks from brands, such as CalDigit, Belkin and OWC, which are claimed to be compatible with M1 Macs are usually most likely to work best. Try to avoid unknown brands which are primarily USB–C 3 or 3.1 (and not explicitly claimed to be compatible with M1 models), and get a money–back guarantee. Ensure that the cable you use to connect the dock is fully certified, and marked with the Thunderbolt icon together with the digit 3 or 4. Use the shortest cable, try one less than a metre in length.

Image rights from top: Alf Watt, Apple.

Tech Support & Techsplanations

Apple’s Thunderbolt 2– to–3 adaptor can’t supply power to unpowered SSDs, which can instead be connected via a suitable dock.

> Connecting an external SSD

The simple answer might appear to be connecting it using Apple’s Thunderbolt 3 to 2 adaptor, but alas that usually doesn’t work as it can’t deliver the power that a compact external SSD normally needs.

Equally, buying a Thunderbolt 1 or 2 compact SSD would suffer the same problem when you came to connect it to a current or future Mac. In light of these issues, you can either buy a more expensive powered external SSD or enclosure, or a dock to provide

the power that a compact unit needs. If you get a Thunderbolt 2 dock now, you should still be able to use it via an adaptor when your Mac has Thunderbolt 3 ports. Another option would be to mount an M.2 NVMe SSD in a compact Thunderbolt 2 case for the moment, and then replace that with a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure when you upgrade your Mac. A second factor to consider is that compact SSDs initially claiming better

How can I connect a Thunderbolt 3 external SSD to my iMac 27–inch Late 2015 with Thunderbolt 2 ports, so that when I upgrade my Mac I can continue using it? performance than cheaper SATA models will eventually slow down when they have to cope with sustained writes. This is because they rely on passive cooling in operation, which can’t keep them cool enough to write at full speed for too long.

To realize the full potential of a fast M.2 SSD, it has to be mounted in an enclosure with active cooling such as a fan, which is how Apple’s internal SSDs invariably perform better than compact external SSDs. HOW DO I CONNECT FOUR THUNDERBOLT 3 SSDS TO MY M1?

This did require a display with multiple Thunderbolt ports, but CalDigit’s Element Hub and models from OWC and Kensington offer four Thunderbolt 3/4 ports. They are cheaper but in short supply, unfortunately.

M1 Macs work best when you connect a compatible dock using a properly certified Thunderbolt 3 cable.

Image rights from top: Corsair.

CAN I FLY MY DRONE USING ITS iOS APP ON AN M1 MAC? Unless use on a Mac is supported you shouldn’t do this. The app won’t run as reliably, and won’t communicate with the flight controller. For a bigger display, try an iPad instead.

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>>> Ask

> Music doubling up tracks

I’m running macOS 11.2.3 and subscribe to iTunes Match but not Music.

Why is the Music app now duplicating everything in my library, and how can I stop it?

This is a not uncommon of the Apple ID pane. Wait a couple of problem which can arise with an minutes to allow those changes to iCloud Music Library. The most propagate through iCloud, then sign back in Problems with duping in iCloud Music Library reliable way to tackle it basically using the Overview in the Apple ID pane are often solved by turning it off, signing out, comes down to turning again. Once that has updated the pane, open then reconnecting. it off and back on again. You should do Music and turn iCloud Music Library back on. this when your Mac has a good Internet After some time syncing and updating, HOW DO I FIX connection, and you should be able to the behaviour of Music should have returned AUTHORIZATION leave your Mac connected and otherwise to normal. If you still have remaining PROBLEMS IN MUSIC? undisturbed for a while. problems, it may be the result of an account If you get errors about a First turn off iCloud Music Library in the misconfiguration, so you should contact Mac’s account authorization, Music app. Once you’ve done that, sign out Apple Support so that they can check that deauthorize your Macs from your Apple ID in the Overview section and talk you through remedial action. completely. Deauthorize them from your account, viewed using the View my Account command in the Account menu in the Music, How do I best create a secure “vault” for important data so that it’s protected from others, TV or Books app, and wait a including those with shared access to my Mac at work? few minutes. With all authorizations available, authorize each Mac from the If you’ve got a lot of private files, it may be Mac you want to authorize. the Finder once you’ve entered its password. worth creating an encrypted APFS volume, If problems persist, contact The only snag is that, once mounted, these but most prefer instead to use an encrypted Apple Support as they can are also accessible to other users, so you disk image, which can either be a single DMG must be careful to ensure they’re ejected correct account settings. iOS file or a sparse bundle. and iPadOS devices don’t before you leave your Mac. You can also set DMG files are best if you want a fixed size count in the number the General tab of the Security & Privacy pane which is easy to move around; they can be of authorizations, only Macs to require your Mac’s password immediately created in Disk Utility or DropDMG from and Windows computers. on sleep or the screensaver appearing. bit.ly/ml183dropdmg. Sparse bundles consist of a whole HOW DO I SHOW HIDDEN folder, within which are FILES IN THE FINDER? “band” files. These allow a Press Cmd+Shift in the sparse bundle to grow by Finder; when you want to adding more bands. They hide them again, repeat the too can be created using same shortcut. You Disk Utility or DropDMG, can make this a more and Spundle from permanent state by bit.ly/ml183spundle. In High typing in Terminal: Sierra and later you can defaults write com.apple. opt for either the traditional Finder AppleShowAllFiles HFS+ format, or the latest true APFS instead.

Setting that to false Double–click it to open will return the Finder Encrypted sparse bundles are a robust way of storing sensitive files, and can be created in Disk Utility, DropDMG or Spundle. the image and mount it in to normal again.

> Lock your private data away

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Image rights: Apple.

Tech Support & Techsplanations

> Can’t open dashcam footage

Since upgrading my MacBook Pro to Big Sur it won’t play footage from my Thinkware F770 dashcam, and reports it “cannot open files in the MPEG–4 movie format”. Why is this?

One of the smaller casualties with the loss of 32–bit software support in Catalina and Big Sur is that QuickTime codecs used to record and play back certain video and audio formats no longer work. Although most Mac apps have been updated, some older or cross–platform software hasn’t caught up.

You’ll notice this if you’ve recently upgraded macOS from Mojave or earlier to Catalina or Big Sur. Apple has a list of formats which lost support when those old QuickTime codecs were lost, at bit.ly/ ml183QTmedia. Among them are Flash Video, RealVideo, WMV, and Perian codecs.

MacOS provides support for the conversion of those retired formats in Mojave, but not in subsequent 64–bit versions of macOS such as Big Sur. If you want to convert or access movies in those formats, then Mojave is your best prospect.

In your particular case with not being able to open footage, dashcam footage is being saved using a codec which is no longer supported. If the manufacturer is unable to provide an update to the dashcam, or software it provides giving access to footage, you’ll need to replace the dashcam with a model which uses a supported format.

Keynote and Mojave apps can convert media from unsupported QuickTime formats, but can’t in later macOS. HOW DO I REORDER ITEMS IN THE MENU BAR? Although Big Sur’s new Dock & Menu Bar pane gives most controls over the menu bar, it can’t control the order of items displayed there. You can rearrange most of them by holding the Cmd key and dragging them into order, but note that the Control Center and clock are fixed.

SHARE WITH US! Image rights: Apple.

WHY DON’T I HAVE PERMISSION TO OPEN AN APP? This error message most often occurs when an app fails a signature check required by macOS. Occasionally this is because permissions aren’t set correctly or there’s a fault in its security or other settings. If it won’t open normally, contact the app’s developer and ask their advice.

EMAIL: ask@maclife.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife AUG 2021 79

CREATE HOW TO DO ANYTHING ON YOUR MAC, iPHONE & iPAD

Surf safer in Safari Keep things private and

secure in Safari on your Mac REQUIRES Safari, macOS 11.0 YOU WILL LEARN How to take control of your data when you surf the web IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes

APPLE HAS LONG tried to take an active approach when it comes to privacy, but that has ramped up noticeably in the last few years. Safari is a notable example of this. In macOS Big Sur, Apple introduced several new settings in the web browser that give you much more control over how you can stop bad actors making off with your private data. For instance, each website now gets a Privacy

GENIUS TIP On a new tab, click the Options button in the bottom right, then tick Privacy Report. This puts a report on new tabs showing what has been blocked.

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A password manager like 1Password can keep your login details safe and synced across all devices. It can store secure notes, your address info, and more.

Report that notes how many advertising trackers Safari has blocked. There is no need to turn it on — it all works behind the scenes to keep your data safe.

There are plenty of other actions you can take to step up your Safari security.

Apart from tweaking the browser’s settings — which we will cover in this tutorial — we highly recommend you download a password manager and add it to Safari. While Safari itself can remember your passwords, it is pretty basic and is of no use if you use a different browser on another device. Use a password manager like 1Password or LastPass and not only do you get more features, but you can also access all your logins no matter which browser or device you use (provided the manager is installed on each device, of course).

With a sturdy password manager installed and Safari optimized using the settings on the next page, your private information will be safer than ever, leaving you able to browse the web with peace of mind. ALEX BLAKE Image rights from top: Apple, DuckDuckGo, 1Password.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

HOW TO Toughen up Safari’s security

Privacy extensions

Click Safari > Safari Extensions to open the extensions page of the App Store. Install the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials and Ghostery Lite extensions; these will block unwanted trackers and content from websites.

Turn off AutoFill

Now click the AutoFill tab. Next to “AutoFill web forms”, uncheck all options. If someone else uses your Mac, this will prevent things like your credit card information from being entered on shopping websites.

Detect fraudulent sites

Move on to the Security tab and check the box next to “Fraudulent sites” so that it is enabled. This will warn you if you visit a fake website, such as one that impersonates your bank.

Image rights: Apple, DuckDuckGo.

Clear your history

Open Safari’s preferences and click the General tab. Under the “Remove history items” and “Remove download list items”, choose a duration. Shorter times will see your history removed sooner.

Problem passwords

Click the Passwords tab and enter your login. At the top of the window, ensure the “Detect passwords compromised by known data leaks” checkbox is ticked to get warned about passwords you need to change.

Cross–site tracking

Click the Privacy tab and check the box next to “Prevent cross–site tracking”. If you have ever had an advert follow you across multiple websites, cross–site tracking is the reason. This feature will stop it.

Open “safe” files

On the same General tab, uncheck the checkbox next to “Open ‘safe’ files after downloading”. Some seemingly innocuous files can be infected with malware, so automatically opening them could cause problems.

Use DuckDuckGo

On the Search tab, click the search engine drop–down menu and choose DuckDuckGo. This is a privacy– focused search engine that does not store anywhere near as much of your data as Google, Yahoo, and Bing do.

Website permissions

Click the Websites tab. Go through the left–hand categories to see if you want websites to access your location data, camera, and other features. You can allow all or block all.

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>>> Create

Sort your Mac with Folder Tidy

Don’t let messy files get the better of you — get organized REQUIRES Folder Tidy ($4.99), OS X 10.11 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to quickly organize your files with Folder Tidy IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes

KEEPING YOUR FILES organized on your Mac can be a laborious process, and the longer you leave it, the harder it is to do. Locations like your Downloads folder and your desktop can quickly become overwhelmed with loose files bursting to get out. Even getting started can feel intimidating when there is so much to do. At that point, you start to question whether there’s any hope…

Fortunately, there is. Folder Tidy is a lightweight Mac app ($4.99) that can automatically sort all your files into neatly ordered folders — one for your images,

one for your video files, and more. Just tell it where to start and where to put everything, click Tidy, and it gets to work organizing your files.

Even better, the app is highly customizable with a range of different settings and options. Not only can you get it to ignore certain files, folders, or categories, but you can also create custom rules to laser–target only the problem areas. And if you accidentally sort things into the wrong place? Fear not, as everything can easily be undone and put back the way it was.

ALEX BLAKE

QUICK LOOK The Folder Tidy interface INPUT AND OUTPUT FOLDERS Choose which folders you want Folder Tidy to work with here.

TIDY Folder Tidy gets to work as soon as you click this button. It usually only takes a few seconds.

PLAY BY THE RULES Folder Tidy’s actions can be customized a lot.

Click this button and you can define new rules.

PREDEFINED RULES The preferences window contains various options to tweak Folder Tidy and create your own rules.

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Image rights: Tunabelly Software.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

HOW TO Clean up your messy files

Pick your folders

Organize subfolders

Folder Tidy has two boxes telling you to pick source and destination folders. The first is the messy folder, the second is the one where everything will be sorted. Click Choose or drag the folders in place.

Under “Step 3” on screen, choose whether the app will reach inside subfolders to organize their contents. You can also add detailed rules and tweak other options.

Add a custom rule

Rule parameters

Click the “+” in the bottom–left corner to add a custom rule. Give your rule a name and define the folder that the files will be sorted into. To add a folder within a folder, add a slash, such as “Documents/Pages files”.

Extra options

Click the Options tab to enable or disable some more miscellaneous preferences. If you run Folder Tidy regularly, the final option is useful to add a date to the name of the output folder and keep things in order.

Image rights: Tunabelly Software.

Underneath, start defining your rules using the drop–down boxes. For instance, you can choose “Last modified date”, “is within last”, “x days”. Click the “+” to add the rule, add any others you need, then click OK.

Get tidying

When you are done, close the Sorting Rules dialog box and click Tidy.

The app gets to work sorting your files and, depending on the options you set, might hide your open windows and show the output folder in Finder.

Sorting Rules

The Sorting Rules button contains predefined rules that put files into folders based on their type (text files in the Text folder, for example).

You can enable or disable these rules by clicking the checkbox by each one.

Ignore List

Back on the Preferences pane, click the Ignore List tab, then click the “+” to add any files you want Folder Tidy to leave in place while it is sorting through your folders. Hold “Shift” or “Cmd” to add multiple files at once.

Undo Tidy

Another dialog box appears when the process is finished. To put the files back in their original state, click Undo Tidy. Alternatively, when you next open the app, click the Undo tab, select “tidy”, then click Undo.

AUG 2021 83

>>> Create

Identify and solve Mac issues Run these systematic checks to ensure your Mac performs optimally REQUIRES OS X 10.9 or later EtreCheckPro (Free) YOU WILL LEARN How to diagnose and tackle Mac security and performance issues IT WILL TAKE 15-30 minutes

EVEN IF YOUR Mac isn’t suffering from beach balls, crashes or kernel panics, you’ll still want it to run faster.

EtreCheckPro (etrecheck.com) gives it an excellent all–round check which highlights any problems, and draws your attention to practical measures you can apply to fix or improve them.

Once it has run its checks, it lists major and minor issues which need to be addressed. Its free version provides a thorough analysis of security protection,

and a long text report with full details.

Coupled with utilities which are bundled with macOS, you should then be able to fix many of the problems it can detect.

If you get out of your depth and seek help from Apple Support Communities, EtreCheck Pro’s report enables experts there to hone in quickly on a diagnosis. If you run it on a regular basis, we’d recommend the in–app purchase of its Power User package ($17.99) for access to enhanced features, particularly its advanced analytics. HOWARD OAKLEY

HOW TO Diagnose and resolve problems

Choose a problem

Before starting EtreCheckPro, add it to the Full Disk Access list in the Privacy tab of the Security & Privacy pane. When open, click “Choose a problem” and select a reason from the list. Record any details, then click Start.

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Get the full report

EtreCheckPro then runs startup checks, examines your Mac’s hardware and software, and measures its performance. After a few minutes it presents its findings in sections, from major and minor issues to the full text.

Fix security updates

Major issues include security updates. Fix this by enabling “Install system data files and security updates” in the Advanced section of the Software Update pane. That ensures your Mac’s security is properly maintained.

Image rights: Etresoft.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

Review security

Select the Security item on the left to examine any problems with macOS security settings. Where Security Updates are disabled, click on the button to Fix this in the Advanced settings of the Software Update pane.

Weed Login Items

EtreCheckPro’s listing of Login Items is far more thorough than those offered in the Users & Groups pane, but this is your main control over them.

Select unwanted items and click on the “–” below the list to remove them.

Unwanted sharing

If the app identifies a sharing service that you no longer need, disable it in the Sharing pane. Some like Remote Login and Management can pose a security risk. Others like File Sharing just impose extra overhead.

Image rights: Etresoft.

Check memory use

Excessive memory use is common. Follow concerns up by looking in the Memory tab of Activity Monitor.

Swap Used showing ‘0 bytes’ is a good sign. Confirm this in Disk Utility with a small VM volume in the startup container.

Daemons and Agents

Old LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons can be removed from their folders in the Library and the one in your Home folder.

They should also be trashed when you uninstall the app which added them.

Additional features

Paying for the app’s Power User package through in–app purchase brings many additional features, the most useful of which highlight areas that merit more detailed attention to improve the overall performance of your Mac.

Review CPU use

Activity Monitor’s CPU tab and its CPU History window also give a good idea of the processor loading over the last few minutes, and which processes have taken the lion’s share. Leave this open while you’re working.

Kernel extensions

These are notorious causes of crashes and panics, particularly when they’re old. Try to remove them through the app which put them there, otherwise you should be able to trash them, authenticating if necessary.

Study analytics

The jewel in the Power User crown is its graphical presentation of saved analytics for the last few days, accessed within the Performance section. These give insight into memory, storage, network and CPU usage.

AUG 2021 85

>>> Create

Master Mission Control Tame an unruly desktop with this genius built-in feature REQUIRES macOS 11.0 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to use Mission Control, desktop Spaces, and Hot Corners IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes

WHEN YOU HAVE a horde of apps and windows open, it is easy to lose the one you want among the clutter. Luckily, there is a solution in the form of Mission Control. This provides a bird’s–eye view of every open window, instantly obliterating the turmoil.

Mission Control also uses Spaces, which are clones of your current desktop, minus all the open windows and apps.

Spaces help organize your windows: you could move all your work documents to

one desktop and everything else to another, and you can have up to 16 Spaces at once. Windows can be moved between Spaces with a few quick clicks, and you can even run two apps in Split View simply by dragging one on top of another in Mission Control.

Aside from all this, Mission Control’s settings contain a feature called Hot Corners. These assign specific tasks to each corner of your display, and all you have to do is move your mouse to the corner to set it in motion. ALEX BLAKE

HOW TO Use Mission Control GENIUS TIP Each desktop Space can have its own background image. This is a handy way to differentiate between your active desktops on the Spaces bar.

Open Mission Control

Swipe up with three or four fingers on your trackpad or press the Mission Control button on your keyboard. Now click whichever window you want to switch to, or drag three or four fingers down to close Mission Control.

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The Spaces bar

In Mission Control, move your mouse to the top of the screen to find the Spaces bar, then click “+” to add a new Space. To change desktops, swipe left or right with three fingers, or press Ctrl+Right arrow or Ctrl+Left arrow.

Image rights: Apple.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

JARGON BUSTER

Moving windows

To move a window between desktops, drag it to the left or right edge of your screen and hold it there. You can move it to a Space from the desktop or Mission Control, or drag it over the “+” to place it on a new desktop.

Move and close Spaces

The order of Spaces can be changed by dragging and dropping them to a new position in the Spaces bar. To close a desktop, hover your pointer over it, then click the “X”. Open windows move to your first Space.

Split View

You can run two apps side–by–side in Split View if at least one is full screen. Open Mission Control, then drag a window over a full–screen app’s Space so the desktop preview shows half an app. Now drop it in place.

Apple calls each new desktop a Space. Your Dock, menu bar, and desktop files are the same on each, but apps and folders can be used separately.

Use the Dock

The Dock shows open apps on all Spaces. Click the app’s Dock icon to quickly switch to the desktop where it is open. If it is open in both Spaces, clicking the icon will cycle through the desktops where it is running.

GENIUS TIP

Group open windows

Open System Prefs and click Mission Control. If you have too many open windows for Mission Control to organize, tick “Group windows by application” to keep instances of the same app together and reduce clutter.

Image rights: Apple.

Hot Corners

To copy an item to your desktop, press Cmd+C to copy the file, press Cmd+[Mission Control] to show the desktop, click anywhere, then press Cmd+V to paste.

In Mission Control’s preferences, click Hot Corners. Choose a pop–up menu in one corner, then select a function, such as starting a screen saver or locking your Mac. When you have chosen one, click OK. AUG 2021 87

>>> Create

Back up your iPhone or iPad the right way Protect the personal data and settings on your iOS device

REQUIRES You will need an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch; a Mac YOU WILL LEARN You will learn the backup options for your device IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes

THERE ARE TWO ways to back up the data on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. You can back up to iCloud, or you can back up locally to your Mac. With an iCloud backup, your backups can be accessed from anywhere you can get a Wi–Fi connection. The backups are always encrypted to keep your data secure, and you don’t need to remember to repeatedly back up your stuff: it can all

GENIUS TIP A backup isn’t the same as a sync. Backups copy your data and settings; a sync copies newly purchased media such as music or books to your device.

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Manage Backups enables you to see all your local backups and delete old ones to free up space.

happen automatically. Unfortunately, the 5GB you get free with your iCloud account is hilariously small, so you’ll need a paid iCloud storage plan — especially if you have multiple devices to back up. Local backups are stored on your Mac, so you’re only limited by the size of its hard drive or SSD. Transfers are usually much faster.

But you need to remember to actually do the backup and to turn on encryption to keep your data safe: encryption is switched off by default.

With a local backup, data and settings are copied but iTunes and App Store purchases, PDFs downloaded to Apple Books, data already stored in iCloud such as photos and messages, and Apple Mail data are not. Note: if you don’t encrypt your backup, your Activity, Health and Keychain data won’t be backed up either.

It’s a similar story with iCloud. It doesn’t back up existing iCloud data such as photos, messages, calendars, SMS messages and so on, and it doesn’t copy iCloud Music Library or App Store content. CARRIE MARSHALL Image rights: Apple.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

HOW TO Back up your iPad or iPhone

Enable iCloud

Turn backups on

iCloud backups are easy to set up on any iOS/iPadOS device. In this example we’ll enable it for our iPad. To do that, go into Settings and tap on our username in the top left. This brings up the iCloud page here.

Scroll down the iCloud page to see the iCloud Backup. Tap it and you’ll see the toggle: green means the backup is on, tap it if grayed out. With backups enabled, this page will show you when the last backup was done.

Trust your iPad

Trust your Mac

You’ll find your device in the removable drives bit of Finder, or in iTunes if you’re on macOS 10.14 or earlier. If you haven’t connected your Mac to this device before, make it a trusted device. Click on Trust.

Set the backup method

You’ll see a section marked Backups. If your device uses iCloud, the first option will be selected here. To change it, click on “Back up all the data on your iPad/iPhone to this Mac”.

Image rights: Apple.

Now you’ll need to go to your iPad or iPhone and click on Trust there too. You’ll be asked to enter your device’s unlock code to proceed; if you don’t know it then you won’t be able to continue with the connection process.

Encrypt everything

Encrypting your backup means nobody else can restore from it without knowing your password — if you choose this option, make sure you keep a note of the password. You’ll be asked again for your device’s unlock code too.

Connect to your Mac

To make a local backup, you’ll need a wired connection to your Mac. Devices such as iPads drain power so don’t stress if you see this message when you connect.

Bring them together

Depending on your version of macOS, you’ll see this screen in Finder or the sync screen in iTunes. With backups, there’s no difference between the way it works in Finder and in iTunes.

Back it up

Click on Back Up Now and your Mac will start copying your data. When done, you’ll see a color–coded chart, which lets you know how the storage on your device is being used. To restore from a backup, click Restore Backup.

AUG 2021 89

>>> Create

Play media on remote devices

Use your TV as a second display or stream music to AirPlay speakers REQUIRES Mac, iPhone, or iPad, or iPod touch; Apple TV, AirPlay–compatible TV, or AirPlay speaker YOU WILL LEARN How to stream audio and video using AirPlay IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes

IF YOU’VE ONLY ever considered AirPlay as a tool for streaming music to compatible speakers, think again. AirPlay allows you to stream audio and video, and that can be done from a Mac, to extend your desktop. You can even use it with non–AirPlay speakers, with the help of software like AudioBridge (free with IAPs, audiobridge.com), which turns Sonos speakers into AirPlay devices.

You don’t even need an Apple TV box for video streaming — many smart TVs

now support AirPlay 2, allowing you to stream directly to them. If you add an Apple TV or compatible smart TV to the Home app and assign it to a room, you can even use Siri to control playback of video from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Apple advises you should connect the devices you want to stream to and from, to the same Wi–Fi network. However, if that’s not possible, AirPlay will work in peer–to–peer mode, if Wi–Fi and Bluetooth are switched on, on both devices. KENNY HEMPHILL

HOW TO Stream to AirPlay devices GENIUS TIP If you have an Apple TV or HomeKit–compatible TV with AirPlay 2, you can add it to the Home app and control playback using Siri.

Stream audio from your Mac

Go to System Prefs > Sound > Output and choose an AirPlay device. Select the volume in the menu bar, if displayed. In Big Sur, go to Control Centre > Sound. Tap the AirPlay icon.

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Stream from the Music app

If you only want to stream audio from the Music app, rather than every sound on your Mac, launch Music, click the AirPlay icon in the toolbar and choose AirPlay speakers or TV. Image rights: Apple, Audiobridge.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

JARGON BUSTER

Stream from iPhone or iPad

With audio playing, swipe down from the top right of the screen for Control Center, then tap the AirPlay icon (top right). Choose the device you want to stream to from the list of options.

Extend your Mac’s screen

Follow step 3, but choose Extend Mac Desktop.

In System Preferences > Display, use the Display tab for TV settings. Then click Arrange and drag the screens to the order you want.

Mirror your Mac’s screen

In Big Sur, choose Screen Mirroring in Control Center. Or go to System Preferences > Display, and choose your TV from the AirPlay Display menu. Choose Mirror Display from the menu.

Where devices connect directly to each other, rather than via a router, they are linking peer to peer — connecting your Mac to your iPhone so you can use it as a personal hotspot, say, or directly streaming a video from an iPad to an Apple TV using AirPlay.

Video from an iOS app

Launch the app you want to stream from. Tap the screen then tap the Cast icon.

Choose AirPlay and Bluetooth devices, then choose the Apple TV or AirPlay–compatible TV you want to stream to.

GENIUS TIP

Display photos from an iPad

Launch the Photos app and navigate to a photo you want to display. Tap the Share icon at the bottom of the screen and choose AirPlay. Choose your TV. Image rights: Apple.

Mirror your iPad screen

If you have an Apple TV or HomeKit–compatible TV with AirPlay 2, you can add it to the Home app and control playback using Siri.

Swipe down from the top–right corner of the screen to bring up Control Center. Tap Screen Mirroring and choose your Apple TV or AirPlay–compatible TV. To stop mirroring, tap Screen Mirroring and choose your iPad. AUG 2021 91

>>> Create

Make music in iOS Make amazing tunes on iOS — even if you can’t play an instrument REQUIRES GarageBand, iOS 14.0 or later YOU WILL LEARN You will learn how to make music on iPhone or iPad IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes

WE LOVE GARAGEBAND on our iPad and iPhone: it’s tons of fun, easy to use, and it works brilliantly with GarageBand and Logic Pro X on the Mac. (Check out our Make Music on Your Mac feature in ML182.) That means it’s as happy in a serious music production workflow as it is being poked and prodded by a young kid on the sofa.

We use it to demo songs or capture musical ideas before turning them into finished songs in Logic; but it’s as easy for

complete novices to experiment with unusual instruments and make beats.

There are lots of great music apps for iOS and iPadOS, with faithful reproductions of vintage synths rubbing shoulders with all kinds of beat makers and loopers. You can use many of them to record into GarageBand. Look for Inter– App Audio apps in the App Store. Once installed, you can then use that app by choosing External in GarageBand’s sound browser and picking the app you want to get audio from. CARRIE MARSHALL

HOW TO Make music on your iPhone or iPad

Pick what to play

Launch GarageBand and create a new song. Let’s pick an instrument from this, the Sound Browser. Swipe left or right for different instrument types and tap the icons to select a specific one such as Alchemy Synth.

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Make some noise

We picked this synth because you can play it with one finger. Select Fast Gate from the middle section and hold down a piano key to hear a bubbling synth pattern. To record it, press the red circle icon before pressing the key(s).

See your stuff

Tap on the third icon from the very top left to enter Tracks view. The green block is what you just recorded.

Drag the ends to trim it, double–tap and select Loop. This repeats the recording to fill the entire song section.

Image rights: Apple.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

Do some drumming

Let’s add some drums. Tap on the “+” sign at the bottom left to add a new track and swipe until you see Drummer.

This enables you to use GarageBand’s automated drum machine, which can sound exactly like real–life drumming.

See the drums

Go back into Tracks view (the third icon from the top left) and you’ll now see two tracks: your original looped synth part, and your new Drummer track.

Double–tap either one and choose Edit if you want to change the notes or pattern.

Look for loops

GarageBand creates a new section and, if you’re using Drummer, it automatically puts a new Drummer section in it. Now let’s add some loops from GarageBand’s excellent library.

Tap the Loop icon towards the top right.

Image rights: Apple.

Build some beats

If you’d rather make beats, swipe along to Drums and tap Beat Sequencer.

This enables you to build beats by tapping where you want each part of the drum kit to play. Tap at the bottom– left corner for a different drum kit.

Bring the bass

Add a new track, choose bass and look for the Autoplay control — it can play the instrument for you, and there are four patterns. If you prefer you can play each individual note by tapping Notes.

Use either option and record a bass line.

Adjust and add FX

Find a loop you like and drag it below your tracks to add a new one.

Select any track and tap the Mixer icon at the top left to adjust how it sounds, add echo and reverb, and adjust where it sits in relation to the other tracks.

Adjust the drums

We’ll stick with Drummer. You can adjust lots of things from here: the drum pattern preset, the patterns for each bit of the kit and our favorite bit, the controller that enables you to make the drums louder or more complex.

Add a chorus

Return to tracks view, which now has three individual tracks. Let’s add another song section to our project, such as a chorus. To do that, tap on the “+” sign at the top right, just above your first track. Now tap on Add.

Share your song

Tap the page icon (top left) and GarageBand will save your song. You can export your project by long–pressing it and choosing Share. You can export it as an audio file, ringtone, or project to send to another GarageBand user.

AUG 2021 93

>>> Create

Cut food waste with Kitche Stop overspending on food you don’t use with the help of this free app REQUIRES Kitche (Free), iOS 9.0 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to cut food waste and learn some delicious new recipes while you’re at it IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes

MANY OF US probably do not worry too much about throwing away the odd bit of food now and then, what with everything else going on in our lives.

Especially if it goes in the food waste bin.

Sometimes you buy too much — these things happen, right?

Once you start adding up all the food you throw away, though — and all the money you end up wasting on all this

Once you have added food to your products list, you can then search for recipes that contain these ingredients, helping you use up leftovers.

94 AUG 2021

unneeded food — you might be shocked at how much you go through. The wasted energy in growing and shipping the food, and the wasted money you spent on it, is now a serious concern. Surely something should be done about it?

Well, as you would expect, there is an app for that: it is called Kitche, and it is totally free. This app is designed to keep track of all the food you buy, as well as everything you keep in your store cupboard, and getting started is as simple as scanning a receipt. Once Kitche knows what you have and when you bought it, it will send you reminders to use the food before it goes out of date. It can also offer up tasty recipe ideas and track how much you throw away to encourage you to waste less in the future.

Not only is Kitche incredibly useful, it is also supremely easy to use. What could become a tiring chore is instead a quick fix that comes with plenty of benefits.

Before you know it, you will be wasting a lot less without even trying. ALEX BLAKE Image rights: Kitche Ltd

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad

HOW TO Manage your food cupboard

JARGON BUSTER On the At home tab, long press an item to delete it, add it to the buy list, or copy it to the top of the tab. You can also select all items from here.

Scan a receipt

When you open the app, you will see an empty product list in front of you. Tap the “+” and take a picture of a receipt to start adding food to the app, or tap “Gallery” to add a picture of one you have snapped recently.

Usage reminders

You will now see a checklist of items and how long it will be until Kitche reminds you to use them. You can skip the reminder by unchecking an item, or tap its entry to input a custom reminder date. Now tap “Done”.

Review products

Tap “Crop & Submit”. Kitche will scan your receipt for products it recognizes, then will open a list of what it found. You can remove items if you want. Tap “Add” to insert something manually, or tap “Next” to continue.

Tossed list

On the list of items, swipe left to add to “To buy” or swipe right to add to “Tossed”. For the latter, enter how much you threw away, then tap “Toss” — the idea of this is to encourage you to reduce waste.

GENIUS TIP

To buy list

On the Products page, tap the “To buy” tab. Items you have added to your shopping list appear here in categories. Tap an item to edit it, or tap the “+” and enter another product’s details to add it to your shopping list.

Image rights: Kitche Ltd

Find some recipes

At the bottom of the app, tap Tips to find great articles on cutting food waste. The Portion Planner is particularly handy if you have a lot of mouths to feed.

Tap the Recipes button, then tap “Your products”. Tap any products you want to use in a recipe, plus any dietary requirements you have, then tap “Apply filters”. Tap a recipe to view it, or tap the chef hat icon to save it.

AUG 2021 95

>>> Create

120Hz displays

More magical movies and power to the Pencil HOW IT WORKS YOU WILL LEARN You will learn why faster displays can be worth having

60HZ IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR MOST PEOPLE RIGHT NOW, SO THERE’S NO PRESSING NEED TO GO FASTER

KEY FACT Refresh rates tell you how many times per second a display screen is updated.

The faster the screen updates, the more smooth and fluid motion will appear. A 60Hz display refreshes 60 times per second; a 120Hz one, 120 times. An E–ink display doesn’t refresh at all until you tell it to, which is why an Amazon Kindle e– reader can go weeks between charges.

96 AUG 2021

IN EARLY 2021, there was excitement over a newly unearthed Apple patent for mobile device displays with refresh rates of 120Hz, 180Hz, or even 240Hz. The patent fits with rumors that the iPhone 13 will have a 120Hz display.

But what does that actually mean?

WHAT REFRESH RATES MEAN Whenever you look at something on an electronic screen, you’re actually watching a succession of images. Those images work just like the celluloid frames of pre–digital cinema: they flash by so quickly that your brain doesn’t see the individual images; it sees objects in motion instead. The faster the frames flash by or the images are updated digitally, the smoother the movement.

EVERYBODY HERTZ Typical displays today, including the iPhone, your Mac, and most iPads, have a refresh rate of 60Hz. Hz is short for Hertz and it measures frequency, in this case how many times something happens per second. So a screen with a refresh rate of 24Hz is updated 24 times per second; if it’s 60Hz, it’s updated 60 times a second; and if it’s 120Hz, the screen is updated 120 times per second.

The reason so many displays run at “just” 60Hz is because that speed is

actually good enough for most things.

But, increasingly, we’re seeing even faster displays, especially in gaming. The more updates per second, the smoother the animation or video.

LESS LAG AND INSTANT ILLUSTRATION There’s another benefit to faster displays, and that’s their response time. The gap between doing something and seeing it on screen is known as input lag, and with a 60Hz display you can’t get that below 16.67 milliseconds. With a 120Hz display, that figure drops to 8.33 milliseconds: so not only are the visuals smoother, but your device or an input device such as your Apple Pencil is more responsive too.

When you’re playing a very busy online game, that can literally mean the difference between life and death for your chosen character.

MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER 120Hz displays have been common in gaming for quite a while, and they’re increasingly common in smartphones too: it’s another number to stand out from rivals in a product comparison. But there are benefits beyond gaming, which is one of the reasons the ProMotion display in the iPad Pro is 120Hz when other iPads only have 60Hz. It makes the drawing, animation and movie experience so much smoother.

The Liquid Retina display in the new iPad Pro has ProMotion, Apple’s name for 120Hz displays.

How t

> NO TEARS BEFORE BEDTIME One of the problems gamers can encounter with fast graphics is called screen tear, and it happens when the GPU is pumping out data faster than the display can refresh. That can mean multiple images appear on screen at the same time instead of consecutively. The resulting distortions can be minor or game–breaking, and GPU firms have come up with ways to solve them with intelligent vertical synchronization.

To simplify a complex task, G–Sync and FreeSync adjust the data being sent to the display so that it doesn’t receive a new frame until it’s rendered the previous one. This ensures that your display doesn’t drown in data that’s coming too quickly for it to cope with.

We aren’t aware of screen tearing on ProMotion displays, and we don’t expect to encounter it in the iPhone 13 either:

If 120Hz displays are so great, why hasn’t Apple embraced them for everything? There are several reasons for that. The first and most obvious one is that 60Hz is good enough for most people right now, so there’s no pressing need to go quicker. And the second, more important point is that driving a display twice as fast means draining the battery more quickly. That’s a real concern with thin smartphones in particular because they lack room for larger batteries.

Battery tech hasn’t improved that much, but nevertheless we’re seeing lots of manufacturers such as Samsung put 120Hz screens into their devices without ending up with horrific energy efficiency.

The secret? Something called Adaptive Refresh. With Adaptive Refresh, your 120Hz display doesn’t run at full speed all the time. It runs at a lower refresh rate (sometimes lower than 10Hz) when it can get away with it, for example when it’s only showing the time and the weather forecast. When you unlock the phone the refresh speeds up to something around 60Hz, and when you launch a game it ramps up the refresh rate to full speed.

It’s an eminently sensible solution to the battery problem: you simply don’t need to run your display at full speed all the time.

That’s exactly what Apple’s ProMotion does. When you need full speed, for example when you’re drawing with Apple Pencil, you get the fast input response and silky–smooth animation of a 120Hz Image rights: (Left: Apple) ASUSTeK Computer Inc, Apple.

NVIDIA’s G–Sync avoids screen tear by synchronizing the GPU with the display. the GPU in Apple’s A– and M–series systems is Apple’s own, so it can be matched perfectly with the iPhone or iPad’s display.

display. And when you’re watching cat videos on YouTube (30fps) or a blockbuster movie (24fps), you’re not making your iPad Pro run at a refresh rate your source can’t make use of.

YOU’VE BEEN 120Hz displays were rumored for the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, but it looks like Apple has waited until the iPhone 13…

FRAMED Did you notice we changed our measurement units? One minute we were talking Hertz; the next, fps. Fps — frames per second — dates back to analogue cinema and tells you how many frames per second your film or KEY FACT video uses. It’s purely about the content, not the display you’re viewing it on. For Refresh rates aren’t example if you watch a typical movie on a the same as frames per pre–HD CRT TV, the movie was filmed at second (fps): a 120Hz 24fps and your TV might be refreshing at display won’t display 30Hz; the same film on an HD TV, iPhone a movie at 120 frames per 12 or Pro Display XDR is still 24fps but second. Fps tells you your display is refreshing at 60Hz. about the video source: Will Apple bring ProMotion to the most movies are filmed at iPhone and the Mac? Rumors suggest we 24 frames per second and should see it in the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro video games are usually Max alongside a more energy–efficient locked to 30fps or 60fps.

LPTO display and an A15 chip that delivers A PlayStation 5 can run at 15–20% better power efficiency. As for the 120fps but at the time of Mac, it’s possible… but if Apple’s writing only 11 games can planning it it’s managed to keep it awfully go that fast. quiet. CARRIE MARSHALL AUG 2021 97

RANDOM APPLE MEMORY

Apple goes portable with AirPort Express Charlotte Henry recalls how Apple entered, then exited, the highly competitive world of internet routers

NEXT MONTH

98 AUG 2021

>>> MacBook Pro vs iPad Pro. Game on!

analog and digital audio outputs in the base station. This meant users could connect it to a stereo and use the AirTunes music networking software to wirelessly stream music from iTunes on their Mac or PC. “Users can now play their iTunes music on any stereo in their home — all without wires,” said Steve Jobs at the time of the release. From the start, multiple base stations could be bridged together, allowing music to be played across a wider area.

However, it wasn’t to last. In November 2016 Bloomberg News revealed the team working on AirPort Express and its siblings, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule, had been disbanded. Then, in April 2018, the company confirmed to >>> Make the most of your Apple Watch

>>> Do more with Numbers on Mac

9to5Mac that the entire AirPort line had been discontinued.

The demise of AirPort Express wasn’t really a surprise. Wireless routers were never really an industry in which Apple could be said to be a leader and, ultimately, other Apple products like the HomePod provided a better solution for playing music wirelessly. Beyond the HomePod, the legacy of AirPort Express still remains, with the design of Apple TV and even Mac mini closely resembling the base station to this day.

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AUG 17

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ON 7 JUNE, 2004, Apple proudly unveiled AirPort Express. It was a 802.11g mobile base station that could be plugged into the wall, providing Internet connections wherever the user went.

It’s hard to imagine now, but in 2004 “portable” internet might require all sorts of cables and power supplies — it wasn’t as simple as opening up the hotspot provided by your iPhone. In March 2008, things improved further as Apple updated AirPort Express, introducing the 802.11n wireless standard which it said delivered up to five–times better performance than its predecessor. A second generation of the 802.11n arrived in June 2012.

As significant as the mobile internet developments were, there were also

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