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THIS YEAR’S WWDC SAW PLENTY OF UPDATES TO APPLE’S OPERATING SYSTEMS, BUT BY  FAR THE BIGGEST NEWS WAS THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SWITCH FROM INTEL TO APPLE’S OWN PROCESSORS IN MACS. In a move similar to the 2011 transition from PowerPC to Intel, Apple w

Apple is expanding the gaming possibilities of Apple TV with multiuser support via the Control Centre in the upcoming tvOS 14, so that your games will be able to remember who is playing and start you off from the position you got to last time. Suppor

So what did you think of Apple’s virtual WWDC20? It was the same, but obviously different without the whooping masses in the auditorium. And the freedom that the non-live format afforded undoubtedly led to far cheesier segues than we are used to. But

The eighth-generation iPhone was applauded for its improved battery life and faster chipset, but derided when its lack of chassis rigidity lead to ‘Bendgate’ ■

Both iPhone & iPad iPhone only iPad only Yes. If your device is currently running iOS 13/iPadOS 13 then the new update will work just fine. Compatible devices consist of the iPhone 6s and later, the iPad Air 2 and later, the iPad 5th-gen and

The White Balance eyedropper samples pixels that should be white or a neural grey. If they have a cold blue cast then the tool warms them up to create pure white pixels. This creates more accurate colours throughout the shot. (It will also cool down

Last month, Apple used its virtual Worldwide Developer Conference to showcase the latest, upcoming versions of its operating systems and the star of the show was undoubtedly iOS 14, a more powerful system that is easier to use and more adept at helpi

Thanks to iMovie’s tools and commands, you can emphasise key moments in a video sequence as still images. These freeze-frames can add variety and texture to the recording of any event, such as a wedding. iMovie’s freeze-frame menu commands enable you

You can use the iOS Photos app to fix typical problems with colour, tone and composition. This lets you shoot and edit wherever you happen to be. However, there are some tools in the desktop version of Photos that give you more control over adjustmen

The iOS version of Photos may lack tools such as the White Balance eyedropper, Levels controls and the Retouch brush, but it does, however, have tools lacking in macOS, such as the ability to let you counteract lens-related problems such as perspecti

Here is a close-up of the ‘ghost’. By mixing footage of the actor with an identical but empty background you can create a semi-transparent ethereal figure. You can reduce the top layer’s opacity in the Inspector. After mixing two layers to create a g

Ghostly figures often feature in TV and film productions. Fortunately, Final Cut Pro X has all the post-production tools that you’ll need to turn an actor into an apparition. For the effect to work you’ll need to shoot your actor walking through the

The Modify menu provides two different ways to freeze a frame of footage. Flash and Freeze Frame creates a burst of DSLR-style camera flash while also adding a zoom to the chosen frame. Adding Freeze Frame simply pauses the action. By default, Add Fr

This yellow strip is toggled on in the tracks ruler via its control bar button (C). It’s so-called for cycling playback of active tracks positioned below, between its start and end points. The resize pointer shows when you hover the mouse cursor over

This setting determines the start/stop behaviour of all cells and scenes. With the track playing, every scene or cell you trigger will be queued until the next division selected here. A setting of ‘1 Bar’ will trigger all queued cells/scenes on the d

Make sure you have ‘Find My Mac‘ ticked in System Preferences>Apple ID>iCloud. Then in the event of you losing your Mac, go to icloud.com in any browser, log in and then click on ‘Find iPhone’ to reveal its location on a map. It is important to enabl

Your Mac holds your world. Everything from work files, login details, music, photos, videos, to a whole array of other things you want to protect. You may not have considered your Mac’s security in too much depth as of yet, however, it’s important yo

You don’t need to stop permanently, just temporarily disable all these functions, restart the Mac and then return and enable them. You might need to do this on the iPhone at the same time. Signing out is a more drastic step, but has worked for some p

An essential service, iCloud provides storage for apps and syncing between Macs, iPhones and iPads. It enables you to schedule calendar appointments, add contacts, create reminders and notes, and see them on other devices you use. If iCloud is not wo

Syncing and other iCloud account problems could be because of something on the Mac, but it could be the result of something on another device, like an iPhone or iPad. To get iCloud working you may need to fix it not only on the Mac but also on every

This is where searches start and it is useful to narrow the search results by entering the kind of file to find. Enter something like ‘kind: jpeg’ or ‘kind: mp3’ or ‘kind: pages’ and so on… After adding a filter, click the first item and select the a

The key to finding files is to create the right filters and select the appropriate attributes to search for. Different files have different attributes, so a photograph may have aperture information, focal length and ISO speed embedded within its meta

Create folders in the Pictures folder and copy photographs to them so they can be used as desktop images. Then click the ‘+’ button below and select the folder to add it to the list. To create an effect like the macOS dynamic desktop that changes ove

If you click on search, three tabs will appear in the top-right corner that let you focus your search on Apple Music, Your Library or the iTunes Store. Strangely, access to the iTunes Store isn’t granted by default. However, if you go to Music>Prefer

Siri, your digital personal assistant, has been a part of macOS for years now and it grows in efficiency and effectiveness with each new system update. But how many of us even remember to use Siri and, when we do, how many of us bother to drill down

Make sure that the ‘Enable Ask Siri’ box is ticked as this effectively turns on Siri. You can also tick the ‘Show Siri in menu bar’ option to provide a handy shortcut. Rather than clicking on the menu bar item, it is far quicker to press a keyboard

If you don’t want to pay to enrol in the Developer Program, you can wait a little longer (about a month) for the public beta of iOS 14 to be released at beta.apple.com. Beta software profiles always need to be downloaded on the device you intend to i

Apple will suggest a password that fits the requirements of many websites and apps. The passwords will be stored in iCloud Keychain and you can activate them via Face ID or Touch ID when logging in. Tap the password entry box and iOS should fill it w

How fast can you type on your iPhone? Seeing a teenager’s thumbs flying around the onscreen keyboard as they furiously bash out words may make you envious, but with a few changes to the iPhone’s settings, you won’t be far behind. There are many optio

Tap here to see and add Text Replacements. For example, type ‘omw’ and it is automatically replaced with ‘On my way!’ Add your own shortcuts for common phrases to make typing faster and easier. Enable this to show words you probably want to type next

There is an art to winning items on eBay and bidding early isn’t an option if you are determined to bag your item. Why? Because it gives your rival bidders a chance to respond and up their own bids, so you could end up paying extra for the item unnec

Items that you are watching will be in the ‘Active’ list if the auction is ongoing or in the ‘Ended’ list if it has finished. Swipe left and tap ‘Delete’ to remove items from either list. If you forget to bid on an item in your Watch list and it does

Although you have long been able to share files stored in iCloud Drive, only with iPadOS 13.4 have you been able to do the same with folders. It’s a much-awaited feature and, by ensuring your iPad is up-to-date, it is automatically enabled within the

All shared folders have an icon showing two people. To alter the properties, long-press the icon, select ‘Share’ from the menu and tap ‘Show People’ to see the available options. You’ll see a list of each person you are sharing a folder with as well

Just as on the Watch, you can toggle Environmental Sound Measurements to allow your wearable’s microphone to assess how loud the audio levels are around you each day. You can reach this screen by launching the Watch app on your iPhone, selecting ‘My

The one-stop column for Genius advice I am paranoid about my iPhone listening in on me all the time. How can I prevent this? There are a couple of steps you can take. First of all, go to Settings>Siri & Search and turn off the ‘Listen for “Hey Siri

Our Apple devices and the software on them are some of the finest products on the planet, but even they have their moments. We’re here to give you expert advice and get you back up and running in no time iCreateMagazine @iCreateMagazine icreate_mag

£299/$349 AirPlay 2 • aptX 4.1 Bluetooth • 50Hz – 20kHz frequency response bluesound.com amazon.co.uk COMPETITION IS HOTTING UP in the audio industry with several new Bluetooth speakers reaching a plateau of excellence. And if our favourite still

£99.99/$99.99 Wireless Bluetooth keyboard • Smart illumination logitech.com amazon.co.uk THIRD-PARTY MAC KEYBOARDS have generally got to be spectacular if they are to tempt us away from the Apple model that perfectly complements our iMacs. Logitec

£149.99/$149.99 Adaptable digital noise cancellation • AptX technology cleeraudio.com amazon.co.uk WE RAVED ABOUT CLEER’S ALLY in-ear headphones back in issue 203 and, truth be told, not a lot has changed in the following year. This isn’t a bad th

£129.99/$139.99 amazon.co.uk If you want to stay toned, but don’t have space for dumbbells then this device provides an all-over workout, in your pocket. It is essentially a pressure pad that you can connect, via Bluetooth, to the Activ5 Trainin

Arcade subscription macOS 10.13 or later, 64-bit processor • 501.8 MB wherecardsfall.com Mac App Store WINNER OF AN APPLE DESIGN AWARD, Where Cards Fall is a delightfully odd coming-of-age adventure in which the central character must navigate thr

Subscription macOS 10.13 or later • 79.6 MB f-secure.com f-secure.com IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT online identity fraud then this clever piece of software continuously monitors how your personal details are used online. In the event of a data breach

Release date August 1995 • Processor: PowerPC 603e 100-117MHz • Memory: 8MB expandable to 64MB (70 ns unique DRAM card) • Hard drive: 500MB • Display: 640x480 9.5-inch grayscale dual-scan (14-bit, 16 grays) LCD Original price: £1,300/$2,200 Price no