by Marilyn | Jun 16, 2021 | Article, customization, FaceTime, iOS 15, iPad, iPadOS 15, iPhone, Mac, Monterey, News, privacy, productivity, Siri, watchOS 8, widget
At its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 7th, Apple shared details about what we can expect to see later this year in macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, tvOS 15, and HomePod Software 15. It was a firehose of announcements, but one thing... 
by Marilyn | May 21, 2021 | accessibility, Big Sur, customization, Mac, menu bar, Tip
In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple went back to a design direction from the earliest days of Mac OS X: a translucent menu bar. Since its color changes depending on the desktop picture, many people aren’t enamored of it (left, below). Luckily, reverting to the traditional... 
by Marilyn | May 18, 2021 | Article, customization, How-To, iPad, iPhone, Mac, productivity, videoconferencing
After a long day of video calls, you might feel like your brain has been wrung out like a wet washcloth—we certainly do. It’s exhausting to stare into a computer for hours every day while participating in meetings or classes. This condition is called Zoom fatigue, and... 
by Marilyn | Mar 10, 2021 | cellular, customization, iPad, iPhone, Tip, Wi-Fi
Even as we get 5G cellular connectivity and high-speed Wi-Fi networks, there are plenty of times when you might want to reduce your data usage. Perhaps you’re trying to avoid running over a data cap while traveling, or maybe you’re sharing a Wi-Fi network with a very... 
by Marilyn | Dec 8, 2020 | Apple Pros, APros Archive, Control Center, customization, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, Music, Tip
Several years ago, Apple bought a company called Shazam, which made an app that identified songs by listening to the music playing nearby. Since then, Apple has built Shazam into Siri in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS. Most recently, Apple added it to Control Center... 
by Marilyn | Dec 8, 2020 | App Library, Article, customization, gesture, How-To, iOS 14
Many of us have been using iPhones for years, and apps we bought or downloaded long ago molder in corners of our Home screens. Even if you haven’t played Flappy Bird in years, its pixelated icon still stares glumly at you every time you peer at its Home screen, and... 