help

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on help:

How to use Mac menus from the keyboard

By

help menu shortcut
Help!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

There’s nothing a Mac nerd likes more than using keyboard shortcuts. Actually, there’s one thing — telling people about Mac keyboard shortcuts. Either way, you’re going to love this tip, which lets you access the menu bar menus of any and all Mac apps, using just the keyboard.

Hit the magic key combo, and you can quickly type to find any menu command by name.

How to transfer your iPhone media to Mac (and back again)

By

Back up your iPhone to your Mac on the go.
Back up your iPhone to your Mac on the go.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Want a quick way to move your photos, music and documents from your iPhone to your Mac? What about backing up your iPhone on the go?

iKlips Duo is an innovative little gadget that will do both. It’s a well-made, MFi-certified USB stick that lets you connect to your iPhone (or iPad) via its Lightning port and to your Mac via a USB 3 port. Toss it in your bag and rest assured that you’ve always got a way to get your data off your iOS device.

It’s simple, easy and doesn’t require iTunes or iCloud. Here’s how to transfer your iPhone media to your Mac or PC, and then put it back, if you like, using the iKlips Duo.

No data, no problem: How to use Google Maps offline

By

Get your Google Maps to work everywhere.
Get your Google Maps to work everywhere.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac (original image: Jordan McQueen/Unsplash CC)

When you’re out in the sticks somewhere, you might get to a place where there’s no signal. How will you ever find your way home (or to the next party) without your trusty Google Maps app?

Well, with a little foresight, you can make sure Google Maps continues to be useful, even when you’re not within range of cellular data. Here’s how to use Google Maps offline to make sure you never get lost again when your smartphone goes offline.

Note: This tip will work with Android and iOS versions of Google Maps.

Apple’s support site gets a much-needed makeover

By

Get help faster and more easily with the new Apple Support site.
Get help faster and more easily with the new Apple Support site.
Photo: Apple

Apple released a redesigned support site for desktop and mobile Friday afternoon, using its official Twitter account to call it out.

Now you’ll spend lest time trying to figure out the support site itself, Apple hopes, and get to the help you need faster, whether you’re using your iPhone, iPad or your Mac.

8 killer Instagram tips and tricks

By

InstagramCloseiPhone
Become an Insta-master with these killer Instagram tips and tricks.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Make the most of your Instagram feed with these eight killer Instagram tips and tricks that will make you an Insta-master.

Learn how to put together video in the Instagram app itself, keep stalkers off your Instagram feed, find amazing photos near your current location, and much more.

13 awesome Apple Watch tricks that prove it doesn’t need a ‘killer app’

By

Apple Watch is a killer device, even without a
Apple Watch is a killer device, even without a "killer app."
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch doesn’t need to prove itself to you. And contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t need a “killer app” to make it indispensable.

In fact, the Apple Watch is an awesome device all on its own, with a ton of tricks up its sleeve, like controlling your big screen TV and finding your iPhone, even in the dark.

Here are 13 killer things you can do with an Apple Watch that prove it’s worthy of a place on your wrist.

How to create stunning double exposures with Enlight

By

Make stunning images with Enlight right on your iPad.
Make stunning images with Enlight right on your iPad.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you want to create amazing images like the one above, Enlight is a fantastic way to do so on the iPad (or iPhone).

Most of us don’t want to take a huge amount of time, either, learning how to create these images in-camera or with a big application like Photoshop.

Enlight makes it so easy, even a photo newbie like myself can create amazing double exposures with Enlight in just a few minutes.

 

iPhone and iPad Pro go small, Apple Watch pivots and iOS 9.3 is a must-try

By

Size does matter, in fact.
Size does matter, in fact.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Once again, Apple has refreshed its iPhone and iPad line with some better (albeit smaller) iOS devices, the iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

If you’re looking for all the details on these two new gadgets, or just want to know which is the right iPad or iPhone for you, be sure to grab this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, which also includes all the cool things you can do with iOS 9.3, a look at Cupertino’s new Apple Watch pivot, and a deeper dive on the keynote itself.

Here are this week’s top stories.

How to find your lost iPhone with Tile

By

Stick your Tile somewhere like a wall, where you won't lose it.
Stick your Tile somewhere like a wall, where you won't lose it.
Photo: Tile

Chances are, you’ve lost your iPhone a time or two, even in your own home. I’ve found myself stalking around the living room, kitchen, and even bathroom trying to remember just where I left that darn iOS device.

Tile, the popular “find your stuff” tracker, has a trick you can use to find your lost iPhone, even if you’ve put the iPhone on silent.

Here’s how.

How to find Instagram photos of beautiful, nearby locations

By

Check out other beautiful photos taken near you.
Check out other beautiful photos taken near you.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Instagram’s location data can be a privacy nightmare but it also allows you to check out what other folks are taking photos of nearby.

If you’re on vacation and want to see some stunning photography in the same place as you, it’s just a click away.

Here’s how to find Instagram photos of nearby beautiful locations, to inspire you on your own journey.

How to keep stalkers from tracking you on Instagram

By

Who's tracking your Instagram movements?
Who's tracking your Instagram movements?
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Anyone can tap your profile in Instagram and see where you were when you took your snapshots. Creeped out, yet?

Every time you take a picture for Instagram, the photo-sharing app keeps track of where you are by default. Here’s how to remove the location data automatically added to your snaps and keep stalkers from tracking you on Instagram.

Never miss your BFF’s precious Instagrams again

By

Find out when your pals post before anyone else.
Find out when your pals post before anyone else.
Photo: YashilG/Pixabay

Avid Instagram users like to know when new photos show up on the social media platform so they can be the first to like, respond, or even comment on their favorite Instagrammer’s pictures.

You can do the same thing by turning on notifications for a specific user, letting you know exactly when your buddies post to Instagram.

Here’s how to enable this cool hidden feature.

How to represent your town with custom Snapchat geofilters

By

Your bedroom probably doesn't count as a
Your bedroom probably doesn't count as a "location."
Photo: Maurizio Pesce/FlickrCC

If you’re looking to show a little local pride in Snapchat, the company made it pretty easy to make and upload your own so that you (and anyone else who’s in that location) can swipe right and show off a custom geofilter.

All you need is a graphics program like Illustrator, Photoshop, or (my favorite) Pixelmator, a little bit of time, and you can represent your town with a custom Snapchat geofilter.

Here’s how.

How to maximize your El Capitan windows without going full screen

By

Don't let OS X windows take over your whole screen.
Don't let OS X windows take over your whole screen.
Photo: Luke Chesser/Unsplash

It used to be that if you wanted to zoom any window on your Mac to see as much of the content inside it as possible, you’d hit OS X’s green button in the upper left of the window.

As of OS X Yosemite, the green button turned into a “full screen” trigger, zooming any window out to completely fill your Mac’s monitor.

If you hate that behavior, here’s an easy way to get the original zoom feature without the full screen.

How to find out which Mac apps are using your location

By

Find out when your Mac is looking at your location data.
Find out when your Mac is looking at your location data.
Photo: Apple

As our digital lives converge across mobile and desktop devices like our iPhones and Macbooks, we rely on them knowing where we are at any given time. Safari suggestions, for example, count on knowing your location, as do any Maps searches or such.

You might want to know when your Location data is being used, however, for privacy reason. If you enable the Location Services menu bar, you’ll be able to see when any app is accessing your private location data, making it more possible to lock down any sources you don’t want using it.

Here’s how to get that menu bar notice working.

Apple hides beautiful Retina wallpapers on ‘Something New’ website

By

Perfect for an iPhone, right?
Perfect for an iPhone, right?
Photo: Jake Sargeant/Apple

If you’re looking for some amazing new Retina-display-quality images to wallpaper your Mac, iPhone or iPad, you might want to head over to Apple’s “Start Something New” campaign web page.

The sub-site — part of an ongoing advertising campaign highlighting how creative you can get with Apple products — has a bunch of amazing images that zoom around when you mouse a cursor across them.

Here’s how to get them to spruce up your device.

App Store app acting weird? Try this quick fix

By

You'll want to find these.
You'll want to find these.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Twitter user and developer Peter Steinberger shouted out to the Twitterverse when his App Store app kept showing an app that needed an update, but would never actually update, even with an iPhone restart.

He got a reply from Zachary Drayer, a mobile developer himself, on how to get the App Store to force refresh.

It’s totally nonintuitive, but utterly cool, and you can do it on your Apple Watch and iTunes app as well. Here’s what to do if you’re in the same situation.

How to set up all your shiny new Apple gear

By

No matter what Apple gear you got (or gave), we're here to help.
No matter what Apple gear you got (or gave), we're here to help.
Photo: Pixabay

This time of the year typically means gifts, both giving and receiving them. Surely some of you have gotten a brand new Macbook, iMac, iPhone or iPad (Pro, anyone?).

If so, you might be looking at a lovely morning playing with your shiny new toys. But where to start? What essential tweaks, software tricks and necessary little tips do you need to make sure they’re set up the right way?

Well, we’ve got your back, with roundups to help you easily set up your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, iPad (Pro, Air 2 or mini), Apple Watch or new Apple TV the right way. Here’s the list of setup guides to get you up and running with your brand new Apple gear.

iOS tip: The weird way to find keywords in a webpage

By

Find what you want in mobile Safari.
Find what you want in mobile Safari.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Sometimes I’m browsing a site like Cult of Mac on my iPhone and I’m looking for something specific, like a story about encryption, for example. Instead of swiping down the page and hoping I see the story I’m looking for, I want to just search for it.

When you’re on your Mac, it’s super easy to find something like this: simply hit Command-F, type in the text string you’re looking for, and Safari (or any other web browser on the Mac, really) will find them all in the web page you’re on, highlighting them for you.

But what about finding stuff when browsing the web on your iPhone? There’s no Command-key on the built-in keyboard, so how do you search your favorite web page to find keywords?

Turns out, there are two ways to do it, which is kind of odd.

Pro Tip: Set your Mac to perpetual Do Not Disturb mode

By

So many birthdays, man.
So many birthdays, man.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro_Tip_Cult_of_MacNotification Center on OS X seems like a great idea, most of the time, until you get a ton of notifications about things you really don’t care about all at once. You’ve got to click all the little “close” boxes, or click and drag the Notification banners to the right. It can be downright disconcerting.

You can turn on Do Not Disturb for 24 hours, after which it’ll default back to “Disturb.” You can hack your way in and turn off the feature altogether, but then you wouldn’t be able to see any Notifications, ever.

If you want the best of both worlds–Notifications that you can open the Center to see but that don’t pop onto your screen all the time–check out this cool tip.

Pro Tip: How to get quick info in Apple Maps with 3D Touch

By

Now it's even easier to get quick info on any business in Maps.
Now it's even easier to get quick info on any business in Maps.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Pro_Tip_Cult_of_Mac Maps is shaping up to be a pretty great navigational tool with its tight integration in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, as well as with much more error-free data.

I use Maps as a sort of mobile, digital yellow pages, finding businesses in town and looking up their phone number, hours of operation, website address, and more. It’s a couple of taps in, which can seem tedious after a while.

Now, though, with an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you can get this info in a summarized form, using the new 3D Touch. Here’s how.

Pro Tip: Quick way to find stores that take Apple Pay

By

Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugApple Pay is showing up in more places these days, but if you live in a town like mine, it can be hard to know exactly where those places are.

Want to know whether that hip restaurant down the street or your local pharmacy supports Apple Pay before you get there? Here’s a super easy trick using either your iPhone or your Mac.

Pro Tip: Bring your Mac to life with a custom video screen saver

By

Now you can get any video you like up on your Mac's screen saver.
Now you can get any video you like up on your Mac's screen saver.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugIf you’re enamored of the beautiful aerial screen savers on your new Apple TV and want to do something similar on your Mac, you’re in luck.

SaveHollywood is a screen saver module that will work on any Mac running OS X 10.8 or later, and it lets you play any movie you want when your Mac enters screen saver mode.

Here’s how to get it set up.

How to keep kids from checking out bad stuff on Apple TV

By

Keep your kids from watching, buying, or playing anything you don't want them to on Apple TV.
Keep your kids from watching, buying, or playing anything you don't want them to on Apple TV.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Not every Apple TV is in a household full of self-realized adults. Apple knows this and has set up some restrictions, similar to the parental controls on iOS.

That way, you can make sure that your kids aren’t purchasing anything (or playing/watching anything) without your consent.

Here’s how to set it all up on your Apple TV.