How-To - page 22

Change Safari’s save folder to prevent lost downloads [Pro tip]

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Choose Safari download location
Don't lose your Safari downloads.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Safari pro tips bug We want to help you master Safari. Cult of Mac’s Safari Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of Apple’s web browser on iOS and Mac.

How many times have you downloaded something from the internet and then had to spend way too much time trying to figure out where it was saved? It’s probably a common occurrence — especially on iOS.

But did you know that you can tell Safari exactly where to save your downloads so that you never lose them? We’ll show you how in this Safari pro tip.

Enable automatic Page Zoom for easier reading in Safari [Pro tip]

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How to enable Page Zoom in Safari
Make your favorite websites easier to read.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Safari pro tips bugWe want to help you master Safari. Cult of Mac’s Safari Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of Apple’s web browser on iOS and Mac.

iOS, iPadOS, and macOS allow you to increase font sizes system-wide so that everything you do is easier to see. You can do a similar thing to make your favorite websites easier to read inside Safari.

We’ll show you how to use Page Zoom in this Safari pro tip.

Close old tabs automatically to keep Safari clean [Pro tip]

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Automatically close old tabs in Safari
Let Safari take care of clearing old tabs.
Image: Cult of Mac

Safari pro tips bugWe want to help you master Safari. Cult of Mac’s Safari Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of Apple’s web browser on iOS and Mac.

Are you an unwitting Safari tab hoarder? It’s easy to forget to close old tabs you no longer need — especially on iPhone, where the dozens of open tabs you’ve forgotten about aren’t always visible. But did you know that Safari can clear all your old tabs automatically after a certain period of time?

Find out how to set up automatic tab clearing in this Safari pro tip.

Ditch Google for another search engine inside Safari [Pro tip]

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Change default search engine in Safari
Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others are available.
Image: Cult of Mac

Safari pro tips bug We want to help you master Safari. Cult of Mac’s Safari Pro Tips series will show you how to make the most of Apple’s web browser on iOS and Mac.

Google has long been the default search engine inside Safari, but it’s not your only option. With a simple settings change, you can find what you’re looking for with Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo or Ecosia instead.

Find out how in this Safari pro tip.

4 useful things you can do with the Digital Crown on AirPods Max

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How to use the Digital Crown on AirPods Max
That little button does a lot more than you might think.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

AirPods Max are only the second Apple device to adopt Apple Watch’s brilliant Digital Crown. And you might be surprised by just how powerful that little button can be, from adjusting volume to controlling playback.

Here are four useful things you can do with the Digital Crown on AirPods Max.

How to choose which HomePod listens to you when using two or more

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How to choose which HomePod listens to you
It's easier than you think.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Are you constantly being ignored by the HomePod that’s closest to you when asking Siri for assistance? Sadly, Apple doesn’t make it completely obvious how to manually specify which HomePod listens to you when you’re using more than one. But it is possible — and super-simple.

We’ll show you how.

How to make your New Year’s resolutions stick with Apple Fitness+

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Time’s up for excuses - get in shape in 2021
Time’s up for excuses - get in shape in 2021
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple Fitness+ makes it easier than ever to get in shape. So you should have no problem smashing your New Year’s resolution. Right?

Wrong. The sad fact is, despite the best of intentions, most New Year’s resolutions fail. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I know from personal experience as someone who went from a middle-aged slob to the proud owner of six-pack abs for the first time in my life. Now I’m a qualified personal trainer and I write about fitness for Cult of Mac.

So what’s the secret? Why do some resolutions succeed where others fail? Here are my top five tips for how you can use Apple Fitness+ to get in shape in 2021 and stay that way.

How to change Apple Watch app layout to a handy list [Pro tip]

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Change Apple Watch app layout from honeycomb grid to list view.
Get ready to say goodbye to the honeycomb app grid.
Photo: Daniel Cañibano/Unsplash CC

Pro-tip-4 By this point, the honeycomb app grid that debuted with the original Apple Watch must have fueled millions of frustrated app hunts.

That swirling sea of apps certainly looked innovative and magical during Apple’s demo in 2014. Apple called the unique interface “fluid and vital,” but in practice, the honeycomb grid often makes it difficult to find the particular app you want.

Luckily, Apple gave you another option. These days, there’s no need to suffer through the search for the app you want. You can easily switch to an alphabetical list view that makes it much easier to find Apple Watch apps.

How to customize a game controller for iPhone or iPad

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How to customize a game controller for iPhone or iPad
Reconfiguring the buttons on an PS4 or Xbox game controller connected to an iPad or iPhone is easy. Here’s how.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

Serious gaming on your iPad or iPhone gets better with an external Xbox or PlayStation controller instead of a touchscreen. And Apple recently improved the experience even more by allowing you to reconfigure the buttons on your game controller.

Here’s how to customize what those all-important buttons do.

Pro tip: Use AirPods with devices that don’t have Bluetooth

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Use AirPods with devices that don't have Bluetooth
A simple Bluetooth adapter is all you need.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Pro-tip-4 AirPods, like most wireless headphones, use Bluetooth to connect to your iPhone and other devices. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to enjoy them with older gadgets that don’t have Bluetooth connectivity baked-in.

With a simple and affordable Bluetooth dongle, you can use your AirPods with an old iPod, home stereo system, gym equipment, Nintendo Switch and other consoles, and more. We’ll show you how.

Cardio Fitness: What Apple’s new health metric means and how you can use it

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Most of the interesting stuff in your body happens in your core, not on your wrist.
Most of the interesting stuff in your body happens in your core, not on your wrist.
Photo illustration: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple’s VOmax metric measures the performance of your heart and lungs when you push yourself to the limit. Up until now, though, it’s only been useful to serious fitness fanatics. No wonder Apple buried it in the Health app, where most users never found it.

But watchOS 7.2 and iOS 14.3, which Apple released Monday, change all that. In those updates, the VOmax metric has been renamed Cardio Fitness. Now it can detect lower ranges and send alerts when the reading gets too low. That makes it the latest in a series of potentially life-saving health notifications from Apple Watch.

Here’s everything you need to know to get the benefit of this essential new feature.

How to get your Replay 2020 mix and stats on Apple Music

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How to get Apple Music 2020 Replay mix
Find out which artists you've enjoyed most in 2020.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

It’s almost the end of 2020 (hallelujah!) which means it’s time to start looking back at all the things you’ve enjoyed this year. All the vacations, parties, social events … okay, maybe not those things. But what about the music?

If you have Apple Music, it’s easy to check out all the artists, tracks, and albums you’ve enjoyed this year with your 2020 Replay mix. You can even see how long you’ve listened to your favorite artists and played your favorite albums. We’ll show you how!

Pro tip: Speed up user account switching in macOS Big Sur

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macOS Big Sur fast account switching
Make sharing a Mac a little easier.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Pro-tip-4If you share a Mac with others and are frequently switching between user accounts, you’ll be pleased to know you can do that quicker than ever in macOS Big Sur, thanks to a new feature called fast user switching.

You’ll need to set it up yourself because Apple doesn’t enable it by default, but it’s super-simple to do. We’ll show you how.

How to switch your Apple Watch to a new iPhone

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How to switch your Apple Watch to a new iPhone
Here’s how to get your Apple Watch ready for your new iPhone.
Photo: Cult of Mac

You just got a shiny new iPhone 12 and of course you want your Apple Watch to play nicely with it. You could reset the Watch to start out fresh, but there’s an easier way switch your Apple Watch to your new iPhone.

Here’s what you do.

How to reset HomePod and HomePod mini to fix strange glitches

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How to reset HomePod and HomePod mini
Bring an unresponsive HomePod back to life.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Many of the glitches and frustrations you might encounter with HomePod and HomePod mini can usually be fixed with a simple factory reset. It’s easy to do and doesn’t take long, but Apple doesn’t make it immediately obvious how a reset is performed. So we’ll show you what you need to do.

How to avoid macOS reinstallation errors on M1 Macs

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reinstall errors on M1 Macs
How to reinstall macOS when things go wrong.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple has confirmed that some M1 Mac owners may run into an error message when attempting to reinstall macOS on their new machine. If you’re one of them, there are some things you can do to avoid it.

These include using a bootable installer, rather than macOS Recovery, or initiating a reinstall from Terminal. We’ll show you how.

Optimize your new iPhone experience with these expert setup tips

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iPhone Xs
Get your new iPhone set up the right way.
Photo: Apple

For many people, iPhone 12 will be radically different from previous iPhone models. Despite this, the iPhone setup process hasn’t changed much. However, while you might find yourself on familiar ground, there are still plenty of little things you really ought to do before you fire up your new phone for the first time (or pretty soon thereafter).

Let’s take a look at all the things you can do to get your iPhone set up exactly how you want it.

How to optimize your swimming stroke with Apple Watch

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Do you know how Apple Watch counts your swim strokes?
Do you know how Apple Watch counts your swim strokes?
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch is a great swimming companion, offering highly accurate length counts, pace measurements and stroke recognition. But the benefits to swimmers don’t stop there.

You’ll find plenty more useful swim stats in the Fitness app on your iPhone. Strokes Per 25/50/100 is especially valuable because it tracks your swim efficiency, which is key if you want to go faster, further or just look more cool in the pool.

But the way Apple Watch counts your strokes is not as simple as it seems. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert swimmer, it’s worth taking time out to understand exactly how it works.