You can upgrade to Safari 12 right now, even if you're not running macOS Mojave. Photo: Apple
Turns out you don’t have to upgrade to macOS Mojave to enjoy the benefits of Safari 12. Apple just released it for two earlier versions: High Sierra and Sierra.
This browser update works hard to protect your privacy, and offers plenty of other improvements too.
iOS 12 Photos thinks that cabbages are melons. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Photos already has a pretty decent search function on iOS 11. Thanks to Apple’s machine-learning tech, and AI categorization, you can search for thousands of “scenes.” These include the places you took the photo, but also anything from abacus to zucchini, people in the images, and times the images were taken.
This has gotten even better in iOS 12. You can still search on many thousands of categories and keywords, but now you can combine searches. For instance, you could search for several different people, and see photos only containing them all. OR you can combine search terms like Christmas, Food, and 2015, for instance. Let’s take a look.
Not every shortcut is worth taking. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
iOS 12 launches today, and there are a whole bunch of updates to apps that take advantage of the new features available in iOS 12. If you visit the App Store’s updates page, you’ll see that many apps are adding support for Siri Shortcuts. Shortcuts in iOS 12 can refer to several related new things, but in this case, Siri Shortcuts lets you interact with, and control apps just by talking.
For instance, say “Hey Siri, check my commute” to get a report of the disruptions, departures, and your ETA at work from Citymapper, or say “Show today,” and see a list of today’s tasks in Things app.
Apple's new Shortcuts automation app has to be downloaded separately from iOS 12. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The full version of iOS 12 is now available for everyone. One of its cool new features is Siri Shortcuts, but those who want to automate functions on their iPhone also need to download a separate application from the App Store.
The new utility lets people create scripts that collect several actions together, then launch them with a voice command. The idea is to let you automate actions that you perform regularly.
DearMob iPhone Manager offers a flexible, streamlined alternative to iTunes. Screenshot: DearMob
This post is presented by DearMob iPhone Manager.
Apple has launched another new raft of iPhones and a shiny new mobile operating system, iOS 12. That means some cool new features, but also the pain of backing up and syncing on iTunes. That means the same old “all or nothing” approach, pressing “sync” and hoping it works. Apple is great in many ways, but giving us control over our mobile data isn’t one of them.
Downgrade from the iOS 12 Developer beta back to trusty 11.4. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
There’s an awful lot of coverage of iOS 12 out there at the moment, including early reviews, lists of all the new features, and tutorials that show you how to install the update. But what if you’re already running iOS 12 and you deeply regret upgrading early? How do you downgrade to back to iOS 11.4?
New updates can sometimes be buggy. We think it’s pretty stable but if it’s messing with your iPhone or iPad in a big way there’s still a way to go back to iOS 11.4. That’s exactly what we’re going to show you how to do in our latest video. Check it out below.
iPhone XS sales were probably lower than Apple hoped. Still, the likely reason is another iPhone model. Photo: Apple
Apple started taking pre-orders for both iPhone XS series models on Friday. One analyst says sales of these new models weren’t as strong as the first weekend of the iPhone X.
It seems that interest in the more affordable iPhone XR is cutting into demand for Apple’s new flagship smartphones.
watchOS 5 turns Apple Watch into a walkie-talkie Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple TV and Apple Watch owners received some new software goodies this morning in the form of tvOS 12 and watchOS 5, coinciding with the public launch of iOS 12.
While tvOS 12 only contains a couple of changes with new screensavers and Dolby Atmos support, watchOS 5 packs some big updates that make wearing an Apple Watch even more useful by turning it into a walkie-talkie, letting you compete with friends and more.
After months of beta testing, Apple finally released iOS 12 to the public, making it available as an over-the-air update. The new iPhone and iPad operating system comes with tons of new features and performance improvements that will make even older devices faster than ever. Best of all, if you have a device that can run iOS 11, iOS 12 will work on it — no problem.
Austin Mann is one of those lucky photographers who gets a new iPhone before the rest of us. Apple knows he will take it to some colorful location and make the kind of pictures that show off the camera’s upgrades.
Mann doesn’t disappoint with the iPhone XS, which he put to the test while on a recent assignment in Zanzibar.
You've got iOS 12. Here's how to make the most of it. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iOS 12 is out now, and you probably already downloaded it and installed it on your device. But what does the new version of iOS actually do? Apple introduced Screen Time, the great new Do Not Disturb, and the powerful Siri Shortcuts at the WWDC 2018 keynote in June. But until you dig into them, you won’t have an idea how great these new features are, along with many more.
If only real online pranksters were like these guys! Photo: Hackers, United Artists
A security researcher discovered a new Safari vulnerability capable of crashing your Apple device. The vulnerability exists in the WebKit engine used to render pages in Apple’s web browser.
Streaming subscriptions in the U.S. have come a long way! Photo: Apple
Streaming music has come a long way! According to a new report, the number of people now paying a monthly music streaming subscription in the U.S. is around 51 million. That’s close to double the number at the end of 2016!
In total, last year, streaming music services accounted for 65 percent of the recorded music revenue in the U.S. Spotify and Apple Music combined dominate “at least 80 percent” of the domestic music streaming market, and other platforms — including ones belonging to big names like Amazon and Google — are already, “falling surprisingly far behind.”
Pagico goes way beyond pen and paper to help you stay on-task and organized, and looks great in the process. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
We all know adulting is hard, and staying on top of day-to-day tasks is a big task unto itself. Paper and pen are great for staying organized and capturing ideas. But we live in the digital age, so it pays to have digital tools.
In this week's Cult of Mac Magazine: New iPhones (loads of 'em). Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: New iPhones (loads of ’em). New Apple Watches that could save your life. While some big leaks spoiled this week’s Gather Round event, we still got some surprises.
And now we’ve got plenty to talk about, starting with head-to-head comparisons: iPhone XS vs. iPhone XR and Apple Watch Series 4 vs. Series 3.
Will Apple's AirPower charging pad ever turn up? Photo: Apple
Last week’s Apple event marked one year to the day since Apple showed off its AirPower wireless charging mat for the first time. Since then, however, Apple hasn’t mentioned anything more about the technology — and now all signs of it have been scrubbed from the company’s website.
According to a new report, the problem Apple is facing is based around heat management issues, although there have also been other hardware and software issues, too. As a result, it’s unlikely that the product will arrive this year — and Apple may even wind up using the AirPower concept and trademark for a new redesigned product in 2019.
A new oral history of Infinite Loop is a treasure trove for Apple fans. Photo: Ryan B/Flickr CC
One of Apple’s pre-eminent historians, tech journalist Steven Levy, dropped an Apple history treasure trove over the weekend.
Published by Wired, the oral history of Apple’s Infinite Loop campus features contributions from a whole lot of Apple employees, both past and present. Want to hear Eddy Cue talk Steve Jobs’ pizza preferences? Or how Tim Cook crossed the picket line on Day One of his job at Apple? Here are some of my favorite highlights:
Ming-Chi Kuo is forecasting Apple shipments for the next year. Photo: Ben Geskin/Twitter
The iPhone XR is likely to be the most popular new iPhone this year, followed by the iPhone XS Plus, and, in last place, the iPhone XS. That’s according to highly respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo also noted that pre-orders for the Apple Watch Series 4, which in my view was the standout new product at last week’s Apple event, were “better than expected.”
OleksynPrannyk's Double Tour in Black. Photo: OleksynPrannyk
Apple Watch Series 4 orders open midnight September 13 (tonight!) with shipping beginning on September 21.
In the meantime, grab yourself a strap or two befitting Apple’s fourth-generation smartwatch. The 40mm band works with the 38mm straps; the 44mm band works with the 42mm straps. You’re going to love the Series 4 and Cult of Mac’s lineup of best bands to outfit it.
This opened iPhone X looks a lot like a snake's mouth. That's appropriate. Photo: iFixit
Whenever a new iPhone or iPad is released, Apple gets criticized for how hard it is to work on. Special tools are required and everything is glued together. Replacing your own screen or battery is nigh impossible.
But it turns out the company is doing you a favor. Because iPhone repair is surprisingly dangerous.
These four courses offer invaluable tools and insights for making money online. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The internet is a boon for business, but only if you know how to use it. So we’ve rounded up four courses covering the how’s and why’s of marketing online. Courses cover the basics of e-commerce and building a business plan, starting a dropshipping business and more. There’s plenty for the aspiring online entrepreneur, and all at super deep discounts.
An eSIM is tiny even compared to a nano-SIM. And the one built into the iPhone XS models.will bring a nice benefit. Eventually. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple touted support for using multiple SIM cards at once in its new top-tier iPhones during their announcement. But there’s a problem the company “forgot” to mention: this feature won’t be available when the iPhone XS and XS Max reach customers’ hands next week.
This is just one of several features in Apple’s 2018 product lineup that aren’t coming as soon as expected.
Don't drop hundreds of bucks on a set of headphones when you can spend way less for the same features. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
We’ve all been conditioned to look with envy at a set of Beats headphones. But that’s mostly marketing, and the allure of expensive toys. Turns out it’s possible to get comparable sound quality for a fraction the cost.