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How to rock out with a GarageBand Jam Session

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Pump up the jam.
Pump up the jam.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Let’s have a bit of weekend fun today. We’re going to jam out on GarageBand for iOS with our friends. Imagine it’s 20 years ago, and you and your friends all get together with your instruments, hook them up to a little four-track cassette recorder, and get to rocking out.

Returning back to 2018, you can do something similar. GarageBand’s Jam Session lets you connect up to four iPhones and iPads together, wirelessly, and jam. All four performances are recorded one of the devices, and everything is in sync. And of course you can use any instrument available in GarageBand. One of you can take care of beats, another can lay down a fat bassline, and so on.

Let’s get started.

Taking the new Apple Watch Series 4 on vacation [Review]

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Mickey Mouse Disney Apple Watch Series 4
The Apple Watch Series 4 made a vacation to Disney World more convenient.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

In 2015, I purchased my wife a stainless steel Apple Watch (series 0) for her birthday. Since then, she’s used it to track hundreds of workouts, reply to thousands of texts, and triage countless notifications. She’s also told me nearly every day for the past year that she hates it and it never works right.

While that might be a bit of an exaggeration, she has a point. The original Apple Watch is slow and unresponsive. Plus, some features have become frustratingly unreliable (looking at you, Siri).

This year, we decided to upgrade her Apple Watch in time for our family vacation to Disney World. It was the perfect opportunity to test Apple’s magical wrist communicator at the most magical place on Earth.

Check out iOS 12’s great new Photos For You tab

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The new For You tab makes it easy to discover and share your own photos,
The new For You tab makes it easy to discover and share your own photos.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

For many people, the new “For You” tab in Apple’s Photos app could become the default front page for their pictures. The new feature in iOS 12 gathers everything you care about — recent pictures, sharing activity, memories and something called “Featured Photos” — into one convenient spot.

Let’s check out the Photos For You tab and see what you can do with it.

Hot new Apple Watch feature gives wearers a serious dose of FOMO

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walkie-talkie
Walkie-Talkie is the best new watchOS 5 feature.
Photo: Apple

The new Walkie-Talkie app is being lauded by Apple Watch owners as the best new feature that came out as part of watchOS 5. But for some wearers, there’s a serious problem: they can’t find anyone to talk to.

Walkie-Talkie gives Apple Watch owners the ability to turn their wrist into a sort of digital two-way radio transceiver to talk with friends and family. It’s a super-convenient way to have short bursts of conversation when you don’t want to talk on the phone. If you don’t have any friends with a compatible Apple Watch, though, there’s no way to get in on the action.

Twitter has been full of people feeling the pains of Walkie-Talkie FOMO the last few days:

How to use the new iPad gestures in iOS 12

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Is this Apple's secret iOS gesture-making machine?
Is this Apple's secret iOS gesture-making machine?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 12 was clearly designed for an iPad where Face ID replaces the Home button. Apple has revamped the tablet’s gestures for iOS 12, bringing us an easy way to return to the Home screen, and an iPhone X-style gesture to access the Control Center.

If you’re a long-time iPad users, these changes will seem a little jarring at first. You’ll soon get used to them, though, and even learn to love them. The new Control Center gesture, in fact, is a lot better than the old one.

How to use Photos’ amazing new search in iOS 12

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iOS 12 Photos thinks that cabbages are melons.
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.

iPhone XR Portrait Mode has one serious limitation

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iPhone XR
Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting on the iPhone XR.
Photo: Apple

Portrait Mode on the iPhone XR may not be as fully-baked as the version found on Apple’s other iPhones.

The iPhone XR looks like it has almost all of the same features as its higher-priced siblings. Even though it only has one camera lens in the back, it can still take Portrait Mode photos. However, attendees at Apple’s keynote yesterday found out the iPhone XR version only works on people.

Learn app development for iOS 12 in just 10 days [Deals]

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Spend 10 days learning the inner workings of the iOS 12 beta.
Spend 10 days learning the inner workings of the iOS 12 beta.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 12 is coming soon, so now’s the time for developers to get familiar with all the new features in Apple’s next-gen mobile operating system.

This course offers a 10-day tour of the tools and concepts behind building apps in iOS 12. It’s suitable for all skill levels, and right now it’s available for just $15 at the Cult of Mac Store.

Score an 11-course education in computer science [Deals]

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Get the education in computer science you missed with this massively discounted lesson bundle.
Get the education in computer science you missed with this massively discounted lesson bundle.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Coding, app development and computer science in general are some of the most marketable skills you can earn. So it’s easy to wish you’d studied computer science in college. But if you didn’t, this massive bundle of lessons can help you get caught up.

Save $5 on Just Mobile’s sleek Apple Watch charging stands

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just mobile
Take advantage of $5 off Just Mobile's charging solutions for Apple Watch.
Photo: Just Mobile

Now’s the time to get in on a great deal for Just Mobile’s design-award-winning Apple Watch accessories.

The company is slashing their regularly priced, award-winning stands and chargers for Apple Watch by $5. You’ll also get a $20 AluCable Flat lightning cable free with purchase of two Just Mobile Apple Watch accessories!

Check out Just Mobile’s HoverDock, TimeStand and Lounge Dock, and find your perfect charging solution for Apple Watch.

Cavalier Maverick may be the most stylish smart speaker yet [Review]

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Cavalier
Feast your eyes on this beauty!
Photo: Cavalier

Boasting superior sound quality and a high-quality finish that ditches metal and plastic for distressed leather and fabrics, Cavalier Maverick is one of the best smart speakers we’ve tried.

It’s a third-party Amazon Alexa, offering the same functionality as an Echo, but in a far more premium package. And with a pretty neat mobile twist, too.

Casetify stainless steel Apple Watch bands get colorful

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casetify
Brand-new to Casetify's Stainless Steel Mesh Band lineup are Space Gray, Yellow Gold and Fuchsia Purple.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Stainless steel meticulously weaves its way through the Mesh Band for Apple Watch — Casetify’s answer to the significantly more expensive Milanese Loop by Apple. Casetify’s version is just as stylish and functional as the behemoth brand’s band, and now comes in three brand-new finishes: Space Gray, Yellow Gold and Fuschia Purple.

And, through August, you’ll save 20 percent when you purchase two (2) Casetify Apple Watch bands using this code at checkout: CULTOF20.

Shake up your wristgame with a Watchpop Apple Watch band

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Watchpop
The Watchpop Loop for Apple Watch in Orca Black/White pops on and off easily with built-in fasteners.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you love Apple’s Sport Loops for Apple Watch, we’ve got a fantastic alternative that costs 10 bucks less and features a new design element to Apple’s version.

Enter the Watchpop Loop for Apple Watch, German-company Bluestein’s stylish answer to those seeking the look and performance of Apple’s Sports Loop. Watchpop’s version has all the same bells and whistles, yet offers a fun line of black bands (and, one white!) flanked by colored edging.

iPhone X Plus will get iPad-like landscape mode

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iphone x
The iPhone X Plus is set to launch this fall.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s new big-screen iPhone launching later this year will come with some UI perks other 2018 iPhones can’t match.

Based on info found in the latest iOS 12 beta, the extra screen real estate on the iPhone X Plus (or whatever Apple calls it) will allow users to operate it in landscape mode with extra information, like the one found on the iPad.

Name your price for a deep dive into UI/UX design [Deals]

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PWYW UI UX
Design websites that are engaging with this 45 hour bundle
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Creating engaging sites, apps, and content are big business. Whether you’re looking to get a new gig or launch your own project, user interface and user interaction design skills are super valuable.

So this massive set of courses is a can’t-miss deal, yours for whatever you want to pay.

How to undelete deleted photos on iOS

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Trashed a photo by mistake? Here's how to undelete it.
Trashed a photo by mistake? Here's how to undelete it.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

We’ve all done it. We’ve woken up after a big night out, and before we even rinse the sleep from our eyes, we reach over and delete last night’s photos on our iPhones. We even squint, or kind of half look at the screen as we do it, just so we don’t get a reminder of whatever the hell it was we got up to last night.

But wait. Later, after the hangover clears, you’re hunting around for the photo you took of that totally sweet guy’s phone number, the one he wrote on the napkin while you were checking out his awesome forearms. “I’ll lose that piece of paper,” you told him, and took a snap of it with your iPhone camera, just in case. And it turns out that this was a way smarter move than that fifth round of chili vodka shots, because you did lose that napkin number. Only now you’ve gone and deleted the photo too, you big dummy.

No problem. Undeleting a photo on iOS is as easy as agreeing to another drink that you don’t really want. Let’s see how to do it.

We have the wireless charger you’re looking for [Deals]

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CoM - Zendure 40W Max A-Series 4-Port USB Wall Charger
Liberate your iPhone with these wireless charging solutions.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Wires are out, wireless charging is in. Now pretty much every new phone can juice up without being plugged in, which is as convenient as it is cool. There are many options out there, so we’ve rounded up awesome deals on six different wireless charging solutions. Each is discounted by half off or more, read on for more details:

Best List: FuelBox is the Swiss army knife of iPhone chargers [Review]

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FuelBox PowerStation
The FuelBox PowerStation has built-in cables, a pair of AC outlets and a mobile battery pack.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: FuelBox, a home and mobile charging system

There’s a secret magician lurking in our household. We never see them, but they somehow manage to disappear all our charging cables. It drives me batty. The kids, of course, deny any knowledge of the situation. Yet somehow it’s impossible to keep cables around the house. They just keep disappearing.

That’s why I like the FuelBox PowerStation, a charging system that combines a docking station/charging brick with a mobile battery pack. Both the docking station and the battery pack have built-in charging cables — both Lightning and mini-USB. No matter what, the cables can’t disappear.

Astro app makes managing email easy and almost fun [50 Essential iOS Apps #11]

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Astro is these best email app for both iOS and Mac.
Mail isn't always best for email.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: Astro email app Email is a necessary evil. Whether it’s personal communications, work-related updates or the latest sale at your favorite store, email is something we deal with nearly every day.

After trying dozens of email apps over the past eight years, Astro is the best email app I’ve come across, and the first that I both recommend and enjoy using.

olloclip iPhone X lenses give photogs six new perspectives

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iPhone X lenses
Clip and shoot with olloclip lenses for iPhone X.
Photo: olloclip

Mobile photographers using the iPhone X can now shoot wider and closer, thanks to a new olloclip lens system.

Launched Tuesday, the newly designed edge mount aligns with both front and rear cameras on Apple’s flagship handset. It enables iPhone X photographers to quickly swap out any of the six olloclip lenses.

Best Apple Watch chargers, stands and cases for Series 3 [Updated]

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studio
Power up your Apple Watch Series 3 in style with our top picks for best chargers and stands.
Photo: Studio Proper

From pocket-size, portable chargers to sleek, modernist stands and cases, Cult of Mac Watch Store has your Apple Watch Series 3 charging needs covered.

We’ve rounded up our favorite stands and docks for Apple Watch Series 3 from some of the best brands on the market — Nomad, Zens, Twelve South, Just Mobile and more. Plus, a number of new brands including Amber and Proper. Whether you’re on holiday, on the go, at work or at home, we’ve got a charging solution to fit your needs. Check out our great lineup below.