Top stories - page 234

Want to make your life easier this summer? Smartwatches are a great way to enhance your daily routine, saving you time and offering convenience right on your wrist. But not everyone has enough room in their budget for a costly Apple Watch.

If you’ve been hoping to simplify things and embrace the ease of having technology just a tap away, the 116plus Smart Wristband gives you all the perks of a smartwatch for a fraction of the price. In fact, it’s available in five cool colors — blue, red, black, green and purple — right now for just $29.99.

iOS and iPadOS 15 give you the ability to specify accessibility settings for individual apps. The change lets you adjust things like text size, increase contrast, invert colors and more only where you need to.

If you’re lucky enough to get strong and speedy 5G coverage where you live, you’ll be pleased that it gets prioritized over Wi-Fi in iOS and iPadOS 15 when your usual network is slow.

The new feature expands your 5G capabilities on iPhone 12 and M1 iPad Pro and could make certain tasks — like downloading high-resolution movies and music or uploading data to iCloud — significantly faster.

Apple is making iPhone and iPad upgrades easier by giving users a temporary boost in iCloud storage free of charge.

The change, which comes with iOS and iPadOS 15 this fall, will allow you to backup the entire contents of your device and transfer it all to a new one — even if you’re using the free 5GB storage plan.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 give users the ability to place the same app on multiple Home screens (or multiple icons for the same app on one screen) for the first time.

Simply drag any app out of the App Library and onto your Home screen as many times as you like.

Itching to get your hands on iOS and iPadOS 15 as soon as possible? The first developer betas are out now, and although we definitely don’t recommend installing them just yet, we’ll still tell you how to do it.

All you need is an Apple Developer account and an iPhone or iPad.

iPadOS 15 brings a big improvement to iPhone apps on a larger screen, finally allowing you to use them in landscape mode. The change even supports app that don’t have their own landscape view, like Instagram.

The Apple TV Remote baked into Control Center on iPhone and iPad has been redesigned for iOS and iPadOS 15.

Its new interface better resembles the new Siri Remote that ships with the latest Apple TV 4K, introduced back in April, and offers greater functionality over the old design.

Spatial audio inside Apple Music will get dynamic head tracking later this year, Apple has confirmed. The feature promises an even more immersive experience by adjusting sound based on your movements.

The confirmation comes just as Apple rolls out spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and lossless music for Apple Music subscribers.

Some new features really stood out when Apple revealed the next versions of all its operating systems during Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Users of iPhone, Mac and iPad, and Apple Watch, too, can look forward to welcome improvements this fall.

We picked out the best of these to make sure they don’t get overlooked.

Sam’s Club is the best place to go if you know what you want and don’t want to buy it often. With a membership, you can avail yourself of great deals on bulk items along with high-quality groceries and home solutions — all you need is a membership.

Right now, you can get a one-year Sam’s Club membership for only $28.88. And it comes with a free rotisserie chicken and cupcakes!

iOS 15 will bring a range of improvements to AirPods. Apple’s wireless headphones will get easier to find, and they can fill in as hearing aids in noisy environments. And Apple plans another tweak or two as well.

We got our first glimpse of the OS that will be gracing everyone’s wrists this fall when Apple showed off watchOS 8 during Monday’s WWDC keynote.

This update looks like more of an evolution than a revolution. Text editing gets a little easier.  And we’ll get various small enhancements for the apps we already know and love, like photo sharing and a redesigned Music app.

Siri will soon be able to handle many of your questions and requests offline. When Apple’s next-generation software updates roll out this fall, on-device speech recognition will negate the need for a data connection.

Apple is also opening Siri up to third parties, paving the way for its virtual assistant to be integrated into all manner of smart devices in the future.

Apple launched the promised new Spatial Audio service for Apple Music on Monday. The feature was announced in May, and the wait is over. Spatial Audio allows songs seemingly come from all around the listener, even from above. If the track has been mixed to support it, of course.

macOS Monterey will bring a plethora of nifty new abilities to Mac — and, in the process, help make Macs work even better with iPhones and iPads.

Announced Monday during the Worldwide Developers Conference’s opening keynote, it will be the first new Mac operating system following the arrival of Apple Silicon across the entire product line. This year’s update isn’t close to the giant redesign that was 2020’s macOS 11 Big Sur. But macOS Monterey 12 nonetheless boasts a bevy of exciting new features.

Safari extensions are finally coming to iPhone and iPad this fall with iOS and iPadOS 15. You’ll have access to all the same extension options you’re used to seeing on your Mac, with developers getting the ability to create universal extensions that work across all devices.

iCloud+ is a new service that promises to make your online activities more private and more secure. It’s included at no extra cost with a premium iCloud subscription, and it works across all your Apple devices.

Here’s what Private Relay, Hide My Email, and HomeKit Secure Video in iCloud+ can do for you.

iOS 15 just made the jump from rumor to reality. Apple is bringing major new features to FaceTime, Messages, notifications, and more. Many of the applications that come bundled with iPhone are getting updates, like Apple Maps and Weather.

However, some features people had been hoping for didn’t make the cut, like interactive widgets.

Apple today gave iPad owners their first peek at iPadOS 15 with a revamped Home screen and more powerful multitasking. The update also introduces bolstered privacy controls and some welcome changes to notifications.

iPadOS 15 makes its public debut this fall alongside iOS 15 and other software updates for Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Developers can get their hands on the very first betas later today.

If you look at enough computer setups, you get used to seeing the amazing technology that impresses people on social media sites. But then, sometimes the cool innovation, or let’s say killer retro-innovation, is just an unfamiliar form of whiteboard with dry-erase notes scribbled on it.

Redditor TheCrunks has an admirably capable but compact setup with plenty of tech to like.

Want to make your videos as good as they can be? You need powerful video editing software. Camtasia 2021 is a best-selling video editor that speeds up the creative process for editing pros and newbies alike.

With a 4.5/5 star rating on Capterra, 8.8/10 stars on TrustRadius and 4.5/5 stars on G2, Camtasia 2021 typically retails for $299. But it’s on sale for just $199 for only a few weeks.

Apple devices simplify our lives with user-friendly software and cutting-edge hardware — but keeping these devices charged all day isn’t so simple. If you only have one charging port, you have to choose between devices, meaning you may have to tuck your AirPods into your pocket or leave your phone dead a little bit longer. And if you lug around various charging cables or add in any other accessories, the bulk grows unnecessarily and inconveniently large.

This week, we are giving away three stylish stretch-link Apple Watch bands from our friends at Rilee & Lo. Each lucky winner will receive one Rilee & Lo stretch-link Watchband and one coordinating stacking bracelet of their choice.

If you want a unisex Apple Watch band that is super-cool and easily transitions from day wear to evening, be sure to enter this giveaway.

Are you ready for the Worldwide Developers Conference? Apple’s biggest keynote of the year happens Monday, and it will give us our annual look at Cupertino’s road map for the future.

In the run-up to WWDC, Apple did a pretty good job of keeping its software secrets under wraps, but our top story will give you an idea about what to expect.

Elsewhere in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine, we’ve got some the latest rumors about upcoming Apple hardware, along with a passel of how-tos to help you get the most out of all your gear.

And don’t miss this week’s reviews of the latest Apple TV+ shows to catch our interest. The new Stephen King miniseries Lisey’s Story just landed on Apple’s streaming service. And The Mosquito Coast just wrapped its first explosive season, so you can binge the whole thing while you wait for WWDC.