Table of contents for No. 240 in iCreate

Apple’s WWDC event last month didn’t disappoint, with new M2-powered MacBooks and flashy new operating systems showcased for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It is iOS 16 that we will be focusing on this issue, with a complete hands-on guide to the epic iPhone update. Discover how the new personalised Lock Screen experience will allow you to access at-aglance essentials without having to unlock your device, and let you link different Lock Screens to different Focuses to only display the stuff that’s relevant to you in that moment. Then there’s iCloud Photo Library, that instantly uploads the images that you want to share with your loved ones, straight from the Camera app. And advancements to Apple Pay that mean merchants can take card payments right on their iPhones without…

APPLE HAS ANNOUNCED THE LATEST VERSION OF MACOS – VENTURA. THIS UPDATE HAS PRIMARILY BEEN DESIGNED TO REFRESH EXISTING FEATURES. STILL, NEW FEATURES DO EXIST. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE BEST. The first big new feature, also announced for iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, is Stage Manager. This feature provides a new way to organise your open app windows. It does so by keeping the current window in the centre of the screen while putting the other open windows on the left-hand side as tiny icons. You can go back and forth between open windows with ease. You can also group open windows based on specific tasks or projects. You can drag and drop files in a much easier way here too, by going to this sidebar and the…

Photos Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed With summer holiday season in full swing you may have more time to take snaps of family activities and more interesting locations to shoot in. You may also want to compete with friends and family who are filling your WhatsApp Chat group with amazing photos of their own holiday highlights. In this tutorial we’ll give you some tips on making your holiday snaps look their best. We’ll include shooting tips to help you capture perfect panoramic landscapes and editing tips to improve composition. We’ll also show you how to share your shots while still on vacation so other people can join in your fun. Enhance your pictures Improve colour and composition Non-destructive edits Feel free to experiment when cropping a shot. Areas outside…

Garage Band Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Mastering is essentially the final process in music production – when the ‘master’ copy of a song is made. Nowadays we digitally export or ‘print’ to file our masters for sharing across numerous formats. GarageBand lets us ‘Share to Disk’ and send the output of the Master Track to MP3, AIFF or WAV. But how should we master a finished project to get the best results? Expert users advise using an empty project containing master plugins for this. By using a single project with the same plugins, you achieve a consistent sound across every song. Additionally, the reduced CPU drain on exporting ensures the highest quality output. Mastering unpacked We pick out the most essential elements inside a master project workspace Audio…

System Preferences Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Wireless networks have been supported in macOS for a long time, and it is easy to assume you know everything there is to know. It is true that some things are the same as they always have been, but also, some things have changed and there are new features too. Wi-Fi is slowly evolving over time and with each new version of macOS comes new features, like limiting IP address tracking to make web browsing and email more private. Sometimes features are dropped and we can see this with Network Utility. Run it these days and it tells you to use Terminal instead. Let’s take a fresh look at Wi-Fi and network settings in macOS. Step-by-step Manage and configure Wi-Fi networks 1…

Finder Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed There are many file attributes, such as the name, size, kind and dates created and last modified. Included in file attributes is a system of permissions and ownership, user names and privileges. They can be useful and limit what other people can access or change on the disk, but sometimes they can get in the way. Here we look at permissions. We show you the problems you might encounter and how to solve them. Also, we look at how to lock unauthorised people out of folders and files. Permissions problems often occur when more than one person uses a Mac and with shared files, or if you access files over a network at home or work. Step-by-step Solver permission problems in macOS 1…

October 2001 iPod classic 1st generation July 2002 iPod classic 2nd generation April 2003 iPod classic 3rd generation January 2004 iPod mini 1st generation October 2004 iPod classic 4th generation October 2004 U2 Edition iPod classic 4th generation October 2004 iPod photo 40/60GB January 2005 iPod shuffle 1st generation February 2005 iPod mini 2nd generation February 2005 iPod photo 30GB June 2005 U2 Edition iPod photo 20GB July 2005 U2 Edition iPod classic 4th generation September 2005 iPod nano 1st generation October 2005 iPod classic 5th generation June 2006 U2 Edition iPod classic 5th generation September 2006 iPod shuffle 2nd generation September 2006 iPod nano 2nd generation October 2006 (PRODUCT) RED iPod nano 2nd generation September 2007 iPod touch 1st generation September 2007 iPod nano 3rd generation September 2007 iPod…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed At times, it can feel as if your phone is bombarding you with notifications, most often for messaging, email and social media apps but also for the App Store and anything to do with security, storage and more. If you’re not attentive to them, you will find lots of red dots appearing in the top-right corner of the app icons on your Home Screens. They clutter your screens and are distracting. If you’d rather they weren’t there, you can either turn them off app-by-app or have them removed whenever you want to use the Focus Mode to block incoming notifications. In either case, your Home Screens and App Library will look cleaner and, while it can take a bit of effort, it may…

iOS 16 Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Rather than wait for the official rollout of iOS 16 in the autumn, there are a couple of ways to get hold of the software early. Beta versions are usually released simultaneously with the update being announced at WWDC, but to get hold of one of these, you will need to be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program (which costs £70 per year). We will guide you through the process of enrolling and obtaining the dev beta here, but alternatively you can wait an extra month and then install the newer, possibly more stable public beta – check out ‘Knowledge base’ for information on how to get that. Updating to iOS 16 Everything you need to know Wait a while If you…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Handing over an iPad for someone to use can put you on edge. What if they sneakily peek at your work email, access the App Store, nosy through your apps or play a prank and send a message via social media (maybe we should reassess our friendship group!)? Your mind can be eased if you use Guided Access. Built into iPadOS, it lets you draw a ring around parts of the screen you want to disable so that tapping certain spaces will have no effect. It also ensures people can’t leave the app currently being displayed. Here we’re going to look at how you can set it up and use its range of features. Since it’s protected by a passcode, only you should…

Steam Link Developer Valve Difficulty Time needed Steam is one of the world’s biggest video game digital distribution services and it’s packed with a host of blockbuster games and indie titles. It’s primarily used on PCs and Macs but, thanks to an app called Steam Link, it’s possible to stream those games to other devices. One of them is an Apple TV, ensuring games can be played on a big screen from the comfort of your sofa. You can even use a game controller. Here we take you through the steps involved in setting up Steam Link. As you’ll see, it’s a simple enough process although you will require a Steam account and there are some advanced options to consider too. You will also need to have the game running…

£79.99/$79.99 Key features 5-32,000Hz • Bluetooth 5.0 • 40mm drivers • 60 hour battery Learn more audio-technica.com Available from amazon.co.uk INSPIRED BY ITS BEST-SELLING M SERIES OF WIRED PROFESSIONAL HEADPHONES, Audio-Technica’s latest entry-level over-ear headphones are minimalist in design, feature a well-balanced soundstage that complements all music genres, maintain a strong wireless connection, and have a long battery life. It’s not all positive though, because you certainly won’t be blown away by the unboxing. These headphones appear very flimsy from the moment you unpack them, and the build quality feels cheap – it’s easy to see where compromises have been made to keep the price down. Get the balance right Legacy sound can be difficult to achieve on low-priced wireless headphones, and the ATH-M20xBT headphones might not quite meet the…

David Crookes Our iOS expert will show you how to use apps to make your voice sound clearer on FaceTime calls and rapidly speed up the rate at which you read on your Apple devices. Shaun McGill Our tech expert will take you back through the glory years of Apple’s iconic iPod. With production now ending, we celebrate the pocket jukebox that changed everything. George Cairns Our creative genius will show you how to make your holiday snaps look amazing in Photos, edit together your road movie footage in iMovie and apply cool lens effects in Final Cut.…

iMovie Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available A road trip is the perfect opportunity to showcase your video shooting and editing skills. You may have a new car that you want to show off to friends and family via social media (or a classic vehicle that you’ve lovingly restored!). We’ve captured some clips of a road trip using an iPhone 13 Pro Max for you to download and edit. A handheld iPhone 13 Pro Max lets you capture smooth clips thanks to its built-in (OIS) optical image stabilisation, even on the bumpiest of roads! This reduces the need to stabilise clips in iMovie (which can result in their edges becoming cropped). Road trip Shooting and editing tips and tricks Shoot to edit To document a road trip shoot…

Logic Pro Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available You never know where you’re going to be when inspiration strikes. You could be on public transport, in a coffee shop, or at home without any music gear other than your trusty Mac. So what do you do when you want to capture an insanely good rhythmic idea but don’t have a MIDI controller to hand? The answer is – don’t worry! Apple’s engineers have you covered by means of a useful tool built into Logic Pro that can easily convert any audio track into MIDI – all you have to do is tap out a rhythm, capture it with your Mac’s onboard microphone and let Drum Replacer do all the heavy lifting. Tapped out Drum Replacer lets you create…

Safari Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Sometimes you need to install multiple apps on a Mac. For example, if you buy a new Mac or a second-hand model, you want to put all your favourite apps on it. If you erase a Mac, perhaps to solve a problem or you want a fresh install of the latest version of macOS, you need to spend time afterwards installing all the apps you need. This can be a long and tedious process: finding the apps you want, downloading them, installing them, and then deleting the download. Fortunately, there is a quick way to install your favourite apps on a Mac. Enter just one command in Terminal and then go and have a break while your apps install. Bulk install best bits…

You probably don’t give much of a thought to the windows that appear when you open a new document or save one you have been working on. What more is there than selecting where to save a file or which one to load? Actually, there is quite a lot more to these windows than you might think and there are many hidden features that can enable you to perform actions and navigate the disk. Open and Save windows used in apps are like Finder windows and what works in Finder often works in Open/Save. Not sure which file to open? Select it and press spacebar to view it with Quick View. Don’t want to change a file? Ctrl+click, duplicate it and edit the copy. Here are more things you can…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed The iPhone enables access to movies, TV shows and books that are not suitable for everyone. Media may contain swearing, full or partial nudity, sexual scenes, words or phrases, and so on. Some people are OK with this, but some are not and you may want to limit what apps and services show you on your iPhone. Your personal preferences for the type of content you want to see on your iPhone can be configured quite easily and there are many options. You’ll certainly want to limit the content on any iPhone a child uses, but whether you do it for yourself is up to you. Let’s look at the options. Step-by-step Limit explicit content in iOS 1 Screen Time rules All the…

Bionic Reading Developer Appstun Digital Solutions Difficulty Time needed Given how time poor most of us are, it’s no surprise that a method for reading more quickly has taken the internet by storm. Called Bionic Reading, it works by highlighting a limited number of letters in a word to focus on, allowing your brain to complete the rest. Created by Swiss developer Renato Casutt, it does appear to work and, while it’s available in a limited number of apps, you can also play with the concept for free using an online converter. It could prove invaluable if you’re having to quickly read documents for work or study, with options to save text as PDF or EPUB files. If you’re a developer and want your users to take advantage, there’s an…

Safari Snippets Developer ydangle Difficulty Time needed Safari is probably not something you think about. It just works and it does the job well. However, it could do more and there may be features you wish Apple would add to the app to make it easier to use, or perhaps there are functions you need which are missing. You could cross your fingers and hope Apple adds them in the next version of iOS, or instead you could add them now, yourself. Using a clever app called Snippets, you can add missing features that make Safari even better. You need to be a developer to use Snippets to the max, but it comes with simple features that anyone can use. Step-by-step Boost Safari features with Snippets 1 Install Safari Snippets…

Settings Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Apple has finally given iPhone users a simple way of unlocking their device with Face ID while wearing a mask. Although you’ve been able to do so via an Apple Watch for a while (a feature we also explain here), you can now unlock an iPhone without the need for a secondary device thanks to a useful new feature introduced in iOS 15.4. Face ID with a Mask works with iPhone 12 and later and it also extends its reach to glasses wearers, putting an end to either punching in a passcode or having to pull a mask on and off. Of course, for many, it may feel as if this feature has come too late. But there are still many settings in…

Download available Tutorial project files All the assets you’ll need to get creative with our projects. Look out for the above icon to see if there are downloads available. Exclusive video tutorials Discover how to get more out of your devices with a selection of iOS and macOS video guides from MacMost. Loads of other cool stuff! Customise your Mac with stunning wallpapers, grab some royalty-free fonts and watch more how-to guides. Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/icreate Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets Free for digital readers too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer FileSilo The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future Publishing Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access…

Last month, Apple hosted its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) online and taking centre stage was the unveiling of iOS 16. This update, due for mass rollout, as ever, in the autumn, offers new intelligence, sharing and communication features that are going to enhance so much of what you do with your iPhone. And these come together with an incredible set of new personalisation features that will make your experience feel fresh and completely you. Over the following pages, we showcase some of the standout features coming your way in iOS 16, but there is so much more in the update that we’ll cover in detail in the coming months, such as multistep routing in Maps, that lets you plan up to 15 stops on your journey. Or how the…

Final Cut Pro Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Download available Final Cut Pro has a collection of creative video effects that enable you to mimic the view through a variety of lenses. For example you can create a photographer’s viewpoint as they look through the viewfinder of an analogue SLR camera. You can use keyframes to make the camera’s aperture open and close as it ‘captures’ a photo. We’ll show you how to animate the adjustment of the lens’s focus. You can also use effects to portray the views through other devices such as night vision scopes or CCTV feeds, which is an effective and creative way to enhance your drama projects. Lens effects Add effects and modify their look Animated keyframes Click an attribute’s keyframe icon to record…

Dock Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed The Dock is not a fixed collection of common apps selected by Apple. You can customise it in many ways to make it easier and faster to run the apps you need and to open documents you are working on. We are not talking about simply adding icons to the Dock – you can create custom menus that make accessing documents and favourite apps easier. It is also possible to add Smart Folders to the Dock, which automatically update to show you the files you want to see. Once you get the hang of creating menus, you will find many uses for them and they are great for boosting productivity on the Mac. DIY Dock menus Boost the Dock with menus for apps…

Safari Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed At one time, new hardware and software would be accompanied by a large printed manual in the box. We could read it and find out how to use our new purchase. These days you are lucky if a hardware device provides anything beyond a thin pamphlet telling you how to plug it in. Software is purchased online and there is no manual. There may be little in-app help. It saves trees, but it can leave people struggling to use their latest purchase. Fortunately, Apple provides free manuals for everything online. Read them in Safari or download them to read offline. If you want to fix old hardware, repair manuals are available too. Step-by-step Save missing manuals in Apple Books 1 Browse the manuals…

FaceTime Developer Apple Inc Difficulty Time needed Pardon? What’s that? Sorry, can’t hear you? Can you take me off speaker? Please hold it to your mouth… If you’ve ever been on a call and heard those words (or indeed uttered them yourself) the chances are that your voice isn’t coming across loud and clear. Perhaps you’re in a noisy environment and there’s lots of ambient noise. If so, help is at hand thanks to Voice Isolation. If you’re on a call using apps such as Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Slack, you should be able to turn it on for that app. It doesn’t always make your voice sound natural but you’ll be heard! Step-by-step Make use of Voice Isolation 1 Upgrade your iPhone For Voice Isolation to work,…

Hushed – 2nd Phone Number Developer AffinityClick Inc Difficulty Time needed For many people the thought of a second mobile number is aligned with unsavoury activities, but there are many positive reasons for using more than one voice solution. We are happy to use multiple social media profiles and more than one email address, but for some reason we stick with one mobile number. This does not need to be the case, however, because apps like Hushed are here to give you a second number for a much lower cost than using a second Sim card with a contract. Whether you find using two numbers much easier for splitting work tasks or if you have another specific need, you can experience a near complete solution that closely matches what is…

Substack Reader Developer Substack, Inc Difficulty Time needed It would be fair to say that Substack is a work in progress when it comes to app development. There is an iOS and iPadOS Substack Reader app, and that is it at the current time. You will need to use Safari on your iPad to create content, but the good news is that the interface and tools available are logical and offer all of the functionality that you will need. The Reader app is ideal for checking your own content and you can easily switch between the two if you need, or even run them side by side. We will show you how to make the most of Substack in Safari and also how to use the Substack Reader app to…

Hours Time Tracking Developer Hours LLC Difficulty Time needed When you work for yourself it is vitally important to monitor and have evidence of the hours you are working. It is no different to working for a company, but with self-employment will come the need to detail what you are doing in the most efficient way possible and your Apple Watch is the ideal tool to minimise record keeping. The less time you spend tracking your time will maximise your earning potential and so simplicity will pay off, which is why Hours Time Tracking works so well. We will detail how to set up your timers and how to use your Apple Watch when you start and finish to speed up the entire process. It could not be easier to…

£1,249/$1,199 Key features Apple M2 chip • 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display • Up to 18 hours of battery Learn more apple.com/mac Available from apple.com THE MACBOOK AIR (M1, 2021) WAS OUR PICK FOR THE BEST LAPTOP YOU CAN BUY RIGHT NOW, but from our brief time with the 2022 MacBook Air (powered by the freshly announced Apple M2 chip), there’s a very good chance that Apple has another winner on its hands. One of the most radical design overhauls we’ve seen Apple make to an iconic product has reinvigorated the new MacBook Air, and, while you may mourn the loss of the Air’s iconic wedge, it looks far more modern and elegant. As the name suggests, the MacBook Air is the thinnest and lightest MacBook Apple produces, and with the new…

• Chip: A10 Fusion 64-bit system-on-chip • Capacity: 32, 128 or 256GB • Hard drive: 4GB ATA • Display: 4.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen LCD Multi-Touch display, 1,334x750 pixel resolution at 326 ppi • Camera: (rear) 12MP, f/1.8 aperture with optical range stabilisation and digital zoom up to 5x, (front) 7MP FaceTime HD camera with 1080p HD video recording • Video: 4K video recording at 30 fps • Security: Touch ID • Original price: £549/$769 • Price now: £95/$88 The iPhone 7 was a real ‘Marmite’ moment for Apple – a divisive device that was lauded by many for its sleek and slender design (we especially loved the matte black version), yet pelted by hurlers from others on account of it being the first iPhone to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack. With…