All Current Tutorials

This week we will take a look at a productivity and project management application called Pagico, by Note 17 Software.

Pagico 8 includes the ability to add tasks, lists, projects and files in one interface. It also allows you to store your contacts and collaborate with others who may be working on your projects and link different tasks and documents to the users and projects you are managing.

You will also learn about the companion iOS app that lets you take your projects and tasks with you on the go.

This week's tip demonstrates how easy it is to share screens via the standard Messages app in macOS.

If you ever find yourself needing to give remote support to friends, family or colleagues, there's no need to have them install third-party software. Just fire up the Messages app and use the built-in screen sharing mechanism.

OneNote is a note-taking application from Microsoft that can be used on Mac and iOS. You can type, write or draw with the free form feel of pen to paper. OneNote allows you to search and add clips from the web to better illustrate your ideas. Tags can be used to sort and order your notes so you can easily find them later. Collaborate with anyone, stay on the same page and in sync wherever you are!

OneNote is also adept at handwritten notes on iOS, allows you to highlight what's important and express ideas with colors or shapes. It's easy to pull up your content from anywhere, even if you're offline. You can start on your laptop then update notes directly on iPad.

In Part 2, we move on to cover more advanced features in OneNote on Mac and IOS. We look at inserting audio and video, clipping information from the web, as well as sharing notebooks for collaboration.

Despite the best intentions, it can be really hard to hold your iPhone (or iPad) still when taking photos. Invariably, there is some stretching involved in reaching for the on-screen shutter button or volume controls.

In this week's tip I show you how to use the built-in timer to give you a few seconds to frame the shot and hold the iPhone as still as possible.

I also show you a great way to control the camera remotely using your Apple Watch. There's something really cool about seeing your camera display and controlling zoom and exposure, all from your wrist!

In this week's show, you'll learn how to quickly and easily create digital mind maps for collecting and sorting information and ideas. MindNode is an absolutely beautiful application for Mac and iOS that strikes a balance between form and functionality. With a great user interface that makes mind mapping approachable for anyone, MindNode is a great productivity tool whether you use mind maps for note taking, brainstorming, problem solving, book summaries, or anything else where thinking visually about ideas can be helpful.

With MindNode version 5, every part of the application has been reconsidered. It's a huge upgrade to previous versions, but because many of the changes are subtle, you may not notice it right away. Much of the design and layout has been completely revamped to make it easier to use and to discover the important features.

The full tutorial covers:

MindNode's pricing structure Application preferences Attaching Files and Stickers The Inspector and Toolbar Advanced Features Tasks Export options Styles and Themes Quick Entry iOS interface

Continuing on from last week's tip video, we transition from setting up Apple Mail rules on the Mac to server-based rules on iCloud.com.

Although not as granular as the local Mail rules, server-based rules can run 24/7 and work across all of your macOS and iOS devices.

Apple's new HomePod is now with us.

In this live video episode, Don takes a look at the new HomePod and reviews its basic functions as well as the various ways of interacting with it using your Apple devices.

Apple Mail rules allow you to create and run complex commands on incoming mail, allowing you to filter, organise or even respond automatically to messages.

In this week's tip, I take a look at some simple Apple Mail rules that demonstrate their potential power. The only downside to setting up rules locally on your Mac is that Mail needs to be running and there is no sync mechanism.

In next week's tip video, I will take a look at running Apple Mail rules on iCloud.com so that they're active 24/7, and also trickle down to your iOS devices.

Focos is an iOS app optimised for dual-lens iPhones. These devices can create Portrait Mode photographs with a sharp subject and a blurry background. With the advent of iOS 11 and the High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF), Portrait Mode images store depth information data. Focos uses this data and allows you to manipulate the images after they've been taken.

You'll learn in this tutorial how to move the focus point and how to change the blurriness of the background, called the bokeh. You'll also discover how to change exactly how far back in the image the bokeh begins and ends using an unusual 3D view of your image. Allison will also show you how to use various filters to edit your images, again applying these effects to different areas of your image, by depth, alongside the bokeh.

Focos is an innovative app for iOS that works on your images in a truly unique way!

Apple Mail on macOS allows you to create multiple email signatures and format them with a range of fonts and colours. You can have multiple email signatures per account, and across different accounts.

It's also possible to copy the formatted email signatures across to iOS, although Mail on iOS supports a single email signature per account.

In this short tip video, I demonstrate how to create your email signature in Mail on macOS and transfer across to your iPad using Universal Clipboard.

In Part 2 of our two-part series on macOS Server 5.4, Todd Olthoff takes a look at managing your devices using Profile Manager, the device management tool that is part of Server. As we accumulate Apple devices, it can become challenging to manage each one for the various users, whether in your household or organization.

In this episode we'll talk about some of the things to consider before deploying a device management system. We'll then walk you through the various things that need to be set up in the Server application, so you can take full advantage of the Profile Manager service. This includes enrolling all of your devices and pushing profiles to those, so their various settings can be customized to fit your needs.

This weekly tip takes a look at Apple's fantastic AirPods. Some quick and easy ways to check on your battery status, AirPod configuration, and how to quickly and effortlessly select your AirPods with your Apple TV.

OneNote is a note-taking application from Microsoft that can be used on Mac and iOS. You can type, write or draw with the free form feel of pen to paper. OneNote allows you to search and add clips from the web to better illustrate your ideas. Tags can be used to sort and order your notes so you can easily find them later. Collaborate with anyone, stay on the same page and in sync wherever you are!

OneNote is also adept at handwritten notes on iOS, allows you to highlight what's important and express ideas with colors or shapes. It's easy to pull up your content from anywhere, even if you're offline. You can start on your laptop then update notes directly on iPad.

In this week's show, we show you the basics of OneNote on both macOS and iOS. You learn how notebooks work and how to break them down into different sections to better organise your ideas.

If you've upgraded your iPad or are just about to, why not repurpose your older device into a full-featured Digital Photo Frame?

Make use of iCloud Photo Sharing and create a shared Photo Album, then display it on the iPad in Guided Access mode. Gift it to friends or family, or keep it on your desk or shelf for a continuously refreshing photo display. You can even collaborate with friends and family and share photos to display.

This short tip shows you how to configure and set up your Digital Photo Frame.

In this episode, we'll be taking a look at several utilities that can give your productivity a boost. Most of these applications aren't big enough to warrant their own show, so we've decided to combine them into one for people who are looking to make their work on their Mac a bit more efficient. We'll also show you some workflow examples using these utilities to make working on your Mac a little bit easier as well as more productive.

The full tutorial covers twelve of our favorite productivity utilities:

• nvALT
• PopClip
• Napkin
• Tapes
• Dropzone
• Moom
• Flux
• Vitamin-R
• Bumpr
• Shush
• Desktop Curtain
• Amphetamine

Whilst apps like Plex are great for syncing video to your iPhone or iPad for offline viewing, sometimes you just want to download a video from YouTube or Vimeo at a moment's notice. This happened to me last month just as I was about to board a plane.

The good news is that with a little setting up and some specific apps, it is entirely possible to download video content for offline use, directly to your iPad or iPhone.

This week I take a look at two stunning iOS Apps: Linea and Plotagraph+ Photo Animator

Linea is a simple but powerful sketching package for the iPad. There's no need to learn lots of controls or gestures; just fire it up and start sketching. I also show you Linea Link for the Mac, a companion app that gives you access to your iPad sketches on your Mac and export them in different formats or handoff to more complex apps.

Plotagraph+ Photo Animator is a unique application for the iPad and iPhone that allows you to animate static images. Create amazing effects and add life and dimension to your still photos. You can animate any image in seconds to produce some really spectacular results. Once animated, Plotagraph+ allows you to export your masterpiece in up to 8 different formats.

Although both apps are optimised for use with the Apple Pencil on the iPad, your can use both apps with touch only.

Following on from a look at setting up restrictions on iOS in last week's tip video, we turn our attention to the Mac. In a similar fashion, it's possible to setup restrictions on the Mac using Parental Controls inside System Preferences.

Parental Controls allow you to restrict access to apps, web browsing and much more. You can even set time periods as well as time limits of allowed usage.

With macOS High Sierra came updates to the Server app, now called macOS Server and available on the App Store for USD 19.99. We covered Server extensively in the past, but that was back on OS X Mavericks (10.9). We thought it was time for an update.

This version of Server is different from the previous ones in that Apple has chosen to move three server components to High Sierra itself and make them available to all users. For some, those components might have been the reason they wanted Server in the first place, so there is no longer a need for the macOS Server app when running High Sierra. We will cover each of these services in detail and take a look at a new way to access file shares on iOS devices, due to the removal of the iOS File Sharing service and webDAV sharing from macOS Server. To achieve this, we'll set up the VPN service and use Readdle's Documents app for iOS to access those file shares both locally and remotely.

iPads and iPhones are extremely popular with children, but as adults, we have a responsibility to protect them from accessing harmful or inappropriate material.

Apple acknowledges this fact, and provides a wide range of ways to tailor the iOS experience for children of all ages.

iOS 11 contains "Restrictions" that allow you as a parent or caregiver to enable or disable access to apps, services and content on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, as well as access to certain physical parts of the device such as the Camera.

In this weekly tip video, we explore the wide range of restrictions available to you.