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The number of home automation devices being released with HomeKit support is increasing but there are still lots of them that don't work natively with Apple's automation protocol. Help is at hand with Homebridge, a free open-source application that allows you to add non-supported devices to HomeKit.

This week, Don takes you through the installation and configuration of Homebridge on a Mac. He also reviews his home setup and shows you how Siri can control non-HomeKit devices.

In this second tip video covering some of the handy features of Apple Notes on the Mac, Don looks at using the various views and the Attachments Browser. You also get a few tips on organising and identifying important notes using custom images.

Apple Notes is a very capable app and as it's available on Mac as well as iOS, it can be the go-to app for your note-taking needs, and more.

This week, Don takes you through organising your notes, using emojis to make folders more identifiable, and creating a makeshift tagging system.

In this week's tip, Rosemary covers recent updates to the Shortcuts app. This includes the Set Wallpaper action, Home Screen Launchers, and getting the details of emails and messages which can prompt you to run a shortcut.

With the release of iOS 14, Apple included a utility application that has gone under the radar yet provides an amazing amount of functionality. Translate is easy to use and helps ensure that when you need to converse in another language, or translate spoken words, you can do so. In this video, Lee walks you through the functionality of this useful app. 

In this tip, Rosemary demonstrates how you can configure and use Intercom with HomePod and iOS devices to easily talk to your family members around the house, or when they're out and about.

This week, you learn how to create and edit a trailer in iMovie, as well as how to export your creations. Rosemary also shows you how to use the Movie feature to create you own project, including adding filters, titles, and sound effects.

In this tip, Rosemary shows you how to set up and use security cameras in iOS 14, with a focus on HomeKit Secure Video, as well as Activity Views and the new Facial Recognition feature. You also learn about the various types of notifications you can receive based on specific activity.

This week, Lee looks at how the new and improved Fitness application on iOS can help you with your day-to-day fitness goals. It has come a long way since it's inception as the Activity app and in this tip, you learn how to use the app to track historical fitness data, gamify your fitness regime, and identify areas that need improvement. Lee also shows you how to challenge friends to competitions.

In this tip show, Rosemary shows you the changes brought to the Home app on iOS 14. Automating your HomeKit-friendly devices has become a lot smoother, with more useful options to make your smart home, well, a lot smarter.

In this show, Rosemary demonstrates where to find automation in iOS 14, how to customize, and how to use it. From Siri Suggestions to Reminders, and of course the Shortcuts app, automation is everywhere, and this year it's better than ever.

Apple's watchOS has had some significant updates since our last overview video back in 2018. So we decided it was time to look at how Apple Watch and its operating system have evolved.

In this screencast, Lee starts by looking at what the two latest series watches (5 and 6) can offer you, as well as some of the core new features of watchOS 6 and 7. This includes a variety of new health and fitness options. While some of these new additions and apps rely on later series watches' hardware, there are lots of features that work on previous editions, including new Watch Faces and the redesigned Reminders app.

Following on from our recent first look at iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, in this tip show, Don covers a few minor tweaks and additions to some built-in apps.

With the release of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 comes lots of new features for both iPhone and iPad.

This week, Don takes a first look at some of the major and some not-so-major changes to iOS 14 and iPad OS 14. We will take a deeper dive into other features in future tip and full shows.

This week, Allison dives deep into screenshots and the Markup tools on iOS and iPadOS.

After going over the various ways to take screenshots on iOS devices, you learn how to annotate them together using the various tools Markup has available. Allison also shows you how to take screenshots of long-form content, like webpages or Keynote documents, and save them as PDFs.

A little-known feature of Safari on both macOS and iOS is the ability to browse in private. This allows you to keep your browsing history private as well as take advantage of some additional privacy features.

In this tip video, Don takes you through the standard usage of Private Browsing in Safari, on both the Mac and iPad, as well as pointing out issues to be aware of on iOS.

In this video, Lee will show you how to set up the new Trackpad and Mouse functionality on iPadOS 13.4 and above. This will allow you to be more productive with your iPad and help elevate it to the status of a conventional MacBook device. You learn how to connect your peripherals, configure the pointer to look and feel the way you want, as well as configure your mouse buttons to access iPadOS shortcuts.

We've previously seen the power and flexibility of shortcuts and automation on iOS. With NFC tags you can take your automation to the next level. NFC tags are small, discrete and inexpensive "stickers" that can be used as triggers for shortcuts in iOS. With an iPhone XS or newer, you can run a shortcut just by tapping it on an NFC tag.

Don takes you through the simple process of assigning an NFC tag to a shortcut with two real-life examples: Firstly, switching smart LED lights in your home on and off, and then opening the charge port on a Tesla Model 3, with a simple tap of the iPhone.

In this tip, Rosemary shows you how you can use the Find My app inside of Messages, and how you can send and receive notifications based on your location.

A huge missing part of iOS has been the support for capturing taps and gestures system-wide. This has resulted in the need for manual annotation and animation, greatly increasing the effort and time needed to produce iOS screencasts.

With the newly introduced support for Bluetooth pointing devices in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, we are now able to capture taps and gestures during recording. In this tip video, Don gives you some pointers (excuse the pun) on how you can optimise this new mechanism for use in your own screen recordings.