Apple & Mac Musings

Good news for AppleTV users! According to Buzzfeed , Amazon will be releasing a Prime Video app for the AppleTV this summer. The app will allow anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription to watch the library of free videos Amazon includes with a Prime subscription, as well as any videos you've purchased through Amazon's streaming service. Since Apple released the 4th generation AppleTV, the only way to watch Amazon Prime videos on an AppleTV was to use the Amazon Video app on an iPhone or iPad and then AirPlay the stream to the AppleTV. While this method works, it's cumbersome, and can overload weak WiFi networks, resulting in low-quality video. Until now, Apple and Amazon had been choosing to compete in the streaming video market rather than cooperate. Now it looks like that's changing, at least a little, and that's good news for consumers. You can read the full Buzzfeed story here:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/apple-will-announce-amazon-prime...

Is the sidebar in each of your Mac's Finder windows the same as it was when you started up your Mac for the first time? If so, you're missing out on a quick and easy way to save time when you're working with files and folders. First, you'll want to clear any items you never use out of the Sidebar. Click on the blue smiley face in the Dock, then click on the Finder menu (next to the black apple at the top left of the screen), and choose Preferences. Click on the Sidebar tab. If you never use features like iCloud Drive or AirDrop, uncheck the box next to the feature's name. If you frequently find yourself accessing an option that's unchecked, check its box and it'll be added to your sidebar. When you're finished, click the red dot to close the Finder Preferences window and save your changes. If you don't like the order items are displayed in the Favorites section of the Sidebar, you can drag any item up or down the list until it's where you...

Imagine you're in an accident, and are unconscious. Could your iPhone save your life? It might if you've entered your Medical ID in the Health app. A first responder who finds your iPhone can access your Medical ID and learn any medical conditions or allergies you may have, any medications you are taking, and what family members, loved ones, or friends they need to contact. If you've entered the appropriate information, it can be accessed even if your iPhone is locked and protected by TouchID and/or a passcode. To enter your Medical ID on your iPhone, open the Health app and tap on Medical ID at the bottom. Tap the Edit button and enter whatever information you want a first responder to have access to. It's important to remember that anything you enter here can be viewed by anyone in possession of your iPhone, even when it's locked. You need to weigh any privacy concerns you may have against the usefulness of the information in an emergency situation. When you ...

Do you use Apple's Mail program? Are you in the habit of double-clicking email attachments to open them? Every time you open an email attachment by double-clicking on it in Mail, your Mac saves a copy of the attachment in a hidden folder. If you make changes to an attachment you opened by double-clicking, when you save it, you're saving the file to that hidden folder. The original attachment never gets changed. Here's how to find that hidden folder, clean it out, and potentially save a lot of space on your Mac's startup drive and also save yourself headaches finding the changes you made to that email attachment. The best way to open email attachments is to get out of the habit of double-clicking them. Instead, drag them to your Desktop, then open them. If you don't want to clutter up your Desktop, or if you use Mail in full screen mode, right-click (or hold down the control key and click) on the attachment, then choose Save Attachment… from the pop-up menu. T...

Do auto-playing videos on web pages cause you to constantly mute browser tabs? Are you forced to keep your Mac's volume muted because of them? Here's how to turn off auto-play videos in each of the three most popular Mac browsers. How to Stop Auto-play web videos in Safari:  Quit Safari. Open Terminal (you can find it on your hard drive in Applications/Utilities). Enter the following commands. Each is a single line regardless of how they break on screen. If you aren't comfortable using Terminal, it's usually easier to copy and paste them: defaults write com.apple.Safari "com.apple.Safari.ContentPageGroupIdentifier.WebKit2RequiresUserGestureForMediaPlayback" -bool true defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitVideoPlaybackRequiresUserGesture -bool true Quit Terminal. Open Safari and test with a website that has auto-playing videos. You can still play videos by clicking on them. To reverse the changes, quit Safari, open Terminal, and enter this comm...

Apple is no longer charging for either the iOS or Mac versions of it's iWork suite, Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Since 2013, Apple has given away copies of the Mac apps to anyone who bought a new Mac, and the iOS versions to anyone who bought a new iPhone or iPad. Everyone else had to buy them. Now you can download them for free, even if you haven't bought a new Mac or iOS device recently. You can download the apps individually from the Mac App Store on your Mac, or the App Store on your iOS device. Anyone with an iCloud account can access web-based versions of the iWork suite at iCloud.com , which is handy if you need to collaborate with someone who doesn't have a Mac or iOS device.

Apple says the Mac Pro isn't dead! The good news is that Apple has admitted the cylindrical design was a mistake (not unlike the Power Mac G4 Cube from the beginning of this century). The bad news is that the redesigned Mac Pro won't be available until sometime next year. For users whose needs are met by an iMac, there are rumors of a Xeon-powered "Pro" iMac coming sooner. Mashable has details on Apple's Mac Pro talk here: http://mashable.com/2017/04/04/apple-reveals-mac-pro-imac-plans/#8ncqZejtePq5