5 Mac tricks you’ll actually use everyday!

by

The Service Centre is a series that highlights the best Apple tips and tricks that you can start using right now! We want to help you get the most out of your Mac by showcasing some of the best features you might not know about.

In this episode of The Service Centre, we showcase 5 super simple and easy to use tricks that you can use every day that will boost productivity.

Let me know if you have any Mac tips and tricks you use (I’m always looking for easier and better ways to do things on the Mac) and let me know if you’re finding these videos useful!

The Best Features In macOS’ Preview App

by

In this series of Apple Tech Tip videos, we want to show you some of the best features you might be unaware of that Mac has to offer so you can get more out of your Mac.

In this episode we delve into the power of the macOS Preview App where you can edit photos, remove backgrounds, sign documents and so much more!

Apple TV’s Original Content Line Up To Rival Netflix

by

Move over Netflix and Stan – there’s some competition in town!

Over the course of 2018, Apple is said to be spending as much as $1 billion on original TV programming…that’s a lot of television! While it doesn’t quite compare to the $8 billion Netflix is spending in 2018 – it’s still a big step in the direction of Apple carving out a slice of our on-demand entertainment.

But what exactly does $1 billion get you? According to Mac World – 200 episodes at $5 million a piece is a reasonable per-episode price for high-end TV. However, it is unlikely that we’ll receive 10-20 shows with 10-20 episodes each, as the $1 billion has to cover more costs than per-episode production.

The majority of Apple TV’s content is likely to be in production during 2018 with suspected 2019 release dates. Currently Apple TV shows are accessed through Apple Music, which is not the typical user-friendly experience we’ve come to know and love from Apple. It is unclear at this stage whether or not Apple intend to release content through iTunes, the TV app, or via a new channel – but access is likely to be tied to Apple Music subscriptions (at least for the short-term).

 

Previously Aired (2017)

 

Planet of the Apps

Think Shark Tank but for app developers. A panel of celebrity judges (Jessica Alba, Will.i.am, Gary Vaynerchuck and Gwyneth Paltrow) are pitched by app developers who then advance to the next stage where they try to earn venture capital backing. The show has been largely criticised as being boring and made for Apple instead of for the viewer at home. (No second season has been announced).

Planet of the Apps

Carpool Karaoke: The Series

James Corden’s famous bit from The Late Late Show where he jumps into a car with celebrities and they delight in singing along to the radio together. The Carpool Karaoke series sees James Corden replaced (except for episode 1, 19 and the final episode) with different celebrities each episode.

Carpool Karaoke The Series

Exclusive Apple TV Content Under Development

Time Bandits

The time-traveling adventure comedy Time Bandits may be coming to small screens in the form of a TV series. Deadline reported that Apple is buying the right to make a TV show of the cult classic film with sources saying it will be co-produced by Paramount TV, Media Rights Capital and Anonymous Content.

Time Bandits is about a a young boy who gets caught up with a troupe of thieves as they hop across history to steal treasure while being pursued by the Supreme Being from whom they’ve stolen their time map.

Release date not yet announced.

See

Written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Dirty Pretty Things) and directed by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mocking Jay Parts 1 & 2), See is a futuristic drama and world-building series that is set in a different reality than our own.

Variety reports that Jason Momoa has been cast in the lead role as Baba Voss, a fearless warrior, leader and guardian.

Deadline reports that a full series order has been made by Apple, however the size of the series order is still unknown – but will most likely consist of 8 episodes.

Release date not yet announced.

Calls

An English-language remake of a French television series. Calls’ 10 episode arc for the first seasons consists of 10 ten-minute episodes. Each episode consists of a playback of an audio recording—an airplane black box, a voicemail, a 911 call—that depict some sort of tragedy. They all tie to together to tell the story of some sort of impending apocalypse.Release date not yet announced.

Sesame Workshop – Children’s Programming

Variety reports that Apple has struck a deal with Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organisation behind Sesame Street, to produce children’s TV shows for the streaming service.

Oprah

Apple announced on June 15th that they have agreed to a multi-year content deal with Oprah Winfrey. Scarce details released by Apple in their press release, with no details on the types of shows that will be produced. The release does say that, “Together, Winfrey and Apple will create original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.”

oprah winfrey

Hilde Lysiak Drama Series

10 episode straight-to-series run for a mystery drama inspired by the life of pre-teen journalist Hilde Lysiak.

The series will be about a young girl who moves from Brooklyn to a lakeside town, where she gets involved in uncovering a cold case that the community has concealed. Lysiak runs Orange Street News, which features her writing and local reporting in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. At the age of 9, Lysiak made headlines beyond her neighborhood when she broke news on a murder in her town.Release date not yet announced.

Shantaram

Based on the hit novel, Shantaraman is about an escaped convict from a maximum security Australian prison. On the run and cut off from friends and family, he disappears into the Bombay underground in India.According to Variety, the book was first to be developed as a film, with Johnny Depp having acquired the book rights and Warner Bros. producing with Joel Edgerton in the starring role. The plans were later scrapped and the rights auctioned off, with Anonymous Content and Paramount Television winning the rights to Shantaram and its sequel novel The Mountain Shadow.Apple has now won the rights to develop the series.Release date not yet announced.shantaram

Little Voices

10 episode season of a half-hour comedy/drama series with executive producers J.J. Abrams and Sara Barellies onboard.

Little Voices is a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York, which explores the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s.

Release date not yet announced.

Dickinson

A new comedy series about the early life of Emily Dickinson. A 19th century coming-of-age story – a comedic look into Dickinson’s world, exploring the constraints of society, gender and family from the perspective of a budding writer who doesn’t fit in to her own time through her imaginative point of view.

Release date not yet announced.

Foundation

Based on the original science fiction book trilogy by Isaac Asimov, Foundation sees a mathematician spend his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before a second great empire arises. Seldon’s calculations also show there is a way to limit this interregnum to just one thousand years. To ensure the more favourable outcome and reduce human misery during the intervening period, Seldon creates the Foundation – a group of talented artisans and engineers positioned at the twinned extreme ends of the galaxy – to preserve and expand on humanity’s collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for the accelerated resurgence of this new galactic empire.

Release date not yet announced.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Central Park

A 2 season, 26 episode animated music comedy series called Central Park. A family of caretakers, who live and work in Central Park, end up saving the sake and basically the world.

Release date not yet announced.

M. Night Shyamalan Thriller Series

Apple has ordered a straight-to-series run of a psychological thriller produced by M. Night Shyamalan with 10 half-hour episodes.

Release date not yet announced.

Swagger – based on Kevin Durant

A drama series based on the early life and career of NBA superstar Kevin Durant. The series will explore the wold of amateur athletic union basketball and the lives of the players, their families and coaches.

Kevin Durant

Release date not yet announced.

Amazing Stories

A revival of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. The original series ran for 2 seasons in the ’80s  and was nominated for a dozen Emmy Awards.

The series is rumoured to have a $5million per half hour episode.

amazing stories

Are You Sleeping

Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine has been tapped to adapt the true crime best-selling book Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber.

The story is about a hit podcast that reopens a long-closed murder case in the public eye and unravels the life of our protagonist, Josie, who had finally put her troubled old life behind her.

Are You Sleeping will see a 10 episode season.

Release date not yet announced.

Are You Sleeping Book Cover

Little America

Husband and wife team Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani will co-write and executive produce a half hour anthology series about immigrants called Little American.

The series will be based on true stories printed in Epic Magazine’s Little America series. The show will go beyond headline to look at the funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspiring and unexpected lives of immigrants in America.

the big sick the contenders

Reese Witherspoon & Jennifer Aniston Morning Show

This drama series is about making a morning TV news show, which draws heavily from the book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV by Brian Stelter.

latimes witherspoon aniston

No release date or title have been announced.

Ronald D. Moore Science Fiction Series

Best known for Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore is partnering with Apple to produce a TV series that explores what would happen if the global space race had never ended.

No release date or title have been announced.

Home

Billed as a documentary series, Home is rumoured to offer viewers a never before seen look inside the world’s most extraordinary homes and delves into the minds of the people who built them.

No release date has been announced.

Damien Chazelle Drama Series

Apple ordered a whole series without even shooting a pilot! Damien Chazelle is the acclaimed writer and director of La La Land and Whiplash.

No details are presently available about the series other than Chazelle will write and direct every episode.

Vital Signs

Produced by Dr. Dre, it is said to be a 6 episode miniseries where each episode focuses on a specific emotion while also being a semi-autobiographical tale of Dr. Dre’s life.

The series was originally conceived as a way to help promote Apple Music and boost subscriptions.

screen shot 2016 02 12 at 12 31 49 pm

Source: https://www.macworld.com/article/3245534/streaming-services/list-of-apple-tv-shows-and-series-news-actors-release-dates.html

5 Really Useful Mac Features You’re Not Using But Should Be

by

I love learning about cool new things you can do with Mac or in Mac OS! So I put together a video (and hoping to make more) of a couple of interesting things you can do with your Mac that you might not have known about and are incredibly useful.

macOS Mojave

by

macOS Mojave

I know… it’s just an operating system, calm down…. but I’m VERY excited about this! Okay lets just jump into this because there’s a tonne of cool new changes that I’m totally geeking out over.

 

Dark Mode

macOS Mojave Dark Mode

This is a feature that a lot of apps – correct me if I’m wrong but I think even the iPhone has something like this? – have had something similar to for a while now and it’s finally coming to macOS!

Dark Mode is a dramatic new look that helps you focus on your work. The subtle colours and fine points of your content take center screen as toolbars and menus recede into the background. Switch it on in System Preferences to create a beautiful, distraction-free working environment that’s easy on the eyes — in every way. Dark Mode works with built-in apps that come with your Mac, and third-party apps can adopt it, too.

 

Dynamic Desktop

Customize your work environment with a time-shifting desktop picture that changes to match the time of day wherever you are. Your Mac is now an even more beautiful place, all day long.

macOS Mojave Dynamic Desktop

Probably not a feature I’ll be using, mainly because my concern is that it would needlessly hinder overall performance of the computer in some way? I could be totally wrong – but either way it’s a cool new feature that I’m sure a lot of people will absolutely love nonetheless.

 

Stacks

Stacks clean up a cluttered desktop by automatically organizing your files into related sets. Group by kind to see images, documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, and more sort themselves. Arrange by date to group your work from certain time periods. And if you tag files with project-specific metadata, like client names, sorting by stacks becomes a powerful way to manage multiple jobs. Browse all the files in a stack by scrubbing over it with your cursor. Or click to expand the stack and open what you need.

 

Finder

With macOS Mojave, the Finder becomes even more of a doer. Now you can quickly locate a file by how it looks. Perform go-to actions on files without ever opening an app. And instantly see all of a file’s metadata.

 

Quick Look

macOS Mojave Quick Look

Work on a file without even opening it. Now a tap of your space bar provides more than just a quick look at a file. It gives you the power to perform actions specific to the kind of file you’re viewing — without ever launching an app. So you can mark up a PDF, rotate and crop an image, even trim audio and video. And when you’re ready, you can share right from Quick Look, too.

 

Screenshots

macOS Mojave Screenshot Options

Now this is something I’ve been waiting for for a long time. Windows has a similar function called the Snipping Tool, which I use all the time for cutting out images or chunks of text or whatever online or from files without needing to screenshot the whole desktop and open an image editor and crop it down.

With macOS Mojave, all the controls you need to grab any type of screenshot are one simple shortcut away. An easy-to-use menu includes new screen-recording tools and options like setting a start timer, showing the cursor, and even customizing where you’d like to save your screenshots. Take a screenshot and a thumbnail of it animates to the corner of the screen. Leave it there to automatically save it to the destination you’ve chosen. Or click it to mark it up and share it right away — without having to save a copy. It’s more than easy; it’s clutter-free.

 

Continuity Camera

Another incredible new addition to macOS. You can now use your iPhone to snap a picture or scan a document and have it automatically appear on your Mac! No more texting images and files to myself to pull out of Messenger on my Mac!!!

Just choose Insert a Photo from the Edit menu. You can take a photo of something on your desk and instantly see it in your Pages document. Or scan a receipt, and a straightened version is immediately available in the Finder as a PDF. Continuity Camera works in Mail, Notes, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and more. It’s another way iPhone and Mac just click.

macOS Mojave Continuity Camera

 

FaceTime

Nothing new here if you read the iOS12 updates – FaceTime now supports up to 32 people on a single call.

 

News Apps

Fours apps from the iPhone (iOS) are now full Mac versions. This includes News, Stocks, Home and Voice Memos.

macOS Mojave New Apps

 

Privacy and Security

Apple are “committed to keeping your information yours”. They’re giving your better control of your data, enhanced tracking prevention and automatic strong passwords.

The new automatic strong password suggestion in Safari may swing me back to Safari from Google Chrome – just because it’s easier to house all of my passwords in Keys across all devices? I’m not sure yet though. What browser do you use and why? I’d love to know.

New Apple Announcements: iOS 12

by

Okay – there’s a lot to get through, but it’s VERY exciting stuff! Strap in fellow Apple nerds – here’s some of the new and exciting stuff coming in iOS12.

iOS 12

2018 Apple Event Announcement iOS12

Performance

iOS has been enhanced for a faster and more responsive experience all round. Every day things like launching the camera or typing on the keyboard – they’re all faster than ever before. Even multi-tasking with several apps at once – the new iOS has been improved to support that, going all the way back to iPhone 5s and iPad Air!

  • Up to 70% faster swipe to Camera
  • Up to 50% faster keyboard display
  • Up to 2x faster app launch under heavy workload

 

FaceTime

Apple FaceTime 32 Person Group ChatFaceTime now supports video and audio with up to a whopping 32 people at once! I don’t even have that many friends! …no time for sad realisations! The tile of the person speaking will automatically get larger so you don’t lose track of the conversation.

The cool feature is the ability to start Group FaceTime right from a group chat in Messages!

 

Miimoji Memoji

Memoji Apple iOS 12

Nothing at all similar to a Nintendo Mii comes Apple’s brand new type of customizable Animoji for the iPhone X. Create a Memoji to match your personality and mood. You can make as many alter egos as you want to use in Messages and FaceTime.

 

Augment Reality

AR iOS 12

ARKit 2 makes it possible for developers to create more immersive augmented reality experiences — even ones that multiple people can experience simultaneously. AR objects can now be sent with Messages and Mail, then viewed in the real world. And a new AR app in iOS called Measure helps you measure real-world objects just by pointing your camera at them.

 

Screen Time

Screen Time on Apps iOS12

Okay, this feature is supposed to be for parents to give them a better understanding of how much time their kids spend using apps, visiting sites and using their devices overall. But I think EVERYONE is going to use this – even I’m going to use this.

I love this feature because it really gives you detailed insight into where and when you’re wasting time. I think this feature could really end up helping a lot of people cut down on phone use by helping them to identify their use triggers and times.

I also love that you can set time limits so you physically can’t use certain apps after you’ve spent a set amount of time on them.

Notifications

Just as Sceen Time gives you more insight into how you use your devices, notification management in iOS 12 gives you new ways to reduce interruptions throughout your day. You can now manage your notifications in real time from the Lock screen, sending notifications from a specific app to Notification Center or turning them off altogether. Siri also makes intelligent suggestions about your alerts based on how you interact with them. And message threads and notification topics are grouped together, so it’s easier to see what’s important at a glance.

Notifications iOS12

 

Do Not Disturb

DND iOS12

 

Photo Sharing

Photosharing iOS12

 

Privacy

privacy iOS12

Why backing up your devices is important and how to do it

by

Backing up your iOS devices… it’s not a very sexy topic to discuss in the wonderful realm of Apple and our devices, but it’s incredibly important!

Now there are a million different ways to back up all your different Apple devices including via iCloud, external HDD, 3rd party apps and services, Time Machine etc etc. Today we’re going to be focusing on backing up your iPhone / iPad / iPod and why you absolutely need a backup plan!

Why should I have a backup plan?

Lets face it… you’ve spent countless hours painstakingly handcrafting, lighting, adjusting and editing your numerous and very important selfies and food photos – if a disaster strikes, don’t let that all be for nothing! Backing up via the cloud or computer means you will not only have access to these precious memories forever, but protects you and your data in any number of circumstances. If you need to take your device in to be repaired, you accidentally drop your phone in water or maybe your laptop goes Sumsung Galaxy 7 on you and explodes. Whatever the case may be, you know that your data is safe, saved and recoverable in more than one location, which will allow you to safely restore all your device settings, information, contacts etc.

How to back up with iCloud

1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.

2. Go to Settings > [your name], and tap iCloud. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings, then scroll down and tap iCloud.

image of an iphone on how to back up with icloud

3. Tap iCloud Backup. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Backup. Make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on.

image of an iphone on how to back up with icloud step 3

4. Tap Back Up Now. Stay connected to your Wi-Fi network until the process completes.

You can check the progress and confirm the backup completed. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. Under Back Up Now, you’ll see the date and time of your last backup.

Automatically back up with iCloud Backup

To let iCloud automatically back up your device each day, here’s what you need to do:

  • Make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on in Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. If you’re using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup.
  • Connect your device to a power source.
  • Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.
  • Make sure that your device’s screen is locked.
  • Check that you have enough available space in iCloud for the backup. When you sign in to iCloud, you get 5GB of iCloud storage for free. If you need more iCloud storage, you can buy more from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac.

Plans for iCloud storage are pretty decently priced as well:
50GB: $1.49 p/month
200GB: $4.49 p/month
2TB: $14.99 p/month

 

How to back up with iTunes

1. Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer.
2. If a message asks for your device pass-code or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps.
3. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod when it appears in iTunes.
4. If you want to save Health and Activity data from your iOS device or Apple Watch, you need to encrypt your backup: Select the box called Encrypt [device] backup and create a memorable password. If you don’t need to save your Health and Activity data, you can make a backup that isn’t encrypted. Just click Back Up Now.

how to back up your ios device on itunes step 4

5. When the process ends, you can see if the backup finished successfully on the Summary screen in iTunes. Just look under Latest Backup to find the date and time.

how to back up your ios device on itunes step 5

 

Which one is better?

So which one is better? Backing up via iCloud or to iTunes using a computer or laptop? The reality is that it’s best to be using both.

Having a local back up on your computer is more efficient if you need to restore your device as it’s far less time consuming. When you restore via a local back up you have all your content synced to the device – this includes not only what was backed up, but all your music, podcasts and books. If you’ve backed up via iCloud, you’ll eventually need to sync your device to restore this stuff anyway.

However, if you’re away or for whatever reason don’t have access to your computer and you need to restore your device, then you’re always ready to go with an iCloud backup. This is especially useful if you travel a lot.

By using both ways of backing up your data, you’re always fully protected.

Apple Achieves Their Incredible 100% Renewable Energy Goal

by

Just in case you needed another reason to love Apple, CEO, Tim Cook, announced today on Twitter that Apple runs on 100% green energy.

Tim Cook Twitter announcing Apple running on 100% green energy

Powering Apple’s data centres, particularly the Reno Nevada data centre where Siri, iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Pay live, takes a lot of constant, uninterrupted power.

This led Apple to develop renewable energy sources, including their first solar farm named Fort Churchill, surrounding their various data centres.

As the large computing machines used in data centres require more power than any of Apple’s other facilities, their initial goal was to deliver 100% renewable energy by 2014 to their data centres.

Having reached that goal, they set their sites on the rest of their facilities, which now, after 6 years of effort, operate on 100% green power. From the Apple Park Headquarters, which has been outfitted with one of the largest solar roofs on the planet, to distribution centres and retail outlets all around the globe, all now run on 100% green power.

apple reno nevada solar renewable energy

In addition to making their own efforts to ensure a green future, Apple have also convinced 23 companies in its supply chain to get to 100% renewable energy for the portion of their business that deals with Apple products.

Apple says it now has 25 operational renewable energy projects in 11 countries with 15 more in construction. In 8 years Apple were able to grow their renewable energy efforts from 16% of facilities powered by renewable energy to 96% in 2016, to now 100% in 2018.

 

Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/40554151/how-apple-got-to-100-renewable-energy-the-right-way

Don’t Watch These iPad Videos If You Want To Keep Your Money

by

Apple released some quick new videos today showing off some of the fancy new things you can do with the iPad and iPad Pro.

The videos are aimed at showing iPad users how to get the maximum use out of their device, as well as potentially convincing those people who might be in the market for an iPad (to which I can definitely say that these worked on me – I must have an iPad Pro now!)

The features that impressed me the most include side-by-side multitasking and the drag and drop to anywhere from anywhere using the new dock feature.

However, the single greatest feature, in my opinion, is the ability to scan, sign and send documents!

I cannot tell you how much this feature would come in handy! I recently moved apartments – the number of times I had to scan a document with my phone, email it back to myself, then drive to Office Works to print it out to sign it and hand it back in, as well as scanning it again to keep a record for myself – absolutely insane. So for me personally, the scan > sign > send feature is life altering! Yes – LIFE ALTERING…that might be a little dramatic, but it would very handy.

Here’s the video:


 

There are a tonne of other videos that you can watch on Apple’s YouTube channel that show features like being able to turn your handwriting into text, drawing on and marking up screenshots and images and effortlessly sharing them, multitasking email… basically a whole heap of content that made me want an iPad Pro even more.

How To Remove Companies Who Can Access Your Facebook Profile

by

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has now listed all the companies that you have given access to your profile information in one convenient location.

You might have taken a Facebook quiz, or logged in via Facebook connect instead of creating a new account on a website, or even given a company access to your information for a giveaway – even if that was years ago, they still have access to your information today.

You might not think this is a big deal, but keep in mind Facebook knows A LOT about you. Facebook knows your relationship status, political leanings, interests and so much more! This information is still available to any company you’ve given permission to access your profile.

So lets do a profile purge shall we?

How to remove company access to your Facebook profile

Step 1. In your Facebook app, tap the stacked lines in the bottom right hand corner (did you know this is also called the hamburger icon? I didn’t! We’re learning stuff!)

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 1

 

Step 2. Scroll down to Settings & Privacy

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 2

 

Step 3. Select Account Settings

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 3

 

Step 4. Scroll down and tap on Apps

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 4

 

Step 5. Tap on Logged in with Facebook

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 5

 

Step 6. Voila! Here are all the companies you have given access to your profile. Start clearing this sucker out!

eStorm service centre facebook remove companies from your facebook page 6