This Quick Tip is about the spankin’-new Portrait Mode available on the iPhone 7 Plus, which’ll let you take shots with a special depth effect applied. However, if you don’t want your iPhone to keep an additional version of each of your Portrait Mode images, come read this article and find out how to turn that off!
Jeff Butts
Jeff Butts is a seasoned tech aficionado with deep roots in the Apple ecosystem. Starting his journey in the early 1980s by experimenting with hardware, Jeff has always been driven by a desire to get the most out of technological devices. His expertise has led him to prominent roles in the industry, including a nearly three-year stint as a Reporter at AppAdvice and an impressive seven-year tenure as a Writer/Editor for Byrnes Publishing, LLC. More recently, Jeff lent his technical insights to HotHardware, Inc. as a Tech Editor. With his extensive experience and unwavering commitment to providing valuable content, Jeff continues to be a trusted voice for readers keen on Apple products and innovations.
Articles by Jeff Butts
macOS Sierra: How to Use Photos Memories
Within macOS Sierra’s Photos program, there’s a new “Memories” feature that’ll automatically group pictures together to remind you of important events in your life. In this Quick Tip, we’ll go over a few great tricks on how to use it!
macOS Sierra: Rearrange Your Menu Bar
If you’ve ever been frustrated by not being able to customize the Mac’s menu bar, then this Quick Tip‘s for you. Under macOS Sierra, that funny little omnipresent bar just got a lot more adjustable, and this article will tell you how!
iOS 10: Turning Off "Raise to Wake"
This Quick Tip is about the new “Raise to Wake” feature in iOS 10. It’s cool, it’s handy, but if you get notifications that are private or potentially offensive, it’s less than ideal. Wanna turn it off? We’ll tell you how.
iOS 10: Replying to Messages from the Lock Screen
With iOS 10, you can reply to texts right from your lock screen! Neat! Unless…well, unless you really don’t want just anyone to be able to do that, in which case you’ll want to turn this feature off. We’ll tell you both how to do this and how not to in today’s Quick Tip.
Mail: Using "Erase Deleted Items"
Mail on the Mac is the subject of this Quick Tip, and we’re gonna discuss how to clear out your trash in moments. We’ll also go over setting how long each of your accounts waits before it empties its own trash automatically. That’ll help you keep stuff neat and clean, too!
Checking Your 'Find My Mac' Status (And Why You Might Need To!)
Today’s Quick Tip is about Find My Mac. Are you sure your settings are working properly? Have you checked to be certain you can locate your device if it’s stolen or lost? We’ll tell you how!
OS X: Renaming a Bluetooth Device
If one of your Bluetooth devices (like your Magic Keyboard or Magic Mouse) has a name you aren’t fond of, how do you change it? The process is a bit different than it used to be, so we’re going to go over what you’ll do!
OS X: Installing the Older Version of Microsoft Office
On September 22, Microsoft is going stop allowing its Office 365 customers to download Office 2011. So if you need to take advantage of the time remaining to grab the older version of the popular Office suite, there’s no better time to do so! We’ll show you how.
OS X Preview: Clipping Out Backgrounds Using Instant Alpha
Today’s Quick Tip is on how to use Preview’s Instant Alpha tool, so if you’ve got an image on a colored background, for example, you can clip that baby right out. Better-looking graphics with no Photoshop required? We love it.
iOS Messages: Leaving Group Conversations
This Quick Tip is all about a neat Messages feature called “Leave this Conversation.” Melissa Holt will discuss why you need it and why you might not be able to use it in certain situations.
iOS: Fixing Color Casts on Pictures
If you’ve never played around with the photo-editing tools available on your iPad or iPhone, you really should check them out! Today’s Quick Tip is about one of the easiest to use. We’ll talk about how you can adjust for unwanted color cast in your images, so you can make ’em cooler and warmer as needed!
Apple Watch: Using Notification Privacy
This Quick Tip is on a nifty feature of the Apple Watch, one that’ll prevent a wrist raise from showing off any recent notifications you’ve gotten. You might spend all day texting with your friends, but no one else needs to know what those conversations are about, do they?
OS X: Using Safari’s "Open Page With" Feature
Safari’s got a hidden way to help you open a page in another browser you’ve got installed, and this feature’s really helpful for troubleshooting problems with websites. Melissa Holt’s gonna give us the rundown in today’s Quick Tip.
Dropbox: Using Selective Sync
If you use Dropbox, you’ve gotta check out how to use its Selective Sync feature. This’ll let you remove folders from your Mac (but not from Dropbox’s website or any other computers you’re syncing with!), so if you need to reclaim some space on one of your machines, you can easily do so. We’ll give you the scoop in this Quick Tip.
OS X: Create a One-Click Dock Folder Alias
Today’s Quick Tip is about folder shortcuts you can put in the Dock; there’s actually a really easy way to use them to open folders in Finder. Since Melissa Holt’s not the biggest fan of navigating through files from the Dock, she’s going to walk us through this productivity trick!
OS X: Safari's "Close Other Tabs" Option
Today’s Quick Tip is about a nifty little Safari feature that’ll let you close all of the tabs you’re not using, in a flash! We’ve got the details on the different ways you can do this, so come read all about it.
OS X: Using Policy Banner for Custom Login Screens
You may know that you can set a custom message on your Mac’s lock screen, so if someone takes or finds your computer, he’ll have an easy way to contact you. However, if you’re an administrator who manages multiple machines, there’s also a built-in way to add a policy banner, which’ll make anyone who logs in click an “Accept” button to continue.
iFrogz Coda Forte Bluetooth Headphones: Comfortable and High Quality Sound
I had been looking for a quite a while for a decent Bluetooth headset that wouldn’t cost me my next paycheck. Corded headphones are nice, as I pointed out with the Zagg iFrogz Audio Coda Headphones, but nothing beats going cord-free while still having great sound and a microphone. Then Zagg sent me a pair…
iFrogz Audio Coda Headphones: Quality Sound at a Value Price
The iFrogz Audio Coda Headphones with Mic has finally fit the bill for an inexpensive set of over-the-ear headphones that also includes a microphone. The headphones, made by Zagg under their iFrogz label, offer excellent sound at a most excellent price, and everything about the headset works just the way you'd expect it to. The…
Braven 625s: a BT Speaker for Braving the Outdoors
If you need a speaker for your iOS device that can handle the outdoors, the Braven 625s Outdoor Portable Bluetooth Speaker might be the solution. The 625s is a Bluetooth speaker for the outdoor enthusiast, whether for camping trips, tailgating or just backyard barbecues. The speaker is just over 6 inches long, 2.5 inches high,…
Gemini: The Duplicate Finder Helps Reduce Clutter
MacPaw’s Gemini: The Duplicate Finder has a very clean, user-friendly interface. When you first launch the app, you’re greeted by a simple window inviting you to drag the folder you want to search onto the window.As soon as you drag a folder onto the Gemini window, Gemini goes to work finding duplicate files. As it…
OS X Lion: Arranging Icons by Date Like a Pro
In OS X Lion, this behavior has changed dramatically. Now, your icons are sort by date, but then organize into groups. You’ll have a group of files last modified (or created, added, or last opened, depending on which option you choose) today, a group of yesterday’s files, a group of the previous seven days’ files,…
Apple Configurator Released for Managing iOS Devices
Preparing iOS Devices with Apple ConfiguratorThe new app makes it easy for the mass configuration and deployment of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches in schools, businesses, and institutions. Apple Configurator updates 30 devices at a time to the latest version of iOS, configures settings to maintain a standard configuration, and installs apps and data onto…