macOS

Podcast

Save Your Data...Safely – Mac Geek Gab 769

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · 2 Comments

macOS Catalina will bring with it a lot of changes, one of which is that a lotof older apps and related hardware won’t work. Dave and John answer your questions and share your tips about how to navigate these waters ahead of time… to avoid surprises. In addition, your archives are only as good as the method and medium you use. It’s time to talk about data safety and reliability. Plus, your other questions need answers, and that’s what happens here on Mac Geek Gab: everyone learns at least five new things!

News

Apple Tests Biometric Login for iCloud.com

Andrew Orr ·

Apple is testing biometric login for iCloud.com. If you’re a beta tester for iOS 13, iPadOS, or macOS Catalina, you can go to beta.icloud.com and login with Face ID/Touch ID. Web Login So far, iPhone and iPad users haven’t been able to access iCloud web apps. If you navigated to the website you couldn’t use…

Cool Stuff Found

Prepare for 64-Bit Mac Apps With Go64

Andrew Orr ·

Go64 is a free piece of software that checks your Mac for 32-bit apps, which won’t work after macOS Mojave. Although you can do this manually with System Report, Go64 goes further. It takes an inventory of the apps on your Mac and see which ones are still 32-bit. Then, it helps you visit the developer’s website or search the web for update/upgrade information. It then keeps track of upgrade costs so you can add 64-bit apps to your budget. It’s made by St. Clair Software, makers of other great Mac apps like App Tamer, Default Folder X, Jettison, and HistoryHound. Best of all, Go64 is completely free. Download: Go64

Link

Apple Catalyst Team Explains How it Works

Andrew Orr ·

Ars Technica spoke with members of the Apple Catalyst team to find out how it works and how it will affect the Mac ecosystem.

Apple seeks to funnel some of its success with the iOS App Store over to macOS using Catalyst. We’ll go over how developers use what Apple has built step-by-step, as well as what challenges they faced. And we’ll share Apple’s answers to our questions about how the company plans to maintain a high standard of quality for Mac apps as an influx of mobile-derived apps hits the platform, what Apple’s long-term plans for cross-platform apps across the entire ecosystem look like, and more.

Link

Using macOS Catalina Hands Free to Design a Logo

Andrew Orr ·

It’s a short video, but developer Camera Cundiff tweeted a video in which he used macOS Catalina Hands Free to design a simple logo.

video: time-lapse screencast, dictating commands to XD via macOS voice control, demonstrating the use of Number and Grid targeting to create overlapping shapes and type.

Hands Free is such a powerful feature, and combined with Siri makes the Mac feel like a Star Trek computer.

Link

News+: How to Stay Safe and Secure Online

Andrew Orr ·

In the latest issue of Mac Format magazine, Adam Banks writes a guide on how to stay safe online. This is a PDF version and on page 66.

Using a Mac makes you safer than average when going online. That’s partly because of Apple’s efforts to secure the operating system; partly because the Mac App Store gives you somewhere to get most of your third-party software safely. It’s also partly because bad actors – in the security industry sense, not the Hollyoaks sense – tend to be less interested in targeting macOS. But that doesn’t mean either you or your Mac can’t get fooled. Know your way around the common risks and basic protections to keep yourself out of harm’s way.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

Link

What Finder Sync on macOS Catalina Looks Like

Andrew Orr ·

In macOS Catalina, you won’t sync your iDevices in iTunes. Instead, you’ll have Finder sync. Stephen Hackett gives us an idea of what it will look like and how it works.

When you plug in an iPod to a Mac running Catalina, the device appears in the Finder sidebar,and clicking it reveals a wide range of syncing options, organized in a much nicer fashion that what is found in iTunes 12…

As you would imagine, each section in this interface surfaces content across various apps on the system. For example, Finder sees the local files I have in the new Music app…

Critically, most of the UI is pretty much the same.

Podcast

Whispering Sweet Nothings at The A-Lady – Mac Geek Gab Podcast 766

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

Some folks with Catalina on the brain want to know how to prepare. Some folks want to prepare to reinstall Mojave. Joe has advice for future-proofing your home, and the A-Lady wants you to whisper sweet nothings at her. It’s that kind of week here and John and Dave are your stalwart guides. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!