Apple

New Philips Hue smart bulbs: fall asleep more peacefully with every shade of white light

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 6, 2017

Philips today announced it's expanded its Hue smart lighting system with a brand new light bulb that focuses on the many shades of white light in order to encourage better sleep cycles, helping you wake up naturally and drift to sleep more peacefully.

The Apple HomeKit-compatible, color-tunable bulb gives you 800 lumens at the color temperature range from 2,200k to 6,500k, imitating the changing daily brightness and color temperature of natural sunlight. Philips also offers a starter kit that includes a pair of white ambiance bulbs, a bridge and a dimmer switch.

Apple-FBI fight over iPhone backdoor, security and encryption gets a comedic treatment

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2016

Apple's fight against the United States government and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over circumventing encryption and creating a backdoor into the iPhone has received a comedic treatment in a segment on the Last Week Tonight show by comedian Jon Oliver.

In a mock Apple ad, Oliver rehashes controversial quotes from government officials, as well as Donald Trump’s iPhone boycott idea and District Attorney Daniel Conley’s Kennedy quote of sending a man to the moon.

Apple acknowledges App Store algorithm problems

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2016

Responding to a number of complaints on social media that disgruntled third-party developers posted over the weekend, Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, has acknowledged that Apple is aware of the problem and has confirmed that the company is working on a solution.

“Shouldn't happen,” reads Schiller's response on Twitter to complaints by Mozilla’s Lisa Brester and Screenshot++ developer Wesley Dyson.

”We'll look into it. Thank you,” Schiller wrote.

Glimpse what’s coming up next on your schedule with 3D Touch in Calendar

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

In addition to Reminders, Calendar is another stock app on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad designed to help users organize their daily, weekly and yearly schedule and be more productive.

With 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, it's easier to accomplish things with fewer taps.

Though not as developed as in other stock apps, Calendar's 3D Touch implementation permits you to add an event from the Home screen and glimpse what's coming up next on your schedule. In this tutorial, you will learn about 3D Touch shortcuts and Peek and Pop gestures in iOS 9's Calendar app on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

How to customize the profile picture of user accounts on your Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 4, 2024

This tutorial shows you how to change the profile picture of admin, standard, or shared user accounts on your Mac.

1Password for iOS gains tighter Spotlight and Voice Over integration and other improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Developer AgileBits today pushed an update to its password-management utility in the App Store, 1Password.

A forty-fourth update since 1Password for iOS was first published in November of 2012, the latest version 6.3 edition brings improved integration with iOS 9's much-enhanced Spotlight Search, as well as expanded Voice Over support, the ability to pick a vault at launch, better syncing, updated translations, bug fixes and other perks.

This clever adapter makes your MacBook or iPad charger sit flush against the wall

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2016

An company called One Design has announced an interesting space-saving solution that lets your MacBook or iPad charger sit flush against the wall. Dubbed the Blockhead, the inexpensive device is basically a side-facing plug for Apple's USB chargers.

It reduces between your charger and the wall socket from 3.8 inches to just 1.2 inches. By turning your MacBook's adapter sideways, Blockhead also brings its center of mass closer to the wall, resulting in a smaller footprint and less tension on the plug.

“At just over an inch thick, blockhead is the thinnest possible way to charge your MacBook,” says One Design. “Even the standard cord needs twice as much room.”

‘Other’ storage on your Mac explained

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 14, 2019

We recently detailed 'Other' iOS storage, an iTunes-reported section that includes various caches and temporary system files on you iPhone, iPod touch and iPad along with device settings, high-quality Siri and Voice Over voices and other system data.

Not many people know that macOS reports 'Other' storage on Macs, too. Unlike its iOS counterpart, the 'Other' Mac storage basically counts non-media files that don't fit any other category.

In addition, files not recognized by Spotlight are classed as 'Other' storage, among other items. Here's precisely what files are included in the 'Other' storage section, how to see its size, why your disk's used space appears as 'Other' storage when you startup up your Mac in Safe Mode and more.

Apple enables redownloads of audiobooks, iOS 9.3 to add audiobooks to Automatic Downloads

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 10, 2016

Thanks to the iTunes in the Cloud feature, Apple customers have long been able to re-download apps, movies, TV shows, music, music videos, books, ring tones and tones purchased on the iTunes Store, but not audiobooks. As per Apple's newly updated support document, customers in 22 countries total can now re-download any audiobook.

This feature is available in iBooks on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 8.4 or later, or in iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC. In addition, previously downloaded audiobooks, free or paid, are now listed in your Purchased history in iBooks and iTunes.

How to disable keyboard auto-correct on iPhone or iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 1, 2025

Learn how to disable keyboard autocorrection on your iPhone or iPad, so your device no longer automatically changes words while you type.

Explore the world of Wikipedia in revamped iOS app with 3D Touch, Explore feed and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 10, 2016

Wikipedia, the world's encyclopedia and knowledge base, has never had an attractive mobile app. That changes today with a major refresh to its app in the App Store permitting users to explore Wikipedia content tailored to their interests via an all-new Explore feed.

Navigations has been greatly simplified with new touch-friendly ways to discover content, 3D Touch support, Spotlight Search integration and more.

The app was obviously designed with the theme of exploration in mind.

“We all know Wikipedia as a quick fact-checking resource, but the new app is designed to make exploring knowledge on Wikipedia a journey,” developers told me via email.

Apple seeds tvOS 9.2 beta 6 to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 10, 2016

Thursday, Apple seeded a sixth beta of the upcoming tvOS 9.2 software update for the fourth-generation Apple TV to the members of the Apple Developer Program.

The new tvOS 9.2 beta 6 has a build number of “13Y5232a” and is available as an over-the-air update on new Apple TVs with a configuration profile installed.

The restore image to side-load tvOS betas on Apple TVs via iTunes or Apple Configurator using a USB-C to USB-A cable is on Apple's portal for developers.