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Apple has updated its support site this week with a new feature allowing users to initiate screen-sharing with AppleCare representatives when receiving Mac help via phone call. This option was previously reserved for reps only.
But enabling customers to initiate screen-sharing with a support tech will one, give them more control over their overall support experience, and two, help facilitate quicker, more accurate responses from Apple's support staff...
Alfred is one of my favorite launchers available for OS X. It serves as a replacement for Spotlight search, and can do a whole bunch of other cool things using custom workflows, searches, etc.
I could write a whole series about Alfred, because it's just that deep. But first things first. To start, I'm going to show you how to perform a custom search on iDownloadBlog. I've included a downloadable custom search in this post that you can import directly into Alfred. Have a look inside to see how it works.
Good news this afternoon for folks who have been dealing with teething issues in the just-released OS X Mavericks. Apple has posted updates today for the Mail and iBooks apps, which should resolve two of the more popular complaints.
The iBooks update brings the app to version 1.0.1 and includes bug fixes and stability improvements. And the Mail update promises to improve general stability and compatibility with Gmail, solving issues that made the client unreliable...
Early in the game, Apple took advantage of its Volume Purchase Program (VPP) to allow Business and Education customers to buy iPhone and iPad apps carried on the App Store in bulk and with volume discounts.
Following the free OS X Mavericks update earlier in the month, the company has now updated VPP rules to include Mac App Store apps as well. With this change, Education and Business customers can for the first time buy Mac apps in volume.
In addition, the company has introduced a new Managed Distribution feature for iOS 7 and Mavericks devices which lets businesses and education institutions easily assign and revoke app licenses to individual users. Previously, these high-value customers had to rely on redemption codes to distribute software in bulk...
With the iPhone 5s, Apple made security more convenient by allowing users to unlock their devices with a quick tap of its Touch ID Home button. It's kind of like having a password, without having to type it in every time.
And that's essentially what Knock, a new iOS app by Knock Software, does for the Mac. It allows you to keep your computer secure, without having to type in a password every time. Simply give your iPhone a knock to unlock...
The great thing about Apple's iOS 7 password syncing feature is that setting up iCloud Keychain on your device with an iCloud Security Code prevents anyone from gaining access to your saved web passwords by going to Settings > Safari > Passwords & AutoFill > Saved Passwords. That is, viewing any saved entry there requires providing an iCloud Security Code, or your account password on the Mac.
This added layer of protection ensures I can't steal your iPhone while it isn't auto-locked and use the Settings app to hijack your online identities in a snap. Not so much with Chrome for Mac. Currently, Google's browser does not require any form of authentication to reveal saved passwords. The Internet giant is aware of the problem and is aiming to deploy enhanced security for saved passwords in an upcoming Chrome build...
Concerned Mac users took to Twitter this morning following the revelation of a chunk of code found in OS X Mavericks update that resets idle time when the computer detects motion. They feared this meant the iSight camera is 'always watching.'
But as it turns out, that's not the case at all. The code, which was first spotted by Moshen Chen of Radiantlabs, actually makes clever use of the light sensor positioned to the left of the iSight camera by interpreting "changes in light" as movement...
Taking slow motion video with your shiny new iPhone 5s is a piece of cake, but editing that video using a desktop app like iMovie may not be as straightforward or obvious. Fortunately, Apple has made it relatively easy to work with the 120 FPS video that your iPhone 5s is capable of shooting.
Just like on the handheld hardware, you can dial back the speed of video to showcase the high quality slow motion footage. Inside we'll show you how incredibly easy the process is.
After releasing its native Cloud Player app on the iPhone back in June 2012 and adding the iPad edition eight months later, the king of online retailing, Amazon, today announced that the software is finally available to Mac owners as a free download.
Amazon Cloud Player lets you access your Amazon cloud storage for music and manage your music library, whether it's saved locally or in the cloud.
You can use the app to play your Amazon and iTunes music all from one place, even when offline, and even buy new tracks from the integrated Amazon MP3 Store with a catalog of more than 25 million songs...
Apple really means business with its next-generation Mac Pro desktop. The hype machine went into overdrive during last week's keynote as Tim Cook & Co. resorted to all sorts of superlatives in pitching the computer's advanced architecture.
We were already shown how the Mac Pro is made and drooled over Jony Ive's one-off Product(RED) Mac Pro variant designed for charity.
And now, Apple's attention turns to the people that keep feeding the beast: journalists. A few select writers have confirmed receiving Apple's cool posters which promote the machine. In Apple's own words, the ultimate desktop is "the computer we were insane to build"...
The prolific 3D designer Martin Hajek has envisioned a number of interesting Apple concepts, some more successful than the others. A few examples of his more recent work include the iPad mini 2 in gold and blue, the iWatch running Apple Maps and other iWatch renders.
Taking inspiration from a unique red Mac Pro designed by Jony Ive to be auctioned off for charity, Hajek has now produced a set of nice renditions attempting to imagine what Apple's upcoming pro desktop might look like in gold finish...
With Tuesday's free release of OS X Mavericks, Apple users can now opt to have their Safari web passwords securely synchronized across their iOS devices and Macs through the power of iCloud. The useful feature dubbed iCloud Keychain made a brief appearance in iOS 7 betas before being pulled from iOS 7 Gold Master, only to re-surface in iOS 7.0.3. What you probably don't know is that iCloud Keychain isn't necessarily supported everywhere so Apple's published a handy list detailing iCloud Keychain availability by country...