Take Control of iCloud, 9th Edition

Take Control of iCloud, 9th Edition
Author: Joe Kissell
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2024-01-16
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783252

Understand iCloud’s capabilities and limitations, and put its key features to good use! Version 9.1, updated January 16, 2024 Apple’s iCloud service is highly useful, but it can also create headaches for the average user. In this book, Joe Kissell explains how to avoid frustrations and make iCloud work for you across all your devices. iCloud is a simple idea in theory—access to all your data on all your devices, via the cloud—that can become complicated when put into practice. Instead of wasting time fiddling with iCloud, when there are many other more important things to be done with the information it contains, learn how to minimize frustrations with Take Control of iCloud, Ninth Edition! Whether you want a quick tip or a deep dive into the inner workings of iCloud, you’ll find what you need in this best-selling book by Apple expert Joe Kissell. Start by learning what iCloud can do, how it differs from other cloud services, and how best to set it up on Macs, iOS and iPadOS devices, Apple TVs, and Windows PCs. Then, move on to finding out the key aspects—and hidden gotchas—of iCloud’s core features, including: • iCloud+, Apple's paid membership tiers with extra features • Photo features: iCloud Photos, iCloud Photo Sharing, and iCloud Shared Photo Library • Family Sharing • iTunes Match and iCloud Music Library • iCloud Drive • Mail and Mail Drop • Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and Notes • iCloud Keychain • the iCloud website • Location features: Find My Device, Find My Item, Find My People, and the Find My app • Two-factor authentication • Activation lock • Backing up and recovering data • Managing your privacy and security (including the use of Advanced Data Protection) This edition not only covers the changes to iCloud in macOS 14 Sonoma, iOS 178, and iPadOS 17 but also includes details about recent changes to iCloud that span operating systems, including the iCloud website. It also continues to cover macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 12 Monterey, macOS 13 Ventura and iOS 16/iPadOS 16, but drops coverage of earlier operating system versions.

Take Control of Apple Mail, 6th Edition

Take Control of Apple Mail, 6th Edition
Author: Joe Kissell
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2024-01-18
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783244

Master Mail in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS! Version 6.1, updated January 18, 2024 Use Apple Mail more effectively! Email expert Joe Kissell explains what's new with Mail for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, and how to best set up your Gmail, iCloud, IMAP, and Exchange accounts. He then shows you how to take Mail to the next level with plugins and automation, manage your incoming email, customize Mail, and solve common problems. Take Control of Apple Mail is your complete guide to Apple's Mail app. In this book, Joe explains core concepts like special IMAP mailboxes and email archiving, reveals Mail's hidden interface elements and gestures, and helps with common tasks like addressing and adding attachments. He also offers tips on customizing Mail, including a nifty chapter on how simple plugins and special automation can dramatically improve the way you use Mail. Joe also covers finding that message in the haystack with Mail's natural-language search, improving the messages you send, how digital signatures and encryption work in Mail, and—perhaps most important—an award-winning strategy for avoiding email overload. You’ll quickly find the information that’s most important to you, including: • Key changes in Mail for Sonoma, Ventura, iOS 17/iPadOS 17, and iOS 16/iPadOS 16, such as automated handling of two-factor verification codes, link tracking protection, discontinuation of plugin support in favor of extensions, unsending messages, scheduling messages to send later, following up on messages awaiting replies, reminding yourself about important messages in your Inbox, getting notifications for missing attachments and recipients, and more • How to take advantage of the new Mail privacy features Mail Privacy Protection and Hide My Email • Getting through your email faster with gestures • Using advanced search techniques to find filed messages • Using third-party add-ons to significantly enhance how you use Mail • The whys and hows of sending attachments • Using markup features to embellish, and even sign, outgoing attachments • Defeating spam with the Junk Mail filter—and what to do if you need more firepower • Understanding special mailboxes like Sent, Drafts, and Junk • Using notifications to stay apprised of incoming messages • Taking charge of email organization with rules and other measures • Backing up and restoring email • Importing email from other apps, older versions of Mail, or another Mac • Deciding whether you should encrypt your email, along with detailed, real-world steps for signing and encrypting messages • Taking Mail to the next level with AppleScript and Automator • Key skills for using Mail in iOS and iPadOS, such as working with incoming and outgoing messages, using attachments, and configuring accounts • Fixing problems: receiving, sending, logging in, bad mailboxes, and more Although this book primarily covers Mail in Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, iOS 17/iPadOS 17, and iOS 16/iPadOS 16, the majority of it is also applicable to earlier versions.

Take Control of Apple TV, 4th Edition

Take Control of Apple TV, 4th Edition
Author: Josh Centers
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2023-12-13
Genre: House & Home
ISBN: 1990783449

Everything you need to know about the Apple TV! Version 4.0, updated December 13, 2023 Whether you're considering an Apple TV, already own one, or have a smart TV or streaming device that supports AirPlay and/or the Apple TV app, you can more fully enjoy Apple’s ecosystem with this ultimate guide by editor Josh Centers. You'll learn about the best TVs and sound equipment to buy, how to maximize your Apple TV's picture quality, get the most out of the Apple TV app, control your media with AirPlay, and so much more!n Josh walks you through cables, ports, and setup, and explains how to use gestures and spoken commands with the Siri Remote—yes, you can talk to your TV! He helps you navigate and customize the Home screen, plus describes getting-started settings such as inputting your Apple ID and enabling parental controls. You'll learn how to use the TV app (whether on the Apple TV box itself, on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad; or on a third-party smart TV), and how you can best view home movies and TV shows. The book also looks at using an Apple TV to listen to your music or Apple Music, download and play podcasts from the Podcasts app, and browse your photos. In Take Control of Apple TV you'll also read about: • What's new in tvOS 17 • Which Apple TV model to buy—or whether you should get different hardware instead • Getting the most out of your the Siri Remote (either version) • Alternatives to the Siri Remote • Using Control Center on an Apple TV • Using a game controller with Apple TV • Controlling Apple TV with Shortcuts • Using AirPlay to beam the display of your Mac or iPhone screen to your TV • Making Mac or iOS/iPadOS audio play through your TV’s speakers • Making and receiving FaceTime calls on an Apple TV • Using SharePlay to watch shows with friends in other places • Running Home Sharing to play media from a local computer • Using one or more HomePods as speakers for your Apple TV • Using an Apple Watch to control your Apple TV • What you can do with Conference Room Display mode • How to tell whether an iOS/iPadOS app includes a free copy of its Apple TV version • How to reset or restore an Apple TV—useful for troubleshooting or for handing your device to a new owner

Take Control of Apple Home Automation

Take Control of Apple Home Automation
Author: Josh Centers
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2023-02-22
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783082

Manage your smart home with Apple’s HomeKit platform Version 1.5, updated February 22, 2023 Thanks to Apple's HomeKit platform, you can easily configure smart home devices (such as light bulbs, outlets, thermostats, sensors, cameras, and door locks) from a variety of manufacturers to behave exactly as you need them to; integrate them with a hub such as a HomePod or Apple TV; and control them with an iOS/iPadOS device, a Mac, an Apple Watch, Siri commands, or automated programming. This book gives you all the information you need to get started. "Smart home" devices are everywhere these days—you can buy internet-connected light bulbs, thermostats, door locks, sensors, and dozens of other products. But these devices aren't very smart on their own. Apple's HomeKit platform offers a way to integrate, monitor, control, and automate smart home devices from a wide variety of manufacturers. Using the built-in Home app on a Mac or iOS/iPadOS device (perhaps along with third-party apps), you can connect to your various smart devices, see what they're up to, control them, and even get them to operate on a schedule or respond to changing conditions in your home automatically. Even with HomeKit, however, home automation can be a daunting prospect. That's why Josh Centers wrote Take Control of Apple Home Automation. The book walks you carefully through every step of the process, showing you how you can start with a basic system that costs less than $50 and work your way up to as much complexity as you want or need. And you don't have to be a computer geek to simplify and improve your life with HomeKit-compatible products. Even if you don't know a wire nut from a macadamia or which end of a screwdriver to stick in a socket (spoiler: neither!), Josh's thorough advice will enable you to work wonders in your home. In this book, you'll learn: • The most common home automation myths (and why you shouldn't worry about them) • How to choose HomeKit-compatible devices that meet your needs, and which products you might want to avoid • Exactly what HomeKit is, what it does, how it works, and what its limitations are • Why you need a hub (in the form of an Apple TV, HomePod, or iPad) and how to set it up • Important safety rules for working with electrical products, especially those that require wiring • How to install advanced accessories such as a smart switch, thermostat, or door/window sensor—including illustrated, step-by-step instructions • What Apple's Home app for Mac and iOS/iPadOS does—and how to configure homes, zones, rooms, accessories, services, and scenes • Tips for controlling your smart home using a Mac, iOS/iPadOS device, Apple Watch, HomePod, or Siri • Ways to automate your smart home using schedules, sensors, geofencing, and other tools (without making your house seem haunted) • The best ways to troubleshoot home automation problems This book was sponsored by Elgato (the original makers of the Eve line of HomeKit devices, which spun off into a separate company in 2018), so many of the examples feature Eve products, although nearly all the advice in the book is applicable to HomeKit products from any manufacturer. (You'll also read about working with Philips Hue bulbs, ecobee thermostats, and numerous other devices.) If you're an Apple user who's interested in joining the smart home revolution—or adding even more smarts to your existing setup—this book is the ideal guide.

Take Control of Apple Watch, 4th Edition

Take Control of Apple Watch, 4th Edition
Author: Jeff Carlson
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2023-12-13
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783414

Explore everything your Apple Watch can do in watchOS 10! Version 4.2, updated December 13, 2023 Get to know your Apple Watch and customize it to help you focus on what you care about most. Tech expert Jeff Carlson helps you understand the watch mindset, pick the watch model that’s right for you, set up and share its faces and their complications, get the notifications you want, take advantage of the health and fitness features, handle communications, and learn how the controls and core apps work.n The Apple Watch has become the world's best-selling watch, as well as the most popular wearable digital device. Since the device's introduction in 2015, Apple has developed numerous new watch product lines, vastly expanded the device's capabilities, and enabled developers to create entirely new apps and tools. The Apple Watch hides an enormous amount of technical complexity behind that unassuming touch screen, and with help from author Jeff Carlson, you'll unlock every last bit of its power. With watchOS 10, Apple dramatically changed some of the core watch interactions, which Jeff covers here. Take Control of Apple Watch covers all Apple Watch models through Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, as well as all the new features introduced in watchOS 10. Jeff walks you through getting to know the Apple Watch (including how to pick one out if you haven’t already), along with topics that teach you how to navigate among the watch’s screens with the physical controls, taps on the screen, and Siri. You’ll also find advice on customizing watch faces and sharing them with others; taking advantage of the electrocardiogram (ECG) capability and blood oxygen sensor, plus the temperature sensors introduced in the Series 8 and Ultra; getting the notifications you want; handling text and voice communications; using Apple’s core apps; and monitoring your heart rate, hearing, and monthly cycle to improve your overall health. A final chapter discusses taking care of your Apple Watch, including recharging, restarting, resetting, and restoring. Among the many topics covered in the book are: • Picking out and setting up your own Apple Watch—covers models up through Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 • How to adapt to the numerous changed gestures in watchOS 10 • Making watch face complications work for you • Using Control Center and Smart Stack • Understanding how the watch interacts with your iPhone (including how to control your watch with your iPhone) • Staying connected using a cellular-enabled Apple Watch model • Using Siri on your watch for a wide variety of tasks • Tracking your exercise, even when you leave your iPhone at home • Using your watch to monitor sleep data • Placing and receiving phone calls on the watch • Getting navigation directions (and using the redesigned Compass app, including waypoints and the Backtrack feature introduced in watchOS 9) • Using the Walkie-Talkie feature to chat with other Apple Watch owners • Sending default (and customized) text messages—and even sending money via Messages • Seeing email from only certain people • Adding calendar events and reminders • Loading your watch with photos and using them to create new watch faces • Doing workouts with Apple Fitness+ • Finding people, devices, and items • Controlling your home with HomeKit-compatible devices • Triggering the iPhone’s camera remotely using the watch • Paying at contactless terminals using Apple Pay • Putting tickets on your watch • Using health-related features such as the blood oxygen sensor and medication reminders, plus the ECG, Cycle Tracking, and Noise apps • Detecting falls and (with newer watch models) car crashes, and automatically calling for help • Controlling an Apple TV, or Music on a Mac with the Remote app • Unlocking a Mac (and authenticating certain actions) with your watch • Adding apps to the watch via your iPhone or the watch's built-in App Store • Resetting a messed-up Apple Watch and force-quitting an app

Take Control of Your Apple Account

Take Control of Your Apple Account
Author: Glenn Fleishman
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 117
Release: 2024-09-20
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783589

Prevent (or solve) problems with your Apple Account! Version 1.0, published September 20, 2024 The center of the Apple world is your Apple Account. This little identifier ties up your access to iCloud; to purchased and streaming music, TV, and movies; and to all your devices. While an Apple Account is essential, Apple has made it difficult to navigate the many features associated with it—and particularly to troubleshoot and resolve problems that crop up. This book answers dozens of questions and guides you through solutions. It also explains how to use security, recovery, and other features tied to your Apple Account. Everything Apple relies on your Apple Account. It’s a key that unlocks a long list of Apple products and services on any of numerous devices. iCloud uses an Apple Account, as does Apple Music; the App Store; the Music, TV, and Books apps; and more. An Apple Account protects your personal information, including email and iOS/iPadOS backups; helps you find a lost iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch; and can even unlock your Mac. So it goes without saying that if something goes wrong with your Apple Account, you could be in for a world of hurt. Unfortunately, things go wrong with Apple Accounts all the time. Fortunately, Glenn Fleishman, a veteran technology journalist and the author of Macworld’s “Mac 911” column, is ready to help with expert advice on how to manage your Apple Account—including how to prevent, solve, or work around most common problems! This book is fully up to date with all the changes released by Apple in 2024 connected to your Apple Account—including the change of name from Apple ID to Apple Account—as well as for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and other Apple products and services. In this book, Glenn answers questions like: • What all is my Apple Account used for? • How does my iCloud account relate to my Apple Account? • What’s two-factor authentication and how do I manage it—and not get locked out of my account? • Should I invest in hardware security keys to up the protection of my Apple Account account? • Are there other mechanisms I can use to ensure that I can recover an Apple Account in the event of a problem? (Spoiler: yes!) • What should I do if I have two or more Apple Accounts or iCloud accounts? • Will I lose access to all my Apple media purchases if I move to another country? • Can I share an Apple Account with someone else? • What does an Apple One subscription offer and how does it interact with Family Sharing and iCloud+ storage tiers? • Is there an explanation for how code-based and hardware-based second factors protect my account and how they differ from passkeys? (Yes!) • What exactly should I do if I think someone is hacking my Apple Account account? • How can I recover a forgotten Apple Account password? • What happens if I’m assaulted or drugged and someone gains access to my iPhone passcode and resets my Apple Account? (Sadly, a too real, if uncommon, problem.) • What steps should I take if Apple locks me out of my account? • If I lose access to an email address associated with my Apple Account, what can I do? • What Apple Account changes in recent versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS do I need to know about? • How can I use Family Sharing to share data and purchases within my family? • What types of subscriptions can I manage with my Apple Account, and how? • Which payment methods can I associate with my Apple Account, and how do I manage them? And that’s just the beginning. Glenn has packed a remarkable amount of concise problem-solving information into this comprehensive book. Read it before you encounter Apple Account problems to minimize your risk, and if you’ve already encountered a problem, read it to find the best path to a rapid solution.

Take Control of Securing Your Apple Devices

Take Control of Securing Your Apple Devices
Author: Glenn Fleishman
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2024-09-30
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783600

Keep your Mac, iPhone, and iPad safe! Version 1.0, published September 30, 2024 Secure your Mac, iPhone, or iPad against attacks from the internet, physical intrusion, and more with the greatest of ease. Glenn Fleishman guides you through protecting yourself from phishing, email, and other exploits, as well as network-based invasive behavior. Learn about built-in privacy settings, the Secure Enclave, FileVault, hardware encryption keys, sandboxing, privacy settings, Advanced Data Protection, Lockdown Mode, resetting your password when all hope seems lost, and much more.n The digital world is riddled with danger, even as Apple has done a fairly remarkable job at keeping our Macs, iPhones, and iPads safe. But the best security strategy is staying abreast of past risks and anticipating future ones. This book gives you all the insight and directions you need to ensure your Apple devices and their data are safe. You’ll learn about the enhanced Advanced Data Protection option for iCloud services, allowing you to keep all your private data inaccessible not just to thieves and unwarranted government intrusion, but even to Apple! Also get the rundown on Lockdown Mode to deter direct network and phishing attacks, passkeys and hardware secure keys for the highest level of security for Apple Account and website logins, and Mac-specific features such as encrypted startup volumes and FileVault’s login protection process. Security and privacy are tightly related, and this book helps you understand how macOS, iOS, and iPadOS have increasingly compartmentalized and protected your personal data, and how to allow only the apps you want to access specific folders, your contacts, and other information. Here’s what this book has to offer: • Master the privacy settings on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad • Calculate your level of risk and your tolerance for it • Use Apple’s Stolen Device Protection feature for iPhone that deflects thieves who extract your passcode through coercion or misdirection. • Learn why you’re asked to give permission for apps to access folders and personal data on your Mac • Moderate access to your audio, video, screen actions, and other hardware inputs and outputs • Get to know the increasing layers of system security deployed over the past few years • Prepare against a failure or error that might lock you out of your device • Share files and folders securely over a network and through cloud services • Upgrade your iCloud data protection to use end-to-end encryption • Control other low-level security options to reduce the risk of someone gaining physical access to your Mac—or override them to install system extensions • Understand FileVault encryption and protection for Mac, and avoid getting locked out • Investigate the security of a virtual private network (VPN) to see whether you should use one • Learn how the Secure Enclave in Macs with a T2 chip or M-series Apple silicon affords hardware-level protections • Dig into ransomware, the biggest potential threat to Mac users (though rare in practice) • Discover recent security and privacy technologies, such as Lockdown Mode and passkeys

Take Control of FaceTime and Messages, 3rd Edition

Take Control of FaceTime and Messages, 3rd Edition
Author: Glenn Fleishman
Publisher: alt concepts
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2024-10-15
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1990783619

Master Apple's video, audio, and text messaging tools! Version 3.0, updated October 15, 2024 Dig into FaceTime, Messages, and Phone from the basics through the most advanced and interesting features available, including screen sharing, group calls, and sending rich messages in Take Control of FaceTime and Messages. This comprehensive book will answer every question and reveal useful features you never knew existed.n FaceTime, Messages, and Phone form the core of video, texting, and calling tools for Apple devices. In this book, Glenn Fleishman lays out your options to best understand, use, and customize these apps. Start by mastering (or reviewing) the basics of each app, then move into group calls and texts, using rich media, maintaining your privacy, and adding whimsy to conversations. Covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. The book covers all three apps (and the many ways in which they interact) extensively, showing you: • What's new in the FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps (updated for macOS Sequoia 15.1, iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, watchOS 11.1, and tvOS 18.1) • How to master the basics of the FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps • Essential settings and preferences for these apps • Ways to share your screen (or let someone share theirs with you) in both FaceTime and Messages, and when to use which • How to have fun and get creative with Message Effects, Camera Effects, stickers, and hashtag images • How Apple secures live audio, video, and texting • Strategies and tools to identify and block unwanted phone calls and messages • How to use Apple Intelligence features in the Messages and Phone apps You’ll learn about FaceTime capabilities such as: • How to use FaceTime for audio or video calls with one person or a group of up to 32 people • Why you might want to use a FaceTime Link, and how it can extend FaceTime to Windows and Android users • How to work with audio input and output devices in FaceTime • How to use enhanced audio (Mic Mode) and video (Portrait Mode) effects in FaceTime calls on supported devices • How to place and receive FaceTime calls on an Apple TV using Continuity Camera • How to use SharePlay, which lets parties carry on a FaceTime conversation while enjoying synchronized video, audio, or screen sharing • How to use gestures to create animated video effects • How to replace your background in video calls Find out things you never knew about Messages, including: • Why some conversations in Messages use iMessage (blue bubbles for individuals, gray bubbles for businesses) while others use SMS/MMS/RCS (green bubbles), and the differences between them • All about advanced Messages features, such as nested replies and person-to-person Apple Pay • Why Messages isn’t just for text, but also for audio messages, Digital Touch effects, animations, and more • How to use satellite features to send and receive iMessages when you're outside cellular range • Simple ways to create events and reminders from Messages conversations • What to do when group chats get out of control—managing notifications, using mentions, and understanding the differences between SMS and MMS chats • How to view transcriptions of audio messages Make better use of the Phone app: • How to make phone calls (including emergency calls) from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch • What the “verified” label on incoming phone calls means • How to use Live Voicemail to see the message a caller is leaving in real time