When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad in 2010,
it was seen of a more ‘lean back’ rather than a ‘lean
forward’ device like the Mac is – in fact Jobs took to
an armchair during his presentation to explain how
it was more “intimate than a laptop”. A lot has
changed since then.
Today’s iPads are so capable and so powerful
that you almost don’t need a notebook at all. Not
only can you surf the web, edit photos and catch up
on your favourite TV shows, you can do way more
than Steve Jobs ever imagined. On p20, you’ll
discover some of the cool uses you can put your iPad to – from being
super-productive on the go, using features like multitasking and a Smart
Keyboard, to creating amazing artworks with an Apple Pencil. You’ll also
discover some of the best apps to do those things with too.
Another thing that’s well worth exploring is Apple’s HomeKit and on p62,
you can do exactly that. Our 8-page guide is packed with awesome add-ons
and accessories that’ll turn any home into a smart home and we even show
you how to get started. Once you’ve finished reading, using a boring old light
switch just won’t feel the same.
But before you throw out the old in favour of the new, take a look at our
guide to bringing back your legacy Mac (p70). In it, you’ll find some great
ways to breathe new life into your machine. Enjoy the issue, and don’t forget
print subscribers now get free access to all our digital editions – see p34.

Meet the team
Jo Membery
Operations Editor
When she’s not working on
MacFormat, Jo likes to hang
out at her local Apple Store
and pretend that she’s a
Genius – the word ‘pretend’
doing the heavy lifting here.

Paul Blachford
Art Editor
Paul’s discovered a dogclicker app for Apple Watch
that’s rubbish for training
his pooch, but brilliant at
getting his kids to come
running for their tea.

Ian Osborne
Contributor

ROB MEAD-GREEN
EDITOR
editor@macformat.com

Ian’s iPad knowledge is
so complete, he can’t help
but shout out ‘Slide Over!’
whenever he asks friends
to make more room on
his sofa at home.

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MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 3

Issue 403
May 2024
macformat.com

6

NEW MACBOOK AIR
M3 update and more in store

APPLE CORE
6 RUMOUR & NEWS
The latest updates from Cupertino and beyond

9 APPS & GAMES
Our top picks of the month for Mac and iOS

10 CRAVE
The hot new gear we’re lusting after

12 OPINION
We celebrate the audiovisual nerds at Apple

13 FACTS & FIGURES
The M3 MacBook Air in numbers

14 LETTERS
Have your say on all things Apple related

20

85 must-try

iPad tricks
Best apps + coolest features

SUBSCRIBE
TODAY!

16

MACFORMAT INVESTIGATES
Apple vs Spotify: the battle
between the world’s largest
music services has escalated

4 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

& SAVE UP
TO 21%
TURN TO PAGE 34

Issue 403 CONTENTS

APPLE CHOICE

44 Game with Apple Arcade

62

APPLE SKILLS
38 EASILY SHARE YOUR DOCS
Distribute your documents securely

40 CREATE AN INVENTORY
Keep track of your worldly goods on Mac

42 SORT YOUR BLUETOOTH KIT
Manage and troubleshoot all your devices

CREATE
YOUR
DREAM
SMART
HOME

Make your semi smarter
or your flat future-proof
with Siri and the best
smart home tech

78
Synology
BeeStation
HARDWARE
78 Synology BeeStation
80 LaCie Rugged Mini SSD
81 1More Penta Driver P50
82 TP-Link Archer Air R5/E5
84 Logitech MX Brio
85 Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K)

44 GAME WITH APPLE ARCADE
Discover how to set yourself up and get playing

SOFTWARE

46 REDISCOVER PODCASTS
Get your podcasts in order with Overcast

48 MAKE YOUR iPAD SMARTER
Do fun things with AI using ChatGPT

50 TRACK YOUR SLEEP
Check the quality of your shut-eye time

52 SET MULTIPLE TIMERS
Trigger concurrent timers for multitasking

54 SOLID-STATE SOUND
The new silicon-based audio tech explained

GENIUS TIPS
56

Howard Oakley solves all
your Mac hardware, software
and iOS and iPadOS issues

70
Keep your

old Mac
running
PART TWO

Get that Mac out of
the attic and fire it up
or you’ll never know
what it’s capable of!

76

BACK
ISSUES
Head here if you’ve
missed an issue

86
Group test: Email apps
86 Group test: Email apps
92 Sonic Dream Team
94 Calm: Sleep & Meditation
95 Rainbow Weather
96 App round-up: Six of the best
apps for text and speech

98 STORE GUIDE
Get help with picking accessories
and apps to go with your Apple kit

105 NEXT MONTH
What’s coming in MF404 on 30 April

106 ONE MORE THING…
Reflecting on how magical AirTags are

Image credits: Apple Inc, Tactile Games Ltd, Nanoleaf, Synology Inc

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 5

THE LATEST NEWS AND RUMOURS

HOT TOPIC!

Apple updates
MacBook Air with M3 chip
Plenty of other products expected this spring

pple tends to launch fresh
products in the spring, and
with a new MacBook Air
already making an appearance this
year, the company hasn’t let us down.
Alongside that good news, there’s even
more that could be on the way.
Over the past few months, speculation
mounted that Apple was going to update
its MacBook Air line with M3 chips for
better performance. That was expected
to happen in March, and sure enough, a
new M3 MacBook Air was revealed in the
first week of the month. Apple says the
new laptop’s chip is up to 60% faster than
the M1 and 13 times quicker than the best
Intel MacBook Air. That’s possibly a little

A

6 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

bit of an unfair comparison, but the
improvement over the M1 is certainly
notable. Apple didn’t say what kind of
upgrade you can expect over the M2,
but we’ll be reviewing the new MacBook
Air next issue – so stay tuned!

The new 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 chip starts
at £1,099, while the 15-inch starts at £1,299.

Aside from the M3 chip, the new
MacBook Air can support up to two
external displays (as long as the lid is
closed), while it also has Wi-Fi 6E for
download speeds up to twice that of the
M2 version. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch
MacBook Air models got the update, so
their upgrade cycles should no longer be
out of step with each other.
Apple also made the point of saying
that the M3 chip makes the MacBook Air
the “world’s best consumer laptop for AI”,
which the company states is thanks to the
chip’s “faster and more efficient 16-core
Neural Engine, along with accelerators
in the CPU and GPU to boost on-device
machine learning.”

Apple’s “next
big thing” in
the works
pple is allegedly devising
products that could be its
“next big thing” after the
Vision Pro. Those devices include
a smart ring, a set of affordable
smartglasses, and even a pair of
AirPods enhanced with cameras
and advanced sensors.
The news was broken by
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman
in his Power On newsletter. The
smartglasses would supposedly offer
a lower-cost, more comfortable
alternative to the Vision Pro, with
the ability to overlay digital elements
onto the real world.
The smart ring, meanwhile,
will be a health and fitness device
that can measure your activities in
a more streamlined form than an
Apple Watch. Apple patents have also
revealed other potential uses for the
device, such as controlling your Mac
and playing Vision Pro games.
The AirPods, meanwhile, could
use low-resolution cameras and
high-tech sensors to feed info about
the world to you, perhaps to alert you
of danger or adjust audio based on
your surroundings.

A

Apple Car hits the brakes
Apple has reportedly cancelled Project
Titan, its long-running attempt to build
a self-driving electric car. Bloomberg’s
Mark Gurman reported that the decision
was taken in late February and came as
a surprise to the almost 2,000 Apple
employees then working on it. Apple’s
self-driving car project has allegedly

Apple claims that working on spreadsheets in Excel is
now up to 35% faster than the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air.

More on the way
While a new MacBook Air is the big news,
at the time of going to press there were
a lot of other Apple products expected
to imminently make an appearance.
For instance, the iPad Pro is widely
rumoured to get an OLED display any
day now, while the iPad Air could get a
new 12.9-inch size. Plus, we’ve also heard
whispers that we will soon see new versions
of the iPad’s Magic Keyboard and Apple
Pencil accessories.
The Mac mini also remains a solid
possibility for changes this spring. It’s now
the only Mac that hasn’t made the jump to
the M3 series, and it seems unlikely that will
remain the case for long. However, it’s not
guaranteed to be imminently updated –

Image credit: Apple Inc

struggled over the years, with multiple
changes of strategy and an apparent
lack of clear direction. The company has
reportedly spent $10 billion over the course
of a decade but never came close to
launching a finished product. Apple will
now refocus its efforts on generative
artificial intelligence (AI), Gurman says.

we had to wait three years between its
previous updates (2020 to 2023), so Apple
might decide to hold off for now.
And let’s not forget the iPhone. While
new releases usually fall in September,
Apple has taken to launching fresh colours
in the spring. That could be the case again
this year. Apple updated its iPhone 15 cases
and Apple Watch bands with new colours in
March, so might new shades for the iPhone
itself be around the corner?
If you’re awaiting a host of other
products, however, we’d suggest you don’t
get your hopes up. Both the MacBook Pro
and the iMac, for example, are unlikely to
see any changes, as the latest versions only
launched in October 2023. We probably
won’t see any new models until autumn
2024 at the earliest.
The Mac Studio and Mac Pro could be
upgraded this year, but not until later. We
might see the former at Apple’s Worldwide
Developers Conference (WWDC) in June,
with the latter arriving later in 2024. Given
their longer upgrade cycles, it’s safer to be
a bit more conservative with these devices.
Still, there’s plenty left on the cards for
spring 2024. With the MacBook Air getting
a solid upgrade and big changes rumoured
for the iPad range, those devices alone
could make this a season to remember.

Apple is apparently experimenting with the
idea of adding cameras and new sensors
to future versions of the AirPods.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 7

APPLE
NEWS
ROUNDUP

The new Apple Sports app is
designed to give you scores
and stats in seconds.

NOT-SOFINEWOVEN
iPHONE CASE
FACES CRITICISM
> Apple’s iPhone 15
FineWoven case has
come in for fierce
disapproval since
launching last year. Wall
Street Journal reporter
Joanna Stern, for
instance, likened her
months-old FineWoven
case to a “rotten banana”
on X (formerly Twitter),
saying it had suffered
“Peeling edges, scratches
and browning” and that it
looked like a “biomedical
concern”. It’s early days,
but it looks like a serious
miss from Apple.

HOMEPOD
WITH BUILT-IN
DISPLAY

Apple launches new Sports app

Designed for quickly staying up to date with your top teams
pple has launched a brand-new free
app for tracking sports scores and
updates. Called Apple Sports, the
app is designed to display your favourite
teams’ latest scores, stats and more in a
straightforward, easy-to-navigate interface.
In an interview with Fast Company, Apple’s
senior vice president of Internet Software and
Services Eddy Cue said the premise was simple:
“It’s getting you in, giving you what you need,
and doing it really quickly.” He added: “We’re
not trying to have you spend 30 minutes on
the app. You can spend five seconds to go look
at the score, or you might spend 30 seconds,

A

or you might spend three minutes going playby-play because it’s the end of the game.”
You can follow individual teams or entire
leagues and the app will show you current,
past and upcoming games, league tables,
goalscorers and betting odds. The choice is
a little limited at the moment – the only English
football division available is the Premier
League, for example – and there’s no support
for Live Activities or the Dynamic Island.
Hopefully that will be updated soon.
Still, if you need a superfast way to stay
up to date with your favourite teams, it
could be worth a shot.

How sturdy is the Vision Pro?

SECRET PROJECT
STILL YEARS AWAY

Drop tests and hairline fractures for the spatial computing headset

> Apple is rumoured to be
working on a HomePod
with a built-in display.
Yet the project won’t
launch before 2025,
says Bloomberg’s Mark
Gurman, whose Power On
newsletter claims that
Apple has started early
work on the product but
may choose not to go
ahead with it. Gurman
also says that Apple is
mulling a HomePod/
FaceTime/Apple TV
mash-up, as well as an
iPad-like smart display
that can magnetically
attach to a wall.

iven how much
glass it contains,
you’d think the
Vision Pro headset would be
rather fragile and prone to
breakages. That notion has
been called into question by
a destructive series of drop
tests, but there’s still some
cause for concern.
YouTuber Sam Kohl put his
Vision Pro through a painful
slate of drop tests, but it was
only after the eighth fall – from
the top of Kohl’s ceiling – that
the headset’s front glass finally
cracked. Even then, the glass
never shattered. In fact, the
device still worked without

8 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

G

it thanks to having additional
layers underneath the front
panel. As well as the drop
tests, Kohl repeatedly banged
it against a wall, all with only
minor scuffs to show for it.

The Vision Pro proved resilient in a set of
drop tests, but some are complaining
about unexpected cracks appearing.

It suggests that the Vision Pro
is a lot more durable than you
would imagine.
That said, it’s not all good
news. A handful of Vision Pro
owners have claimed their
device has developed a
noticeable crack along the
front glass, despite never
being dropped or fumbled.
This fracture manifests as a
vertical line in the middle of
the headset where the glass’s
curve is most pronounced,
perhaps indicating some sort
of stress break at its weakest
point. The problem doesn’t
appear to be widespread,
but it is still concerning.

Image credits: Apple Inc, AppleTrack/iupdate

Apps & games APPLE CORE
APP OF THE MONTH

Media
Picks

What you should
be playing and
reading this month

[A L BU M]

[M AC A PP]

Topaz Gigapixel AI 7 $99 (about £95)

Sharpen your shots and banish blur for good
Want to enlarge a photo but
can’t do it without the image
becoming a blurry mess? You
might need Topaz Gigapixel AI 7.
As the name suggests, it uses artificial
intelligence (AI) to scale up your pictures while
keeping the quality and sharpness intact,
making it brilliant for all kinds of projects.
The latest version brings improvements to
denoise tools and blur-removal consistency,
ensuring you’ll get better results with fewer

issues and artefacts. The AI engine has been
updated to make it much faster in use, while
the interface has also had a tune up to make
it easier to work through and apply changes
to your images.
Whether you’re looking to print your
pictures out or sharpen them up for use on
the web, the latest version of Gigapixel
AI should lend a helping hand. With up to
600% upscaling, it may be able to fix even
your most forlorn photos.

Dark Matter
Pearl Jam
£8.99

Pearl Jam’s latest
opus is “a lot heavier”
than you’d expect, says
guitarist Mike McCready,
and comes from a band
“playing as if their very
lives depended on it.”

[AU DIOB O OK ]

The Cure for Burnout
Emily Ballesteros
£7.99

[iO S A PP]

Globetrotter
FREE (IAPs)

Apple’s Photos app
generates videos
of photo memories,
but it might leave you
wanting more. If that sounds
familiar, try Globetrotter. It
shows your images grouped
at locations you’ve visited,
plots routes with photos
you’ve taken along the way,
summarises your travel stats
for perusal, and more.
Why you need it: Relive your
special travel memories.
Image credits:Topaz Labs, Monkeywrench Inc/
Republic Records/UMO Recordings Inc, Blink
Publishing, Shihab Mehboob, Capcom Co Ltd, Yaza
Games sp zoo, Crowd Network/Greenpeace UK

[iOS GAME]

Devil May Cry:
Peak of Combat
FREE (IAPs)

This game brings
the Devil May Cry
experience to your
iPhone. With a strong focus
on building a fluid, intense
combat experience, you’ll find
hard-hitting combos, classic
characters and challenging
bosses, all brought together
in a gorgeous gothic world
that fans will really enjoy.
Why you need it: Classic
combat on the go.

[M AC GA M E]

We all work too hard, and
doing so is terrible for our
health. If you want to end
the overwork, this book
offers strategies to find
a healthier balance.

Inkulinati
£21.99

Inspired by medieval
manuscripts,
Inkulinati lets you
draw an army of weird and
wonderful creatures and set
them loose on your enemies.
Level up their abilities, unlock
new beasts or, like a Monty
Python scene, break the
fourth wall and intervene
in the battle directly with
your illustrator’s hands.
Why you need it: It’s medieval
madness brought to life.

[PODCAST]

Oceans: Life
Under Water
Despite covering most
of the Earth’s surface,
we know little about the
world’s oceans. This
podcast lifts the veil on
the watery deep and
its teeming wonders.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 9

APPLE CORE Hot new kit

THE GEAR WE’RE LUSTING AFTER

BenQ PD3225U
Designer Monitor
> £1,099.99 > From benq.eu
> Created with Mac users in mind,
this 31.5-inch Thunderbolt display
could be your next must-buy upgrade.
Its 4K (3840x2160) IPS panel is
factory calibrated for colour accuracy,
where it meets 98% of P3 and 99% of
Rec.709 colour spaces, and has Pantone
and Pantone Skin Tone Validation,
making ideal for photo and video work.
Rounding out BenQ’s offer are
macOS-ready versions of the company’s

10 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Display Pilot 2 software. Plus, it also
comes with Hotkey Puck G2, an external
controller that gives you quick access to
your most-used commands and settings.
The PD322U also has built-in HDR10
and DisplayHDR 400 support as well as a
height- and tilt-adjustable stand that can
pivot up to 90º. It’s also equipped with
two Thunderbolt 3 ports (one with 85W
power delivery), two HDMI 2.0 ports, one
DisplayPort 1.4, and a built-in USB hub.

The PD3225U boasts a height- and tilt-adjustable stand.

Image credit: BenQ

Hot new kit APPLE CORE

Lexon Lantern
> €129.90 (about £130) > From lexon-design.com
> Winner of an iF Design Award, the
Lexon Lantern combines an indoor/
outdoor light with a Qi wireless charger
– perfect for boosting your iPhone’s
battery at home or in the garden.
Available in a Dark Red, Dark Blue, Dark

Green, Black or White synthetic leather
(ABS) covering, the Lantern is waterproof
to IPX4 and comes with a built-in battery
that can light up your life for up to eight
hours at a time. Plus, its 200 lumen LED
array can show seven different colours

as well as Cool White and Warm White
and has a brightness dimmer too.
The lamp itself can be charged via
USB-C (although you’ll need to add your
own power supply). It also has integrated
touch controls, making it a doddle to use.

Philips Sleep
Headphones

Belkin 2-in-1
Charging Dock

Soundcore
Motion Boom 2

> £284.99 > From kokoon.io

> £109.99 > From belkin.com/uk

> £119.99 > From uk.soundcore.com

> Normally the last thing you’d think of
when trying to get to sleep is putting a
pair of headphones on your head, but the
Philips Sleep Headphones are different.
They’ve been specially designed to aid
restful sleep, thanks to an ultra-slim in-ear
design with combines passive noise
isolation with built-in Biosensors that help
mask external sounds – like a snoring
partner! To help you make the most the
headphones, Philips has partnered with
sleep app specialists Kokoon with a
one-year Premium subscription included.

> Once you’ve wrapped the Sleep
Headphones around your bonce, you
may be wondering what to do with your
phone. Luckily, Belkin has the answer. This
BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charging
Dock is compact, and stylish, enough to sit
on your bedside table and has room for
both a MagSafe-equipped iPhone and
your Apple Watch. Available in Black or
Sand, it enables you to angle your iPhone
up to 70-degrees,while using StandBy. It
also has a non-slip base and is made from
60% post-consumer recycled materials.

> Perfect for parties at home or in the
garden, the Boom 2 teams a blistering
80W of sound output with a waterproof
design (to IPX7) that even floats! Adding
even more joy to the party atmos are
multi-coloured lights, which pulse in time
to the music and give you seven different
effects to choose from, while the Boom 2’s
integrated handle, built-in Bluetooth and
on-device controls make it easy to carry
around and use. Its built-in battery is
long-lasting too, offering up to 24 hours of
frenetic foxtrotting between recharges.

Image credits: Lexon, Kokoon Technology Ltd, Belkin, Fantasia Trading LLC

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 11

APPLE CORE Opinion

MATT BOLTON…

LOVES APPLE’S COMMITMENT TO
PUSHING AUDIOVISUAL FORMATS,
EVEN IF THE HARDWARE DOESN’T
ALWAYS REFLECT IT
n top of being an oft-insufferable Apple
nerd, I am also a huge audiovisual nerd.
I could regale you in agonising depth
about the differences between the types of OLED
TV screen, or what exactly makes Dolby Atmos
different from surround sound. So one of the
things I quietly appreciate about Apple is that
it seems to be full of AV nerds too.
Apple TV has long been a device for ‘enthusiasts’.
You can buy streaming devices with many of the same
features for less. But not ALL of the same features. You
don’t get as high streaming quality for purchased movies,
Apple Vision Pro’s cinema mode now offers genuinely unique ways
or future-proofed HDMI format switching for better 24fps
to watch movies at home.
movie support. Most people don’t care about those things,
and Apple TV 4K is still a good product for them, but it’s a
– let alone after that. I thought I might never see
particularly good product because of those extras to me.
that movie anything close to the way its director
And then there’s spatial audio on AirPods. My goodness
intended, but clearly the Vision Pro team has
did it sound like a gimmick at the time, but it’s now one of my
people who feel that even if the tech in these
most-liked features on
movies is at a dead end, there was value in
AirPods Pro, because I’m
the endeavour of the art.
a movie lover, and it works
Of course, sometimes the AV enthusiasm
best with Dolby Atmos
hits against hardware. The Apple Music team,
movies. I’ve tried attempts
clearly, is into delivering the highest quality
at spatial audio from others,
audio with hi-res streaming. But the desire
and on those it actually is a
for this doesn’t seem to be replicated by the
gimmick. Apple nailed it
AirPods team, which hasn’t supported any
better than anyone else, and
kind of higher quality streaming over
gave more people a window into the potential of object-based
Bluetooth, even though it’s possible.
audio without needing to spend huge amounts of money on a
This AV tech may not be for everyone, but
home cinema system. Another example on these lines is support
it’s a reminder that people at Apple definitely
for Dolby Vision HDR on the screens of Apple devices, again
care about the things they work on. I recently
giving people a way to see alarmingly
attended a TV demo session where the
premium image quality without spending
TV product leads not only hadn’t seen
vast sums on an elite TV.
Oppenheimer, they barely seemed to have
And most recently, we have Vision Pro
heard of it. Whatever you think of Apple’s
bringing in support for both 3D and high
approach to tech, I’ve no doubt that this stuff
frame-rate movies. I love both Avatar movies,
is developed by people who love it like I do.
but never seen either of them outside the
cinema, as they’re made for a particular
ABOUT MATT BOLTON
presentation that isn’t possible at home.
Matt is Managing Editor at
There are movies such as Gemini Man that
TechRadar.com, and previously worked
were designed to be trailblazers pushing the
on T3, MacLife and MacFormat. He’s
technology of films forward, but were barely
been charting Apple’s ups and downs
The Apple TV 4K includes some niche
able to be seen in their intended 3D, HFR,
since his student days, but still hopes
options that only a few AV nerds care
HDR format even when they were in cinemas
to hear “one more thing”.
about, but we really care about them.

O

One of the things
I appreciate about
Apple is that it seems
to be full of AV nerds

12 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credits: Apple Inc/Warner Bros Entertainment Inc /Legendary

Facts & figures APPLE CORE

THE M3 MACBOOK AIR IN
Discover the key stats behind Apple’s incredible new notebook

18 hours

> Maximum battery life of the
MacBook Air when watching
streaming video, that’s three
hours longer than when
wirelessly surfing the web.

6K

> Maximum display
resolution of the MacBook
Air when connected to a
compatible external display.
It’ll also support a second
external display at 5K when
its lid is closed.

13x
faster

> Speed increase of the
M3 MacBook Air over
its Intel Core i7-based
predecessor. The new
model is also 1.6x faster
than the M1 MacBook Air.

24GB

> Maximum amount of
memory that can be fitted
to the MacBook Air at an
additional cost of £200£400. Entry level 13-inch
and 15-inch models both
come with 8GB as standard,
while the stock top-tier
version has 16GB.

Image credit: Apple Inc

8

Full
review
next
issue!

> Number of CPU cores
inside the M3 chip in the
new MacBook Air.

40Gbps

> Maximum data throughput
of the MacBook Air’s two
Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports.

Wi-Fi 6E

> Team the M3 MacBook Air
with a compatible router and
you’ll get 2x faster wireless
throughput than with the
Wi-Fi 6 chip found in the M2.

39%
> Percentage of Mac
buyers who choose a
MacBook Air. Only the
MacBook Pro is more
popular, with 51% of
sales. The iMac, Mac mini,
Pro Studio and Mac Pro
make up the remaining
10%, according to
Consumer Intelligence
Research Partners.

79
> Number of keys on the
MacBook Air’s keyboard,
which includes 12 full-height
function keys and four
inverted ‘T’ arrow keys.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 13

CONTACTS Get in touch

Contact us

Have your say on all things Apple!
LETTER OF THE MONTH!
WHAT RUBBISH!

Email your queries
and your questions to
letters@macformat.com

you want a tilt- and height-adjustable stand,
that will set you back £1,899, so £400 extra.
That is a bit extreme. No wonder Apple
is now the first three trillion dollar company.

How dare you dismiss the 2013 ’trashcan’
Mac Pro as ‘a rare modern-Apple flop’
(‘40 years of Mac’ in #MF400).
The Mac Pro is the most futuristic,
interesting, well designed and well built
Mac ever. Designed in California and built in
the good ol’ US of A too. No glue, no tape,
no fragile connectors and best of all, no
’system on a chip’ nonsense. It has been the most reliable Mac I’ve ever
owned (of many). I take it apart every six months to clean and service
the heatsink, CPU and video cards. Everything unscrews and goes back
together again without breaking. I have upgraded the processor, blade
SSD and RAM. It runs faultlessly on Ventura with no problem and I love it.
This shiny black lump of gorgeousness attracts more interest than
anything else in my office and plays high resolution music all day, every day
without fault. It will be with me forever – which is more than can be said for
my M1 iMac. That piece of junk has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky.

by JA S O N VAU G H A N

by R I C H A R D E L L I S M AC A L L U M

by S T E V E S A N F O R D

ROB SAYS…
There’s no doubt that the ‘trashcan’ Mac Pro (2013) is/was an incredible
piece of engineering, but it was also one of Apple’s least successful
attempts to replace its predecessor – the Mac Pro tower.
With the company struggling to meaningfully upgrade it, in 2017
both Apple’s (at the time) VP for Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller and
its software engineering VP, Craig Federighi, remarked on its relative
failure (and criticism from customers) at a press event.
At the event, Federighi admitted that Apple had “designed ourselves
into a bit of a thermal corner”, something Schiller then reiterated adding
“It restricted our ability to upgrade it. And for that, we’re sorry to
disappoint customers who wanted that, and we’ve asked the team to
go and re-architect and design something great for… those Mac Pro
customers who want more expandability, more upgradability.”
The result was the Apple went back to basics and came up with
the reimagined Mac Pro it introduced in 2019 – a design that still
exists today with Apple silicon M2 Ultra chips onboard.

ROB SAYS…
While cropping images before taking a
screenshot isn’t possible on iPhone or iPad,
you can do so on a Mac. To do that, press
Shift+Cmd+4 on your keyboard. With the
pointer now showing as a crosshair, click and
drag with your mouse or trackpad over the
area you want to screenshot then release.
The screenshot will then appear on your
desktop ready for renaming and editing.

ROB SAYS…
We hear you! Apple does indeed charge a
premium for add-ons and accessories and
some of those prices are eye-watering, but
at least you have the option of spending your
money elsewhere. No, it’s the price of Mac
memory and storage upgrades we break out
the smelling salts for. You have no choice but
to pay Apple’s prices when you buy as you
can’t upgrade either after purchase.

X MARKS THE SPOT
When viewing a Twitter/X screen I’d like to be
able to crop a section before a screenshot!
Could Apple implement this please?

SORRY, HOW MUCH?
Now don’t get me wrong, Apple produces premium products and
you do expect to pay more for that. However, this should have limits.
For example, the Magic Mouse (White) is £79, (which is expensive for
a mouse) but the black one is £99. Really?
If you buy a MacPro, which is quite a purchase in itself, you can get
the Studio monitor for £1,499 which includes a tilt-adjustable stand. If

14 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Apple’s Studio Display is pricey to begin with, but add a tiltand height-adjustable display? That’ll be an extra £400!

Image credit: Apple Inc

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INVESTIGATES

The battle between the world’s largest music services
has escalated. We take a look at what’s happening
WRITTEN BY

CHARLOTTE HENRY

potify and Apple Music
are the two largest
music streaming
services in the world,
attracting millions of listeners each
day. For years, their parent companies
have been locked in PR, political and
legal battles. Essentially, Spotify thinks
the iPhone-maker treats it unfairly and
favours its own product. Apple says that
Spotify has to play by the standard App
Store rules. This includes paying Apple
a 30% cut for payments made via the
App Store and accepting it has banned
other forms of transactions (read on for
more about changes here).
Spotify is classed as a reader app by
Apple. This means that it is allowed to
provide a link within the app that takes
users to a website from where they can
manage their account. But products like
Spotify cannot show that it offers
cheaper pricing via its website in the app.
Indeed, to avoid the so-called ‘Apple tax’,

S

16 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Spotify does not give users the option to
upgrade their plan within its app at all.
You can see the price of its Premium
plans but cannot buy it on your iPhone.
Instead, there is simply a message that
says ‘You can’t upgrade to Premium in
the app. We know, it’s not ideal.’

Verdict and appeal
The battle between the two companies
started in 2019, when Spotify filed an
antitrust complaint to the EU about
Apple, prompting a formal investigation.
Apple hit back. In September 2019, it
released a statement tackling the various
allegations, including the idea that it was
blocking access to Spotify updates and
products. The company said at that point
it had “approved and distributed nearly
200 app updates on Spotify’s behalf,
resulting in over 300 million
downloaded copies of the Spotify
app. The only time we have requested
adjustments is when Spotify has tried

Apple has just recently been hit with a hefty
fine from the EU.

to sidestep the same rules that every
other app follows.”
As covered last month, there are
more changes coming to the EU as Apple
responds to the demands of the Digital
Markets Act. Things have, though,
escalated in recent weeks. On 1 March
2024, Spotify signed a letter saying that
it and other tech companies “are very
concerned that Apple’s proposed scheme
for compliance with the Digital Markets
Act (DMA), as communicated on 25

Image credit: Shutterstock Inc

Spotify sees itself as the underdog in the battle with Apple,
yet the popularity of the iPhone and the need for music
subscriptions has benefitted many streaming services.

Image credit: Apple Inc, Spotify Ltd

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 17

APPLE CORE Apple vs Spotify

January 2024, will not meet the law’s
requirements therefore inhibiting our
ability to deliver the benefits of the DMA
to consumers as soon as possible.”
Just three days later, the EU hit
Apple with a €1.8 billion (£1.6 billion)
fine. Announcing the punishment
as a result of the aforementioned
investigation, EU antitrust chief
Margrethe Vestager said:
“For a decade, Apple has restricted
music streaming app developers from
informing their consumers about
cheaper options available outside of the
app. Apple has done so by contractually
imposing ‘anti-steering rules’ on music
streaming app developers.”
She added that Apple “did so by
restricting developers from informing
consumers about alternative, cheaper
music services available outside of the
Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under
EU antitrust rules.”
Apple, unsurprisingly, was not
happy and declared it would appeal.
“The decision was reached despite the
Commission’s failure to uncover any
credible evidence of consumer harm,
and ignores the realities of a market that
is thriving, competitive, and growing
fast,” it said in a statement.
“Spotify has a 56% share of Europe’s
music streaming market – more than
double their closest competitor’s – and
pays Apple nothing for the services that
have helped make them one of the most
recognisable brands in the world,” the
company added.
Spotify was, of course, far happier about the
EU’s ruling. It said that “Apple’s rules muzzled
Spotify and other music streaming services from
sharing with our users directly in our app about
various benefits – denying us the ability to
communicate with them about how to upgrade
and the price of subscriptions, promotions,
discounts, or numerous other perks. Of course,
Apple Music, a competitor to these apps, is not
barred from the same behaviour.”

The Swedish streamer also said that “by
requiring Apple to stop its illegal conduct in the
EU, the EC [European Commission] is putting
consumers first. It is a basic concept of free
markets – customers should know what options
they have, and customers, not Apple, should
decide what to buy, and where, when and how.”

Spotify’s case

Unlike Spotify, Apple Music
supports Dolby Atmos and
offers Lossless audio tracks
at no extra cost.

Spotify also seems to be making a stand on behalf of other music streaming services.

18 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Music streaming is different to the other scraps
for subscriptions currently taking place between
media services. In TV and movies, a wide range
of providers differentiate themselves by the
content they provide – who has the best exclusive
shows, who provides access to the latest
blockbusters and so on.
In music, both Spotify and Apple essentially
allow access to the same work and there are no
real major rivals to them. Tidal prides itself on
audio quality it offers but has mere fractions of
the listenership of Spotify and Apple Music.
Amazon Music has similarly never really
gathered momentum.
Apple Music and Spotify also both cost the
same – £10.99 a month for an individual account.
Spotify does offer a free version with reduced
functionality and adverts. Given their inherent
similarity, both services have to find other ways
to get users to pay up. The row between them
basically boils down to the question of whether
Apple is intentionally using its market position to
make it harder and less appealing for users to
access a service that rivals its own and, if so, what
laws or rules does this break. With that in mind,
there is certainly some merit to the irritation that
Spotify has felt for all these years.
For example, it is quite fiddly trying to use
the service on a HomePod or HomePod mini.
Getting set up to do so via AirPlay requires extra
steps, whilst it is all seamless with Apple Music.
Crucially, Apple Music is the default service used
by Apple’s smart speakers and this needs to be
manually changed in the Home app.
Ease of integration might be a factor that
encourages someone to subscribe to Apple Music
instead of Spotify, so it certainly arguable that
service is getting favourable treatment to that
end. It’s worth noting that some smaller services
– Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio and TuneIn
Radio – can all be used directly on HomePod.
Apple Music is also a native presence on the
company’s hardware – it’s there as soon as you
turn your new iPhone or Mac on. For many
customers, this is a huge benefit.
However, there is another possibility, one
that Spotify is less inclined to embrace. While

Image credits: Apple Inc, Pandora Media Inc, Deezer, TuneIn Inc, iHeartMedia Inc

Streaming music via AirPlay
to a HomePod is seamless
with Apple Music.

it is the biggest music streaming service in
the world, perhaps those who opt for Apple
Music do so because it is just… better.
It provides Dolby Atmos and Lossless audio
at no extra cost, something Spotify is yet to do.
There has been years of talk about a higher
priced plan including lossless audio, but,
at the time of writing, it is yet to emerge.
Spotify is determined to portray itself as the
underdog, yet Apple’s belief that it has helped
drive Spotify’s growth is to some extent true. The
growth of iPhones and mobile listening made a
music subscription an essential for many, and
Spotify has been the biggest beneficiary of that.
To its credit, Spotify has also developed a
service that offers things that rivals, including
Apple Music, do not. Notably, it is a hub for a host

Apple’s belief
that it has
helped drive
Spotify’s
growth is to
some extent
true

of audio content. This includes exclusive podcasts
and hundreds of thousands of audiobooks. (Paid
listeners get 15 hours a month of audiobooks
included with their plan.) It is an all-in-one
service of the kind Apple simply does not
provide. (Indeed, it was criticised for having such
an inferior product in the dying days of iTunes.)
There is also a reasonable case that Apple is
perfectly entitled to make its software work best
with its hardware. Apple TV+ is the streaming
service that works best on the Apple Vision Pro.
Mail is the default email app on all Apple
products. Why should music be any different?
However, as Vestager’s comments indicate, this
control of both software and hardware, and
Apple’s seeming bid to exploit that, could be
deemed anticompetitive.

stream than Spotify does. In 2021,
the Wall Street Journal reported that
Apple could in fact be paying as much
as double – $0.01 – per play vs
$0.003 to 0.006. None of this is an
exact science as rates can fluctuate,
but Apple has always taken pride in
being the more generous payer.
But it’s not that simple. Even
though payment rates may be lower,
Spotify offers a far bigger potential
audience. Furthermore, artists can

sell merchandise and concert tickets
through Spotify, something they
cannot currently do on Apple Music,
meaning that Spotify is, overall,
probably a more profitable platform
for a musician.
It is not entirely clear how the
years-long battle between Apple and
Spotify will end. There is plenty more
legal wrangling in the EU to come, the
outcome of which could have ripple
effects around the world.

Paying the piper
Separate to the complaints over
integrations, platforms and payment
methods – but still crucially
important as these platforms
develop – is the amount Spotify and
Apple Music actually pay the people
that make the music. Spotify is clear:
it pays rightsholders not musicians,
and it doesn’t have much to do with
how that money is divvied up.
It has long been understood that
Apple generally pays more per

Image credit: Apple Inc

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 19

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

20 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credit: Apple Inc

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

85 must-try

iPad tricks
Are you getting the most from
your amazing Apple tablet?

Written by

B

Ian Osborne

ack when the iPad
was first released
in 2010, it was
criticised as being
OK for consuming media, but
not much use as a productivity
machine. Now, almost a decade
and a half later, things have
changed dramatically.
You can do all sorts of things
with your Apple tablet. In fact, it’s
so versatile, some people use it
as an alternative to a desktop
computer. And why not? Connect
it to a keyboard case and you have
a perfectly viable notebook.
If you need more storage, you
can use a USB-C flash drive or
portable drive. Pair an Apple
Pencil, and you’ve an excellent
digital drawing tool. And with
Apple’s Pages, Numbers and
Keynote productivity apps,
you can work on the go too.

Image credit: Apple Inc

The iPad is perfect for the
creative user. There’s plenty of
powerful, capable art packages
available, as well as in-depth photo
editors that go above and beyond
the already-impressive editing
tools offered by the Photos
app. For musicians, there’s
GarageBand and for video editors
iMovie, with third-party apps for
those who need a little more. And
yes, the iPad is great for watching
and streaming videos, reading
ebooks, playing exciting, consolequality games and more.
In this feature, we take a look
at what you can do with your
trusty iPad, whether you’re
working on the go, creating fine
art, making a movie or simply
enjoying yourself. With our help,
you can get the most from your
Apple iPad and the latest version
of its operating system, iPadOS 17.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 21

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

Multitasking for
greater productivity

You can get a lot more done if you master these important iPad features

M

ultitasking is, in a nutshell,
doing more than one thing
at once. On your iPad, there
are several ways you can multitask. The
most obvious is Split View, whereby you
divide the screen, with one application on
one side and another on the other. You
can then drag content between them,
quickly and easily. You can even open the
same application twice if you choose.
To open a second app in Split View,
drag up from the foot of the screen to
open the Dock, and either drag a second
application out of the Dock onto the left
or right side of the screen, or tap the App
Library, and drag an app to the left or
right. You can drag the line dividing the
two apps to resize them. You’ll need an
iPad Pro, 5th gen iPad or later, iPad Air 2
or later or iPad mini 4 or later.
Alternatively, Slide Over lets you open
a second application in a smaller floating

multitasking modes, tap the ‘…’ icon
at the top of an app and choose the
option you want from the menu.

Picture-in-Picture

Watch a video or FaceTime while using another app.

window, which is by default on the right
side of the screen but can be moved to
the left. You can have multiple apps open
in Slide Over mode; to switch between
them, drag the line at the foot of the Slide
Over window upwards and hold it until the
apps appear as thumbnails. Then tap the
one you want. Slide Over requires an iPad
Pro, 5th gen iPad or later, iPad Air or later
or iPad mini 2 or later.
To close a Split Screen or Slide Over
app or switch between the two

Another useful multitasking tool is
Picture-in-Picture mode. This lets you
watch a video or FaceTime while doing
something else. In the video application,
tap the icon with the white rectangle
pointing inwards to a black rectangle; the
video pops out and is superimposed onto
the iPad’s screen, where you can drag it
or resize it. Alternatively, while watching
a video or on FaceTime, swipe up from the
bottom of the screen to display the Dock
and choose another open app. The video
appears in its corner. To close the floating
video window, tap it to open the controls,
then tap the two-rectangles icon again.
Not every app is compatible with iPad
multitasking, but key Apple apps are.

5 best iPad accessories

Magic Keyboard
for iPad Pro

Twelve South
Hover Bar Duo

›From £319 ›apple.com/uk
›This handy keyboard case
turns your iPad into a
powerful notebook. It
connects to and draws
its power from the iPad,
so there’s no recharging or
Bluetooth pairing needed, and
it has a trackpad for more
precise pointer positioning.

›£79.99 ›twelvesouth.com
›Hover Bar Duo is two stands
in one. It has a clamp mount
you can connect to a bar or
bedstead, and a regular foot
for placing on a desktop or
kitchen worktop. It stands up
to two feet tall. Just the thing
if you want to watch a video
in bed, or follow a recipe.

22 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Belkin Connect
USB-C 4-in-1
Multiport Adaptor
›£44.99 ›belkin.com
›If your iPad has USB-C, plug
this in and connect all sorts
of peripherals to your iPad. It
has a 4K HDMI port, so if you
want to connect to a big
screen, it’s ideal. It supports
pass-through charging, so
you can charge as you view.

Magic Keyboard
Folio for iPad

OWC Envoy Pro
Elektron

›£279 ›apple.com/uk
›Another Apple keyboard
case, this one features a
built-in trackpad, a 14-key
function row and a two-piece
case design that includes a
detachable keyboard and a
protective back panel. It has
an adjustable stand for
flexible viewing angles too.

›From £99.99
›owc.com
›iPads with a USB-C port can
connect to a portable drive,
and this is one of the best.
It’s available in capacities
between 240GB to 2TB, and
is crushproof, dustproof and
IP67-rated waterproof, with
speeds of up to 1,011MB/sec.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Twelve South LLC, Belkin, Other World Computing Inc

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

How to Master Slide Over, Split View and Stage Manager >

1 Look for another app 2 Drag and move
To work in Slide Over, with an app
already open, swipe up from the bottom
of the screen to reveal the Dock. Look for
the app you want to open in Slide Over,
either in the Dock itself or in the App
Library on the right of the Dock.

Drag the second app out of the Dock
or App Library onto the screen. It opens
in Slide Over. You can move the apps
between the left and right side by
pressing and holding the ‘…’ icon found
on top of the Slide Over window.

3 Add another

4 Drag to one side

5 Split in half

6 Swap things around

7 Tap Stage Manager

8 Resize the window

9 Switch between apps

To work using Split View, follow
Step 1 above, but instead of releasing the
second app in the middle of the screen,
drag it all the way to the right or the left
until the open app makes room for itself
as shown here, then release.

Stage Manager gives the iPad the
closest thing yet to the Mac’s windows.
To turn it on and off, swipe in from the
top-left corner to open the Control
Centre, and tap the Stage Manager icon
(square window with three vertical dots).

Image credits: Apple Inc

When you release, the screen
is split in half and the two apps are
open at once. You can drag the dividing
line left and right to resize. On very new
iPads, you can open a Slide Over app
in Split View too.

In Stage Manager, resize the
window you have open using the handle
in one of the bottom corners. To open
another app, tap it in the Dock or App
Library, or tap the ‘…’ icon and choose
Add Another Window.

Tap the ‘…’ icon to bring up an
options menu. Drag another app out
of the Dock or App Library to open it in
Slide Over view. Swipe the grab handle
at the bottom up then release to switch
between Slide Over apps.

Press and hold the ‘…’ icon on top of
an app to swap its place, or drag it down
off the screen to close it. Tap the ‘…’ icon
for a menu; this enables you to opt for
switching between Full Screen, Split View
or Slide Over, or closing the app.

You can switch between open apps
by tapping them on the screen, and you
can reposition windows by dragging
them. Tap a recently used app at the
side of the screen to open it. Use the
‘…’ menu to close an app.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 23

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

Pages, Numbers & Keynote
The iPad and Apple’s iWork apps are great for working on the go

S

ince they were first released in
May 2011, Apple’s iWork suite
for iPad – that’s the Pages word
processor, Numbers spreadsheet and
Keynote presentation app – have gone
from strength to strength. While the
iPhone versions are OK for editing and
modifying docs on the go, the larger
screen offered by Apple’s tablet makes
the iPad’s iWork apps as powerful and
easy to use as their Mac counterparts.
To get the most out of Pages,
Numbers and Keynote you need a
keyboard. Apple’s own Magic Keyboard
Case is ideal, as it offers a trackpad that’s
great for the precision needed when
selecting a spreadsheet cell or piece
of text. You might consider getting an
Apple Pencil too. The Apple Pencil is
an excellent optional extra that again
gives a greater level of precision. You
can also use it to write by hand, with
your handwriting being converted
into editable text.
One of the best things about Pages,
Numbers and Keynote is that if you save

need access to one of your iWork
documents when you’re out and about
without your iPad or notebook, you can
check it on your iPhone, or if you need
a bit of quiet or a research book, pop to
the local library and access it online at
icloud.com. You can even make edits,
directly from the browser.

All this for free

Pages is great for writing, and you can do a surprising
amount with it considering it’s free.

your work to their respective iCloud
folders, you can pick up where you left
off on another device, or even from
a web browser. This is very convenient.
You can, for example, start writing a
letter or memo in Pages on your home
Mac, save it to iCloud and then continue
with it on your iPad on the train. If you
created a Numbers spreadsheet at work
and want to add to it at home over the
weekend, you can do that too. And if you

If you need to send an iWork document
to someone that doesn’t use Apple
devices, you can export them to their
Microsoft Office equivalents, as PDFs and
several other formats depending on the
app. For example, Pages can save as
EPUB, Plain Text and RTF documents,
and Numbers can export to CSV or TSV.
Best of all, Pages, Numbers and
Keynote are free for anyone with a Mac
or iOS/iPadOS device, and have been
since October 2013. If you don’t have
them on your iPad already, it’s a good
idea to download them. If you don’t use
them, give them a go. It’s surprising how
easy they are to work with.

5 best productivity apps

Scrivener

OmniFocus

Spark Mail

Fantastical

MindNode

ݣ22.99
›literatureandlatte.com
›If you need to
write in long form
– maybe because
you’re writing a novel or
screenplay, or a very long,
multi-part report – Scrivener
is essential. Available for the
Mac, iPad and iPhone, it has
every feature you need.

›Free (IAPs) ›omnigroup.com
›This powerful
task management
app is ideal for
keeping your personal and
professional life in order.
Syncing with the Mac
version, it has a modern,
easy-to-use interface, great
organisational tools and
plenty more.

›Free (IAPs)
›sparkmailapp.com
›If you need
more from an
email client than
Mail can offer, try Spark. It’s
great for managing personal
and professional emails. It’s
free to download, but you
need to pay a subscription
for advanced features.

›Free (IAPs) ›flexibits.com
›The awardwinning
Fantastical
has long been a favourite
Calendar alternative.
It brings a range of
productivity features into
one place. It even offers a
weather forecast. Perfect
for collaboration too.

›Free (IAPs) ›mindnode.com
›You can use this
brain mapping
app’s basic
features for free, but
MindNode Plus requires a
subscription. Its powerful
features let you capture
and organise your thoughts,
helping you to focus on
your projects.

24 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credits: Apple Inc, Literature & Latte Ltd, The Omni Group, Spark Mail Ltd, Flexibits Inc, IdeasOnCanvas GmbH

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

How to Create a presentation in Keynote >

1 Download Keynote

2 Start a presentation

3 Look at templates

4 Edit text

5 Add a slide

6 Change pictures

7 Edit pictures

8 Add transitions

9 Test the presentation

Keynote is for creating presentations.
Here we show you how to use tools also
found in Pages and Numbers, such as
tables and sharing features, and also
Keynote’s unique features. First,
download Keynote from the App Store.

Tap on a piece of default text to
delete it. Type your own text over it. Tap
a text box and then tap the paintbrush
(top right). Play around with what you
can do with the Style, Text and Arrange
menus found here.

Tap on a picture and twist it to
rotate it, or resize it by dragging the
handles. Double-tap and you can resize
the picture within its frame using the
slider. Tap the paintbrush icon for even
more options.

Image credits: Apple Inc

When you first get started with
Keynote, it’s best to begin with a
template and build your presentation
over it, so that’s what we’ll do here. Open
Keynote, tap the ‘+’ and select ‘Choose
a Theme’ from the menu.

Tap the ‘+’ (bottom left), then tap
one of the slide choices to use in your
presentation. You can reorder slides by
dragging them into place in the sidebar,
and delete one by tapping it twice and
then tapping Delete.

Tap a slide from the sidebar or an
object on a slide and tap the ‘…’ icon (top
right). Choose Animate, and you can add
the kind of effect you want to see as one
slide changes to another, or have objects
arrive or leave in style.

Find a template you like, and tap it
to download and open it. Its title is in the
top-left corner of the screen. Tap it and
choose Rename, then call it whatever
you like. It will be saved in your iCloud
folder by default.

To replace a picture with one of
your own, tap the ‘+’ sign in the bottomright corner of a photograph and choose
something else. To change the picture
again, tap it and then tap the photos icon
in the top bar.

When you’re done, tap the Play
button at the top of the screen to run
through your presentation. Look for
mistakes you’ve made or things you can
improve on. Then, repeat the process
until you’re satisfied with the end result.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 25

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

Photography & art
Because the iPad isn’t only for office apps…

T

he iPad is ideal for creating
digital art, especially if you
have an Apple Pencil, and
is also good for photo editing. In fact,
the Photos app – bundled with iPadOS
– includes a powerful photo editor that
helps you really get the most from
your snaps.
The iPad’s touchscreen and the Apple
Pencil’s precision drawing, low latency,
tilt sensitivity and pressure sensitivity
(unless you have a USB-C Pencil) make
it an ideal environment for creating
digital masterpieces with apps such as
Procreate, ArtRage, Adobe Fresco and
Affinity Designer. A word of warning,
though. These apps give you all the tools
you need, but don’t expect them to
produce your artwork for you. They help
you make the most of your skills, but
they won’t paper over a lack of skill.
Its a similar story with photo-editing
apps. Apple Photos is as much as most
people need, but if you want to take
things further, Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom gives you an impressively

Which Apple
Pencil is right
for you?

You can produce some truly excellent artwork with
an iPad and an Apple Pencil.

professional suite of tools. There’s
also Pixelmator, Snapseed, Photofox,
Prisma and more. Indeed, there’s dozens
of photo editors available for the Apple
tablet, ranging from very straightforward
apps for simple retouching jobs to
high-end suites that keep even
professional photographers happy, but
might confuse the enthusiastic amateur.
Once again, the simpler apps with
automatic photo tuners are easy to use,
but don’t expect a more comprehensive
editor to do everything for you.

There are three Apple Pencil
models currently available:
Apple Pencil (1st generation)
for £109; Apple Pencil (2nd
generation) for £139; and the
Apple Pencil (USB-C) for £79.
Whether you buy a 1st-gen or
2nd-gen model depends on
which iPad you have; the
USB-C model is a more
affordable version with similar
system requirements to the
Apple Pencil (2nd gen). To see
which Apple Pencil works on
your iPad, go to apple.com/uk/
shop/select-apple-pencil.
If your wallet won’t stretch
to an Apple Pencil, there’s the
Aniyoo Stylus Pen for Apple
iPad 2018-2023, from £12.99.

Top 5 creativity apps

Tinkercad.com

Affinity Photo

Procreate

Assembly

Comic Draw

›Free ›tinkercad.com
›If you’ve always
wanted to try
computer-aided
design (CAD) but don’t know
where to start, give Tinkercad
a go. It’s free, and it’s great
for 3D modelling. It’s Apple
Pencil compatible, and is
great for beginners.

›£17.99 ›affinity.serif.com
›It’s amazing just
how powerful this
desktop-quality
photo editor is. Its interface
has been built around the
touchscreen, and its tools
rival anything its competitors
can come up with, even the
mighty Photoshop.

›£12.99 ›procreate.com
›Get out your iPad
and your Apple
Pencil and create
breathtaking pieces of digital
art with this pro-quality art
studio. It has over 200
hand-crafted brushes,
complete colour control,
powerful effects and more.

›Free (IAPs) ›pixiteapps.com
›Vector & SVG
Maker – Assembly
(full title) is an
easy-to-use modelling app
that brings design to the
masses. Using basic shapes,
pre-made stickers and a
snap-to-grid interface, you
can get great results.

›Free (IAPs) ›plasq.com
›Here’s one for
the budding comic
artists and writers
among us. Build your artwork
with layers, create custom
colour palettes, choose from
over 130 fonts and enjoy your
work on the integrated
full-screen reader.

26 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credits: Apple Inc, Autodesk Inc, Serif Europe Ltd, Savage, Pixite, plasq LLC

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

How to Easily edit your photos >

1 Launch Photos app

2 Use the Magic Wand

3 Discover more tools

4 Key editing tools

5 Reduce or increase

6 Play with filters

7 Crop, flip and rotate

8 Use more control

9 Done, reset, cancel

We’re going to look at all the things
you can do when editing a photograph
in the Photos app here. Launch the app
and open the photo you want to work
on. With that photo open, tap Edit in
the top-right corner.

Exposure sets the brightness of
the entire image. Brilliance makes a
picture look more vibrant overall, and
Highlights/Shadows tweaks the lighting
in the photo’s brightest and darkest
places respectively.

Tap Crop on the left and you can
crop the picture by dragging the handles
on its sides and corners. You can also flip
the photograph horizontally or rotate it in
90° steps using the icons with movement
arrows in the top left.

Image credit: Apple Inc

From the categories on the left-hand
side (Adjust, Filters and Crop), choose
Adjust. The first tool available is the
Magic Wand. Tap it for an automatic
adjustment, which you can intensify or
reduce with the slider on the far right.

Tools such as Saturation and
Vibrancy affect the colour of the pic. You
can also adjust a picture’s Sharpness,
Warmth, Definition and more. In all cases,
reduce or increase the effect using the
slider on the right.

The crop tools on the right-hand
side allow you to rotate the image with
more control (use the slider), tilt it
vertically and tilt it horizontally. Try out
these tools – they’re very useful when
you get used to using them.

The Adjust tools all work in a very
similar manner. Swipe their icons up and
down to move between them. We don’t
have space to cover all of them, but the
following steps give you a guide to some
of the key tools.

In the left-hand tools, select Filters,
then drag the filter list up and down to
choose which one you want to try. By
default, they’re at maximum strength, but
you can reduce the level using the slider
to the right of the filters list.

At the top of the screen you see
Cancel (left), Reset (middle) and Done
(right). ‘Done’ takes you out of editing
mode with the edits intact, ‘Cancel’ does
the same but with the edits abandoned,
and Reset reverts the last edit.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 27

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

Music & video
You can create amazing sounds
and clips using your Apple tablet

T

he iPad has always been an excellent device
for enjoying music and videos, but as it grew
in power and scope, it became a superb tool
for creating media too. Popular everyman-level apps such
as the iMovie video editor and GarageBand music creator
were ported from the Mac to the iPad, with redesigned
interfaces built to take full advantage of the tablet’s
touchscreen. Last year Apple’s pro-level media creation apps
Final Cut Pro (video editor) and Logic Pro (music creator)
were also brought to the iPad, again with interfaces built
around the touchscreen.
It’s amazing how few compromises have been made in
bringing these applications to the iPad. Apple’s tablet might
be smaller than the Mac, but with the latest model of iPad
Pro boasting an Apple silicon M2 System-on-a-Chip (SoC), it’s
certainly not lacking in power. The results you can get
using media creation apps, third-party as well as the
aforementioned Apple software, certainly reflect this.
The key advantage of having these apps on the iPad
is you can create movies and music on the move, but when
you’re at home you can hook up to an external monitor. If it
has a Lightning connector you need the necessary adaptor,
but if it charges using a USB-C or Thunderbolt port, you
might not. Full details are available at apple.co/3Ij5Sjr.

StaffPad, for the
traditional musician
Composers who
write their own
music using
notation will appreciate
StaffPad (staffpad.net).
Exclusively on the iPad, you
can write your music on the
screen with your Apple Pencil,
using blank sheet music
offered by the app. It’s then
typeset, so it looks as good as
the scores bought from your
local sheet music shop. You

can edit your work, repeat
musical sequences and add
chords manually or
automatically.
When you’re ready to
listen to your masterpiece,
the app plays it back. Over 55
instruments are included,
and you can add more from
industry-standard sample
libraries. At £89.99 it’s not
cheap, but you’re getting a
powerful app for your money.

Top 5 apps for music & video

GarageBand

Logic Pro

iMovie

Final Cut Pro

Clips

›Free ›apple.com/uk
›Create music the
modern way with
this easy-to-use
app that’s free with your iPad.
Build your tune by adding
loops and beats from an
extensive library of
instruments and sounds.
It syncs with the Mac
GarageBand too.

›£4.99/month, or £49/year
›apple.com/uk
›For the musical
maestro, Apple
also has a
pro-level music application
that makes no compromises
for its iPad version. Built for
the touchscreen, it’s powerful
enough for even the most
discerning musician.

›Free ›apple.com/uk
›One for the
budding Steven
Spielbergs out
there. With iMovie, you can
make impressive videos by
editing footage with tools
such as colour correction,
transitions and image
stabilisation. It’s designed
to be easy to use.

›£4.99/month, or £49/year
›apple.com/uk
›Apple’s pro-level
iPad movie editing
studio might even
satisfy Steven Spielberg. It
has an amazing range of
tools, such as multicam, fast
cut machine learning, colour
presets, keyboard edits, Apple
Pencil support and more.

›Free ›apple.com/uk
›At the other end
of the scale is
Clips, for mobile
devices. It’s not a powerful
tool, but it’s ideal for making
short clips for social media,
with effects, emoji, captions,
filters and ‘Live Titles’, made
using speech to text. Great
for influencers.

28 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credits: Apple Inc, StaffPad Ltd

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

How to Get started with iMovie >

1 Start a project

2 Create your movie

4 Detach audio

5 Add the chosen audio 6 Delete and undo
To add background music, tap the
‘+’ icon (top right), at the bottom of the
panel that appears. Tap Audio and then
navigate to the track you want. Tap the
‘+’ next to it. You might have to download
the track in Music first.

Tap a clip and you can edit it,
change its speed, add captions and use
filters using these tools. Tap a clip or
audio track and delete it by tapping the
Bin. Use the curved arrow next to the
Bin to undo your last edit.

7 Discover more tools

8 Go even further

9 Add transitions

Let’s start a new iMovie project.
Open the app, tap Start New Project and
select Movie. Tap Video in the sidebar,
and then tap each video you want to
include and tap the tick icon that appears
above its reel.

We want to add a music track
behind the video, so we need to silence
the audio that’s already there. Tap a clip,
tap Detach Audio and then lower the
volume slider to zero; you haven’t lost
the audio by the way, just silenced it.

Try the Mic icon to record a voiceover for your movie. The Camera icon to
take new photos or videos. Tap the Play
icon to preview the movie you’ve created.
Tap the waveform icon to collapse and
expand the audio tracks.

Image credits: Apple Inc

When you’ve chosen all the video
elements you want, tap Create Movie.
Your clips are turned into a continuous
video, playing one after another. You can
play it as it is, but we want to do more
with it, so tap the Edit button.

Tap the gear icon in the top right of
this window. With the tools here, you can
set a project-wide filter, add a theme to
your movie, and various other actions
such as adding a Theme Soundtrack,
Fade In/Out and more.

3 Edit your clips

You’re shown your clips along the
foot of the screen. If you want to shorten
a clip, tap on it. You’ll see that it’s now
bordered in yellow. Drag the handles at
the start and end of the clip until you’re
left with the length of clip you want.

You can change the way the clips
segue into each other during the video.
Tap the square icon found between two
clips and choose from the range offered.
When ready, tap Done (top left) and play
or share it from the next screen.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 29

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

Other cool stuff you can do
There’s plenty more productivity tasks you can carry out on your iPad

N

aturally, your iPad isn’t
limited to the tasks we’ve
outlined so far. There’s a
wealth of apps designed to increase
your productivity. Arguably the most
productive thing you can do on your
iPad is to use the App Store efficiently.
Remember, the search engine isn’t just
for finding specific apps. You can enter
what it is you want to do and the search
results give you apps that fit the bill. For
example, if you type ‘catalogue record
collection’ into the search field, you’re

shown appropriate apps. Type ‘website
builder’ and you’re offered apps that
help you build websites.
There’s scarcely a limit to what you
can do on the iPad. With a popular tool
like Duolingo you can learn another
language, and for straightforward
translations there’s Google Translate
and Apple’s own Translate app (both
free). You can explore virtual and
augmented reality environments, play
exciting or relaxing video games, surf
the web and more. The sky’s the limit.

Things 3

£9.99 culturedcode.com
Things 3 is arguably the
best GTD (Getting Things
Done) app available on
Apple devices. It’s available for the
Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad,
and even the Vision Pro. Data syncs
between these platforms so your
to-dos and reminders are always to
hand. Each task in a to-do list can be
tagged, scheduled and broken down
into smaller steps. To-dos can auto
repeat, there’s widgets so you can
see today’s tasks on your Lock
Screen and it can integrate with
Calendar so you can see events
and tasks in the same place.

Things an excellent project manager, and it’s available
for the iPad. It’s on other Apple devices too.

30 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

The Voice
Memos app
Who needs a Dictaphone when
you have Voice Memos? Bundled
with macOS, iPadOS, iOS and
watchOS, you can use Voice Memos
to make a quick recording using your
Apple Watch or iPhone, and then
review it on your iPad or Mac. Great
for verbal notes on the go.

Freeform

PCalc brings comprehensive scientific
calculations to your iPad.

PCalc

£9.99 pccalc.com
When you need a
scientific calculator and
not just a regular fourfunction model, PCalc is well
worth the £9.99 it costs on the
App Store. It offers an extensive set
of unit conversions, a paper tape, an
optional RPN mode and engineering
and scientific notation, as well as
support for hexadecimal, octal and
binary calculations. Different button
layouts are offered, and there’s an
editor to make your own. Ideal for
mathematicians, scientists,
engineers, and other people who
need a versatile, in-depth calculator.

Here’s an app you already
have. Freeform is bundled
with the iPad, iPhone and
Mac, and brings whiteboard
brainstorming to remote meetings.
You can design a mood board,
sketch out a project and more, all
while collaborating with your team
in real time. They see your edits as
soon as you make them, and you see
their changes in a similarly prompt
manner. Up to a hundred people can
collaborate on the same board.
Freeform’s shared space is very
versatile. As well as handwritten
and typed notes, you can add
pictures, URLs, sticky notes,
diagrams and more.
When the entire team is working from home, you can
still collaborate on a whiteboard with the Freeform app.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Cultured Code, James Thomson

iPad tips and tricks FEATURE

Using an iPad as an extra
display is a really handy way
of maximising screen space.

Use your iPad as an extra Mac screen
Multiple screens make you
much more productive. If
you have a Mac running
10.15 (Catalina) or later and an iPad
running iPadOS 13 or later, and both
devices are new enough, you can use
your iPad as an extra screen for your

Mac. First make sure they’re on the
same wireless network and signed in
with the same Apple ID. Open System
Settings on your Mac and click Displays
in the sidebar. At the top, click the
menu showing a ‘+’ symbol, and add
your iPad to your Mac’s screen setup.

Automation apps

You can save time at home and
work by automating repetitive
tasks. As an iPad owner you already
have Apple’s own Shortcuts app,
which can chain actions covering
several apps into a single shortcut,
which can then be activated by Siri
as well as by tapping the screen.
There are third-party apps that
offer similar functionality too.
IFTTT (IF This Then That)
creates powerful business and home
automations, and requires no coding
skills at all. It’s compatible with over
800 popular home and business
apps. Look out too for Pushcut,
which lets you build fine-tuned
interactions for HomeKit, Shortcuts,
and custom workflows through
smart notifications and widgets.

Shortcuts is a powerful automation app that’s bundled
with recent releases of the iPadOS operating system.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Google LLC

Click the Arrange button and position
it where you want in relation to your
Mac’s screen. You can now move a
window from your Mac to your iPad
by Ctrl-clicking the green button
and choosing that option or simply
dragging it from one screen to another.

Software
development

Google’s official app lets you search in new ways,
such as shopping or searching from an image.

Google apps

Google’s free apps are very
popular across all platforms,
and you can use them on the
iPad. If you have to sync calendars
with people who use non-Apple
platforms, your team will probably
use Google Calendar. You can too,
on your Apple tablet. There’s an
official Google app, which beefs up
your online searches, and Google
Chrome is an excellent alternative
to Safari for surfing the web.
Google’s web browser-based
office apps are keen alternative to
iWork. There’s Google Docs for word
processing, Google Sheets for
spreadsheets and Google Slides for
creating presentations.

If you want to try your hand
at programming, you can even
download developer tools for your
iPad. For the beginner, Swift
Playgrounds teaches programming
the easy – or at least easiest –
way. It’s genuinely fun to use, and
gives great results. If you want to
learn Python, JavaScript, SQL or
CSS code, there’s Enki, and for
Python, HTML, SQL and C++, there’s
Sololearn. There are also a lot of
apps that offer tutorials to help you
along on your programming journey.
It’s amazing how much you can do
on your iPad.

Apple’s Swift Playgrounds is designed to make
learning to program fun, and it’s available on the iPad.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 31

FEATURE iPad tips and tricks

And relax…

Get comfy, it’s entertainment time!

T

he iPad isn’t all work, work,
work. There’s plenty of ways
to relax with your Apple tablet,
or to get the adrenaline flowing with
a fun game or an exciting movie.
Do you do Wordle? Every day,
The New York Times offers a different
Wordle puzzle. Try it yourself at
nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html.
Plenty of other newspapers and media
organisations offer daily crosswords or
puzzles. When you find one you like, you
can launch it from the Home Screen as
if it was an app. Just open the web page
in question, tap Share and choose ‘Add

to Home Screen’. You can read ebooks
on your iPad, using Apple’s own Books
app (bundled with iPadOS) and the free
Amazon Kindle app, which is ideal if you
also have a Kindle device.
You can explore augmented and
virtual reality environments too.
Look out for games like Smash Tanks
and (of course) Pokémon Go!, which
superimpose graphics onto the real
world as viewed from the camera.
And for the ultimate virtual pet,
check out AR Dragon (playsidestudios.
com). It’s free, with extra items available
for in-app purchases.

Console-quality games like Hitman: Blood Money –
Reprisal are much more fun with a gamepad.

32 | MACFORMAT MAY 2024

Get yourself a stand or keyboard
case for your iPad, and you can
use it for streaming videos. You
probably already have the YouTube
app. With it, you can enjoy all sorts
of content from all over the world.
Subscribe to any TV-on-demand
services? If so, check to see if they
have an app you can use to stream
your content. Apple TV+ can be
accessed through the iPad’s Apple
TV app, of course, and popular services such as Netflix and Disney+
have their own apps too, as do
many popular TV stations.

Online shopping

Great for gaming

There’s some awesome games on
the iPad, from simple puzzlers
that use the touchscreen to
console-quality offerings such as
the recent Hitman: Blood Money
— Reprisal. You can pair console
controllers with your iPad too, for
an even better gaming experience.
These can be Xbox, PlayStation or
other Bluetooth gamepads, and all
you have to do to pair them is put
the gamepad in pairing mode and
in your iPad’s Bluetooth settings
and select it from the list of nearby
devices. But please do ensure
the gamepad is iPad-compatible,
before you buy.

Streaming TV
and movies

The iPad is great for listening to your favourite
tunes. Apple Music isn’t the only option.

Enjoy music

When it comes to enjoying your
music, your iPad is just as good
as your iPhone or your Mac. Pair it
with Bluetooth earbuds or AirPlay
speakers for the best sound.
Obviously, Apple Music is the key
app for iPad audio, especially if you
subscribe to the similarly-named
service. You can stream almost any
album by almost any artist. If you’re
not an Apple Music subscriber,
Spotify offers a similar service, and
has a free, ad-supported version
with some limitations. The more
cultured among us should try Apple
Music Classical too.

There’s more to online shopping
than eBay and Amazon. There’s
a wealth of apps and services out
there for buying goods online.
Apple itself has an Apple Store
app, which is ideal for buying new
Apple computers, mobile devices
and accessories. You can also use
it to book training sessions at your
local Apple Store and subscribe to
Apple services too.
Vinted is an eBay-like online
store that’s great for buying or
selling clothes and other items,
and for the latest bargains and
vouchers, check out Groupon.

Shop on Vinted to get some great bargains on
clothes, toys, entertainment and more.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Feral Interactive Ltd, Vinted UAB Group

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JO MEMBERY

Master Apple
shortcuts

38

macOS
Cmd is the Command key.
Alt or Opt is the Option key.
Ctrl is the Control key, also
shown as ‘^’ in shortcuts in
the menu bar.
The thick, outlined up
arrow is the Shift key.
The thin, left arrow or
outlined pointer with ‘X’
inside is the Delete key, which
deletes to the left. Pressing
the Function key (Fn) and the
Delete key deletes to the right.
The thin, right arrow key with
a small vertical line at the end
is the Tab key, which shifts the
focus between some controls.

iOS
A tap is a brief contact
of (usually) one finger
on your device’s screen.
To drag is to move a finger
across the screen to scroll
or pan around content.
Swipe means move one or
more fingers across an item
or the screen, then let go.
A flick is like swiping, but it’s
quicker, and is often used to
scroll content more quickly.
Pinch means move two
fingers together or apart,
usually to zoom in or out.
Touch and hold means lightly
rest your finger on an item
and wait for a reaction.

WHAT’S INSIDE
38 EASILY SHARE YOUR DOCS
Distribute your documents securely

40 CREATE AN INVENTORY
Keep track of your worldly goods on Mac

40

42 SORT YOUR BLUETOOTH KIT
Manage and troubleshoot all your devices

44 GAME ON WITH APPLE ARCADE
Discover how to set yourself up and get playing

46 REDISCOVER PODCASTS
Get your podcasts in order with Overcast

48 MAKE YOUR iPAD SMARTER
Do fun things with AI using ChatGPT

50 TRACK YOUR SLEEP

48

Check the quality of your shut-eye time

52 SET MULTIPLE TIMERS
Trigger concurrent timers for multitasking

54 SOLID-STATE SOUND
The new silicon-based audio tech explained

Image credits: Apple Inc, Blue Plum Software Inc, OpenAI

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 37

Easily share your documents
Safely and securely share documents you’ve created
IT WILL TAKE
5 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to collaborate on
and share documents
(and even password
protect them)
YOU’LL NEED
macOS 13 or
later, Pages

Documents are often made for
sharing. This is certainly true if
you’re knocking out a report for
work or writing an article for a
top-notch magazine such as this one. It’s
why Apple makes it easy to allow others
to access your documents in Pages.
Whether you want to collaborate on
a document in real time, allowing other
people to make changes whenever they
wish, or wish to finish your work and share
the end result, Pages has you covered. You

can also password-protect a document so
that unwanted eyes can’t catch a glimpse.
Here we’re going to walk you through your
various options – all of which are on top of the
more traditional method of simply saving a
document on your Mac before finding and
attaching it to an email! In doing so, we’ll also
explore the different file formats you can use
and how this may affect the way you approach
your work. As you’ll see, Pages is flexible and
can easily fit into any professional workflow.
David Crookes

HOW TO Collaborate on documents

1 Activate iCloud Drive

If you would like to use the
collaboration features to share Pages
documents with others, make sure iCloud
Drive is turned on; click the Apple menu,
select your Apple ID, click iCloud then
toggle iCloud Drive to on.

38 | MACFORMAT | APRIL 2024

2 Click to share

Launch the Pages app and either
create a new document or open an
existing one. When you are ready to
collaborate, simply click the Share
button in the toolbar before selecting
Collaborate from the menu.

3 Select a contact

Choose up to 100 people to
collaborate with – a shareable link is
generated. A Collaboration button then
appears in the toolbar listing all recent
activity. You can communicate with
participants via message, audio or video.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Share documents APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Export your documents

1 Save your file

Not everyone uses Pages so if you’re
sharing a Pages file with others, they
may not be able to open it. For greater
compatibility, you can export your
documents in other file formats.
Select File and choose Export To.

2 Choose a format

Microsoft Word is dominant so
select Word to ensure compatibility.
Be aware you’ll likely lose unique fonts,
marks, smart annotations and special
formatting such as page numbering –
the same is true with plain text/RTF.

3 Create PDFs

PDFs and images preserve
formatting and layout as well as
comments and smart annotations but
recipients may struggle to edit them.
EPUB is great if you want a doc to be
read in an ebook reader.

HOW TO Protect your documents

1 Set permissions

When collaborating, you can
determine what others can do. Click
Share and the menu below Collaborate,
then choose ‘Only invited people’ to limit
who can make alterations. For further
control, untick ‘Allow Others to Invite’.

2 View or edit

You can also prevent people from
editing documents by clicking the menu
below Permissions and clicking ‘View
only’. Change or stop permissions by
clicking the Collaboration button and
selecting Manage Shared Documents.

3 Add passwords

When exporting documents as
a PDF, Word file or Pages ’09 doc, you
can add a password; just tick ‘Require a
password to open’. Pages docs can also
be password protected via File > Set
Password. This will encrypt your doc.

Share Pages via iCloud
You don’t always need to launch the Pages app
If you’re away from your Mac, there are other ways of sharing Pages documents:
one is by signing into iCloud.com. By selecting Pages from the iCloud menu, you
can choose to Collaborate with Others or Send a Copy, either from your list of
saved documents or within a document itself (you can also export as a PDF, Word
or EPUB file by selecting Download a Copy). Opening a document in Pages on your
iPhone or iPad also gives you the option to Export, collaborate and share. Select
the ‘…’ button and tap Document Options if you want to set a password.

Image credit: Apple Inc

APRIL 2024 | MACFORMAT | 39

Create a home inventory

Keep track of all your worldly goods – with a little help from your Mac
IT WILL TAKE
30 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to create an
inventory of your most
important possessions
YOU’LL NEED
macOS 11 or later,
Blue Plum Home
Inventory 4 (£20.40)

While it’s easy to try to imagine
you have no possessions, in reality
most of us have far too many. And
that can make it tricky to keep track
of them all – especially when you need a list of
them for insurance purposes, a packing list when
moving home, when writing a will, or for those
increasingly frequent occasions when Next
Door Norman pops around to borrow the
lawnmower. Again.
The solution is to create a home inventory:
a detailed catalogue of all the things you own.

While you could use a spreadsheet to do
that it’s a bit unwieldy, so here we’re going to
show you how to use Home Inventory 4 from
Blue Plum Software (theblueplum.com). It’s a
snip at £20.40 and there’s a 14-day trial so
you can check it out before you pay up.
The app will work on any Mac running
macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later and can even be
used in conjunction with its free partner app
for iPhone and iPad: Home Inventory Easy
Entry. Best of all, the whole thing can be
synced with iCloud too. Rob Mead-Green

HOW TO Build your home inventory

1 Add your first item

Launch Home Inventory and you’ll be
asked if you want to start with a new
inventory or to import some sample data.
Here, we’re going to dive right in. Click
the Inventory Items tool on the left, then
click ‘+’ at the bottom of the left pane.

40 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

2 Enter some details

In the window that opens, add some
info about the item you want to log. Give
it an easily searchable name, add further
details like the name of the manufacturer,
its price when new, the cost of replacing
the item and some brief details about it.

3 Add a location

At the moment, the item doesn’t
‘belong’ anywhere. To fix that, click Save,
then click the Property Locations tool in
the left-hand toolbar, then click ‘+’ at the
bottom of the left-hand pane. Now add
some details about your home.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Blue Plum Software Inc

Create a home inventory APPLE SKILLS

CONTINUED… Build your home inventory

4 Add some rooms

5 Choose a collection

7 Include a picture

8Use Continuity Camera 9 Now keep going…
If your Mac lacks a built-in camera,
you can also use your iPhone to take a
photo. To do that, select Import > Import
From iPhone or iPad > Take Photo. You
can easily edit the imported image using
the app’s built-in Photo Editor.

Cataloguing all the items in your
home is going to take quite a while, but
you can easily add items as and when
you have time. You can also use the
Home Inventory Easy Entry app for
iPhone to help speed up the process.

10 Now get packing!

11 Create a packing list

12 Add contacts

Click Save, then head back to the
toolbar. Next, click the Rooms tool. Again,
clicking the ‘+’ at the bottom of the lefthand pane each time, add each of the
rooms in your home – Bedroom, Kitchen,
Living Room, Garage and so on.

While you’ve added some key info,
your item still has one thing missing: a
photo. In the right-hand Documents pane,
click the ‘+’ button at the bottom to add
a picture from your Mac. Or click the
Camera button to take a photo of it.

One of the main reasons to
create a home inventory is to ensure you
don’t lose anything when you move. To
help, Home Inventory has a Reports tool
that you can use to create packing lists –
handy for knowing what’s where.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Blue Plum Software Inc

The next thing you can do is add
an item to a collection, such as Furniture
or Computers. Head to the Collection tool
in the left-hand toolbar, then add any
collections you’d like to assign. You can
always add more later if you need to.

In the Reports tool, click Packing
Lists, then create a list to add items to,
checking the tick boxes to the left of each
item you want to include. If you’ve added
weights to the items in your inventory,
the app will give you a running total.

6 Refine your listing

Using the parameters you added in
steps 3-5, you can now add more detail
to your first item. Click the Items tool,
then your item, then in its window use
the appropriate drop-downs to add a
location, a room and a collection for it.

You can also assign items to
friends and relatives (or naughty Next
Door Norman). To do that, click the
Contacts tool, then use the Search field
in the right-hand pane to pull in details
from your Mac’s Contacts book.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 41

Sort your Bluetooth devices

Learn how to add, remove, prioritise and troubleshoot Bluetooth devices
IT WILL TAKE
10 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to work with
Bluetooth devices from
headphones to speakers,
keyboards to mice
YOU’LL NEED
Mac, Bluetooth devices

Bluetooth technology cuts the
cord on many devices, enabling
you to enjoy a whole host of
kit from keyboards, games
controllers, speakers, headphones, mice
and trackpads without the need for trailing
wires. So long as your devices are within
around 10 metres (33 feet) of your Mac, you
can quickly connect and use your accessories.
But, for some reason, it’s not always easy
to connect. So how can you make working
with them a little easier?

Here we look at ways of making the most
of your Bluetooth devices whether you’re
sticking with macOS’s excellent built-in options
or looking a bit further afield. For the most part,
you shouldn’t encounter too many problems –
Bluetooth tends to work well these days. But, if
you do, try turning Bluetooth on and off again
via System Settings > Bluetooth, resetting your
device, restarting your Mac, updating macOS
or refreshing the Bluetooth module by opening
Terminal and typing ‘sudo pkill bluetoothd’.
Time to get stuck in. David Crookes

HOW TO Pair and unpair devices

1 Add a Bluetooth device 2 Remove a device
Ensure your device is turned on then
select the Apple menu on your Mac. Click
System Settings and choose Bluetooth
from the sidebar. Your device should be
discoverable, appearing under Nearby
Devices. Click Connect.

42 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Simply follow the initial same steps
as before, but this time hover over your
device in the list and click Disconnect.
You can also click the Control Centre
icon in the menu bar to turn recognised
devices on and off.

3 Assign priority

You may want your Mac to hook up
to a particular Bluetooth device before
trying another – for example, to a main
Bluetooth speaker over a small one. Do
this by adding devices in the order you
need them prioritised.

Image credits: Apple Inc, C-Command Software LLC

Bluetooth devices APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Pair some devices to multiple Apple ones

1 Connect across devices 2 Switch between devices 3 Activate Handoff
Some Bluetooth devices can be paired
to more than one Apple device. But a
mouse, keyboard or trackpad paired
with one Apple device will usually need
to be removed (unpaired) before it can
be directly connected to the other.

That said, if you’ve connected one
of those Bluetooth devices to Mac (or
an iPad/iPhone via Settings > Bluetooth),
Universal Control lets you use them
across all devices. Sign into the devices
with the same Apple ID.

Just enable Wi-Fi on your Mac and
iPad and turn on Handoff in the settings
(General > AirPlay & Handoff). Place the
iPad close to the Mac, move the mouse/
trackpad to the screen’s edge, and the
pointer will move across.

HOW TO Work with audio

1 Manually switch

Let’s say you’re listening to audio on
an iPhone via your AirPods but you want
to hear your Mac’s output instead. You
can open the Control Centre on your
Mac, click Bluetooth and select your
AirPods to manually switch.

2 Automatically switch

With later models, use autoswitching. Go to your Mac’s System
Settings, click Bluetooth and select ‘i’
next to AirPods. Click Automatically.
Auto-switching can be turned on and
off on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV too.

3 Confirm a switch

Playing audio on your Mac and get
the sound playing on another device
linked to your Apple account? You may
be asked to confirm you want to switch
to that device or stick with your Mac,
potentially preventing audio hijacking.

Use third-party apps
Go beyond Bluetooth capabilities built in to macOS
If your Bluetooth device is about to run out of juice, you can check its battery life
on your Mac via System Settings or Control Centre > Bluetooth. But if the device
isn’t connected to your Mac, and is hooked up to an iPhone or iPad, you can use
an app like Cloud Battery (Free, alanyan.ca) which pulls in details about all your
Bluetooth devices regardless of where they’re connected. If you’d like to go even
further, consider ToothFairy (£5.99, c-command.com) which makes switching
between devices super-easy thanks to one-click connections from the menu bar.

Image credits: Apple Inc, C-Command Software LLC

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 43

APPLE SKILLS macOS/iOS/tvOS/visionOS

Get started with Apple Arcade
Play the latest games on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Vision Pro
IT WILL TAKE
10 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to set up Apple
Arcade and play games
on all your devices
YOU’LL NEED
Apple Arcade (£6.99/
month), macOS 10.15 or
later, iOS 13 or later,
iPadOS 13 or later, tvOS
13 or later, visionOS

You might have heard of
Apple Arcade, the gaming
subscription service from
Apple, without ever really
giving it a shot. Well, now is a great time
to get stuck in, as it’s chock-full of excellent
titles that’ll have you battling, puzzling and
adventuring away for hours on end. Apple
Arcade tries to do things a little differently to

Green light for gaming

Genius tip!
Game Mode optimises
your Mac to achieve
consistent frame rates.
It automatically launches
when you start playing
a full-screen game.

44 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

most gaming platforms. For one thing, it works
across almost the entirety of Apple’s product
ecosystem. If you start playing a game on your
Mac, you can pick up your progress on your
iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or even a Vision Pro
headset, with all your saved games and
achievement progress carrying over from
one device to the next. It’s all made to be
simple and completely seamless.

Apple Arcade games can be played on a range of Apple devices
and your progress is synced over to each one.

There are no ads, no in-app purchases and
no microtransactions, eliminating some of the
most irritating aspects of the modern gaming
world. New games are being added all the
time, giving you plenty of reasons to stick
around and keep playing. And as long as
your subscription is active, you can download
and enjoy as many of Apple Arcade’s games
as you want with no restrictions.
Here, we will show you how to set up
Apple Arcade and start playing. We’ll mostly
be focussing on the Mac, but the steps laid
out here are very similar whichever device
you want to use. So, let’s dive in and get the
gaming goodness underway. Alex Blake

Image credits: Apple Inc, SEGA, Cornfox & Brothers Ltd

Apple Arcade APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Get started with Apple Arcade

1 Sign up

2 Browse games

3 Family Sharing

4 Add controllers

5 Tweak controls

6 Assign a profile

7 Continue Playing

8 Achievements

9 Invite friends

Open the App Store app and select the
Arcade tab. Click the Start Playing button
to sign up, or instead try downloading a
game (this will prompt you to sign up).
Now, follow the on-screen prompts to
start subscribing.

Lots of games work better with
controllers. To connect a controller to
your Mac, you’ll usually need to press
its pairing button, then select Connect
next to the controller’s name in System
Settings > Bluetooth.

Your game progress syncs to your
other devices when you’re signed in to
iCloud and Game Center on them. To
open games played on other devices,
launch the App Store, go to the Arcade
tab, then scroll to Continue Playing.

Image credit: Apple Inc

You can now download and play
games from the Arcade tab. Find games
by searching or by selecting a category
at the top of the page. Select the Get
button to start downloading a game.
When it’s done, click Play.

Some controllers’ settings can be
customised. In macOS 13 (Ventura) or
later, connect the controller, then go
to System Settings > Game Controllers.
Add a profile and change some of the
settings to your liking.

Many Apple Arcade games come
with achievements. To see yours, open
the App Store and click your name in
the bottom-left, then select Game Center
Profile > Achievements and pick a game
from the resulting list.

If you’ve set up Family Sharing
and Apple Arcade, all family members
automatically get shared access to your
subscription. Go to System Settings and
click your name at the top, then go to
Family Sharing > Set Up Family.

Return to the Game Controllers
page and select your controller. Click
‘+’ in the bottom-left corner and add
a game, then select the menu next
to Use Profile and pick your new
configuration to use its modified controls.

You can invite friends to Apple
Arcade and see what games they have
been playing. Go to the Arcade section
of the App Store, then scroll down to
‘Friends are Playing’. You can install
any games from here if you want.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 45

APPLE SKILLS iOS

Rediscover your
love for podcasts

This little app is the perfect podcast partner
IT WILL TAKE
10 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to subscribe and
play podcasts in
Overcast
YOU’LL NEED
iOS 16 or later.
Overcast (Free,
offers IAPs)

Overcast is an app that’s
achieved a very rare honour:
a permanent place on our
main iPhone Home Screen.
It’s also permanently in our Lock Screen
widgets when we’ve got Driving Focus
enabled. That’s because it’s a wonderful
little app that respects your time and
privacy, and we use it daily to help us
handle our ever-growing podcast habit.
It’s available for Mac and iPad as well as
iPhone, and it works with Apple Watch and
CarPlay. It even has a sleep timer to stop
playback after you doze off.
Overcast is packed with useful things,
including automatic removal of long pauses,
automatic sound quality improvements and
useful playlist automation. And yet the core
app is free, with only some unobtrusive ads
(and no invasive trackers) to pay the bills.
If you don’t like the ads or just want to
support developer Marco Arment you can
upgrade to Premium for £8.99 a year.
It’s money well spent. Carrie Marshall

HOW TO Get the most from podcasts with Overcast

1 Find some feeds

Open the app and tap on the ‘+’ sign in
the top-right corner. This is where you’ll
find the podcast directory, which you can
browse for ideas or search for something
specific. You can also paste a podcast
feed address by tapping Add URL.

46 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

2 See what’s there

To see what’s in a podcast, tap on it
and you’ll be taken to this screen. Tapping
the ‘i’ icon tells you more about an
episode and tapping Follow adds the
podcast to your collection; the Follow
button then changes to Done.

3 Go back home

If you tap on the back arrow (top
left), you’ll be taken back to the home
screen where your new podcast(s) will be
available. Now we want to add an episode
or episodes to our to-play queue. To do
that, tap on the podcast.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Overcast Radio LLC

Manage podcasts APPLE SKILLS

CONTINUED… Get the most from podcasts with Overcast

4 See the settings

5 Start the queue

7 Automate everything

8 Create custom playlists 9 Pick your priorities
Give your playlist a name, an icon
and a colour, then use Add Podcasts to
say what podcasts this playlist should be
adding episodes from. Once you’ve added
a few podcasts to your subscription, you
can start to customise things.

With a few podcasts lined up, you
can now choose to prioritise some before
others – so their episodes will appear
higher up in the playlist. To do that,
simply choose Select Priority Podcasts
and check the ones you prefer.

10 Pick your playlist

11 Skip the dull bits

12 Make further tweaks

There are three tabs: the current
episode, all episodes, and Settings.
Settings is where you specify whether
to follow new episodes (and the order),
and to download and/or delete episodes
automatically. Tap on All once done.

In the main screen, tap on the icon
immediately to the left of the ‘+’ icon.
This enables you to filter the view, but
even better it enables you to create a
custom playlist. This is one of Overcast’s
very best features so let’s start using it.

As you can see, when you’ve
finished making your custom playlist it’ll
appear in the main screen with the icon
and colour you selected. Simply tap on
that playlist to see what’s there, and then
on whatever episode you’d like to play.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Overcast Radio LLC

Tap on any episode and five icons
will appear. The one we want is the
second one, the ‘…’ in between the icons
for Share, Play, ‘Mark as Listened’, and
Trash. This brings up the menu shown
here. Tap ‘Add to Queue’.

When you tap on the Play button on
an episode, Overcast moves to this nice
clear playback screen. Swipe from the
right to see more information, or use the
progress bar or forward and backward
icons to move through the podcast.

6 Play your episodes

Do the same with as many episodes
as you like from as many podcasts as you
like before tapping the back arrow to
return home. Now if you tap on Queue
you’ll see your to-play list, which will only
include the episodes you’ve selected.

The icons below give access to
extra features. Tap on the sliders icon
and you can use Smart Speed to remove
gaps and Voice Boost to improve how
speech sounds. You can save different
settings for different podcasts.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 47

APPLE SKILLS iPadOS

Make your iPad smarter

Your iPad’s personal assistant just got smarter thanks to ChatGPT
IT WILL TAKE
5 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to use an AI
chatbot to make
life easier
YOU’LL NEED
ChatGPT (Free,
IAPs), iPadOS 16.1

Artificial intelligence (AI) has
taken the world by storm, and
ChatGPT is the best example of
the capabilities of an AI chatbot
with seamless integration on iPad thanks to
a well-built dedicated app. ChatGPT gives
access to GPT-3.5, which is perfect for most
everyday tasks, allowing you to do everything
from creating a workout plan to finding you
info on any topic in a matter of seconds.
ChatGPT will change the way you use your

iPad, allowing you to process tasks quicker
than you can imagine or gain knowledge on
the fly like never before.
With an almost unlimited amount of
capabilities, ChatGPT is something you need
to experience in order to see how powerful a
tool it can truly be. In this tutorial, you’ll learn
the basics of ChatGPT, a completely free app
for your iPad that promises to become one of
your tablet’s most useful pieces of software.
John-Anthony Disotto

Ask ChatGPT anything
When you open ChatGPT for the
first time, you’ll be met with a chat
thread almost identical to the one
in Apple’s Messages app.
From here, you can ask the
chatbot anything and get an answer
within seconds. To get started, you’ll
see some prompts to try out, such

48 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

as recommending a dish for dinner
or brainstorming names for your
fantasy football team. Try one of
the proposed prompts and watch
as ChatGPT gives you the solution.
If none of the prompts are to your
liking, type anything in the message
box and wait for a reply.

Image credits: Apple Inc, OpenAI OpCo LLC

AI help with ChatGPT APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Get all the answers from ChatGPT

1 Learn a new language

2 Get a meal plan

3 Plan a trip

4 Plan your week

5 Draft emails

6 Explain it like I’m five

One of the best things to ask ChatGPT
is, “Teach me (insert language).” This will
give you common phrases and enough
expressions to get by. You can even ask
for a structured learning plan to help you
learn a language over a few months.

Another fantastic use of ChatGPT
is the ability to plan your week by telling
the platform the tasks you need to
complete and how much time you think
each task will take. ChatGPT will then
fit everything into a weekly planner.

If you ask ChatGPT for a meal
plan with a set amount of calories and
preferences, the software can create
a weekly diet for you to follow. This is
a great way to plan out your week
and start eating healthier.

Need to write a quick email but are
unsure how to word it? ChatGPT will
create a quick draft for you. Simply ask
the chatbot to draft an email giving as
much detail as possible, for example, the
reason why you can’t make a meeting.

7 Find a recipe for dinner 8 Get gift advice
Struggling to find a midweek dinner
idea? Tell the app what you have in your
kitchen, and watch as it magically puts
together a recipe. You can even ask for
a quick recipe depending on the amount
of time you want to spend cooking.

Image credits: Apple Inc, OpenAI OpCo LLC

If you’re terrible at buying gifts,
ChatGPT has you sorted. You can give
some background on your friend or
family member, like what they like and
their hobbies, and a rough budget to
get some tailored gift guide advice.

ChatGPT is fantastic for planning
trips. Ask for a travel itinerary for any
holiday destination over a number of days
and the chatbot gives you a curated plan.
You can even ask for specifics based on
preferences, like a foodie tour of Paris.

ChatGPT is fantastic when you want
an explanation of something complicated.
Ask, “Explain it like I’m five: (insert a
topic),” and get an easy-to-understand
explanation of the most complex topics.
Here we’ve asked about the atom.

9 Name picker

Maybe don’t do this one. But if you
want, you can ask ChatGPT to name your
newborn child. Simply give details like the
gender of the child or their origins, and
watch the AI chatbot compile a list of
names for you to choose from.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 49

APPLE SKILLS iOS

Track your sleep
with Pillow
Check the quality of your shut-eye time
IT WILL TAKE
8 hours
YOU WILL LEARN
To better understand
your sleep patterns and
how your body works at
night
YOU’LL NEED
Pillow (Free, offers
IAPs), iOS 14 or later

A good night’s sleep is
essential for your general
wellbeing. Adults need between
seven and nine hours each day
but the quality of that time in bed can vary
wildly – a night of light sleep could leave you
feeling rather groggy come the morning.
To help, you could do worse than try
Pillow which monitors how well or how badly
you sleep. It came top in a recent group test,
praised for providing an abundance of data.
It’ll break down your sleep patterns, let you
record your snoring and sleep talking, create
presets for naps and longer sleep sessions
and, if used in conjunction with Apple Watch,
track many other personal metrics. It’ll work
in tandem with Apple Health and ease you
into the land of nod if you’re having trouble.
None of this comes cheap; you need a
subscription (£6.99/month or £39.99/year)
to make the most of it. You’re also providing

a lot of data. But don’t worry. All personal data
is retained on your device (and, optionally, in
your iCloud account). Hopefully, that’ll help
you sleep better. David Crookes

EXPLAINED…What Pillow knows about your night
1
3

Quality of sleep
Check how much
quality sleep you had,
how long it took to nod
off, the length of time in
bed and your mood
when you woke.

Extra information

1
3

2

Stage analysis
See how long you
were awake and the
time you were in REM,
light or deep sleep,
with percentages and
recommended ranges.

50 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Listen to recorded
audio or tap the Heart
tab if you wore your
Apple Watch and see
how well your ticker
fared overnight.

4

2

Sleep trends

4

You can see how
your sleep metrics
change over time to
see if any issues are
blips or long term.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Neybox Digital Ltd

Monitor your sleep APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Sleep better with Pillow

1 Enter personal details

2 Grant access to data

3 Allow motion detection

4 Start sleep tracking

5 Edit alarm options

6 Go to bed

7 Use Apple Watch

8 Wake up and check in 9 Get some help

After launching Pillow for the first
time, you’ll be asked for your birth year,
sex, weight and height. Optimal values
for different sleep stages vary from
person to person, so your answers
are vital for your reports.

To track sleep in the iPhone app,
tap the Alarm tab then the ‘+’ button
and select a time to wake up or set a
duration. Use Smart Wake-Up to sound
an alarm up to 30 minutes before you
want to stir when light sleeping.

For more detailed sleep analysis,
wear an Apple Watch. Tap ‘+’ and set
an alarm or nod off and have it check
your heart rate, blood oxygen levels,
respiratory rate, wrist temperature
and environmental audio levels.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Neybox Digital Ltd

You’ll be asked if you want to use
data from a wearable device that shares
fitness data with Apple Health and for
permission to allow Pillow to access and
update your Health data. Sleep analysis
relies on lots of data.

Tap Alarm Options to set the volume
and whether you want phone vibrations.
You can choose to turn off the alarm
with a press and hold, or by shaking
your iPhone. Decide if you want relaxing
sleep aid music to nod off to.

When you wake up, you’ll be asked
how you feel. You can, if you wish, toggle
Mood Reporting off if you don’t want this
option. You can then see an instant
report of your night’s sleep on your
Watch and on your iPhone.

For correct detection and analysis,
Pillow requires access to motion/fitness
activity. Next, decide if Pillow can record
and analyse sleep sounds and if sleep
sessions and audio recordings can be
backed up to iCloud.

When you’re ready to sleep, tap
Start. You’ll be asked if you want to
jot down some notes about what may
affect your sleep. You can then lay your
unlocked device face down on your
mattress near your pillow and nod off.

Sleeping badly? As well as
accessing personalised sleep insights
and tips by tapping the Snooze Lab tab,
you can also tap the Sleep Aid tab to
find meditations, stories, natural noises,
waves, ASMR sounds and more.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 51

APPLE SKILLS iOS/watchOS

Set multiple timers

Use concurrent timers to help with all sorts of multitasking
IT WILL TAKE
10 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN
How to set multiple
timers at once
YOU’LL NEED
iPhone and/or
Apple Watch

When Apple launched its fancy
Vision Pro spatial computing
headset, one of the features
that immediately went viral
wasn’t its immersive video or its head
tracking or any of its other cutting-edge
cleverness. What made the web users go
“ooh!” was when a reviewer put timers
above multiple pots and pans to keep an
eye on their cooking. But you don’t need to
buy a $3,499 headset to get some Apple-

assisted cooking in your own kitchen. Your
iPhone, your iPad, and your Apple Watch
can provide you with multiple timers too.
If you’re surprised, we’re not surprised;
until recently your iPhone wasn’t able to run
multiple timers concurrently. It’s taken a very
long time for multiple timers to make it to the
iPhone, and until iOS 17 you were limited to
just one. Still, better late than never and, as
we’ll discover, the way Apple has implemented
the feature is very effective and, as you might
hope, works well with Siri.

False starts

Genius tip!
Although there doesn’t
appear to be a limit
on how many timers
you can set, only five
will appear on your
locked Home Screen’s
Live Activities.

52 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Apple’s Vision Pro does timers too, although $3.5K is probably
overkill for just making sure you don’t overcook your pasta.

You can set, change and stop timers not
just from your iPhone but from your Apple
Watch, your HomePod and from any other
Siri-enabled devices that happen to be
listening. That’s a good thing mostly, but it
can sometimes be a bit weird. From time to
time, you might ask the HomePod mini in
the kitchen to set a timer only to hear the
HomePod in your living room respond.
Hopefully the Siri improvements we’re
expecting in iOS 18 will sort out such
little annoyances. Carrie Marshall

Image credit: Apple Inc

Multiple timers APPLE SKILLS

HOW TO Line up a number of different timers

1 Start the clock

2 Add some options

3 Start the count

4 Get the big picture

5 Get dynamic

6 Lock it up

7 Get Siri to help

8 See more timers

9 Watch the timer

Timers live in your iPhone’s Clock
app, and you access them by tapping
the Timers icon at the lower right corner.
To create a new timer, use the scrolling
numbers in the top half of the screen to
choose hours, minutes and seconds.

If you tap on your active timer you’ll
be taken to this screen, which shows a bit
of extra info; the time remaining, and the
actual time when your current timer will
expire. If you wish you can cancel the
timer here, or pause and resume it.

Our favourite way to add timers
is via Siri. Here, we’ve said “Hey Siri,
create a timer for 50 minutes label roast
potatoes”. As you can see, Siri has
created the timer, given it the correct
label, and started the timer too.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Before you start, give the timer a
name by tapping and typing in the Label
field. If you wish, you can also change the
sound your iPhone will play when time’s
up – useful if setting multiple timers and
want to tell them apart easily.

If your iPhone has a Dynamic Island,
your timer will sit inside it while you use
your iPhone. It’ll show a progress icon on
the left and a numerical countdown on
the right. Tap the Dynamic Island if you
want to return to the Timers screen.

Your Lock Screen stacks all current
timers together; if you tap on one, the
view will expand to show you more
timers, all of them counting down if they
haven’t been paused. If you want to get
rid of them, tell Siri “cancel all timers”.

Tap Start and your screen will
change to show the countdown at the top
of the screen. You’ll see the same timer
below, with a green start button instead
of the orange countdown, as the timer
is saved in Recents for easy access.

Your timer also appears on the Lock
Screen; if you have iOS 16 or later it uses
Live Activities to provide an ongoing
countdown even when your iPhone is
locked. Just tap the appropriate icon to
cancel or pause from the Lock Screen.

If you prefer, you can use your
Apple Watch for your timers. Although
the interface is slightly different – the
Watch, of course, has less screen space
– it works in exactly the same way. And
you can use Siri in the same way too.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 53

MEMS technology creates drivers for
heaphones and speakers using silicon,
rather than traditional materials.

HOW IT WORKS

Solid-state sound

A new silicon-based audio tech is aiming to replace old-fashioned headphones
YOU WILL LEARN
How MEMS speaker
technology uses silicon
chips to create ‘solid-state
speakers’ and headphones

Key fact
Creative Technology –
formerly Creative Labs
– knows a thing or two
about digital audio. Its
SoundBlaster range of
upgrade cards brought
high-quality digital audio
to PCs back in 1989, and
dominated PC audio
for almost 20 years. All
Macs and PCs now have
multi-channel sound built
in, but the SoundBlaster
name lives on with audio
products such as
the MEMS-based
Aurvana earbuds.

54 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

echnology in the computer industry
tends to change so quickly that it’s
often hard to keep up with all the
latest developments. That’s not the case
in other industries, though – it took almost a
century for electric cars to provide an alternative
to the gas-guzzling internal combustion engine.
The somewhat stuffy hi-fi industry also
tends to be quite resistant to change, using the
same basic technology to produce headphones
and speakers for almost 100 years (remember
that a set of headphones is essentially a small
pair of speakers that simply sit right over – or
inside – your ears).
Apple shook up the headphone market
with the AirPods in 2016, creating an entirely
new category of ‘true wireless’ headphones.
But while Bluetooth headphones allow you to
cut the cord and listen to music via a wireless
connection, the technology that creates the
sound inside those headphones hasn’t really
changed in a century.
Most headphones and speakers use
mechanisms known as ‘dynamic drivers’ to
create sound waves. These drivers contain
several different components, including a

T

You can mass produce MEMS drivers using silicon wafers
– just like modern computer chips.

wire coil – sometimes called the ‘voice coil’ –
that carries an electric current. This coil is
surrounded by a magnet, and is also connected
to a moving diaphragm. The electric current in
the coil interacts with the magnetic field created
by the magnet, which causes the coil to vibrate.
The movement of the coil causes the diaphragm
to vibrate as well, and it’s the movement of
air caused by the vibrating diaphragm that
creates the sound waves that we can hear.
There are variations on this standard type
of driver that are used in some high-end hi-fi
gear, but dynamic drivers are by far the most
common option for consumer products such
as Apple’s AirPods.

So-solid sound
That could be about to change, though, as
there’s a new type of driver technology coming
along that is – or at least claims to be – ideal for
use in compact audio devices such as earbuds.
Known as MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical
systems) this new type of audio driver is smaller,
easier to manufacture and requires less power
than conventional speaker drivers.
Rather than using several different
components and materials, MEMS drivers
are made from silicon, bringing speaker and
headphone tech into the modern silicon era, just
as solid-state drives (SSDs) in today’s computers
provide a faster and more reliable alternative to
older mechanical hard drives. In fact, a MEMS
tech product is sometimes referred to as a
‘solid-state speaker’, or ‘speaker on a chip’
because of its use of silicon.
One of the first MEMS speaker systems was
designed in 2014 by a company called USound

Image credits: xMEMS

Solid-state sound APPLE SKILLS

Pump up the bass
As we mentioned, Creative is hedging
its bets with this new technology, as its
Aurvana earbuds use both an xMEMS
driver for handling higher frequencies,
and a conventional dynamic driver for
bass. However, xMEMS Labs is already
working on its next driver design, called
Cypress, which was demonstrated at CES
in January. The Cypress drivers promise
much stronger bass performance, so they
won’t need backup from a dynamic driver
in future earbuds designs. The company
also claims that the Cypress will offer
improvements for noise-cancellation
technology too. Most noise-cancelling
headphones work best when blocking

Silicon MEMS drivers are lighter, more compact,
and tougher than conventional headphones.

(usound.com), which has used the technology
in a number of wearable devices, such as
hearing aids and smart glasses. More recently,
a company called xMEMS Labs (xmems.com)
has developed its own version of the
technology, which has just been used by
Creative Technology (uk.creative.com) in its
new Aurvana Ace series of earbuds.
The xMEMS drivers still use an electric
current to make a diaphragm vibrate and
create sound waves, but the design introduced
by xMEMS Labs uses a ‘monolithic’ design that
carves the entire driver unit out of a single
piece of silicon. This means that the xMEMS
drivers can be factory-produced on a mass
scale using silicon wafers – like computer chips.
The simplicity of this design means that MEMS
drivers can be smaller and more compact than
traditional drivers, leaving more room inside
the headphones for a larger battery and more
noise-cancelling microphones. Silicon is also

Future generations
of MEMS headphones
promise improved
noise cancellation too.

out low-frequency sounds, such as the
rumble of an aircraft engine, but can
struggle to block out human voices and
other high-frequency sounds. However,
xMEMS states that the Cypress drivers will

quite rugged, making the drivers waterresistant and easy to clean.
And, crucially, the silicon diaphragm used
to create sound waves is very stiff, which
means that it’s less prone to distortion that
can affect the sound quality than the softer
materials often used in traditional dynamic
drivers. This is particularly important for higher
frequencies, and Creative claims that its new
Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 earbuds provide a
frequency response as high as 40kHz,
compared to the typical 20kHz of most
consumer earbuds and headphones.
That’s impressive – especially for
compact in-ear headphones such as the
Aurvana range – but this new technology is
still a work in progress. The Aurvana earbuds
actually include both an xMEMS driver and
a conventional dynamic driver as well. The
xMEMS driver handles the higher frequencies,
providing that high-end frequency response
of 40kHz, while the dynamic driver delves
right down to a bass-heavy 5Hz. That gives
the Aurvana earbuds a full-range frequency
response of 5Hz-40kHz, which certainly
outdoes the 20Hz-20kHz of most
mainstream earbuds.
The compact MEMS technology doesn’t
work that well for larger speaker systems, but it
is very well suited for use in compact wearable
devices such as VR headsets, hearing aids and
smart glasses. So, if Creative’s Aurvana
earbuds prove successful then MEMS
technology might soon appear in future
versions of Apple’s AirPods or even the
Vision Pro headset. Cliff Joseph

MEMS drivers are made from
silicon, bringing headphone tech
into the modern silicon era
Image credits: xMEMS

be able to tackle higher frequency sounds
as well – even including the sound of
crying babies – which will be good news
for frequent fliers who need really good
noise cancellation from their headphones.

Key fact
Traditional headphones
and speakers have to be
sealed very tightly in
order to protect them
from water and dust, but
the ‘solid state’ drivers
developed by xMEMS
Labs are much sturdier.
They’re made out metallic
silicon and have an IP58
rating for resistance to
water and dust, with that
‘8’ digit indicating that
they can survive complete
immersion in water up
to 3m deep.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 55

EXPERT
ADVICE
Our resident genius
solves your Mac and
iOS problems

Contact us

EDITED BY

Email your queries and
your questions to
genius@macformat.com

HOWARD OAKLEY

Will Live
Text read
our PDFs?
here’s more to
Live Text than
meets the eye.
Although normally seen
at work in its quick mode
interactively recognising
snippets of text in our
photos, it can also work
more slowly and accurately.
That’s been built into a new
generation of third-party
apps to perform Optical
Character Recognition
(OCR) on scans and images
of printed documents.
For the moment, macOS
doesn’t appear to use this
to automatically extract text.
If you have PDFs containing
many scanned pages that
haven’t been converted
using OCR in an app, those
won’t be quietly turned
into text you can search
with Spotlight.
One challenge that
remains is the multi-column
page that needs to be
analysed into blocks so
that its contents don’t get
muddled. Don’t be surprised
to see Apple add that in the
not too distant future.

T

How to make a snapshot
Q

How can I make a snapshot of a
volume before I change it around?
by C H A R L E S U N D E R W O O D

Snapshot features have been
strictly limited to apps that make
and manage backups, because of
the danger that, if left for any length of time,
they’ll grow in size until they fill the volume.
For the time being there’s no app that can
simply make a snapshot without making a
backup at the same time.
This is where you can get devious. If
you don’t want to make a full backup of that
volume, you can configure Time Machine or
a third-party backup utility like Carbon Copy
Cloner ($49.99, about £45, bombich.com)

A

to back up just a single file or a folder on
that volume instead. Time Machine will
automatically make a snapshot, and you
can set Carbon Copy Cloner to do the same.
As snapshots can only be made of whole
volumes, your tiny backup will be accompanied
by the local snapshot you want.
One word of warning… if left running,
Time Machine will automatically delete its
snapshots after 24 hours; Carbon Copy Cloner
is more flexible with time, but is still required
to delete them eventually.
For Time Machine, add the volume you
want to snapshot using the ‘+’ button in Time
Machine settings, then in its exception list,
from the Options button, add every other
folder bar the one you want to back up.

Although finicky to exclude most of a volume from a backup, it’s currently the only way to get a snapshot made.

56 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Email your queries and your questions
to genius@macformat.com

iOS software GENIUS TIPS

iOS software
Swipe away your touchscreen troubles and
rekindle your love of Apple’s mobile devices
Quick-fire
questions
Why doesn’t my
iPhone add apps to
its Home Screen?
> Although that shouldn’t
normally be the default,
you can correct that in
Settings. Tap Home
Screen & App Library,
then at the top tick ‘Add
to Home Screen’, rather
than App Library Only.
All new apps added after
that will then appear in
both your Home Screen
and the App Library.

How to clean
website data but
keep their history?
> You can do this for
Safari, although using
Clear > ‘All History and
Website Data’ in its
settings does both.
Instead, tap Advanced
at the bottom of those
settings, then Website
Data, where the size of
all retained data is listed.
There you can Remove
All Website Data without
losing Safari’s history.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Pages in iPadOS can access document versions, but only those it saves, and only when they’re saved in iCloud Drive.

iCloud Drive or external disk for sharing?
Q
As I’m sharing more work in Pages
and Numbers between my iPad Pro
and Macs, should I increase my iCloud
storage, or store documents on an external SSD?

by P E T E B R O W N

Keeping shared documents in iCloud
or on an external drive have their own
merits and drawbacks. iCloud+ offers
up to 12TB, although that would cost you a
hefty £54.99 per month. A suitable 2TB SSD
costs well under £200 for USB 3, or up to
twice that for Thunderbolt 3, and should
last many years at no additional cost.
To access your documents on an external
SSD you have to carry it around; iCloud Drive
remains accessible wherever you can make a
decent internet connection, although it’s of

A

limited value where signal is weak or
bandwidth low, and when away from Wi-Fi
you’ll be reliant on mobile connections,
which may incur additional cost.
One hidden difference is how they handle
previous versions of your documents saved
automatically. Pages in macOS saves and
gives access to local versions and those it
saves in iCloud Drive through its Revert To
command, but in iPadOS, Pages can only
access its own saved versions in iCloud Drive,
not those on an external drive.
The result is that an external drive will
share all its versions, but only with Macs,
while iCloud Drive only gives access to those
versions saved by that specific Mac or iPad.
If you use document versions, those
differences could be important.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 57

GENIUS TIPS Peripherals

Peripherals
Thinking inside the box to refresh
the parts other tips can’t reach
Quick-fire
questions
How to fix a juddery
Magic Mouse?
> The common cause
of mice with optical
sensors, such as the
Magic Mouse, becoming
juddery is dirt on the
sensor lens. This is
readily removed with a
couple of short blasts
of canned air, or a
gentle wipe using a
lint-free cloth.

How to check when
a trackpad needs
recharging?
> Monitor charge level
in Apple’s Bluetooth
keyboards, mice and
trackpads in the
Bluetooth menu,
although it’s easy to
forget. More obvious
are indicators in the
Power widget, which can
be put on your Desktop
in Sonoma. That also
includes charge status
of any Uninterruptible
Power Supply (UPS)
connected via USB.

What can replace a Time Capsule?
What should I replace my two
Time Capsules with, to store all
the Time Machine backups for
our four different Macs?

Q

by T I M H U B B A R D

Apple made its last Time Capsules in
2018 and even that late model is now
approaching the end of its support
period. At the very least both yours should
have their hard drives replaced before they
fail, taking with them all your backups. There’s
no direct replacement that integrates Wi-Fi
with networked storage in the same way, so
you’ll need to make separate provision for
Wi-Fi if you don’t already.
There’s a wide range of well-supported
Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems
if you really do need your backup storage to
remain networked. Locally attached storage

A

is invariably quicker, cheaper and simpler to
use and maintain, although it does require
physical connection to be made to each Mac.
Leading brands offering NAS systems
compatible with Macs include Synology, QNAP
and Asustor. While most are conventional in
offering bays for 3.5- or 2.5-inch hard drives,
you may wish for support to be able to move
to SSDs in the future. One of the better
models that works well with both is Asustor’s
Nimbustor 2 Gen 2 AS5402T (check out our
review in #MF402), with two bays for hard
disks and four well-cooled M.2 SSD slots.
Recent Macs and macOS expect to use
the SMB file sharing protocol when working
with NAS, rather than AFP, which is now
deprecated and being removed from Apple
silicon Macs. You’ll also want Time Machine
backups to use APFS within the sparse
bundles used to store backups on your NAS.

Recent NAS systems like Asustor’s AS5402T work well with both rotating hard disks and solid-state storage.

58 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credits: Apple Inc, Asustor Inc

Does my Apple
silicon Mac support
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2?
> Yes, but only at a Gen 2
speed of 10Gbps, not the
full 20Gbps for Gen 2x2.
That should deliver read
and write speeds of
around 1GB/sec, but
falls far short of a good
Thunderbolt 3 drive.
To make a USB flash drive accessible to Windows users,
format it as ExFAT with a name of 11 characters or less.

Can I waterproof my
Mac’s Thunderbolt
3 ports?

Save images for Windows
Q

I’m having trouble saving JPEG
images to a USB stick for a Windows
user. Is that not possible on a Mac?

by B O B B A R K E R

Yes, it is, although there are a
couple of catches that can baffle:
formatting and hidden files.
Before using any USB flash drive, format it
using Disk Utility. Connect the drive, select it in
the left section of Disk Utility’s window, then
click on the Erase tool at the top. Smaller
drives can be formatted using MS-DOS (FAT),

A

but it’s simpler to use ExFAT which also works
with those over 32GB. Give it a name not
exceeding 11 characters.
When copying JPEG images to it, use the
file extension .JPG or .jpg to ensure they’re
properly recognised by all Windows software.
Because Mac files also contain additional
metadata, macOS will automatically create
matching files whose name starts with ‘._’ to
hold that information. Those are hidden in the
Finder, so warn the Windows user that they
may see them, but shouldn’t try to open
them, just those with regular file names.

> No, although you
can increase their
water resistance. Full
waterproofing requires
special ports built to IP67
standard, as exceeded by
iPhones. Insert rubber
plugs to keep dust, dirt
and some moisture out,
but don’t expect them to
provide any protection
from immersion.

Transfer audio
from a tape deck
Q
What hardware do I require to
transfer audio from reel-toreel analogue tapes on my
tape deck, with its phono socket
outputs, to my MacBook Air?

by T I M J O N E S

Some older Macs had
analogue microphone inputs
that allowed you to connect
them with just a cable, and had
hardware to convert their audio
signal. More recent models require
the conversion of signals from
analogue to digital before they enter
your Mac. It’s also better if you have
the option of using line rather than
microphone input, as that’s more likely
to retain the original quality of your

A

Image credits: Apple Inc, PreSonus Audio Electronics Inc

audio tapes. As with most hardware,
analogue to digital audio converters
range widely in price, and you tend to
get what you pay for. Cheap models
at around £20-30 will do the job,
but don’t offer the same options or
quality as one from an established
manufacturer such as PreSonus or
Arturia at around £80-100.
Provided that you opt for one with
both line and microphone inputs, gain
control and a USB-C connection to
your Mac, it should do the job.

Better analogue to digital audio converters offer
line inputs, gain control, and a USB-C connection.

The software you go for depends
on the type of audio content you work
with and what you want to do with it.
Apps range from basic recordereditors right the way up to Logic
Pro (£199.99, Mac App Store) and
professional sound engineering, and
many of the better converters come
with a decent starter package.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 59

GENIUS TIPS macOS

macOS
Shine a spotlight on the solutions to
your most irritating Mac problems
Quick-fire
questions

When FileVault is enabled, the primary admin
user can authorise other user accounts to
access it using their own passwords.

How to copy the
pathname of a file
in the Finder?
> Select the item using
Ctrl-click or twofinger tap, and hold
for the contextual
menu. Hold Opt to see
the command
“Copy [name] as
Pathname”. In
Terminal you can
add the path by
dragging the file and
dropping it onto the
command line.

How long should
a Mac keep its
log files for?
> Main log files in
macOS aren’t retained
for a set period, but
according to the size
of log files, normally
kept to a little over
500MB in the main
Persist folder. If your
Mac is making copious
log entries, that could
amount to just a few
hours’ worth, or might
extend to many days.

60 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Using passwords for FileVault
Q

If I were to turn FileVault on, would
other users on my Mac Studio have
to log in using my password?

by M A R T I N M O O R E

Fortunately, that’s not how FileVault
works, as it’s designed for multiple
users each with their own password,
unlike encrypted APFS volumes which rely on
a single password for everyone.
Macs with T2 or Apple silicon chips
automatically encrypt the whole of their Data
volume on the internal SSD, but the encryption
key they use for that is generated internally and
not using a password. When you turn FileVault
on, there’s no change in that encryption, but its
encryption key is encrypted and it’s that which
is protected by your password. This explains
why, in those Macs, turning FileVault on or off

A

is an instant procedure that doesn’t result
in a slow encryption or decryption.
The encryption key used to encrypt the
key protecting the Data volume is dependent
on your password and a Secure Token managed
by macOS. When there are more users than
the primary admin account, that primary user
can determine whether other users are granted
a Secure Token to enable them to access the
Data volume through entering their own user
name and password.
The end result is that the Data volume on
your Studio is fully encrypted, and only those
users to whom you have granted Secure Token
access can open it using their own password.
Anyone else would require you to grant them
access. There are a few other features, like Erase
All Content And Settings, which still require your
password as the Secure Token ‘owner’.
Email your queries and your questions
to genius@macformat.com

How to duplicate
a file or folder
quickly?

When you have large PDF documents that take time to index, put them in a folder and exclude them from search.

Why do fans blow long after login?
Sometimes the fans in my Intel
Mac blow for many minutes
after it starts up, when several
CGPDFService processes use a lot of
CPU. How can I stop that?

Q

by W I L L M A C F A R L A N E

A minute or two after you log into
your Mac when it has started up,
Spotlight normally undertakes routine
housekeeping, building and maintaining its
hidden indexes that enable you to search files
by their contents. This is normally seen in
mdworker processes extracting data for
mds_stores to compile into the index.
This has changed in Sonoma, with the
addition of CGPDFService, responsible for

A

extracting searchable content from PDF
documents, a feature that hasn’t always
worked too well in the past. Their activity
can become intense and sustained when
they’re plodding through thousands of pages
of PDF finding text, and in some cases this
can continue for an hour or more.
If it gets excessive, you can disable PDF
Documents from Spotlight Search Results in
System Settings > Siri & Spotlight, but that
excludes all PDF documents. A better plan is to
move larger and more troublesome PDFs into
separate folders, and add them to indexing
exclusions using the Spotlight Privacy button
at the foot of those settings. That gives you
finer control, and retains search coverage
of all your other PDFs.

> Click or tap and
hold it with the
Opt key held until a
green circle with a ‘+’
sign appears by the
pointer, then release
the mouse or
trackpad. The Finder
creates a duplicate, a
clone of the original,
unless you move it
to another volume.

How to tell if an
app supports
document
versions?
> Discover which apps
support this feature
by opening one of its
documents in that app
and looking for the
Revert To command
in its File menu. If
present, it’ll let you
browse old versions
of that document.

Find missing words in Spotlight search
Q

Why can’t Spotlight find words
in the content of some of my
PDF documents?

by T H O M A S T R O W T O N

PDF documents can contain
two notional layers, the first
containing images perhaps
from printed pages that were originally
scanned in, and a second containing
laid-out text that might have been
generated by Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) from those scanned
images. Those created directly from
Word, Pages and other apps normally
only have the second layer, together
with any images embedded in their text.
Currently, when Spotlight indexes
PDF documents, it only uses text from

A

Image credit: Apple Inc

that second layer, where it’s present, and
doesn’t try to perform on-the-fly OCR
on any page images. It also faces the
problem that both layers are intended to
appear accurate visual representations
of the document, rather than providing
structured access to text contents,
although that’s starting to change with
the growing use of newer standards
such as PDF/A.
This is further
complicated by
the encoding
sometimes used
for text in any
second layer,
When there’s no usable text
which often isn’t
in a PDF document, as shown
based on Unicode
on the right, its contents
or even ASCII. In
can’t be searched.

some European and foreign languages,
it can prove almost incomprehensible,
opaque even to search within that
document, and impossible for Spotlight
to index. You may be able to rectify that
by using an OCR app to create a more
coherent second layer, but that will
change the PDF file, so should only be
performed on a copy, not the original.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 61

Make your semi smarter, your bungalow
brighter or your flat future-proof with
Siri and the best smart home tech
Written by Carrie Marshall

W

hen we get
home, we just
need to say the
word and the
lights go on, the heating turns on
and Taylor Swift starts playing
on our HomePods. If you didn’t
know about smart home tech and
Apple’s version of it, HomeKit, you
might think our house was running
on magic… But, while it looks like
magic, smart home tech is more
practical than that.
Smart home tech is more
affordable and more user friendly
than ever before. If you want a
thermostat that can turn the
heating on when you’re heading
home, smart lights that do
different things at different times

62 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

of day or a hose that waters your
plants when you’re away, today’s
smart homes can do all that and
more. In this feature we’ll show
you what’s available, and how
you can add stuff to your humble
abode. From high-tech home
entertainment to smart home
security, everything you need
to know is right here.
If the tech here seems a bit
much, or a bit expensive, don’t
worry; there are simpler options.
If you don’t want or need such
home smarts you can get plenty
of app-controlled options, so for
example most wireless security
cameras have an accompanying
iPhone app, as do Bluetoothcontrolled smart bulbs and lights.

What you’ll
need…

A HomeKit hub

› From £99 › apple.com/uk
› A hub handles the communication
between your HomeKit accessories
and your Home app, and Apple
currently makes three products that
you can use as a hub – the secondgeneration HomePod, the HomePod
mini and the Apple TV 4K.

A smart home bridge
› From £51 › philips-hue.com
› Some products, such as Hue smart

bulbs, don’t let you access all their best
features unless you connect them via
a bridge; this is a wireless hub that
connects to your Wi-Fi router and
adds Hue to your network.

A smart home bridge
› From £60 › ikea.com
› Many non-HomeKit smart home

devices use Thread, a common smart
home standard, and you can use them
via a border router. HomePods mini,
second-gen HomePods and the 128GB
Apple TV 4K are also Thread border
routers; the Hue Bridge isn’t.

Image credit: Nanoleaf, Apple Inc, Signify Holding, Inter IKEA Systems BV

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 63

FEATURE Dream smart home

LIGHTING, BLINDS
& CURTAINS
Manual control? Pah! It’s time to get smart…

O

ne of the first modern
smart home tech products
available was Philips Hue
smart lighting. And the
company’s been adding to its collection of
smart lights ever since with a range that
includes outdoor lighting, batterypowered lamps, TV light strips and bulbs
of every kind. And there are interesting

The Hue app makes it easy to add your Hue Bridge
to your HomeKit network. It’s compatible with
other smart home platforms too.

smart lights from Eve and from Nanoleaf,
whose normal bulbs are supplemented by
really fun shaped lights that can produce
dynamic decorative illumination.
What’s great about smart lights, bulbs
and associated devices – such as smart
plugs, remote dimmers, switches and
increasingly, smart blinds and curtain
openers and closers – isn’t just that you
can control them remotely, via Siri or
even by geolocation so they activate
when you come home. It’s that you
can combine them into scenes.
For example, you can have a scene
that makes different lights different
colours or that uses adaptive lighting
to match the colours of daylight as the
sunlight moves from cool to warm. And
you can even include lighting in your
home entertainment; many smart lights
can sync with your music, movies or video
games (albeit often expensively – a Hue
Play HDMI Sync Box and TV lightstrip will
cost nearly £400). You can even use
smart lights on your Christmas tree.

What’s the
Matter?
Matter was designed to solve a
very annoying and confusing smart
home problem; different firms’
smart home systems often don’t
talk to one another, and it can be
hard to find out what’s compatible
with your kit. Matter is designed
to solve that by providing a shared
language for smart home devices,
and it’s supported by Apple,
Samsung, IKEA, Amazon,
Google and many more.
Apple’s support for Matter
needs you to have two things;
Matter-compatible devices that use
a networking protocol called Thread
to communicate with your home
network, and a Thread-compatible
Apple device to act as a hub. At the
moment, that means one of three
devices – the 128GB Apple TV 4K (the
64GB version isn’t compatible), the
second-generation HomePod, or
the HomePod mini. That hub then
enables you to use the Home app
and Siri on your various devices to
communicate with and control
Matter smart home kit.

How to Set up your first HomeKit device >

1 Add an accessory

Once you’ve created a home in the
Home app, tap on the ‘+’ at the top right
of the screen. This is where you add
devices. To add a new HomeKit device,
ensure your iPhone is connected to your
home Wi-Fi and tap on Add Accessory.

64 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

2 Scan the code

Apple will automatically detect
devices such as HomePods, and you’ll
find them here in ‘More options’. But for
third-party apps you’ll need to either scan
the QR code on the device or, if it has a
wireless icon, hold your iPhone close to it.

3 Use the app

Many HomeKit-compatible devices
such as bulb bridges and thermostats can
add themselves to your Home network
via their own app. We’re using the Hive
thermostat app here; all we need to do
is approve its request to join our home.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Dream smart home FEATURE

1

Nanoleaf Shapes Starter Kit
› £49.99 › nanoleaf.me
› Smart bulbs are not just about

1

clever control, and don’t have to be as
boring as ordinary bulbs. In addition
to plain old white and colour changing
smart bulbs, Nanoleaf offers a wide
range of excellent shape-based kits
– triangles, hexagons, squares and

lines – that enable you to create
your own decorative smart lighting.
You can then sync your lights to your
home entertainment system, get
them to move gently through colour
schemes or show specific colours
at particular times.

2

Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit
› £129.99 › philips-hue.com
› Although recent Hue bulbs can be

controlled over Bluetooth, you’ll get
the best experience by using them
with a Hue Bridge. The bridge
connects to your Wi-Fi router and
provides a dedicated wireless network

3

4

Nanoleaf Essentials

Eve Flare

smart bulbs are typically cheaper
than the equivalent Philips Hue and
come in a choice of B22, E27 and
GU10 to cover most home bases.
Like Hue, you can also control
these bulbs over Bluetooth.

light is portable, with up to six
hours of colourful illumination
from a single charge. It’s water
resistant to IP65 so you needn’t
fear the odd spot of rain, and it’s
Thread compatible.

› £19.99 › nanoleaf.me
› Nanoleaf’s Matter-compatible

› £89.95 › evehome.com
› Eve’s pretty colour-changing

Image credit: Nanoleaf, Signify Holding, Eve Systems

5

for all your Hue bulbs and devices,
enabling you to control them via
Home or Siri with commands such as
“Hey Siri, it’s book time!”. Hue is one of
the pricier ranges but it’s also one of
the best in terms of customisability.

6

Philips Hue
Gradient Lightstrip

Philips Hue
Smart Plug

lightstrip that’s ideal for putting
behind your TV. If you connect it to a
Hue Play HDMI Sync box you can make
the lighting match whatever you’re
watching, making your TV feel bigger.

this smart plug connects to your Hue
Bridge and enables you to add smart
home control to anything – a table
lamp, a coffee machine, or anything
else you want to control cleverly.

› £139.99 › philips-hue.com
› This is a great, albeit quite expensive

› £29.99 › philips-hue.com
› Barely bigger than a standard plug,

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 65

FEATURE Dream smart home

HOME
SECURITY
& COMFORT
Get peace of mind from smart kit

T

here’s more to
a smart home
than fancy
bulbs. Your
Apple smart home can
include smart cameras
that can spot movement,
record video and send an
alert to your iPhone; smart
thermostats that turn off the
heating when you’re out and
turn it on so everything’s
toasty when you get back
home; smart air-con to keep
you cool when the mercury
rises, and more. You can even
have smart watering to feed
your plants when you’re on
holiday or you’ve gone to bed.
One of the smartest such
devices is the smart lock. The

best smart locks can be
unlocked with your iPhone
or Apple Watch, but some
also enable you to create
temporary codes for other
people to use. That’s really
handy if you’re getting work
done in the house or want to
let friends or family in and
out, and it’s something we’re
increasingly seeing in holiday
rentals too.
It’s worth noting that
many smart security products
require a subscription to use
their best features or video
storage, and those fees, like
many app subscriptions, have
a tendency to get more
expensive over time. So do
consider this before investing.

You can create automations based on times – such as turning the
lights on at dusk – or in response to motion and other sensors.

Why not use Bluetooth
or an app instead?
Many smart home devices
have their own dedicated
iPhone/iPad apps, and
many can work without

Many Hue bulbs can be app-controlled
via Bluetooth, but you lose key features
and can only connect 10 bulbs at once.

66 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Wi-Fi because they
connect via Bluetooth.
However, that means they’re
usually limited in what they
can do – and having to use
a separate app for devices
from different firms gets
irritating very quickly.
Hue’s bulbs are a good
example of Bluetooth
limitations; if you connect
via Bluetooth instead of a
Hue Bridge, you lose some
features including Siri, you’re
limited to 10 lights and you
need to stay in Bluetooth
range, typically 10m.

4

3

Eve Thermo Smart
Radiator Valve

Aqara Smart Video
Doorbell G4

smart, you can get even more control
over your home heating – so you can
turn off the heating in specific rooms
when there’s no-one there. Eve’s
valves are particularly elegant, but
there are options from multiple firms.

couriers with this HomeKit-compatible
doorbell. It includes on-demand video
with AI-powered face recognition,
two-way audio and 1080p resolution. If
you don’t wire it in to your home, the
batteries last around four months.

› £69.95 (£229 for 4) › evehome.com
› By making individual radiators

› £119.95 › aqara.com
› Hide from cold-callers or chat with

Image credits: Apple Inc, Eve Systems, Lumi United Technology Co Ltd

Dream smart home FEATURE

1

2

Nuki Family Set

› £329 › nuki.io
› This bundle gives you Nuki’s Matter/
Wi-Fi smart door lock – the latest,
smartest Pro version – and three
wireless fobs. That means it’s ideal
for families where you might not
want the kids to have iPhones but

5

Eve Outdoor Cam

› £229.95 › evehome.com
› Designed specifically for Apple’s
HomeKit Secure Video, Eve’s highend HD security camera boasts
end-to-end encryption of all audio
and video, two-way audio, a 10-day
recording history and a built-in
floodlight with infra-red motion
detection for great home security.

Netatmo Smart Thermostat
you want them to have house keys,
and the lock itself can automatically
unlock when it detects your iPhone
approaching. You can also create
virtual keys for visitors such as
tradespeople or relatives.

6

› £159.99 › netatmo.com
› This Smart Thermostat can help you

cut your heating bills by ensuring you
don’t heat your home when you’re not
there and, if you’re out and about, you
can get it to make sure your home is
nice and toasty for when you arrive.

7

Netatmo Smart
Smoke Alarm

Eve Indoor Air
Quality Monitor

the difference between trouble and
toast, and it can send you real-time
iPhone alerts to warn you of smoke
if you’re away from home. It’s
completely stand-alone so you don’t
need to connect it to a home hub.

sensor tracks air quality, temperature
and humidity in your home, warning
you of potentially harmful emissions
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and enabling you to see if you need
to dry or vent the air at home.

› £109.95 › netatmo.com
› This optical smoke detector knows

Image credits: Nuki Home Solutions, Netatmo SA, Eve Systems

› £89.95 › evehome.com
› This award-winning indoor air

It’s voice-, app- and Siri-controllable
and can even check the weather and
adjust its programs accordingly. It can
also connect to smart radiator valves.
A three-valve bundle including the
thermostat costs £360.

8

Eve Aqua

› £129.95 › evehome.com
› Control your garden water sprinkler
system with this clever gadget. The
Aqua sits between the tap and your
hose connection to make your
plant and lawn watering HomeKit
controllable. It’s compatible with
all popular hose and multi-channel
water distributors.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 67

FEATURE Dream smart home

MULTI-ROOM
AUDIO & VIDEO
Boom! Shake the room with
these home entertainers

O

ne of our very favourite
things about Applecompatible smart
home technology is how
entertaining it is – and we mean that
literally. Being able to stream music from
our Mac, iPad or iPhone to your home hi-fi
or to have different music playing in
different rooms is a real boon for music
lovers, and being able to AirPlay video
from your iPhone or mirror your iPad’s
screen when you’re gaming is utterly
effortless on AirPlay-enabled TVs.
As you’d expect, while there are some
great options here from third-party
manufacturers, Apple’s own hardware is
often the easiest to set up and use with the
other Apple hardware you have at home; it’s
really easy to stream to a set of HomePods
or send different songs from Apple Music
to HomePod minis scattered around your
home. And we’re also big fans of the Apple
TV 4K, which has a much nicer interface
than most TV apps and which brings the
power of Siri and iCloud to your home
entertainment setup.

If you add HomePods to an Apple TV
set-up, you’ll be asked if you want to use
them as your Apple TV’s audio output.

How to Use AirPlay >

1 Select a song

Using AirPlay with speakers is really
easy. Open your music app – we’ll use
Apple Music – on your iPhone or iPad
and find the music you want. Now look
for the icon at the bottom centre that
looks like a triangle with circles above it.

68 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

2 See your speakers

Tap that icon and you’ll now see a
list of available speakers you can connect
to. At the moment, our music is playing
on our iPhone. Let’s change that and go
for the paired HomePods in our living
room. All you need to do is tap.

3 Dance, dance, dance

The Now Playing title and indicator
moves to our chosen speaker(s) and the
speakers are shown in the bottom-row
icons. Your iPhone now controls volume
and playback; use this screen and select
iPhone to return audio to your phone.

Image credit: Apple Inc

1

3

2

4

HomePod

HomePod mini

Denon AVR-S660H

Sonos Era 300

HomePods are home hubs as well
as very impressive spatial audio
speakers, and in a stereo pair they
make for a stunning music streaming
system. Add Apple TV and you’ve got
a great home cinema setup too.

are also home hubs, and while they
don’t have the power of the bigger
HomePods, they’re surprisingly
punchy – and their lower price
makes them a more affordable
way to get multi-room audio.

AirPlay 2 streaming including multiroom, as well as Siri compatibility.
It supports all the major audio and
video standards, comes with every
connection imaginable, and is
future-proof with support for 8K TV.

and its latest speakers, such as this
360° speaker, are both high quality
and high performance. There’s full
support for AirPlay 2, Dolby Atmos,
voice control and Wi-Fi for the
highest quality streaming.

› £299 › apple.com/uk
› Apple’s second-generation

5

› £99 › apple.com/uk
› The HomePods’ smaller siblings

› £399 › denon.com
› Denon’s powerful AV receiver has

8

7

6

› £399 › sonos.com
› Sonos popularised multi-room audio

Sony Bravia A80L

Samsung Q60C

LG C3

Apple TV 4K

flagship models to get AirPlay 2
support, but this is a very beautiful
TV that’s packed with features. The
combination of OLED panels and
Sony’s picture processing makes it
a great partner for your Apple TV.

affordable TVs, and this Quantum Dot
TV delivers gorgeous colours and
strong contrast that punches way
above its price tag, and is noticeably
better than similarly priced TVs
without quantum dot tech.

OLED TVs are widely regarded as the
best in the business, and the models
with 55-inch to 83-inch displays boast
cutting-edge design that delivers
even better brightness and contrast
than previous OLEDs.

not usually as good as Apple’s and
they don’t have the benefits of the
Apple TV’s tight integration with
iCloud and your Apple devices. We’d
recommend the 128GB Ethernet
model, which is a Matter home hub.

› £1,599 to £3,999 › sony.com
› You don’t need one of Sony’s

4 Pick a show

› £479 to £1,699 › samsung.com
› Samsung does amazing things with

You can AirPlay video too. Let’s
give Constellation on Apple TV+ the bigscreen treatment it deserves. To do that,
we need to open the TV app and find our
show. Play, and then tap the TV-shaped
AirPlay icon at the top of the screen.

› £1,299 to £3,999 › lg.com
› LG’s award-winning AirPlay-enabled

5 Choose your screen

As with music, we can now see a
list of available devices. For this one we
want the Apple TV in our living room,
so it’s just a matter of tapping that.
There’s then a short delay while the
connection is established.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Masimo, Sonos Inc, Sony Group Corp, Samsung, LG Electronics

› £169 › apple.com/uk
› While most TVs have apps, they’re

6 Enjoy the show

You can control your streaming
video with the Apple TV remote, with the
on-screen controls on your iPhone or via
Siri commands. To exit AirPlay it’s just
a matter of tapping the AirPlay icon on
your iPhone and then tapping on iPhone.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 69

70 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Image credit: Apple Inc

LOVE YOUR

MAC

KEEP YOUR
OLD MAC
RUNNING
PART TWO

Get that Mac out of the attic and fire it up
or you’ll never know what it’s capable of!
Written by

W

Ian Osborne

hat can you do to bring
an old Mac back to life?
Can you make it useful
again? The answer is a
definite ‘possibly’. If the hard drive is failing,
or maybe just too small, you can boot your
computer from an external drive. Older Macs
might have user-serviceable storage or
memory, so you can give your ageing
machine a boost this way.
What files and data do you have on your
old Mac? Have a root around. Could it be
hosting photos and videos from a nearforgotten holiday or event, precious pictures
that really bring back some memories?
There could be documents you put together
for a since-abandoned work project. Could
your efforts be revisited, rekindled and
renewed for something in the future? And

Image credit: Apple Inc

what about those MP3s of your old college
band? You never got that record deal, but
you could relive some good times if you
transferred them to your modern Mac.
This feature is all about breathing new
life into – or at least recovering old files from
– your long-abandoned Mac. Whether you
intend to put your ageing machine to new
uses, or simply want to explore your digital
past, we can help. We show you how to build
an external boot drive and boot your Mac
from it, find and transfer files, folders and
media and how to convert obsolete file
formats to newer ones that can be read
by more modern Macs. Whatever Mac you
have, and whatever you plan to do with it,
these tips should help you get some life out
of the old machine. They should bring back
a few memories too.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 71

FEATURE Keep your old Mac running

Boot from an external drive
How to bring your Mac back to life if the hard drive isn’t working.

T

he hard drive is one of the
most vulnerable parts of
an old computer. Moving
parts are always vulnerable
to wear and tear, and unlike modern
solid-state drives (SSDs), the hard drive
had to be in motion when data was read
from or written to the storage medium.
Another problem with old hard drives
is they’re likely to be small. When the first
Intel-powered Macs were released, they
had as little as 160GB of storage off the
shelf for the iMac, and a minuscule 60GB
for the Mac mini or MacBook. What can
you do with so little storage these days?
If you’re lucky enough to have a Mac
that lets you change the hard drive, you
can buy a replacement of the same size
(almost certainly 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch),
and connect it to your Mac using a caddy
or a docking station, then clone the
current drive to its replacement. You
then simply turn off, swap the drives and
reboot. Alternatively, set up an external
drive as your Mac’s boot drive. If your

How’s your
memory?

A hard drive docking station is useful when cloning
your internal drive to a replacement one.

Mac uses the older PowerPC processor
you can only boot it from a FireWire
drive, but Intel Macs can be booted
from a USB drive.
Booting from an external drive is
likely to make your Mac run a lot slower,
especially if it’s limited to USB 2.0
speeds, but even this is sufficient if you
only want to recover old files and media
from your redundant Mac.

You can greatly speed up an older
Mac by adding more memory. This
isn’t possible with Apple silicon Macs
as the memory chips are integrated
into the processors. Many of the
later Intel Macs featured memory
soldered onto the logic board, so they
too cannot be upgraded after
purchase. But if your Mac’s memory
can be upgraded, you can still buy
third-party memory sticks.
If you go to uk.crucial.com, you
can enter your model of Mac and find
if they have compatible memory and/
or SSDs for sale. Also, take a look at
the service guides at ifixit.com. Find
your model of Mac, and if there’s a
guide to servicing the memory
(RAM), you can upgrade yours.

Top 5 boot drives for your old Mac

XUM HX480G
SSD SATA3
› £29.99 › xumenterprise.com
If you’re looking for an
internal drive to replace your
old hard drive, this 2.5-inch
model does the trick. It’s
inexpensive, and at 480GB,
it’s likely to dwarf your old
HDD. It’s ideal for older laptop
models that have replaceable
storage drives.

Toshiba Canvio
Partner 1TB
Portable 2.5in
External HDD

Seagate
Momentus 500GB
SATA 2.5 inch
Internal HD

› £52.99 › toshiba.co.uk
We wouldn’t recommend
using a Mac from a USB boot
drive for long. But to rescue
what you can from a failing
internal drive, this Toshiba
model is impressive. Use it for
storage afterwards.

› £13.49 › seagate.com
Seagate’s Momentus hard
drive isn’t the fastest, but it
boasts an 8GB solid-state
cache for the OS. This makes it
quicker to boot than a regular
HDD. It’s very cheap too, costing
less than £15 on Amazon.

72 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

WD Elements
Desktop Hard
Drive 4TB
› £112.99 › westerndigital.com
You get more storage for
your money when you buy a
desktop drive, but they need
their own power connection.
If you’re looking for storage,
you could boot your old Mac
from this drive, and wipe it for
your data when done.

FireWire Drives
› £various
› ebay.co.uk or amazon.co.uk
If you have a PowerPC Mac
you need to boot from an
external drive, it has to be
a FireWire model. They’re out
of date now and no longer
made, but you can get old
models at reasonable prices
from online sites such as
eBay or Amazon.

Image credits: RSHTECH, XUM Enterprise Ltd, Toshiba Corp, Seagate Technology LLC, Western Digital Corp, LaCie

Keep your old Mac running FEATURE

HOW TO Clone and boot from an external drive >

1 Check the drive size

If your removable internal hard drive
is failing but not yet dead, the easiest
way to replace it is to clone it. First,
check the size of drive you need. In a
notebook it’s likely a 2.5-inch drive, but
a desktop might take a 3.5-inch model.

2 Download CCC

Connect your new drive to your
Mac using a docking station or a USB
caddy, then go to bombich.com and
follow the steps to download a copy
of Carbon Copy Cloner. It’s available
for macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later.

4 Make an external one 5 Download the OS

3 Swap the drives

Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone
your hard drive to your new drive. The
trial version of the app is sufficient. When
it’s done, swap your internal drive for
the new one. You might want to run
Disk Utility’s First Aid afterwards.

6 Prep the drive

If your old Mac’s hard drive is too
damaged to boot from, you can make
an external boot drive instead. For this
guide, we’re going to use OS X 10.7
(Lion). It’s old, but it still works on
a lot of legacy Macs.

First of all, go to support.apple.com
and search for the Lion installer. Or you
can download it from the Mac App Store.
For this guide, you might need to use an
older Mac if your main machine is an
Apple silicon model.

7 Copy file

8 Make the boot drive 9 Restart your Mac

Ctrl-click on your ‘Install OS X 10.7
Lion’ app and click on Show Package
Contents. Next, navigate to Contents
> SharedSupport and Ctrl-click on
InstallESD.dmg. Then select Copy
‘InstallESD.dmg’.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Western Digital Corp, Bombich Software

Ctrl-click on the desktop and select
Paste Item. In Disk Utility, click on your
external drive in the sidebar, and click
the Restore tab. Click the Image button,
and navigate to the InstallESD.dmg file.
Click Choose, then Restore.

Find an external drive or a USB flash
drive of at least 8GB to use for the boot
drive. If there’s anything else on there
you want to keep, transfer it now.
Then, in Disk Utility, erase it in Mac
OS Extended (Journaled) format.

With your new boot drive plugged
in, restart your Intel Mac. When you hear
the startup chime, press and hold the
Option key until this screen appears.
Choose your boot drive with the arrow
keys and press Return.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 73

FEATURE Keep your old Mac running

Move, migrate and minimise
How to slim down that old, small hard drive so your Mac runs faster.

A

nother way to make
your old Mac run faster
is to declutter its hard
drive. Getting rid of old,
unwanted apps, backing up and archiving
media and files you’re not likely to need
any time soon and moving currently used
media to external drives. Moving large

Back up, back
up, back up
You can never have too many
backups. Before migrating your media
libraries from your old Mac’s hard
drive to an external drive, it’s a good
idea to back them up. There are
numerous ways to do this. As
discussed before, you can clone your
hard drive in its entirety. You can
simply drag your media onto another
external drive or even a DVD burner to
protect against loss while migrating.
And don’t forget Time Machine. As
long as your older Mac runs OS X 10.5
Leopard or later, that’s an option.

media files such as your music, movie
and photos libraries does much to free
up valuable hard drive space.
Moving your media is sensible for
other reasons too. If the hard drive inside
your Mac is as old as the Mac itself (which
it probably is), it could fail at any time.
Therefore moving your media to a new
external drive is a sensible safeguard
against failure. And don’t forget to take
a belts-and-braces approach and make
regular backups too.
When getting rid of unwanted apps,
it’s best to use a clean installer such as
the free AppCleaner (freemacsoft.net/
appcleaner) or AppZapper (appzapper.
com), which allows five uninstalls before
you have to pay. Whatever operating
system you use there’s likely to be a
clean installer that runs on it, so have a
look around. Then delve into your Mac’s
Applications folder, and drag anything
you don’t need onto the clean installer
window (they nearly all work like that).
Uninstall when prompted, and the app
is completely removed, including system
files that might be left behind if you
simply dragged the app into the bin
and emptied it.

AppCleaner not only removes the app, but also
system files it might otherwise leave behind.

Moving your media to an external
drive also frees up space on your boot
drive. As this article is about extending
the life of an old, tired Mac, we’re using
an ancient MacBook Air running macOS
High Sierra to show you how it’s done in
the walkthrough below, but these steps
should work pretty much the same for
most older operating systems.
With your photos, music and videos
on an external drive, not only can you
delete them from your main drive to
save valuable space, but you also have
a backup in case that drive should fail.

HOW TO Move your media >

1 Move from iPhoto

Open iPhoto, click on the File menu
and choose Export. In the window that
pops up, choose File Export and choose
your options. Click Export, and you can
export them to an external drive and
transfer them to your current Mac.

74 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

2 Music from iTunes

To rescue music files you have in
iTunes and want to copy to your current
Mac’s Music app, select Home from the
Go item in the menu bar. Go to Music >
iTunes > iTunes Media > Music and copy
the contents to an external drive.

3 Find old documents

This is an easy one. Your Documents
folder should be in the Finder window’s
sidebar, or if it isn’t, use the Go menu bar
item to reach it. From there, simply copy
the documents you need to an external
drive and transfer them.

Image credits: Apple Inc, FreeMacSoft

Keep your old Mac running FEATURE

Things to consider while migrating files
Migrating files isn’t a difficult process,
but you might find files taken from
your older Mac need to be converted
into a more modern format before they
can be used on your current Mac. If
your new Mac struggles to play a video
file, go to handbrake.fr and download the
correct version of the Handbrake open
source video transcoder. It’s free, and it
can convert pretty much any video file
to a modern encoding.
If you have an archive you can’t open
on your newer Mac, there’s Pacifist

If you need to convert video files to another format,
Handbrake is your friend.

(charlessoft.com). There are versions
for Macs running Mac OS X 10.2 and
above, and it can open almost any
compressed archive.
Modern versions of the iWork apps
– Pages, Numbers and Keynote – should
open docs produced on older releases,
but if you have to go the other way and
save out a document for use in an older
release, there’s a solution. In the File
menu, choose Export To. You can then
save it as an older version of its own app,
in Microsoft Office format and more.

HOW TO Move iMovie files to a new Mac >

1 iMovie 10

If you have old iMovie projects you
want to transfer to your current Mac,
you need to convert them before they
work in the latest release of Apple’s
video editor, iMovie 10. Don’t panic!
Luckily, this isn’t difficult to do.

2 Copy the files

Find an external storage drive that’s
definitely large enough to hold the iMovie
projects you want to transfer, and plug it
into your old Mac. Next, launch iMovie on
your old Mac – the drive should be listed
in the Project Library.

4 Move external drive 5 Update projects
You’ll find the projects on the
external or USB drive in a folder called
iMovie Projects. Eject the drive from
your old Mac in the usual way, and plug
it into your current Mac, the one you
want to transfer them to.

Image credits: Apple Inc, The Handbrake Team

When you plug in the external drive,
iMovie 10 should immediately find the old
files and offer to update the projects for
use with the newer version of iMovie.
Just click Update in the pop-up window
and they’re imported.

3 Copy projects

Click and drag the projects you
want to transfer to your main Mac onto
the external drive or USB flash drive you
plugged in during the previous step.
The projects are then simply copied
over to the drive.

6 Update manually

If iMovie 10 doesn’t invite you
to update the projects, in the app’s
File menu in the menu bar, choose the
Update Projects and Events. This window
pops up, from where you can update
your iMovie projects.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 75

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BUYING
ADVICE
Our authoritative reviews
help you make more
informed choices

Contact us

EDITED BY

Email your queries and
your questions to
letters@macformat.com

ROB MEAD-GREEN

Our ratings
78

Our reviews are totally
independent; we’re not
affiliated with Apple or
anyone else, nor are we
influenced by advertisers.

A truly exceptional product.
Award given solely at the
discretion of the editor.

81
HARDWARE
78 Synology BeeStation

The best example of its
kind when pitted against
comparable products.

80 LaCie Rugged Mini SSD
81 1More Penta Driver P50
82 TP-Link Archer Air R5/E5

A brilliant thing

84 Logitech MX Brio

86

85 Anker MagGo Power Bank (10K)
Strongly recommended

Worth considering

Notable flaws

A waste of your money

SOFTWARE
86 Group test: Email apps
92 Sonic Dream Team
93 Calm: Sleep & Meditation
94 Rainbow Weather
96 App round-up: Six of the
best apps for text and speech

Image credits: Synology Inc, UK 1MORE, Apple Inc, SEGA

92

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 77

APPLE CHOICE Hardware

Synology BeeStation
Affordable network storage with Time Machine support

£208.79 FROM synology.com FEATURES Realtek RTD1619B processor, 1GB DDR memory, 4TB storage, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port,
1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, 1x Gb Ethernet port, 148x63x196mm, 820g NEEDS macOS 12.3 or later, iOS 15 or later

It sits happily
on your home
network, so
you can also
access its files
when away
from home

The fixed hard drive space
may be an issue for some, but
the services offered make it a
very user-friendly option.

78 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

ver since Apple
which glows, pulses or changes
stopped making its
colour depending on what the
AirPort Time Capsule
BeeStation’s currently doing.
in 2018, Mac users have been
faced with a dilemma. You can
either sync all your devices using
Setting up the BeeStation is
iCloud and team it with Time
relatively straightforward. With
Machine backups made locally;
the device connected, you simply
or you can invest in Network
scan the QR code included on the
Attached Storage NAS) – a mass
BeeStation’s base or in the Quick
storage device that sits on your
Start menu, or you can head to
network and acts as a personal
portal.bee.synology.com/setup
cloud, of sorts, and can be
on your Mac. From there, you
accessed by all your devices on
can get the BeeStation set up on
that network and/or remotely
your network and download the
via the internet. While traditional
appropriate apps. On Mac, that’s
NAS can be complicated to set
BeeStation Desktop; and on
up and tricky to use, more useriPhone or iPad, it’s BeeFiles and
friendly alternatives like WD’s My
BeePhotos. BeeFiles is a bit like the
Cloud exist. And now there’s the
Files app in that it gives you access
Considering its home-use bias,
Synology BeeStation too.
to any files you’ve uploaded or
the BeeStation is quite stark
The BeeStation takes
synced to the BeeStation, while
and utilitarian in design.
Synology’s networked drive
BeePhotos creates a backup of all
know-how and puts it in a much more homethe images you’ve stored in Photos, then gives
friendly format than its more business-oriented
you easy access to them. BeeStation Desktop
NAS. It strips away many of the things you’re
for Mac goes further still, offering two-way
unlikely to need as a home user and focuses
syncing of files and folders on your Mac.
on those that you do. The question is, has
You can also opt to create one-way
Synology taken too much away, or has it
backups, which you can then restore from
got the balance just right?
should you delete a needed file from your Mac
The BeeStation itself comprises a textured
by mistake. For fans of the original AirPort
black plastic box inside which you’ll find a 4TB
Time Capsule, the BeeStation offers another
hard drive, powered by a Realtek RTD1619B
alternative: network backup via Apple’s Time
processor running Synology’s own BeeStation
Machine. Head to System Settings > Advanced
OS. Around the back there’s a selection of
Settings in the BeeStation’s web interface to
ports: 1x USB-A, 1x USB-C and 1x Gigabit
grant local access, mount the drive on your
Ethernet. On the front is an LED status light,
Mac via SMB, then point Time Machine at it
and let it do its thing. You can also use the
USB-A or USB-C ports on the back to connect
an external drive – either to quickly copy files
to the BeeStation when doing so via Wi-Fi
would take too long; or to use the external
drive as a backup for the BeeStation itself.
In use, the BeeStation couldn’t be simpler.
BeeFiles, BeePhotos and BeeStation Desktop
all do a great job of making choosing,
fetching, backing up and deleting files easy,

E

Simple storage

Image credit: Synology Inc

The BeeStation offers
a good selection of ports
and a clear LED status light.

and it’s great to have a dedicated app for
Mac rather than relying exclusively on a web
interface as WD’s My Cloud Home does. True,
BeeStation Desktop does occasionally kick
you over to your web browser (like in the Time
Machine set-up example mentioned) but it’s
rare enough not to feel too painful. And as the
BeeStation sits happily on your home network,
you can of course also access its files when
away from home using either the relevant app
or by using any web browser pointed to the
correct, secure location.

A few limitations
There are a couple of things that count
against the BeeStation, though. For one, the
BeeStation’s black-clad plastic exterior looks
utilitarian rather than stylish, and unlike other
Synology NAS there are no expansion options
– 4TB of 5,400rpm hard drive storage is what
you’re stuck with, with no option to swap out
the drive for a larger version, or any slots to
add super-fast solid-state drives (SSDs). And
Synology also offers more stylish and flexible
alternatives – its 1-bay DS120J and 2-bay
DS223J NAS, for example, can be bought
without storage onboard for just £120.99 and
£189.99 respectively – and that means you can
choose the right amount of storage that’s

Image credit: Synology Inc

appropriate for your circumstances and swap
it out later if you need more, or if the drive
you added fails at some point in the future.
Synology’s other NAS also use its DiskStation
OS which, while more complicated, also offers
a great deal more in terms of supported file
types and apps. While you can happily run a
Plex media server on a regular Synology NAS,
you can’t do the same on a BeeStation. You
also can’t simply choose to move your Music
or TV media libraries to your BeeStation and
expect them to work – we tried, even going
so far as to download some shows from Apple
TV+, only to see them fail every time.
And while the BeeStation supports cloud
syncing with Dropbox, Google Drive and
Microsoft OneDrive, iCloud isn’t included –
the only exception is iCloud Photos when
used with the BeePhotos app.
The BeeStation then is much akin to
WD’s My Cloud Home – a personal cloud server
you can use to access files from anywhere.
However, while an equivalent 4TB My Cloud
Home will cost you £174.99 compared to
the BeeStation’s £208.79, the BeeStation
ultimately wins out – and it’s BeeStation
Desktop for Mac, and BeeFiles and BeePhotos
for iOS/iPadOS that you can thank for that.
Rob Mead-Green

VERDICT

It’s the BeeStation’s
software that makes
this a great first NAS,
we’d have loved to
see some expansion
options though.

★★★★★
Easy-to-use
network storage
Mac, iPhone
and iPad apps
No expansion options
Limited feature set

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 79

APPLE CHOICE Hardware

A flush-fit rubber plug
in the same iconic
orange keeps dirt
from its USB-C port.

LaCie Rugged Mini SSD
Rugged external SSD storage

£232.99 2TB as tested (from £95.99 500GB to £427.99 4TB) FROM lacie.com FEATURES Bus-powered solid-state external drive,
1x USB-C port (USB 3.2 gen 2x2), water and dust-resistant to IP54, 17.3x66.9x105.3mm, 114g

Its rubber
plug keeps dirt
out, and the
luminous
orange cover is
highly visible

VERDICT

Well designed and
thoroughly proficient
rugged solid-state
storage built to
withstand rough use.

★★★★★
Robust and compact
Distinctive design
1GB/sec speed limit
No SMART indicators

80 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

aCie first launched its rugged
external drive in an iconic luminous
orange rubber enclosure, designed
by Neil Poulton, nearly 20 years ago. This
latest model follows in that tradition, replacing
the spinning hard drive with modern solid-state
storage. These are inherently more robust, and
LaCie’s new Rugged Mini SSD gains much from
its clean and distinctive design.
LaCie claims the enclosure is resistant
to dust, dirt and splashing water to IP54,
although that resistance stops well short of
full immersion, that it survives dropping from
a height of three metres, and the pressure of a
one-ton car tyre. In practice, its flush-fit rubber
plug keeps dirt out of its USB-C port, and the
cover makes it easy to handle and above all
visible. You won’t have any trouble finding
this drive in the bottom of a crowded rucksack.
As the plug covering the port isn’t tethered,
you’ll need to be careful to push it fully home
to ensure it doesn’t go missing. Its short USB-C
cable is the same luminous orange.
Inside the rubber and its tough sintered
metal case is the SSD itself, available in four
capacities from 500GB to 4TB. Unfortunately,
for Mac users it’s built to the USB 3.2 gen 2x2
standard that’s capable of delivering 20Gbps,
except when connected to Macs and Apple
devices, which can only run it at half that

L

speed. It does, though, deliver as good a
performance as any USB 3 drive, with read
speeds consistently slighter faster than 1GB/
sec, and write speeds of 950-970MB/sec. With
Apple’s current range of hardware, the only
way you’ll better those is by paying a limb or
two more for full-blown Thunderbolt 3 support.

Otherwise Apple friendly
Its USB interface also disqualifies it from giving
access to its SMART health indicators, unless
you’re prepared to install the SAT SMART
extension on your Mac, a choice that currently
requires Apple silicon models to run macOS at
Reduced Security. In all other respects, it’s fully
Mac- and iPad-friendly, formats happily in any
variant of APFS, and readily accepts a full
macOS installation so that it can be used as
a startup disk for Intel or Apple silicon Macs.
Support is as you’d expect from a premium
brand – three years warranty, a data recovery
service, and a month’s free subscription to
Adobe Creative Cloud as a bonus. LaCie also
reassures us that this drive contains at least
30% recycled materials.
If you want an external SSD that performs
well and is built to withstand the knocks and
grime of everyday use, then LaCie may have
just what you want in this stand-out design.
Howard Oakley

Image credit: LaCie

1More Penta Driver P50
Who needs wireless earbuds when you can have these?

£169.99 FROM uk.1more.com FEATURES In-ear wired headphones with five-driver array, detachable 1.25m oxygen-free copper
(OFC) cable, 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm to USB-C adaptor, eight pairs of ear tips (Silicone: XS, S, M, L, XL/Foam: S, M, L),
20Hz-40kHz frequency response, 32 ohms impedance, 21g
inyl’s back, indie record shops are
booming, and now wired earbuds
are gaining popularity again too –
and for anyone who takes their old-school
listening pleasures even remotely seriously,
that’s a good thing. Trust us.
China’s 1More is leading the charge on the
wired headphone front with its Penta P50
in-ears eschewing the Bluetooth connectivity
and compressed dynamics of wireless earbuds
(we’re looking at you, AirPods). Instead you get
a 1.25m oxygen-free copper cable, dangling on
the end of which are a pair of earbuds, with each
one incorporating not one but five speaker
drivers for superior sound quality. There’s even
an inline three-button remote with microphone
for making and taking calls, switching between
tracks between playback and adjusting volume.
In the book-like box, you’ll get eight pairs of
ear tips to ensure you get the perfect fit; five in
silicone ranging from extra small (XS or 10.6mm)
to extra large (XL or 14.3mm), plus three foam
tips: small (S or 11mm), medium (M or 12mm) and
large (L or 12.8mm). Plus there’s a 3.5mm to
USB-C adaptor so you can plug the headphones
into your iPhone 15 (there’s no Lightning adaptor
sadly) as well as a soft carry pouch.
Slightly curiously, the 1More Penta earbuds
are designed to sit at a 45° angle in your ears

V

VERDICT

Sometimes the old
way of doing things is
best – and the 1More
Penta’s performance
proves it.

★★★★★
Fantastic
sound quality
Passive noise
reduction
Detachable cable
No Lightning adaptor

Image credit: UK 1MORE

with the cable looping over and behind them
using the integrated hooks. That helps keep
them secure (handy when working out) while
the wired design also means you’re unlikely
to lose them. Plus the cable is detachable, so
you can replace it if necessary should it ever
break. While the cable feels a little thin, it also
feels robust. The lack of a hard case for the
earbuds is a bit of a disappointment, though,
especially at this price.

Powerful sound
But all those niggles fade away when you
pop the Penta in your ears and start listening,
with the earbuds delivering a lossless, tour de
force performance that’ll put most wireless
earbuds to shame. Crank up Dua Lipa’s Houdini
and you’re rewarded with a faithful rendition
of the song’s driving bass line while Dua sings
seductively over the top, and Nick Cave’s
baritone on La Vie En Rose (from the Apple
TV+ show The New Look) sounds suitably
sonorous and life-like – it’s like he’s sitting at
the piano in your room, singing just for you.
While there’s no active noise cancellation
(ANC), the passive noise reduction offered by
the ear tips does a great job of cutting out
background sounds. Lost in music? Oh yes,
you will be. Rob Mead-Green

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 81

APPLE CHOICE Hardware

TP-Link Archer
Air R5/E5

A modern networking system for today’s home

Archer Air R5 £139.99; Archer Air E5 £119.99 FROM tp-link.com/uk
FEATURES Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), 2x Ethernet ports on R5, for cable or fibre connections, smart antennas

The extender
connects to
your router’s
Wi-Fi network
then duplicates
its access
points

The system is easy to set up
he modern home places
and use. It’s just a case of plugging
far more demands on
it into your modem. It doesn’t have
a domestic wireless
an integrated ADSL modem, but its
network than before. It’s no
WAN port connects to a DSL, cable
longer the case that you only need
or fibre modem easily enough.
your phone and your computer to
Wirelessly connecting the extender
connect and go online. Today, all
to the router is a simple task too,
sorts of devices demand internet
using the free iPhone app. The
access, such as tablets, televisions,
Archer R5 only has two Ethernet
games consoles, connected home
ports, and one of them is the WAN
devices and more.
port, and the E5 extender has none
The latest home networking
at all. This is a significant drawback if
technologies such as TP-Link’s
While connection options are
you have a lot of cabled connections.
AX3000 Archer Air R5 router and limited on the router, both
units are sleek and stylish.
There’s no USB port for networking
AX3000 Archer Air E5 extender
your printer or portable storage drive either.
answer these demands. The latest wireless
But if it lacks physical connection options,
protocol, 802.11ax which is also known as Wi-Fi 6,
it certainly isn’t short of style. Both the router
is not only faster than previous standards but is
and the extender are the size and shape of a
also designed to cope with a greater number of
10-inch tablet, with dimensions of around
simultaneous connections. By handling network
21x15x1.1cm. They really are that thin. Designed
traffic more efficiently, Wi-Fi 6 can give a
to be wall-mounted (but just as at home on a
reduction in latency of up to 75%.
shelf or in a cupboard), their soft white finish and
The Archer Air R5 is fast too. We’re promised
lack of ugly antennas and LEDs make them neat
a maximum speed of 3Gbps overall, with the
and unobtrusive wherever you locate them.
5GHz channel offering 2,402Mbps and the
2.4GHz channel 574Mbps. It would be faster
still if it used the later Wi-Fi 6E protocol, which
also offers a 6GHz channel, but alas, it doesn’t.
In our tests, the devices performed admirably.
It’s backwards compatible with earlier Wi-Fi
While sitting next to the router, which was
standards, though, so you don’t have to
connected to the internet on the ground floor,
replace devices that are pre-Wi-Fi 6.
we got speeds very close to what our ISP said
When paired with the Archer E5 extender,
was the maximum possible. Moving to the attic,
you get a better range for your home network.
we lost very little in the way of speed and
The extender connects to your router’s Wi-Fi
connection strength, even though we were
network then duplicates its access points,
then two floors away from the router. Adding
extending the distance from the router that
the extender, and positioning it on the first floor,
your network reaches. Because it duplicates
we once again achieved speeds very close to
the router’s access settings, you don’t have
our service maximum. Obviously the exact
to log out of your router’s Wi-Fi and log in to
speeds you get depend as much on your chosen
the extender’s. It’s completely seamless; you
service as your router, but the advertised speeds
can walk around your house listening to Apple
here seem entirely achievable.
Music on your iPhone without even noticing
Overall, the two devices offer excellent
when the access point changes.
performance in a neat package. Ian Osborne

T

Speedy and stylish

VERDICT

Great performance
in a usefully slim form
factor. It’s a pity there
are only two Ethernet
ports, but switches
are cheap.

★★★★★
Easy to set up and use
Neat and unobtrusive
Only two Ethernet
ports provided
Not Wi-Fi 6E

82 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

TP-Link Archer Air R5/E5 APPLE CHOICE

When paired together, the Air
R5 and E5 provide excellent
speed and signal strength.

Image credit: TP-Link Corp Ltd

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 83

APPLE CHOICE Hardware

The Logitech MX Brio is a top
performer in various conditions.

Logitech MX Brio
A champion of webcams in the darkness

£219.99 FROM logitech.com FEATURES 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, 8.5MP sensor, autofocus, automatic light correction,
90° field of view, dual beamforming microphones, privacy cover, 1.5m USB-C to USB-C cable

In low light
conditions, the
Logitech MX
Brio performed
outstandingly
well

VERDICT

An excellent (if
pricey) webcam that
trades blows with
Continuity Camera.

★★★★★
Brilliant lowlight performance
Fine-control software
Built-in privacy cover
Show Mode
is a bit fiddly

84 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

ver since Continuity Camera came
along, it’s been hard to justify
buying a standalone webcam – few
devices can compete with your iPhone’s
lenses, after all. The Logitech MX Brio,
however, might change your mind.
It’s one of the only webcams that can trade
blows with an iPhone. Logitech has taken its
standard 4K Brio camera and given it a series
of upgrades that make a real difference.
For one thing, there’s a new Sony Starvis
sensor and a new five-element wide-angle lens.
Logitech says the MX Brio offers more natural
colours compared to the original Brio, as well
as faster autofocus and better performance
in difficult lighting conditions.
So how does it stack up? When put against
Continuity Camera running on an iPhone 12
Pro, the MX Brio had an inauspicious start. In
ideal conditions with a light source positioned
in front of us, Continuity Camera offered a
superior picture that was sharper, warmer
and lighter. Score one to Apple.
Yet everything changed once conditions
took a turn for the worse. In low light, the MX
Brio performed outstandingly well. While
Continuity Camera struggled to keep us well
lit and separated from the background, the
MX Brio kept our face bright and distinct, even
when the only light source originated from our

E

Mac’s display. With a bright light behind us, the
MX Brio came out on top again, offering better
brightness, warmth and accuracy compared to
the iPhone. The results were closer here, but
the MX Brio’s quality was undeniable.

Watch out, Apple
The MX Brio comes with a built-in privacy
shutter (which iPhones lack), a solid aluminium
frame and a Show Mode akin to macOS’s Desk
View; start tilting the camera downwards, and
the image flips to show whatever is on your
desk. This works well, although it means you
must physically move your camera to use it,
which is fiddly and could make it hard to get
a consistent image across different sessions.
But it’s useful, nonetheless.
Logitech’s companion app, Logi Options+,
gives plenty of control over the visual output.
You can adjust white balance, contrast, tint,
shutter speed, and more. The MX Brio also
comes with dual beamforming microphones.
In our tests, these were much louder than the
iPhone’s mics, but also produced more echo.
We’ll chalk this up as a draw.
The MX Brio joins a small group of webcams
that can go toe-to-toe with Continuity Camera.
At £220 it’s expensive but is worth considering
for its superb performance in awkward lighting
conditions alone. Alex Blake

Image credit: Logitech

Hardware APPLE CHOICE

Anker A1564 MagGo
Power Bank (10K)
A pocket-sized portable charger for when you need it most
£89.99 FROM anker.com/uk FEATURES Qi2 power bank with MagSafe, 10,000mAh capacity,
15W ultra-fast wireless charging/27W wired charging, integrated Smart Display, USB-C port
(0.6m USB-C to USB-C cable included), integrated stand, 107.3x68.8x19.8mm, 250g

The A1564’s
high quality
look and feel
make this a
premium
choice

hile recent iPhones should have
no problem lasting all day on
a single charge, it’s always
worthwhile having a power bank to hand.
That’s especially if you tend to take a lot
of photos/videos or are busy gaming or
watching the latest TikToks on your daily
commute. And that’s where this pocketsized charger from Anker comes in.
Available in black or white and
measuring a chunky 107.3x68.8x19.8mm
and weighing 250g, it’ll charge your
iPhone an extra 1.8 times – ensuring
you have more than enough juice
to power through your day.
As well as having a
10,000mAh capacity battery on
board, the Anker A1564 comes
with a Qi2-compatible MagSafe
magnet so you can securely attach it
to your iPhone. Plus, it has an integrated
metal stand that’ll enable you to prop up
your iPhone for movie viewing or gaming,
or when using iOS 17’s StandBy mode.

W

Pocketable power

VERDICT

A great way to boost
your iPhone on the go.

★★★★★
Premium power bank
Built-in display
MagSafe/Qi2
Integrated stand

Image credit: Fantasia Trading LLC

On the left side of the power bank, you’ll find
a two-way USB-C port for charging both the
power bank or your iPhone (using the 0.6m
USB-C to USB-C cable supplied), while on
the right there’s a colour Smart Display. This
shows how much charge remains in the power
bank and gives you an estimate (in hours and
minutes) for how long it’ll last. The display
automatically lights up when you connect the
power bank to your iPhone, while a recessed
button on the same side lights it up at other
times – handy when you just want to check the
amount of battery life before heading out, say.
Unlike the Anker Prime A1340 we tested in
#MF401, the A1564 can’t be monitored via the
Anker app, although it’s not really an issue for
a device as compact as this.

The good-looking A1564 is
a premium and powerful
charger that will see your
devices through the day.

While the Anker A1564 is expensive
relative to cheapies found in petrol stations
and elsewhere, its high quality look and feel,
as well as its features, make this a premium
choice. In use, its magnet clamped on to an
iPhone 15 Pro reassuringly well and the
charger boosted its battery from 87% to
95% in 22 minutes via 15W wireless charging
(the maximum allowed by Apple). The
A1564 will, however, charge faster using the
wired USB-C connection (with up to 27W
available), for when you’re really in a pinch
and have a cable to hand. You could even use
it to top up your USB-C iPad or charge two
separate devices at once (one via MagSafe
and one via USB-C).
Overall, this is a brilliant little power bank
that you’ll be more than happy to stow in a
pocket or bag every time you leave home.
Rob Mead-Green

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 85

The best
email apps
for Mac

Get to the heart of the
news you want to read

86 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

mail doesn’t look
like it’s going
anywhere. Indeed,
figures suggest that we’re
sending and receiving more
emails each year than ever
before (according to Statistica,
347 million were sent last year
and 2024 looks set to surpass
that number). With that in
mind, it’s crucial we’re using
the correct tools to manage
our overflowing inboxes. One
thing’s for sure, we’re not
short of choices.
As you’ll discover in
this head-to-head of six
email apps for Mac, there
are some exciting approaches
to this age-old method of
communication. As well as
Apple Mail itself, which we
include as a benchmark of
sorts because it’s the default
on macOS, there is a strong
line-up of apps from thirdparty developers. These
include familiar names – we’re
looking at you Microsoft and
Mozilla – but there’s younger
blood in there too.
So let’s take a look at
what’s available and see which
of these email apps is going to
get pinned to the top of our
list. Is it worth paying for an
email client or can you do just
as much with a free one?

E

How we tested

Group
test
Reviewed by
DAVID CROOKES

ON TEST…
> Canary Mail
> Mail
> Microsoft Outlook
> Spark +AI
> Spike
> Thunderbird
Image credit: Apple Inc

The first test with each app
was to check how easily email
accounts could be imported.
Once up and running, it was
then a simple case of using
the apps as part of our daily
lives, regularly checking for
new emails, performing
searches, writing and replying
to messages, and looking at
each client’s organisational
features. It was important to
test the apps on an iPhone,
iPad and Apple Watch and
to get to grips with an app’s
novel functions such as AI.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 87

APPLE CHOICE Group test
Things to
consider…

1

Can it sort messages well?

2

Multiple accounts?

3

Will it work across
platforms?

Nobody wants to have to deal
with an overflowing inbox full of
irrelevant emails so look out for
smart mailboxes, AI assistance
and effective methods to block
unwanted correspondence.

Most email apps will support
Gmail and Outlook accounts but what if
you use a less common service such as
Hey? Will you be able to set them up?

Although we’re looking at Mac email
apps here, you’re also likely to check
your messages on an iPhone, iPad,
Apple Watch and, dare we say, an
Android device or PC.

4

Is it convenient?

Scheduling, reminders, improved
search, and artificial intelligence (AI)
will make life so much easier.

1

Mail

Canary Mail
Free (IAPs) FROM canarymail.io
Canary Mail looks
almost identical to
Apple’s Mail and it primarily
sells itself on using artificial
intelligence (AI) to help you
manage your inbox. The
app’s offer of end-to-end
email encryption is just
as eye-catching, particularly
as it uses Pretty Good Privacy
(PGP) protection (as long as
you subscribe). By providing
cryptographic privacy, you
can be sure only the intended
recipient can access your
emails. And, with a promise
not to mine messages for
marketing purposes, Canary
Mail offers solid privacy.
But what of AI? Canary’s
Copilot sits in a sidebar ready

1

88 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Free FROM apple.com/uk
to assist: you could ask it to
scour your emails to find your
availability for a certain day,
say, or move your messages.
Subscribe to the app and its
AI can auto-write messages
based on your prompts and
summarise a conversation
with a single click. The trouble
is, too many key features are
for Pro subscribers (such as
pinned emails and push
notifications), which stops us
singing this app’s praises.

VERDICT
Copilot is very smart
Interface is Mail-esque
Offers strong encryption
Some basic features need Pro

★★★★★

Most of us are
familiar with Apple’s
Mail app and it’s a powerful
performer these days.
Previously criticised for being
functional and unexciting, it
now offers many useful
features such as being able to
schedule emails, undo email
sending, receive notifications
if someone doesn’t respond,
and set reminders if you can’t
get back to someone
immediately.
In catching up, moving to
an alternative app feels less
pressing especially if you just
want something solid that
works across Apple devices.
Smart inboxes filter emails
well and large files can be

2

sent using Mail Drop.
Subscribe to iCloud+ and
you can generate random,
unique email addresses too.
But it’s not without
annoyances. While searching
is fast and flexible, Mail splits
the results, showing two
items as Top Hits rather
than get straight into
showing everything in date
order. It’s also dropped legacy
plug-ins in favour of more
restricted extensions.

VERDICT
Customisable interface
Can hide email addresses
Apple device integration
Search results

★★★★★

Image credits: Apple Inc, Canary Mail

Mail apps APPLE CHOICE

2

3

4

Microsoft Outlook
Free (IAPs) FROM microsoft.com
Outlook pops with
colour and it’s used
very well. Aside from making
it easier to see the New Email
button, the mailboxes use
coloured icons to represent
contacts, letting you quickly
spot messages at a glance.
You can change the theme
from the default blue if you
wish and enjoy many other
customisation options.
Smart filters separate
the inbox into Focused for
important messages and
Other for the rest, but it
won’t automatically organise
invoices, tickets and the like.
Hover over a message and
you’ll be able to flag, pin or
trash it. You can also view

3

Image credit: Apple Inc, Microsoft, Spark Mail Ltd

Spark Mail +AI
Free (IAPs) FROM sparkmailapp.com

upcoming events in a sidebar
but importing iCloud
calendars is fiddly.
Watch out for ads in the
Other section if you don’t
subscribe to Microsoft 365
– they look like regular
messages and, while marked,
you may find yourself clicking
by accident. A subscription is
necessary if you want to undo
send or schedule messages
(unless you’re using an
outlook.com email account).

VERDICT
Great use of colour
Effective organisation tools
Superb customisation
Sub for two key features

★★★★★

Email can be
overwhelming so it’s
refreshing to see an app
developed with the intention
of removing unwanted
distractions. By encouraging
you to focus on important
things, Spark reduces the
time needed to tend to
emails, meaning inbox zero is
entirely feasible. Go fullscreen to give your inbox
your undivided attention. You
can sync between devices,
collapse the sidebar, snooze,
schedule, set reminders and
have your inbox arranged into
categories, so you decide
what to tackle.
Be prepared to pay for
the more advanced features.

4

These include prioritising
senders, grouping senders
and managing emails from
the Home Screen. Gatekeeper
mode lets you review and
block senders before or after
their email lands in your inbox
while AI is used to speed up
email composition. Give
Spark Mail some context and
it’ll generate a draft. Write
an email and Spark can
rephrase, expand or shorten
your prose. It works so well.

VERDICT
Manage from homescreen
Many interface options
Clean yet feature-packed
AI & Gatekeeper premium

★★★★★
MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 89

APPLE CHOICE Group test

5

6

Thunderbird

Spike

Free FROM thunderbird.net

Free (IAPs) FROM spikenow.com
Spike is mainly aimed
at team users and,
unlike Superhuman (which
we haven’t included in this
test), it’s not going to cost
£29.49 per person per
month! In fact, if you have
up to three members, you
won’t need to pay anything,
otherwise you’re generally
looking at £7.99 per member
per month.
It’s a pretty unusual
email client – one that is
more like Messages thanks
to its conversation-based
approach. Emails are grouped
by people and messages
appear in bubbles. You can
keep track of a person’s
threads in a contact window

5

90 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

where you’ll find files and
buttons to video chat or call.
Smart inboxes separate
priority emails from the rest
and a calendar lets you
quickly add new events
with notifications. As well
as sending voice messages
and using message templates,
you can try Magic AI to write
emails, notes and replies,
setting the right tone, length
and format. The free tier only
gives 10 goes at this, though.

VERDICT
Tries something different
Now includes AI
Decent free feature set
Can be confusing

★★★★★

Thunderbird feels
less polished than its
rivals. The set-up process is
functional; the interface is
outdated. But looks can
deceive. This open source
app is actually packed with
features although you’ll likely
spend time delving deep to
get it working well for you.
Out of the box, so to
speak, there’s tabbed email
making it easier to juggle
multiple messages (they’re
saved if you quit and appear
when you relaunch). When
writing new emails, you can
spellcheck and format your
text, use end-to-end
encryption, send large files
via Thunderbird Filelink and

6

be reminded if you’ve
forgotten an attachment.
Thunderbird’s strong
junk mail filters and phishing
protection work well but the
app comes into its own when
you make use of add-ons.
You’ll find additional tools to
expand the app’s functionality
and the possibilities are
endless (schedule messages,
translate, and so on). It all
makes Thunderbird a bit
of a geek’s dream.

VERDICT
Tabbed email
Has loads of add-ons
Handles large files
Needs a visual overhaul

★★★★★

Image credit: Apple Inc, Spike Inc, MZLA Technologies Corp

THE WINNER

Microsoft Outlook

Freed from the need for a subscription, Outlook leads the way
refer to stick
with Apple’s Mail?
It’s a more than
capable contender in its
field. In recent years, the app,
already hot on privacy, has
grown in stature, adding
many features from its rivals.
It’s now hard to justify looking
elsewhere – certainly if that

P

means you’re going to have
to start shelling out money.
But that’s not to say you
shouldn’t consider other
options, some of which may
better suit you. AI is fast
becoming a standard feature,
helping to compose messages
and stay on top of your inbox,
and both Spark Mail +AI and

Canary Mail are ahead of the
game. For teamwork, you may
enjoy the message approach
of Spike despite its flaws. And,
for flexibility, Thunderbird can
be built into a powerful unit,
albeit one that’s rough
around the edges.
Microsoft’s Outlook,
though, is an impressive

all-rounder especially if you
use outlook.com or subscribe
to Microsoft 365. Even if you
don’t, you’ll find it packed
with essential features and
since it’s customisable,
optimised for Apple silicon
and boasts powerful search
facilities, it’s definitely our
worthy winner.

How
do they
compare?
> Specs

Canary Mail

Mail

Microsoft Outlook

Spark Mail +AI

Spike

Thunderbird

Price

Free (IAPs, Pro £45/year,
£129/lifetime)

Free

Free (IAPs, Microsoft 365
from £5.99/month,
£59.99/year)

Free (IAPs, Spark
Premium £7.99/month,
£59.99/year)

Free (IAPs, £7.99/month
£59.99 year; Advanced
£15.99/month, £119.99/
year)

Free

Website

canarymail.io

apple.com

microsoft.com

sparkmailapp.com

spikenow.com

thunderbird.net

Import email
accounts

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Smart,
filtered inbox

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Snooze emails Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Schedule
send

Yes

Yes

Yes (with Microsoft 365 or
Outlook.com account)

Yes

Yes

No

Undo send

Yes

Yes

Yes (with Microsoft 365 or
outlook.com account)

Yes

Yes

No

Smart folders

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Privacy
features

PGP and SecureSend
with subscription

Blocks tracking pixels,
masks IP addresses,
prevents images
downloading, allows
email hiding

Encrypts data, prevents
images downloading

Blocks tracking pixels,
encrypts data

Encrypts data (AES-256)

Encrypts data. prevents
images downloading

Templates

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

> Overall

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

★★★★★

Note: The final verdict scores reflect the overall opinion of a product and are not necessarily an average of the criteria listed in the table.
Image credit: Apple Inc, Canary Mail, Microsoft, Spark Mail Ltd, Spike Inc, MZLA Technologies Corp

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 91

APPLE CHOICE Hardware

Each world is bright and imaginative,
as befits the dream-like theme.

Sonic Dream Team
Gotta go fast – well, for a few short dream-like bursts
£6.99/month (Apple Arcade) FROM sonicdreamteam.com NEEDS macOS 11 or later

The dream
theme means
each level is a
weird and
wonderful
creation,
bursting
with colour

VERDICT

Fast, fun and
fantastic on the eyes,
Sonic Dream Team
breathes new life
into the franchise.

★★★★★
Beautiful levels
Fun arcade gameplay
Forgettable story
Too short

92 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2023

onic has been around for decades,
finding his way on to myriad games
platforms, including Apple Arcade.
Unlike some past Sonic titles that were 2D
side-scrollers or on-rails endless runners,
the latest effort, Sonic Dream Team, is a 3D
arcade adventure where each level can be
explored for secrets and challenges.
Don’t expect much from the story, though.
While the details may have changed, there’s
precious little innovation. Doctor Eggman has
captured Sonic’s friends for some dastardly
scheme, would you believe it? This time, Eggman
has imprisoned our heroes so that he can filter
his evil dreams through their pure hearts, for
some reason. It’s up to Sonic to release his
friends by collecting gems and ‘dream orbs’
from the worlds that Eggman has dreamed
up. It’s not exactly Spielberg-esque, but then
again, who really plays Sonic for the story?
The story may not be very original, but
that doesn’t mean the game isn’t fun. There’s
a reason Sonic has been around for so long:
zipping and zooming through levels at high
speed is innately enjoyable, and that’s still true
with Sonic Dream Team. The game captures
the essence of Sonic well, with all its high-speed
silliness and combo moves. There are plenty
of nooks to explore without things ever getting
overwhelming, and this encourages replayability
and short bursts of gaming fun.

S

The levels don’t just feel good – they look
great too. The dream theme means each level
is a weird and wonderful creation, bursting with
colour and creativity. You feel like you want to
take your time and explore every corner – if
the point wasn’t to move as fast as possible,
of course. Play it on a big screen like an iMac
or an Apple TV to get the full effect.

Short and sweet
Each stage has its share of challenges and
enemies, but they’re not particularly difficult
to overcome. Even the bosses that punctuate
each stage are fairly trivial. If you’re after a
real challenge, you probably won’t find it here.
The game is also disappointingly short and
ends just as you start to get going – don’t
expect more than a few hours of gameplay.
There are other problems. The voice acting
quickly grates, while rapidly pressing Shift to
sprint can really make your pinky ache. You
can’t really fix this; like many Apple Arcade
games, Sonic Dream Team is not well optimised
for the Mac, and there are precious few control
scheme settings that could make things more
comfortable. Try a controller instead.
Still, there’s plenty to like. Despite a yawninducing story, its gorgeous levels, enjoyable
music and fast-paced gameplay make it a
pleasing romp. It’s not quite a dream come
true, but it makes a good go of it. Alex Blake

Image credit: SEGA

There’s a huge variety of voices
ready to tell you a story.

Calm: Sleep & Meditation
Live a happier, healthier life by focusing on rest and relaxation
Free; Premium subscription £14.99/month; £39.99/year
FROM calm.com NEEDS iOS/iPadOS 16 or later, tvOS 11.2 or later, watchOS 8.3 or later
elf-help apps are very popular on
the App Store, with hundreds of
offerings to help shape your life and
control your stress. One app, however, stands
out above the rest: Calm: Sleep & Meditation.
Calm is a gorgeous app available for iPhone,
Apple TV and Apple Watch, but it especially
shines on the iPad. With a wide range of
meditation offerings for those looking to try
meditating for the first time or those who have
been practising for years, it’s the quintessential
app for a healthier, happier life.
Calm’s defining feature is its Sleep Stories,
carefully curated bedtime stories to help you
get a deep and restful slumber. With over 100
stories to choose from narrated by iconic
voices, such as Stephen Fry, Matthew
McConaughey, Cillian Murphy, and Harry
Styles, there is a Sleep Story for everyone.
This kind of sleep meditation is the easiest
way to get started, as you don’t need to
concentrate on the process, and you can
allow your mind to relax and switch off. After
a couple of restful nights, it’s likely that you’ll
want to incorporate meditation sessions
into your morning routine as well.
Calm is especially stunning to navigate
on the iPad, thanks to the full-screen scene
options that play relaxing background noises
and animate wallpapers, such as Blue Gold,

S

VERDICT
One of the best
meditation app
offerings around
with incredible
sleep features.

★★★★★
Wide range
of Sleep Stories
Easy-to-use with
gorgeous design
A meditation program
for almost anything
Need premium to get
the full experience

Image credit: Calm.com Inc

which represents the blue lavender fields of
France and oozes serenity.
The built-in programmes are easy to follow
and encourage you to return thanks to daily
notifications. With what feels like an endless
number of options, which include playlists,
courses and soundscapes, you’re bound to find
a mindfulness session to suit — and the quick
five-minute energising sessions make it easy
to incorporate into your daily routine.

Your go-to companion
Calm is your go-to companion from the
moment you open your eyes to the moment
you go to sleep, with resources to support you
every step of the way. If you’ve been looking
to try an application like this, Calm goes above
and beyond similar apps on the market and will
likely become an essential tool on your iPad.
While the premium subscription (costing
£14.99/month or £39.99/year) undoubtedly
gives you more options, the free version
enables you to reap the benefits of starting
good relaxation habits without paying up.
In such a fast-paced and increasingly
frenetic world, it’s easy to forget to take a step
back and breathe; Calm is the antidote. It’ll help
you create contemplative oases throughout
your day, so helping you to rest and recharge.
John-Anthony Disotto

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 93

APPLE CHOICE Software

Rainbow Weather:
AI Forecast
Need a mac? Check this app

Free; full feature set £4.99/month or £19.99/year FROM rainbow.ai NEEDS iOS 15 or later

Rainbow
Weather is
said to be 3.5%
more accurate
than Apple
Weather

enerally, there’s alway one
particular snippet of information
most people want to know about
the weather: is it going to rain? Will your
plans run smoothly because the coming hours
are set to be dry or will you have to grab your
coat and perhaps an umbrella?
With Rainbow Weather, such questions are
answered very quickly. Rather than provide a
detailed all-encompassing forecast, this app
primarily concentrates on the likelihood of
precipitation within a two-hour period. It
does so with the aid of advanced
AI modelling that draws on a variety
of data sources that includes
meteorology stations, satellites,
collated user reports and shared
barometer information.
After allowing access to your
location, you’re shown a hyperlocal
forecast using an animated map.
The passing of time displays on
an automatically advancing slider
(which you can stop and manually
position, if you wish) and you’re able
to see any moving rain clouds to
gain an idea of their size.
The colour of the clouds
indicates the severity of the
potential rain, with yellow being
extreme (more than 30mm per
hour) and light blue being drizzle.
It’s an effective way of getting
a speedy, at-a-glance view of
upcoming weather changes
but you can drill down for more
information should you need it.

G

Feed it back

You can scroll to other regions but can’t input them
for easy switching between multiple locations.

94 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Indeed, at the bottom of the screen
is a description of your location, a
weather graphic, a brief overview
of the current conditions, the
temperature and an indication of

The premium widgets will provide you with more information.

how much precipitation is expected. Pull up on
this and you’ll see a deeper forecast showing
when any rain is due to stop as well as a
minute-by-minute temperature forecast.
It feels as if you’re getting just the right
balance of relevant information without the
app going overboard. What’s more, you’re
encouraged to assist by using a feedback
button to indicate whether the app’s forecast
matches the conditions you’re seeing outside.
The makers say this will help to make the app
even more accurate.
As it is, Rainbow Weather is said to be 3.5%
more accurate than Apple Weather in the US
and 9.5% more accurate than AccuWeather
globally. In our experience, it did appear to
get things right the vast majority of the time.
To make the experience more bespoke,
there’s a wealth of options in the Settings
menu. There you can alter the time format,

Image credit: Weather Forecast Technologies Ltd

Rainbow Weather: AI Forecast APPLE CHOICE

You can easily see where and how
intense the rain is set to be.

change the unit of temperature and switch the
measurement of precipitation from millimetres
to inches. You can also change the units for
pressure, wind speed and distance and make
use of one of three themes. And if you don’t
like the precipitation colours, you can change
them to those used by NOAA Radar. Such
tweaks are welcome.
A well-designed widget is a nice addition
too, revealing your location and the current
weather condition. This comes for free, along
with weather notifications and all of the other
features mentioned so far. The downside is that
you’ll have to put up with adverts unless you
decide to go premium. In that case, be prepared
to pay £4.99 each month or £19.99 for the year.

Hold on to your hat
If that sounds rather steep then consider the
other features you’ll gain, notably a minuteby-minute precipitation forecast, a hurricane
tracker and premium widgets. If you live in or
frequently visit a hurricane region, the tracker
could be worth its weight in gold (the app

Image credit: Weather Forecast Technologies Ltd

Dropcast is premium, showing
minute-by-minute precipitation data.

monitors Australia and the South Pacific, the
Atlantic and East Pacific, North Indian, West
Pacific and South Indian regions). But if you
don’t, then you’re not generally gaining all
that much by going premium.
That’s because premium widgets only
add a precipitation forecast for the next hour,
leaving you effectively paying for ad removal
and a clearer rainfall breakdown. Granted,
a minute-by-minute precipitation chart is
certainly very useful and it’s a pain that it’s
premium only but whether that’s worth the
cash, well, that’s going to be your call.
Of course, the other issue is whether the
app is actually worth switching to at all. You
may find the hyperlocal focus is too niche
– you can scroll to other areas but can’t input
more locations and switch between them – or
you may feel the accuracy gains are merely
marginal. Ultimately, much depends on how
particular you are about avoiding getting wet
but if this app has one particular job, there’s
no doubt it does it very well.
David Crookes

Get rain, snow and storms forecasts
and even track hurricanes.

VERDICT

A well-designed,
accurate hyperlocal,
hyper-focused
weather app that is
a total breeze to use.

★★★★★
Highly accurate
rain forecasts
Provides twohour predictions
Interface is simple
to navigate
Minute-by-minute
rainfall is premium

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 95

APPLE CHOICE iOS

6 apps for...

Text and speech
Transcribe, translate and turn text into talk

Otter: Transcribe
Voice Notes
Free (IAPs) FROM otter.ai
NEEDS iOS 13 or later
When it comes to transcription,
few apps are as good as Otter.
Send it a recording and it will
rapidly transcribe it with a high degree
of accuracy. Even lengthy audio files only
take it a few minutes to wrestle into shape.
Along the way it adds speakers,
timestamps, summaries and highlights,
and you can edit anything – including
correcting mistakes, adding paragraph
breaks, changing speaker names and more
– to ensure it is all as accurate as can be.

96 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Just Press Record

Vienna Scribe
Free (IAPs) FROM vienna.earth/meta/
scribe NEEDS iOS 15 or later
We all know how powerful
ChatGPT is, but few people
are aware it’s being put to
good use in transcription software.
That’s what you get with Vienna Scribe
– it embeds OpenAI’s Whisper tech to
generate accurate transcriptions in
almost 100 languages. It’s all brought
together in a slick interface that’s simple
to navigate and packed with extras. Plus,
everything is stored on-device and never
uploaded to cloud servers, protecting the
privacy of your recordings.

£4.99 FROM openplanetsoftware.com
NEEDS iOS 15.6 or later
Given its name, you might
think Just Press Record was
solely about, well, recording –
but there’s much more to it than that.
Aside from its fast, simple audio logging,
it comes with top-notch transcription
abilities that turn your voice into text
in an instant. You can also edit your
recorded audio, correct transcribed
text and organise your clips to find them
later. With unlimited recording time and
integration with Apple’s Shortcuts app,
there are plenty of helpful bonuses too.

Image credits: Apple Inc, Otter.ai, Vienna Hypertext Inc, Open Planet Software Ltd

Apps for text and speech APPLE CHOICE

he rise of artificial intelligence
(AI) has opened up a whole
range of new uses for our
Apple devices. One area where things
are rapidly changing is voice recording.
Transcription is getting faster, translation
across languages is easier, and you can

transform your text into audio and vice
versa with ease. There’s no need to
laboriously transliterate lectures or
stumble through foreign-language chats
– we’ve found six apps that make it all a
cinch. Try them to level up your iPhone’s
speech and text talents. Alex Blake

Speechify Text
to Speech Audio

Live Transcribe

T

Free (IAPs) FROM speechify.com
NEEDS iOS 16 or later
Sometimes, instead of
transcribing audio, you want
to turn text into speech. For
times like that, use Speechify. It can take
in all sorts of file formats, from PDFs and
emails to Word documents and text
articles, then read them in a variety of
voices (including celebs like Snoop Dogg
and Gwyneth Paltrow). So, whether you
struggle with a visual impairment, need
to sanity check a speech or just want to
have a bit of fun, it’s there to lend a hand.

Free (IAPs) FROM livetranscribe.app
NEEDS iOS 15 or later
Live Transcribe isn’t just
another transcription app –
it’s a vital tool with a whole
host of uses. It converts speech into text
and displays it in large font, which is
great for elderly users or those who are
hard of hearing. It works with over 70
languages so users can communicate in
their native tongue. And you can save
chats for later, send them to note-taking
apps on your device, or share them with
friends and relatives. It’s well thought-out
and incredibly helpful in all sorts of ways.

Image credit: Apple Inc, Speechify Inc, Mighty Fine Apps LLC, iTranslate GmbH

iTranslate
Free (IAPs) FROM itranslate.com
NEEDS iOS 14 or later
Need help communicating in
another language or dialect?
Try iTranslate Translator. You
can type text to be translated, snap a
photo of a word you don’t recognise,
or have a one-on-one conversation
with someone else and it will translate
between the two of you. When you want
to focus on certain words, you can save
them to a phrasebook for later learning,
and its flash cards are a great way to
build up your vocabulary. For crosslanguage transcription, it’s a lifesaver.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 97

Your guide to the best Apple hardware and third-party accessories
EXPECTED
OCT 2024
UPDATED
OCT 2023

iMac

From
£1,399

In October 2023, Apple updated its
only iMac – the 24in model, so that it now
benefits from Apple’s also newly-released M3
chip. You can now choose between an 8-core
CPU/8-core GPU at the entry-level, or an 8-core
CPU/10-core GPU on the mid-range and top-tier
versions. You still get a 4.5K (4480x2520)
Retina display, and all models come with 8GB of
memory as standard, but this is now upgradeable
to 24GB throughout. The solid-state drive (SSD)
storage ranges from 256GB on entry-level and
mid-range versions to 512GB on the top tier,
although you can add up to 1TB on the entry-level
and up to 2TB on mid-range and top-tier models.
The entry level version is available in Blue, Green,
Pink and Silver, but the mid- and top-tier models are also
available in Yellow, Orange, and Purple. Each M3 iMac also
comes with a 1080p FaceTime camera, and a six-speaker
sound system with support for spatial audio. You’ll also find
two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports on each model, with mid-range
and top-tier options offering two additional USB 3 (USB-C)
ports. Rather surprisingly – and pleasingly – the starting price
remains unchanged at £1,399.

(Entry level)

(Mid-range)

iMac 24in £1,599

iMac 24in £1,799

Display: 23.5in 4.5K Retina (4480x2520) with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 256GB (upgradeable to 512GB or 1TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 1x Gb Ethernet (option)

Display: 23.5in 4.5K Retina (4480x2520) with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 256GB (upgradeable to 512GB, 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 2x USB 3, 1x Gb Ethernet

Display: 23.5in 4.5K Retina (4480x2520) with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 16GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 2x USB 3, 1x Gb Ethernet

iMac 24in £1,399

Apple Magic
Mouse
From £79

Apple Magic Keyboard with
Touch ID and Numeric Keypad
From £179

This extended keyboard is a great upgrade
option for any Mac and comes with Touch ID for
faster Mac logins. The black version costs £199.

98 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

Design quirks aside,
(we’re looking at you,
Lightning Port) the Magic
Mouse is a great pointing
device, thanks to its Multi
Touch support. The black
version costs £99.

(Ultimate)

Apple Magic
Trackpad
From £129

This Multi Touch glass
trackpad is a thing of
beauty, giving you lots
of control over macOS
and it’s rechargeable
too. The black version
costs £149.

Apple kit STORE GUIDE
EXPECTED
APR 2024
UPDATED
JAN 2023

Mac mini
EXPECTED
MAR 2025
UPDATED
MAR 2024

MacBook Air
Apple’s most affordable laptop was
given an upgrade in March 2024, with
both the 13-inch and 15-inch models
now sporting Apple silicon M3 chips,
although an M2-equipped version of
the 13-inch remains available.
The laptop boasts a silent, fanless
design, a six-speaker sound system
(the 13in has four speakers) and spatial
audio. The 13in M3 features an 8-core
CPU, offering 1.6x faster performance
than the M1, along with either an 8- or
a 10-core GPU, giving it a 5.8% boost
in graphics performance. The M3 also
benefits from 100GB/sec memory
bandwidth. Both M3 MacBook Air models
come with 8GB of memory as standard,
configurable to 16 or 24GB, and both can
be configured with up to 2TB of storage.

MacBook Air 13in £1,099

From
£1,099
The 15in MacBook Air is the thinnest
15in laptop available – 40% thinner than
comparable PC laptops; it’s just 11.5mm
thin and weighs 1.51kg. The 13in Air is
11.3mm thin and weighs 1.24kg. The
Liquid Retina display in the 15in MacBook
Air has a resolution of 2880x1864 pixels,
while the 13in has 2560x1664. Both
support up to one billion colours.
Both M3 MacBook Air models come
with 1080p FaceTime HD cameras,
MagSafe 3, two Thunderbolt/USB 4
ports and a headphone jack and
Bluetooth 5.3, and they now support
Wi-Fi 6E. You also get up to 18 hours
of battery life when viewing video or
15 when web surfing.
Prices for the 13in model start at
£1,099, while the 15in starts at £1,299.

MacBook Air 15in £1,699

From
£649

Apple’s most affordable desktop
may not come with a mouse, a
trackpad or keyboard, but it’s also
great value starting at even less
than the last model at £649.
Despite the reduction in price, the
Mac mini now boasts Apple’s M2 chip,
boasting an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU
and 16-core Neural Engine. The 8GB
of memory can now be boosted up
to 24GB, while SSD storage options
range from 256GB all the way up to
2TB. There is now also an M2 Pro
version with a 10-core CPU/16-core
GPU (configurable to 12-core CPU/19core GPU), with 16 to 32GB memory
and 512GB to 8TB SSD storage.
Entry-level and mid-range M2 Mac
mini models continue to come with
two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, but
the M2 Pro model has now has four.

Mac mini £649
(Entry level)

Chip: Apple M2, 8-core CPU (4 performance cores, 4
efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 256GB (upgradeable to 512GB, 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.0,
3.5mm headphone jack, Gb Ethernet (10Gb Ethernet option)

Mac mini £1,399

(Entry level)

(Ultimate)

(Ultimate)

Display: 13.6in Liquid Retina with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 256GB (upgradeable to 512GB, 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 3.5mm headphone jack

Display: 15.3in Liquid Retina with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 16GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 3.5mm headphone jack

Chip: Apple M2 Pro with 10-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 16GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB or 2TB)
Ports: 4x Thunderbolt/USB 4, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.0,
3.5mm headphone jack, Gb Ethernet (10Gb Ethernet option)

TV 4K
From £149

Apple’s third-gen
little black box with
A15 Bionic chip now
adds HDR10+ to the
mix. Prices now start at just
£149 (Wi-Fi only); the standard version now
comes with 64GB of storage, while paying £20
extra gets you 128GB, Ethernet and Thread.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Apple HomePod/
HomePod mini
£99/£299

Apple’s Siri-powered
speakers sound great,
you can link two for
stereo sound, and use them
as smart home hubs. The mini comes in five
colours; the 2nd-gen Midnight/White HomePod
(£299), offers higher spec and spatial audio.

Watch
Series 9,
Ultra 2, SE
From £219

The SE and
Series 9 are water resistant to
50m, but the titanium Ultra 2 is water resistant to
100m. The Series 9 and the Ultra 2 now run on an
S9 SiP and boast an Always-On Retina display, and
all three offer Emergency SOS and Crash Detection.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 99

STORE GUIDE Apple kit
EXPECTED
OCT 2024
UPDATED
OCT 2023

MacBook Pro
From £1,349

October 2023 saw the introduction
of the M3 chip family to the MacBook
Pro. The new 14-inch M3 model is
available with an 8-core CPU/10-core
GPU. But if you step up to the M3 Pro
option, you can opt for either an 11-core
CPU/14-core GPU or a 12-core CPU/
18-core GPU, or the M3 Max which
has a 14-core CPU/30-core GPU.
The 16in options start with the M3 Pro
chip with a 12-core CPU/18-core GPU and
either 18GB or 36GB of unified memory.
Or you can opt for the M3 Max chip with

MacBook Pro 14in £1,699

either a 14-core CPU/30-core GPU or
16-core CPU/40-core GPU. The unified
memory can be upgraded to a max of
128GB on the M3 Max models, while SSD

storage can be upgraded to a max of
8TB on M3 Max models. The 14in M3 and
and 16in M3 Pro and M3 Max models now
offer up to 22 hours of battery life.

(Entry level)

(Mid-range)

MacBook Pro 16in £2,599

MacBook Pro 16in £4,099

Display: 14.2in Liquid Retina XDR (3024x1964) with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 with 8-core CPU (4 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB (upgradeable to 24GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB, 2TB)
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4, HDMI port, SDXC card slot

Display: 16.2in Liquid Retina XDR (3456x2234) with True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 Pro with 12-core CPU (6 performance cores,
6 efficiency cores), 18-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 18GB (upgradeable to 36GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB)
Ports: 3x Thunderbolt/USB 4, HDMI port, SDXC card slot

Display: 16.2in Liquid Retina XDR (3456x2234) and True Tone
Chip: Apple M3 Max with 16-core CPU (12 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 40-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 48GB (upgradeable to 128GB)
Storage: 1TB (upgradeable to 2TB, 4TB or 8TB)
Ports: 3x Thunderbolt/USB 4, HDMI port, SDXC card slot

Mac Studio

From
£2,099

The Mac Studio finally received a
long-hoped-for update in June 2023
with the latest model sporting Apple
silicon M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips.
The Mac Studio is up to six times faster
than the most powerful Intel-based
27-inch iMac and up to three times faster
than the M1 Ultra Studio that preceded it.
The Studio’s aluminium body is very
compact for a desktop Mac, measuring
197x197x95mm, but it’s what’s inside that
counts. The M2 Max chip has a 12-core
CPU, a 30-core GPU (upgradeable to
38-core), and 32GB of memory
(configurable to 96GB). The M2 Ultra
comes with a 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU
(upgradeable to 76-core), and 64GB of

Mac Studio £2,099

EXPECTED
JUNE 2024
UPDATED
JUNE 2023

The Mac Studio is Apple’s most powerful
desktop Mac to date – it’s pricy though.

unified memory (upgradeable to 192GB).
Storage options on both scale up to 8TB.
The Mac Studio M2 Max starts at
£2,099, and the M2 Ultra starts at
£4,199, so these machines are not for
everyone. But both offer an incredible
array of connectivity options and
support for the more pro user.

Mac Studio £4,199

(Entry level)

(Ultimate)

Chip: M2 Max with 12-core CPU (8 performance cores,
4 efficiency cores), 30-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 32GB (upgradeable to 96GB)
Storage: 512GB (upgradeable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB)
Ports: 4x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.0,
3.5mm headphone jack, 10Gb Ethernet, SDXC card slot

Chip: M2 Ultra with 24-core CPU (16 performance cores,
8 efficiency cores), 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64GB (upgradeable to 192GB)
Storage: 1TB (upgradeable to 2TB, 4TB, 8TB)
Ports: 4x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.0,
3.5mm headphone jack, 10Gb Ethernet, SDXC card slot

100 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

(Ultimate)

Studio Display
From £1,499

Launched alongside the Mac
Studio in March 2022, the Studio
Display is a great addition to any
Mac set-up.
Powered by Apple’s A13 Bionic
and running iOS, it features a
27-inch Retina display with 5K
resolution (5120x2880 pixels)
and True Tone, a 12MP Ultra Wide
camera with Centre Stage, and
a six-speaker sound system with
support for spatial audio. A range
of stand options are available, and
you can choose nano-texture glass
for £250 more.

Apple kit STORE GUIDE

EXPECTED
APR 2024
UPDATED
OCT 2022

EXPECTED
APR 2024
UPDATED
MAR 2022

EXPECTED
APR 2024
UPDATED
OCT 2022

iPad/mini

iPad Air

Apple celebrates the iPad’s 10th
incarnation by increasing the
display to 10.9in and boosting its
internals to an A14 Bionic chip. You
now get an Ultra Wide 12MP front and
updated 12MP back camera. The iPad
now also finally adopts the USB-C
port, and comes in Blue, Pink, Yellow
and Silver. Prices start at £499.
The iPad mini is like a shrunk
down iPad Air, with an all-screen
design centred around its 8.3in Liquid
Retina display. The £569 version
comes with 64GB of storage (but can
be upgraded to 256GB), comes with a
12MP Wide camera, second-gen Apple
Pencil support and USB-C charging.

Like the iPad, iPad mini and iPad
Pro, the iPad Air has an all-screen
design that makes the most of its
10.9in Liquid Retina display. Inside its
super-slim chassis, you’ll find the same
Apple silicon M1 chip as the entry-level
MacBook Air and Mac mini. Plus it’s
available in a choice of storage options
(64GB or 256GB), has 802.11ax Wi-Fi
(aka Wi-Fi 6) and Bluetooth 5.0
onboard, and there are Wi-Fi+Cellular
variants with 5G starting at £719.
The iPad Air also supports Apple’s
second-gen Apple Pencil and can be
teamed with Apple’s Magic Keyboard
for powerhouse productivity on the go.
Augmented reality fans will love its
LiDAR-equipped 12MP Wide camera,
plus it also has Centre Stage.

Apple’s priciest iPad is also its
most fully featured. Available in 11in
and 12.9in sizes, the iPad Pro models
now boast M2 Apple silicon, which
turbocharges the performance, and
iPadOS 16 enables the Apple Pencil
‘hover experience’.
The 12.9in model’s Liquid
Retina XDR display boasts miniLED
backlighting, but even the 11in model
gets 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates,
plus a Thunderbolt/USB 4 port for
charging and connection to a wide
range of external devices. And both
support the second-gen Apple Pencil,
Magic Keyboard, and Centre Stage.
The 12.9in now makes an even
greater MacBook replacement.

iPad

iPad mini

iPad Air

iPad Pro

Display: 10.9in
Chip: A14 Bionic
Storage: 64GB, 256GB
Ports: USB-C
Unlocking: Touch ID

Display: 8.3in
Chip: A15 Bionic
Storage: 64GB, 256GB
Ports: USB-C
Unlocking: Touch ID

Display: 10.9in
Chip: Apple M1
Storage: 64GB, 256GB
Ports: USB-C
Unlocking: Touch ID

Display: 11in or 12.9in
Chip: Apple M2
Storage: 128GB-2TB
Ports: Thunderbolt 4
Unlocking: Face ID

iPad (10th gen) From £499
iPad mini From £569

Apple Smart Folio
From £69

Available in a range of stylish colours, these
wrap-around magnetic cases will keep your iPad,
iPad mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro looking good for
years, and they double as handy stands.

From
£669

Apple Pencil
From £79

Apple has recently released a
more affordable Pencil with USB-C
charging, although the pricier 1stand 2nd-gen variants are still
available. The Pencil brings
accuracy to iPad interactions,
making it great for sketching,
painting and handwritten notes.

Image credit: Apple Inc

iPad Pro

From
£899

Apple Magic
Keyboard
From £279

The Magic Keyboard
(for iPad Air/iPad Pro),
comes with backlit
keys and easy-to-use
trackpad. There’s also
a Magic Keyboard
Folio for iPads.

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 101

EXPECTED
SEPT 2024
UPDATED
SEPT 2023

STORE GUIDE Apple kit

EXPECTED
MAR 2025
UPDATED
MAR 2022

EXPECTED
SEPT 2024
UPDATED
SEPT 2023

iPhone SE
From £429

iPhone 15/
Plus

iPhone 15
Pro/Pro Max

iPhone 15 From £799
iPhone 15 Plus From £899

iPhone 15 Pro From £999
iPhone 15 Pro Max From £1,199

Apple’s most affordable iPhone
is now even better value, thanks
to a September price reduction of
£20. As with the iPhone 14 range,
the SE works on an A15 Bionic
chip. The iPhone SE offers plenty of
the things people love about iPhone,
including iOS’s phenomenal ease of
use. There’s only a single 12MP Wide
main camera and no Night mode, but
you do get True Tone, a Photonic
engine, and 4K recording.
Battery life is decent too with the
iPhone SE lasting for up to 15 hours
between recharges (with Qi wireless
charging onboard too). The main
thing the iPhone SE misses out on
is Face ID unlocking, making do with
Touch ID on the Home button instead.

In September, Apple launched its
iPhone 15 range. The base model
retains its 6.1in screen, and the Plus
stays at 6.7in, while both handsets
are still of an aluminium build.
Both models now benefit from the
Dynamic Island, while the dual-camera
system has been improved with a
48MP Main camera and a 12MP Ultra
Wide, plus a Photonic Engine for lowlight images and Smart HDR 5. The
iPhone 15 lasts for up to 20 hours
when playing video playback; the Plus
up to 26. And the best news? The 15
and 15 Plus are each £50 cheaper than
the 14 and 14 Plus before them.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
boast a lightweight titanium shell
with a textured matt glass back.
There’s now a new fast Action button
on the side of the handset that acts
as a handy physical shortcut.
The quad-pixel sensor on the
Main camera provides 48MP, 12MP
Ultra Wide, 12 MP Telephoto with up
to 5x optical zoom on the Pro Max.
The 15 Pro and Pro Max are powered
by a graphics-friendly A17 Pro chip.
Video playback times remain at up to
23 hours for the Pro, while the Pro
Max can keep going for 29.

iPhone SE

iPhone 15

iPhone 15 Plus

iPhone 15 Pro

iPhone 15 Pro Max

Display: 4.7in
Chip: A15 Bionic
Storage: 64GB-256GB
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi
Unlocking: Touch ID

Display: 6.1in
Chip: A16 Bionic
Storage: 128GB-512GB
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi
Unlocking: Face ID

Display: 6.7in
Chip: A16 Bionic
Storage: 128GB-512GB
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi
Unlocking: Face ID

Display: 6.1in
Chip: A17 Pro
Storage: 128GB-1TB
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi
Unlocking: Face ID

Display: 6.7in
Chip: A17 Pro
Storage: 256GB-1TB
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi
Unlocking: Face ID

Apple Vision Pro

Apple AirPods Max/
AirPods Pro/AirPods

$3,499

Marking the start of what
Apple hopes is a new era of
spatial computing, the Vision
Pro is now available in the US.
Equipped with a custom 23 million
pixel microOLED display, the twin
lenses inside the Vision Pro boasts
better than 4K resolution and it

102 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

£499/£229/From £169

has spatial audio onboard too.
Driving the whole thing are Apple
silicon M2 and R1 chips, upon which
sits an entirely new OS: visionOS.

The AirPods Max are super comfy
and boast Transparency Mode and ANC.
The second-gen AirPods Pro add in
Adaptive Audio. The third-gen AirPods are
available with either a Lightning (£169)
or MagSafe (£179) charging case. All three
come with personalised spatial audio.

Image credit: Apple Inc

Third-party kit STORE GUIDE

BEST BUYS…

BEST BUYS…
Third-party iPhone,
iPad & Watch apps
VIDEO EDITOR (iOS/iPADOS)

LumaFusion 3
EXTERNAL DISPLAY

BLUETOOTH SPEAKER

Philips 27B1U7903

Marshall Middleton

£1,099, philips.co.uk
An excellent monitor that
satisfies on every level. It’s
expensive, but you do get a
lot of quality for your money.
★★★★★ MF392

£269.99,
marshallheadphones.com
Meaty, beaty, big and
bouncy, the Middleton
knows how to rock.
★★★★★ MF391
OUR TOP 3

OUR TOP 3

NAS DRIVE

Asustor Lockerstor 2
Gen2 AS6702T
£469, asustor.com
Excellent and versatile
mid-range network
storage.
★★★★★ MF390
OUR TOP 3

PORTABLE SSDS

SUPERFAST CHARGERS

ASUS ZenWiFi XT9

Crucial X8

> £459.99 > MF386
> asus.com/uk

> £211.99 > MF388
> uk.crucial.com

Satechi 200W
USB-C 6-Port PD GaN

Linksys Atlas 6

SanDisk Extreme

> £179.99 > MF386
> linksys.com/gb

> £99.99, > MF388
> westerndigital.com

Devolo Magic 2
WiFi next

OWC Envoy Pro SX

MESH NETWORK DEVICES

£159.99 > MF392
> satechi.net

Anker 737 Charger
GaNPrime 120W
£84.99 > MF392
> anker.com/uk

Ugreen Nexode
200W USB-C Desktop

> £285 > MF388
> owc.com

> £174.99 > MF386
>devolo.co.uk

£199.99 > MF394
> uk.ugreen.com

£29.99 luma-touch.com
A powerful and reasonably priced
video-editing suite. Existing users
can upgrade for free.
★★★★★ MF372
NOTE-TAKING (iOS/iPADOS)

Notability

£8.99 notability.com
Notability is a superb note-taking
app with lots of flexibility. It’s ideal
for a variety of projects.
★★★★★ MF360
SCANNING/OCR (iOS/iPADOS)

GeniusScan+

£8.99 grizzlylabs.com
Fast, flexible and useful scanning
with good optical character
recognition (OCR).
★★★★★ MF368
PAGE LAYOUT (iPADOS)

Affinity Publisher 2

BEST BUYS… Third-party Mac apps

£17.99 affinity.serif.com
Serif’s page layout app finally arrives on
iPad and it’s great – even if the interface
takes some getting used to.
★★★★★ MF391
PHOTO EDITOR (iPADOS)

Capture One
PHOTO EDITOR

PRODUCTIVITY TIMER

WRITING APPS

Luminar AI

Vitamin-R 4.14

Scrivener

£9.99/month skylum.com
If you want to improve
your photos without
spending too much, this
is the app for you.
★★★★★ MF361

€27.95 (about £30)
publicspace.net
Break your working day
up into short bursts of
distraction-free activity.
★★★★★ MF384

£49.99
literatureandlatte.com
A genuinely outstanding
app that has almost
everything you could ever
need. ★★★★★ MF385

OUR TOP 3

VIDEO EDITORS

OUR TOP 3

NOTE TAKING APPS

OUR TOP 3

EMAIL

Wondershare Filmora

Agenda.

Spark

> £17.49/month > MF387
> wondershare.com

> Free (IAPs)> MF389
> agenda.com

> Free > MF375
> sparkmailapp.com

HitFilm (Creator)

Bear

Edison Mail

> £7.99/month> MF387
> fxhome.com

> Free (IAPs) > MF389
> bear.app

> Free (IAPs) > MF375
> mail.edison.tech

Lightworks Create

Simplenote

Airmail Pro

> £7.99/month> MF387
> lwks.com

> Free (IAPs) > MF389
> simplenote.com

> £5.99/month > MF375
> airmailapp.com

Image credits: Koninklijke Philips NV, Marshall Amplification PLC, Asustor Inc, ASUSTeK Computer Inc, Linksys
Holdings Inc, devolo AG, Micron Technology, Inc, Western Digital Corporation, Other World Computing Inc,
Satechi, Fantasia Trading LLC, Ugreen Ltd, Skylum, publicspace.net, Literature & Latte Ltd, Wondershare, Artlist
UK Ltd, LWKS.com, Momenta BV, ShinyFrog, Automattic Inc, Spark Mail Ltd, Edison Software, Bloop, Luma Touch
LLC, Ginger Labs, The Grizzly Labs, Serif (Europe) Ltd, Capture One, Silvio Rizzi, inkle Ltd

£4.49/month captureone.com
A comprehensive photo editor offering
powerful Raw conversion and desktopquality editing tools on the iPad.
★★★★★ MF384
RSS READER (iOS)

Reeder 5

£4.99 reederapp.com
Version 5 brings minor, but welcome
improvements to an already great
RSS news-reader app.
★★★★★ MF361
GAME (iOS/iPADOS)

Overboard!

£5.99 inklestudios.com
A gem. A small, but perfectly formed
and entertaining game about a shipbased murder mystery.
★★★★★ MF372

MAY 2024 | MACFORMAT | 103

NEW ISSUE
ON SALE NOW!

THE iPAD MAGAZINE
YOU READ ON THE iPAD
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CONTRIBUTORS
EDITORIAL: Alex Blake, Matt Bolton, David Crookes, John-Anthony Disotto,
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ART: Apple Inc, Phil Barker, Olly Curtis (Bath Photography Studio), Shutterstock
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N E X T

M O N T H

M3 MACBOOK AIR
>We put Apple’s latest notebook to the ultimate test
PLUS: Troubleshoot your Mac – in-depth guide

ALSO INSIDE…

ISSUE 404

>Shoot and edit your own movie masterpiece
>All hands on the best apps for Apple Watch
>Which Mac keyboard should you buy?

… and much more!

ON SALE

30 APR
2024

Contents subject to change

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GOODBYE Until next issue…

One more thing

Apple AirTag
Graham Barlow finds out what happens
when your AirTag battery runs out
nbeknownst to me, the battery
in my AirTag (Apple’s £35
Bluetooth tracking device)
attached to the keyring on my keys died
a couple of months ago. I hadn’t noticed this
until I found myself looking for my keys and
wondering why my AirTag wasn’t showing up
in Find My on my iPhone. So, once my keys
were located, I replaced the CR2032 battery in
the AirTag and just assumed all would be well.
Sadly, it wasn’t. Instead a curious thing
happened; whenever I moved my keys, the
AirTag played a chime that sounded a bit like
a ringtone for a good 10 seconds.
I started looking online for reasons why
this might be happening and drew a blank,
so I decided to reset my AirTag completely –
the process for doing this is more akin to
performing a magic ritual than something you’d
expect from a piece of Apple technology – turn it
anti-clockwise, take the battery out, put it back
in, press the battery four times, listening for a
chirp each time, then listen out for a different
sound on the fifth press, then turn it back
clockwise. You might as well throw in an eye
of newt and toe of frog for good measure!

U

Oh, God. It’s moving
right towards you!
The long and short of it all is that once I
reconnected the AirTag with my iPhone all was
well, and this gave me an excuse to reacquaint
myself with all its features inside Find My again.
You can make the AirTag play a sound, but it’s
the ‘Find’ feature that is particularly impressive.
Once activated, an arrow appears on your
iPhone screen pointing you in the direction
of the physical location of your AirTag, with
vibration feedback also indicating how close you
are, as well as showing how far away it is in feet.
It’s actually pretty accurate and not entirely
unlike the radar used in Ridley Scott’s 1979
Alien film, showing how close to crew members
the aliens were getting, just without that sonar

106 | MACFORMAT | MAY 2024

While resetting an AirTag after replacing a battery is a little bit on the
weird wizardry side, the Find My feature really is incredibly useful.

blip! But to switch to a less scary implementation; you
could easily create a fun game for your kids by hiding an
AirTag in your house, next to a treat, and getting them to
find it with your iPhone. In fact, it might even be an
improvement on the traditional Easter egg hunt.
I still think that AirTags are a bit expensive
at £35, but I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with the
NEXT ISSUE ON SALE
implementation and even if I never lose my keys
30 APRIL
again, at least Easter will be more interesting this
year. Especially if we go for an Alien theme…

Image credit: Apple Inc

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