Table of contents for May 2012 in Macworld

Apple told Mac developers in February that it would once again extend the sandboxing deadline for all App Store apps, this time to June 1. Apple also confirmed that apps may remain on the App Store without sandboxing after June 1, but that developers may only update them to fix bugs, not to add features. Sandboxing is a security system that regulates the power individual apps can wield on your Mac. More technically, sandboxing limits an individual app’s access to your computer. Rather than allowing it full access to, say, your Mac’s memory or file structure, a sandboxed app is instead confined to its own dedicated space. The extension is the second such move from Apple. Initially, the company stated that all applications were to be sandboxed by November 2011;…

DOCUMENTATION CREATOR: Clarify 1.0.2 $30; BLUE MANGO LEARNING SYSTEMS; WWW.CLARIFY-IT.COM Simple screenshots are useful, but if you’re using them for instructional purposes, you may want to add text instructions, annotations, or other markings. Clarify makes creating such documentation a simple process. For each step you want to illustrate, you either drag an existing screenshot into Clarify, or click the Capture Image (camera-icon) button to take a screenshot—of a selection of the screen or of a particular window. A useful option cycles through every previously used screen selection, making it easy to recapture exactly the same area of the screen. Whenever you add or take a screenshot, Clarify automatically adds it to a new step, so creating a tutorial is as easy as taking screenshots as you perform the task you’re…

Apple has laid down the law to iOS developers: Manipulate your App Store rankings to get your app at the top of the sales chart, and you’ll get the boot instead. In a store that boasts more than 500,000 apps, landing on the chart of best sellers earns you some prime real estate that helps your app stand out. “As the size of the App Store continues to grow in popularity, so does the power of appearing on one of the top paid or free charts,” said Chris Liscio, the developer of iOS app Capo, in an email to Macworld. “Early on, we used to view the charts as an accomplishment that reflected one’s success. Unfortunately, it’s now mutated into a marketing tool that too many people seem fixated on…

Apple’s iTunes Match service compares the tracks in your iTunes library with those in Apple’s 20-million-song catalog, and lets you upload the ones it can’t match (you can upload a maximum of 25,000 nonpurchased tracks). And for the tracks it does match, you can download Apple’s copies to replace your own poorly ripped MP3 files from a decade ago. You can then access those songs via iTunes or your iOS devices whenever you want. Sounds simple enough, but we’ve received dozens of questions about iTunes Match. Here are some of the most common. » If I subscribe to iTunes Match, will my playlists be available on other Macs or iOS devices just as they are on my home computer? iTunes Match syncs and displays your playlists on all the computers…

Tagging files in your iTunes library helps you find the music you want to listen to and lets you create smart playlists. And album art gives you a visual reminder of what you’re listening to. » What exactly are tags? Tags include such things as the name of a song or movie, a track number, or a genre. A number of other tags tell iTunes to do certain things, such as skip files when you’re playing music in shuffle mode. The Summary pane of a track’s Info window shows many of its tags. When you buy music from the iTunes Store, it comes tagged with all the relevant information. And when you rip your own CDs, iTunes looks up the tag information online and adds it to your tracks. You’re…

Q& The third-generation Apple TV (unveiled alongside the third-generation iPad in March) looks the same as the previous model, but includes a few hardware and software changes. Here’s what you need to know. Q: What’s new about it? Does it finally handle 1080p? A: The new Apple TV looks exactly like its predecessor, but now hosts a single-core A5 processor that finally allows the Apple TV to support 1080p video output. On the software side, there’s a new user interface with large, iOS-like buttons instead of textual menus for the major content categories. And you can sign up directly for Netflix and some other pay services right from the Apple TV. Q: I don’t have a very fast Internet connection. Will it take me forever to download a 1080p video?…

Corel has undertaken a big challenge in trying to squeeze a pro-level photo-management application into a market crowded with heavy hitters. At first you might be tempted to compare AfterShot Pro to Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture. But a more fitting comparison is to Adobe’s Bridge and Camera Raw (both adjuncts to Adobe Creative Suite) for managing and editing images. Corel provides similar flexibility in a more integrated environment that allows users to manage their photo collections and raw images in a single interface. Raw shooters may consider augmenting their existing workflows with AfterShot because it provides features not available in their applications. Basic Interface Getting around in AfterShot is fairly intuitive. The adjustment tools are in the right column; the file system is on the left. Toggle the middle…

Remove Unnecessary System Preferences Icons System Preferences gathers all sorts of systemwide options—some that are built into OS X itself, and others that are added by third-party apps—so its window can get awfully cluttered. Fortunately, you can clean up the window by hiding preferences you don’t need. Open System Preferences, go to the View menu, and select Customize. Alternatively, click and hold on the Show All button in the System Preferences toolbar, and then choose Customize at the very bottom of the resulting pop-up menu. In either case, you’ll see all of your available System Preferences icons, with a checkbox next to each one. Uncheck the preference panes you don’t need. That may be Universal Access for some users, Parental Controls for others. In any case, once you’ve unchecked the…

FIRST REACTIONS TO MOUNTAIN LION When Lion came out, it didn’t feel ready. Apple touted that iCloud let us use our documents anywhere—as long as that didn’t include the Mac. I think that Mountain Lion was probably Apple’s intention for the level of integration it always wanted but couldn’t make in time for last year’s release. simdude, via the Macworld.com forums I sure hope Mountain Lion fills what to me is the biggest gap in iCloud: keychain synchronization. I know about 1Password and Dropbox, but I keep hoping that Apple will provide a homegrown solution so I don’t have to rely on third-party software. Without synchronization, I can’t bring my iPad when traveling; I have to use my laptop. bradhurley, via the Macworld.com forums I have long since stopped raging…

OPINION I spent the vast majority of the last several years working from a 13-inch MacBook. When I added a 27-inch Cinema Display to my setup, it took at least two weeks before I finally stopped piling all my windows into the same amount of space as the MacBook screen. Unsurprisingly, I adjusted. I grew fond of my multiple displays and embraced their ability to help me do my work more efficiently. And then came Lion, which offered more iOS-like window-management features such as easy-to-swipe spaces and applications that operate in full-screen mode. With Lion, Apple appears to treat the secondary display as a vestigial organ. Full-Screen Fail The problem is Lion’s implementation of full-screen mode on multiple monitors. On an 11-inch MacBook Air, full-screen mode is handy. When I…

Mountain Lion may be the OS that everyone’s talking about lately, but don’t think that Apple has taken its eye off its mobile operating system. Since getting into the mobile device game, Apple has rolled out an annual update for iOS, introducing new features for iPhone and iPad users. We expect 2012 to be no different. And that’s a good thing, because a few recent developments involving the privacy of your Contacts data and the presence of phony apps on the App Store exposed a few areas needing improvement. Here are four ways that Apple can make both its iOS and App Store experience markedly better. New Permissions iOS is exceedingly careful about protecting your location privacy. Apps that want to use your geographic location must ask you for permission.…

LIKE THE iPAD 2 BEFORE IT, THIS NEW iPAD IS NOT A RETHINKING OF THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT. Maintaining Apple’s lead in tablet devices is the job of the third-generation iPad, a product that doesn’t mess with success. Like the iPad 2 before it, this new iPad is not a rethinking of the original concept. Instead, Apple has chosen to focus on a few areas of improvement while keeping the overall package the same. Though it’s an approach that can frustrate people who are disappointed by anything that’s not a quantum leap, Apple executes it to perfection and reaps the rewards. When I reviewed the iPad 2 macworld.com/a/1158439, I suggested a rule of Apple product evolution I called “Jobs’s Law”—that the latest version of any Apple product is likely to be…

Of the iOS app updates Apple released with the new iPad, iMovie may not be the flashiest update, but it does gain one nice new feature: movie trailers. Now, when creating a new project, you can choose instead to create a trailer. There are nine different templates: Retro, Romance, Scary, Superhero, Swashbuckler, Narrative, Fairy Tale, Expedition, and Bollywood. Apple has also commissioned a set of scores for each of these templates. On their own, the scores aren’t anything I’d choose to listen to in iTunes, but they do provide decent accompaniment for the trailers. Once you’re in the editor, you can fill in an outline (movie title, actors, studio name, basic end credits) or illustrate your trailer in storyboard mode. Apple’s storyboard mode is strict: It tells you how many…

Q& One of the little-known timesaving features of Mac OS X is services—hidden, single-feature commands that you can access from a special Services menu, or, sometimes, from a contextual menu. These features are generally provided by applications—whether built-in OS X applications or third-party programs—and let you quickly perform actions that usually require launching additional programs and taking many steps. Here are answers to frequently asked questions about how to find, use, and manage services. Q: I’ve never heard of services. What are they? A: Simply put, OS X services let you borrow features from other programs. So, as I write this article in Bare Bones Software’s BBEdit, I can select some text, select the Services menu (found in applicationname Services—in this case, BBEdit Services), and then choose New Email With…

Digital art is not to everyone’s taste. One major criticism is the unnaturally clean results digital tools can produce compared to traditional ones. Sometimes this is a valid objection, but many problems come down to the artist’s choices and methods. Here are some techniques and app features that can help iPad artists achieve a more natural look. Canvas Texture A major reason why digital artwork can look overly clean and smooth is the tendency to start painting on a flat white background. When painting with genuine oils, acrylics, and watercolors, you’d likely work on a canvas, board, or paper. All of these mediums have a subtle textured surface that remains visible as you paint. Ambient Design’s ArtRage (macworld.com/7710) solves this problem by offering a range of surface textures to choose…

Flip Camcorders Are Down, but Not Out Q: I purchased a Flip MinoHD camera for each of my two daughters a few years ago. I want to continue to use the cameras, but now that Cisco no longer supports them, I assume that the software that saves the video to the Flip video website won’t work. Is there a simple way to download and save the videos to our computers and, possibly, to burn them to DVDs? Robert Grenley A: While the FlipShare software was convenient because it was found on every Flip camcorder, you were never required to use it. That said, the most recent version of the software works perfectly well under OS X Lion. In fact, Cisco has said that it will continue to support the software…

Apple’s surprise February announcement of the next version of Mac OS—OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion—had developers across the Mac community perking up their ears, thanks in no small part to a new feature called Gatekeeper. With Gatekeeper, software developers are provided with a cryptographic certificate from Apple, which they use to digitally “sign” the code in their applications. “As the Mac gains in popularity,” says one developer, Ecamm Network co-owner Glen Aspeslagh, “Apple’s approach will be a powerful and much-needed weapon against malware.” Certificate of Authenticity Apple’s approach relies on a system of “identified developers,” to whom the company has issued a digital certificate. If Apple finds that a software maker is distributing an application containing some sort of malicious code, it can revoke the certificate, which may prevent the…

Thunderbolt, Apple’s high-speed peripherals connector, made its debut on the MacBook Pro released in February last year. In that time, just a few dozen Thunderbolt products have shipped, to the disappointment of users eager to take advantage of the fast connection. The reasons for the lack of devices range from the technical to the financial. For Hitachi, implementing Thunderbolt technology into its products turned out to be a bit more complex than it had anticipated. In September 2011, the company announced that it would begin shipping Thunderbolt G-Raid and G-Drive external drives in October, but had to put those plans on hold. “The complex technical nature of Thunderbolt required us to take extra time with design, testing, and quality assurance,” explains Mike Williams, vice president and general manager of branded…

Apple has finally given us a full-service tool for viewing, editing, and sharing photos on the iPad and iPhone: iPhoto for iOS. It retains and simplifies the desktop program’s best attributes; while it can’t match the Mac version feature-for-feature, users of the OS X version should feel at home instantly. THE ESSENTIALS The app’s interface is intuitive, with thorough support for Multi-Touch gestures. It took me less than 15 minutes to access and figure out the app’s many features. When you open iPhoto, you see a large viewer in the middle, with unlabeled icons at the top and bottom. The interface might seem intimidating at first, until you tap the question-mark icon and get a screenful of contextual coaching tips that explain each control. You can view up to 12…

Though Apple touts the ease of use of its products, figuring out how to get the most out of an application such as iTunes can be tricky. There are many less-than-obvious things to know about how iTunes Match works, and about general iTunes tasks such as tagging files, dealing with album artwork, working with playlists, and more. To help you navigate iTunes’ intricacies, we’ve created Ask the iTunes Guy, a column by yours truly that answers readers’ questions about everything related to iTunes. We’ve collected some of the best questions we’ve gotten so far, and we answer them here. And we’ll continue to answer your questions regularly on Macworld.com as well. So if there’s something particular you want to know, send a message to itunesguy@macworld.com and we’ll take a look.…

Working with the iTunes interface and your library can be confusing at times. These solutions should offer some clarity. » Is it possible to have more than one iTunes window open at a time? Yes. Double-click almost any item in the iTunes source list (on the left) to open it in a separate window. Alternatively, Control-click or right-click the item, and choose Open In New Window from the contextual menu that appears. This works with the various libraries (except for the main music library), the iTunes Store, Genius, and your playlists. » The hard drive on my MacBook Pro is quickly filling up. Can I move just my movies, TV shows, and other nonmusic items to an external drive? You can. Start by going to the iTunes folder in the…

Playlists let you organize music in many ways. Rather than listening to an album, you can choose your favorite tracks by one artist, or set up a mix of dozens of artists, all with a few clicks. » Can I copy a playlist and the songs it contains from iTunes to a USB thumb drive? If you want to import that playlist into iTunes on another computer, first select all the songs in the playlist, and then drag them to the thumb drive. Next, with the playlist selected in the source list, choose File ▸ Library ▸ Export Playlist. Save this file on the thumb drive as well. To import this playlist into iTunes on another computer, connect the thumb drive and then copy the music files into iTunes. Next,…

Slacker Radio is an interesting hybrid music service (www.slacker.com). On the one hand, the free version—like Pandora—lets you listen to premade stations or create stations of your own based on artists, albums, or tracks you choose. When you create such a station, it’s populated with tracks that are supposed to be harmonious with the original selection. If you purchase a $10-per-month Slacker Premium Radio subscription—similar to such subscription services as Mog, Rdio, Rhapsody, and Spotify—you can also play songs, albums, and single-artist stations on demand, as well as cache albums and playlists on your portable devices (including iOS devices). As such, Slacker Radio can be quite flexible, though it has some rough edges. Music for Nothing (or Next to It) If you’re familiar with Pandora, you understand the idea behind…

Adobe has, for the second time in its history, released a new version of Photoshop in beta form. Photoshop CS6, the centerpiece of the company’s Creative Suite and Creative Cloud subscription strategy, offers a large quantity of tools and enhancements that boost performance and ease of use. Some improvements, like the new Background Save and Auto-Recovery features, work unobtrusively behind the scenes to ensure that you don’t lose your work. Preset Migration And Sharing lets you import all your presets, settings, workspaces, and more into Photoshop CS6, saving you from having to re-create them. The program’s Mercury Graphics Engine, which works with a variety of Mac graphics cards, delivers accelerated software performance. And this version of the suite offers improved intelligent Levels and Curves autocorrections and lens corrections. Photoshop CS6…