Inhoudsopgave van May 2016 - Macworld

Apple put Siri, its voice-activated personal assistant, in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV, but not the Mac. I assumed the company realized that people talking to their computers would be rage-inducing to those around them, but OS X has had dictation features for a while, and Apple has actually been testing Siri on the Mac for the last four years. The feature is almost ready to go, 9to5Mac reported recently (go.macworld.com/9to5siriosx), and will be announced at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference as part of OS X 10.12 in June. The next version of the Mac operating system is likely to get a public release this fall. So how will Siri on the Mac work? Kind of like Spotlight search, in that a Siri icon will sit in…

AIRFOIL 5 PRICE WHEN RATED $29 new, $15 upgrade (free to purchasers of previous version after Nov. 1, 2015) COMPANY Rogue Amoeba Software AIRFOIL 5 IS A DIGITAL VENTRILOQUIST that lets you throw your computer’s “voice.” The latest version builds on the foundation of letting you take a single app’s audio output and route it to one or more places to play it back. It’s something like iTunes multi-“speaker” support but with much more control, and it works with any application, all while not relying entirely on AirPlay. Airfoil (rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac) can target any AirPlay destina-tion, as it’s long been able to. In my house, that includes an older and current-generation Apple TV, a Yamaha stereo receiver during a brief period of rudimentary but functional AirPlay support, two computers via…

KANEX DIGITAL AUDIO ADAPTER FOR APPLE TV AT A GLANCE Handy adapter that passes through video over HDMI from an Apple TV while splitting out audio in both stereo and surround-sound formats. PROS • Well-produced audio splitter • Decodes 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound • Has both 3.5mm audio and SPID/F optical audio interfaces CONS • Relatively expensive PRICE $60 COMPANY Kanex WHEN THE FOURTH-GENERATION Apple TV (go.macworld.com/appletv4) came out, the complaint I expected least was the lack of an audio output port (go.macworld.com/appletvoutput). That’s because I own a relatively new receiver that handled HDMI audio and video switching; while not rare, it’s nowhere near common. Many people rely on older receivers that can’t switch HDMI and extract the audio, use standalone powered speakers that require a separate audio…

ULYSSES FOR iPHONE PRICE $20 introductory price; $25 regular price COMPANY The Soulmen EVEN BACK WHEN the only way to write on the iPhone was on a skeuomorphic notepad, it was clear that Apple’s revolutionary handset was a productivity dynamo. Marker Felt aside, and after just a few minutes with Notes (go.macworld.com/notesios9), it wasn’t hard to envision a day when a multitude of writing apps would be available to store, save, and share your thoughts. But I’m not sure even Steve Jobs could have imagined an app like Ulysses (ulyssesapp.com). Already one of the best text editors on the Mac, Ulysses has always lived up its powerful pedigree, with first-class organization, excellent Markdown support and a smart, sophisticated interface that’s as adept as it is adaptable. When it came…

Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro AT A GLANCE The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is more portable and takes better video than the bigger iPad Pro. It adjusts your screen’s color temperature to match your surroundings, and generally does everything the bigger iPad Pro can do, only for less money. PROS • Weighs under a pound, and smaller size is easier to use away from a table • Supports Apple Pencil • Shoots 4K video CONS • Less RAM than the bigger version, but real-world performance is barely affected PRICE Wi-Fi only: $599 for 32GB storage; $749 for 128GB; $899 for 128GB. Add $130 for cellular. COMPANY Apple VIDEO: 9.7-INCH iPAD PRO Go ahead, save a couple hun dred bucks by picking the 9.7- inch iPad Pro over the 12.9- inch model…

While email is slowly being replaced by other forms of communication such as text messaging, or services like Slack, it is still the main way people do business. The average user receives about 90 emails per day, a dozen of which are spam. To help work efficiently with email, it’s a good idea to filter some of your messages. You may want to have separate mailboxes for your work and personal emails, or specific mailboxes for emails from close friends. If you’re using email for business, you may want to filter emails by client, or put support emails in one mailbox, and sales queries in another. There are many ways to filter email: in some cases you can filter your email directly on a server, so filtered messages don’t go…

It’s Friday night, and you want to kick back and relax after a long week’s work. You fire up your Apple TV and click on Netflix to find a movie to watch. Maybe you like Denzel Washington, and want to see one of his great movies. Search for Denzel, and what do you find? Four films, and not the best. No Malcolm X, no Philadelphia, no Hurricane, Training Day, or Inside Man. They’ve got Flight, but they don’t have American Gangster or The Taking of Pelham 123. (However, if you want to pay for a rental, the iTunes Store has 41 of his movies...) But if you want to check out the latest albums on Apple Music or Spotify, just look at what’s new. You’ll have almost all of the…

With the help of security researchers, Apple recently quickly blocked a cyberattack aimed at infecting Mac users with file-encrypting malware known as ransomware. The incident is believed to be the first Apple-focused attack using ransomware (go.macworld.com/5ransomware), which typically targets computers running Windows. Victims of ransomware are asked to pay a fee, usually in bitcoin, to get access to the decryption key to recover their files. Security company Palo Alto Networks wrote that it found the “KeRanger” ransomware wrapped into Transmission, which is a free Mac BitTorrent client. Transmission warned on its website (transmissionbt.com) that people who downloaded the 2.90 version of the client “should immediately upgrade to 2.92.” SNEAKING PAST THE GATEKEEPER It was unclear how the attackers managed to upload a tampered version of Transmission to the application’s website.…

ALTWORK DESK The $5,900 Altwork desk (altwork.com) is no ordinary workstation. It’s an entirely configurable workstation on wheels that actually has you lay down on your back to work. OK, you’re probably wondering: Who wants to lay down while they’re working? I felt the same, until I sat down at Altwork’s desk, pressed a button, and let the machine gently recline until I was on my back with a monitor above my head. I’m not gonna lie: It feels like being the captain of a spaceship. But aside from the novelty, the ability to recline and still see a display and have easy access to a keyboard and mouse (thanks to an adjustable desk and magnets) is essential for people who have experienced injury or live with chronic pain. —CAITLIN…

Being an Apple aficionado doesn’t mean you have to suppress your Google-geek streak. Google has made many of its popular productivity apps available for iOS, so it’s not hard to design your own Android-esque ecosystem (go.macworld.com/dyo-android) on your iPhone or iPad. Here are the five you should start with. GMAIL Gmail (go.macworld.com/gmailapp) has more than 900 million users (go.macworld.com/900mgmail), and chances are you’re one of them. If so, you know that Apple’s mail app doesn’t always play nice with Gmail’s push feature. A few third-party alternatives promise to smooth out the relationship, but the easiest way to avoid it is to use the official Gmail app. The app brings the best of Gmail’s features to your iPhone or iPad, including multiple-account support, instant push notifications, threaded conversations, and its renowned…

COMPOSER’S SKETCHPAD We missed the $3 Composer’s Sketchpad (composerssketchpad.com) when it first launched, so the latest update is a chance to correct that oversight. The app lets you jot down musical ideas with your finger—or Apple Pencil, if you have an iPad Pro—and hear them played back using 100 instruments and a percussion set. (Check out this trailer: go.macworld.com/composersketchpadtrailer.) The update includes support for multitasking, portrait mode, and other bug fixes. MLB Manager 2016 Ever want to play video sports games, but without all the button-pushing and quick reactions they usually require? The $5 MLB Manager 2016 (go.macworld.com/mlbmgr2016) lets you sit back and coach—either take an existing team and guide it through a season, create your own fictional club to test out matchups, or choose a historic team (from…

Many of the apps on your Mac have a toolbar; that’s the gray section at the top of the window that contains a number of buttons and, perhaps, a search field. You see this in Safari, Mail, the iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), and even in the Finder. The buttons available in these toolbars let you quickly access some of the most common functions of their respective apps. Tweaking the Finder toolbar can help you become more productive. You can add buttons for functions you use often, ones that might be harder to access via menus. You can add a specific button that offers most of the same menu items as the Finder’s contextual menu; this is great if you’d rather click a button than right-click or Control-click. And you…

Why your base station and OS X might report different Wi-Fi rates Rich Knudson wants to know why his 802.11ac-bearing iMac from late 2015 isn’t giving him the performance he expects when connected to a new Time Capsule, which also has 802.11ac Wi-Fi networking. He compared AirPort Utility numbers to OS X’s hidden display, and writes: “The data rate/Tx [transmit] Rate and RSSI [received signal strength] are very different between Airport Utility and the extended Wi-Fi data you get when you option click the Wi-Fi icon in the top right menu bar. One of the benefits I was expecting with my new setup was to connect my iMac to the network using wireless-ac and see a step function improvement in data rate/Tx Rate speeds.” A: As someone who has tested…

New games come out pretty frequently for the Apple TV, and while there are thankfully more games that work well with the Siri Remote, there are also many that just cry out for a dedicated gamepad. Many of these are console favorites—or console-inspired games—that just aren’t meant for a small touchpad, and a gamepad goes a long way toward making your Apple TV feel like a proper gaming machine. Included here are 12 of our favorite Apple TV games that are best experienced with a gamepad, but we’re not claiming that each individual game warrants an investment in extra hardware. Rather, collectively, they show how much widespread benefit you’ll get from a controller, and why it’s a crucial pickup if you have plenty of Apple TV couch gaming in your…

SATECHI TYPE-C PASS THROUGH USB HUB WITH USB-C CHARGING PORT PRICE WHEN RATED $45 COMPANY Satechi MACBOOK DOCKS have started to arrive a year after Apple introduced its single-port USB-C–based ultra-portable MacBook (go. macworld.com/usbcmacbook), and the Satechi Type-C Pass Through USB Hub (go.macworld.com/satechihub) with USB-C Charging Port is one that will fit a lot of users’ needs at an affordable price. Of special interest is its inclusion of USB-C pass-through power, something that’s popping up all over suddenly, letting you continue to keep a MacBook charged while using external ports. The dock is tiny and handsome in brushed aluminum available in colors matching Apple’s three MacBook options, gold, silver, and space gray. For Mac users, the Satechi logo and branding on the top may be too much, but you’re…

The breakout star of South by Southwest Interactive wasn’t a social app or a piece of hardware. It was chewable coffee. Little red and yellow packages of caffeine-packed Go Cubes were all over downtown Austin. But these weird little latte-flavored gummies aren’t just a novelty snack, or even an easy way to mainline caffeine without having to pee every five minutes. Chewing Go Cubes is the first step on the road to biohacking, or quantifying your body and your brain to achieve maximum productivity. Most people wouldn’t consider wearing a fitness band that tells you when you’ve walked 10,000 steps in a day, using an app to track your workouts, or logging your food intake forms of biohacking, which, to be honest, sounds like a weird, extreme practice for people…

ANYLIST 5.2 AT A GLANCE AnyList is a full-featured grocery shopping list and recipe organizer with lightning-fast cloud sync and cross-platform support. PROS • Cross-platform grocery shopping list and recipe manager • Insanely fast cloud sync • Easy sharing of lists, recipes CONS • No Apple Watch support • Mac, web apps require annual paid subscription • Limited database support for department or drug stores PRICE Free; in-app purchases available COMPANY Purple Cover Inc. ALTHOUGH MY WIFE LOVES TO BROWSE on her iPhone and iPad, she’s old-fashioned when it comes to shopping. Planning weekly meals or making a grocery list is all about pen and paper, no matter how much I try to infuse software into the mix. But her traditional ways may not be long for this world.…

TAP NUMBERS TO VIEW PRODUCTS. TAP WEBSITE URLs FOR MORE INFO. SMART BEAN The $30 Smart Bean (antecmobileproducts.com) is a Bluetooth adapter—enabling wireless functionality on wired headphones, speakers, and more. It has a range of up to 30 feet and offers up to eight hours of music playback on a single charge. WITHINGS HOME The $190 Wi-Fi Security Camera with Air Quality Sensors (withings.com) is an app-enabled device—monitor it from your iPhone!—that offers HD video, two-way audio, a 135-degree wide angle, and night vision capabilities. KARDIA MOBILE The $99 Kardia Mobile EKG (alivecor.com) “allows you to capture a medical-grade EKG in just 30-seconds.” Keep a record of information for personal insights, or relay it to a doctor for immediate guidance. IN-HABIT The $99 In-Habit amplifier for Apple TV (intonationaudio.com) is…

Thomas Staton asks about backup strategies: Since I have two backup drives, should I use Time Machine on both, or use cloning hardware on one and Time Machine on the other? I’m a great fan of belt, suspenders, duct tape, and a spare belt. Time Machine and clones have different purposes, though you can use them to the same end in the right case. If you have a non-recoverable drive failure, you can either use a clone or a Time Machine drive to restore to the last backed-up point. Time Machine’s advantage is twofold in the right case. First, it’s routinely backing up, so even as you work, some files are being written in backup form. Second, it has archives of previous versions of the same files. However, using two…

One program you use all the time is the Finder. It’s your Mac’s filing system, organizational structure, and overseer. We all know how to open, move, and copy files, but most of us go about our business without ever considering the most efficient way to get these tasks done. As a prime example, you can use the Finder’s View menu options to view files and folders in four different ways, but most people don’t know why they’d bother. They stick to one view for all their windows when, in fact, there are valid reasons to use each. Here’s how to use the right view at the right time, and save time and trouble in the process. FLEXIBLE ICON VIEW OS X uses Icon View by default. Select it by choosing…