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Prevent Quick Screenshots from Cluttering Your Photos Library on the iPhone and iPad

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By default, when you take a screenshot (instructions for iPhone and iPad), it saves to Photos. But what if you don’t want something like a quick image of a map for a friend to clutter your Photos library? In iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple has added new options. When you tap the screenshot thumbnail that appears briefly after pressing the capture buttons, you can crop and mark up your image. Or not. The key is that when you’re ready, tap Done to get an option to Copy and Delete, which is great when all you want to do is paste the screenshot into a Messages conversation or Mail message. You can also save to Photos, Files, or Notes, or just trash the screenshot if you’ve changed your mind.

(Featured image by iStock.com/simona flamigni)

Social Media: Do you take temporary screenshots on your iPhone or iPad so you can message what your screen looks like to a friend? If you don’t want these images saved in Photos, read on for a tip about how to move them to the clipboard for pasting instead.

Make Apple Watch Apps Easier to Find with List View

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With the original version of the Apple Watch, Apple introduced “grid” view, which shows tiny icons for each app in a random circular pattern, making them difficult to find for most people. Happily, at some point, Apple relented and gave us the more sensible list view, which shows all the apps—with their names—sorted alphabetically. If your Apple Watch shows apps in grid view when you press the Digital Crown, fix it by opening the Watch app on your iPhone, tapping App View, and selecting List View. You can also do this on the watch itself in the Settings app.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Social Media: If you have trouble finding apps on your Apple Watch in the randomly arranged “grid” view, you’ll be pleased to learn how to switch to the more sensible list view, which sorts alphabetically.

New Apple Card Savings Accounts Offers 4.15% Interest

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Apple is continuing its forays into the financial world with the introduction of Apple Card Savings, a new savings account from Goldman Sachs that offers 4.15% interest with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements. The Savings account is designed to hold your Daily Cash rewards from using the Apple Card, but you can transfer as much as you want into it, up to $250,000. Given the woefully low interest rates offered by many local banks, the Apple Card Savings account may be compelling. It’s easy to manage in Apple’s Wallet app, but it doesn’t integrate with other personal finance apps right now.

(Featured image by iStock.com/brookebecker)

Social Media: Apple’s latest new product is… a 4.15% savings account? That’s right, as part of its financial ventures, Apple has introduced Apple Card Savings, a high-yield savings account aimed at holding Daily Cash rewards and more.

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation Feature to Improve Cellular Calls

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In iOS 15, Apple added the Voice Isolation feature to FaceTime calls to filter out noise around you while you’re talking, which is a boon if you’re making a call in a loud space or outside environment. With the recently released iOS 16.4, Apple has now brought that feature to cellular calls as well, but it’s not an option in Settings > Phone, as you might expect. Instead, during a call, open Control Center by swiping down from the top right of the screen (Face ID iPhones) or up from the bottom (Touch ID iPhones). Then tap the Mic Mode button and Voice Isolation. You won’t hear any difference, but the person on the other end should be able to hear you better. iOS remembers your setting, so switch back to Standard when you’re done—Voice Isolation may not sound as good as Standard in quiet spaces.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Jub Job)

Social Media: If you make phone calls in loud environments, you can now be heard more easily with iOS 16.4’s new Voice Isolation feature for cellular calls. The tricky part is enabling it in Control Center while talking.

Set Your Apple Watch Clock Ahead a Few Minutes to Avoid Being Late

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Those who tend to cut things tight have a time-honored tradition of setting their watches ahead by a few minutes. That way, when you glance at your watch and realize that you need to leave, you actually have a few more minutes. You can do this with your Apple Watch, but only on the watch itself. Press the Digital Crown to see your apps, tap Settings, scroll down to and tap Clock, tap the button for Set Watch Face Display Time Ahead, and use the Digital Crown to choose your desired time adjustment. Note that this setting affects only the time you see on the watch face. All alarms and notifications will come in at the correct times.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Bobex-73)

Social Media: Want to give yourself a few more minutes to get to meetings on time? Use this little-known option to set the time displayed on your Apple Watch ahead by a few minutes.

How to Turn Mail’s Rich Website Previews into Plain Links

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Sometimes apps can be too helpful. Apple’s Mail on the Mac likes to turn pasted URLs into graphically rich previews, and sometimes that’s OK. But other times, the preview is confusing or takes up too much space. Or you may want to send a plain link so the recipient can see its text. There are three ways to avoid rich link previews:

  • Before pasting a URL into your message, type a space or any other text. Mail converts URLs to rich previews only when they’re on a line by themselves.
  • Hover over the preview, click the down-pointing arrow that appears, and choose Convert to Plain Link from the pop-up menu.
  • In Mail > Settings > Composing, change the Message Format pop-up menu to Plain Text. Although this eliminates rich link previews, it also prevents you from including formatting and images.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Social Media: Annoyed by how Apple’s Mail on the Mac turns pasted URLs into rich link previews? We offer three ways to avoid them.

Classical Music Fans Take Note: Apple Music Classical Is Now Available

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Apple has at long last released the promised Apple Music Classical app. It’s a free iPhone app for Apple Music subscribers that looks and works much like the standard Music app. However, Apple has adjusted it extensively under the hood to work better with classical music, where there are many recordings of the same work by different artists. Apple also improved the metadata—normalizing composer names and adding work and movement tags—for the 5 million classical tracks in Apple Music. For instance, you can search by work, composer, conductor, opus number, and key, something that worked poorly before. Apple Music Classical is a significant improvement for classical music fans, and it provides expert recommendations and playlists for those interested in getting started. Alas, there’s no Mac version yet, and the iPad is limited to using the scaled-up iPhone app.

(Featured image by iStock.com/cyano66)

Social Media: Whether you’re a classical music fan or a neophyte who wants to learn more, check out the new Apple Music Classical app, free for Apple Music subscribers. Its interface is designed for classical music, and it provides access to over 5 million tracks.

Reveal Your Desktop Quickly with a Keyboard Shortcut

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The Mac’s Desktop is a remarkably useful place. It’s a good spot for in-progress documents, screenshots, images dragged out of Web pages, and more. However, app windows tend to obscure the Desktop, making it harder to use. There are two quick ways you can temporarily hide windows, making it easy to access icons on the Desktop. In macOS 13 Ventura, in System Settings > Desktop & Dock, click the Shortcuts button at the bottom and assign a keyboard shortcut to Show Desktop (we like the Right Option key). Or click Hot Corners and choose Desktop for one of the corners. (In macOS 12 Monterey and earlier, look in System Preferences > Mission Control.) Then, press that keyboard shortcut or put your pointer in that corner to move your windows aside temporarily. When you’re done, press the key or move the pointer there again to put the windows back.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/AmnajKhetsamtip)

Social Media: The Mac’s Desktop is a great place for in-progress documents, screenshots, and other things you’re working on, but only if you can get to it easily. Read on for two little-known tricks for temporarily pushing windows aside.

What’s the Difference between Removing and Deleting an App?

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There are many reasons you might want to get rid of apps from your iPhone or iPad. To begin, touch and hold on a blank spot on a Home Screen to enter “jiggle mode.” Then tap the ⊝ icon for any app to see the question about whether to delete the app entirely or merely remove it from the Home Screen. Delete the app if you don’t want to use it anymore or need to reclaim the space it occupies. (You can download it from the App Store again.) Remove the app from the Home Screen if you want to reduce clutter, keep the app on your device, and don’t mind opening it from the App Library (swipe left past all the Home Screens) or from Search (swipe down from the middle of the screen).

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Photosbypatrik)

Quickly Put Lots of Files in a Folder with One Command

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Imagine that you’re working with a bunch of files, and you want to put a set of them in a new folder. You could stop what you’re doing, make a new folder, select all the files, and drag them into the folder, like an animal. Or you could take advantage of a slick Finder command that Apple added in macOS 11 Big Sur. Simply select the files you want to put in a folder, Control-click one of them, and choose New Folder with Selection (X Items) from the top of the contextual menu. A folder called “New Folder With Items” appears, with your selected files inside. This feature may not be life-changing, but some people use it often.

(Featured image by iStock.com/ArLawKa AungTun)