Hi Mr Mac subscribers. I trust you are all well and Mac-happy!
macOS CATALINA has arrived! This major update was a couple of days later than expected but is now available for your (eligible) computer to upgrade.
I covered a lot of detail about this release in the last newsletter, so for anyone wanting more info please check this post
I am just about to apply this update and will keep you all posted on the experience warts and all - the good, the bad & the ugly!
iPhone Photography
I found an excellent article showing ten excellent iPhone photography tips. Used carefully, the iPhone can be used to take extraordinary shots.
You too can take professional-looking shots just with your iPhone, especially if it's a newer model.
Have a look at these tips to see what is possible.
Cyber-Flashing Danger...A 'Must Read' For Parents
Cyber-Flashing via AirDrop is an awful thing that can happen to anyone but most worryingly our children and needs to be outed as a potential issue.
This article from SMH details the circumstances of a 16 year old girl who had disturbing images 'AirDropped' to her device without her knowledge.
It's important that parents make sure their kid's devices have the correct settings when in a public space.
It can be very hard for kids to 'un-see' images once they pop up.
The key message from this article is to make sure that our children have the correct AirDrop settings on their device to avoid this type of thing.
AirDrop should be set to 'Contacts Only' rather than 'Everyone'.
The girl had never been told anything by an adult about the dangers posed by an open AirDrop connection.
Here's the official Apple guide to AirDrop
MYOB / AccountEdge users - please read this!
Apple are continuously striving to perfect their software and hardware products. An essential part of this is the cycle of major and minor operating system updates.
While this can be annoying, it allows constant refinements to be made to the macOS and iOS infrastructures.
The next system, macOS 10.15 'Catalina', is due late September or October this year and is a major update.
This is because from 10.15 onwards, only 64-bit Applications will be supported. Any older apps that you may have floating around in your system that have 32-bit architecture (potentially 10 or more years old software) will not function. You may have seen a warning showing up occasionally on your system letting you know about this impending change.
If there are older apps that you rely on you will need to check their compatibility with Catalina OS before upgrading - use this guide to check the apps on your system that might be affected:
If you see apps in there that you need, you'll need to ensure your computer doesn't automatically update itself to the new system. This will allow you time to take steps to replace the potentially incompatible software.
If you have macOS 10.14 Mojave, you'll find a 'software update' tab in System Preferences (in the Apple menu at the top left). You'll need to un-check the box that says 'Automatically keep my Mac up-to-date'
If on a previous system, as many of you might be, (e.g Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra etc) then open the App Store in the Apple Menu, and go to it's preferences (click the App Store name in the top left hand of the screen and you'll see 'preferences' there). Within the dialog that opens you'll see an option called 'install macOS updates'. Un-tick the box next to it.
This will ensure that your system doesn't update itself overnight and mess with your Applications.
For MYOB users, please look at this link:
https://community.myob.com/t5/MYOB-AccountEdge/AccountEdge-is-not-optimised-for-your-Mac/td-p/565536
The new Catalina OS has many significant changes, including the complete re-working of the way music, podcasts and device management are handled. This is just one aspect of many features and improvements, and rather that try to list them all here, an excellentl summary of the feature set of Catalina can be found on the following link from MacRumours:
Importantly, this update will not work on all machines.. macOS Catalina is compatible with many machines from 2012 and later, though there are some exceptions. Catalina runs on all of the same Macs that were able to run macOS Mojave, with the exception of the mid-2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pro models, which will not be getting the update.
If you have any queries about this transition and what it means to you, please give me a call on 0418 408 869.
Thanks for reading this far - and happy Mac Computing!
Dave 'Mr Mac'