MULSA

MAC

iPAD

iPHONE

Essential Watch apps: get more from your wearable p42

Easy web design: the best Mac iWeb replacements p34

New 5K iMac and 15-inch MacBook Pro: in-depth reviews p60

Discover the awesome new features that will make your

iPhone and iPad better than ever p22

H A N D S - O N W I T H

HOW TO: Get OS X 10.11’s split view today

Sync your files online privately

Easily mail merge in Pages

Become a Terminal guru

AUGUST 2015 NO.105 WWW.MACLIFE.COM

OS X 10.11El Capitan revealed!

PLUS!

AUGUST 2015 NO.105 WWW.MACLIFE.COM

iOS 9, OS X and watchOS 2What you can expect from the latest OS

for mobile, desktop and Apple Watch.

Things are looking smarter, more

powerful, and more connected.

Web-building Mac appsIf you want an easy way to to craft your

own website for your business or blog, it’s

worth investing in a great app designed

for the job. We put six to the test.

Essential Apple Watch appsForget telling the time, a glance at your

wrist can provide you with so much more!

We look at the best apps available from

productivity power-ups to fitness trackers.

Make the most of the ultimate

wearable with these fantastic apps.

maclife.com AUG 2015 3

57SpacecomTake over the galaxy from your iPad.

Digital|Life Head over to maclife.com.

ConsiderEditor-in-chief Chris Slate

looks forward to iOS 9.

ShareEmail: [email protected].

StartThe Metal makeover.

Early Access Pre-release games, plus

privacy vs convenience.

The ShiftDavid Chartier on Apple’s

double-edged sword.

Six Apple classics…

…that were just too far

ahead of their time.

Game LoopBrianna Wu on what the OS

updates mean for gaming.

CraveThe gear we’re lusting after.

$50 iTunes cardWhat would you buy…?

Spark HealthDash

MicSwap Pro

Music IO AfterCam Simple Machines

Carbo Sproggiwood Biz Builder Delux

Sword of Xolan Spacecom

The seven best multiplayer iOS games

AskOur Apple experts answer

your burning hardware

and software questions.

Do more with Terminal Power up window controls Keep your folders in sync Mail merge in OS X Remote control your Mac Control your location data Random Apple MemoryWe look back at the iPod –

the ”breakthrough digital

device” that went on to

define the decade…

82

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

76Withings Activité PopA stylish alternative

to the Apple Watch…

06

08

10

12

14

15

16

17

18

20

52

53

53

53

54

54

55

56

57

57

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59

Boom 2 Curio Express

FileMaker Pro 14

CleanMyMac 3 Ghostnote Flowchart Designer Paragraphs Forecast Bar Rebel T6s Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Nix Pro Color Sensor Inateck HB4009 Withings Activité Pop LifeProof FRE Power Twelve South HiRise for Apple Watch

Elite: Dangerous

Invisible, Inc.

Axiom Verge

66 67

68 69

69

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75

76

77 77

78

80

81

75Nix Pro Color Sensor

77Twelve South HiRise

for Apple Watch

>>>Contents

4 AUG 2015 maclife.com

Visit MacLife.com

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The march of technology never

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EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chris Slate MANAGING EDITOR Chris Hoffman EDITOR Matt BoltonOPERATIONS EDITORS Jo Membery, Ed RickettsCONTRIBUTORS JR Bookwalter, David Chartier, Emma Davies, Ian Evenden, Kane Fulton, Craig Grannell, Kate Gray, Kenny Hemphill, Ali Jennings, Hollin Jones, Joseph Leray, Gerald Lynch, Gary Marshall, Ange Nicholson, Nick Peers, Christopher Phin, Nick Pino, Matt Thrower, Jordan Erica Webber, Brianna Wu

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BUSINESSDIRECTOR OF SALES Stacy Gaines, [email protected] PRESIDENT STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Isaac Ugay, [email protected] SALES MANAGER Michael Plump, [email protected] SALES MANAGER Tad Perez, [email protected] REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Austin Park, [email protected] REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Jessica Reinert, [email protected]

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TUCKED AWAY IN Apple’s WWDC keynote, taking a back seat to the bombast, was something that could end up as Apple’s most notable new endeavor: proactivity.

Apple describes iOS 9 as a proactive

suggestions for what you might want to do next, based on your past behavior (which apps you regularly use, when you

thing? Because our devices do so much now that they demand our constant attention – not only for tweeting, texting,

So this fall, iOS 9 will know to continue the podcast you listened to earlier when you plug in headphones, and to pull up your favorite playlist when you connect your iPhone to your car via Bluetooth. When you start adding people to an email or calendar invitation, iOS 9 will suggest other contacts you usually include with them. The OS will also recommend recipients based on commonly used subject lines or event titles. When an email comes in with an appointment or

you the precise time to leave for an appointment. If you get a call from an unknown number, iOS 9 will try to identify it from emails.

There will be growing pains. Inevitably, Siri will sometimes guess wrong and we’ll be bothered to correct its mistakes; and advertisers will drool over the prospect of mining that much personal data to sell

it’s hard to imagine them feeding their customers to the dogs.If any of the extra assistance annoys you, you’ll surely be able to

track and stop me from forgetting something important, the extra help will be worth a few hiccups.

GETTING PROACTIVE

CHRIS SLATE, Editor-in-Chief

Twitter: @ChrisSlate

>>>THE TEAM

Jo MemberyOperations Editor

Jo is delighted she can

now search for email she

ignored – and revel in it.

Mat GartsideArt Editor

Mat can’t wait to use two

apps at once in iOS 9. Now

he just needs three hands.

Matt BoltonEditor

Matt’s looking forward to

a smarter Siri. But then,

he roots for the Terminator.


EMAIL: [email protected]: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclifeSHARE WITH US!

Apple is making the iPad much smarter in iOS 9.

There are lots of changes in iOS 9 to make using it faster and easier.

I want to tell you a great Steve Jobs story. I once got a grant for my classroom for a computer and a video projector. In my ignorance, I unfortunately bought a clamshell Mac with no digital video out, so the kids couldn’t see the desktop on the projector.

I called numerous Apple Educational sites in Texas, Sacramento, and Cupertino, and none of them would take a laptop back, not even when I explained it was from a grant and that I wouldn’t be able to buy a new one for years.

What the heck, I emailed Steve Jobs. The very next day I got a call from Jobs’ secretary, who said they were sending me a new laptop and that I could keep the one I already had. The laptop I received was the best model Apple made at the time.

Since then my dedication to Apple products has never wavered, nor has my respect for Steve Jobs. MEL AUSMAN

Wow, what a great story — thanks for sharing it! That kind of generosity certainly contrasts with his combative, hot-headed reputation.

Polishing Apple’s OSesIn our June 2015 cover story,

“The Future of OS X and iOS,”

we asked which areas you would

improve in Apple’s operating

systems. Here’s a small sample

of what you had to say…

1. For those of us who have difficulty

reading the fine print commonly

used in toolbars, it would be great

if we could increase the font size

converted from a PC to an iMac, and

from a Galaxy S5 to an iPhone 6.

1. Customization in the Control

Center – let me add the shortcuts

I want, such as a button to turn

cell data on/off.

2. When I turn on Bluetooth, I’d like

a pop-up dialog asking me which

device I want to connect to so I

don’t need to go into Settings to

select it. My S5 did this.

3. Add a number row to the default

onscreen keyboard.

4. Have the keyboard keys display

upper- or lower-case letters

depending on which is in use.

5. Give me the option to choose

which apps are the default, such

as replacing Apple Maps and Safari

with Google Maps and Chrome.

6. When I open a folder and choose

an app, close the folder when the

app opens. Or at least close the

folder when I close the app.

MATT CALABRESE

When I create a new message in

Mail and type the name of a group

from Contacts into the Bcc space,

the names show up in a random

order rather than alphabetized. This

makes it difficult to find one or two

names out of a few dozen to delete.

I’m quite sure Apple’s programmers

are capable of sorting alphabetically.

JANET CHESNE

in all apps, especially MS Office

products for Macs. The controls

to do this in Windows have been

trivial for years, maybe decades.

2. Often I have a code or app I’d

like to keep running, even with the

display turned off. Despite all the

Energy Saver preferences, there

is no consistent way to keep my

MacBook Pro awake while running

some apps or programs. Long-

running apps such as Time Machine,

Symantic Endpoint, and some of

my own programs each a require

different preference option in

Energy Server. Sometimes nothing

but keeping the display on will keep

my machine running for long

periods. How about an option to

turn the display off but keep the

Mac awake? Windows fixed this long

ago. ROBERT MEIER

These suggestions for improving

iOS come from someone who just

Your opinions, rants & raves


How Metal will improve work &

play on MacsApple’s new graphics tech will make both

games and intensive apps much fasterBY BRIANNA WU

THERE’S NO NICE way to say it: 3D performance on Mac has never been great compared to the PC. If you’re a Mac gamer, you know this pain. Your games are slower than their Windows counterparts, and consume more battery power.

What’s frustrating is that the problem is rarely Mac hardware, which is generally strong. The culprit is something called OpenGL, a set of tools used by OS X. OpenGL tells your Mac how to draw both 3D and vector graphics - and the problem is the technology for doing this is much worse on OS X than Windows.

Kit installed on a Windows partition and an OS X partition. In Windows, importing a 3D spaceship and assembling the materials takes 10 seconds. In OS X it takes 48 seconds. Every time you do something in 3D or vector graphics on your Mac, OpenGL can be slowing you down.

Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 is used for many games, and will be optimized for

Metal, including on its flagship title, Fortnite.


Discover all the other key features

in OS X 10.11p22

GO

Apple’s next-gen aluminum explainedAmid rumors the new iPhones will use it, we look at the Watch Sport’s alloy BY MATT BOLTON

WHEN INTRODUCING THE Apple

Watch Sport model, Apple talked

about the unique aluminum alloy

it uses, which promised notable

toughness while also being very

light. It’s rumored that the iPhone

6s will use this same alloy, so what

makes it so good?

Well, it’s classed as 7000 series

aluminum, which basically means

that zinc is a key part of the alloy,

unlike 6000 series or lower alloys.

Magnesium is a big part too, as

confirmed by Apple in its strangely

hypnotic video of Watch Sport

casings being molded and milled.

What does this mixture give you

over other alloys? The key thing is

toughness – Apple says it’s 60%

stronger than previous aluminum

alloys, and that its strength is

comparable to steel. It’s also light,

though, being apparently only one

third of the density of stainless

steel. Plus the use of zinc and

copper mean that it especially

benefits from heat-hardening,

adding to that strength.

The downsides are that it’s more

expensive to use and harder to

work with. Some 7000 series alloys

are also more prone to corrosion

than other alloys, though it’s likely

Apple’s customization of its alloy

and processes are designed to

mitigate that.

7000 series aluminum itself

isn’t new, even if Apple’s specific

version potentially is (without

knowing the exact “recipe,” there’s

no way to be sure). 7075 is one

variant that’s in common use, and

that’s been around since 1936. It’s

used for things like aeronautics

and automotive projects, thank to

its balance between strength and

lightness. It’s also used in M16

rifles, bicycle parts and rock

climbing equipment.

As for what benefits it will bring

to the iPhone… well, remember

Bendgate? A harder aluminum

would be less prone to flexing.

Apple could potentially be able to

make the case slightly thinner at

the same strength, allowing for

more battery capacity, or perhaps

keep it the same size, but make it

lighter and stronger. It may well

stand up better to scratches, too.

It’s likely to be a small change in

any case, but a positive one.

Metal is an alternative to OpenGL that solves all of that. And gamers aren’t the only ones that will see gains - it’s anyone who uses a Mac to make professional content.

With Metal, Apple bypasses OpenGL and tells your Mac how to do things in extremely optimized code specially

written “at the metal,” in assembly

spending resources to interpret the code. If Metal lives up to expectations, many OS X users will see huge performance gains.

In the demo, Apple was using the

64 layers active, something that would grind my Mac to a crawl. Particles and smoke can be computationally

demo handled it like a champ.The most impressive demos were by

Adobe, showing how Metal improves

to complex scenes implemented in real time will be a game-changer. Since Adobe has also committed to using Metal in Illustrator, I’m hopeful that this improved performance will be implemented in all their products.

It’s important to remember that Windows has over a decade’s head-start in these kinds of optimizations, so don’t expect the Mac to suddenly match it for games. But Metal is an amazing step in solving one of OS X’s most serious problems, for pro apps and for fun.

Of course Apple has its own special aluminum. If it can be unique, it will.


Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.

EARLYACCESS

Apple fights for privacy but needs convenienceiCloud protects your data, but is it useful enough?BY MATT BOLTON

AT APPLE’S WWDC

Keynote, on several

occasions presenters

made reference to the

privacy Apple offers in

its products, including

the fact that the new

search functions and

“proactive” Siri features

don’t require sending

your data from your

device at all. “We don’t

mine your email, your

photos or your contacts

in the cloud to find

things out about you,”

stated Craig Federighi,

SVP of software

engineering. It felt

especially pointed

coming shortly after

Google announced its

new unlimited cloud

photo storage service –

implying that your data

isn’t safe with Google.

We applaud the general

approach – it’s great

that Apple is

uncompromising on this.

The thing is, though…

the Google photo

storage service is really

good. You can store any

number of photos that

are under 16MP, or

videos at 1080p, with

some compression

applied (which appears

to be very good at

retaining detail), making

them visible on all your

devices. No hassle, no

fuss. This is the kind of

service that many

people don’t mind giving

up some of their data

privacy for (though

Google says these

photos do, in fact, stay

private). iCloud Photo

Library still only gives

you 5GB of storage for

free – except that’s

shared with all your

other iCloud data. If

Apple really believes

that it has a duty to help

customers protect their

data, it needs to offer a

service that matches

Google’s (or any other)

for usefulness and value

while also being secure.

Right now, it might as

well just be marketing.

SPACE ROGUE

Captain a space hot-rod on a mission to save the galaxy! This game is very similar to indie hit

FTL, in that you go around a galaxy having encounters, many of which end in battles, with you

managing your crew to repair damage and defend. It’s slick and

fun with good variety, but also often overly brutal at this stage.

VERSION TESTED: 1.1

TRAIN VALLEY

This lovely-looking puzzle game puts you in charge of building rail tracks between colored stations. You choose when to allow trains to leave for their given station,

making sure they won’t hit each other – but the longer you wait, the less valuable they are. It’s simple to learn, but becomes

frantic fun over time. VERSION TESTED: B1.2

Pre-release games and software available now

>>>Start


>>> David Chartier is a content strategist and writer with vast experience analyzing the tech world.

He runs the website Finer Things in Tech (finerthings.in) and hosts its podcast, The Finer Things In.

LIKE CLOCKWORK, Apple unveiled this year’s advancements to OS X, iOS, and now watchOS 2 (yes, the “w” is meant to be

lowercase) at WWDC 2015. There is a handful of common themes driving Apple’s new focus, developer tools, and features you will soon see in your favorite apps. But one thing is clear: Apple is sharpening a double-edged sword of features and privacy, for better and worse.

LET’S BE CLEAR, this is not a year of major upheaval or revolution for Apple’s operating systems, and that’s a good thing. Instead, I saw themes of strengthening foundations, exploring contextual utility, and doubling-down on security and privacy.

On one side of Apple’s increasingly polished blade, OS X El Capitan’s Spotlight can pull in data from even more services than ever and use natural language in more apps, so you can type “unread email from Leana” in Mail’s search box, and it understands what you want. Spotlight in iOS 9 will be able to search inside third-party apps and show relevant documents and nuggets of data alongside search results from Apple’s own. Lots of other new features and improvements across the board should make us all a little more

productive, especially side-by-side app multitasking on Mac and iPad.

However, on the other side of Apple’s blade is a more vocal, nearly confrontational commitment to user security and privacy that, by its nature, attacks many of the companies like Google and Facebook

basis. Apple also shakes hands with these ad-based, data retaining companies on at least some level, considering that Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others’ features are built into iOS and OS X.

THIS GROWING PORTION of Apple’s public messaging is that it is possible to provide the contextual utility of something like Google Now – which automatically shows users things

appointments – without uploading and retaining our data on servers where it is available to advertisers or, whether unwittingly or otherwise, malicious hackers and invasive governments. Apple is taking a big step into contextual utility with iOS 9 and El Capitan, but its technology is built so that most data is never even sent to Apple for processing, and what little is sent is encrypted, anonymous, and only temporary.

Apple is forging into this wonderful contextual space, yet scorning companies that are existing business partners or, at the least, already enjoyed by its own customers for these features. One could say Apple is putting further pressure on already strained relationships. Or perhaps this alternative approach to our new contextual future was inevitable after all.

With the latest OS upgrades, and contextual features, DAVID CHARTIER says Apple is sharpening both sides of its double-edge sword

>THE SHIFT

Apple is trying to improve contextual utilities while retaining its commitment

to security and privacy.

(without naming them, of course) which give Apple devices some or even much of their usefulness.

THIS IS A TRICKY position for Apple to take. Gmail has nearly one billion users and is one of the most popular email services in the world, and Facebook has over 1.4 billion active users (yes, with a “b”), with nearly one billion of them active on a daily


Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.

6 Apple products that were too far ahead of their time

The world just wasn’t ready for these glorious gems from Apple’s pastBY MATT BOLTON

THERE’S NO DOUBT that the new MacBook is a wonderful machine, but there’s a question of whether its merciless removal of almost all ports has come just too early for most people – we’re not all quite as wireless as the MacBook would like us to be just yet.

launched where either the technology wasn’t ready yet to make them truly work, or users weren’t ready to move to a new way of doing things (or both). They just arrived too early…

© M

arci

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ich

ary

CC

2.0

The PenLite never saw the, er, light of day and was replaced by the equally doomed Newton.

The G4 Cube: look familiar? The latest Mac Pro works on the same design principle.

The iMac G3: nice design, sure, but a lot of people couldn’t live without their legacy ports.

Newton (1993)

A mobile computer

for organizing your

life – sounds good!

And the Newton ran

on ARM processors,

just like the much

later iPhone. But

the hardware was

too clunky and this

kind of device really

needed the mobile

internet to take off.

QuickTake (1994)

The world’s first

consumer digital

camera took photos

at a lowly 640x480

resolution, and you

could store eight

shots. Digital

cameras have done

okay since, though.

PenLite

This unreleased

tablet was dropped

to support the

Newton. Long

before the iPad,

it was basically a

PowerBook Duo

with a stylus, and

would have worked

with the Duo Dock.

MacBook Air

(2008)

The MacBook Air is

successful now, but

it wasn’t always

assured. The first

version used iPod

hard drives and

was achingly slow.

Flash storage and

better battery

technology was the

key to making it

popular later.

G4 Cube (2000)

A small workstation

with parts placed

around a central

cooling core? Great

idea. But the Cube

was too expensive.

Apple got it right

with the Mac Pro.

iMac G3 (1998)

USB 1.1 was the

future, so Apple

dropped legacy

ports on its new

PC… but you

couldn’t connect

your stuff to it.

>>>Start


>>> Brianna Wu is the head of development at Giant Spacekat, developer of Revolution 60 on iPhone and iPad,

and is a regular speaker at industry events, as well as host on the podcasts Isometric and Rocket.

ALTHOUGH IT DIDN’T get much press coverage with WWDC, buried in all the hype was a lot of great news for gamers.

Apple is making a commitment to keep iOS up-to-date with some of the biggest changes to the game industry. eSports has become a huge industry, only nobody seems to know it. Over 134 million people regularly tune in to watch people play videogames. 32 million people tuned in to see the League of Legends world series championship. That’s twice the TV viewership of baseball’s World Series.

iOS 9 IS INCLUDING tools to broadcast eSports in a big way. It’s

called ReplayKit, and it will let users stream their games with a single tap. This brings iOS in line with the streaming convenience of the PS4. ReplayKit will support broadcasting games live on a platform like Twitch, and recording games for a YouTube channel. This usually requires dedicated hardware that can cost hundreds of dollars.

iOS has two top-tier competitive experiences that would be perfect for ReplayKit: World Zombination and Vainglory. These are deep games that you play in short bursts with a team. With ReplayKit, Apple doesn’t have to worry about being left behind as these experiences become more and more social.

THERE’S GREAT NEWS for Mac

games that perform worse and cost more than their PC counterparts. Apple is taking on the biggest performance hog in 3D gaming with Metal, a new system of frameworks that bypass OpenGL. To be blunt, 3D performance has long been slow

bypasses this, and performs 3D operations directly on your Mac’s graphics card. You’ll also see gains in professional applications.

You can expect iOS games to have better AI going forward, too. Part of what makes iOS such an accessible platform for game development is Apple’s commitment to doing most of the grunt work. With GameplayKit, Apple has taken care of the heavy

intelligence. Your opponents won’t just act by a set of rules, they’ll adapt to your strategy. They’ll react in ways you can’t easily predict.

Apple has also made a smart move to make iOS more compatible with game engines like Unreal and Unity with Model I/O. Let’s face it – if you’re making world-class 3D games,

which simply cannot compete with the tools developers have used for decades. Model I/O admits this reality, and works with these tools, rather than trying to reinvent them. From now on, iOS will be able to interpret 3D objects and lighting data from popular 3D applications.

Most of these changes are very quiet, under-the-hood features that most consumers won’t even notice. They’ll just have more fun playing games – and that’s exactly the way iOS 9 should be.

Behind all the hype surrounding Apple’s latest OS updates, it’s the quiet gaming changes that have BRIANNA WU most excited

>GAME LOOP

World Zombination is ripe for streaming success, and iOS 9 makes it easier.


HearNoteshearnotes.com$349

>>> These in-ear headphones let you go totally

wireless for listening to music on the go, using

KLEER audio streaming technology. Unlike

Bluetooth sets, where the two earpieces still need

to be connected to each other, the HearNotes

gives you two separate in-ear units, along with a

transmitter that plugs into your iPhone, for more

freedom – great for sports, especially. The range

is about 50 feet, the batteries last for about four

hours, and they recharge wirelessly, so you can

just drop them on the charging pad when you get

home. They’re due in the fall.

>>>Start Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.

THE GEAR WE’RE LUSTING AFTER

CRAVE


GeniCangenican.com$179

>>> Why does trash have to be so boring? (It’s probably

best if you imagine us talking in an infomercial voice

for this one.) The GeniCan rights this wrong, adding a

touch of garbage glamor to your life. It scans each item

as you throw it away, adding everything to a shopping

list to help you keep track of stocks, and can also send

you coupons and arrange grocery deliveries. When they

said that everything in your home would be smart one

day, they really meant it.

InfiniteUSB-Cgetinfiniteusb.comFrom $35

>>> The new MacBook’s single USB-C port can mean

trouble when connecting many gadgets. That’s where

the InfiniteUSB-C comes into play. Each InfiniteUSB-C

can stack into another one, allowing you to charge or

sync multiple devices just like you did before, all from

one port. InfiniteUSB for standard USB-A ports has

been around for a while, so we expect this to be great.

And it’s now been revealed that the USB-C connector

will also be used for Thunderbolt 3, so this will be useful

on many Apple machines in the future.

Square Contactless & Chip Readersquareup.com$49

>>> Square has been helping small businesses take card

payments in style for a while now, and this new option

combines both the latest payment technologies in one.

Weighing just 56g, the portable unit connects to your

iPhone or iPad using the Square app over Bluetooth,

and can then take Apple Pay (or other NFC payments)

and chip cards. It even comes with a magstripe reader,

just in case. Plus, Square account holders actually get

one free to get them started. It’s a really cool and

flexible way to take payments for… well, anything!


TOTAL SPEND$45.96

EX MACHINAAlicia Vikander, Domnhall Gleeson,Oscar Isaac$14.99Films exploring humanity in

the face of advanced artificial

intelligence aren’t new, but

while many take on an epic

scale, this incredibly tight,

thrilling film from director

Alex Garland (who wrote 28

Days Later and Sunshine)

feels fresh by going narrow.

Gleeson plays a programmer

invited by reclusive genius

Isaac to apply a Turing test to

his latest creation – a robot

with an advanced AI, played

by Vikander. It’s all about the

three of them, locked away in

a compound, and the shifting

priorities and manipulations

that emerge in their time

together. It’s tense, super

smart, and perfectly acted.

HOW BIG, HOW BLUE, HOW BEAUTIFULFlorence + The Machine$12.99There are more big melodies

in the latest album from

singer Florence Welch and

her band, which we’re

assured consists largely of

humans. It’s another great

set of songs for relaxing to

after a busy day in the

summer heat, with quite a

few rhythmic slow numbers,

but plenty that bring the

drama with bigger beats,

especially among the bonus

tracks of the deluxe edition

available on iTunes. Tracks

like Delilah and Queen of

Peace are sure to get your

feet tapping whether you

want them to or not, and

overall it’s a charming album

of dense instrumentation.

FINDERS KEEPERSStephen King$14.99King (we’re going to assume

he needs no introduction)

has produced a kind of

spiritual sibling to his novel

Misery, once again looking at

the idea of a fan’s dangerous

obsession with a writer’s

work. Here, not-so-super fan

Morris Bellamy kills famous

author John Rothstein for

turning his favorite character

into a sellout. He finds that

Rothstein has written more

about the character in stolen

notebooks, but is sent to jail,

and is forced to hide them

– where they’re discovered by

a young boy. When Bellamy

gets out of jail many years

later, he wants the notes

back. A lot. It’s classic

suspenseful King.

YOU MUST BUILD A BOATEightyEight Games$2.99This is the sequel to the

awesome arcade puzzler

10000000, which was part

match-three timewaster, part

RPG. The idea’s the same:

your character runs through

levels, and you need to match

symbols to help him – match

swords to fight monsters,

keys to open chests and so

on. You collect resources

on the way, which let you

upgrade yourself and recruit

monsters as crew on your

titular boat as it grows.

$50 iTunes CardHow would you blow 50 bucks on music, movies, books, TV shows, and apps?

BY MATT BOLTON

>>>Start


Discover how your Mac, iPhone and iPad will become more usable and powerful than ever

In a crowded hall at its annual WWDC conference, Apple unveiled new operating systems for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple

Watch, adding great new features and

famous rock formation) is a more gentle, iterative release, hopefully giving Apple the

improving many of its built-in apps and

powerful productivity features to both

proactive in many situations, presenting the information you need without you having to interact at all; but with more powerful apps

BY MATT BOLTON, KANE FULTON, GERALD LYNCH, NICK PINO

>>>Feature


Introducing OS X 10.11 and iOS 9


OS X 10.11

The new OS X will make your apps faster, and your Mac smarter than ever

SPOTLIGHT GETS BRIGHTER also allows you to be vague,

more like how our brains often

online sources now – sports reports, weather forecasts

SPLIT-SCREEN WINDOWS

some snappy multi-window

Capitan enables you divide your screen between two apps, both running in fullscreen mode, with an adjustable black bar running down the middle to

feature-rich a screen snapping solution as something like

green fullscreen button, then drag it to the left or right to snap it to one side of the

then becomes a mini-Mission Control, making it easy to select one of your other currently running apps to

>>>Feature


AAAtt llllooooooonnnngggg llllaaaassssttt, OOOOSSS XXXX gggggeeeeetttttssss sssoooommmmmeee sssnnnnaapppppppyyy mmmmmmmmmuuuulllttttiii---wwwiiinnnddddooowwww mmmmmmaaaannnnaaaagggeeemmmmmeeennnnttt

SMARTER, SMOOTHER MAIL

Apple has made some small

app, which now works with natural search phrases in a

any unread mail from a contact

unloved at the bottom of your

swipe commands, such as swiping left or right with two

quickly save an email to a folder or delete it, and a tabbed compose window

METAL COMES TO OS X

technology, which arrived

Apple claims that Metal

and allows for 50% better performance in supported games and reduces the level of processing power required

helps to speed up pro apps, with Adobe planning to use it to improve performance in its

more information about Metal

for more support from games

MISSION CONTROL

GETS EASIER

Apple has made Mission Control smoother, starting with making all your windows visible at once, rather than

can drag windows to the top to

entering Mission Control allows you to drag open apps and windows into one half of a

to use Mission Control that much on Mac|Life, but we

SAFARI GETS SMARTER

pin your favorite websites to

the toolbar on the left-hand

tells you which tabs are playing audio with a little speaker symbol, which you can click

single tab with a drop-down

useful when struck by infuriating autoplay videos that scream out of the speakers unannounced,

Window management! In OS X! We thought this day would never come.



option to send just a web video

instead of mirroring the whole

NOTABLE NEW

NOTES FEATURES

embed links for websites, and

create checklists, turning each note into a mini to-do project,

be dragged and dropped, which is easy, but you have to use the

MAKING MORE OF

THE PHOTOS APP

CAN I GET IT?

El Capitan will be a free upgrade for

Yosemite users in the fall. It appears to

be compatible with every Mac that can

run Yosemite: iMac (Mid 2007 or newer),

MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer),

MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early

2009 or newer), Mac mini (Early 2009 or

newer), MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or

newer), Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer).

features, such as being able to easily add locations to a photo or Moment, making it easier to name people with Faces, and

editing tools from other apps within Photos, letting you take advantage of more advanced options for creating amazing mono images or dramatic

MORE, BETTER APPS OVERALL

a smart interface, but also custom-designed content

Maps will include transit information for many cities, along with other accuracy improvements, just as it will

other small changes, including

FIND THE CURSOR

Apple is making it harder to

makes the cursor bigger when

OS X El Capitan brings both deep-level performance improvements and useful new features to your Mac.

>>>Feature


iOS becomes faster to use and more refined, but also more powerful

SMARTER SIRI

big boosts, starting with the fact that it can now look at

with someone in Messages and

open app to understand what

reminder containing, say, the

can also now pull up photos based on location and time, all with the sound of your voice, which will be much easier than scanning through

BEING PROACTIVE

Your devices will do more to

Plugging in headphones in at

Playing interface right away, potentially with your favorite

bring up that podcast you were halfway through last time you

email with a calendar invite,

you about it early enough that

When you create an email, it can suggest other recipients you usually also include on

when you get a call from a

your phone will scan things like your emails to see if can

WALLET EXPANDS

and, this fall, rewards and

store-issued cards will be

Donuts and more will be on board for these new capabilities

these changes, Apple is

Apple Pay is also arriving in its

on when it might arrive for

APPLE NEWS

much like its Mac counterpart, aggregating content from

interested in, and showing

>>>Feature


SSSllliiddeee OOOveeeerrrr bbbbbrrrrriiinnnnnnggggggssss aaaa sssseeeeecccccooooonnnnnnndddddd aapppppp ffrrooomm tttthhhhhheee sssiiiiiddddddeeee ssssoooo yyyyyooooouuuuuu cccccccaaaaannnnn aaannnsswweerr aa tteeeexxxxxxtttt ooorrrrr wwwwwwrrriiiitttteeeee sssssooooommmmmmmeeeeetttthhhhiiinnngg iinn NNootes

them to you in a pretty, easily

version, some publishers will even be custom-designing

publishers will take full

should work as an great reader for your favorite websites no

app, and very easy to read, though we think it might be more popular with people who

before, rather than pull people

as, say, Mac|Life) will live on

apps, rather than tucked away

IMPROVED MAPS

up using Apple Maps at least

long-awaited public transit

for buses, trains, subways and, yes, even ferries are part of

this fall in Baltimore, Berlin,

emerging market for the iPhone, including Beijing,

transit directions are very smartly done, even including information on the layouts of things like subway stations, so you know which entrance to

MULTITASKING FOR iPAD

to its newer iPad tablets –

honest-to-goodness two-things-on-the-screen-

are three ways to view multitasking windows on

second app from the side so

on top of the original app, disappearing when you tap

still a powerful feature, and came to us very naturally as

Dragging from the top of the

app switcher too, and lots of

iPhone packed into the frame

special Picture-in-Picture mode that puts videos and

you can use any other app

Picture are compatible with newer iPads: iPad Air, iPad Air

Multitasking magic! You can use two apps at once on an iPad Air 2.



It enables two apps to be open

active at the same time with

could be using two music apps that are connected to each

on the left and entering data in

slide over, then drag the edge

the middle, and it will snap

NEW KEYBOARD

keyboard now features a built-in shortcut bar, which

to the left; bold, italic, underline and attachments to the right, and this default layout will customizable and compatible with third-party

easier on all devices – press

and move to shift the cursor

that, more shortcuts will be available on Bluetooth

But surely the most welcome change here is that now, when

letters on the keyboard will

UNDER THE HOOD

Longer battery life is a chief concern of iPhone users, but

few hours out thanks to a new

Your iPhone also now knows

it is, saving a few precious

performance, and security

POWERFUL SEARCH

Apple is adding incredibly powerful search capabilities to

will suggest some things you

apps or contacts) as soon as you bring it up, and when you search, it can pull through information from many more

sports team name and get the scores; enter a calculation and

Maps now includes public transit directions.

AAApppplleee saayyyysssss iiiiOOOOOSSSSS 999999 pppuuullllls sssswwwwwwiiiitttttcccchhhhhheeeesss yyyyooooouuuuu ddiddddnnnnnn’’’ttt eeeevvvvveeeennnn kkkknnnnnooooowwwwww eeeexxxxiiisssttttteeeeddddd ttttoooo ssssaaaaavvvvveeee jjjjjjjjuuuuuiiiiicceee

>>>Feature


now be able to search inside apps, and then tap the result to launch the app and go straight to whatever the search found – brilliant for everything from recipes to

you were after, there will be

the top of the screen, allowing you to quickly get back to the

APP CHANGES

tweaks to the standard apps

you add attachments from

gets all the rich features from the Mac version, including embedded links and images, but also gets the ability to draw or handwrite notes directly on

multiple photos at once by

Friends and Find My iPhone/iPad apps are now default, and Apple is including an optional

Drive app for managing and

gets a search function! Really usefully, it not only takes you

for, but shows you the path to

CARPLAY GOES WIRELESS

Wireless CarPlay is coming in

have to take your phone out of your pocket to have access to your apps and media on your

support more display sizes

SLENDER APPS

Apps can now be up to 40% smaller to download, thanks

apps contains a bunch of data

particular device, but that come

Your personal assistant just got promoted. Siri gets smarter in iOS 9.

current device needs, so apps

photos and apps this time!

CAN I GET IT?

iOS 9 will be a free update for iOS 8 users

in the fall. It will work on every device

that iOS 8 did: iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad

Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini, iPad mini 2, iPad

mini 3, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s,

iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPod touch

(fifth generation). Not all features will be

available on all devices, though.



Apple’s wearable gets some very useful upgrades

NATIVE APPS WITH

BETTER ACCESS

will now be able to make standalone Watch apps, freeing the Watch from the tyranny of

game, music player or workout app, your Watch will be able to run applications independent

sit around the time display and

the charge level of your electric car battery to football scores or bus time tables, complications can give at-a-glance info on basically any data a developer

TIME TRAVEL

that was displayed on your complications at a certain moment, or dial forward to see coming appointments or how charged your electric car

WATCHCONNECTIVITY

WatchConnectivity enables your Watch to connect to known Wi-Fi networks, meaning its new native apps stay up-to-date, even when

ALARM CLOCK

A simple one, but curiously

Watch can now sit on your bedside table as an alarm clock, with the display rotating when

letting you use its upwards-facing buttons for snooze

COMMUNICATIONS

You can now easily add someone new to your Friends

also be able to use elements of the Watch that were more restricted before, such as the

microphone and health

MORE WATCH FACE OPTIONS

faces composed of time-lapse photography, as well as the ability to use your own photos

developers can now make their

little widget-like items which

>>>Feature


Apple’s answer to Spotify and Tidal makes its much-anticipated stage debut

list on the Watch, and have

You can also now reply to emails directly from the Watch,

you can draw with multiple

HEALTH AND FITNESS

be much more powerful in

these apps fed back to count towards your overall activity

can now also start workouts in

voice commands setting the

TRANSIT

With public transport data added to Apple Maps with the

Watch gets access to all those

lines, departure times, step-by-step directions

SIRI

voice assistant in with all the

It will understand transit features and respond with relevant transport information based on your requests, and

Having been expected ever since

the company acquired Beats last

year, Apple has now launched

its music-streaming service.

Called Apple Music, the service

supplements iTunes with on-

demand music streaming, a

24/7 radio station called Beats1,

and a social network that will

help fans connect with artists

”on the deepest level, building

relationships that last a lifetime.”

The service launched alongside

iOS 8.4, costing $9.99 per month

for an individual user, or $14.99

for a family of up to six (using

Family Sharing). Macs received

a new version of iTunes to

support it around the same time,

and an Android version will be

made available in the fall. The

new service will improve

recommendations by using not

just the run-of-the-mill sorting

algorithms, but actual human

curators to provide suggestions

for what to listen to next. That’s

on top of its good-old-fashioned

radio station Beats 1, with hosts

including Zane Lowe, Blame Ebro

and Julie Adenuga. Apple is

offering a free three-month trial

of the service, but there isn’t

an equivalent of Spotify’s free

version on-going – you can listen

to Beats 1 without a subscription,

though. However, Apple’s service

should have the largest track

selection of all the streaming

services (though at the time of

writing, it was being coy about the

exact number). The quality is

iTunes-level 256kbps, it integrates

with Siri on iOS in some cool ways

(you can make really specific

requests), and it will replace

iTunes Match for many people

(though not completely, since it

won’t stream music you have

stored that isn’t on iTunes). We’re

not convinced that the social

features for “following” artists will

turn out to be as big a deal as

Apple suggests, but so far, the

service itself is strong enough that

it’s worth having anyway.


>>>Feature


BY GARY MARSHALL

iWeb is long gone, but its spirit lives on in these six user-friendly web publishing programs

APPLE’S iWEB WAS a smart little program that made designing websites super simple. It didn’t do much, but

then it wasn’t supposed to. It was about making website building as easy as using Pages or Keynote, by removing all the pain from designing a website. Unfortunately, Apple never seemed too keen on iWeb, and

2011, its users were hardly surprised. One of the reasons for iWeb’s demise

was that more and more people were publishing using web-based platforms: Google’s Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, social networks such as Facebook, and so on. They all have their place, but dedicated desktop web publishing software has advantages that they don’t. You have more control, you get much faster performance, you can often do a great deal more with your design and content, and you can get

connection. And as we’ll discover here, they often give a much better experience.

Apple might not want to make web publishing software any more, but many

many cases in ways that are very Apple-y.

from one another, but all promise to do much the same thing: give you the tools to get what’s in your head onto the internet. Whether your site is personal or political, for a club or a company, at least one of the apps here should deliver the perfect combination of style and substance for your particular project.

We’ve explored six apps here: RAGE Software’s EverWeb, The Escapers’ Flux V, Softpress’s FreeWay Pro, Realmac’s RapidWeaver, Karelia’s Sandvox, and Intuisphere’s WebAcappella. We weren’t just looking at ease of use (though that’s important), we also wanted to see if they

customization iWeb didn’t.So let’s put them through their paces

and see just what they can do…

Web-buildingMac apps

GROUP TEST


Web-building Mac apps

USER INTERFACE

EverWeb 1.7

Flux V

Freeway 7 Pro

RapidWeaver 6

Sandvox 2

WebAcappella 4

WEB TRIED TO bring classic Mac simplicity to web design, and many of the apps here do exactly the same

much like iWeb did. EverWeb, RapidWeaver, and Sandvox all include

iWork-esque interfaces, and Sandvox can even import your existing iWeb website. If you’re coming to any of these apps from iWeb, or if you haven’t used a web design program before, all three will make you feel perfectly welcome.

Freeway Pro, WebAcappella, and Flux aren’t

apps. Freeway Pro looks like a page layout program, while WebAcappella looks like part of

that it’s for people who already know what they’re doing, populating the screen with stacks of information that’ll look like gibberish to a web beginner. If you don’t know your divs from your DOMs, Flux isn’t the program for you.

i

User interfaceCan beginners get going quickly? Are things laid out logically?

THE SOFTWARE

EverWeb 1.7 $79 everwebapp.com

Flux V $109 theescapers.com

Freeway 7 Pro $150 softpress.com

RapidWeaver 6 $89 realmacsoftware.com

Sandvox 2 $79 karelia.com

WebAcappella 4 $89 webacappella.com

TEST ONE

>>>Feature


TEST TWO

BASIC FEATURES

EverWeb 1.7

Flux V

Freeway 7 Pro

RapidWeaver 6

Sandvox 2

WebAcappella 4

LL OF THE programs here use the familiar choose-a-template approach, but there are big

EverWeb has 32 brochure-style templates in a range of sectors, while Freeway Pro has a handful of email and presentation templates and eight generic site templates. RapidWeaver

installed, but that’s not immediately obvious),

business sites, and Flux has 28 startlingly pretty designs covering every conceivable site. Sandvox has 64 designs that remind us of PowerPoint, for better or for worse.

Editing and creating pages in EverWeb, RapidWeaver, and Sandvox is simple, intuitive

and very iWork-like. Freeway and WebAcappella will be obvious to anybody who’s ever laid out a document in a DTP app or designed something nice

around code and style sheets, and to see exactly what’s going on in your project. In short, they’re all pretty capable programs.

A

Basic featuresHow do you actually build your website? How easy are basic operations to do?



TEST THREE

ADVANCED FEATURES

EverWeb 1.7

Flux V

Freeway 7 Pro

RapidWeaver 6

Sandvox 2

WebAcappella 4

VERWEB ENABLES you to add widgets such as HTML snippets, PayPal buttons and social media shares, but it’s designed for people with fairly simple web-design

Amazon lists, maps, and video embedding, but doesn’t expect its customers to spend time tinkering with the underlying code.

WebAcappella enables you to add photo albums, forms, and maps, while Freeway Pro can add blogger items, PayPal, AdSense, and other social services. Flux lets you add anything, and RapidWeaver has more than 1,000 downloadable add-ons, site versioning, and reusable code snippets on tap.

RapidWeaver and Sandvox support responsive

devices, while Freeway Pro supports these and

EverWeb requires creating a separate page for it.

Advanced featuresCan the app cope with your ambitions? How much control does it give you?

E

>>>Feature


PUBLISHING

EverWeb 1.7

Flux V

Freeway 7 Pro

RapidWeaver 6

Sandvox 2

WebAcappella 4

NE OF THE things that made iWeb so easy to use was its tight integration with the now-defunct .Mac service,

publishing. It also had FTP capabilities for uploading to your own web space. Fortunately, this tradition continues with the

or lesser degree, anyway.

although annoyingly you need to sign in with

you about copyright too. RapidWeaver and Freeway Pro support uploading via FTP, SFTP, and FTPS, Sandvox provides local publishing or uploading via FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV, and WebAcappella does FTP, SFTP, FTPS, plus connections to MySQL databases and PHP mail functions.

To preview your site, EverWeb, WebAcappella, and Freeway Pro call whichever browser you prefer

the app and test screen resolutions.Flux has integrated preview and live preview

for data-driven content, while RapidWeaver has integrated preview with options to test for iPads and iPhones. Sandvox has integrated preview too.

PublishingYou made it – but how do you publish it to the web?

TEST FOUR

O



OVERALL

EverWeb 1.7

Flux V

Freeway 7 Pro

RapidWeaver 6

Sandvox 2

WebAcappella 4

E’VE COVERED A wide range of apps here. Some have scored low not because they’re bad bits of software, but

because they didn’t work out as iWeb replacements: WebAcappella is too corporate, Flux is aimed at a completely

more of a design package than a simple web publishing package.

That leaves us with three similar apps: EverWeb, Sandvox and RapidWeaver. They’re all very user-friendly, but we think RapidWeaver has the edge. It feels more modern, is more expandable, can cope admirably with more ambitious projects and is simply a really cool app to spend time in. In many ways it’s the app iWeb should have been (and if Apple hadn’t dumped that, could have been). It’s also the app that we’d buy ourselves.

The WinnerFor easy web design today, RapidWeaver 6

is the best software out there

W

>>>Feature


> How we testedTaking iWeb as the paradigm, here’s what we were looking for in these particular apps

We approached all of these apps with

the same scenario: we wanted to

make our own website, we wanted

it to look good even if we had no

design smarts of our own, and we

wanted to get it done with the

minimum of hassle and without

having to consult a design manual.

That meant using the apps’

supplied templates for our designs

but bringing in our own images and

text, editing, and then publishing

them to our own web space. We also

looked at the programs’ abilities to

handle more ambitious projects, and

how much tinkering they were willing

to let you do. Could you add your

own code, for instance?

More than anything, we put

a big focus on user friendliness.

iWeb was intended to take the

pain out of publishing online,

and its true spiritual successor(s)

need to do that as well.

Developer

Website

Price

Web hosting

Publish via

Add-ons

OS X

EverWeb 1.7

RAGE Software

everwebapp.com

$79

$99.95/year (2GB)

FTP, SFTP

Widgets

OS X 10.6 or higher

Flux V

The Escapers

theescapers.com

$109

N/A

FTP, SFTP, remote

editing

N/A

OS X 10.9 or higher

Freeway 7 Pro

Softpress

softpress.com

$150

N/A

FTP, FTPS, SFTP

Template

bundles

OS X 10.6 or higher

RapidWeaver 6

Realmac Software

realmacsoftware.

com

$89

N/A

FTP, FTPS, SFTP

1,000+ themes

and plugins

OS X 10.9 or higher

Sandvox 2

Karelia Software

karelia.com

$79

$7.99/month (1GB);

from $99/year (5GB)

FTP, SFTP, WebDAV

Plugins (not

available in App

Store version)

OS X 10.10 (Sandvox

2.9) OS X 10.6

(Sandvox 2.5)

WebAcappella 4

Intuisphere

webacappella.com

79 euros (about $89)

N/A

FTP, FTPS, SFTP

E-commerce

package

OS X 10.5 or higher



>>>Feature


The thing most of us use an Apple Watch for

above all else is telling the time, but if that

was all it was good for we’d strap a ten-buck

Casio to our wrists instead and get on with our

days. The Apple Watch can run apps, and even if,

until watchOS 2 brings full native apps in the fall,

they’re a bit neutered, they can still do the same

magical trick that made apps so powerful on the

iPhone: transforming your Watch into one of

hundreds of new things.

We’ve pored through the available Apple Watch

apps, and spent many hours testing, to bring you

this, our definitive list of the best Watch apps you

can install today. Some are serious, some are silly,

but all are awesome, and what’s more they

demonstrate what happens when developers step

back and think intelligently about what would be

genuinely useful on your wrist, rather than

just trying to shrink down an iPhone app.

ESSENTIAL APPLE WATCH

APPSPut the “smart” in “smartwatch”

with these amazing apps for your wrist

>>>

BY CHRISTOPHER PHIN

Essential Apple Watch apps


1. FANTASTICAL 2

$4.99 Flexibits,

flexibits.com

Our calendar app of

choice is ideal on the

Watch. The natural-

language dictation of

new events makes

perfect sense on the

wrist, plus it adds in

the ability to view and

check off reminders.

4. 1PASSWORD

$9.99 AgileBits,

agilebits.com

1Password syncs your

login data safely. Add

logins, passwords,

credit cards, and

secure notes to your

Watch, to make them

easy to glance at, and

you can also generate

one-time passwords.

2. PCALC

$9.99 TLA Systems,

pcalc.com

PCalc is the best way

to do quick calculations

on your wrist. It’s

actually remarkably

powerful, can calculate

tips, and send whole

calculations (not just

the answer) back to

your iPhone.

3. DELIVERIES

$4.99 Junecloud,

junecloud.com

Deliveries makes it

easy to track packages

from Apple, Amazon,

USPS and more, and

having the app on your

wrist just makes it

much easier to check

progress and get

shipment notifications.

5. EBAY

FREE eBay, ebay.com

Sadly, bidding on stuff

on eBay these days

usually means keeping

your head down until

the last minute before

sniping the item. With

the eBay app, you’ll be

notified when a

watched auction is

closing… very useful.

6. WORKFLOW

$2.99 DeskConnect,

my.workflow.is

Basically, think

Automator on the

iPhone. Workflow lets

you click together

different actions to

build custom multi-step

processes, which you

can then access and

run from your Watch.

USEFUL UTILITIES

Essential to have on hand (or wrist)

1

2

3

4

5

6

>>>Feature


COMMITTO3

FREE Oceanhouse Media, committo3.com

This app is great for small teams in an office, or

for a particularly anal-retentive household head.

(“Unite, brothers and sisters! At 7pm precisely!”)

It lets you create teams of people, all of whom

specify and commit to three jobs each day. It

tracks participation and completion with graphs

and the whole works.

KEYNOTE

$9.99 Apple, apple.com

Both Apple’s Keynote and Microsoft’s PowerPoint

apps on iPhone have a companion Apple Watch

app that, cleverly, acts as a remote control.

Brilliant! Leave your laptop at home, sync your

Keynote presentation to your iPhone, hook it up

to a big screen and then control it from your

Watch, like some kind of business wizard.

DUE

$4.99 Due Apps, dueapp.com

Due has been a favorite at Mac|Life since long

before Apple added a Reminders feature to iOS,

thanks in no small part to how easy it is to set

one-off and recurring reminders, and how it

pesters you until you actually do the thing you’ve

said you should (or you can delay it slightly) — all

of which is even more effective on your Watch.

EVERNOTE

FREE Evernote, evernote.com

Plenty of people swear by the power of Evernote,

and though its rich feature set can be

intimidating, if you’re already an Evernote fiend,

having it on your Watch is ace. You can browse

and search your notes, and even dictate new

ones (with optional reminder) – and the Watch’s

dictation is really good.

CLEAR

$4.99 Realmac Software, realmacsoftware.com

There are more powerful to-do managers –

OmniFocus and Things, for example – but there is

something undeniably welcome about the pared-

down, focused simplicity of Clear. It’s great on

iOS and the Mac, and being able to check tasks

off on the Watch, and quickly and easily to add

new ones though dictation, is welcome.

TIMELY

FREE Timely, timelyapp.com

There are plenty of time trackers available that

have Watch apps — for example, OfficeTime, Hours

Time Tracking, and Invoice2go, which can also

send invoices straight from your wrist. Being able

to start a timer on a Watch makes perfect sense,

but we like Timely for its polish and simplicity.

Great for freelancers and agencies.

PRODUCTIVITY POWER-UPSGet more things done in less time



CITYMAPPER

FREE Citymapper Limited

citymapper.com

Sure, transit directions are

coming to iOS 9, but you can

already get very detailed, live

transit information for NYC,

San Francisco, LA, Chicago,

Boston, Washington DC,

Philadelphia and more cities internationally. On the Watch, you

can plan journeys home or to favorite places, get alerts for when

to alight, service updates and more.

DARK SKY

$3.99 Jackadam,

darkskyapp.com

We’ve long loved Dark Sky

for its hyper-specific minute-

by-minute rain and snow

alerts. While recommending

it might seem like a cruel

irony if you live in somewhere

like California (or more of a grim reminder if you live in, say,

Seattle), it’s nevertheless a highly useful app to have on your

wrist. Its glance is useful too.

TRIPADVISOR

FREE TripAdvisor,

tripadvisor.com

Looking for something to

do, somewhere to stay, or

somewhere to eat? TripAdvisor

makes it easy to find places

around you (as well as

showing places you’ve saved),

and you can see short reviews, and tap a map thumbnail to bounce

to the Maps app to start giving you directions.

FRESH AIR

FREE Backcountry Studios,

freshairweather.io

The awesome thing about this

little weather app is that it

integrates with your calendar

to show weather forecasts for

events. You can optionally set

a weather alert to stop you

getting soaked at an outdoor concert, say. Our only frustration is

that it failed to bring in event locations automatically.

UBER

FREE Uber Technologies,

uber.com

If public transport isn’t your

thing, you’re possibly an Uber

kinda person. Uber, of course,

lets you call a cab and have

it take you where you need

to go, and being able to do

so quickly and discreetly on your Watch is a boon, especially if

you’re in a sketchy neighborhood. Not that we’re suggesting

you’re ever likely to be, of course.

LIVING EARTH

$2.99 Radiantlabs,

livingearthapp.com

Although on the face of it

this just looks like a purely

pretty app — and to be sure,

it certainly is pretty, with

lovely “live” cloud cover on

a beautifully rendered globe

— there’s actually plenty of hard weather data available: nine-day

forecasts plus detailed hourly forecasts for your location, as well

as overviews for your favorite cities.

TRAVELIt’s mind-broadening, you know

WEATHERThe forecast calls for… useful apps

>>>Feature


HOME CONTROL

Control smart home devices easily

1. SMARTTHINGS

MOBILE

FREE Physical Graph,

smartthings.com

Most home automation

apps work with a single

manufacturer’s

hardware. While that’s

technically true here,

the SmartThings

network hub can

control products from

Philips, Sonos, Belkin,

Dropcam and more. All

from your wrist!

4. HONEYWELL

LYRIC

FREE Honeywell,

lyric.honeywell.com

The smart thermostat

Nest doesn’t have a

Watch app, but the

Honeywell Lyric

thermostat does. If you

have one installed, you

can tweak the current

temperature or just see

what it is and what

your system is doing to

correct it on the Watch.

2. PHILIPS HUE

FREE Philips,

meethue.com

Philips is the king of

the internet-connected

lightbulb (even if that’s

not as cool a sentence

as it started out to be)

and having the app on

your Watch makes it

even easier to switch

your lights to a pre-set

scene—or off

completely. HomeKit

integration is coming.

5. QUICKSWITCH

FOR BELKIN

WEMO

$1.99 John Hickey,

quickswitch.me

Oddly, Belkin’s own app

for its WeMo plug

switches doesn’t have a

Watch app, but happily,

this third-party one

works well. Just add

your switches on the

iPhone app, and toggle

them on and off on

your Watch app.

3. ALARM.COM

FREE Alarm.com,

alarm.com

This sophisticated

home security system

can be accessed from

its Watch app, and

offers features such as

a live video feed from

your garage on your

Watch, and being able

to send a command to

open a locked door

from anywhere with

just a tap.

6. WITHINGS

HOME

FREE Withings,

withings.com

This app connects to

Withings’ home-

monitoring camera, and

as well as letting you

check in with a live

stream from your home

remotely on your wrist,

it can also push

notifications of motion

and noise alerts along

with a thumbnail. It

1

2

3

6

5

4



FUN & GAMES

Games (and more) to keep you amused

1. RULES!

$2.99

TheCodingMonkeys,

rulesgame.net

On the face of it, this

is a childishly simple

game which has you

tapping cards in the

order prescribed, but

after the first few

rounds it starts doing

things like telling you

to “follow rule 2”

without reminding you

what that rule was. Eep.

4. SHAZAM

FREE Shazam,

shazam.com

This handy app that

identifies music by

listening for a few

seconds makes even

more sense readily

available on the Watch.

Now, even if you’re in a

bar with your iPhone in

your bag by your feet,

you can find out what

tracks are and even

show the lyrics.

2. ELEVATE

FREE Elevate,

elevateapp.com

This brain training

game starts by asking

you what skills you

want to sharpen up,

assesses your ability,

then presents you with

a series of challenges

tailored to you. On the

Watch, you get a series

of quick-fire questions,

perfect for the waiting

room or bus stop.

5. EPICURIOUS

RECIPES &

SHOPPING LIST

FREE Condé Nast

Digital, epicurious.com

A clever cooking

aid. The Smart Timer

function has you pick

from over 40 different

basic food types — with

steak, for example,

defining how thick it is

and how well done you

want it — then tells you

when to do what.

3. DJAY 2

$2.99 algoriddim,

algoriddim.com

This DJing app is

functionally amazingly

rich — with the option

of cuing tracks to each

deck, syncing tracks’

BPM, doing play, pause

and seek, crossfading

and more — but it’s a

bit of a fiddle. It does

free you from your DJ

station to mingle or get

dancing, though.

6. SKY GUIDE

$1.99 Fifth Star Labs,

fifthstarlabs.com

As well as being one

of the best apps on

iPhone and iPad for

exploring the heavens

through augmented

reality, Sky Guide is

handy on your Watch.

It shows a calendar of

upcoming astronomical

events, and can notify

you of them as they’re

about to happen.

1

2

3

4

5

6


>>>Feature

TWITTERRIFIC 5

FREE The Iconfactory, twitterrific.com

Although we’re generally Tweetbot users,

Twitterrific’s smart design and ease of use make

it easy to understand why it has legions of fans

too. The Watch app is better than Twitter’s own,

showing you a summary of how you did on

Twitter in the Glance, with the ability to

dictate new tweets from the app.

SLACK

FREE Slack Technologies, slack.com

Slack is something of a phenomenon, especially

for businesses. At its heart it’s basically a chat

app, but it’s hugely powerful and extensible too,

and having notifications pop up on your Watch

can be very handy. You can reply to messages

and DMs with emoji, preset phrases or dictation,

or continue on your iPhone using Handoff.

RE:QUEST

FREE MartianCraft, martiancraft.com

Rather than ask “Which bar should we go to?”

and risk a long, circular conversation, Re:quest

has you ask a question and provide three

options; your recipient just taps one. Receiving

and responding to these questions on the Watch

is perfect, and you can even ask questions (and

specify answers) on the Watch as well.

SWARM BY FOURSQUARE

FREE Foursquare Labs, swarmapp.com

A little while ago, Foursquare split into two:

a recommendation app (still called Foursquare)

and Swarm, for checking into places. Both exist

on the Watch, but Swarm is especially handy

since you can quickly and more discreetly check

in somewhere — so your friends can know where

you are if you want to meet up.

DART MOBILE

99¢ Moople, dart.email

Dart is basically the same idea as Re:quest —

ask a question, define some answers — but it

works over email rather than its own messaging

system, so the recipient doesn’t need to own the

app. As with Re:quest, tapping on answers on

your Watch to reply is a terrific way to respond

and get on with your life.

WECHAT

FREE WeChat, wechat.com

WeChat is a slightly peculiar hybrid of Facebook

and iMessage, but its Watch app is a useful and

rich extension of the app. You can reply to

messages with fun stickers, see Moments (a bit

like Facebook status updates), and also display

the QR code on your wrist that others can scan

to add you as a friend.

COMMUNICATIONSpreading the good (or even bad) word



NIKE+ RUNNING

FREE Nike,

nikeplus.nike.com

Of course you can just use the

built-in Workout app on your

Watch to track your runs, but

Nike’s pedigree shows in the

richness of its app. Not only

can you review the GPS trails

recorded with your iPhone (including seeing where you were fast or

slow), but you can compete with and get/give encouragement to

your friends, all right on your Watch.

THESCORE

FREE theScore, mobile.

thescore.com

Covering the NFL, NBA, NCAA

Football plus the English

Premier League and

Champions League, PGA,

NASCAR and much more,

theScore lets you follow your

favorite teams and players. Having it all on your Watch is great for

discreetly checking the score when you’re not supposed to, too!

Even if you get noticed, you can just pretend it was an email…

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

OFFICIAL 7 MINUTE

WORKOUT APP

FREE Johnson & Johnson,

7minuteworkout.jnj.com

You might question if seven

minutes of workout is really

much use, but there’s no

question that the Watch app

is great for quickly checking what you’re supposed to be doing in

your exercises, tweaking their intensity, and controlling your music.

TEAM STREAM

FREE Bleacher Report

bleacherreport.com

The idea is simple: pick your

favorite teams from the NFL,

NBA, MLB, WWE and a host of

other international sports

including rugby, cricket and

many more, and then not only

can you tap the Watch to get updated stats, but you’ll get a stream

of news updates relevant to your interests, right on your wrist.

STRAVA RUNNING

AND CYCLING

FREE Strava, strava.com

You can track runs with Strava

too, but it’s best known as an

indispensable tool for cyclists,

whether you’re an enthusiast

just starting out or dedicated

to some serious training. You

can start a run or a ride directly on the Watch, and track your

progress and speed as you go. Soon enough, you’ll find it’s

become part of your routine.

MLB.COM AT BAT

FREE Advanced Media,

mlb.com

You can’t beat MLB.com At Bat

for baseball coverage, and the

app manages to squeeze an

astonishing amount of data

into the Watch’s tiny screen.

As well as notifications, you

get live scores, stats, pitch tracking, player cards and news — and it’s

all surprisingly readable to boot. Again, very handy for checking out

the latest results wherever you are.

FITNESSDrop and give us seven (minutes)

SPORTArmchair athletes rejoice

>>>Feature


There have been many attempts lately to drag mobile email kicking and

screaming into the 21st century. Although innovative solutions such as Mailbox, Inbox by Gmail, and Mail Pilot have been praised by users looking for a completely new approach, none of them has yet displaced Apple’s built-in Mail on our dock.

The latest contender to the throne is Spark, a free iPhone app with striking similarities to Microsoft Outlook for iOS – the only third-party email app thus far to really make us sit up and

take notice. Featuring

inbox approach, Spark emphasizes smarter email, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

One unique feature we like automatically sorts incoming missives into

or newsletter categories, stacking them atop a Smart Inbox view until read, at which point they fall back in line with the rest of the inbox. Important messages can

SparkEmail that’s mobile and smart? It can be done…FREE Developer Readdle, readdle.com

Platform iPhone, iPod touch Requirements iOS 8 or later

SPARK

Message cards for customized workflow

Very handy Apple Watch support for quick or dictated replies

The app’s splash screen displays too frequently at launch

Smart notifications aren’t so intelligent

GREAT

Widgets can appear at the top or bottom corner, including a basic calendar view.

also be pinned (Spark’s version

front and center.The natural-language-based

smart search works well for combing through thousands of messages, but Spark’s “smart”

intelligent – at least not initially. It wound up creating anxiety over missed emails instead, which could only be relieved by tapping the alert icon in Details view to

email, or none at all.There are other features Spark

absolutely nails: it’s one of the most customizable email clients, allowing users to tweak which “message cards” show up in its sidebar and handy pop-up widget – for example, results from saved smart searches,

calendar view. Additional cards for tracking iTunes/Amazon

are coming soon.Spark is pretty solid for a 1.0

release, scoring bonus points for its ability to save emails as a PDF

a variety of cloud services like

iCloud, Dropbox, or Evernote, and use quick responses (Like,

receipt – a handy trick that also works on Apple Watch, along with full voice dictation for longer replies. But there are bugs to be squashed, such as long pauses when opening new emails, and Spark’s penchant for displaying the splash screen way more often than it should.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Spark

dock quite yet, but it’s already neck and neck with Microsoft Outlook as one the best third-party email apps around. J.R. BOOKWALTER

You can personalize the sidebar, message swipe gestures, and on-screen widgets.


THIS MONTH’S MOST INTERESTING iPHONE & iPAD APPS

APP LIFE

For all the boasting executives

have done about the health

and fitness capabilities of

Apple Watch, curiously

the device is incapable of displaying

everything being logged by the built-in

Health app on your iPhone.

HealthDash provides this missing link,

snatching nearly all available Health data

stored on your smartphone and displaying

it on your wrist. The current version

supports Step Count, Active Calories,

Distance, Running and Walking, Dietary

Calories, Flights Climbed, Cycling Distance,

Resting Calories, Weight, Body Mass Index,

Lean Body Mass, Body Fat Percent, and

Lots of amp-

modeling apps

give iOS guitarists

simulated Vox

AC-30s, Fender Twins and

Marshall stacks, but there

hasn’t been an equivalent

iOS tool for singers.

Enter MicSwap Pro, which

offers room modeling and

simulations of classic mics such

as the Shure SM58 and the

Neumann U87. It won’t turn a

sow’s ear into a silk purse and

you can’t expect a $20 app to

reproduce a $2,000 mic

perfectly, of course, but with a

decent mic you can get really

great results – and Audiobus,

Inter-app audio and iTunes File

Sharing support means it’s

easy to get audio in and out.

The only issue we encountered

was very occasional lag using

the built-in monitoring,

something which was quickly

fixed with a restart. If you’re

yearning to broaden your sonic

palette but don’t happen to

have a spare $2K to spend,

you’ll like MicSwap Pro

a whole lot.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Can’t

afford lots of expensive mics?

MicSwap Pro is the next best

thing. GARY MARSHALL

As virtual

instruments

and audio

effects running

on iOS improve, musicians

increasingly need a way to

integrate iPads and iPhones

into their Mac-based recording

setup. Music IO is a really clever

app that lets you stream four

stereo audio channels from iOS

to your Mac in 32-bit resolution

and at low latency, as well as

sending MIDI back and forth

between the devices.

Install the bridge app and AU

(Audio Unit) or VST (Virtual

Studio Technology) plug-in on

your Mac, and then you can

specify any Inter-App Audio-

compatible iOS apps, like

synths or drum machines,

into your digital audio

workstation, such as Logic

or GarageBand, and record it.

The MIDI side of Music IO

enables you to play iOS

instruments from your Mac or

vice versa. Setting up is simple

and this app fills a real gap in

the market for musicians.

THE BOTTOM LINE.

A smart answer to the

pertinent question of how to

easily integrate iOS and OS X

for music. HOLLIN JONES

HealthDashMake your Watch more Apple Health-friendly$1.99 Developer Jaiyo, facebook.com/HealthDashForAppleHealth

Platform iPhone, iPod touch Requirements iOS 8.2 or later

MicSwap Pro$19.99 Developer Future Moments, micswap.com

Platform Universal Requirements iOS 7.1 or later

Music IO$9.99 Developer Secret Base Design, musicioapp.com

Platform Universal Requirements iOS 7 or later

EXCELLENT

On the iPhone, HealthDash provides a more comprehensive overview of the Health data.

Heart Rate, but the developer has an

aggressive update schedule planned with

support for iPad and additional categories.

The app doesn’t actually create any data

on its own — HealthDash simply acts as a

repository for what’s already been

recorded, displaying results in eye-pleasing

bar charts sorted by Day, Week, Month, and

Year. We found the iPhone app refreshed

sluggishly until we turned off the “Animate

After Date Change” option under Settings,

but the Apple Watch version (which displays

only numeric data, no graphs) was quite

zippy by comparison.

There isn’t really much more to

HealthDash, but we liked the ability to

rearrange categories so favorites can be

displayed at the top of the list, pushing

unused options further down the line.

THE BOTTOM LINE. HealthDash is

a must-have for Apple Watch owners who

want a more complete view of their Health

data while the iPhone remains in your

pocket. J.R. BOOKWALTER

GREAT GREAT


Tough testing, trusted ratings

Comedian W.C. Fields

supposedly once said,

“Never work with children

or animals.” Decades later,

neither subject is much easier to

photograph or record on video, even for

smartphone owners with the latest devices.

AfterCam acts as a kind of time machine,

so parents won’t miss baby’s first steps or

the winning touchdown. This third-party

camera app starts recording video from the

moment it’s launched, only saving clips to

the Camera Roll when you instruct it to.

When something happens that you want

to keep while shooting, tap one of the

on-screen buttons at either edge of the

Getting kids to unconsciously

learn as they play is the

nirvana of children’s apps.

Simple Machines aims to get

there via six digital toys which showcase

basic physics. Pulleys, wedges and more are

on display, each embedded into a simple

game. A bike, with a variety of frames and

wheel shapes, demonstrates axles. The

power of levers gets leveraged to demolish

a leering building. It’s colorful, features a

few fun Easter eggs, and is easy to use.

There’s no doubt kids will play. The question

is for how long, and to what benefit?

The game encourages players to explore

for themselves. But younger players lack

AfterCamLike a time machine for the (very near) past$2.99 Developer Kemari, aftercamapp.com

Platform iPhone, iPod touch Requirements iOS 8 or later

Simple Machines by TinybopOverly simplistic physics demonstrator$2.99 Developer Tinybop, tinybop.com


GOOD

WEAK

The basic idea is sound but the app could use a few refinements to make it even better.

Spotting the effect of differently sized threads on screws might fox even a few adults.

display to save the last five, 10, or 20

seconds of recorded video. There’s also

a shutter button to grab quick still photos

without interrupting continuous capture,

although these images are saved in the

same resolution as video (1,920x1,080).

AfterCam can be a lifesaver for grabbing

precious moments, but the app forces users

to keep their own mental timer running

while shooting in order to remember what

happened when – was it 10 seconds ago,

or 15? A better approach would be an

on-screen progress bar or thumbnail strip

that gives a clearer idea of which video

segment will be saved once you tap a

button, even if it’s only optional.

the foundations to understand what they’re

seeing. One experiment shows how the

thread of a screw affects its speed; our kids

didn’t spot that the threads were different,

so couldn’t get the point. Indeed, they

struggled to get the point of any of the

games beyond a few minutes. There’s little

freedom, nothing to create or keep, nothing

to call your own – just a variety of cramped

sandboxes that quickly get repetitive.

With support from an adult and Tinybop’s

free downloadable handbook, Simple

Machines could work. It’s fun and rewarding

to sit down with the kids and share the

exploration of an app. But it’s hard to do

that without them feeling they’re being

In addition, the app frequently

overlooked the fact it had been used before,

repeating initial launch tutorial and access

prompts despite our best efforts. Here’s

hoping this minor nuisance gets addressed

in a future update, because it disrupts one

of the app’s core features – the ability to

start recording immediately.

THE BOTTOM LINE. AfterCam makes

it easier to capture video of life’s fleeting

moments that might otherwise be missed.

J.R. BOOKWALTER

force-fed education instead of figuring

things out for themselves – which, surely,

undermines the point of doing it through

an app in the first place.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A limited

demonstration of simple physics that will

bore children and teach little without adult

guidance. MATT THROWER

>>>App Life


CarboTurn physical notes to digital the easy way$7.99 Developer Creaceed, creaceed.com

Platform Univeral Requirements iOS 8 or later

CARBO

Great handwritten notes capture

Some powerful editing features

No OCR or handwriting annotations

Some fiddly interface design

SOLID

Carbo offers some smart editing options, but not enough.

THE BOTTOM LINE.

MATT BOLTON



Sproggiwood costs a premium price by App Store standards, but it lives up to it.

It begins with a young farmer

sheep. It’s cute, irreverent and surprisingly well written, with charming and occasionally funny dialogue in between randomly generated dungeon crawling.

SproggiwoodPutting the “awww” in dungeon crawler$9.99 Developer Freehold Games, freeholdgames.com

Platform Universal Requirements iOS 5.1 or later

You’ve got to tame the wild creatures in the forests to keep Sproggi happy.

SPROGGIWOOD

Polished look and fun, witty dialogue

Lends itself to repeat play

Genuinely enjoyable and fun to play

Random elements can screw you over

GOOD

The randomness of the dungeons lets it down, sadly – respawning enemies, trapping yourself in a corner and the chore of having to re-level each time you enter a new dungeon can rapidly unite to make an

impossible, situation. When the going is good, though, it can be great, as you hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies, learning their attack patterns and upgrading your own.

You can switch classes as you unlock more, change up your weapons and accessories to get the best loadout, and build your little town back home to give you more perks and classes. There’s a shop that gives you access to gear you’ve found in dungeons so far, and where you spend the gold you’ve found in the same

dungeon-based economy, led

by a morally questionable sprite named Sproggi, your guide and sort-of boss.

It’s satisfyingly pacey, with several levels and loot chests throughout each dungeon,

turn-based boss battle each

can feel a little unbalanced when the randomly generated enemies are unfairly over-powered.

With enough variety in the classes, dungeons and weapons, as well as having to level up from scratch each time, it certainly feels like Sproggiwood gives you value for your money. And

simple and sweet – though more dialogue would have been welcome – and meeting and learning new enemies keeps it fresh.

The controls are intuitive enough for touchscreen, so it works well on the go – though check that your device is supported. It’s a good little game, and if you’re the type to play again and again to get the best score, it’ll last you a while.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Sproggiwood is a nice idea executed well. It’s not hugely original, but it is a satisfying dungeon crawler that’s not afraid to have fun. KATE GRAY


This is a classic case of looks

being deceiving. Thanks to its

pixelly, Habbo Hotel-esque

aesthetics, you’d be forgiven

for assuming this is a casual, fairly shallow

piece of store-management sim fluff. No:

what you’re actually getting yourself into is

a lot more complicated and involved. It’s

deep, but not always rewarding.

You first pick from opening a burger bar,

a boutique or a games store, with more

options opening up as you become more

successful, until you’re running your own

miniature empire. This involves being

dropped into the multifaceted world of

business with a few tips from your secretary

At their basest level, platform

games are really about three

things: jumping, hitting things,

and dying. You can throw in as

many fancy enemies and artfully designed

stages as you like, but you still need to

have that trio of basics nailed. Thankfully,

Sword of Xolan has.

You’re a warrior tasked with ridding the

land of vile beasties because… actually, we

forget, because we were having too much

fun scuttling about and generally being a

badass. But fear not: there are plenty of vile

beasties to be bested in satisfying fashion,

whether that’s up close and personal or at a

distance. The former is your simplest move

Biz Builder DeluxYou know we’re all about that biz$4.99 Developer Kairosoft, kairopark.jp


Sword of XolanJust remember to stick ’em with the pointy end99¢ Developer Alper Sarikaya, swordofxolan.com


OKAY

EXCELLENT

Hmmm… “Tea Expert” doesn’t have quite the same fancy European ring as “Barista,” does it?

Xolan’s hope is to restore serenity to the land. Through the peaceful power of… violence?

to keep you afloat. You can place furniture

(it’s not always clear what these items do,

other than drain your finances), hire staff

and research products. As well as assigning

them duties, or sending them to the waiting

room, you can level up staff, which for some

obscure reason involves items such as

sweetener… Choosing certain items in a

certain order is the best way to go, but you

have to delve deep into menus to learn that.

That example cuts to the core of Biz

Builder’s frustrations: there’s a lot of

micromanagement on offer, but the game

expects you to be familiar with a large

proportion of it from the get-go. Maybe it’s

our lack of business acumen, but we found

– a quick sword-slash, effective when

teamed with jumps and nimble dashing so

that you keep foes just at the edge of your

attack radius. Your ranged fireball is a far

more efficient way of dispatching enemies

that, say, spit projectiles of their own – but

can only be deployed a certain number of

times before needing a top-up in the form

of a potion. It means you need to be canny,

firing only when necessary lest there be a

dearth of refills in the vicinity.

If this all sounds pretty simple, it is – but

it’s also a joy to master. Jump distances are

pleasingly easy to judge, hitting things feels

just weighty enough, and although death

comes thick and fast (whisking you back to

our stores flourished best when left largely

to their own devices. Hell, we’d rather just

go to the mall, anyway.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The range of

options eventually on offer is impressive,

but the learning curve to reach them is

steep and not always intuitive.

EMMA DAVIES

the start of the level, which is usually just

far enough to feel like a punishment) always

feels like your own idiot fault. Platforming

101? Passed with fireball colors.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Hup! Clank! Splat!

Consider that a written representation of a

great platformer crashing on to iOS devices.

EMMA DAVIES


>>>App LifeTough testing, trusted ratings

This space strategy games bills itself as rewarding purely tactics – luck won’t

get you anywhere here, but proper planning, smart thinking and clever play will win out.

It does this by being fairly simple. Each game occurs on a kind of galaxy map, with lots of planets linked up by travel routes which you’ll try to take over,

SpacecomWhere “nuke the site from orbit” is step one$3.99 Developer 11 bit Studios, 11bitstudios.com

Platform Universal Requirements iOS 6 or later, iPhone 4S or later

Spacecom has a pretty minimalist interface, which can lead to mistakes when controlling ships.

SPACECOM

Easy-to-learn tactical play

Rewards consideration and planning

Can be very fiddly to control

Not enough variety in progression options

SOLID

eventually invading your opponents’ home systems. You build an army of ships to do this, though how many ships you can have depends on how many planets you occupy, so there’s a constant impetus to push forward and expand. There are four kinds of planet: those that generate resources, those that repair ships, those that build ships, and plain ones that serve only to expand your reach, since you can move faster between planets you “own” than those you don’t. Similarly, there are three kinds of ship: Battle ships kill other ships, Invasion ships take over planets, but the interesting one is Siege ships. Normally, in a game like this, you’d think taking over territory and holding it to be the most important thing, but taking over a vital ship-building planet might leave you facing three

opponents, forcing all your resources there and leaving you weak elsewhere. But you don’t want anyone else to have it. What if you just… burned it? Siege ships raze planets, leaving them useless to anyone.

All the battles in Spacecom are won purely on the basis of “more troops means success,” though ships improve after victorious battles, making them more formidable. But ships are also slow to build, so choosing only battles you can win is important, since you won’t be churning out fast reinforcements. It’s a good, solid tactical puzzle to solve.

Our problem is that there’s maybe not enough to it. There are subtleties (such as being able to intercept resources), but with no real economic side to the game, there’s not that much variety – it’s expand or die.

– we can’t tell you the number of time we accidentally send our

planet, and ships move slowly (another tactical consideration, but annoying in this case) – plus the ship types can be a pain to identify at a glance.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A decent strategy game with lots of

and lacks variety. MATT BOLTON


Beating a puzzle or challenge laid out by a game’s developer is all well and good, but there’s no sweeter victory than that over your fellow humans, especially if they’re your friends. iOS is full of excellent competitive multiplayer games, for playing online or locally, and many are asynchronous, so you can play just in your downtime.

CARCASSONNE ($9.99, Universal) featured in our round-up of the best iOS board games back in issue #99, and that’s because it’s superb. You lay tiles together like a jigsaw to build a landscape, taking points for completing cities and roads. You can play asynchronously online, or pass-and-play locally. As you get better at it, you can buy its expansions to mix things up, too.

If you like to get more tactical, try HEARTHSTONE (Free, Universal). Go head-to-head with your friends in live battles using decks of cards that you’ve customized yourselves. Each turn, you can use spells or send out monsters to attack your opponent’s

hero or protect your own. Over time, you’ll collect many new cards to improve your deck, allowing you to create cunning new strategies. It’s free to try, easy to get into, and

For something hardcore with a

VAINGLORY (Free, Universal). It’s what’s called a “multiplayer online battle arena game,” like Mac sensation League of Legends, where you each play a hero in a small team, trying to destroy the other side’s base (and their heroes on the way, becoming more powerful as you do).

you can be, each playing very

great fun. It’s really competitive, and works brilliantly with touch controls.

If you’re more the adrenaline rush racing type, ASPHALT 8: AIRBORNE

arcade races, full of ludicrous jumps, crazy boosts, and epic crashes in its eight-person multiplayer races. You can also challenge people to ghost

challenge them to beat you.

straight competition, try SCOTLAND

YARD ($4.99, Universal). Up to six people can play, online or locally, with one of you as the criminal “Mister X” and the others as police trying to catch them. You all move about a recreation of London, using

across it faster or slower – except that Mister X moves in secret, with the others trying to close the net on him. Every few turns, Mister X must reveal his location, so it’s all about predicting what that player will do,

And what list would be complete without some competitive wordplay? LETTERPRESS (Free, Universal) is all about spelling words to take control of the board by turning letters your color, locking your opponent out from using them. But also check out CAPITALS (Free, Universal), a more recent spin on the same theme, with its own great twists.

ROUNDUP

The 7 best multiplayer iOS gamesCompete with friends, locally or online, in games of tactics and action

BY MATT BOLTON

Vainglory looks amazing, and is a great, well-balanced multiplayer battler.

Asphalt 8 is all speed, all the time. Except for the occasional very sudden stop at a wall.

Play Hearthstone your way by customizing decks using hundreds of different cards.



We absolutely loved the 5K iMac when it first appeared late last year.

The base model rivaled the Mac Pro for computing power and gave us

that amazing 14.7-million-pixel screen. The only downside was that it

certainly didn’t come cheap at $2,499. Now, though, Apple has cut the price

of that original model down to $2,299, but crucially has also added this new

entry-level option, which squeezes in just under the $2K barrier at $1,999.

The question is, what corners had to be cut to save that $300?

First, the processor is slower, with a frequency of 3.3GHz compared to the

3.5GHz in the higher model. But it’s still an Intel quad-core i5 chip, and it does

seem that the only difference between the two is pure speed, and not a big one

at that. Benchmarks suggested we’d see a difference of less than 10% in both

single-core performance (which is what you need for many standard tasks around

the operating system and simple apps) and multi-core (for intense pro-level tasks).

In fact, the gap turned out to be even less than we expected in our real-world

hardcore video encoding test – the entry-level machine didn’t even take 2% longer

than the higher-end version to finish the task. Given that they come with the same

amount of RAM (which is once again upgradable yourself, saving a lot over Apple’s

prices), for a lot of uses you’d see no appreciable difference.

The graphics chip has also been changed in this new model, and again you

might not expect much difference. The AMD R9 M290X of the upper model

is switched for an AMD R9 M290, though here losing the X makes more of a

difference. They both offer 2GB of video RAM, but our Batman: Arkham City

1080p benchmark performance dropped considerably, from 88 frames per

second in the higher model down to 55fps.

Apple iMac with 5K Retina display 3.3GHzAll the pixels, not as many dollars. Is the new entry-level Retina iMac still a killer desktop?$1,999 Manufacturer Apple, apple.com

Processor 3.3GHz Intel Core i5 Graphics AMD Radeon R9 M290 2GB Memory 8GB Storage 1TB HDD

TOUGH TESTING, TRUSTED RATINGS

VISIT MACLIFE.COM FOR ONLINE-EXCLUSIVE REVIEWS, UPDATED DAILY


For detailed definitions of every score on Mac|Life’s ratings scale, go to maclife.com/ratings.

For the entry-level price, Apple has had to “budget” with its choice of graphics chip and processor.


Yep, it’s still crazy thin at the edges (slightly less so in the middle).

HANDBRAKE VIDEO TEST

Device Score

iMac 5K 3.3GHz mid-2015 30 mins 50 secs

iMac 5K 3.5GHz late-2014 30 mins 22 secs

Mac Pro 3.5GHz 8-core late-2013 15 mins 16 secs

To test real-world CPU capability, we transcode a Blu-ray quality video to H.264. Lower time is better.

BATMAN ARKHAM CITY 1080P

Device Score

iMac 5K 3.3GHz mid-2015 55 fps

iMac 5K 3.5GHz late-2014 88 fps

Mac Pro 3.5GHz 8-core late-2013 79 fps

We run the built-in benchmark in Batman: Arkham City at 1,920x1080, with settings on High and all effects on. Higher numbers are better.

GEEKBENCH 3 SINGLE-CORE

Device Score

iMac 5K 3.3GHz mid-2015 3691

iMac 5K 3.5GHz late-2014 3882

Mac Pro 3.5GHz 8-core late-2013 3656

This industry-standard benchmarking tool tests single-core performance, important in most day-to-day tasks. Higher numbers are better.

That said, performance in Tomb Raider was

much closer, dropping from 49fps in the higher

model to 42fps when played at 2,560x1,440 on

High settings. In all cases, it means that demanding

games are very playable (though you won’t want to

be cranking them up to the full 5K resolution), but

you’ll get a little more future-proofing from the

higher-end model’s 290X chip.

There’s one more difference between the two

iMacs, though, and this is likely to be the biggest one

for performance: storage. This entry-level iMac comes

with a 1TB hard drive as standard – an old-fashioned

spinning (7,200rpm) drive. The advantage of this is

immediately obvious: space. If you’re planning to use

the 5K iMac for high-level photography or large-scale

video work, you’re going to need a lot of storage

space. That’s where hard drives excel, no question.

But when we look at buying a high-performance

machine like this, we want the blistering speed of a

solid-state drive. It’s not that the hard drive in the

iMac feels especially slow in use, at least when the

machine is still fairly new – apps load extremely

quickly, and it doesn’t take long to boot at all. But

that changes over time, as it becomes more full

and laden with apps and files.

If you’re planning to work with things like huge

image libraries, an solid-state drive will save you a

fair amount of waiting for files to be opened over

time. That said, editing compressed 4K footage in

Final Cut Pro was perfectly responsive, with timeline

playback very smooth as it switched between clips,

even with the footage playing back at highest quality.

In the higher-end iMac, Apple provides a Fusion

Drive as standard, which is mostly the best of both

worlds – SSD speed for apps and common files, with

1TB of storage overall. You can configure this iMac

model with a Fusion Drive, but the upgrade costs

$200. If you were going to spend that, we’d say you’d

get the most value from stretching to spending an

extra $100 and just buying the higher-end model,

with its other faster components.

Those are all the changes, though, and the one

absolutely key element in the iMac remains the same.

That 5K display is just the same as the other model,

>>>Reviews


Connectivity is no problem for the new 5K iMac.

You get an astonishing amount of room for

high-end creative tasks.

APPLE iMAC WITH 5K RETINA DISPLAY 3.3GHZ

Astonishing 5K display

Plenty of CPU power

Great connectivity

No SSD

GREAT

and just as astonishing and almost unbearably

desirable. Everything on it looks amazing, from

any angle, with accurate color reproduction. It’s

a huge amount of space to work in, providing a

huge amount of room and detail for creative apps,

or the ability to have multiple documents open

and readable. It’s totally unforgiving to imagery,

of course, since you can have many photos open

at 100% with space for editing tools nearby, but

that also means that it really is unrivaled for letting

you get in close to inspect and improve them in

your editing app of choice.

You’ve also got all the usual iMac advantages,

of course. It’s packed with connectivity, with two

Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit

Ethernet, an SD card reader and headphone jack,

along with Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4. All that

takes up relatively little desk space for its size. The

speakers are surprisingly good, and it’s not too

noisy, though with intense 3D tasks on the go, it

doesn’t take long for the fans to kick in heavily.

Ultimately, this iMac is kind of a strange one

to recommend. Taken on its own, it’s undoubtedly

an excellent machine: lots of CPU power, enough

graphics capability, and that glorious display. But

we believe you really should be looking at an SSD or

Fusion Drive for longevity, and that means that you

might as well go for the next one up for overall best

value. If you’re really certain that you won’t mind

having only a hard drive and want to save the

money, then this is a great buy. Otherwise,

we’d encourage you to invest in the upgrade.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Powerful and with that

amazing 5K display, the entry-level Retina iMac is

almost as good as its more expensive sibling, but

we do wish it came with an SSD. MATT BOLTON

THE 5K DISPLAY IS ALMOST UNBEARABLY DESIRABLE… EVERYTHING ON IT LOOKS AMAZING


BLACKMAGIC DISK SPEED TEST

Device Read Write

MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.2GHz mid-2015 1773MB/s 1180MB/s



We use Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test tool to check SSD read and write speeds in megabytes per second. Higher numbers are better.

HANDBRAKE VIDEO TEST

Device Time

MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.2GHz mid-2015 33 mins



To test real-world CPU capability, we transcode a Blu-ray quality video to H.264. Lower time is better.

>>>Reviews


We didn’t expect to wait too long for Apple’s largest notebook to get the

Force Touch treatment, and the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro has now been

duly updated. As you’d expect from the “big” MacBook Pro, you get the new

trackpad, a stunning 2,560x1,600 Retina display which looks fantastic, and a Core

i7 processor that delivers excellent performance.

Unlike the recently released 13-inch MacBook Pro, there’s no upgrade to the

CPU. Here we’ve got last year’s Intel processors rather than the more power-

efficient current “Broadwell” models of the 13-inch version. That means this

2.2GHz model we’re testing is almost exactly the same as last-year’s model –

the same processor, the same Intel Iris Pro graphics chip. The only change is

the flash memory, which is set to be much faster.

You’d be forgiven if you thought all this sounds a little underwhelming and a

little underdeveloped for something that should have moved on in 12 months. But

that’s not the whole story by any means. Because we’re looking at the 2.2GHz

version, we couldn’t test the new AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics in the 2.5GHz

model - equivalent to the version we benchmarked last year.

Inevitably, the benchmarks on this entry-level model proved generally lower

than that model. Frames per second in the Unigine Heaven 4.0 graphics test were

down from 11 to 7.5, as you’d expect from integrated graphics compared to

dedicated chips; that said, in the Batman: Arkham City 1080p benchmarks, they

rose slightly from 46 to 49, though down slightly at native resolution.

Elsewhere, there are some clear wins. The 2015 model sports a faster solid-

state drive. In our test, it came close Apple’s quoted read speeds of 2GB/s; we

recorded nearly 1.8GB/s. Write speeds were in the region of 1.2GB/s – still very

pleasing. The CPU tests were also not far off last year’s 2.5GHz model, only really

losing out on single-core performance. As for battery life, we gained an extra hour

in our streaming test over last year, breaking the six-hour mark, which is not to be

sniffed at. All this adds up to a machine that’s been slightly tweaked to eke out

every last bit of performance from components that might be ageing a little.

THE BOTTOM LINE. It seems like this MacBook hasn’t really moved on, but

tiny tweaks ensure it’s still a great machine. CHRISTIAN HALL

MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina display 2.2GHzForce Touch comes to the Pro’s larger model$1,999

Manufacturer Apple, apple.com

Processor Intel Core i7 2.2GHz Graphics Intel Iris Pro Memory 16GB Storage 256GB SSD

MACBOOK PRO 15-INCH WITH RETINA DISPLAY (MID 2015)

Another great Force Touch Mac

2.2GHz model is a solid performer

Good battery life for a 15-inch

No processor update

GREAT



Boom 2 is an application that intercepts your

gain and clarity out of whatever sound you are playing. The idea is to make movies, music,

conversations or YouTube playback louder and

clearer without having to add external speakers. If you do plug in external speakers, the application adapts itself to those as well.

Boom 2 uses audio processing to achieve its aims: the same kind of processors that musicians might use in Logic or GarageBand, only here they’re mostly hidden from view. There’s a volume slider that shows the normal maximum volume and then the amount by

adjusted and you can save your own presets.

Boom 2Could this be the solution for people straining to hear Mac speakers?$6.99 Manufacturer Global Delight, globaldelight.com

Requirements OS X 10.10, built-in audio hardware

BOOM 2

Easy to use

Can work automatically

Manual control of EQ if you prefer

May not be wise to re-process music or movie files

GREAT

radio stream to get better bass or clearer vocals.Boom 2 works in real time, but there’s also

using the current boost settings. You can use

music using the conversion option is maybe less clear – we probably wouldn’t. This is perhaps

basically provides you with the same set of tools you’d get in an audio wave processor, albeit with more basic controls.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A good way to boost and

and movies. HOLLIN JONES

Set your own volume and equalization for your Mac’s audio output.

>>>Reviews


For nearly a decade, Zengobi’s Curio has been praised by users and critics alike as one of the best Mac notebook applications on the market. But not everyone is willing to spend $99.99 for such software, especially when there are so many free alternatives.

Curio Express appears to have been designed as a solution to this problem, slashing the cost in half but losing only one

to manage multiple pages (called “idea spaces”) within a single project. You can, however, create unlimited projects, so this won’t really be a limitation for students or home users, especially considering Express is otherwise the same as its sibling.

Although marketed as a notebook app, this version of the software is primarily a virtual whiteboard to help visualize new concepts, plans, or ideas. With built-in

mind-mapping, outlining, and flowchart skills,

Curio Express is capable of more than single-

minded competitors can even dream of doing.

One of our favorite features is the ability to directly place content onto an idea space from an Evernote account, but the exhaustive list of other possibilities includes

links, and embedded videos from YouTube

reality, just about anything can be dragged and dropped into Curio, which can even create automatic tables from CSV.

Although the exhaustive list of features are nearly the same as Curio, Express does have a handful of minor limitations due to Mac App Store sandboxing, such as the inability to open stored aliases created in the

are likely to balk at paying even $50, but Express is an incredible value for the money.

Zengobi has also released Curio Reader, which allows anyone to view (but not edit) projects created in the full or Express versions. Likewise, the latter edition can be used in read-only mode for projects created with the former, which includes the option to view notebooks in presentation mode. One thing still missing: a companion iOS app, which feels like a glaring omission.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Curio Express loses little of its power or features en route to the Mac App Store, but your wallet will certainly

J. R. BOOKWALTER

Curio ExpressHalf the price isn’t half the features in this notebook app$49.99 Developer Zengobi, zengobi.com

Requirements Mac OS X 10.10 or later

Evernote users will love how easy it is to import content directly into Curio Express.

CURIO EXPRESS

Comprehensive notebook software for half the price

Includes nearly all features of $100 version

Only one “idea space” per project

Minor limitations due to Mac App Store sandboxing requirements

EXCELLENT If you can dream it, you can do it! Curio Express makes it easy to brainstorm any idea you can think of.



Believe it or not, Apple subsidiary FileMaker turns 30 this year, and the latest version of the venerable productivity solution proves that, like wine, some things only get better with age.

FileMaker Pro 14 continues a recent trend of updated interfaces following the introduction of Launch Center, which streamlines the

Solutions can now be assigned one of 29 colorful icons, or have custom graphics applied. The approach has been implemented across the FileMaker universe for a consistent look and feel on Mac, Windows, iOS, or web browsers.

Likewise, the Starter Solutions feature introduced with version 12 has been redesigned, with 16 layouts that also work on WebDirect and mobile. This makes it far easier for novice users to

get up to speed with ready-made templates for

contact, invoice, inventory, project, or event

management databases. Three of these layouts — Personnel Records, Time Billing, and Research Notes — are not available on iPhone.

FileMaker Pro 14The stalwart database software gets a youthful revamp$329 ($196 upgrade) Manufacturer FileMaker, filemaker.com

Requirements OS X 10.9 or later, 2GB RAM (4GB recommended), DVD drive (for boxed product)

FILEMAKER PRO 14

Launch Center streamlines favorite and frequently used files

WebDirect solutions now work on mobile tablets

WebDirect solutions offer less functionality

No iCloud sync between desktop and iOS apps

AWESOME

WebDirect (FileMaker’s tech for running Solutions directly in your web browser) has also gone mobile in this version, allowing tablets to run desktop solutions on Safari for iPad, or Chrome for Android. (Chrome for iOS isn’t recommended, and didn’t work so great in our tests.) We found the print options to be less robust, there are a few limitations involving

was otherwise quite smooth. WebDirect is also now up to 25% faster at running many web-

targets for mobile devices, and menus that slide

when the device is rotated. Other interface improvements include a new button bar, button

palette coordinated with the selected theme.Switching to mobile is more seamless, thanks

to a new look for the free FileMaker Go 14 iOS app and the ability to launch solutions in fullscreen mode. There’s also more control over video or audio playback (which can now be done

sync, though – only through dedicated servers.THE BOTTOM LINE.

across desktop and mobile. J.R. BOOKWALTER

Favorite and recently used solutions have never looked better.

FileMaker Pro 14 continues to spruce up the look and feel of this old-favorite database software.

>>>Reviews


The third iteration of MacPaw’s self-descriptive cleaner is here, and includes a number of improvements, and new features.

main program as well as a quick summary of drive space, memory and Trash. The main interface gains an optional

four of which are new (Mail Attachments, iTunes Junk, Maintenance and Privacy). We like the new Maintenance tool’s

disk and search index. While this version does a better job of providing explanatory notes for each cleaning tool, it still doesn’t make it mandatory that you at least review what it’s found before going further. This is especially important considering no fail-safe mechanisms are provided.

CleanMyMac 3 is a slick, fast app that will clean your Mac. Ultimately, though, the continued lack of undo or backup protection makes it hard to recommend to its target audience: less experienced users who just want a simple and safe tool.

THE BOTTOM LINE. CleanMyMac gets the job done - sadly, NICK PEERS

Ghostnote notes are context-aware, so you can apply

them to a document, folder, or dozens of supported

apps. The icon sits in your Mac’s menu bar; click

on it while in an app or with a folder or document

selected, and an empty note drops down. Text can be

formatted, you can add tasks with tick boxes, note

colors can be customized on a per application basis,

and can also be detached from the menu bar so they

float on the desktop. In some apps, you can add notes

to individual documents, and in Safari you can add

them to specific websites.

It’s not always the most intuitive app. By default,

the feature which allows you to add notes to

documents and folders isn’t active. To add support,

you must click on the Ghostnote menu bar item, click

the gear wheel and choose Install Document Support.

You’re then asked to open a folder, though which

folder isn’t specified and no feedback given. On the

plus side, icons at the bottom of notes means your

never in doubt about what each note is attached to.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Anyone who writes on scraps

of paper will find this useful. KENNY HEMPHILL

CleanMyMac 3Reclaim disk space in a hurry$40 ($20 upgrade) Developer MacPaw, macpaw.com

Requirements OS X 10.8 or higher, 40MB HDD space

GhostnoteKeep your notes tucked away$4.99 Developer Thomas Peterson, ghostnoteapp.com

Requirements OS X 10.9 or later, 64-bit processor

CLEANMYMAC 3

New modules add cleaning power

Slick UI offers more explanation

No built-in fail-safes

Tools available elsewhere for free

SOLID

GHOSTNOTE

Can add notes to documents without cluttering your Mac

Notes are customizable

Can export notes

Takes a bit of figuring out

GREAT



Flowchart Designer is pretty much exactly as it describes itself – you can use it to create

Flowchart Designer – just drag one of the many preset shapes from the selection on the

The

biggest issue is with how many little things you

need to do are hidden or fiddly to get to.

panel is how you change the style of your

Flowchart DesignerIn this cheap flowchart and mind-map app, you get what you pay for $5.99 Developer Zhang Guangjian, flowchart.lofter.com

Requirements OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor

FLOWCHART DESIGNER

Easy to get started with

Some functions hidden

Missing features

Can be mildly buggy

WEAK

THE BOTTOM LINE.

MATT BOLTON

A flowchart creator that doesn’t “flow” too well…

>>>Reviews


The Mac App Store is groaning under the weight of minimalist writing apps (or it would be, if they weren’t all so light), so Paragraphs has a job to stand out. Like most of its peers, this is

font on plain white or gray, with only word counts visible otherwise. There’s markdown support, and selecting any word

keep options hidden until needed, but it’s all pretty much what you’d expect. Inevitably, the devil is in the detail. Paragraphs

There’s no typewriter mode, or other similar writing “focus”

harder to get to. They also don’t sync anywhere, for accessing on the go. To send them elsewhere, you’ll need to export them

OS X’s sharing options. We’d stick with Byword or iA Writer. THE BOTTOM LINE. Paragraph is perfectly nice, but it’s

MATT BOLTON

This really useful weather forecast utility sits in

the menu bar, giving you an at-a-glance idea of

the weather, unless you open it up for more detail.

By default, what you get in the menu bar is the

temperature and an icon showing you the prevailing

weather type (sunshine, clouds, rain and so on),

though you can customize this. Click this icon,

though, and you open a full five-day forecast.

The next eight hours are shown in detail, with

graphs covering temperature, chance of rain or

heaviness of rain. The five days after that have icons

and a bit of detail for each, along with high and low

temperatures. It’s really well designed, accurate

thanks to its use of the excellent Forecast.io system,

and useful – pretty much the OS X version of

Mac|Life-favorite iOS/Watch weather app Dark Sky.

Lots about it can be personalized too – from new

locations to get info on, to different iconography

options and temperature scale customization.

THE BOTTOM LINE. It’s a bit of a pricey option

but this is a great-looking, useful and customizable

OS X weather utility. MATT BOLTON

ParagraphsHow minimalist is too minimalist?$9.99 Manufacturer Triplane, paragraphsapp.com

Requires OS X 10.10 or later

Forecast BarEasy, accurate weather in OS X$9.99 Manufacturer Real Casual Games, forecastbar.com

Requires OS X 10.10 or later

PARAGRAPHS

Looks nice

Smart pop-up menu

Files are locked away

Missing some key features

OKAY

FORECAST BAR

At-a-glance menu bar information

Great eight-hour graphs

Rain notifications

Not cheap

EXCELLENT



Superb image quality, ease of use, decent sensor and secondary LCD make the Rebel T6s a great choice.

>>>Reviews


The Rebel T6s is a new addition to Canon’s beginner-level DSLR range.

It uses Canon’s new APS-C format CMOS image sensor, with an effective

pixel count of 24.2 million – which is a notable boost from the Rebel T5i’s

18 megapixels. You also get the Digic 6 processing engine and a phase-

detection autofocus system with 19 cross-type points for use when

focusing images in the viewfinder – all extremely capable.

In the hand, it doesn’t have quite the solidity of the higher-end 5D Mark III,

but has a chassis that is constructed from aluminum alloy and polycarbonate

resin, and overall feels pretty durable for an entry-level model.

On the rear, you’ll find a touchscreen display in the same aspect ratio as

the image sensor – for viewing images uncropped – as well as a viewfinder, but

the Rebel T6s offers a third screen, too. A small monochrome LCD on the top

plate shows useful information such as the sensitivity, battery level, exposure

level, shutter speed and aperture. It’s useful to see the camera settings from

above and uses less power than the main screen.

Like the higher-end 7D Mark II, the Rebel T6s has an electronic level that

can be shown in the viewfinder or the main screen. This doesn’t use the AF

points, so it can be seen when pressing the shutter release to focus the lens.

It can be hard to see when the scene is dark and it only indicates horizontal

tilt, but it’s a really useful tool for keeping things level.

Another new addition over the Rebel T5i is a dial around the navigation

buttons, allowing quick adjustments to exposure. It feels a little lightweight

compared to the larger dial found on the back of the likes of the 5D Mark III,

and doesn’t sit naturally under the thumb, but it is faster than pressing buttons.

Crucially, the Rebel T6s takes excellent photos. The level of detail in images is

a huge leap up from the Rebel T5i, and the level of noise is about the same, or

slightly better, throughout the sensitivity range (which is ISO 100-12800 natively

for stills). That’s despite the six million increase in pixel count.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The Rebel T6s produces superb quality images that match

Canon’s much more expensive top-end APS-C format camera, the EOS 7D Mark II,

for detail. Noise is also controlled well and color and exposure are excellent. An

ideal first SLR capable of wonderful results. ANGELA NICHOLSON

Rebel T6sReady to step up to a DSLR camera?$849 (body only)/$1,149 (with 18-135mm lens) Manufacturer Canon, canon.com

Features 24.2MP, Digic 6 processor, 1080p video recording at 30fps, Wi-Fi and NFC

REBEL T6S

Fantastic picture detail

Useful extra LCD

Great value

Fast dial control

AWESOME



The huge size of this 27-inch Cintiq screen

is enough to raise interest in most artists or

photographers, but linked into a MacBook

Pro with Photoshop CC loaded it’s clear why

the Cintiq range is so popular among creative

professionals. The 27-inch screen offers plenty

of space, although the physical size does mean

that you’ll need a sizable desk to take both

the tablet and the rest of your equipment. The

integrated legs enable either a 5- or 20-degree

tilt, or the Ergo stand can be bought separately.

Setup takes less than 10 minutes and drivers

and software are fully integrated with Adobe’s

Creative Cloud suite. The Wacom software lets

you customize commands and pressures both

for the tablet and the ExpressKey remote, a

small device with direct access mouse-style

buttons, and a magnet so that it can be held on

the magnetic strips on the side of the screen.

The best part, however, is that you work

directly on your images, and the 2,560x1,440

resolution is highly accurate and very clear –

though detail pales compared to a 5K iMac.

Adjusting the pressure of the pen of the surface

makes working with tools such as Dodge and

Burn for photography an absolute cinch.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The Cintiq 27-inch costs

a hefty price, but it’s a joy to use and offers

accuracy and speed that is hard to match with

any other device. ALASTAIR JENNINGS

Wacom Cintiq 27QHDHuge touchscreen enables you to work directly on your images$2,799 Manufacturer Wacom, wacom.eu

Size 30.3x18.3x2.1 in Resolution 2,560x1,440 Pressure levels 2,048 Weight 19.8 lbs

WACOM CINTIQ 27QHD

Widescreen display with QHD resolution

Excellent color calibration

Customizable short-cuts and commands

Expensive

GREAT

>>>Reviews


This peculiar device, about the size of a disappointingly small cupcake, connects wirelessly to an iPhone. When you press it

RGB, CMYK, hex and CIELab values – and you can save, compare or share it by email or on social media.

Because the sensor is enclosed, you get more accurate results than if you used a standalone smartphone app which relies on its camera, even if the design of the Nix means the color you’re

accuracy, though – not having an objective way to measure or calibrate results – and thus we have some concerns about who this is for. It’s easy to assume it’s for creative pros, but it can’t

system such as Pantone. (Pantone makes its own calibrated tool called the Capsure, which is a cool $680.) The concerns over

– but this is three times that. A previous version of the app converted sampled colors to paint swatches, which was handy, but for some reason that’s missing from the current version.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Promising, but pricey – especially since it’s not calibrated to a trusted system. CHRISTOPHER PHIN

At a simple level, this is a compact 3-port USB 3.0

hub, but it can also attach to a second Mac, PC or

Android device. When you run the software (which

mounts as a CD on each system when the HB4009

is plugged in), you can use the keyboard and mouse

connected to your main computer to control the

secondary one. Switch with a keyboard shortcut or by

moving your mouse cursor off the edge of the screen;

it’s cool, if disconcerting, to throw your Mac cursor off

the edge of a screen and onto a PC. Using a keyboard

and mouse cursor on an Android phone (sadly,

though predictably, not iOS) is even weirder.

You can browse the hard disks of each computer

from the other, opening, copying, and dragging files.

Yeah, you “should” use a network, but this is

convenient. Even your clipboard is synchronized. In

this, it’s actually richer than a traditional KVM switch,

although it doesn’t offer the option to share displays.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The software isn’t pretty, and

the manual is both a little hard to follow and written

in poor English, but this is a hugely useful little

device, and it’s cheap. CHRISTOPHER PHIN

Nix Pro Color SensorMake friends 56F100 with envy…? $349 Manufacturer Nix Sensor, nixsensor.com

Requirements iPhone 4S, iPad third-generation, or iPad mini or later

Inateck HB4009File transfer made really easy$24 Manufacturer Inateck, inateck.com

Requirements OS X 10.6 or later, Windows 2000 SP3 or later, Android 2.2, 3.0 or 3.1 or later, USB ports

NIX PRO COLOR SENSOR

Easy and seems to work well…

…but we can’t test its calibration

No swatch export to Photoshop or similar

Expensive, and who’s it for?

SOLID

INATECK HB4009

Despite being somewhat weird, it works!

Terrific value for money

Can’t control iOS devices

A few rough edges in the software

GREAT



Now that the Apple Watch is out, you

might think the time is up for any other

smartwatch maker. But there’s room for

more than one approach, and Withings’ Activité

Pop is one of our favorites.

It looks for all the world like a regular watch,

but behind the mechanical dial are smarts that

track activity and sleep, and communicate with

your iPhone over Bluetooth 4.0, so that you

can monitor your results, get advice and

encouragement and, if you like, compete with

friends. Because it uses Bluetooth 4.0, it has

to be paired with a recent device, but its power

efficiency means no real impact on the iPhone’s

battery. (Data is sent in the background.) In fact

Withings claims the Pop can run for up to eight

months on one CR2025 watch battery – quite a

contrast to the Apple Watch’s day or two.

The Activité Pop is also fully waterproof

(unlike the Watch) and will soon be able to

track swimming. Activity data is shown in the

excellent accompanying app. It’s especially

great if you use other Withings trackers, but

it also feeds data into Apple’s Health app.

It vibrates subtly on your wrist to wake you

in the morning. There’s audible noise from this,

but it’s quieter than other “silent” alarms we’ve

tried. Because the display shows physical hands

rather than a digital face, the time is always

visible – and so is the dial showing your activity.

You could buy its big brother, the Activité

($450) if you want a sapphire (not glass) screen,

a leather strap and a Swiss build.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A lovely watch with just

enough tech to be “smart.” Different to Apple’s

Watch, but excellent. CHRISTOPHER PHIN

Withings Activité PopAn eight-month battery at one third the cost of an Apple Watch…$149 Manufacturer Withings, withings.com

Requires iPhone 4S or later, iPod touch 5th generation or later

WITHINGS ACTIVITÉ POP

Good-looking timepiece

Great accompanying app

Efficient tracking tech

Impressive battery life

AWESOME

The small inset dial shows progress towards your activity goal.

>>>Reviews


TWELVE SOUTH HIRISE FOR APPLE WATCH

High-quality build

Nicely integrates charger

Accommodates all straps

Finishes are not great for steel Watch

GREAT

LifeProof’s cases have been our favorite for toughening up your iPhone for a while now – they’re waterproof, dustproof and protect against all but the worst impacts. This new model for the iPhone 6 goes further, adding a battery pack as well. It’s a pretty capacious battery too, giving roughly a full charge of the iPhone 6 – it took our phone from 11% to 97% over 150 minutes before it ran out, with the phone in standard use for messages and a bit of social networking during that time.

requires a fair bit of force, and you need to really double-check it’s all popped shut completely. The sealing ring can also come

the screen too, and even leaves Touch ID still able to function. There are buttons on the side for volume and so on (though they’re a bit tough to press) and you can get to the headphone jack by unscrewing a watertight cover. And yes, it’s waterproof (though the screen doesn’t respond well underwater) and tough as hell. It does make your iPhone 6 really bulky, however – it might be too much for some pockets – and is pretty expensive.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Tough, waterproof and with a really good battery boost. A great, if bulky, vacation case. MATT BOLTON

Though you can easily get a couple of days of use

out of one charge of the Apple Watch, most of the

time you’re going to be charging it every night.

And it’s just cooler if it’s on a stand, isn’t it?

Twelve South’s HiRise for Apple Watch matches

its excellent HiRise stand for iPhones in basic shape,

with a flat base and rising arm made of metal in

a high-quality finish. You need to integrate your

own charge cable by slotting it into grooves along

the back, before putting the magnetic disc into the

provided slot. Then you can just pop the Watch on it,

held in place by magnets and the way its straps rest

on the top and bottom. It’s easy to use, and it looks

great with the Watch Sport models, which are pretty

close to having the same metal finish. It’s not quite

as nice for the steel Watch models, though it

certainly works as well.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A really fine stand for

your Watch, but it definitely looks best with

the Sport models. MATT BOLTON

LifeProof FRE PowerProtection and power for iPhone 6$129 Manufacturer Lifeproof, lifeproof.com

Waterproofing Up to 2m for 1 hour Battery capacity 2,600mAh

Twelve South HiRise for Apple WatchCharge and display your Watch$49 Manufacturer Twelve South, twelvesouth.com

Dimensions 5.1x8x108 in

LIFEPROOF FRE POWER

Waterproof

Tough enough

Great battery boost

Pretty bulky

GREAT



>>>Reviews


The fourth game in a series that stretches

back to the mid-’80s and the Apple II,

Elite: Dangerous gives you a spaceship and

a 1:1 recreation of our galaxy populated by NPCs

and, if you wish, other players. From then on, it’s

up to you whether you carry out missions, look

for a fight, trade commodities or go mining so

you can buy a bigger ship and repeat the cycle.

It’s a game of spaceships, and they look

wonderful – all chunky metal, gleaming weapons

and ridiculously detailed space stations. There’s

a real feeling of solidity to them, especially when

they crash. You can’t get out of them to explore,

although this may be implemented in the future,

and using the external camera shows an empty

pilot’s seat despite you clearly possessing a

body in-cockpit. There’s a choice of two handling

models: the default Flight Assist On gives you

handling like an interstellar P-51, while turning

it off lets you fly in a more realistic Newtonian

fashion, which takes a bit of practise to master

but is enormously satisfying to pull off.

Ships have hardpoints for weapons and

internal bays for shields, scanners and more

which you can upgrade, but there’s a trade-off

between power, cost and weight that prevents

you from maxing out everything at once. Power

management becomes a factor once you’re

flying too, with poor choices leaving you gasping

for breath as your life support shuts down.

The game can feel empty, especially when

you get away from the populated systems, and

has been criticized since launch for being wide

but shallow. Version 1.3 of the game – Powerplay

– addressed this by adding factions jockeying for

power. There’s always been a plot of some sort

in the Elite: Dangerous sandbox, involving the

transfer of power in the Empire as the emperor

falls ill, but this new content makes it bigger and

more explicit. Prove your loyalty to your chosen

power, and you’ll receive bonuses and new

weapons; defect, and your erstwhile master will

hunt you down. Ignore all this and strike out on

your own and you’ll still have a great time.

If you want Elite: Dangerous to look near its

best, you’ll need a reasonably recent Mac with

a dedicated graphics card. We could play on a

2011 21-inch iMac, but getting it to play smoothly

meant keeping the settings very low – hardly the

full experience. Performance was good on our

2014 high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro, naturally.

Elite is a triumph for developer Frontier.

Vaporizing a stranger, running a load of stolen

explosives into a black market for a massive

profit or teaming up with friends to hunt space

pirates never felt so close to reality.

THE BOTTOM LINE. The best space game on

the market, and your only choice for multiplayer

dogfights off the shoulder of Orion.

IAN EVENDEN

Elite: DangerousSpace is big, really, really big… but, it turns out it’s also small enough to fit inside your Mac$59 Developer Frontier Developments, elitedangerous.com

Requirements OS X 10.10 or later, 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, GeForce GT 650M 1GB of video RAM (or equivalent), internet connection, 8GB HDD space

ELITE: DANGEROUS

Looks beautiful

Sounds good too

Plenty of ships and content

Many empty solar systems

GREAT



Invisible, Inc opens with a corporate raid on your futuristic spy agency: your operatives imprisoned, your assets seized, and your advanced AI – codenamed “Incognita” – crippled. Incognita has only 72 hours of reserve power, and her truncated lifespan provides

corporations out of enough credits, trade secrets, and political prisoners to reestablish

As Invisible’s “Operator,” you control a team

turn by turn, tile by tile, through research labs

Unfortunately, said agents are invariably

non-lethal, only incapacitating roaming guards

Invisible, Inc.Tactical sleight of hand in a not-so-distant future$19.99 Developer Klei Entertainment, kleientertainment.com

Requirements OS X 10.8.5 or later, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM

INVISIBLE, INC.

Tense and challenging

Requires constant improvisation

Character leveling can be aimless

Short, repeatable campaigns feel a bit undercooked

GREAT

for a few turns, and automated security systems tighten their digital grips after every move. Stay in one lab too long and you’ll surely be caught; cut and run too early, and you’ll miss valuable

you underpowered later. At every level, Invisible,

Inc is a pressure cooker, using a ticking clock and

close quarters to force players to improvise and

make difficult tactical decisions.

mitigated by a rewind system and a bevy of customization options. Even total failures

agents, abilities, and gear. Your agents also level up over time, though it’s not always clear what the best new upgrades to choose are.

Each new tool in your arsenal is accompanied by some new tactical consideration, and Invisible, Inc reveals itself slowly and in due

can hide an unconscious guard’s body to avoid alerting his friends, for instance, or you can drag it into an oncoming patrol to distract

THE BOTTOM LINE. This is a dense, rich

and stealth. JOSEPH LERAY

Drone disabled and guards knocked out: it’s time for a clean getaway.

Simply standing in the middle of a room is a great way to get caught by a trigger-happy guard.

>>>Reviews


Axiom Verge only takes a few seconds to reveal itself as a “Metroidvania” – a genre named for ’80s classics Metroid and Castlevania. The core here is just like other Metroidvania games: progression through the otherwise open map is restricted by what tools the player has found or unlocked – you pass an unopenable door now, but come back later with more gadgets and you can open the path. Weapon and character upgrades have multiple uses for this end.

While combat has a strategic element, especially when hunting for weak spots in

Trace, the hero, often has to jump and shoot, which means switching at speed between A and X on a gamepad. The right analog stick is used for a weapon select wheel, so both

Trace’s movement and weapon aim are the

he can’t move and aim at the same time. It

rooms are full of enemies that move far more quickly than Trace.

Combat is secondary to exploration, however: uncovering the map one room at a time, using the available map markers to designate where to return with the right

The journey is made more interesting by the weird and inventive environments in which

obstacles, enemies, and music.THE BOTTOM LINE. A well-crafted modern

version of a Metroid-style game. Nothing really new, though. JORDAN ERICA WEBBER

Axiom VergeA love letter to some ’80s classics that explores new paths, too$19.99 Developer Thomas Happ Games, axiomverge.com

Requirements OS X 10.6.8 or later, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 500MB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 320M

AXIOM VERGE

A variety of weapon and character upgrades

Weird and interesting environments

A map that encourages exploration

Occasionally fiddly combat

GREAT

There are old-school graphics for this old-school style of game.



The most recently introduced 21.5-inch

iMac was a “Mid 2014” model. Yours

sounds like it’s one revision behind, but it

isn’t really. Only one model was actually

introduced in 2014, and it was a new

slower, cheaper budget option in the iMac

range. From the specs you provided, we

processor. The upshot of all this is that

your iMac is actually faster than the

model that was introduced more recently.

If you sell your iMac in the future, some

people might assume it’s worse than the

2014 model, but the specifications speak

for themselves – and if they don’t, just

politely point them out!

Spotlight refuses to search my emailsOn my iMac, I can no longer use

Spotlight to find a particular email or

recipient. I’ve followed advice from

forums and rebuilt my mailboxes, but

whilst this works after the whole

mailbox is rebuilt, it’s not retained; the

next day the problem returns. Has an

OS X update caused the problem? Is

Apple aware of and fixing the problem?

It’s hard to say whether a particular

update caused this, because searches

that find ”the wrong things or nothing at

all“ is one of those evergreen symptoms.

Mostly this is caused by corrupted search

indexes, hence rebuilding the index is a

pretty good fix to start with.

If the Rebuild menu option in Mail

isn’t enough, try rebuilding the whole

Spotlight index. Open System

Preferences > Spotlight and click the

Privacy tab. Click the “+” button and add

“Macintosh HD” to the list of locations

that Spotlight won’t search.

This causes OS X to discard its index

for that drive. Now select Macintosh HD

in the list again and click the “–” button.

Spotlight will recreate the index from

scratch. If you click the magnifying glass

Rebuilding Spotlight’s index is a good step if searches fail to find what you expect.

Youth isn’t everything. The 2014 budget iMac is actually slower than 2013 models.

I took delivery of a new 21.5-inch iMac on April 2 this year and paid for an upgrade to 16GB RAM and a 1TB Fusion Drive. I was surprised to see that it is a late 2013 model when Apple’s website shows the latest is from 2014. Is there any difference with the later model and should I have been supplied with it? Could I be disadvantaged when I come to sell my Mac in the future, as it will look older than it is?

WHEN OLDER IS BETTER

see you have a 2.9GHz Core i5 processor,

which is the fastest of three 21.5-inch

iMacs that Apple sells today, even though

it was initially released in 2013. You have

16GB RAM and a GT 750M graphics card,

while the 2014 iMac is fixed at 8GB and

has a less capable Intel graphics

TECH SUPPORT & TECHSPLANATIONS

ASK


icon on the menu bar, you’ll see its

progress. This can take a long time to

complete, but hopefully it will avoid

whatever database glitch was causing

your Mail search index to stop updating.

Let us know if it works.

There’s no “I” in “autocorrect…”I use Apple’s Mail app because I like

its usability and simplicity. However,

when typing emails and using an “i”

singularly, the letter is always typed

in lowercase. Mail fails to autocorrect

the letter to uppercase.

If you use Outlook on Mac or PC,

it does this for you. I know it’s very

minor, but after years of typing,

training yourself to hit ß+I

seems alien and a backwards step

in speed and efficiency. I have tried

advanced settings and contacted

Apple support, but they tell me

there is no way it can be done.

No easy way, that’s for sure. You can’t

use the automatic substitution feature in

the Keyboard preferences pane because

it requires at least two characters in the

text to be replaced, and also doesn’t

allow spaces. Enabling “Correct spelling

automatically” doesn’t seem to help

because it allows all single characters to

escape the spell check. And it’s no use

editing your local dictionary file because

this only contains a list of words that the

spell checker should ignore, rather than

words it should specifically try to correct.

The best solution is to use Automator

to create a service that runs a search and

replace within Mail to swap ”i“ with “I”.

You could assign a keyboard shortcut

to this and get into the habit of running

it before you send every email, for

example. But this hardly seems any

better than just training yourself to

hold the ß key. Honestly, it’s not

that difficult, trust us!

Can I read magazines on my Mac?Having used Windows for many years

I have at last seen the light and

purchased a 21.5-inch iMac, which

I’m delighted with. Can I get

Newsstand on it, though?

There’s no Mac equivalent of

Newsstand; OS X 10.11 will add a News

app, but it won’t offer magazine

My three-year-old iMac

running Mavericks has

started showing that my

startup disk is full and

I should delete some files.

My second drive is 1TB

large, and empty. How do

I transfer my data (music

and photos) to that drive

and, more importantly,

get the computer to use

it for my data and not

the startup one?

You can move your iTunes

library by clicking iTunes

> Preferences > Advanced,

clicking Change next

to “iTunes Media folder

location“ and picking a

folder on your empty 1TB

drive. The procedure for

iPhoto is slightly different.

You need to move the iPhoto

Library file itself. This is in

the Pictures folder within

your home folder by default,

and you can just drag it to

the empty drive in Finder.

Then, to tell iPhoto where

to find it, hold å when you

start iPhoto. When it asks

which library you want to

use, click “Other Library”

and navigate to where you

moved the library file.

From now on, both iTunes

and iPhoto will use the new

locations for any data you

add. This will probably free

plenty of space on your

startup disk and you can

avoid filling it up again in the

future by installing apps to

the new drive as well. Some

apps might not update if

installed elsewhere.

> Moving over to a secondary hard disk

subscriptions. This is probably because

the Newsstand app is actually just a

special folder for individual magazines,

each of which counts as an iOS app in its

own right – and, indeed, it’s going away

in iOS 9, so will just be a normal folder.

Publishers could potentially make Mac

apps that offered magazine content, but

the Mac is a relatively small market

compared to iOS, and for many, it’s

unlikely to be worth the effort.

Zinio is a magazine service with a Mac

app, though. It’s a separate subscription

to any Newsstand subscriptions you

have, and its magazines are generally

just digital versions of the printed

magazine (rather than redesigned for

digital or interactive), but you can read

its magazines on Mac or iOS.

You can use Automator to correct almost anything, but beware of bad typing habits.

Tech Support & Techsplanations


>>>

EMAIL: [email protected] FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclifeSHARE WITH US!

Shooting for maximum performance on a Mac ProI have an early 2009 Mac Pro with

eight cores and 20GB of memory,

running Mavericks. It also has 2TB and

750GB hard drives, in addition to the

original 640GB hard drive, and it backs

up to an external 4TB drive using Time

Machine. It’s used mainly for post-

processing still images. I’m wondering

if I should fit an SSD into the last bay

to boost performance. Are there other

hardware upgrades that I should

consider as well?

You won’t see the full performance

benefit if you put the SSD in the fourth

drive bay, because it’ll just be used for

overspill data. The drive doing the most

work is the one with OS X and your apps

on it – probably the original one. A better

plan is to swap that for a hybrid drive,

such as the 2TB Seagate Desktop SSHD

($90 from Amazon). Install OS X on it

for networked drives. Network Attached

Storage (NAS) drives are actually

compact computers that share their

hard disks on the network. Time Machine

will back up to certain NAS drives but

this is simply treating the NAS as an

off-brand Time Capsule.

The only way to back up the NAS

using Time Machine would be to

periodically take the NAS off the network

and mount it locally on one of your Macs.

Unfortunately this would prevent others

accessing the NAS until it is reconnected

to the network.

It’s better to let the NAS handle its

own backup. Many NAS drives can back

up to either a drive directly connected

using USB, or over the network to

another NAS. Seagate’s Business Storage

range can do this, for example, and you

can administer the backup process

remotely through a web browser.

To archive your emails, you need a bit

of lateral thinking. You can create a rule

in Outlook for all incoming messages and

set the action to “print it.” By installing

the CUPS-PDF driver (bit.ly/mf_

cupsdriver), you can set the default

printer to output PDF files, and put these

on the NAS. Spotlight will then index

their contents for you.

and restore your apps and data from

Time Machine. For further improvement,

upgrade the graphics card.

Growing a small business network – the right wayOur business currently runs five Macs

and we need a secure, shared network

drive with a backup solution. We also

need remote access to files and

backing up with Time Machine. We also

have a portable drive as an alternative

for two Macs that contain critical data.

I’m thinking of replacing the old Time

Capsule with the latest Airport

Extreme, among other things.

To add to the fun, we’d like a way

to automatically archive emails from

Outlook for Mac to the shared drive

and be able to search these archived

emails using Spotlight.

A Time Capsule is the easiest way

to back up all five Macs, but it’s no good The CUPS-PDF driver lets you default to saving PDF files instead of printouts.

A Fusion Drive is a great and affordable way to inject extra performance into your Mac.

>>>Ask


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Change grabs’ save locationBy default, screenshots are saved to your

desktop. A better bet is to stash them somewhere else,

such as in your Pictures folder. To do this, enter defaults

write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/[your

username]/Pictures; killall SystemUIServer.

Create a dark mode shortcutLike Yosemite’s dark mode, but not activating it

in System Preferences? Use sudo defaults write

/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

_HIEnableThemeSwitchHotKey -boolean true, log out

and log in again. Toggle dark mode with ç+≈+å+T.

THERE WAS A time when all computers were controlled using a command line – you typed in strings of characters to make your machine

do something. The Mac’s graphical interface superseded this way of working (for good reason), but in fact the command line lives on as a way the technically minded can often perform certain tasks more quickly than with a graphical interface; it’s also frequently a means by which to activate “hidden” settings that Apple has decided not to enable general access to. You can use it with a utility called Terminal.

Terminal can be found in Utilities within the Applications folder; open it and you see a text-based prompt. At this point, it’s not obvious what

Do more with TerminalDon’t be afraid of the command line – put its power to good use!

to do, but you can view a huge list of commands atss64.com/osx, or type man and a command (for example, man ls) and hit ® to access documentation. Type q to return to the command line at any point. CRAIG GRANNELL

SAFE AS HOUSES

You should be perfectly safe using the Terminal commands outlined in this tutorial. However, if you get more into Terminal and start to experiment, it might be wise to back up your Mac first.

REQUIRES

> OS X 10.10

LEVEL

> Hard

IT WILL TAKE

> 30 minutes

HOW TO DO ANYTHING ON YOUR MAC, iPHONE & iPAD

CREATE


Expand Save dialogsSave dialogs in OS X start off with a basic

layout, and require you to click the arrow at the right of

Save As to expand them. Use the command defaults

write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode

-boolean true to enable the expanded mode by default.

Convert text to audioUsing Terminal, you can convert text documents

to audio. Type say -o savedaudiofile.aiff -f (with a

trailing space), drag your text file into the window and

hit ®. An AIFF file will be saved in your present working

directory. (Use iTunes to convert it to MP3 or AAC.)

Add a Recent Apps stackRun defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-

others -array-add '{"tile-data" = {"list-type" = 1;};

"tile-type" = "recents-tile";}'; killall Dock. After the

Dock restarts, it has a new stack showing recent apps.

Right-click the stack for recent files or servers.

Make Help a normal windowMake the Help window behave like a normal one

by using defaults write com.apple.helpviewer DevMode

-boolean true. Now instead of always appearing and

sitting on top of all the other windows, Help’s windows

can be stacked just like any other window.

Show hidden Dock appsOS X’s Dock displays which apps are running,

but it doesn’t indicate those that you’ve hidden. Use the

following command: defaults write com.apple.Dock

showhidden -boolean yes; killall Dock. The Dock icons

of apps that you’ve hidden will now be semi-transparent.

Add a Dock spacerRun defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-

apps -array-add '{"tile-data" = {}; tile-type = "spacer-

tile";}'; killall Dock. Each time you do so, a blank space

will be added to the Dock, which you can drag to

organise your apps. Right-click a spacer to remove it.

JARGON BUSTER

A command line interface enables you to interact with a computer by typing in various text-based commands. These generally consist of the command itself plus parameters to control or modify exactly what it does.

GET THE LOOK

By default, Terminal uses 11pt Menlo Regular for its font. This can be altered in the Profiles tab of its preferences, which provides alternative, predefined color themes and the ability to create and save your own.

How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad


APPLE LIKES TO keep things simple where window controls are concerned, which is why you don’t get very many of them. You can minimize a window

to the Dock by clicking the yellow button or by using the keyboard shortcut ç+M. You can switch to fullscreen mode with the green button (or by pressing ≈+ç+F), or maximize its size for its content by holding å when you click. Beyond this, you’re on your own. Which is

not if you spend far too much time attempting to manage a mess of windows on your screen.

This partially changes in the upcoming OS X 10.11 update, El Capitan, which will allow more control over your windows. But in the meantime, Moom ($10, many tricks.com) powers up window management on the Mac. In many ways it’s overkill, with an almost absurd number of options. But that’s part of why we like it: no matter how you want to control your windows, there are settings that feel tailor-made for you. The trial version is good for 100 uses, so let’s see a few of the things it can do… CRAIG GRANNELL

Power up window controlsUse Moom to easily control windows with keyboard and cursor

REQUIRES

> OS X 10.7 or higher, Moom 3.2.1

LEVEL

> Easy

IT WILL TAKE

> 15 minutes

Quick look Pointer controls

PreferencesIn Moom’s Mouse preferences, turn on the

options in “Zoom Button Controls” and “Snap to Edges

and Corners” to work with the features we discuss.

Drag to snapWith Snap to Edges active, drag a window

to a screen edge or corner to make it fit that half or

quarter. Using the menus, you can disable options

you don’t want to be active.

Draw to resizeWhen the Enable Move & Zoom grid is on,

hover the pointer over a window’s green button, then

drag on the grid to mark the area for the window to fill.

Snap optionsAbove the grid are the snap options, which

make the window fill the screen or snap to a half.

Hold å for quarter-screen options. Use the pop-up

menu for custom settings.

>>>Create


Use the cheat sheetIn Moom’s preferences, below the

trigger shortcut, enable “Show cheat

sheet.” Press your shortcut again and

you’ll see the familiar Moom icon, along

with a label that outlines available actions

and their associated keys.

Get startedMoom provides two ways to

control windows with your keyboard:

the trigger system and custom controls.

Let’s try the former. Select Keyboard in

Moom’s preferences, click where it says

No Shortcut and press the keys to use.

Center on screenAdd another custom control and

choose Center as its action. You can

choose to position the window at the

OS X center or the actual screen centre

(the former is higher up). Set a shortcut

and test it on different window sizes.

Use custom controlsCustom controls perform an

action on the current window, without

the trigger. Click Custom in Moom’s

preferences. Clear the presets by

selecting them and then clicking the “-”

button. Click “+” to make a new control.

Use the triggerOpen a Finder window and press

your shortcut. The Moom icon will briefly

appear. Tap the arrow keys to nudge the

window. Hold ç and press “ to snap

the window to the screen’s left side. Next,

press … to snap it to the top-left corner.

Use the menu barYou can remind yourself of

custom controls without opening Moom’s

preferences. Under General, set Moom to

run as a menu bar app. After a relaunch,

its icon will appear there. Click it to see

your actions and their shortcuts.

A ”snap” shortcutOn the grid, drag across the left

half so that it’s all filled in. Click inside the

shortcut area and hold ≈+å+ç+“.

Test your shortcut on a new Finder

window. Create and test shortcuts that

fill the top, bottom and right halves.

Zoom and revertNext, try tapping Space when the

trigger is active. Your window zooms to

fill the space below the menu bar. Use the

trigger again and press ® to revert the

window. Press the trigger and then †

– the window moves to the center.

USE AUTO-ARRANGE FOR QUICK PLACEMENT

Use Moom to put two apps in screen halves. Create a control with an Arrange Windows action, then click Save Snapshot to save this current arrangement.

How to Control windows with your keyboard



Install for ChromeGo to syncthing.net and click “Download from

Github.” Locate the latest version and save “syncthing-

macosx-amd64.” Double-click the tar.gz file to extract

its contents, rename the folder Syncthing and move it

to the Applications folder.

First launchOpen Syncthing from the Applications window

– if it’s blocked, open System Preferences > Security &

Privacy > General and click “Open anyway.” A Terminal

window will open – wait while Syncthing sets itself up

(click “Allow” when prompted).

THERE ARE MYRIAD ways you can keep data in sync across two or more Macs, but if you’re worried about security or cost, a peer-to-peer (P2P)

solution is better than a cloud-based service such as iCloud or Dropbox. Until recently our P2P choice was BitTorrent Sync, but concerns over security and privacy coupled with its switch to an expensive freemium model have left people looking for an alternative.

That alternative is Syncthing. It’s completely

transparent and secure way of connecting your Macs. It’s still in its infancy and a little rough around the edges. But it has all the core functionality you need and – as you’ll see – provides an intuitive, browser-based

up and managing your shared folders.

There are some glitches. Occasionally you may come across a connection error message, but

Keep your folders in syncPut your files in easy reach from any Mac, for free, with Syncthing

clicking the Settings button and choosing “Restart” should sort that out.

The fact that a Terminal window needs to be open all the time is admittedly awkward, but more user-friendly Mac versions are in development – such as Syncthing-bar, which runs from the menu bar. At time of writing it wasn’t compatible with the latest 0.11 builds of Syncthing, but knowing the development community and their passion,

NICK PEERS

AUTO-START AT BOOT

Look in the Syncthing folder for a sub-folder called “etc”. Open this followed by “macosx-launchd” where you’ll find a file and instructions (readme.md – open in TextEdit) to make Syncthing start with your Mac.

REQUIRES

> OS X 10.6 or later, Syncthing

LEVEL

> Medium

IT WILL TAKE

> 30 minutes

SYNCTHING HAS ALL THE CORE FUNCTIONALITY YOU NEED AND PROVIDES AN INTUITIVE TOOL

>>>Create


Add folder to syncClick the Add Folder button. Give your folder a

suitably descriptive name. Now start typing the path to

the folder in question. Use the “~” (tilde) character to

quickly jump to your user folder. Some browsers will

automatically suggest folders as you type.

Connect to a second MacA restart is needed, so click Restart. You’ll see

your new folder appear – click it to view its details,

where you’ll see Syncthing start to index the folder

contents. While this is going on, repeat steps one and

two on a second Mac – the one you want to sync with.

Confirm syncSwitch back to the second Mac where you’ll see

an invitation to connect – follow the prompts and

configure this in the same way you did originally (see

steps 3-4), by pointing it towards the relevant folder on

this Mac and clicking Save > Restart to confirm.

Set folder optionsCheck “Folder Master” to protect files from

being changed by other devices. Click “File Pull Order”

to determine the order in which files are synced and

select “Simple File Versioning” to store multiple

versions of the same file. Click Save.

Link the two MacsClick Settings on the second Mac and choose

“Show ID.” Consider emailing this ID to the first Mac so

you can easily paste it into the Device ID box when you

click Add Device. Scroll down and check the name of the

folder you’ve set up, then click “Save” and “Restart.”

Keep on syncingA progress bar will appear on both Macs

showing the sync process. It’s not 100% accurate,

but will quickly update as changes are detected. Keep

adding additional devices and folders to keep them in

sync, allowing access to the latest versions of files.

JARGON BUSTER

Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a form of networking where two computers connect directly to each other, rather than via a centralized server. Each computer can set up multiple P2P connections, isolated from the others.

TWEAK SETTINGS

Click the Settings button and choose Settings to access extra options – uncheck “Start browser” to prevent the browser window opening each time you launch Syncthing, for example, or protect the configuration utility with a password.



Write a letter in PagesCreate your Pages document. Write the letter

you want to use as a template and use either real name

and address details or placeholder text where you want

it placed. Click the Format button on Pages’ toolbar to

display the Format palette, then click the More tab.

Define your placeholdersThe first item you want to customize will be a

recipient name, so let’s create separate entries for first

name and last name, to use the first name as a greeting.

With the placeholder text selected, go to Format >

Advanced, and click “Define as Placeholder Text.”

IF YOU’VE EVER had to send a letter to multiple recipients, each displaying the recipient’s name and address, possibly with a personalized greeting,

you’ll understand the value of mail merge. Mail merge allows you to write a letter once,

select the group of people you want to send it to, and allow whatever software you’re using to create and save individual instances of the letter. It’s a lot quicker and less labor-intensive than copying and pasting it yourself.

but Apple’s iWork apps don’t have it built-in. Fortunately there’s a way to create letter templates in Pages, and a table of names and addresses in Numbers, and those will mail merge – thanks to iWork’s support for AppleScript.

Automation (iworkautomation.coma tool, Pages Data Merge, which uses placeholders

Mail merge in OS XApple’s iWork lacks mail merge by default, but we can fix that

Numbers to generate mail-merged documents.Visit iworkautomation.com/pages/script-tags-data-merge.html and download the Pages Data Merge tool. Double-click the archive and drag the app to Applications. KENNY HEMPHILL

AVOID EMPTIES

Pages Data Merge reads rows and inserts “null” in the Data Record Items list for empty cells. To avoid this, put data in adjacent columns and ensure the Numbers table doesn’t have extra columns at the end.

REQUIRES

> OS X 10.10 or later, Pages, Numbers

LEVEL

> Medium

IT WILL TAKE

> One hour

MAIL MERGE IS A LOT QUICKER THAN COPYING AND PASTING ADDRESSES YOURSELF

>>>Create


Title your placeholdersIn the More section of the Format pane, go to

Script Tag and type a title for the placeholder you’ve

just created. Repeat this for every item you want to set

as a placeholder. Use capitals for clarity. A placeholder

is needed for every element you want to customize.

Import to Pages Data MergeSelect all the rows you want to merge by clicking

to the left of the first row, then ß-clicking by the last

one. Launch the Pages Data Merge app. In the top-left

drop-down menu, choose “Selection of Numbers Table.”

Click Import to see a list of the data from the top row.

Set the export optionsChoose the type of document you want to

export from the “3” menu in Pages Data Merge, then

select whether you want to encrypt it. If so, create a

password. Choose an existing folder to export to. A

sub-folder is created to store the merged documents in.

Create a table in NumbersIn Numbers, create a table with columns for

each placeholder. If you want to email the letter, add a

column for email addresses. Column names don’t need

to match placeholder names exactly. Fill the table with

data by adding the details of the recipients.

Match data to placeholdersSelect the first item, then click the menu next to

“2” in Pages Data Merge. Choose the placeholder tag

for the item and repeat for every item. To email the

document, when you select the email address choose

“Assign as email recipient address” from the menu.

Create your lettersTo email the documents as attachments to the

addresses you assigned in Step 6, check the “Attach”

box next to “5” and type a subject and body text. Check

the box beneath if you want the message to be sent

automatically. Click Begin to create the letters.

JARGON BUSTER

Mail merge means creating a letter template including personalized elements, such as recipient details and greetings. You use a database of recipients, then merge it with the template to create your individual letters.

TAKE CONTROL

By default, merged documents are named sequentially with the name of the original document as the root. To change that to append a name instead of a number, select the name and choose “Assign for use with file naming” from the menu at “2.”



Install for ChromeGo to chrome.google.com/webstore and search

“Chrome Remote Desktop.” In the results, click the

relevant “free” button, then Add. You’ll see Chrome App

Launcher in your Dock – launch it from there, or find it

on the Chrome Apps page.

Install for iOSInstall the free Chrome Remote Desktop app

from the App Store on each device you’d like to use to

access your Mac. Launch it and sign in to your Google

account. If you’ve already signed in to a Google account,

you might simply be prompted to select it.

APPLE IS INCREASINGLY integrating

Mac|Life

(from google.co.uk/chrome/browser/desktop

Remote-control your MacAccess your Mac from an iOS device via Chrome Remote Desktop

CRAIG GRANNELL

TAKE CONTROL

The keyboard doesn’t intelligently appear when it’s needed. To toggle it, tap the keyboard icon when the app’s main toolbar is visible. Dismiss the keyboard with a second tap or use the iOS keyboard key.

REQUIRES

> OS X 10.6 or later, iOS device running iOS 7 or higher, Google Chrome, Chrome Remote Desktop

LEVEL

> Medium

IT WILL TAKE

> 15 minutes

PLENTY OF REMOTE DESKTOP OPTIONS EXIST, BUT GOOGLE’S IS FREE AND RELIABLE

>>>Create


Install the hostBack on the Mac, click Continue, then Accept.

Under My Computers, find and click Get Started. Click

“Enable remote connections” and a package will

download. Open this and install Chrome Remote

Desktop Host.pkg. Click “Continue” and “Install.”

Access your MacOn your iOS device, your Mac should be visible

in My Computers. Tap it and a dialog box will appear. Tap

within, type the PIN, then tap Connect. Your Mac’s

desktop should appear. On your iOS device and the Mac

you’ll see a bar that states the desktop is being shared.

Use mouse modeTap the mouse button and it turns blue. The

OS X mouse pointer appears on your iOS device. Drag

anywhere on the screen and the pointer moves relative

to the direction of your finger. Tap and two-finger-tap

are used for single click and right-click, respectively.

Define a PINClose the installer when done and return to

Chrome Remote Desktop. It will ask for a PIN. Type and

retype your PIN and click OK. When the System

Preferences pane appears, click the lock, type your

password, enter the PIN and click Enable.

Point and… tapThere are two pointer modes, toggled via the

mouse button in the toolbar. If the button is gray, you’re

in trackpad mode: the pointer won’t be visible and a

single tap performs a mouse click. If the desktop is too

big for your iOS display, single-finger drag to move it.

Zoom the screenUse standard iOS two-finger pinch/unpinch

gestures to zoom out and into the Mac desktop. Tap the

full-screen button and the toolbar will vanish, and you’ll

see your Mac desktop on a black background. Tap the

full-screen button again to return to standard view.

JARGON BUSTER

“Remote desktop” is a software feature that enables you to use a client device to display another computer’s desktop. It’s often used for tech support, but it’s handy for controlling your Mac using an iPad!

ONE AT A TIME

Although multiple iOS devices running Chrome Remote Desktop will be able to identify your Mac, only one of them can access it at a time. If you’ve already connected one device to your Mac, it will be disconnected when you connect another.



YOUR iPHONE OR iPad use multiple sensors to track your location. By combining data from GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile phone cell towers (though the

non-cellular iPad is limited to Wi-Fi), it can create a pretty accurate picture of where you are. But, very reasonably, there may be occasions when you want to keep your location data private.

Fortunately, iOS 8 makes it very easy to give and revoke permission for apps to access location data – and it makes it very clear when your location is being shared, with which apps.

apps must ask you for permission if they want to access location data. This is done via an alert

you give permission, that app can access location data whenever you use it, until you revoke it.

Whenever any app is using your location data – for example, if Google Maps is giving you directions – the tiny location icon is displayed at

the app stops using your location. KENNY HEMPHILL

Control your location dataSometimes it’s fine for apps to know your location, sometimes not…

REQUIRES

> iPhone or iPad, iOS 8

LEVEL

> Easy

IT WILL TAKE

> 15 minutes

Quick look Master location sharing in iOS 8

Global controlLocation Services is tucked away

in Settings > Privacy. You can switch

Location Services off completely using

this toggle switch. You might want to do

this if you have a specific reason for going

dark, or if you need to preserve every

ounce of battery life.

Sharing locationIf you have an Apple Watch, the

Location Services settings you specify

here will also apply to the Watch. This is

important to remember if you use, for

example, the Maps app on the Watch

to provide directions.

Sharing is caringTap here to share your location

with friends or family. The next screen

allows you to toggle location sharing on

and off and shows you which device your

location is being shared from, and with

whom. You can also revoke or reinstate

location sharing on a contact-by-contact

basis if needed.

Sharing with appsAll the apps that would like to

access your location data are listed, with

their status. In this case, the app at the

top of the list has been refused access to

location data, so any of its functions that

rely on knowing your location won’t work.

A third wayThere are three states for location

sharing, at least two of which are

available for every app that uses your

location. For some apps the states are

Always and Never. Others have a third

option (in some cases it replaces Always)

called While Using the App.

Allowing Watch FaceApple Watch Face is the newest

addition to Location Services. It allows

the Watch to access your location so it

can determine the phase of the moon,

sunrise and sunset times, etc. Switching it

off means that any Watch “complications”

that rely on that data aren’t able to

display accurate information.

>>>Create How to do anything on your Mac, iPhone & iPad


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iPAD

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NEXT MONTH

>>> Apple’s next big thing

>>> How HomeKit will change your life

>>> Why it’s time to get into 3D printing

The iPod: Apple’s refinement of existing ideas at its best.

Co

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nts

su

bje

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han

ge

THE INVITATION TO Apple’s press event

in October 2001 announced “the unveiling

of a breakthrough digital device.” If they’d

said it was an MP3 player, people might

have yawned. Nicknamed after the

compressed file format that made them

practical, pocket-sized digital audio devices

were already common.

Yet the iPod would be the product that

defined a decade, shifting Apple from the

lower reaches of the PC industry to the top

of the global brand rankings. By the time

the final version of the original design was

create, among other things, a music player,

was hired to fit it all together, along with

Jeff Robbin, whose software was the basis

of the all-important iTunes.

And Jonathan Ive’s design team created

the iconic minimalist case, inspired not by

any MP3 player but Dieter Rams’ 1958

Braun T3 Pocket Radio. Little of the iPod

was original; but the whole was unique.

retired in September 2014, 400 million

iPods had been sold, making it one of the

most successful consumer electronics

products ever.

It was a rethinking of a gadget that

already existed, but one that Apple had

taken enormous care to get right. Hardware

chief Jon Rubinstein chose Toshiba’s tiny

1.8-inch hard disk as the starting point. Phil

Schiller, head of marketing, came up with

the scroll wheel. Jobs championed FireWire,

a new interface that would transfer music

files faster. Tony Fadell, who’d left Philips to

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE

AUGUST 18

RANDOM APPLE MEMORY

iPodA revolution for personal technology, remembers Adam Banks

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>>>RAM


9000

9019

Documents

MULSA