A new feature available on recent versions of iOS and on newer iPhones is called Wi-fi Calling.  This feature enables you to make and receive phone calls over wi-fi if your phone’s cellular connection is weak or you have no service.  Once enabled it works automatically.

iOS 9 has been officially released for just hours now and already I am reading about people having trouble upgrading.  I think many of these people had devices that were not working well under the hood before the upgrade (unknown to them) and the upgrade was problematic.  I have been using iOS 9 on my iPad since July (in a prototype "Beta" form) and it has been very reliable.  This blog will help you upgrade reliably, properly and safely.

Unless you have been living under a rock, by now you know the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are were announced last week.  They will be available September 25th.  So, what is new?

I have been contacted by many clients in the last few weeks that are ready to upgrade their iPhone.  And I quickly tell them “NO”!  This is a really bad time to buy an iPhone.

Why?  Well, for many years now Apple has released new iPhones in September.  It is almost September.

I admit it, when the Apple Watch was first announced I did not “get” the concept.  I even wrote a blog about how I did not get it and would not buy one.

Soon after it occurred to me - “what if one of my many outstanding clients buys one and contacts me to help set it up and use it?”  Ack, horrors - something Apple that I do not understand.  This would not do and I immediately ordered an Apple Watch.

I have been asked about prepaid services and have contemplated them for many months.  I am now announcing a preliminary version of my service contracts.  If it goes well I will add other options.  I would love to hear your thoughts about other options you would like me to offer.

Here is how the service contract works:

What is malware?  It is short for “malicious software” and is a broad term that encompasses everything from annoying ad pop-ups to full scale viruses (that generally do not attack Macs).

Most commonly, and with a spike in frequency lately, Macs can get infected with spyware and adware that...

Lets speak of the unspeakable - your MacBook, iMac or any other Mac gets stolen.  It is safe, right?  Your Mac has a password and you have to enter that password when you boot it up or wake it from sleep, right?  So, what’s to worry about?

Lots.

If you have the latest version of the operating system for your Mac, specifically 10.10.3 or higher, you have Apple’s newest photo management, editing and sharing app called Photos.  It replaces the long-lived iPhoto as the primary photo app for your Mac.  However, in Apple tradition, iPhoto remains on your Mac as does you iPhoto library.  iPhoto was probably moved off your Dock but it still remains in your Applications folder in Finder.  Apple will not update iPhoto past this point and there may come a time where it will not run at all with future versions of OS X.

I have seen many people use their Mac, some of them very experienced users.  There are very, very few who do not exhibit at least one of these mistakes.  This blog should advance your use and enjoyment of your Mac:

#1 - Clicking the red button in the upper left of a window to quit an app. In almost all cases, clicking the red dot does not quit an app.

Last week Apple announced two new products - the Apple Watch and the new 12" MacBook. 

Let's start with the new MacBook. It sounds good enough in the general sense - a super thin, lightweight Mac with a brilliant Retina display and long battery life.

The new year is upon us and with that brings the beginning of the winter quarter at Clark College in Vancouver.  This winter I have some exciting new classes and some classics.  Here is the lineup:

’Tis the season for shopping. I would like to offer a shopping option that you may not have considered.  It will save you lots of money yet provide you with an excellent product.

I am a huge fan of Apple’s refurbished products.  I have bought them for years and they are always my top recommended Apple products.  Why, you ask?  I will tell you in this blog.

I know I have written about backing up in the past; several times, actually.  However, I really cannot think of a more important thing you should do with your Mac (or your iPad/iPhone as far as that goes, but that will be another blog).

In the last couple of weeks I have had a number of clients with failed or failing hard drives.  Hard drives fail for many reasons including for no apparent reason and with no warning.

Yes, there is more.  A lot more.  Let’s just dive in:

The Health app is now part of iOS 8. You can find it on your home screen - it is a white square with a red heart in it.  Open it.  The first thing you should do is to tap on Medical ID along the bottom and fill out all of the important medical info about yourself.  

iOS 8 has been out for over a month now and after using it daily I thought I would point out some cool features and a few tips.

First, make sure you are using iOS 8.1 on your iPad or iPhone.  8.1 includes some important features and bug fixes.  Go to Settings > General > Software Update to get it.

Admittedly, some of the items below are not new with iOS 8, but they are still very cool and  most people do not know about them.

I have had Yosemite installed on my primary Mac for about a week now.  I thought I’d jot down some things I really like about it and a couple of things that really annoy me and how to work around them.  By the way, make sure to update your iPhone & iPad to iOS 8.1, there are a lot of bug fixes and enhancements in this update.  Click this to read more.

Yesterday Apple released the newest version of its Mac operating system - OS X Yosemite.  It is numerically OS 10.10.  It is free and available in the Mac App Store (Apple menu > App Store…).

In this blog I will give an overview of Yosemite’s features and suggest a procedure to make sure you Mac is ready for the upgrade before you actually install Yosemite.

iOS 8 has been out for a week now and the first bug fix has been released (iOS 8.0.2), so it is probably safe to go ahead and update your device.  This blog will help you update.

There are two methods to update your device:

    - Directly on your iPad or iPhone
    - Plugged into your computer and use iTunes

Congrats on your new iPhone!  Assuming you are updating from an older iPhone (running iOS 7), here is how I recommend transferring all of you old iPhone “stuff” to your new iPhone: