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Q. I am going to retire soon and I plan to write a book. Is there an app that will help me create an outline? A. There are so many apps that fit the criteria of your question that it is difficult to recommend a “best” one. Most word processors can generate outlines. There are also dedicated outliners. If you use a Mac, there are a number of excellent dedicated outliners, the best of which is OmniOutliner from Omni Software (omnigroup.com). For some reason, a great outliner app has never appeared on Windows. Search online for a Windows out...
Q. I want to FaceTime with my mom and sister, but not all of us have iPhones. Is there a way people on Android or other phones can join a FaceTime call? A. Yes! Both Android and Windows users can join a FaceTime call. This may require extra patience on your part to set up because the configurations are not automatic on non-Apple devices. You will need to make sure the other devices are new enough to support FaceTime calls, and the recipient may have to set some permissions to enable the microphone in the browser. Carefully following the...
Q. Is Incognito Mode in my Web browser truly private? A. True anonymity online requires considerable technical expertise and is near-impossible to achieve. The short answer to your question is no. Incognito Mode, which is also called Private Browsing, InPrivate Browsing, Private Window, or Guest Mode tells your device to avoid recording information such as browsing history and cookies. There are other sources for this information that you may not have access to, like your service provider’s log files, third-party software, system caches, b...
Q. I would like to find someone to tutor me on how to get the most out of my new Mac laptop. I’m looking for classes, coaching or any other suggestions you can offer. A. This is a great question, and the answer depends somewhat on your location so I will start there. But there is also a wealth of online options as well. There once was a thriving network of Apple User Groups spread across the world where volunteers would gather regularly to share information. These can be great places to find tutors or information about your local Mac c...
Q. The Apple Photos app is really different after this last update. Is there a way to change it back? A. Apple revamped the Photos app this year. All the same functions are there, but the initial screen presents them differently. Although it might seem like change for change’s sake at first, let’s take a deeper look. In many ways, the old app wasn’t that great. The new design makes it easier to find the major part of the app more quickly. Rather than simply showing the photos, it presents the major parts of the app in a single scrolling windo...
Q. My iPhone just automatically updated to iOS 17.7. How do I get the new features advertised in iOS 18? A. There are two kinds of system updates for iPhones, major and minor. Major releases that change once a year, and increase the first number. For example, from 17.0 to 18.0. Minor updates occur throughout the year, and increase the numbers after the decimal point. Your iPhone will automatically update itself with these “point updates” as long as it is plugged in and has a Wi-Fi connection. Each autumn Apple releases a major new update to the...
Q. I need help deciding which cellphone to buy. What do you recommend? A. If you have a tech-oriented friend, get the model they suggest. Just make sure they are willing to help you when you need it. If I assume you don’t have a friend like that, here is my take: I purchased my first cell phone in 1989. I have owned or tested countless different cellular phones. As a daily user of cellphones for 35 years, I have strong opinions. The very best phones available at any price are made by Apple. Any Apple phone is a good choice, so making your c...
Q. How do I move my mobile phone voicemail messages to some kind of permanent storage? A. Mobile phones have become the most personal computing device in our lives. That makes them a treasure box of cherished memories. Precious voicemails are simple to keep—do not delete from the inbox. But that approach is fragile. If you switch carriers, they will almost certainly be lost. Inboxes have limited space, and if you save too many messages, messages have to be deleted to allow future calls. Fixing “mailbox full” messages can lead to accid...
Q. Some years ago I had a photo book printed, but I no longer see that option in my photos app. Where did it go? A. There are photo printing services online that print photo books. If you were using a Mac, you might be referring to its legacy photo service, which was discontinued years ago. Today, no matter what device you use, consider Photobooks Pro (see the link in the box). They are a high-quality photo printing service that offers dozens of book designs. And if my guess is correct that you were talking about Mac legacy software, Photobooks...
Q. Sometimes my smartphone shuts off suddenly. The screen goes dark, and none of the buttons work. After a few minutes, it works again. Should I look for a replacement? A. Modern smartphones take their internal temperature continuously. These modern computing miracles still have to obey the laws of physics, and when they get too hot, bad things happen. As a result, smartphones are smart enough to hibernate instantly when they feel a little toasty. The causes are many, everything from laying in open sunlight to processing photos or videos....
Q. What is two-factor authentication? A. The most common authentication method uses an account name and a password. That has been true since the earliest days of computing. The account name/password combination is considered a single factor authentication method. The problems created by passwords are well documented, and two-factor authentication is a technique developed to enforce security in the event a password falls into the wrong hands. The second authentication factor typically requires the user to enter a second code in addition to the...
Q. I have a box of videotapes from the 80s and 90s that I would like to preserve on my computer. What do I need to make this happen? A. This is easy to do once you have all the pieces you need. The first piece is something to play the tape that has a video-out connector, such as a VCR or a camcorder. The second piece is a computer with plenty of free disk space. Video takes up a given amount of space per hour depending on its format, info that can be found with a little research. Just ask...
Q. I am looking for a way to follow sports scores from different games on my phone. Does that exist? A. There are a few options. If all the games are in one league, such as MLB or the NBA, leagues usually have apps that can keep you up to date. Specific features vary within each app, but league-focused apps are a good place to start. Following a group of teams from different sports altogether requires a little creativity. The ESPN app permits you to create custom alerts for individual teams, and those alerts are delivered to your smartphone....
Q. When I am online, I frequently see a message that asks me to accept cookies. What are cookies? A. A cookie is a small bit of data that a website stores on your computer. The name itself dates back to the earliest days of the web, when names were chosen by programmers. The original job of a cookie was to make web surfing easier. Unfortunately, they have become one of the primary ways that you are tracked online. Tracking people online is a big business. Surveillance is nearly invisible to users, but it can have a profound impact on...
Q. I got a new computer this year as a gift, are there any essential apps I should install? A. If you have been purchasing computers or phones for many years, it’s likely you’ve become habituated to installing special software soon after purchase. One of the best aspects of new devices is that every PC, Mac, smartphone and tablet sold today comes with a powerful bundle of free software. There is usually no need to go beyond the bundled software unless something does not fit your workflow, and the short list of exceptions grows shorter each yea...
Q. Is there a way to get a refund for apps purchased in an online store? A. There are numerous app stores but the two largest are from Apple and Google, and both offer a refund process. Keep in mind that there are two types of purchases. One type is the cost of the app itself and the other type is an in-app purchase or subscription. The rules are different depending on the purchase type. Requesting a refund for the purchase price of an app is straightforward. In-app subscriptions are much more varied, policies are affected by terms and...
Q. What is the best way to enjoy music on my smartphone or tablet? A. Digitizing audio CDs and copying them to a smart phone is still supported on desktop computers, but as more people move to a smartphone-only lifestyle this may no longer be an option for you. There are two major ways to get music on a smartphone: purchases and subscriptions. Of the two, subscriptions are the simplest to manage over time. The leading services are Apple Music and Spotify, both of which are available on all the major platforms and both cost about $10 a month....
Q. When someone tells me to "swipe right" on my phone, do they mean swipe to the right or swipe from the right? A. Technology changes so fast that the language is always trying to catch up. Early designs made gestures obvious with on-screen controls like switches. The original iPhone's "Swipe to Unlock" control became iconic. As complexity grew, and as people have become more familiar with smartphones, designers have pushed toward less explicit controls. In 2016 TikTok upended everything. Its...
Q. Is there a computer-friendly way to organize the notes I take when planning a trip? A. There are apps designed to collect separate bits of information from different sources and organize them into meaningful groups. Chances are pretty good you already use at least one. A word processor like Google Docs can be a decent notebook. Websites like Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) can be used effectively to organize disparate ideas if they are on Pinterest already. But these tools have limitations. They are good for collecting bits of information,...
Q. I want to gift someone an online photo frame and update it myself remotely. Is that possible? A. Yes, it is possible, but you will need luck and perhaps some patience. The frames that I have experience with are from a company called Nixplay (nixplay.com), and I recommend them without reservation. Online photo frames require wireless internet, obviously. Make sure the recipient already has a Wi-Fi network. Whenever connecting a new device to Wi-Fi, there is always a chance that it will not...
Q. I would like to get back into playing PC games. Where should I start? A. The universe of high-quality “traditional” computer games is bigger than ever. Online storefronts for computer-based games fall into two major groups: mobile games for handheld devices like tablets and smartphones, and traditional games for desktop and laptop computers. Where you start depends on the device. For PCs probably the most popular game store is Steam. Steam is a digital distribution platform operated by Valve Corporation. It is one of the most popular and...
Q. We are hosting a family picnic this summer and wish everyone could share their photos with everyone else. Any ideas? A. Dropevent lets you set up an invitation-only online photo gallery. The gallery allows everyone at the party to submit photos, which are then available to everyone who has access. There are a couple of different methods, but one simple option is to print a QR code for the event. Any smartphone can scan the code and help the user submit photos. You control access by how you distribute the invitation links and QR codes. The...
This month’s Tech Talk is a little different. Nearly all of it was written by a computer. This technology has been under development for decades. It has been a staple of science fiction movies since I was a kid. Recently, one of the most advanced chat robots ever constructed was made public. ChatGPT has washed across tech like a tsunami. The only thing anyone seems to agree on is that the world has changed forever — whether for better or worse remains to be seen. What follows is the transcript of an interview I did with ChatGPT. I did not cha...
Q. Every few weeks my iPhone nags me with an alert that my storage is almost full. What should I do? A. There are two common storage errors on iPhone. One is “Storage Almost Full” and the other is “iCloud Storage Almost Full.” There may be minor variations in the words based on your device’s version, but the idea is the same. Take both of these messages seriously, because a cascade of very bad things are about to happen. The biggest danger is when the warning simply states that storage is almost full. This message implies your device is not con...
