Serenity was formerly the Managing Editor at iMore, and now works for Apple. She's been talking, writing about, and tinkering with Apple products since she was old enough to double-click. In her spare time, she sketches, sings, and in her secret superhero life, plays roller derby. Follow her on Twitter @settern.
What do you get when you stick Pinterest, Flipboard, Twitter Cards, and the Wirecutter into a blender? I suspect the result might look something like Wildcard, the brainchild of former New York Times designer Khoi Vinh and the other folks behind Coopkanics. Wildcard, released Thursday, combines trending news with featured collections of goods and services to offer you a solution to all...
When it comes to gaming, in-app purchases are a tricky thing. Some games use Apple's mechanism to wrest more cash out of you to complete levels faster; others enrich the game experience with new costumes and player characters; others still use the in-app purchase to build off the original game. It's that last option that has come to Monument Valley, ustwo's brilliantly-constructed...
Apple's iCloud Photo Library service is currently in beta, and for good reason—it currently only allows you to sync images you've taken on your iOS devices, with a Mac app promised in early 2015. If you still want to get some of your Mac's iPhoto images into iCloud Photo Library before the Mac client's official release, however, there's a pretty easy new way: Just use the Upload button...
I got a bunch of requests from folks to explain how, exactly, I did those variable speed-up-slow-downs in my iPhone 6 camera video, so this week, we're taking a look at how you can use iMovie for iOS to do just that. As of iOS 8, iMovie for iOS received a whole bunch of speed controls beyond "sloooooow" and "super super chipmunk fast," and they're really simple to use. Step one:...
The Verge's Josh Lowensohn has recently been partaking in a time-honored Internet technology tradition—light trolling. His method of choice? AirDrop, Apple's wireless file-sharing technology that allows you to send just about anything to iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Each day I get on the train to make the half hour voyage into San Francisco for work, I am surrounded by people using...
Over at Macworld, Susie Ochs spent a few days using one of Pioneer's new after-market CarPlay systems with her iPhone. Her thoughts? CarPlay is cool, and if I was buying a car that had it, I would be stoked to use it—but I'm not going to upgrade the stereo that's in my 2006 Subaru to this aftermarket Pioneer system. For starters, CarPlay can't do anything my iPhone doesn't do...
Dan Frakes, formerly of Macworld, took some time on Monday to write up a giant compendium of iOS 8 tips, tricks, and hints that he's compiled over his months beta-testing the operating system. There's a lot of good stuff in there for people interested in Mail shortcuts, Siri, and Safari, but my personal favorite new trick—and one I hadn't heard about until now—is how to dim the screen...
Much as I would like to pretend that I have all the time in the world to keep my grey matter working at a collegiate level, that's not true. We all have jobs. Errands. Hobbies. I've made peace with the fact that I'll never crack open that 1200-page "Master Your French" textbook sitting on my bookshelf or drop thousands of dollars on graduate studies; instead, I've taken to using third-...
Zip files—that is, single-file bundles that contain multiple items—are incredibly useful tools. On my Mac, I use zip files for all sorts of tasks: shrinking document sizes, transferring data from one place to another, and collecting various files together into a single bundle. On the iPhone and iPad, zip files are a bit less convenient, due to iOS's lack of central file system. You can...
For those of you who like to surf cellular networks on your iPad over the Wi-Fi variety, the Pad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 come with a special bonus: Apple's self-titled Apple SIM. The nano-SIM is identical to your typical iPad cellular SIM, with one key difference: It supports on-the-fly connections to multiple different cellular carriers. That's right: You no longer have to decide before...
AirDrop is pretty much magic for folks like me who need to swap files between iOS devices and Macs on a daily basis. But even if you need the service on a more sporadic basis, you might benefit from checking out the video above. In it: I talk about why I love AirDrop, what I use it for, a few troubleshooting tips, and files you might not necessarily want to transfer between your Mac and...
Apple Pay is currently U.S. only, and while most major banks support it, not all do. Likewise, while the list of retailers that support Apple Pay in-store and online is growing, not everyone takes it yet. Finally, Apple Pay currently only works online with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3, and in-store with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple Pay supporting banks...
Apple has long had trouble balancing its iCloud sync service with manual iTunes syncing, to no one's surprise. Sync is hard, and when you offer users multiple ways to put data on their devices, something's bound to get borked in the process. iCloud Photo Library is no exception—the service isn't on the Mac yet, which means that if you want to use it on your iOS devices, it'll...
Apple Pay is a strange sort of wonderful magic—the kind of tech that makes you feel like you're living in the future. Our Android brethren have had NFC-enabled solutions for years in the form of Google Wallet, but compatible terminals were far and few between. That's changed: Apple Pay, at launch, is supported in over 220,000 stores and by 34 brands, with more launching by the end of...
The iPads are coming! The iPads are coming! Yes, as expected, Apple announced the newest members of its ever-growing iPad family on Thursday—the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3. These two will be available for pre-order beginning tomorrow, October 17; here's what you need to know about them. 1. The iPads are numbered again (and there are a lot of them) Yes, it's true: Apple's abandoned...
Apple's fall iPad and Mac event is right around the corner, and there's plenty the company could choose to show off to the world on Thursday morning. OS X Yosemite is a lock, and perhaps iOS 8.1 as well. New iPads seem certain, as do new Macs. Like always, the real stories will be in the details. So what's likely to pop up on that Town Hall stage? What doesn't have a chance? We debate...
I love listening to music, soundtracks, and other aural miscellany while puttering around my apartment. Silence might be nice in some places, but when you work and live alone, there's something soothing about having some classic rock at your back while you're doing dishes or writing up an article. I've collected a variety of speakers over the years for the various rooms of my house,...
When you live in a studio apartment, you tend to try and keep things minimal—no unnecessary tchotchkes, lots of shelves—to maintain some level of organization. But though I generally avoid hoarding tendencies in real life, it's, uh... quite the opposite for my iPhone 6. I try a lot of apps, after all. And while the habit may have gotten its start because of my work, it's bloomed into a...
The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have a bevy of new videography features for those who enjoy shooting those fancy "moving pictures" on their mobile devices. I've been putting my iPhone 6 through its paces, and here's an overview of what you have to look forward to—in video form, naturally. Shooting in "Selfie" mode Though the iPhone's front-facing FaceTime HD camera hasn't received any...
Want to move your iTunes library to a new Mac or an external drive? Here's how.