It’s September, and that only means one thing in Cupertino – new Apple products. In a live-streamed event, Apple unveiled a new iPad, a new iPad Mini, the Apple Watch Series 7, and the iPhone 13. So, will these new devices have you running for your wallet, or will you simply walk on by the next time you see an Apple Store? As always, the devil is in the details, so let’s dive a little deeper.
Continue reading Everything Announced at Apple’s September Event
The Shortcuts app for iOS is one of those apps that I didn’t spend enough time with when it first came out. It was packed full of potential, but it looked complex and difficult to learn. I was wrong. You don’t need to be a programmer or even know very much about shortcuts at all, so long as you have a few basics under your belt. That’s what this guide is all about. It introduces the iOS Shortcuts app from the ground up and gives you the tools and resources you need to be successful.
Do you use the iPhone Control Center? Most people I know have a love-hate relationship with this particular iOS feature. It’s exactly what they need when they can find it, but when they forget where it is, frustration sets in and they start to swipe madly around their screen to try and find it again. Personally, I think there is a lot to like about Control Center, especially if you take some time to dig a little deeper and take full advantage of everything that it can do for you. Here’s a look at the best it has to offer.
As much as I enjoy using Green Screen by DoInk, there are still teachers that find it hard to get paid apps approved, or to raise enough money to put a paid app on all the devices that they want it on. Consequently, I still get a lot of questions about the best free green screen app for the iPad. Up until today, there weren’t a lot of options, but a recent update to iMovie has opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
Continue reading iMovie: A Free Green Screen App for iPad
A recent update to Apple’s publishing standards has allowed more flexibility in the creation and sharing of eBooks on the Apple Books Store. Previously, all books had to be submitted to the store via the iBooks Author app for MacOS. However, you can now use Pages on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or online at iCloud.com. Here’s how it works.
Earlier this week I saw a tool going around Twitter called Remove Image Background. It’s a clever, web-based tool that uses artificial intelligence to identify a person in a photo and remove the background behind them. It’s free, it works on all devices, it doesn’t require a login, and it removes backgrounds surprisingly well. I am sure that it could be used for all kinds of graphic design projects, but like many things, it made me think about green screen.
Continue reading How to do Green Screen Photos Without the Green Screen
Apple held a special event in New York today. They unveiled a new MacBook Air, an updated Mac Mini, and a bold redesign of the existing iPad Pro line. All of these devices were released just in time for the holiday season, but are they worth your time and, more importantly, your money? Here’s what you need to know.
Recently, I had the need to create a screencast of an iPad app for a teacher I work with. Normally, I would just AirPlay my iPad to my Mac, and then record (and edit) my video with Camtasia. However, this time I felt like doing something different. I wanted to explore the options for doing this using an iPad, because I am increasingly of the opinion that there are very few things you can’t do with just an iPad any more. As it happens, there are a number of apps that will let you do this, so in this post I am going to demonstrate one of those apps, tell you about the process I used, and as suggest some others that you might want to take a look at if you decide to try this yourself. Here’s what you need to know.
There are a number of decent annotation apps for the iPhone & iPad. I know, because I have used a lot of them. However, I almost never use a dedicated app any more. The tools that I need are actually built-in to iOS, and they cover almost all of my image annotation needs. I’m talking specifically about the Photos app. It has some great options for marking up images and screenshots, but not everyone knows where those tools are. So, here’s what you need to know.
Continue reading Annotate Photos & Screenshots Using the iOS Photos App
Up until this week, I rarely used an external keyboard with my iPad. The on-screen keyboard was fine for what I needed to do and unlike a lot of people, I really have no problem typing on the screen. I can’t type as fast as I can on a standard keyboard, but I can type fast enough to churn out emails and blog posts with no real concerns. This week, however, I decided to try something a little different. I resolved to use the iPad as my only device for a week.
On a “normal” week I would spend my time switching between a MacBook, a Surface Pro 4, and my iPad for the tasks that I need to get done. However, I happened to read an article entitled, Stop Using A Laptop in 2017; It’s Time To Use A Tablet. In it, the author made a case that desktop operating systems are less relevant than they used to be, so that got me thinking. Could I use an iPad, and only an iPad, for a week? No reason why not, right?! The challenge was on, and I took a Bluetooth keyboard along for the ride.
Continue reading Tips for Using an iPad with an External Keyboard: Shortcuts & More