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Smart Outdoor Living in 2025

By Sarah Kingsbury

Smart Outdoor Living in 2024

One of my favorite things since I moved to Las Vegas is starting my day by sipping coffee on my patio as the sun rises, surrounded by thriving flowers and herbs, while a small fountain burbles in the background, and hummingbirds whizz to and from the feeder so quickly they’re gone before I can even catch a good look. My second favorite thing is sitting on the patio enjoying the evening breeze sipping wine with my husband or friends with the perfect lighting and background music to set the mood. The only thing that could make it better is if it all happened with little to no effort from me. That’s why this spring, I decided to extend my smart home to the outdoors and turn my patio into a tech-powered haven for pollinators and people alike.

On June 10 at Apple's annual developer conference keynote, we learned what Apple has in store for the latest Mac operating system, Sequoia, and it's a big year for new features. Many of the updates are shared by iOS and iPadOS 18, but several are Mac specific. Let's get into some of the most exciting updates we'll see this year. They include iPhone Mirroring, desktop organization, more immersive gaming, and new video conference features; Presenter preview and background replacements.

How to Organize Your Calendar in 2025

(Sponsored Post) By Amy Spitzfaden Both on Thu, 02/13/2025

Apple is pretty good about updating its products, but it seems to have forgotten about the Calendar app and its many downsides. The makers of Informant 5, on the other hand, do not forget to regularly improve their app based on user experience. The latest updates to this calendar and task-management app are a productivity game-changer.

How to Turn Off Low Power Mode on Apple Watch

 Low Power mode, a new feature released for the Apple Watch in watchOS 9, reduces the amount of power that your Apple Watch uses so that you can save battery life. Apple released Low Power Mode as a long-awaited replacement for the Apple Watch's previous battery-saving mode, Power Reserve. Power Reserve would lock your Apple Watch after a certain battery percentage, allowing you to only see the time unless you restarted the watch. Low Power mode preserves your Apple Watch battery while still allowing you to use many of the watch's features. Low Power mode works well, but it does disable some of your Apple Watch's advanced features in order to save your battery. Turning the feature on and off is actually pretty simple. We'll walk you through it below.

How to Delete Text Messages on Mac

If you want to free up storage space, reduce clutter, or protect your private information, you might want to delete texts from the Messages app on your Mac. The good news is that as long as your Messages app is synced to iCloud, deleting texts on your Mac will also remove them from any of your Apple devices with the same Apple ID. Read on to learn how to delete messages on your Mac.

apple watch series 8 rumors

Apple just sent out the invites for its September 7th, 2022 "Far Out" event where they are anticipated to announce a round of all-new Apple devices. We're dying to see Apple’s next smartwatch, but while we wait impatiently, let's check out all the rumors surrounding what the next Apple Watch will look like and what features it will and won’t have. Here’s all the rumors we’ve heard thus far. 

For some Mac users, the mouse icon is too small or too similar to the background color to conveniently see. Or perhaps you don't have a problem finding your cursor, but would simply like to change the cursor appearance for aesthetic reasons. In either case, we'll cover how to change your mouse settings on your Mac.

How to Minimize All Windows on Mac

We've all fallen into the trap of opening way too many apps on our Macs. When you find yourself getting distracted by the desktop clutter, or having trouble accessing files saved on your desktop, you might want to quickly clear some space on your screen. Of course, you can click the minimize button (the small yellow circle) on each window, but this can be quite tedious. Instead, let’s look at a cool keyboard shortcut to hide all your windows at once.

How to Get Apple ID Verification Code without Phone

Your Mac can help verify a sign-in without a phone, which can be helpful if you're traveling and your iPhone isn't working, if you share a phone, or if you just don't want to go get your phone for two-factor authentication. You have to go into settings to get the code, but once it's set up it's easy. Here's how to get an Apple ID verification code without a phone number.

How to Turn Off Ringer on Mac

By Rachel Needell

How to Turn Off Ringer on Mac

When all of your devices are connected, it's nice to be able to answer a phone call from your MacBook or iMac. But there are many reasons you'd want to know how to turn the ringer off on a Mac. This way, you can silence calls to your Mac when you need to. We’ll walk you through a few different options to disable call notifications on your Mac.

Best Camera Accessories for iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 lineup boasts some of the best smartphone cameras on the market with the new Cinematic Mode and Macro capabilities. However, you can get even better results with the help of third-party lenses, filters, and rigs. I’ll even throw in a waterproof case and portable charger to capture videos and photos from anywhere for as long as you want!

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