Macworld November 2015 USA

INSIDE: ON Phone 6s | APPLE’S BEST iPHONE EVER WHY YOU SHOULD UPGRADE TO iOS 9 Macworld November 2015 CON J ENTS MacUser OS X El Capitan review: Mac upgrade that's as solid as a rock 6 Make a bootable OS X 1011 El Capitan installer drive 22 The iPad Pro is a pilot fish for Apple's ARM Laptop 28. MacUser Reviews 34 Hot Stutt 54 iOS Central Yes, you should upgrade to ios 9 58 How to get started with Apple News 62 Hands-on with content-blocking Safari extensions in iOS 9 68 iOS Central Reviews 74 What's new at the App Store 88 10S Cases 89 Working Mac ur favorite Mac apps for building a website 110 Mystery of the unsharable Google Apps calendar 116 Backups for the creative pro 120 How to breathe new life into an old Mac 126 Playlist Apple Music trials come to an end 136 Get to know Up Next in the Music app for iOS 142 Ask the iTunes Guy 148. Help Desk iPad mini 4: Finally, the update that Mac St: Find out which iOS app is requesting your Apple ID you've been waiting for 104 password 152 MASTHEAD Macworld €CO& SVP, US. MEDIA AT IDG John Gallant EDITOR IN CHIEF, CONSUMER BRANDS Jon Philips EXECUTIVE EDITOR Susie Ochs DESIGN DIRECTOR Rob Schultz Editorial SENIOR EDITOR Roman Loyola [ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR Leah Yamshon STAFF WRITERS Catlin McGarry, Oscar Raymundo SENIOR CONTRIBUTORS Adam C. Engst, Glenn Fleishman, Lex Friedman, Rob Grits, John Gruber, Jim Heid, Andy Ihnatko, Joe Kissel, Ted Landau, Rick LePage, Ben Long, kira McElhearn, John Motz, Jonn Skacusa, Derrick Story COPY EDITOR Suc Voolkel Design DESIGNER Monica Lee ‘CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Peter Belanger Advertising Sales SALES MANAGER Ouone Hampson 4159978-2123 Production DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION Nancy Jonathans ‘SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER Tamara Gargus INTERNATIONAL DATA GROUP CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD ‘Watter Boyd IDG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 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Create, Pays, Moc User Macworld, and the Macworld logo are regetered tacemarc of Itematonal Data Group, In. and used under license by IDG Consumer & SMB, Ine. ple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Aople, Inc Newsand Analysis About Macs, OS X, and Apple OS X El Capitan review: Mac ee that's as solid asa rock [otsio It's es in Apple's latest version of O! y that simple. ‘BY JASON SNELL S X. Upgrade and get an impro ed Mac triving for everyone on September 30 was El Capitan, OS X 10111, but I've been using it all summer. In these days of free operating-system updates, major OS X updates feel a lot more routine than they used to. Apple has chosen not to roll out major OS X features piecemeal throughout the year, though, so this will be the biggest change your Mac is to experience this year. El Capitan, named after the large granite rock formation inside Yosem- ite National Park, is very much a refined version of OS X Yosemite, a recognizable progression from its predecessor. (In iPhone terms, it would be Yosemite S.) Apple says this update is all about a refined experience and improved performance. But it's traditional for Apple to take its no-big-deal updates and pour in a bunch of new features anyway, and El Capitan is no exception. This is a packed release, but one that makes sense as a follow-up to Yosemite. JUST THE BASICS Before we get started, it's worth recapping what this El Capitan business is all about. El Capitan is Apple’s marketing name for OS X Septem- version 1011, the latest update to ber 30, you your Mac's system software. If your can download El Mac is running Yosemite (10.10), Capitan straight from the Mavericks (10.9), or Mountain Lion Mac App Store. And if you're running (10.8), it can run El Capitan. As of an older version of OS X, you don't 7 OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW need to do interim upgrades—you can go straight to El Capitan from Snow Leopard or later. If the update is free and readily available, what's the big deal? Often people are trepidatious about upgrading their computers. If an app you rely on is incompatible with the new version, your entire workflow can be broken. It's worth being careful and checking with the makers of any apps you rely on before upgrading—most will post compatibil- ity information on their websites. In the case of El Capitan, a few of the apps and utilities I rely on weren't initially compatible, but most have already been updated as a result of Apple's summer-long testing period. Most major OS X upgrades feature a lot of under-the-hood security improvements, which is a good reason to stay up to date, but some of those changes can also break software. Several of the apps | use, including SuperDuper (go.macworld. com/superduper) and Default Folder X didn’t work properly with El Capitan (go.macworld.com/defaultfolderx- elcap’V), but SuperDuper has already been updated to regain compatibility and Default Folder X has a new version on the way (and a work- around in the meantime). One of the security improvements in El Capitan is a feature called System Integrity Protection, which clamps down on the ability of mal- ware to hijack your Mac by masquer- ading as a user with system-adminis- tration privileges. This is a good thing—but a few apps, including Default Folder X and SuperDuper, relied on that same vector to do their jobs. You can turn off System Integ- rity Protection if you absolutely need to, but it seems like most apps will be able to function just fine with it turned on. (It’s just that some of them may need an update first.) Bottom line: I've found El Capitan to be a stable update, but you should always back up your system and check with the makers of your most important apps about compatibility before installing it. 8 A SANER MISSION CONTROL We all use our Macs in different ways—and even the same person can use a giant 5K iMac in a different way than they use an 1Linch MacBook Air. (lam one of those people.) My gut feeling is that there's a devoted (but small) subset of Mac users who love using Mission Control (formerly Exposé) to arrange their windows and workspaces, or frequently use Full Screen mode for apps. If you're one of those people—or if you've always been tempted to improve how you organize your workspace, I've got good news for you: El Capitan offers quite a few boosts to Mission Control and Full Screen Mode. The most notable addition is the new Split View feature, which appears to be designed to be reminiscent of the Split View feature that appears on some iPads in iOS 9 Unlike the iPad, though, Mac users have always been able to run two windows next to each other. Still, what Split View is really doing is adding an extra dimension of utility to full-screen view. Now full-screen view doesn't just have to feature one app stretched out to take over your entire screen—you can split the space between two apps, one on the left side and one on the right. Entering Split View is actually fun, and quite clever on Apple's part. If you click and hold on the green + (maximize) button in a window's title bar, you'll be prompted to choose which side of the screen you'd like that window to be placed on. Then Mission Control will activate on the other side of the screen, letting you choose any of your currently open SPLIT VIEW ALLOWS the user to display two apps side by side. OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW windows to use as the first window's split-screen buddy. It's fast, cool looking, and efficient. Converting full-screen mode to split-screen mode isn't without its interface quirks. I've noticed that, depending on how an app presents itself in full-screen mode, it’s some- times difficult to tell which app is active, i.e., frontmost. That some- times leads to unexpected behav- ior—for example, | tried to zoom in on a PDF in Preview by spreading my thumb and index finger on the trackpad, but it didn’t work because | hadn't clicked on the window to activate Preview yet. Since it seems that Split View is just a modified version of the old full-screen view, there are probably going to be some quirks like this— with apps assuming they're the only app you can see because you're in full-screen mode, even though they're not—until they're modified to adapt to the El Capitan world Like full-screen view, I'm not sure Split View is going to appeal to anyone but users of laptops, and even then, it's more likely to be appealing on smaller laptops. If you've got a large monitor, full-screen view is often overkill, because few apps are designed to take up all that space. (There are, of course, exceptions— when I'm editing audio in Logic Pro X, it’s using every pixel of my 5K iMac screen) But at least with El Capitan, 10 WHEN YOU ENGAGE Mission Control, app windows are displayed ina way that mimics their actual placement on your desktop. you've got the option of having two different apps share full-screen view. On a smaller display, such as my trusty 11-inch MacBook Air it’s a nicer experience. Perhaps my favorite addition, though, is to Mission Control itself. The You can also drag a window to the top of your screen, and Mission Control will automatically activate with the Spaces Bar expanded, so you can quickly toss a window into a new or existing workspace. THE SPACES BAR—THAT STRIP AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN THAT APPEARS WHEN YOU ACTIVATE MISSION CONTROL—HAS ALSO GOTTEN A MAJOR UPGRADE. entire feature feels friendlier and makes more sense than it ever has before. Mission Control now does amuch better job of organizing and presenting your open windows. Every window gets its own thumbnail, rather than piling all of an app's windows in a big stack. And when you engage Mission Control, your windows don't fly all over the place like a giant game of 52 Pickup—they slide around in order to bring every window into view, sure, but the feature keeps geography in mind. This means that a window that's in the top-right corner of the screen will generally stay near the top-right corner when Mission Control is activated. The Spaces Bar—that strip at the top ofthe screen that appears when you activate Mission Control—has also gotten a major upgrade. First, it's collapsed by default, giving more space to your windows when you activate Mission Control. When you move your cursor over the Spaces Bar, it expands. Finally, in a boost to the new Split View feature, if you move your cursor over a space that contains two apps in Split View, you'll see a small icon that allows you to blow the Split View apart—bringing both windows back to your existing workspace. When you click it, you see the two windows slide back into their place in the Mission Control landscape. SEARCH (IN SPOTLIGHT AND ELSEWHERE) Between Siri and Spotlight, Apple continues to build up its collection of searchable data sources. On iOS, Siri and Spotlight seem to be merging and mingling in a bunch of interest- ing ways. On OS X, those data sources crop up in a bunch of different places: They're in Spotlight, yes, but you'll also find them in Safari. With El Capitan, Spotlight and Safari "1 OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW Q. pdfs from october 2014 ix colors insertion ordee % Signed io 10-3-14pat Ivoice pdt - Re pet. confirmation etter 3458691 pat voice pat % Six Colors Insertion. Order_-_ Mark s invoice.pat % itw-002,pat + APRITAT? pdt % wOpat - Re 4 Six Re: Mac phone briefing both have access to weather, stocks, sports, transit, and web video, as well as support for natural-language queries. Yes, this means you should be able to type san diego chargers standings into Spotlight and immediately be given the bad news from the AFC West, or phoenix az weather and get the bad news from the desert west. It also means you can type queries like pdfs from june 2013 or presentations from august 2012 into Spotlight or the Finder and actually get the result you're expecting. like this approach, because the fact is that many people search using natural-language queries regardless of whether their search engine of choice supports it. A lot of us want to type, how do I delete my Facebook account into Google, rather than carefully crafting a string of search terms. So Spotlight gets smarter, we get to be lazier, and it should all work out. That said, the quality of the results from these data sources needs to be tightened up. When I search for arsenal standings, | get an English Premier League table, but without point totals. A search for cal. foot ball schedule shows me a weird amalgamation of dates, many of them listed as December 31, and pac-12 standings displays an unsorted list of conference records. Likewise, if I type memphis weather, | don't get the weather near Graceland, but the weather in Memphis, Texas, population 2290. Not smart enough, Spotlight. 2 SPOTLIGHT’S NATURAL: LANAGUAGESUPPORT means you can type queries like, pdfs from october 2014 and Spotlight will show the proper results. There's one improvement to Spotlight that | applaud wholeheart- edly, and it has to do with the Spot- light window itself. Last year, Yosem- ite cut the cord between the Spotlight window and the Spotlight icon in the top-right corer of the Menu Bar. It floated in the middle of the screen, disconnected from the icon it was supposedly attached to. Now with El Capitan, you can move the Spotlight box anywhere you want, and resize the results window, with the menu bar icon serving as nothing more than a shortcut. SAFARI PINS ITS FAVORITE SITES With El Capitan comes a new version of Safari, version 9, and it's got some clever new features. | have to admit that | still use bookmarks (and don't use RSS), and | really enjoy the new Pinned Sites feature in Safari 9. Pinned Sites are like mega-book- marks—or if you prefer, they're a simpler, more visual version of the Favorites Bar. Drag a tab into the left corner of Safari's title bar and it will stay there permanently, with a little icon (or letter if the site in question hasn't built a special custom icon for use with Pinned Sites) to distinguish it. Pinned Sites are kept refreshed, so with one click you can see what's new on your favorite site. Clicks that lead to other pages on the site are loaded in the pinned site’s tab, but external links all open in separate tabs, keeping your pinned site right THINK “MEMPHIS,” and most people think Tennessee, except for Spotlight (and the Memphis, TX citizens of Memphis, : 73 Texas} e : Now 2AM TAM 2AM AM 4AM AM 13 a ee ee ee . Es * 28 © tico.memphiowesther.net Ba * “4 ‘ 26 Re: new info + your input please: R. 13 OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW 9 PINNEDSITES are eee sixcolors.com ° eee *®é7e Official San Francisco Giants Website | MLB.com | onthe left side of the Tab bar. sixcolors where it is. As someone who likes to bookmark a few very-favorite sites and visit them regularly, this has the makings of a cool feature. This feature does change Safari's keyboard shortcuts and tab behavior, however. Since Pinned Sites are always open, if you try to close a Safari window when viewing a Pinned Site, it will switch you to a new tab instead. If you have a single tab open that's not a Pinned Site, it will close the entire window. But if you open a new window and navi- gate back to the Pinned Site, you'll find that it’s still on the page of the Pinned Site that you last visited. Ifyou're used to navigating the first item in the Bookmarks Bar by typing Command-t, you'll also have to get used to a change. Command- number shortcuts are now reserved for navigating Pinned Sites and browser tabs, moving from left to. right. | used to have my personal weather station page as my first Bookmarks Bar item; now I've made it my first Pinned Site, so | can keep the same shortcut. You can also access all the Bookmarks Bar items by adding in the Option key, in the format Command-Option-number. Nobody likes blaring audio from pages that automatically play videos when the page loads, and if you're someone who likes to open articles in multiple tabs, you can very quickly have several different videos playing in different tabs. In Safari 9, you have much more control over where audio plays in your browser. With one click on the speaker icon in Safari's Smart Search bar, you can mute the audio in the current tab. Or click and hold on that icon, and you'll see a list of all tabs that are playing audio—with the option to mute the sound from the currently open tab or from all the non-visible tabs. You'll also see a list of all tabs that are playing audio in that list. Tabs playing audio are also indicated by a speaker icon in the tab itself. This is a really great feature that I look forward to using when I'm browsing ESPN, Macworld, and many of my other favorite sites, which | 4 generally visit only to read the articles. Safari Reader, which gives you a simplified view of a complicated page layout, has added more display preferences. In the Yosemite version of Safari, you can make the text larger or smaller, but that’s about it. In Safari 9, you can not only adjust text size, but also choose from four color themes and eight typefaces. It's a good look, especially when I'm reading at night and prefer a light-on-dark theme. Finally, anyone who has been frustrated that they can't easily send a video they're watching in Safari and play it on their TV—something that’s easily done on an iOS device—will be happy to know that Safari now sup- ports AirPlay video. If you're playing a video that's compatible with AirPlay, you'll be able to see an AirPlay icon right on the video within Safari, and can select it to send that video to an AppleTV via AirPlay. Whew! ADMIT YOU USE NOTES To paraphrase the late, great Yogi Mute Other Tabs =) Carolina Panthers acquire Jared Alien in trade with Chicago Bears =i ¥ # How to enable Safari ad-blockers in iOS 9 | Macworld AirPlay t Bedroom Apple TV Living Room Apple TV ‘erproof? Berra, nobody likes the Notes app— it’s too popular. The App Store is full of apps—iOS and Mac, alike—that outdo Notes at the job of taking notes, creating shopping lists, you name it. But Notes has one major thing going for it, namely that it's on every Mac and iOS device in exis- tence. | admit it: | use Notes for all sorts of things. Like taking selfies (or using the iPad as a camera), Notes is some- thing people use, so Apple might as well put some effort into making the experience better! And so with iOS 9 and El Capitan, Notes has received a major upgrade. Now you can stick a whole bunch of different files-PDFs, SAFARI USES a speaker icon to tell the user that audio is coming from a webpage. 5 aon ee SAFARI9 now supports, OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW PHOTOS 1.1NOW HAS batch support for changing titles and adding location information. images, even videos—into a note. You can sketch notes on iOS and view them on the Mac—but not create them yourself. Notes is also now an option in the Share button, so you can send data to Notes from any app that displays a share sheet. To create a checklist in Notes, you just select some text and click the Checklist button in the toolbar. That's it-every line gets a little check box in front of it, and you can check them on and off at will. The checkboxes aren't connected to anything, and clicking them doesn't do anything except check and uncheck them. But if you're making a quick to-do list, maybe that's all they need to do. Up to now, Notes was one of the rare Apple cloud-connected apps on OS X that didn’t actually use the iCloud infrastructure. Instead, it connected to a special IMAP mailbox in one of your connected email accounts. (If you've ever searched your Gmail and seen a dozen different notes files in your results, this is why) But starting with El Capitan, Notes can also use iCloud proper. In fact, for most of the more advanced features— including checklists, fancy links, and access to the type style menu—you'll need to use iCloud. Fortunately, you can easily drag all your old notes from your email account right into iCloud, and they'll transfer over. PHOTOS GETS EXTENDED The first version of Photos for Mac was not without its power features, but while | was working on my book about Photos (takecontrolbooks.com/ photos-crash-course), | heard from a whole lot of people who had opinions about the most important features it omitted. Fortunately, some of the 16 most common complaints | heard have been addressed with the new version of Photos that ships with El Capitan. The biggest addition is editing of image data, individually and in batches. In Photos version 11, you can add location information to either a single photo or an entire batch, and batch-change titles and other information. To do this, you : open the Inspector window. A not-yet- geotagged image will offer a section of the window labeled Assign A Location. Clicking in this area will let you enter a street address or a name of a point of interest, and Photos will search Apple's Maps database. You can also just click on the pin and drag it around the map, placing it wherever you like. To batch-change titles, descriptions, or keywords, just select a bunch of images and input the new information into the Inspector window. Another huge user complaint was about a lack of flexibility in sorting albums. (The first version of Photos let you sort them any way you wanted, as long as it was by date.) The new version of Photos will let you sort them by date and title, as well as keep them in a custom order that you determine by dragging images around. Photos on El Capitan also supports image-editing extensions written by third-party developers. If there's a particular editing effect or tool that isn't available in Photos, a developer can write an extension that provides that feature, and it can be accessed WHILE YOU CAN EDIT PHOTOS USING EXTENSIONS RIGHT WITHIN PHOTOS, THEY AREN’T QUITE AS INTEGRATED INTO THE APP AS THE BUILT-IN TOOLS. from within Photos. A bunch of different Extensions are on the way—| tested a couple of them, and many will be released alongside El Capitan. While you can edit photos using Extensions right within Photos, they aren't quite as integrated into the app as the built-in tools. Basically, the edits that you make in an Extension are done on top of a version of your photo. If you've applied other effects, those effects are “burned in”—you can’t apply a black-and-white effect, then add some distortion effects with an extension, and then remove the black-and-white effect. Fortunately, Photos always lets you revert to the original version of the photo if you need to start again Adding Extension support to Photos opens up a whole new set of capabilities, from the serious to the silly, all without ever needing to leave 7 LY PXeiBi}3°3) OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW Apple’s next-generation photo editor. It’s a good thing. OTHER BUNDLED APPS Of course, every OS X update brings upgrades to many other Apple-built apps. Mail and Maps both received nice updates this time around. Taking a cue from iOS and from some third-party competitors, Mail now allows you to use the trackpad to swipe messages into the trash or to mark them as unread. Trackpad- oriented users will appreciate the shortcut, and there's a preference to let you choose whether a swipe deletes a message or archives it. For quite some time now, OS X has a Cesctons 4 ‘Se Depot Bookstore & Cat nt Callrnia Memoria St Osten. B Arrive J 9/29/2015, 8:00AM ‘Thour 40 minutes 6:10 AM 7:55 AM: 0.5 mi waiting OR em: GOR s ‘hour 33 minutes 616 AM = 7-AB AM 0.8 walking had the ability to detect certain kinds of content in your email messages— names of contacts, events, dates, and times. In El Capitan, Mail does a much better job of putting that information in context. If a potential event is mentioned in the text of an email message—‘let’s have lunch on Thursday"—Mail will add a banner above the top of the message body that displays the event and provides an “add event” link to quickly add it to your calendar. Likewise, if the person mailing you doesn't appear in your Contacts list, Mail will display a banner indicating that it's detected a possible new contact with a quick “add con- tact” link. (MAPSINEL CAPITAN now offers transit mapsin a few select regions, with more to ‘come. Uc Faculty Ch tabby But perhaps the best feature in Mail is one that lives under the hood and addresses a long-standing problem with the app. Perhaps because it was developed at Apple's campus, replete with high-speed Internet connections, Mail has had a major blind spot: poor performance on slow connections. Have you tried using Mail on a slow, high-latency Internet connection on, say, an airplane? All you want to do is check your Inbox, and Mail’s trying to sync all your IMAP mailboxes rather than getting to the good stuff. In El Capitan, Mail prioritizes showing you new mail in your Inbox and prioritizes the downloading of the messages or mailboxes that you're currently viewing. It’s an improvement that's been a long time coming—thanks, slow Virgin America in-flight Wi-Fi!—but it's finally here. The banner feature in Maps is transit maps, which are available in eight North American cities, two European cities, and over 300 cities in China. | was able to try this using Bay Area data, which is a bit of a mess because we've got a whole bunch of different, unaffiliated transit agencies. | was able to plot a trip from my local bus stop to downtown Berkeley, complete with a transfer from the bus to BART in San Fran- cisco, and know exactly when I'd need to leave my house in order to 1B Send to Jason's iPhone Send to Jason's iPad Bl Send to MonkeyPhone 6S Bl Send to iPad Mini & Send to Jason Snett’s iPhone Bf Send to MonkeyPhone 6 © twitter j Gi Facebook © Messages © Notes Reminders ¥ Send via Mailplane 3 A KirDrop © Add to Favorites More, aa ue arrive at the proper time. It’s pretty cool. Now Apple needs to get to work on bringing it to many more regions! When I'm plotting a journey, | usually first explore the trip on my Mac, but of course when I'm making the actual journey I'm using my iPhone. In El Capitan, | can directly share my route with any other iOS. device connected to my Apple ID, so. I can send my trip directly to my iPhone (and Apple Watch) with a couple of clicks. IMPROVING PERFORMANCE Under the hood in El Capitan, Apple's made a bunch of changes that you might not notice—but that might bring you a big benefit. Apple’s brought Metal, its graphics technol- ogy, over from iOS, and has dropped 9 ROUTES YOU CREATE in ElCapitan Maps can be sent to Maps on your iOS device. OS X EL CAPITAN REVIEW it in as a replacement for the old OpenGL technology. Many of OS X’s key graphics frameworks, including Core Animation and Core Graphics, now use Metal rather than OpenGL. The end result should be that all sorts of parts of the Mac interface should feel snappier. Apple says that apps launch faster in El Capitan, that switching between apps is faster, and that opening and moving around in PDFs in Preview is faster. | booted back and forth between Yosemite and El Capitan partitions on my 5K iMac and couldn't really notice the difference, but perhaps it's more noticeable on slower systems. Games, in particular, should benefit from the switch to Metal—assuming games are built to take advantage of it. Sharing a graphics technology with iOS should help a whole lot, since once developers do the work to use Metal on iOS, they can apply that work to the Mac as well. Adobe, too, has committed to using Metal in a future update to its Creative Suite, which should likewise improve performance on existing Mac hardware. BOTTOM LINE It's not the most exciting word, but | keep coming back to routine as a way of describing the upgrade to El Capitan. These days, OS X updates are free, are compatible with pretty much every Mac that could run the OS X EL CAPITAN previous version, iit bring with them all ATA GLANCE £1 Capitan is as solid asthe Giant granite monolith that towers over Yosemite Vly. Upgrade, and get an improved Mac. is really that simple. PROS the most important security and stability fixes, and on top of all that, there are a bunch of new features and updates to apps that you use every day. + Enhancements make Mission Control more useful + Split View cleverly implemented There was atime, —_« Expanded Spotlight only a few years functionality ago, when OS X + Safari 9 pinned sites and i tab muting updates were + Mail optimizations fraught with should- cons lor-shouldn't| peril, « Mapstransitinformation slong witha real limited toa few regions price tag. Those + Ming reps enor days are long gone. + Spotlight data sources need Should you update tobe tightened up to El Capitan? + Quis when sng Sl Unreservedly PRICE yes—l've found it to is be stable, it's free, ‘COMPANY it'll download and Apple install itself on your Mac with nearly no intervention, and it'll bring with it improved security, speed, and functionality. The days of dramatic operating- system updates are over. El Capitan is as solid as the giant granite monolith that towers over Yosemite Valley. Upgrade, and get an improved Mac. It’s really that simple.m= 20 IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT CANCER. ALONE. It takes all of us to beat cancer. Doctors, researchers, volunteers, and most importantly, people like you. Join the movement to beat cancer at StandUp2Cancer.org i — MACUSER How to make a bootable OS X 10.11 El Capitan installer drive A bootable installer drive is much more convenient when you're upgrading a Mac. BYDANFRAKES 22 hen OS X shipped on a DVD a good number of years ago, you always had the convenience of a bootable installer—an OS X installer that could be used to boot your Mac if its own drive was having problems. But to install or reinstall a recent version of OS X, you must either download a non-bootable installer from the Mac App Store or (via OS X’s invisible, bootable recovery partition) down- load 6GB of installer data from Apple’s servers during the installa- tion process. In other words, you no longer have the same safety net or convenience. Because of this, | recommend creat- ing your own bootable El Capitan (OS X 10.11) installer drive on an external hard drive or USB thumb drive. If you need to install El Capitan on multiple Macs, using a bootable installer drive is faster and more convenient than downloading or copying the entire installer to each computer. If you want to erase the drive on a Mac before installing El Capitan, or start over at any time, you can use a dedicated installer drive to boot that Mac, erase its drive, and then install the OS (and subsequently restore whatever data you need from your backups). And if your Mac is experiencing problems, a bootable installer drive makes a handy emergency disk. (OS X Recovery lets you repair your drive and reinstall OS X, but to perform the latter task, you must wait—each time you use it—for the entire 6GB of installer data to download. At best, that's a hassle; at worst, i's hours of waiting before you can get started.) As with previous versions of OS X, it's not difficult to create a bootable installer drive, but it’s not obvious, either. | show you how, below. KEEP THE INSTALLER SAFE Like all recent versions of OS X, El Capitan is distributed through the Mac App Store: You download an installer app (called Install OS X El Capitan.app) to your Applications folder. In this respect, the OS X installer is just like any other app you buy from the Mac App Store. How- ever, unlike any other app, if you run the OS X installer from that default location, the app deletes itself after it's done installing OS X. Ifyou plan to use the OS X installer on other Macs, or—in this case—to create a bootable installer drive, be sure to copy the installer to another drive, or at least move it out of the Applications folder, before you use it to 23 EL CAPITAN BOOTABLE INSTALLER install the OS on your Mac. If you don't, you'll have to redownload the installer from the Mac App Store before you can use the instructions below. WHAT YOU NEED To create a bootable El Capitan installer drive, you need the El Capitan installer from the Mac reasons for it no longer apply, so this year I'm limiting the instructions to a single method: using OS X's own createinstallmedia tool. Starting with Mavericks, the OS X installer hosts a hidden Unix program called createinstallmedia specifically for creating a bootable installer drive. Using it requires the use — App Store and a Mac-formatted of Terminal, but createinstall- drive that’s big enough to hold media works well, it's official, the installer and all its data. === and performing the proce- This can be a hard drive, a solid-state drive (SSD), a thumb drive, or a USB stick—an 8GB thumb drive is perfect. Your drive must be formatted as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume with a GUID Partition Table. (Follow this tutorial to properly format the drive.) Your OS X user account must also have administrator privileges. APPLE’S GIFT: CREATEINSTALLMEDIA In my articles on creating a bootable installer drive for older versions of OS X, | provided three, or even four, different ways to perform the proce- dure, depending on which version of OS X you were running, your com- fort level with Terminal, and other factors. That approach made sense in the past, but a number of the 4 dure requires little more than copying and pasting. The only real drawback to createinstallmedia is that it doesn’t work under OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard—it requires OS X 107 Lion or later. Though it’s true that some Macs still running Snow Leopard can upgrade to El Capitan, | think it’s safe to assume that most people installing OS X 10.1 will have access to a Mac running 107 or later. (If you absolutely refuse to go near Terminal, an El Capitan-compatible version of DiskMaker X is now available, although | haven't yet had the chance to test it.) MAKING THE INSTALLER DRIVE 1. Connect to your Mac a properly formatted 8GB (or larger) drive, and 24 DanBookProz015:Desktop frakes$ si p/Contents/Resources/createinstall ns/Install\ OS Erasing Disk: OX... 10% Copying installer files to d Copy complete Making disk bootable Copying boot files Copy complete Done DanBookPro2@15:Desktop frakess ff rename the drive Untitled. (The Terminal commands | provide here assume that the drive is named Untitled. If the drive isn’t named Untitled, the procedure won't work.) 2. Make sure the El Capitan installer (or at least a copy of it), called Install OS X El Capitan.app, is in its default location in your main Applications folder (/Applications). 3. Type the following command in Terminal on one line (see the image above), then proceed to Step 3; otherwise, skip to Step 2b: sudo /Applications/Install\ 0S\ X\ EL\ Capitan. app/ Contents/Resources/createin stallmedia --volume /Volumes/ Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ 0S\ X\ EL\ Capitan. app --nointeraction /Install\ OS\ X\ EL Volumes/Untitled - nointeraction Copitan.op fa opplication 4, Launch Terminal (in /Applica- tions/Utilities). 5. Warning: This step will erase the destination drive or partition, so make sure that it doesn't contain any valuable data, Paste the copied command into Terminal and press Return. 6. Type your admin-level account password when prompted, and then press Return. 7. You may see the message “To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/Untitled. If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return:” If so, type the letter Y and then press Return. If you don't see this message, you're already set. The Terminal window displays createinstallmedia’s progress as a textual representation of a progress bar: Erasing Disk: 0%... 10 per- 25 EL CAPITAN BOOTABLE INSTALLER cent...20 percent... and so on. You also see a list of the program's tasks as they occur: Copying installer files to disk... Copy complete. Making disk bootable... Copying boot files... Copy complete. The procedure can take as little as a couple minutes, or as long as 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how fast your Mac can copy data drive. First, connect the drive to your Mac. Then, restart your Mac (or, if it's currently shut down, start it up) while holding down the Option key. When OS X's Startup Manager appears, select the installer drive and then click the arrow below it to proceed with startup. (Alternatively, if your Mac is already booted into OS X, you may be able to to the desti- choose the nation drive. YOU CAN BOOT ANY EL installer drive in Once you see CAPITAN-—COMPATIBLE the Startup Disk Copy Com- MAC FROM YOUR NEW _ pane of System plete. Done., INSTALLER DRIVE. Preferences, as shown in | and then click the earlier restart. How- screenshot, the process has fin- ished, Createinstallmedia will have renamed your drive from Untitled to Install OS X El Capitan. You can rename the drive (in the Finder) if you like—renaming it won't prevent it from working properly. BOOTING FROM THE INSTALLER DRIVE You can boot any El Capitan—com- patible Mac from your new installer ever, sometimes OS X installer drives don't appear in the Startup Disk window) Once booted from your installer drive, you can perform any of the tasks available from the OS X install- e's special recovery and restore features. In fact, you'll see the same OS X Utilities screen you get when you boot into OS X Recovery—but unlike with recovery mode, your bootable installer includes the entire installer. m 26 You might know Joshua. He loves video games, and he owns enough to know they’re not all meant for kids. That’s why he reminds his friends (at least the ones that have kids) that they all have big black letters on the box to help parents find the ones that are best for their families. You can learn about those ratings at ESRB.org C Los\Angeles, CA The iPad Pro is a pilot fish for Apple’s ARM Laptop The latest iPad is a distinctly different creature than its predecessors, and openly compared it to a laptop in specs. But is it a sign of greater BYDANFRAKES 28 hen you come to a fork in the road, take it, Yogi Berra is alleged to have said. Microsoft chose this bon mot to guide its Windows 8 strategy, con- verging mobile and desktop in a way that pleased no one. And now the new iPad Pro sits beside the 12-inch MacBook to suggest Apple is approaching that very same fork. Iwas confused during Apple’s introduction of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which has a display so large, it can nearly fit two iPad Air 2s side by side. The Pro's focus on drawing seems highly specialized. And despite some other productivity features, the iPad Pro doesn't seem to have a natural audience. Yes, it has amazing specs, but can a bigger, pencil- and key- board-compatible iPad really be the answer to Apple’s stalled tablet sales? The iPad Pro is a full-fledged product—more so than the original MacBook Air (which was underpow- ered, port-poor, and battery-weak); the original iPad (which lacked much app support); and the 12-inch Mac- Book (which has a poor keyboard and a dearth of ports). Compared to all these other first-gen efforts, the iPad Pro looks much more buttoned- up-if not also incredibly niche But don't get too caught up on what the iPad Pro is now, because it's also a pilot fish: Apple is testing the waters for future tablet direc- tions, all while paving the way for an ARM-based laptop running OS X. ARMED AND READY Ever since Apple began designing its A-seties chips, we've heard rumors that the company is working on a laptop powered by an ARM chip. Certainly, Apple tests all kinds of ideas in locked-down labs. The iPad was built years before it finally shipped, and the iPhone actually came out of its development, not the other way around. Similarly, Apple had a group building OS X on Intel chips long before the PowerPC processor line was dropped. And thus we can be sure that OS X is running on prototype ARM- based hardware somewhere at One or Two Infinite Loop. While Intel ticks away at producing faster and more efficient processors, Apple focuses on controlling its own destiny. It’s been this way since the return of Steve Jobs, and slowly reducing the need for Intel processors would be a reasonable path. 29 iPAD PRO Please note that in his keynote, Phil Schiller discussed iPad perfor- mance ( c \rO- |) in a way Apple has previously avoided. The new tablet has a 64-bit chip that offers “desktop-class performance.” The iPad Pro's CPU is 22 times faster than the original iPad’s chip, and twice as fast as the iPad Air 2's processor. The new tablet also has twice as much memory—we know it’s 4GB thanks to an accidental disclosure (go.me 1.com, ) by Adobe. Graphics performance is also 360 times faster than the original iPad. Apple even noted the Pro has better performance than 80 percent of the laptops on the market. That 20 percent is key, though. Apple’s laptop sales are just above 10 percent of unit shipments worldwide, and Apple's lowest-performing model is faster than most other laptops. Thus Apple doesn't sell any laptops slower than the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro hasn't yet been benchmarked against notebook computers, but its performance is likely competitive with an entry-level MacBook Air. Why praise the Pro in this context if it isn’t a test to see whether the market is waiting for something that combines attributes of a laptop and a 30 “DESKTOP-CLASS,” Phil Schiller said about the iPad Pro's performance. ANARM-BASED LAPTOP is more likely from Apple than one with a touchscreen. tablet without the drawbacks of either? Even the best tablets suffer from system constraints, while laptops with capacitive touchscreens are highly awkward to use. Microsoft went down this path, and tried to marry the two. The desktop OS would benefit from touch gesture support, making laptops more flexible, the case went. Meanwhile, phones and tablets could run the same software as on the desktop—except they couldn't, really. The promise of a single OS powering all types of devices is only just beginning to emerge in the Windows universe. Microsoft's current mission is to make the best native apps for every OS iteration on which its software can run. Apple made a similar case, explaining how software optimized for the iPad Pro keyboard experience could be as good as, or better than, a comparable laptop version. That's irony, but also good for Apple's future. A reasonable person could argue the iPad Pro is a niche product that will have a high margin at its price point, and will be embraced by illustrators, artists, architects, and others who already integrate an iPad Air 2 (or a Wacom Cintig tablet) into their workflow. Indeed, a bigger iPad with a pressure- and direction-sensi- tive stylus and keyboard just makes everything that's right about the iPad 31 iPAD PRO even better for this highly specialized user base. But millions of people buying the iPad Pro? That's hard to see, unless I'm misjudging the market. THE MACINTOSH WAY—WAY, WAY INTO THE FUTURE In June, Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims suggested Apple drop the Mac. He argued that com- puters were distracting Apple from its core business, and noted that laptops and desktops account for only 10 percent of Apple's revenue. | argued at the time that Apple would be abandoning a loyal audience, includ- ing video, design, animation, and illustration professionals—and ama- teurs, too. iOS devices don’t have the performance for high-end computing, and iOS developers can’t even build their apps on iPads. The chips in Apple’s Mac lineup will outperform mobile-class proces- sors for the foreseeable future, because mobile devices can't tap into enough power—nor dissipate enough heat—to use the best-per- forming CPUs and GPUs. Some GPUs calculate specialized opera- tions hundreds of times faster than desktop-class CPUs, which in turn can run dozens of times faster than equivalent mobile chips. Rather than eschew the fork and take both roads at once, as Microsoft [AS THE SPACE BETWEEN mobile and desktop performance shrinks, people might wind up choosing based on preferred form-factor ‘and which software they need, did, | see Apple's convergence meeting at a paper-thin margin. On one side, trailing off on a curve from cheapest/smallest/slowest to richest/ biggest, are iPhones and iPads. On the other side, you'll see an array from Mac Pro down to MacBook Air. From a use-case perspective, the interstice is very thin between an ARM-based OS X laptop with a MacBook-style keyboard and iPad Pro specs, and an ARM-based iOS tablet with MacBook capabilities but a touchscreen and only an option— not a requirement—for a keyboard. The two devices might even look quite similar, but a buyer will pick one 32 over the other for distinct reasons: the way they input and interact with data, and the range of software they need to use on a daily basis. We could speculate that Apple is aiming toward hybrid convergence: a single device with the next generation of A-series chip that either runs both iOS and OS X as a dual-boot, or is an OS X laptop with all the touch advan- tages of an iOS system. But Apple doesn't make these sorts of compro- mises. It tries to avoid producing equipment that's neither fish nor fowl—not fully in one world or another. Rather, the iPad Pro lets Apple test the parameters of how far it can push its current technology toward provid- ing laptop performance without making an underperforming OS X-based ARM system. It’s an experi- ment; the end goal isn't to follow Microsoft down a path already shown to diverge in use cases and users’ needs. Apple doesn’t have to converge entirely. It can have two distinct, parallel, and separately useful general computer operating systems with their own strengths, meeting just in the middle without ever touching. Apple could take the path less traveled by, and it would make all the difference. m 33 MACUSER Reviews EXCEL 2016 FOR MAC: APP CAN DO THE JOB—AS LONG AS YOU DON’T RELY ON MACROS BY ROB GRIFFITHS ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF doing the last Office 2016 product review is that I can leverage work others have done to save you, the reader, some redundant explanation. So if you haven't yet, check out the reviews of Outlook (go.macworld.com/outlook2016), PowerPoint (go.macworld.com/ppt2016), and Word (go.macworld.com/word2016). Much of what you'll read about in those apps applies to Excel 2016 for Mac (go.macworld.com/2016), too: Mac-specific features like multitouch gestures, full-screen support, Retina graphics, a cleaned-up and easily- hidden ribbon, a fixed task pane that replaces floating palettes for formatting, integrated support for OneDrive, and excellent cross-platform file compatibility. You can read more about these features in the above- mentioned reviews; they work just the same way in the new Excel. (As 34 Cate Eating 1 ‘ Your * 2010 «som $ 150 $ 200 $ mao | 20 S INSURANCE «$ 25100 sim |e | = a) «pants $78 $ mses may | 7 surpues $ 2% 5 mm sme | Gate) 8 DONATION «$898 $ 296 $ mms ne 2 mwa $ S10) $ mass $ sesst $126753 KOPTREPAR —$ 26250 5 IME S 4AKDH Som CONTRACTORS $ 23587 $ 17200 $ «rer oocans $ uss 98 $ ser ons 9400 9400 1 Grane'Yout «$2470.79 $1umDEL $12m.00 $4646.31 4 > Expenses | Summary | Projects Wah Unt Summary (OK + Fads c= -— —~* ior SLICERS LET YOU LIMIT what you see in a pivot table; you can add one or more to really refine what you see. Here, only data from 2012, 2013, and 2015 is visible. with the other apps, you can only presently get Excel 2016 if you're an Office 365 subscriber) WHAT ELSE IS NEW When you launch Excel 2016, you'll be greeted by Excel's clean new appearance. You can choose from a colored header (new in 2016) or the usual gray header from previous releases. Workbooks with multiple tabs get a much cleaner tab bar, losing the fake 3D appearance. Colored tabs are now colored with a thin bar, instead of a gradated fill on the entire tab, making it easier to read tab names. Overall, | found the new inter- face pleasant and easier to use than in older versions of Excel. Excel includes the Smart Lookup feature found in other Office apps. Smart Lookup uses Bing to show contextual information for a highlighted word—while this is undoubtedly useful in Word, | didn’t really find myself 35 EXCEL 2016 FOR MAC Ud ATAGLANCE Hf you're an Excel user who doesn't rely on macros, and doesn’t need to customize your menus and commands, Excel 2016 has alot gong frit PROS + Modernized user interface + Macspecific features + Easier charting + Pivot table slicing cons + Macro supports basically missing + No menu or command shortcut customizations + Anumber of shortcuts have been removed or changed PRICE WHEN RATED $70 per year o $7 per month for Office 365 Personal subscription; $100 per year or $10 per month for Ofice 365 Home subscription; $140 for Office Home & Student 2013 (one-time purchase) COMPANY Microsoft REVIEWS | EXCEL 2016 FOR MAC using it much while working on spreadsheets. But if you suddenly need to look up everything there is to know about the word amortization, Smart Lookup is ready for you. So what's new and unique to Excel 2016? Quite a few things, starting with the removal of the Standard and Formatting toolbars. While you could hide these in Excel 2011, they're completely gone—replaced by the task pane—in Excel 2016. | don't miss them at all, as they were redundant and took up screen space. Also new is greatly improved sharing. Save your file to OneDrive, and you can then use a sharing button to invite people via their email address, copy a link you can then email to others, or send the workbook as either a PDF or native workbook attachment. Recipients can (assum- ing you grant permission) edit your file, even if they don’t own Excel, through Microsoft's web-hosted Excel app. Fans of pivot tables will find a new slicer tool that greatly increases the usability of pivot tables. A slicer is a way to limit the data you see ina pivot table. In a pivot table showing years of sales by salesperson, for example, you can use slicers to restrict the table to one or more years, or to one or more salespeople. : tebubu EXCEL 2016 HELPS YOU pick the right chart by analyzing your data and presenting a list of charts you can use to visualize that data. Another “new” feature is the inclusion of the Analysis Toolpak EXCEL ALSO MAKES CHARTING add-on. | say new in quotes because EASIER BY ANALYZING YOUR while new to Excel 2016, long-time DATA AND LETTING YOU SELECT A Excel vets will remember the Analy- RECOMMENDED CHART FROM A sis Toolpak from the pre-OS X days. CONVENIENT DROP-DOWN MENU. If you need to do complex statistical and/or engineering analysis—think Anova, Fourier Analysis, Regression, etc.—you'll find the Analysis Toolpak invaluable. Also included are a number of formulas that were previously found only in Excel 2013 for Windows, improving cross-plat- form compatibility. Again in the interest of cross-platform compatibility, many Excel for Windows shortcuts now work on the Mac, which is quite useful if you regularly work on both platforms. Excel also makes charting easier by analyzing your data and letting you select a recommended chart from a convenient drop-down menu. Select the data you want graphed, click the Recommended Charts button, then browse the mini chart previews to find the one that best matches what you're trying to say. WHAT’S GONE Ifyou'te a serious user of Excel’s macro facilities, you are in for a big letdown: Excel's 2016 support for macros is basically missing (go.macworld com/excel16nomacros). While you can create and record macros, the macro editor is crippled: there's no way to insert procedures, modules, etc. About all you can do is hand-edit a recorded macro. Further, you can’t create custom menu commands, as you could in prior versions of Excel. (Microsoft details its Visual Basic support in an FAQ: go.macworld.com/ t10office4mac). In short, if you need macros, stick to Excel 201. After the great progress made with macros in the 2011 release, this is a real letdown. Assuming the macro issue doesn't affect you, the only other real prob- lem | have with Excel 2016 is the loss of customizability of keyboard shortcuts and menus. In older Excel versions, you could easily customize which commands show on which menus, and even create entirely new menus containing just the commands you specify. You could also assign one or more keyboard shortcuts to any Excel command, including commands that you can’t program via OS X's 37 REVIEWS | EXCEL 2016 FOR MAC keyboard shortcut interface. The dialog that handles all of this custom- ization is missing from Excel 2016; if you don’t like what Microsoft gave you for menus and certain shortcuts, you're stuck with them. A related issue is that some familiar—and useful—shortcuts are now changed or gone. Con- troll and Contro-K used to insert and delete rows or columns; now you must use three fingers (Shift-Command-Equal Sign) to add a row, and Command-Minus Sign to remove a row. You also used to be able to Option-click a row or column to quickly add a new blank row or column; this no longer works. If you use the keyboard a lot, you'll want to open Excel's help and search “keyboard shortcuts,” where you'll find a huge list of shortcuts. BOTTOM LINE Customize Toolbars and Menus Tooter a Men ES Drag @ command into a toolbar or menu bar. nee aaeees brea heen nd mee) Ps conance | = iiton De arte tat BS Bice Chet baa i cecuiee Now base | Scone ben F Comes vrnsow ad Hp Lesh meee oa nO | THIS DIALOGIN EXCEL 2011 allowed you to easily customize Excel's menus and ‘commands—even adding a new menu to the menu bar, if you desired. If you're an Excel user who doesn’t rely on macros, and doesn’t need to customize your menus and commands, Excel 2016 has a lot going for it. The new interface is pleasant, the cross-platform features are a welcome addition, the performance is very good, and the Mac-specific features make Excel feel as native as any other Mac app. But if you do need macros and customizability, then you're going to have to stick to Excel 2011...and that’s too bad, because Excel 2016 is a solid release in every other regard. m 38 GOOGLE ONHUB WI-FI ROUTER: IT’S DESIGNED TO CODDLE NOVICES AND ANNOY POWER USERS BY MICHAEL BROWN YOU'LL EITHER LOVE or hate the new OnHub W+Fi router (onhub.com) that Google and TP-Link have cooked up. If you're of the “I just want it to work” mindset, you'll dig it. If you're an enthusiast who likes to bend hardware to your will, tweaking knobs and being aware of everything that’s going on under the hood, it will drive you nuts. The OnHub is a dual-band router co-designed by Google and TP-Link (manufactured by the latter) that operates networks on both the 2.4GHz (802.11b/g/n) and 5GHz (802.11n/a/ac) frequency bands simultaneously. 39 REVIEWS ONHUB TP-LINK ONHUB WIFI ROUTER AT A GLANCE The OnHub balances price and performance, and makes configuring your WiFi simple, But many decisions are made fr you, and they can't be changed. PROS + Extremely easy to set up and use + Attractive price! performance ratio + Can be managed from the cloud + Trusted platform module tofoil hackers Cons + Many settings can't be omg i changed REMOVED THE ONHUB’S SLEEVE, so you can better see how it tapers at the top. + No USB storage or printer sharing But both networks use the same SSID, and the router decides for you = Na gaestotvnrk which network each client should use. As | discovered during bench- “Delt owe LA at : ° PRICE WHEN RATED marking, those assignments can change without notice if the router ‘200 decides it can provide better service, but it’s not always right. eeuieaa The only way you can set up the OnHub is with a smartphone or tablet Google (Android or iOS) and Google's app. Punch in the router’s IP address on a Pink web browser, the way an enthusiast would configure a router, and you'll see a polite message telling you to open the Google On app if you want to change any of its settings. The app will helpfully guide you through the process of connecting the router to your broadband gateway. The speaker at the top of the router is supposed to emit a tone that automati- cally pairs your Android phone to the router. That didn’t work during my installation, so | had to type in a code that was printed on the bottom of the router (as | would have done if I'd set it up with an iPhone). The setup process is very simple, because there’s not all that much for you to do. You don’t need an admin password—the phone pairing establishes that level of security—and you can't finish the installation 40 without setting a Wi-Fi password (the same one is used for both its 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks). You don’t have to write the password down, because you can look it up on your phone. The OnHub will even recognize when you're installing it behind the crappy modem/router combo your ISP gave you and offer to operate in bridge mode (but it won't advise you to turn off ; ue that router’s Wi-Fi radio—if it router. This snot always an i has one—and OnHub will end couse protiems for thingy up competing with the router 2" , for bandwidth if you don’t). Apart from that, the Google HELP OUIDE DISMISS On app is excellent, popping up with useful information at & appropriate times, and offering oodles of context-sensitive help. It will also run tests on your network and your Internet connection for you. Rather than let the app put the OnHub into bridge mode, | configured my ISP's modem/router to operate in bridge mode, so that the OnHub would handle all routing duties and I'd get a more accurate picture of its performance. (That's also how | have the modem configured when it's connected to my usual router.) The OnHub has one gigabit WAN port (as is typical of home routers), but it also has just one gigabit LAN port. Most routers have four; Apple’s AirPort Extreme and Airport Time Capsule each have three LAN ports). There’s nothing to stop you from connecting that one LAN port to a stand-alone switch with as many ports as you need, of course, but Google would really, really like you to put the OnHub out in the open where everyone can admire its industrial design: a blue (or black) cylinder that flares out just a bit at the top (the part you see is actually a a THE ONHUB DETECTED that it was installing it behind another router (the DSL modem/router combo provided by myISP). REVIEWS ONHUB sleeve that slides over and covers most of the router). Unfortunately, that sleeve has a very small cutout at the bottom, from which the power and Ethernet cables emerge. If you don't use the ribbon cables that come in the box, you might not be able to lock the sleeve into place, because the hoods on more conventional cables will get in the way. Google wants you to put the OnHub out in the open for two reasons: It will perform better than if you hide it behind the doors of a closet (duh), and they want you to advertise that you're using their router. can’t argue with the first reason, and | can’t blame Google for the second. What Google seems to forget, however, is that you'll need to hardwire its beautiful router to the invariably ugly modem/gateway your ISP gave you. So for most people, router placement will be dictated by where they can put the gateway. This is less of an issue for the tech enthusiast, who is likely to have a homerun closet where all of the home's phone, Ethernet, and coaxial (for TV) lines terminate. In that case, you put the OnHub anywhere in your home with two Ethernet ports in the wall (one to connect to the modem and one to connect to the rest of your network). But the OnHub is clearly not intended for the tech enthusiast. Regardless of your interest level, you'll want to know that the OnHub THEONHUBHAS just one LAN port (and one WAN port). And its USB 3.0 ports currently reserved for uploading a fresh image of its operating system should the one on board become corrupted. is missing some features commonly found in routers in almost every price range these days. For instance, the OnHub is outfitted with one USB 3.0 port; most routers have one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port, so you can share both a printer and storage on your network. You can't do either with the OnHub. The sole function of its USB port—for now, at least—is to restore an image of its operating system should it get borked. Because you can't share storage via the OnHub, its designers decided they didn’t need to put a DLNA media server inside it either (it does have a UPnP server). That's not a big deal if you stream all your TOUCH THELITTLE GREEN BUTTON on the Google On app, and the router will run a series of performance tests ‘on your router and network. Everything looks are online No need to wi media from commercial services such as Netflix, Apple Music, Hulu, or Google Play, but it will suck if you rip your own music and movies and store them on a USB hard drive. Then again, enthusiasts are more likely to store their media on a NAS box or even a home server, so maybe they won't care. Google also made no provision for setting up an FTP server so you can access an attached storage device over the Internet. You can’t configure the OnHub to perform as a wireless access point, nor can you set it up to operate as a wireless bridge (even though with just one LAN port, you wouldn't want to). The OnHub has no VPN server, either. There are provisions for port forwarding, using different DNS servers, assigning static IP addresses, and the like. You can also access and manage the OnHub via the cloud (using the app), and you can grant permission to other people to manage the router this way. If you're looking for a router to recommend to friends and family who look to you 43 REVIEWS ONHUB for tech support, the OnHub is a good choice. The OnHub does have several features not commonly found on consumer routers; unfortunately, most of THEONHUB'S ; SPEAKER doesn’t themiarenttvery, seem to do much useful right now. One right now. feature that is useful is the OnHub's trusted platform module (TPM), a component more commonly found in enterprise-class hardware. The TPM prevents the OnHub from booting if it doesn't recognize what's installed on it. Google tells me the OnHub's firmware, kernel, and user space code—and all updates—are cryptographically signed by Google. That's a great idea that should prevent even sophisticated hackers from hijack- ing the router, but it also means that it will probably never be able to run alternative open-source firmware. Here again, something only enthusi- asts will care about. Three other features related to the Internet of Things could be useful someday: Support for Bluetooth Smart (a very low-power version of the popular wireless protocol), Weave (the protocol Nest devices use to communicate with each other), and IEEE 802.15.4 (a connected-home standard that is the basis for ZigBee). Google's product literature says “This means that OnHub can evolve along with your connected life,” but that presupposes that the evolution of your connected life will involve Bluetooth Smart, Weave, and ‘THE ONHUBIS OUTFITTED with 13 antennas mounted inside its ZigBee. Competing cylindrical enclosure, initiatives such as 44 AllJoyn, Z-Wave, IcTivity, or even 802.1lac Performance Insteon or something else that’s yet to. Cyarnel 36; Tested with a ate-2013 MacBook Pro with a 3x3 emerge could end up being the de AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi adapter facto connected-home standards WW Google/TP-Link Onkub MI Apple Airport Time Capsule Asus RT-AC3200U instead. Don't buy an OnHub today in the name of future-proofing your BEDROOM cuenr 9 FEET FROM ROUTER home, because the future is too hazy TD to see right now. 4877 PERFORMANCE WITH A MAC luse Access Agility’s WiFiPerf (go. macworld.com/wifiperf) to measure TCP throughput between a server (an older iMac with an Intel Core i7 CPU) and a client (a late-2013 MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i5 CPU and an onboard Apple AirPort Extreme 802.1lac Wi-Fi adapter). The first time | powered up the OnHub, it decided to use channel 36 on its 5GHz band. As | said earlier, | generally prefer to use channel 153, because it offers a little more bandwidth, but the OnHub doesn't let you choose. After power- cycling the router, it decided to use channel 149, so | was able to test performance on both bands. This behavior was not consistent, however, which complicated my benchmarking routine. With Mac clients, interestingly enough, the OnHub delivered higher throughput on channel 36 than it did on channel 149—at least at close range (with the client in the same room, nine feet from the router). The OnHub significantly outperformed Apple’s 802.ac AirPort Time Cap- sule, too. The more-expensive Asus RT-AC3200U ($279 average online street price; asus.com), on the other hand, crushed both of the other routers, especially at medium range (with the client 33 feet from the router, separated by one insulated interior wall). (Note: the AC3200 designation shows that the Asus promises to deliver 600Mbps on its 2.4GHz network, 1300Mbps on one 5GHz network, and 1300Mbps on a second 5GHz network). When | managed to get the OnHub to use channel 149, its perfor- FROM ROUTER MEGARITS PER Si D. LONGER IS BETTER 45 REVIEWS ONHUB mance at close range dropped, and its long-range performance (with the client 65 feet from the router, separated by two insulated interior walls) stayed about the same, but its midrange performance almost tripled. The AirPort Time Capsule, meanwhile, performed slightly better at close range on this channel, and was much faster when the client was further away. The Asus's performance dropped at close range, was slightly faster with the client at mid-range, and was much faster with the client at distance. SHOULD YOU BUY AN ONHUB? ‘THE ONHUB’S DESIGNERS didn't If you want a router that just works and handles the basics well, with leave much room for cables minimal intervention on your part, the OnHub is a good choice. It's also a *™itthe router's sleeve. good choice for a power user to recommend to the tech-savvy family and friends looking to them for network tech support—the price and performance are good, and the OnHub will make troubleshooting easier. You don’t even need to worry about making sure the router always has the latest firmware—it will automatically download and install it for you. Power users, on the other hand, won't be as satisfied with the OnHub for their own use. It's a strong performer, and it has some innovative features—including that TPM module to foil hackers—but its feature set is much too limited: The OnHub won't let you share storage or a printer over your network; it doesn’t have DLNA, ftp, or VPN servers; and it has just one LAN port. While | appreciate hardware that recommends settings it thinks will deliver the highest performance, | want the freedom to override those recommendations if | don't agree with them. You can’t control which channels the OnHub operates on, you can’t choose the network your clients join; heck, the OnHub doesn't even provide for a guest network. Google is currently working with Asus on the design of a second OnHub model. Given Asus's history of delivering high-performance routers stuffed to the gills with features, here's hoping that that collabo- ration yields a router that will be more appealing to power users. m 46 STICKYBRAIN: SLICK NOTES MANAGER TURNS ITS BACK ON MOBILE SYNC BY J.R, BOOKWALTER THE VIRTUAL EQUIVALENT of Post-It notes, Stickies have a storied history on the Mac, dating way back to the release of System 75 in 1994. More than a decade ago, this utility became something of an afterthought for Apple, who evicted the cute little squares from the Finder beginning with OS X Tiger, where they settled peacefully into retirement as Dashboard widgets. Perhaps sensing Mac owners had bored of colorful desktop notes, developer Chronos soon abandoned its own third-party take on the concept. Apparently you can't keep a good sticky down, because StickyBrain (go.macworld.com/stickybrain) has been resurrected for a new generation. But can it remain relevant in a mobile-first world? 47 ‘STICKYBRAIN 1.0 $98 AT A GLANCE StickyBrain returns after a ‘10-year absence in an attempt to make virtual Post-lt notes on the Mac cool again PROS shttach applications to notes asareminder “Hierarchical folders and subfolders Robust import, export, and print options cons No mobile o cloud sync Few significant improvements over 0S XEl Capitan builtin Notes «Notes can't be stuck to desktop PRICE WHEN RATED $30 single user; $50 family pack COMPANY Chronos REVIEWS | STICKYBRAIN THIS IS YOUR BRAIN SATAN RES THE The contemporary StickyBrain starts completely from scratch as an familiar look and feel of entirely new application, rebuilt from the ground up using Apple’s new Apple's built-in Notes, but with new improvements Swift (go.macworld.com/swiftmac) programming language. The result is jie hierarchical folders and a leaner, faster note manager that makes it easy to find whatever you're —_ assignable background looking for in a snap and organize information using hierarchical folders. 1°" Chronos likens StickyBrain to a “really big drawer” where users can deposit scraps of information, including screenshots, photos, and text files imported from Microsoft Word, TextEdit, RTF, and HTML files with basic formatting intact. If you've managed to hang onto your old Apple Stickies over the years, StickyBrain can import those as well, freeing them from a Dashboard-only prison. Naturally, StickyBrain retains the whimsical color schemes that made Stickies popular in the first place. Note backgrounds can be assigned 10 different colors, or kept plain white, should you prefer not to get too fancy. There's no support for custom colors, and | found a bug where the default note color set in Preferences refused to stick (pun intended) until I selected it again on the actual note. 48 SHES follows the familiar 7 three-panel ‘ pene: approach used by Apple's builtin ‘ Notes, with a list of notes in the center and a viewer at ci right, but here the c. left panel displays Alll, Unfiled, and Trash views, as well as custom oT folders created by the user; subfold- ers can also be added for better organization. ONEOFTHEneatest StickyBrain features GET ATTACHED allow applications to be attached to notes Although StickyBrain notes can’t actually be attached to the desktop like asreminders when Stickies could, they're not strictly confined to the viewer, either. As long _ shopping, for example. as the application is open, notes can exist in their own windows, where they can be viewed or edited directly. Taking this freedom one step further, StickyBrain also allows other applications to be attached to notes. For example, a list of products you intend to buy from Amazon or another online destination can be config- ured to automatically hover above the web browser as a reminder on your next virtual shopping trip. It's a handy and unique feature | haven't seen before. Unfortunately, Chronos brought StickyBrain out of retirement on the heels of Apple introducing enhancements to its free, built-in Notes with OS X El Capitan (go.macworld.com/elcapnotes), including the ability to create checklists and add photos, videos, web URLs, or map locations directly from other apps. That makes it tough to justify spending $30 ona less-capable third-party solution. Worse yet, StickyBrain lacks support for syncing to iCloud and popular cloud services like Dropbox, meaning users who abandon Notes would have no way to view or edit their library from an iOS device. It's a curious 49 WPNeB S59) REVIEWS | STICKYBRAIN omission considering the previous version included sync with Palm and ‘STICKYBRAIN NOTES DON’T iPod devices, a rather forward-thinking concept in the pre-iPhone era. only have to live in the viewer, but they can’t be stuck to the Finder desktop BOTTOM LINE the way Apple's Stickies once StickyBrain is a slick Mac note manager with several niceties like attach- “ould. ing applications to notes, but the lack of mobile sync and the looming shadow of improvements coming to OS X El Capitan’s built-in Notes make this a cautious recommendation for now. 50 EXPANDRIVE 5: CLOUD STORAGE, NOW APPEARING ON YOUR DESKTOP BY J.R, BOOKWALTER CLOUD STORAGE SERVICES have alleviated many complications for users, but convenient access to those files often comes with an entirely different set of headaches. Drag-and-drop to and from a web browser isn’t very reliable, while installing desktop applications for each service winds up taxing even the fastest of systems. For only $50, ExpanDrive (expandrive.com) is the more common- sense choice: Multiple cloud services which can be mounted as readable, writeable drives on your Mac, visible from the Finder and other applications alongside locally-attached storage devices. 51 EXPANDRIVE 1.0 $499 ATA GLANCE ExpanDrive § makes accessing popular cloud services and servers as easy as mounting a local hard drive onthe Mac. PROS +Mount cloud storage and network servers as local Mac drives «Fast background transfers for most popular services -Drive Manager makes it easy to connect/disconnect cons =Slower, real-time SFTPIFTP transfers (ix promised for 5lupdate) sinconsistent coor schemes for dive icons PRICE WHEN RATED $50 single user, mult-user pricing available COMPANY ExpanDrive UWP NBS) REVIEWS EXPANDRIVE MOUNT UP ExpanDrive 5 offers an impressive list of services, including heavy- weights like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive, as well as FTP/SFTP, Amazon $3, and WebDAV. With the latest version, Amazon Cloud Drive joins the fold, making this an ideal solution for taking advantage of the e-tailer’s generous $60 per year unlimited storage. From the menu bar, the Drive Manager window displays a list of added services. Each can be set to mount at startup, or manually connected with the options at right. The magnifying glass button opens 3AM J.A. Bookwalter Q. Bitcasi Drive = Gnedeive gS AsusTo EXPANDRIVEDRIVES APPEAR in the Finder alongside local storage, with custom volume names and different colors for FTP and WebDAV services. the drive in the Finder, although ExpanD- rive does this by default when connected (this can be turned off in Settings). Cloud storage drives appear on the desktop with a traditional silver drive icon, while others are color-coded by type—blue (FTP), red (SFTP) or orange (WebDAV), for example. A slightly different, inconsistent color scheme is used in Drive Manager, but each service can be assigned custom nicknames to avoid confusion. Once mounted, ExpanDrive volumes act pretty much the way you'd expect: Files can be dragged and dropped or pre- viewed using QuickLook, and you can create new folders or rename existing ones. Naturally, how fast this happens depends upon your internet speed, but ExpanDrive proved exceptionally peppy on my 50 Mbps down connection. REBUILT FOR SPEED ExpanDrive’s multi-threaded connection engine makes nearly everything respon- sive while maintaining optimal system performance. There are exceptions: The Finder hangs for short periods while copying files to a Dreamhost SFTP server 52 when the window is open. (ExpanDrive promises Min big FTP improvements ahead with a free 5.1 update.) Earlier versions relied on the trouble-prone MacFUSE to do the heavy lifting, but ExpanDrive 5 now works independently, with full 64-bit : box 22% 088 Tempevide support. The company calls it a “near-total rewrite” of the application's core functionality, Oe ES? clocking in at up to 10x faster experience in many — ) asusrop cases—with the most popular services, the = difference is dramatic compared to previous ie] = versions. ExpanDrive also now automatically [IE tere Mesia re resumes interrupted transfers next time you're connected, a convenient addition for MacBook owners on the go. Transfers appear to happen within seconds, but are actually uploaded in the background, similar to the behavior of official client applica- tions like Dropbox. While uploading or updating, ExpanDrive displays a small sync indicator in the lower right corner; the current status is also shown in the Drive Manager window. Services like FTP currently transfer in real time, displaying a Finder progress bar _EXPANDRIVELIVESINthe 2 throughout the entire process like local drives. menu bar, where the ” rn . " i Drive Manager window This is the most impressive version of ExpanDrive in the seven years controls which services are I've been using it, and the developers move quickly to stomp out any connected or disconnected bugs that may arise—no small feat when dealing with such a diverse variety of services. | did experience an issue where Amazon Cloud Drive would only display the first 200 files, but a fix is already in place with the latest update. One last gripe: I'm really not a fan of the new “starfish” branding—bring back the old icon, please! BOTTOM LINE ExpanDrive 5 adds Amazon Cloud Drive to its arsenal of popular cloud storage and servers with the fastest and most reliable version to date. m 53 What We're Raving About This Month PHILIPS HUE BRIDGE Philips recently added Homekit support to its $60 Hue Bridge system (meethue.com), which means users can now control their Hue light bulbs from their iPhones via Siri With HomeKit, users can adjust the lighting through voice commands on the iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, and they can also set more complicated “scenes,” such as one that turns off all the lights and turns down the thermostat for the night. Existing Hue users won't have to replace any of their bulbs, and can get the new hub, which acts as the link between the smart bulbs and other devices on the same local Wi-Fi network, at a discounted price of $40 for a limited time. New users can get it for $60, and the new hub will be included in Hue Starter Kits from now on. .~JAREDNEWMAN 54 RUNTASTIC MOMENT Runtastic’s $130 Moment (runtastic.com) looks like a regular watch, but actually counts your steps and active minutes. A quick glance at its face will show you not only the time, but also your progress toward the day's goals. You'll still have to fire up the companion Runtastic app on your iPhone to see your actual step count, but the watch's dial can you show you if you're halfway there, almost there, or just getting started. In the app, you can set goals based on steps taken, active minutes, or calories burned, and whatever you choose in the app will be indicated by the watch's second dial. Runtastic is offering the Moment in four collections, each with a slightly different style. All of them feature stainless steel cases, scratch-resistant glass, and standard watch band attachments, so you can easily swap it out for any band you want. ~susieocs 55 MACUSER Hot Stuff MOSHI SPATIA The $400 Spatia (moshi.com) is a wireless AirPlay sound system that not only looks great, but was designed to work specifically with Apple devices. According to Moshi, the Spatia “fils your home with spacious, high-fidelity sound,” thanks to its five individual speakers: Two silk dome tweeters, two mid-range drivers, and a downward firing subwoofer. The Spatia also has a dedicated app that acts as a remote, helps you get your speaker set up, and allows you to customize and save preferred sound profiles through it’s adjustable equalizer. ~J0EL MATHS 56 SAND-UP C EVERY NEW ART FORM HAS ITS FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH. OUR TIME IS NOW () VIDEOGAMEVOTERS.ORG Bottom line: Yes, you should upgrade to iOS 9 It's faster and more secure, it'll use less power, and it doesn’t need as much space as iOS 8 did. Just get it! 58 more than, “Should | buy a new iPhone?” hould | upgrade to iOS 9?” is the question | hear the most around launches like this, even People generally know if they want the new hardware, but whether or not to put a new OS ona device they already own seems like more of a gamble. I'm here to tell you: iOS 9 is a pretty safe bet. First of all, it runs on every device iOS 8 runs on, going all the way back to the iPhone 4s. (And when | find the iPhone 4s | bought back in 2011, and was in service as my husband's phone from 2012 through 2014, I'll thoroughly test it and let you know if iOS 9 is usable on the thing.) Since iOS 9 has been in beta, we've tested it on a few devices, including an iPhone 5s, an iPhone 6, the third-gen iPad, an iPad Air, an iPad Air 2, and an iPad mini 3. The beta versions have been extremely stable, and none of the hardware we've used it on became sluggish or felt hampered by the new OS. LESS SPACE REQUIRED Last year, the upgrade to iOS 8 soured some iPhone users, who Hes-Teis yi 7-\B) iOS 9 UPGRADE wanted to update over-the-air but didn't have enough free space. Well, that problem has been remedied— iOS 9 only needs 1.3GB of free space to install, compared to the whopping 4.58GB iOS 8 needed during an over-the-air installation. In fact, Apple even has a workaround called “automatic app deletions” that can temporarily trash your largest apps while keeping your user data intact, so when the update is done, the deleted apps will be automatically restored, with the correct data, just like you'd left it. Plus, there was a snafu with a bad 8.01 update that was immediately rolled back to 8.0 and quickly replaced with 8.0.2. At the end of the day, the 8.01 update problem didn’t affect that many users since Apple pulled it so fast. But if you're nervous, that's understandable, and the solution is simple: just wait a couple of days to see how it shakes out. NEW METAL AND MORE POWER What if you aren't interested in the new features like the revamped Spot- light screen (go.macworld.com/ revampedspotlight), or the brand- new News app? What if you think all the handy little changes (go.mac- world.com/ios9features) in iOS 9 aren't enough to get excited about? Or your iPad is too old to use the Low Power Mode Mail fetch, background app refresh, automatic downloads, and some visual effects are reduced or disabled in Low Power Mode. Cancel Continue new multitasking tricks (go.macworld. DURING THE BETA com/ios9multitask)? Apple made lots _ PERIOD, Low Power Mode saved my bacon of improvements under the hood that should improve your experience even if you don't touch the new stuff. All of Apple's own apps were rewritten with its Metal API, which takes better advantage of your iPhone's GPU for graphics and data processing. This should make your iPhone feel more responsive when performing the same old tasks. Apple also made tweaks to affect battery life. Low Power Mode offers to kick in at 20 percent and again at 10 percent, and when you enable it, it can prolong your remaining battery life up to three hours. But you still get to use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, location services, and all the other bells and whistles in iOS. Instead, iOS intel- ligently quits background processes like email fetch, dims the screen slightly and sets it to sleep much (and my ability to listen to music on the long commute home) so many times. 60 quicker, and reduces visual effects like parallax and app-opening animations. luse Low Power Mode almost every day, and while the quick-sleep- ing screen can get kind of annoying, the benefit of having a functional iPhone is far worth that trade-off. It does slow down the processing speed, which can be noticeable depending on what you're doing, but it hasn't bothered me (although to be fair I've been using it on an iPhone 6.) If you used to worry that upgrading your iOS would lead to worse battery life, iOS 9 should make that better too. BOTTOM LINE | still haven't mentioned security factors, like a longer default pass- code (now six digits instead of four), a streamlined two-factor authentica- tion process, and the ability to block content in Safari with the help of third-party extensions. Apple puts a lot of emphasis on security, in part to differentiate itself from Google’s MO of amassing tons of data on you for more targeted advertising. But the COURTESY OF APPLE \ Py, ja OO upshot is a safer phone, and Apple’s _SIRISEARCHis improved. ability to roll out security updates directly to the entire iOS 9 user base at once is another plus. So the bottom line is, you should update to iOS 9. It doesn't have to be today, and it doesn’t have to be tomorrow. But iOS 9 is a speedy, stable release with a lot of handy new additions, and we at Macworld think it's a worthy upgrade. m 61 5,200 DAYS IN SPACE cr —— How to get started with Apple News, iOS 9’s Newsstand replacement for something to read? Apple is now delivering BY OSCAR RAYMUNDO 62 ur daily news. ike Facebook and Snapchat, Apple has partnered with news publishers to deliver a beautiful and fast-loading editorial experience on its home turf: iOS devices. Apple News is a brand-new native app that officially launched with iOS 9 and replaces Newsstand. Similar to Flipboard, News uses RSS feeds to pull together stories from different publishers in a magazine-style layout. News, however, doesn’t have Flip- board's built-in social capabilities, like incorporating a feed of just links shared by your Twitter network. Previously, iOS devices had a Newsstand folder that served as a hub for newspaper and magazine apps. Newsstand is gone in iOS 9— while all of your Newsstand apps are still there, and any newspaper or magazine subscriptions remain active, the apps are placed in a regular (read “deleteable”) folder instead. Here's how to get started with Apple News after upgrading to iOS 9. SELECT YOUR CHANNELS. AND TOPICS Open the News app and you'll be greeted with a welcome screen and video, go go.macworld.com/ applenewsvid iOS CENTRAL NUTRI link to read a disclaimer about your privacy. (Apple News collects your infor mation only to enhance your reading suggestions within the app, and Apple “understands that the articles you read are personal,” so your reading activity is not linked to other Apple services). After you click “Get Started,” you will be asked to choose at least one channel (publisher) or topic to continue. We suggest selecting at least five to get a variety of articles and content. The channels that shot up near the top (CNN, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, etc.) were from publications that have signed up for Apple News Format, meaning their stories will have a custom layout and design. Keep scrolling down to find more channels and topics. Topics tend to go from very general, like “Politics” and “Sports,” to highly specific, like the “Presidency of Bill Clinton” and just “Max Blumenthal,” so we're certain you'll be able to find some- thing of interest. You can edit or add more channels and topics later on, so don't freak out if you forget to add a favorite at the start. After you select your favorites, Gel p= hv ws FS Pick your favorites. eee oon = Conte SELECTYOUR favorite channels and topics. you'll find a sign-up option to “Get News in Your Inbox.” We signed up for this when iOS 9 launched, but we haven't received a News digest yet, so it must not be a daily newsletter. BROWSE THROUGH YOUR CUSTOM MAGAZINE News instantly generates a custom- ized magazine using all the sources you selected, and you'll find this by tapping on the For You tab. You will see stories from The Wall Street Journal and Cosmo, side by side and updated chronologically whenever one of your favorite channels posts a new article. You can tap a story to read the full article, or tap and hold to pop the 64 options to Share, Save, cod or Like a story directly from the homepage. (Because who actually needs to read a full article nowadays before sharing it on social media?) our anery wrest Wm a owe Similar to how it works in Apple Music, the For You section in News “leas” from your preferences. “Like” a story on the homepage or by pressing the heart icon on the article page and News will know to surface similar suggestions. For You also sporadically shows a row of topics “you might like,” but these suggestions—Business, Politics, Entertainment, and Sports—did seem specifically tailored to me. FIND CHANNELS AND SAVE STORIES In addition to For You, the News app has four other tabs on the bottom of the screen: Favorites, Explore, Search, and Saved. The Favorites section is where you can view, manage, and edit the channels and topics you are sub- scribed to. Explore has a list of suggested channels and topics for you to consider adding. And if you can't find your local newspaper or favorite website, you can always Search for it. (It's worth noting that if your favorite blog isn't in Apple News, you can't add its RSS feed on your own.) (Here's how you can add Mac- world to your Apple News favorites (go.macworld.com/addmwnews), if you're so inclined.) Lastly, Saved is akin to the Reading List in Safari, a place where you can store all the articles you wish to read later. It also includes a History tab, which you can clear if you ever spend too much time reading US Weekly. READ ARTICLES IN APPLE NEWS FORMAT Apple claims to have recruited 50 publishers to be launch partners for 65 SIMILAR TO APPLE MUSIC, the For You section in News “learns” from your preferences. iOS CENTRAL NUTRI News, including Wired, CNN, The New York Times, The Atlantic, ESPN, and Slate. These publishers worked directly with Apple to format a few feature stories in what Cupertino is calling “Apple News Format.” You can read full articles from all these publishing partners on Apple News, without ever visiting their own websites. This new eye-popping format incorporates large images, video, slideshows, pop-up text, and other multimedia features. Apple News Format also has its own tagging and category system to surface similar reads once you reach the end of an article. You can get a sense for how each publisher has played around with Apple News Format in the Apple News Updates channel (previously Apple News Selections), available in your Favorites tab. For example,Wired’s recent cover story with actress Rashida Jones is full of bells and whistles (slide-in text, video embed, etc). Not every story from an Apple News partner is as eye-popping, however. The rest of Wirea’s stories follow a template. It's still custom to Wired—using the magazine's logo, font and iconography—but it’s not as dynamic as its Rashida Jones “enhanced” cover story. If you're reading a story from a & _ THISISWHAT the Wired cover story with Rashida Jones looks like on Apple's all-new News app. publisher that has not partnered with Apple News, then the experience is more bare bones, very similar to any other RSS reader—you'l find the story’s headline with a main image and a two-sentence description before it prompts you to read the rest of the article via a link to the pub- lisher’s website. Swipe up, and you're instantly taken to the publisher's website to read the entire article. Thankfully, most full articles load surprisingly fast, since they load right in the News app, instead of taking you out of the app and launching in Safari. 66 Even though Apple is using its iAd platform to sell ads on News, we didn’t spot any advertisements at all. Publishers can bring their own ad partners and keep 100 percent of the revenue, too. It's been reported that several publishers like GQ have nabbed sponsorships just for Apple News content. m FACEBOOK TRIES TO LURE JOURNALISTS AWAY FROM TWITTER 67 Hands-on with content-blocking Safari extensions in iOS 9 OS 9 brings Safari filters that can block ads, trackers, video, pop-ups, and more. Here's how to choose a content blocker and set it up. BY GLENN FLEISHMAN 68 all it antittracking and privacy software, bandwidth- reduction management, or ad blocking. By whatever name, it’s popular in desktop operating systems like OS X and Windows. A study released midyear found nearly 50 percent of U.S. and 40 percent of routine online news- reading consumers employed blockers. With the release of iOS 9, these kinds of filters can be installed in Mobile Safari Content Blocking Safari Extensions, as Apple calls them, are filters created by third-party apps. The apps either include a prefabricated and updated list, or offer options to configure which kinds of content to block, including whitelisting and blacklisting sites. The filters start with a URL pattern using standard “regexp” (regular expression) pattern, which can match an individual page on a site, every kind of page or media of a certain kind, or patterns across all sites. An optional media type can be noted, too, like a document or video. Before Safari loads a page or item referenced on a page, it matches against these URL patterns. If there's a match, the entire page or item may be blocked, or just an associated browser cookie or page elements defined by style sheets. Filters can also block content referenced on a web- page that originates from a domain other than that of the webpage This allows a lot of customization Entire sites can be fully unavailable— blacklisted from loading. Or all bandwidth-consuming media (audio, video, and other types) can be suppressed on low-bandwidth or *piscxeamiows high-cost connections. Every app is _users to configure approaching this differently. sophisticated custom filters via its website, then transfer them what they can do. 00S. Let's roll up our sleeves and see iOS CENTRAL For the down-and-dirty details of how content-blocking extensions work, read “What lies beneath: What you need to know about content blockers in iOS 9 Safari”, Macworld October 2015, page 80 or the Apple WebKit team’s blog entry (go.mac- world.com/adblockertstlook) with even more technical talk. INSTALL AND MANAGE CONTENT BLOCKERS Apple doesn''t include content-blocking extensions in iOS 9; it just lets them happen. They aren't full-blown exten- sions, such as are available in desktop browsers like Safari. Those kinds of add-ons or plug-ins can add new ways to view media or control basic browser behavior. Instead, content-blocking extensions are a list of patterns and behaviors that a third-party app passes to Safari, which collects and compiles them from all enabled apps into a fast-loading filter set. First, you need to get one or more apps. Since I'm writing this on iOS 9's release day, only four content blockers are available right now. (Note that not all iOS devices are supported that can run iOS 9: only those with 64-bit processors. This excludes the iPhone 4s, 5, and 5c; the iPad 2, 3rd-generation iPad, and 4th-generation iPad; 1st-generation iPad mini; and the Sth-generation iPod touch. Alll later devices work.) iOS CONTENT BLOCKERS < Safari Content Blockers. ‘Blocker Adamant Blockr Crystal Silentium — General Silentium — Social ©euceba You can have any combination of content blockers enabled—or none— at any given time, so you don’t have to choose the perfect one. | expect there will be many kinds with distinct purposes. You may easily have two or three, or ones you turn on and off depending on where you're browsing, your available bandwidth, and even the cost and amount of data transfers when you're roaming off network or internationally. Once you've installed one or more content blockers, you need to config- ure them if they offer configuration options. Launch the app to fiddle with settings, if any are available. Some apps will have no settings, but simply 70 Peace ( CONTENT BLOCKERS are enabled via Settings Safari Content Blockers. incorporate a list that's updated remotely. Others will have huge numbers of options, down to letting you tum a filter on or off for particular sites. Apple has a “firewall” of sorts in place: filters don't feed information back to apps. The filters are passed from an app to iOS, which compiles them and uses them with Safari. But Safari and iOS don't return that favor, as they don't tell apps what items were blocked. Some apps offer Share extensions that you can use within Safari that let you opt into passing some data back, like whitelisting a site you're on Finally, you have to enable filters individually for Safari. Tap Settings + Safari + Content Blockers, and you can flip a switch on or off for each installed extension. Whenever you do so, iOS quietly rebuilds the filters being applied—there’s no extra step. USE CONTENT BLOCKERS. Content blockers can take a lot of different paths: Remotely updated list. Block only items in a list that aren't configurable. That's the approach of the Crystal app (crystalapp.co). The developer custom- ized a set of tracking, advertising network, and other sites, and updates the list via the app. Adamant (cocoaapp.com/adamant) has a big on/ off button, but it’s essentially the same. Simplified. This category offers Customize Disqus Comment configuration options, but doesn't fully expose what's being blocked. The Purify app (purify-app.com) has an Ads And Tracking switch in its Preferences view, and additional options let you block images, scripts,