Author: Kirk McElhearn

“Siri, that’s not my name!”Apple’s personal assistant can create emails for you, set appointments, and find information on the web. Siri can look up what movies are playing or calculate exchange rates. But, if you have a name like mine, Siri often jus…

This week’s column deals with solutions to common (and some less common) problems that use little-known features of iTunes or third-party software. The questions this time can only be solved with a workaround, or by using iTunes in a way it’s n…

If you’ve read Macworld for any length of time—particularly our OS X Hints blog or any other story that asks you to use Terminal—you may have wondered to yourself: How do you learn about all those mysterious commands, such as ls or cd? Is it …

It’s easy to launch apps on your iPad or iPhone, but once you’ve downloaded dozens, finding the app you want can prove a challenge. Here are some tips to help you cut through the clutter and make your iOS device easier to use.

Put your favori…

In this week’s column, I look at a few very different topics. One common question I get is about the iTunes Store and sending gifts to other countries; another concerns joining two music files to make one; and I also explain how you can cross-fa…

In a grab-bag installment of The iTunes Guy, I look at how to ensure that tags and metadata get retained when you re-rip CDs, how to deauthorize computers for iTunes Store accounts, and how to change the name of your iTunes library for Home Sharin…

When I want to step away from my desk, I move my pointer to the top-left corner of my display. My screensaver activates and my screen locks. When I want to see if I have any messages in Notification Center, I move my cursor to the top-right corner…

If you’ve been using a Mac for any length of time, you know that it’s more than just a pretty point-and-click, window-and-icon interface. Beneath the surface of OS X is an entire world that you can access only from the command line. Terminal (…

It’s time for another grab bag, selected from the many questions I get from readers. In this week’s column, I look at some questions about font size in iTunes (spoiler: your options are limited), identifying music file types in iTunes, finding…

Creating playlists in iTunes can be as simple as dragging a few songs, or as complex as creating smart playlists that refer to other playlists and use nested conditions to pick songs that meet specific criteria. In this week’s column, I answer t…

In this week’s installment, the iTunes Guy looks at renaming files, syncing iOS devices wirelessly, matching music ripped from vinyl, and a couple of questions about tags and file names.

Q: I’ve set up iTunes to sync my iPhone and iPad wireles…

The iTunes Guy answers questions about importing and converting audio.

It’s annoying that Mountain Lion has no built-in way to create new reminders without launching the Reminders app. But you can set up that capability yourself, with an Automator workflow and a keyboard shortcut

Among the new features in the iTunes 10.6, one in particular is good news to anyone with lots of lossless tracks: The ability to convert those tracks at higher bit-rates when syncing to an iPod or iOS device.

The iTunes Guy answers questions about tagging basics, removing artwork, adding large descriptions in tags, and more.