Author: Macworld

Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn mo…

When you buy an Apple hardware product such as a Mac or an iPad, you get a one-year hardware warranty and 90 days of free phone-based tech support, starting from the date of purchase. If something goes wrong—other than, say, you dropping your Ma…

The NSA (the National Security Agency, or, as some people prefer, No Such Agency) has found itself in the spotlight lately, owing in large part to leaks from former contractor Edward Snowden. But although the agency has been in hot water because o…

I get lots of questions about playlists: how to create them, how to work with them, and how to organize them. In this week’s column, I look at several questions related to playlists, and I also tackle a bonus question about syncing music to an iP…

We’ve covered the anatomy of the iPhoto interface, the ways and means of importing and viewing images, and the mechanics of iCloud’s Photo Stream feature. This is all important information, but I know that many of you have suffered through the…

Reader Earl Andrews is interested in getting the full picture—at least when screen sharing with his Mac mini. He writes:

I have a Mac mini connected to my 720p HDTV via HDMI that I use as a media server. I don’t always want to turn the TV on…

Items in your iTunes library need tags, or bits of information that identify them and help iTunes organize and sort them properly. These tags (aka metadata) tell iTunes what a file is: the type of file (music, movie, ebook, and so on), its name (t…

A musician who wishes to remain anonymous finds his instrument suddenly silent. He writes:

Chris, this is a pretty obscure question, but your blog indicates that you’re a keyboard player so I’m hoping you have an answer. My 8-year-old synthe…

When you turn on your Mac, various apps, add-ons (such as menu extras), and invisible background processes open by themselves. Usually these automated actions are exactly what you want, but you may sometimes see items running—either visibly or a…

A few years ago, all I had to do to keep my kids safe online was set up the family computer in a well-trafficked room and walk by every so often. Now, my daughters are 12 and 14, and each has her own iPhone. Their online lives are lived in WhatsAp…

Here’s the setup: You’ve purchased an HD webcam, either because your Mac doesn’t have a camera or you’re not satisfied with the camera built into your computer. You jack the thing into your Mac and, sure enough, images from your camera app…

It’s hard to classify Hundreds as a game, per say. Developed by Semi Secret Software, this $5 universal app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch feels more like a post-modern art installation, or perhaps a Cold War torture device maliciously rele…

Gumdrop’s $45 Drop Tech case for the iPhone 5 looks and feels formidable for a reason: The case is definitely geared towards those who drop their iPhone often or who engage in rugged activities. As robust as the case may look, it isn’t waterproof,…