• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Mini'app'les

Mini'app'les

the Minnesota Apple Computer Users' Group, Inc.

  • Blog
  • Membership
  • Calendar
  • Email List
  • Leaders
  • Contact

iOS

Take Control Books

April 2, 2023 by Peter Tatikian
Take Control Books - Expert Advice from Leading Tech Authors

If you’re like me, you enjoy being the Apple tech answer person. Maybe it’s for your family and friends, maybe it’s part of your job. Either way, trying to find clear, accurate info isn’t so easy to find. You can spend endless hours going down various online rabbit holes, reading posts by unknown authors with questionable advice, or watching YouTube videos that skip over that essential step you’re trying to troubleshoot. It’s all very piecemeal, often inaccurate or out of date, and often poorly written. Worst of all is that you probably didn’t genuinely learn anything; at best you found out how to do one particular thing in a monkey-say, monkey-do, kind of fashion.

Some Take Control Books from the catalog including iCloud, Apple Watch, Shortcuts, and Apple Mail.

If I want to actually learn something from start to finish, I skip the online search. My first stop is to look at the Take Control ebook catalog. These are electronic books written by established authors in the Apple community. They’re clear, accurate, edited, and are kept current with regular updates. The subject can be a deep dive into a single app (1Password, Photos, Apple Mail, etc.), a holistic overview of a topic (Mac backups, iOS security, Wi-Fi networking, etc.), an overview of all the features of a service (iCloud, Apple ID), or a review of all the updates in a recent operating system (iOS 16, Ventura).

They are available as PDF files and ePub documents. They’re designed as a blend of a traditional book (chapters, table of contents) and a hyperlinked electronic document. The PDF files are formatted for printing, although I’ve found the best way to dig in is to load them up on an iPad and read them using Readdle’s free Documents app. I like to highlight and bookmark them as I read them. They’re also fully searchable if you just want to quickly solve one thing. I’m a big fan of this series and started by buying their first titles (Take Control of Panther) back in 2003.

Most titles are around $15, which is a bargain when compared to other high-quality Apple-focused instruction that does this in depth; (ScreenCastsONLINE, Learn MacSparky, The Sweet Setup). Most titles receive regular minor updates for free, with significant discounts when a new version of a title is released (usually tied to a new version of the software that’s being converted). There are free sample chapters (and a few free titles) so you can see if this style of instruction works for you. Joe Kissel, the co-owner and frequent author of the Take Control series, is also a big fan of Mac user groups, so there is a 30% discount available to you, the Mini’app’les member. (Look for the code in the Slack.)

Category: Apple Watch, iOS, iOS Apps, Learning, Mac, Mac OS Apps, Software

Meltdown & Spectre

January 5, 2018 by Pete Bockenhauer

We want to make you aware of two bugs that affect nearly every device made in the last 20 years.

Simply put, these security flaws put your information at risk. The best course of action (as it has always been) is do two things:

1) Keep all your devices (Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs) and software up-to-date with the latest updates and patches.
2) Do not install software or click on links from untrusted sources.


For more detailed information, please see the links below:

  • About speculative execution vulnerabilities in ARM-based and Intel CPUs – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208394
  • Same as it ever was: There’s no reason to melt down – https://blog.agilebits.com/2018/01/04/same-as-it-ever-was-theres-no-reason-to-melt-down/
  • Meltdown & Spectre – https://meltdownattack.com
Category: Best Practice, iOS, Mac, Updates iOS, Updates OSX

Dialing extensions on the iPhone

April 8, 2015 by Pete Bockenhauer

Great tip from MacSparky on setting up your contacts that have extensions in their phone numbers.

You use a semicolon after the phone number.

867-5309;1982

Then after you dial the number, you can tap to dial the extension in the bottom left of the screen.

iPhone-extension

The iPhone Extension Trick

Category: iOS, Tips and Tricks

ViewExif to view exif metadata of photos on iOS

February 16, 2015 by Pete Bockenhauer

viewexif

ViewExif is an iOS extension which allows you to view exif metadata of photos.  Exif metadata is data about the photo like dimensions, taken date, ISO speed, F number, exposure time, focal length and more.  It will add a button to your share sheet in not only the Photos app but any app that displays photos.  Since Apple does not give up this information directly in the Photos app, this is a handy extension to have.

Download ViewExif for free

Category: iOS, iOS Apps, Photography, Software

iDevice Screens: These go to -11

February 3, 2015 by Jeff Berg

Do you use your iPhone or iPad after lights out? Are you, or your partner, disturbed by the light emitting from the screen—even on the lowest brightness setting? Justin Searles, writing at Medium, has the solution:

How-to make your iPhone Dimmer than Dim

I followed the steps in Justin’s simple tutorial and now my iPad is ready for bedtime with a simple triple tap on the home button. Come sunrise (or Jeff-rise—whichever comes last) another triple tap restores the screen to all its bright glory.

Now if I could just get the morons misguided folks using their phablets in movie theaters to dim down…

↬ Dave Mark at The Loop, How to make your iPhone dimmer than its dimmest setting

 

Category: iOS, Mobile, Tips and TricksTag: iOS

Sidebar

Mini’app’les Store

Mini'app'les branded t-shirts, tote bags, iPhone cases and drinkwareOrder Now!

Archives

Email Newsletters (1978-2014)

Blog Categories

  • Apple Watch
  • Articles
  • Best Practice
  • Deals
  • Design
  • iOS
  • iOS Apps
  • iTunes
  • Learning
  • Mac
  • Mac OS Apps
  • Meeting Announcements
  • Meeting Notes & Links
  • Mobile
  • Music
  • Photography
  • Site Updates
  • Software
  • Tips and Tricks
  • Topic Meetings
  • Troubleshooting
  • Updates iOS
  • Updates OSX
  • Workflow
  • RSS Feed

Built by Westwords
Copyright © 2025 · Mini'app'les
the Minnesota Apple Computer Users’ Group, Inc.