Apple’s Photos App is deeply integrated into our daily use of our iPhones. At MacMAD, we get a lot of questions about photo storage, sync and general usage of the Photos App. So, this month we’re going to go over some of the common ones.
This topic is for the September, 2025 MacMAD General Meeting.
The answers range from “turn it off and back on”, to Accessibility Settings, to bad cables. 90% of iPhone and Mac Problems addressed in a few simple steps.
Last night we talked about Assistive Access, a greatly simplified operating mode for iPhone and iPad. Here are links to Assistive Access info:
We’ve already gotten an important question on Assistive Access: How do I turn it off, and get out of Assistive Access? You can exit Assistive access by triple-clicking the side button (power button). This brings up the option to exit. You’ll need to enter the 4-digit assistive access code that you originally setup to exit back to your usual user interface.
Also, a question came up about converting a lot of photos. Here is the solution we showed in the meeting:
Turn Any macOS Folder into an Image Converter (Mac Rumors)
Also, the macOS Finder has a convenient way to convert multiple images at once. Select some files, then right-click, or Ctrl-click to bring up the contextual menu. Then go down to Quick Actions and select Convert Image. You will see options to convert to JPEG, etc.
Several people asked questions about photo albums in Photos on the iPhone. One tip that might help you make albums appear more prominantly for you:
In Photos, scroll all the way to the bottom where you will eventually see Customize & Reorder.
On that screen, you can select which views of your photos you want to appear in Photos, and drag them into the order you prefer. I have put Albums at the top here, and turned off Memories and Featured Photos. It’s entirely personal preference, and you can adjust this as you like.
As always, here’s the complete iPhone User’s Guide from Apple. On that page, either use the search, or click Table of Contents to get started. If you read that, you’ll be ahead of everybody in understanding the iPhone. Note that the User’s Guide is always for the latest version of iOS. If you are using an older version, it won’t be exactly applicable.
Our MacMAD meeting of June 2025 was on the new Apple App, Invites, presented by Eric Emerick.
Here are the slides from that meeting (PDF format).
This is the MacMAD Meeting topic for March, 2025, as of iOS 18.3.2.
Settings is a big topic. I’m going to mostly talk about iOS (iPhone) settings. There are literally thousands of separate items in the Settings app for iPhone.
Settings for iOS are located in the Settings app. Settings for MacOS are in System Settings, formerly known as System Preferences.
Settings affect everything you do with your device. Many behaviors we know and expect from iOS are optional and can be turned on, off, or adjusted.
One of my favorite rules of thumb for working with computers and smart phones is: It probably already does what you want and if not, it can be adjusted to do that. If you are wishing for a feature every time you use your device, you are probably not the first. The designers and developers also have to use these devices and they have included many of the features that they want as users.
Expect a lot, and you’ll get a lot.
Search is at the top. That’s good because Search is often the easiest way to find the setting you want.
Next comes the Apple Account / Apple ID / iCloud settings. I think of this as being first because it’s important to Apple’s bottom line. Encouraging people to use their Apple account ultimately contributes to Apple’s income, so they put that right at the top.
Take a look at the Subscriptions section to find everything you are subscribed to, not only from Apple, but from any Apps in the App Store. You might find you are subscribed to something you no longer need.
After the Apple Account settings come about 27 system settings that seem randomly organized. They are divided into sections which each seem to mostly be in alphabetic order, but not always. This disorder is one of the reason many users throw their hands up and despair of ever finding anything in Settings.
At the end of the list comes the Apps section. Inside the Apps settings, everything is strictly in alphabetic order, which is good, because you may have dozens or hundreds of Apps installed, each with their own settings. The exception is hidden apps, which appear in a special section at the end of the list.
Silence Unknown Callers – This is in Apps ->Phone->Silence Unknown Callers. If you turn this on, it sends calls from numbers which are not in your contacts straight to voicemail. Your phone won’t ring. Also, notice Apps->FaceTime->Silence Unknown Callers. This one is lesser known, and spammers have started using FaceTime lately.
General -> About This often-overlooked section has lots of useful information and controls. What model of phone do I have? It’s in there. When does my Apple warranty expire? It’s in there. How full is my phone’s storage?
Accessibility – This (large) section is mostly for people with some sort of disability of sight, hearing, motor control, etc. But there are some gems in here that might be useful to everyone. Accessibility -> Face ID & Attention -> Require Attention for Face ID. This seems more like a security feature. I have this turned on which makes it less likely my phone will be unlocked without me knowing it.
Accessibility -> Side Button -> PRESS AND HOLD TO SPEAK (Siri). I have Siri selected here. When I hold the side button, the Siri Icon appears, and I’m speaking directly to her without having to say her name first.
Settings -> Notifications – Here’s the answer to those frequent questions like “How do I get rid of those red numbers on my App icons?” and “How can I get rid of all these popups on my screen from Facebook?”
Those numbers on App icons are called badges. They are a form of notification. You can turn those on or off for each App individually in the Notifications section of Settings.
We live in a marketplace of attention. Companies with Apps typically want you to pay attention to their app. Your attention is worth money to them. So they often try to capture your attention with lots of notifications. Of course, this becomes overwhelming when you have dozens or hundreds of Apps clamoring for your attention. iOS allows you to selectively enable or disable notifications from Apps.
For many of the worst offenders, like Facebook or other social media apps, your best option is to turn off notifications for those Apps altogether.
Control Center is a quick way to access settings and other features of your phone.
Pull down from upper right to open Control Center on iPhones with Face ID. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on iPhones with a home button.
Some of my favorites here are the Magnifier, Apple TV Remote and QR Code Scanner.
You can customize Control Center with your preferences, including controls to launch your favorite Apps, and controls that use Shortcuts to accomplish other tasks, like the “Silence/Allow Unknown Callers” buttons above.
Also on the program tonight was Mac OS Keyboard commands. Here is a copy of Eric’s slides on Keyboard Shortcuts.
Apple’s Complete iPhone User Guide
Complete Diagram of Settings (iOS 11) created by Podfeet.com
MacMAD Meeting January 2024
The iPhone did a lot to kill the market for wristwatches. If you already have an iPhone in your pocket that shows the time, among its many other functions, why wear a watch? People were using their iPhone as a glorified pocket watch and leaving their wristwatch at home.
That started to turn around with the introduction of the Apple Watch.
It provides hands-free access to many of the same functions as the iPhone:
You no longer have to dig your phone out of your pocket or purse to use these functions.
* On Cellular models, or if in range of the paired iPhone
** Pending resolution of patent lawsuits
Models:
Options:
All Ultras are Large, Titanium and have Cellular
All Apple Watches charge via a Mag Safe charging puck. There is no “charge port” on the watch.
Battery life is about 1 day for most models, and 2-3 days for the Ultras.
Your watch may not ship with a charger. Be sure you have one.
Apple Watch charging speeds vary by model and charger. The latest, the Apple Watch Series 10, charges up to 80% in 30 minutes using a modern charger. The Ultra takes longer to charge its larger battery.
The Apple Watch tolerates water. All recent models are safe to get wet or even swim with. There is a setting you should turn on if you expect to take it in the water, but the watch will turn water mode on itself if it detects water.
The Ultra models are rated for scuba diving.
Like the iPhone, the Apple Watch supports Apps. Many iPhone Apps have an Apple Watch counterpart.
You can customize your watch by selecting among various watch faces. Some are analog, some are digital. Some are utilitarian and some are fashionable.
Any particular watch face can be further customized by selecting complications. These are regions of the watch face that act as buttons, or display information from a particular App. Complications can display items like weather, calendar, battery state, and heart rate. Third-party complications are available and might install as an Apple Watch App, or an iPhone App.
Some watch faces are only available for the Apple Watch Ultra.
You must have an iPhone to set up and use the Apple Watch. The Watch App on the iPhone is the primary means to control settings on the watch.
Some functions of the watch may be limited unless it is in range of the paired iPhone. The Cellular models have more autonomy because they have their own connection to the Internet.
When buying an Apple Watch, you will have to select a band. This decision is not critical since bands are removable and replaceable. There is a thriving market of 3rd party Apple Watch bands many of which have good appearance and functionality at a fraction of the price of Apple’s bands.
The band you buy should:
The wrong band size will work, but might look funny. You should choose bands that match the size category (small or large)
Learn how to use your Apple Watch here:
https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/welcome/watchos
(You’ll probably want to click Table of Contents)
The User Guide provides full instructions for Watch OS.
CalCs – Calendar Complications – iPhone App for Apple Watch
AnyList: Grocery Shopping List – for iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch
MacMAD Presentation Meeting for Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Tonight’s meeting is primarily an on-line demo. But, here are some supplementary on-line references oriented towards the basic iPhone or iPad user.
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 have just been released, so the User’s Guides will probably be updated accordingly. For the beginning user, the biggest difference is probably that the Control Center looks slightly different now.
On-Line Demos of common tasks.
Use Settings to:
Note – Almost ALL iPhone & iPad owners have an iCloud account, whether you know it or not. If you are paying any amount monthly for iCloud, you have an iCloud+ account.
More On-Line Demos
The Meeting Slides (Keynote format)
MacMAD Meeting Topic, Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has meant different things at different times to different people. It is a moving target. In the 1970s, it meant a machine playing chess. Today, no one would call that artificial intelligence. Now it might be a machine generating an essay, drawing or photograph from a short prompt.
Artificial Intelligence has become vastly more powerful, and it will only continue to get better.
Whether you realize it or not, you are already using Artificial Intelligence in several forms:
Face ID is an example of very unobtrusive AI, probably the best kind. You are usually unaware of Face ID unlocking your phone except in the rare situation where your face is obstructed for some reason and it doesn’t unlock.
Apple has dedicated about 1/4 of the on-chip real estate in their new processors to the Neural Engine. This shows a commitment to AI going forward at Apple. The Neural Engine does on-device machine learning.
Much of what you see when you browse the internet is determined by AI.
When you do those captchas (“I am not a robot”, “click all images containing a bus”), you are providing training data for AI algorithms.
The new type of AI getting a lot of attention in 2024 is Generative AI, so called because it generates something, whether text or an image.
When you hear about ChatGPT, GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer. This is a large language model trained on a large amount of text.
This type of AI tool can be used to generate documents like reports, emails, ad copy, blog posts and computer code. The generated text usually looks very good, but you must check it for accuracy.
It’s early days in this phase of the AI revolution, and things are changing rapidly. Web sites appear and disappear. Companies are bought and sold. Tools change hands and change names. Here is a list of generative AI tools that work as of March 2024.
Apple is reportedly negotiating with Google and/or OpenAI to incorporate some of their Generative AI tools into the iPhone.
Also worth a look:
Sora – from OpenAI, generates videos from prompts – only pre-recorded demos now
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) doesn’t exist yet. Existing AI software is powerful in certain domains, but it is helpless outside those domains. ChatGPT can write a passable paragraph for a PhD thesis, but it’s not as smart about the world as a five year old. True AGI would have intelligence equal to or better than human intelligence in at least all the domains where humans are knowledgeable.
Here’s Copilot Designer’s response to a request for three yellow ducks and a green goose. It totally failed to include a green goose, or any green bird. It’s really not too bright yet. It draws better than a five year old, but lacks understanding.
One theory is that in order to develop AGI, AI will have to be embodied in a robot where it can gain the experience of the world that a child has.
There have been a number of topical headlines recently suggesting that AI is a serious threat to the human race. Caution is warranted, as with any new technology, but I believe that the threat isn’t Artificial Intelligence itself, but our own lack of wisdom in deploying it.
Most of our fear of alien or artificial intelligences is that they will be too much like us. We know all too well the human capacity for fear, greed and desire for power.
Artificial Intelligence is likely to lack those things unless we are stupid enough to design them in. Without an equivalent to the more primitive parts of the human brain, robots or AI will lack lust, greed and even an instinct for self-preservation.2
We obviously shouldn’t give an AI control of nuclear weapons, but that has more to do with the danger of such weapons than of AI.
A more realistic concern in the near term is that AI may threaten many people’s jobs. If you write ad copy or blog posts for a living, AI is already coming for your job. If you are an illustrator or photographer, AI can already accomplish many of your tasks in a fraction of the time. Lawyers and computer programmers are probably next, and I am sure there are many other job categories at risk.
Like any other tool, AI can be used by bad people to do bad things. Since it is a powerful tool, it can have a big effect. It could be a propaganda tool without precedent, and will no doubt be used to spread misinformation, fear, uncertainty and doubt on a massive scale.
These are serious social problems. We have already experienced social problems from other aspects of technology such as automation and social media. As a society we need to figure out how to fairly distribute the wealth and other benefits derived from AI and similar technologies and how to protect society from misuse of AI.
MacMAD Meeting February 2024
This is a live demonstration meeting covering Procreate for iPad. There is also a version of Procreate for the iPhone.
Our presenter this month is Ann Posner. She says:
The Procreate app is a powerhouse assistant in my career as a professional artist, as well as in my personal life. I recommend the Procreate app for any computer users or artists from beginners to experts!
The video of this meeting is now on-line here. The audio is low, so turn it up. The actual presentation starts about 4 minutes in.
