The October meeting was held on Friday the 14th. We took a look at some of the new features in the just-released macOS Sierra and had a demo of AirDrop, a handy way to transfer links, files and other items between Apple devices.
iTunes Tips
DaveK gave us some tips on using iTunes on the Mac:
- Deselecting the new “Add songs to Library when adding to playlists” option in Preferences allows you to add songs from Apple Music to playlists without their albums cluttering your library.
- It’s possible to trim songs in iTunes to skip a beginning and/or ending you don’t like.
- Stop a track from being played in shuffle mode by selecting “Skip when shuffling” in the Options tab of the track info window.
macOS Sierra
Robert showed some of the new features of the recently released macOS Sierra concentrating on Siri and storage optimisation.
- Siri comes to the Mac for the first time in Sierra and Robert showed how you can ask for information about your Mac, find files and change preferences via voice requests. Siri results can be saved to the notification centre and dragged into documents.
- Sierra introduces a number of features to help you save space and make the most of the storage space available on your Mac. These features can be handily accessed in one place, the Storage tab of the “About this Mac” window. Tidbits has an in-depth article on Storage Optimisation if you need more details.
AirDrop
Robert and DaveK demonstrated using the built-in AirDrop feature to transfer links and files between Macs and iOS devices which are close by. This handy feature can be used between your own devices and also with other people and requires almost no setup. Apple has a support article on using AirDrop.
App Recommendations
DavidB told us about My Contacts Backup, an app that will backup the contacts on your iOS device and send them to you via e-mail. The .vcf file it sends can then be read by most contacts applications.
News
We also discussed the month’s Apple news including:
- The release of iOS 10.
- Samsung discontinuing the Note 7 smart phone after units continue to catch fire.
- The latest iOS 10.1 beta which includes an alert for 32bit apps and the portrait mode for the 7 plus camera.
- The Apple Regent Street store reopening in London and Apple planning a new HQ in Battersea Power Station.