South Essex Apple Link is an Apple user group run by enthusiasts with a collective deep understanding of the Apple technologies and its user community. SEAL welcomes Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV users across the whole of Essex and surrounding areas.
We are currently meeting online every four weeks, for more details see our About page.
Next meeting: Friday 6th November 2026
At our last meeting of 2013 everyone brought along Christmas food to share. We had an Apple Quiz, Ben got the most questions right, impressing everyone with his knowledge of past and recent Apple history.
During our show and tell segment, DavidK demonstrated the recently released iOS game Clumsy Ninja which features an impressively animated ninja character to interact with. The game is free with optional in-app purchases.
Ben brought along two original Clamshell iBook Macs (one in Tangerine and the other in Blueberry) from his Apple collection and told us about the history of these interesting machines and about the current collector’s market for them.
The meeting also included a discussion of the month’s Apple news including:
At the November meeting we explored the new features of Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks (a free upgrade available now from the Mac App Store for everyone with Mac OS X 10.6 or later and compatible hardware) and helped members decide whether they should upgrade. Some of the features demonstrated were:
Tabs in the Finder making it easy to switch between folders and allowing the Finder to be used effectively in full-screen mode.
Tags, a new way of organising files in the Finder which also extends to files stored in iCloud.
Enhanced dictation which enables long-form dictation and doesn’t require an Internet connection.
Improved support for multiple displays allowing multiple full-screen applications to be displayed and the menu bar and dock to appear on any display.
The meeting also included a discussion of the month’s Apple news including:
The announcement of the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display.
Apple offering iLife and iWork free with new Macs and iOS devices and free updates to current owners of eligible earlier versions.
We highlighted to members that hard drive maker WD have warned that some of the utilities included with their external drives can cause data loss on Mavericks.
At the October meeting the main topic of discussion was the recently released iOS 7. Several members had downloaded the new operating system on a variety of devices including iPhone 5, iPhone 4 and iPad. Key features demonstrated were:
Control Center
Blocking of calls and messages from unwanted contacts.
New camera features including square photos, filters and easy access to HDR.
New Safari features including bookmarks available in new tabs and easy access to Private browsing.
DaveK pointed out a some handy tips on the iOS 7 keyboard:
When entering a URL or e-mail address, the .com button is no longer available on the keyboard. However, if you touch and hold the full stop (.) button a selection of top level domains (including .co.uk and .com) are displayed for you to select from.
To quickly enter a number in the middle of entering text, press and hold on the number key (123) then drag your finger to a number and let go. The selected number will then be entered and the keyboard switched back to text mode saving two taps.
DavidB has produced a video demonstrating some of the new iOS 7 features and tips on setup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XudJcdTGGvg
It was mentioned that the iOS game Temple Run Oz is currently available for free via the Apple Store app. Free downloads are regularly offered via the Apple Store app so it’s worth keeping an eye on. DaveK showed us Temple Run 2 (the base game, Temple Run Oz is themed after the film Oz the Great and Powerful) to give an idea of how this type of endless runner game works.
The meeting also included a discussion of the month’s Apple news including:
These questions were asked at the September meeting:
A. Click a song in your iTunes Library which you wish to convert to a Ringtone for use on your iPhone. Choose File>Get Info (Command and I) and select the “Options” Tab. You will see two boxes “Start Time” and “Stop Time”. Ringtones can’t be any longer than 30 seconds so in the “Stop Time”, change this to 0:30 and click “OK”. This will give you a 30 second clip from the start of the song. If however you would like a 30 second clip from later in the song, this can be achieved by adjusting both the “Start Time” and the “Stop Time”. This is very useful if there is a long intro until your favourite part of the song.
Now, select File>Create New Version>Create AAC Version (other format options will be displayed if you have selected other formats in Preferences such as MP3 etc.). This will essentially create a duplicate of the song and will only be 30 seconds in length. Drag this to the Desktop. It will probably have the File Extension “.m4a”. In order for it to be recognised in iTunes as a Ringtone, change the File Extension to “.m4r” and then either double click it or drag to iTunes for it to be added under “Tones”. This can then be synced to your iPhone. Don’t forget to correct the Start/Stop times of the original song file. “Start Time” can be set to 0 and the “Stop Time” box unticked.
Q. How can I add a keyboard shortcut to an application menu item when there’s more than one menu item with that name?
A. An example of this problem is adding a shortcut to the Center option of Align Objects on the Arrange menu in Pages. If you try to add a keyboard shortcut just by referencing the Center menu item name the shortcut is added to the Center option of Text on the Format menu instead.
To get over this issue add the keyboard shortcut as follows:
This tip was tested on Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion. I understand in 10.7 (Lion) you need to use “>” as a separator instead of “->” and this trick is not supported in 10.6 and earlier.
A discussion of the big news of the month including Apple’s iPhone announcements kicked off the September SEAL meeting.
Key topics from the news discussion included:
For the remainder of the meeting members showed interesting products and tips in our Show & Tell section:
DavidB Demonstrated two useful features of iOS 6 both of which are useful if you’re lending your iOS device to someone or letting a child use it:
The restrictions option in General Settings can be used to limit access to certain apps (for example you could block Safari) and features (such as in-app purchases). You can block access to apps, music and videos based on their content rating too. A PIN is set so the device owner can unblock features or alter the restrictions settings. Apple have a help article about Restrictions on their site.
David also demonstrated the Guided Access feature which is located in the Accessibility section of General Settings. This allows you to lock the iOS device into a single app and then control if touch and/or motion controls are available. It’s also possible to block access to certain areas of the screen to prevent accidental activation of commands. Apple also have a help article about Guided Access.
DavidK then showed us a couple of interesting iOS applications:
Opera’s new Coast web browser is designed specifically for the iPad. This free browser has a minimal user interface so you can concentrate on web content and allows you to browse between pages using touch gestures.
Groceries is a shopping list application which allows you to compile your list from common grocery items (or you can add your own), it learns what products you commonly buy so you can easily add them to your list. The app keeps your list grouped by supermarket aisle to speed up shopping.\
Questions and answers from the September meeting covering creating ringtones in iTunes and assigning applications keyboard shortcuts are now available.
At the August SEAL meeting we had a lively news discussion and two interesting presentations on web design software. Don’t miss John’s video on the RapidWeaver Stacks plug-in at the end of this report!
Key topics from the news discussion included:
Ben started off with a presentation of iWeb, Apple’s web design application that was included in the iLife suite. Although it’s not currently available with new Macs or on the Mac App Store, iWeb is still a useful program. Ben explained how it can continue to be used on Mountain Lion and with your own hosting even though Apple’s Mobile Me hosting service has been discontinued.
Ben then demonstrated how iWeb can be used to quickly create an attractive web site and how flexible it is to work with the supplied templates or your own design. This amazing YouTube video shows Apple’s home page being recreated in iWeb, a testament to its surprising power.
If you’re interested in iWeb, here are some sites which continue to provide information and advice for iWeb users:
Apple has some support resources available:
Apple Support Communities
Tutorial Videos
Robert then demonstrated RapidWeaver, a template-based web design program from Realmac Software. Robert showed how a site can be built up from different page types to include features such as a blog and photo gallery. Once the site was complete he changed the look and layout of the site by selecting from the included templates.
One of RapidWeaver’s most powerful features is the facility to add new page types and templates through plug-ins. SEAL member John was scheduled to demonstrate the powerful Stacks plug-in at the meeting but unfortunately was unable to attend the meeting. John has very kindly produced the following video about using Stacks:
July’s SEAL meeting kicked off with our usual discussion of the month’s news. A few highlights were:
He then went on the demonstrate Screenflow, an application which captures video from your screen and audio from your microphone and then allows you to edit together a complex screen cast. Screenflow includes features such as zooming in on certain areas, editing to remove mistakes or slows sections, the ability to highlight the mouse pointer and show key presses. The end result can look really professional.
In the Q&A section we discussed whether anti-virus and other security software is required on the Mac and what performance should be expected from an iMac hard disk. A summary of the answers to these questions are on the Q&A July 2013 page.
We started off the June meeting with a detailed discussion of Apple’s many announcements at their World Wide developer conference. These included:
Upgraded MacBook Airs with improved battery life, faster graphics and some reduced prices.
The sneak preview of the new Mac Pro with a radical new cylindrical design and greatly improved performance.
Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks with upgraded Finder, Maps, iBooks and many other enhancements.
New versions of iWork including a full web version.
iOS 7 with a new look and sweeping changes and improvements.
iTunes Radio, Apple’s streaming music service with a free (advertising supported) option.
Following the discussion members brought along apps, hardware and tips for our first “Show and Tell” session:
John kicked us off with Drafts, an inexpensive app for iPad which allows you to quickly enter text and then decide what to do with it later. Each time you open the app it presents a new page ready for you to type with no distractions. A version of Drafts for iPhone and iPod Touch is also available.
Ben brought along a classic clamshell iBook to show us, this was Apple’s portable alternative to the original colourful iMac. Ben is a Mac collector and plans to regularly bring classic Apple products to show us.
DavidK showed 7 Little Words, a free (with in app purchases) iOS game which challenges you to put together 7 words from a selection of tiles with 2 or 3 letters on each. There is a new puzzle every day.
DavidB then suggested Clueless Crossword Party for iOS, a crossword game with no clues, instead numbers in some of the squares indicate which have the same letter.
To complete the trilogy of iOS games, Denesh suggested a classic game of Solitaire.
DavidB also mentioned that he’d spotted a smudge on pictures taken with his iPhone 5 which couldn’t be removed by cleaning the lens. This seems to be a known issue that’s been widely reported. David visited the Apple Store who promptly replaced his phone.
We ended the meeting by answering questions on iOS backup and Finder shortcuts, find these on our Q&A June 2013 page.
These questions were asked at the July meeting:
A. We recommend that Mac users do not need to install security or anit-virus applications. No viruses (malicious programs which spread without user interaction) are currently known on the Mac. There are a few trojan and malware programs which try to trick you into installing them but these can generally be avoided by using good internet security practices, We’ve included some suggestions below. PC Advisor has an article explaining why Macs are rarely affected by Malware and don’t need anti-virus products.
On-line security good practice suggestions:
If you would none the less like to run anti-virus software or are concerned about passing on Windows viruses (which don’t affect the Mac) to friends (for example by forwarding an e-mail that may have a Windows virus attached) a free option is the open source ClamXAV. This can scan your system for Mac and Windows viruses and trojans and scan new files as they are created. While ClamXAV is available in the Mac App Store, the version from the developer’s web site is more fully featured.
Q. I’ve run a disk speed benchmarking program on my 2009 iMac, what results should I expect?
A. Hard drive performance results can vary quite a lot based on the particular drive, computer and also how the test is performed (for example the size of the file and the testing program used). The person who asked this question had used Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test which is available on the Mac App Store. As a rough idea, the maximum throughput you should expect on a 7200RPM 3.5” hard drive of the type fitted to the iMac is about 120MB/s (this is from a review of one of the recommended drives on StorageReview.com) however this is in ideal conditions (the slowest performance noted on the same drive is about 60MB/s) and with a modern 2TB drive. Older and smaller drives will tend to be slower.
If you’re concerned your hard drive is running slowly then the ideal way to benchmark it would be to compare your results against someone with a similar system.
These questions were answered at the June meeting:
A. Hold down the command (
) key while double clicking on the folder, this causes a new Finder window to open displaying the contents of the folder you clicked on. This can be very handy when organising files.
Q. How do I set up iCloud backup on my iPad, iPhone or iPod touch?
A. It’s important to backup your iOS device (iPad, iPhone or iPod touch) so that if it’s ever lost, damaged or stolen you can recover your data. Backing up to iCloud is a quick and easy way of saving a copy of your data to Apple’s servers and works even if you rarely connect your device to a computer.
For iCloud backup to work it must be enabled, your device needs to be connected to power (charging) and must be on a WiFi network. Bear in mind that if you tend to charge your device where there is no WiFi then this method won’t work.
A second option is to backup your device using iTunes when it’s connected to your computer with a cable. Apple has an article explaining the pros and cons of these methods.
Setting up iCloud backup
On your device:
Further details of what is backed up and how to restore your data can be found in Apple’s iCloud: Backup and restore overview article.