If you’ve kept Outlook for Mac in its older, familiar interface, you may need to switch soon to keep receiving email. Microsoft says legacy Outlook for Mac will stop connecting to Exchange Online mailboxes starting in October 2026. Those are the mailboxes commonly used for business email through Microsoft 365.

Before switching to the current Outlook for Mac, back up any data stored only on your Mac and check whether the features you rely on will still be available.

What Is Changing?

Legacy Outlook connects to Exchange Online through Exchange Web Services, usually abbreviated EWS. Microsoft is retiring that connection method. The current Outlook for Mac remains supported.

Microsoft’s updated EWS retirement plan describes a phased process beginning in October 2026. Your IT administrator may be able to keep legacy Outlook connected temporarily after October 2026, but Microsoft will shut down that connection method completely on April 1, 2027. (Yes, April Fools’ Day.)

If your administrator extends access, agree on a firm date to finish the move.

Check Whether You’re Using Legacy Outlook

Updating Outlook doesn’t always move you out of the legacy experience. Look for an enabled Legacy Outlook switch in the Outlook window. Microsoft’s instructions for the current experience say to turn that switch off to move to the redesigned Outlook.

You can also check the Help menu. If it includes Revert to Legacy Outlook, you’re already using the newer interface. If neither control appears, ask IT which version and mode you’re using.

Does the Deadline Apply to You?

Microsoft lists different deadlines depending on your Outlook license and where your email is hosted:

• Microsoft 365 business email: Legacy Outlook users with Exchange Online mailboxes need to move to the current Outlook.
• Microsoft 365 Personal or Family: Legacy Outlook support ends in October 2026. The Exchange Online cutoff doesn’t set a disconnection date for third-party accounts such as Gmail or iCloud.
• Exchange Subscription Edition on your organization’s servers: Microsoft lists legacy support through October 9, 2029, with security updates and technical assistance on a best-effort basis.
• Office LTSC 2024: Microsoft lists the same limited support through October 9, 2029. Even with that license, legacy Outlook will lose access to Exchange Online as EWS shuts down.

For the complete license-by-license breakdown, see Microsoft’s support timeline table. If you’re unsure where your work email is hosted, ask your IT provider.

Protect Your Local Data

Start with a current backup of your Mac. Then look for anything stored only in Outlook on that computer, particularly folders under On My Computer. Pay special attention to local calendars, contacts, and previously imported archives. Signing in to the same account elsewhere won’t recover locally stored information.

For an additional safety copy, legacy Outlook can export messages, contacts, and other items to an .olm archive. Microsoft’s instructions start with Export on the Tools tab; some versions offer it in the File menu. Save the completed archive somewhere included in your backups.

The migration announcement says local tasks and notes aren’t transferred. Microsoft’s current feature comparison also lists the in-app Notes and Tasks modules as upcoming and Public Folders as unavailable. If you rely on those features, arrange another way to access the information before switching.

Switch and Test Your Usual Tasks

Once you’ve backed up your data and checked the features you need, turn off the Legacy Outlook switch. If it’s missing, check for an update with Help > Check for Updates. On a company-managed Mac, contact IT if the switch or update is unavailable.

If your local folders haven’t appeared, look for Import On My Computer Data in the File menu, or an Import Now button under On My Computer. Microsoft documents both ways to start the import. Follow the prompts, then check the imported contents. Menu wording can vary by version; if neither option appears, get help before deleting or recreating your Outlook profile.

After switching and completing any local import, work through these steps:

1. Accounts: Confirm that expected folders and recent messages appear. Send a test message and verify that you receive a reply.
2. Calendars and contacts: Review upcoming appointments and confirm access to shared calendars and important contacts.
3. Local archives: Find several older messages and open their attachments. Keep your original data and backups until you’ve verified the migration.
4. Features you use: Check your signatures, important rules, shared mailbox access, and essential add-ins.

If something fails, tell your help desk or IT provider what you were trying to do and what happened. For example, name the shared mailbox you can’t open and include any error message. Microsoft directs personal-account users to Help > Contact Support.

If your organization offers Outlook on the Web, confirm that you can sign in and use it as a fallback if the desktop app has problems. However, note that it won’t replace access to information stored locally on your Mac.

Contact us if you need help moving local archives or setting up shared accounts.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Rawf8)

Apple’s wireless Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard are the norm for desktop Macs, but they aren’t infallible. Batteries die, pairing can fail, and worst of all, if you need to boot into macOS Recovery, that’s a bad time to discover that your wireless keyboard or pointing device isn’t connecting for whatever reason. You can plug a Magic Keyboard or Magic Trackpad into your Mac with a USB-C cable, but that won’t work with a Magic Mouse—it’s unavailable for use while charging. That’s why it helps to keep a dedicated wired USB mouse and keyboard tucked away for troubleshooting purposes. Any brand should work, but if yours has an older USB Type-A connector, make sure you have a USB-C adapter available.

(Images by iStock.com/ziprashantzi and Rachel Wickremasinghe)

It’s annoying when your Mac tells you you’re low on disk space and you can’t imagine what could be occupying it. Or maybe you know you’re running low—a good rule of thumb is to keep at least 10% of the drive free—but aren’t sure which files or folders are hogging the most space. Visualization tools like GrandPerspective and DaisyDisk can help you see what’s using your disk space, but if all you want is a simple hierarchical browser, the free OmniDiskSweeper is worth a try. It sorts your folders by size, and you can keep drilling down to find and trash the largest items you no longer need. The screenshot shows that the now-discontinued ChatGPT Atlas browser is still consuming several gigabytes of cache space—a good reminder to delete the entire app and its files!

Two tips about using the app–first, give it Full Disk Access in System Settings > Privacy & Security, before running it. Secondly, if you’re unsure on whether you can safely delete a file or folder, book time with me and we go over it together.

(Featured image generated by Adam Engst with ChatGPT)

Sometimes you need to start recording video instantly—to document an incident, capture a fleeting moment, or preserve evidence. Apple has provided a shortcut that reduces the effort to just two presses of the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 and later. Press it once to open the Camera app, then press and hold again to start recording a video instantly—it keeps recording as long as you hold the Camera Control down and stops when you let up. If you don’t want to hold the Camera Control the entire time, you’ll need to switch the Camera app to video mode, after which a press of the Camera Control starts recording, and another press stops it.

(Images by Adam Engst; heron added by ChatGPT)

Are you considering getting one of Apple’s new iPhone 18 models? While it’s tempting to unbox a new iPhone and dive right in, a methodical setup will save you from potential frustrations down the road. When you’re ready to transfer your data—and, for many people, that means much of your digital life—to the new iPhone, follow these step-by-step instructions. For visual learners, Apple also provides a video showing how to transfer your data and set up a new iPhone.

1. Ensure that both your current iPhone and Apple Watch (if you have one) are running the latest versions of iOS and watchOS. These updates can take a while to install, so don’t leave them for the last minute.
2. Have your login details ready: you’ll need your iPhone and Apple Watch passcodes, along with your Apple Account email address and password.
3. Back up your old iPhone to iCloud or your Mac. If you back up to a Mac, make sure you encrypt the backup (and record the encrypted backup password!) so it includes passwords, Wi-Fi settings, browsing history, Health data, and call history. For safety, consider backing up to both iCloud and your Mac. iCloud backups are typically more straightforward and avoid issues like unreliable USB cables. If you don’t usually back up to iCloud, Apple offers temporary iCloud storage for 21 days when transferring to a new iPhone, with another 21 days if your new iPhone doesn’t arrive in time. To make a temporary iCloud backup, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap Get Started under Prepare for New iPhone. The temporary backup sticks around for 7 days after you restore it to the new iPhone.
4. If you have an Apple Watch, you can transfer it to the new iPhone during setup. If the automatic transfer doesn’t work for some reason, you can manually unpair the Apple Watch from the old iPhone and pair it again with the new one. If you choose the manual route with a cellular Apple Watch, you’ll be prompted to keep or remove your cellular plan; be sure to keep the plan to continue using it after you re-pair.
5. If you ordered your new iPhone through Apple and linked it to your cellular carrier account at purchase, or bought it directly from your carrier, your phone number usually transfers automatically during activation. If the transfer doesn’t happen automatically and your carrier supports eSIM Quick Transfer, Setup Assistant will guide you through transferring your eSIM directly from your old iPhone.
6. Use Apple’s Quick Start to set up the new iPhone. Put your old iPhone nearby, follow the on-screen instructions, and use it to scan the animation that appears on the new iPhone. When Quick Start asks how you want to transfer your data, you have two main choices: iCloud or a direct transfer. Neither is especially quick, so start only when you have plenty of time. (If your old iPhone isn’t available or Quick Start fails, you can instead set up the new iPhone manually and restore from an iCloud or Mac backup.)
   • Download from iCloud: Restore from your old iPhone’s iCloud backup. This approach lets you begin using the new iPhone while apps and data continue downloading in the background. After connecting the new iPhone to Wi-Fi and choosing Download from iCloud, select the correct backup—probably the most recent one you just created.
   • Transfer from iPhone: Transfer your apps, data, and settings directly from the old iPhone, either wirelessly or with a wired connection—a wired connection can be useful if wireless migration proves unreliable, but there’s no way to know which will be faster. With a direct transfer, regardless of wired or wireless, both iPhones remain unavailable until the process finishes. For wireless transfers, keep them near each other and plugged into power.
   • Finder or iTunes: Although Apple still supports restoring your old iPhone’s data from a backup saved to your Mac, it gets the least attention these days, and we would resort to it only if the Quick Start methods failed. When you get to the Transfer Apps & Data screen on the new iPhone, tap From Mac or PC, connect the new iPhone to your Mac, open a Finder window (or iTunes on macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier), select the iPhone, click Restore Backup, and choose the appropriate backup.
7. Complete post-transfer tasks. Some app data needs to sync, so open the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps to check for your information; it may take a few minutes to populate. Verify you can make and receive calls. You’ll need to add your payment cards to Apple Pay, and transfer or re-add any transit or ID cards that don’t appear in Wallet. If necessary, pair your Apple Watch with the new iPhone. Also, pair your Bluetooth accessories—you shouldn’t need to re-pair AirPods, which sync automatically via iCloud. Apps might ask you to log in again and grant notification permissions, and you might need to re-download content and in-app purchases.
8. If you rely on Apple’s Passwords app for passwords, passkeys, and two-factor authentication codes, everything should sync via your iCloud account, assuming you have Passwords & Keychain enabled in iCloud. 1Password and other password managers also usually sync via an online account. Two-factor authentication apps like Authy and Google Authenticator may need additional configuration—confirm that your codes appear on the new iPhone. Regardless, verify that you can log in to key accounts before wiping the old phone.
9. If your employer or school requires you to register your iPhone for access to organizational systems, verify that everything works before erasing your old phone. Authentication apps, VPNs, device-management systems, and other security services may treat the new iPhone as a new device and require you to sign in again, re-register it, or obtain approval from your IT department. Test these services on the new iPhone while the old one is still available in case you need it to approve a login or transfer an account.

Although Apple works hard to make transferring from an old iPhone to a new one as smooth as possible, some things may not transfer perfectly. We strongly recommend keeping your old iPhone for a week or so to ensure the new one can do everything the old one did. During that time, thoroughly test the new iPhone, checking each app you need. Once you’re confident the new iPhone is working well, follow Apple’s instructions for erasing the old iPhone before selling, trading it in, or giving it away.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

September has arrived, so Apple will soon release major upgrades for all its operating systems. iOS 27 and watchOS 27 will undoubtedly ship alongside new iPhone and Apple Watch models mid-month. iPadOS 27 will likely accompany iOS 27, as will tvOS 27 and visionOS 27. Although Apple has sometimes delayed the release of macOS until later in the year, we anticipate the company will release macOS 27 Golden Gate alongside its siblings, since the new Mac mini and Mac Studio models will ship with it.

Apple previewed these releases at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and many people have been testing the public betas since. Once Apple judges each operating system ready for public consumption, the question arises: when should you upgrade?

Note that we say when and not if. There’s no harm in delaying a major operating system upgrade until Apple has sanded off any rough edges that slipped through testing. But waiting too long puts you at risk from security vulnerabilities, increases compatibility annoyances, and prevents you from taking advantage of new features. Plus, when you buy a new Mac, iPhone, or iPad after these operating systems have shipped, you’ll automatically get the latest version, which could pose problems for your existing apps or compatibility with older hardware or workflows. It’s best to be prepared in case you have to replace a device unexpectedly.

Since we don’t know exactly when each operating system will appear, here’s our recommended upgrade order and how long we suggest waiting after each release. We’ve also shared a few new features that might encourage you to upgrade.

Remember, always make a backup before upgrading a Mac, iPhone, or iPad so you can revert if necessary.

iOS 27

It’s usually safe to upgrade iOS fairly quickly because Apple puts significant effort into ensuring that the new iOS version is a good experience for those who buy the just-released iPhones. However, because iPhones are so crucial to our everyday lives, it’s worth delaying iOS 27 upgrades for a week or so, in case there are unexpected bugs. After that, you can install it and enjoy the new features.

What can you look forward to? Apple says iOS 27 delivers broad improvements across the system, with performance improvements that should keep older devices feeling snappy. Liquid Glass—Apple’s translucent interface material introduced in iOS 26—gets design refinements for better readability and contrast, with a new slider to customize how tinted it appears. Network transitions are smoother, so you stay connected as you move between Wi-Fi networks and cellular service. Searching in Mail will more readily surface the most relevant results. Parents gain new child safety tools: Setup Assistant lets you choose which system apps kids can access, Ask to Browse requires parental approval for new websites, Communication Safety now blocks gore and violence in addition to nudity, and Time Allowances let you set limits across categories. Other additions include GymKit support for connecting to gym equipment, improved iCloud Shared Albums with easier access for Android and Windows users, perimenopause tracking in Health, and enhanced Flyover in Maps.

However, what Apple’s really focusing on is Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, which ship across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. Apple has finally brought AI to Siri, making the virtual assistant far more capable and conversational, giving it insight into your personal context (calendar events, email, photos, notes, etc.), and letting it take actions across many more apps. With search capabilities, Siri AI can pull in world knowledge to answer nearly any topic, much like ChatGPT and Claude do now. A dedicated Siri app records your conversations and syncs them across devices. Write with Siri generates drafts or provides feedback anywhere you type. Siri mode in the Camera app brings Visual Intelligence to the viewfinder, letting you search and take action on what you see. Photos gains AI editing tools like Spatial Reframing, Extend, and an enhanced Clean Up. Safari automatically groups tabs by topic and gains Notify Me, which monitors pages for changes like price drops or restocks and alerts you when it’s time to act. Siri AI requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later; the broader iOS 27 features work on devices back to the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE.

watchOS 27

Once you upgrade your iPhone to iOS 27, there’s no reason to delay upgrading your Apple Watch to watchOS 27. Few changes other than the new app grid are likely to require notable adjustments to your usage patterns, and some may be quite welcome.

Siri AI is the most notable new feature in watchOS 27 because it brings conversational AI to your wrist. However, it may encourage new Apple Watch purchases—our experience with the beta is that it’s slow on the Apple Watch Series 9, which is the oldest model watchOS 26 supports.

Beyond Siri AI, a new dynamic app grid highlights suggested apps (most recent and most popular) with the Siri app in the center. Workout Buddy now delivers personalized motivation with new insights into your pace, distance, and duration—and works without your iPhone nearby. A new thumb-and-forefinger tap gesture lets you select Smart Stack widgets with one hand, and the Smart Stack itself surfaces more relevant widgets, such as birthday reminders and your parked car’s location. Cycle Tracking gains perimenopause and menopause support with symptom logging and educational resources. Design refinements improve Liquid Glass readability, and a new Call Context feature surfaces relevant information when you call businesses. For Siri AI, your watch must be paired with an iPhone 15 Pro or later.

iPadOS 27

Our general advice is that it’s OK to install iPadOS 27 shortly after it ships. iPadOS is largely a superset of iOS, so if you’re comfortable upgrading to iOS 27, that comfort should carry over to iPadOS 27 as well. The main caveat is if you rely heavily on a particular app, you should check with the developer to ensure it’s compatible before upgrading.

Beyond the iOS 27 features that aren’t specific to the iPhone, iPadOS 27 offers a few unique improvements. It brings Visual Intelligence to the iPad screen—tap an item with your finger or circle it with the Apple Pencil to learn more about it or take action on it. Siri AI now works with handwritten Notes, letting you turn handwritten lecture notes into a study guide. And file transfers to external drives are up to 5x faster.

tvOS 27

Regardless of when Apple releases tvOS 27, it’s safe to update within a week or two of release, depending on how much you depend on your Apple TV. Note that tvOS drops support for the Apple TV HD and first-generation Apple TV 4K, though if you have one of those and it meets your needs, don’t bother replacing it just for tvOS 27. Besides, rumors suggest a new Apple TV model with a Siri AI-capable chip may be on the horizon—the new virtual assistant is otherwise notably absent.

tvOS 27 brings a few modest refinements to the Apple TV experience. Apple redesigned the Podcasts app for improved browsing and playback. If you listen to music on your Apple TV, you might appreciate the new support for Hi-Res Lossless audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz through Apple Music. Apple promises smoother app launches and animations throughout, faster AirPlay connectivity, and a more responsive Control Center. A new Smart Downloads feature helps manage content automatically. For accessibility, a new Larger Text option in Settings scales text size across the entire tvOS interface. Auto-transcription support in English will provide subtitles where they don’t already exist, and tvOS 27 has expanded support for Made for iPhone hearing aids.

If nothing in that list encourages you to upgrade as soon as tvOS 27 ships, let your Apple TV upgrade itself whenever it gets around to it, assuming you have automatic updates turned on in Settings > System > Software Updates.

visionOS 27

Since the Vision Pro hasn’t seen widespread adoption, most users can upgrade to visionOS 27 shortly after it comes out—it works on all Vision Pro units. Those with mobility issues or disabilities that make the Vision Pro an essential aspect of everyday life should probably wait until early adopters have given the upgrade a thumbs up.

Siri AI is, of course, available in visionOS 27, and Visual Intelligence on the Vision Pro lets you ask Siri about anything by looking at it. You can now turn panoramic photos into spatial scenes and use them as custom Environments—joining the new Thórsmörk Environment featuring an Icelandic aurora. New curved windows in Safari, Freeform, and other apps wrap around you for a more comfortable view. Spatial previewing lets you bring 3D models from your Mac into your space to preview and edit them in real time. System improvements include a redesigned Control Center, notifications you can expand just by looking at them, and Wi-Fi that connects up to three times faster. Accessibility gains include an updated Dwell Control that lets you confirm selections by glancing at a marker instead of waiting for a timer.

macOS 27 Golden Gate

For most of us, the trickiest upgrade decision is when to install macOS 27 Golden Gate. For those still using Intel-based Macs, the decision is easy: never, since Golden Gate runs only on Macs with Apple silicon. But even for people whose Macs have M-series chips and whose mission-critical apps are likely newer, it’s worth upgrading cautiously. The problem is that new macOS features are seldom more compelling than keeping your Mac working the way it is now. Happily, Golden Gate still includes the full Rosetta 2 translation environment that powers Intel-based apps on Apple silicon, but that support will dwindle in the future.

What capabilities does macOS 27 Golden Gate promise? Once again, Apple is pushing Siri AI the hardest, with the dedicated Siri app syncing your conversations across devices and Visual Intelligence letting you ask Siri about anything on your screen by taking a screenshot. The rest of the Apple Intelligence improvements from iOS and iPadOS also appear in macOS, as do the new Child Safety features.

Users will appreciate Golden Gate’s refinements to Liquid Glass, which was more controversial on the Mac than on the iPhone. Along with the new transparency slider, macOS will feature a uniform toolbar across the top of apps, sidebars will extend to the edges of windows, and colored icons will return to sidebars. Apple is also promising performance improvements, better Spotlight search suggestions, improved support for ultrawide external displays, app resizing in iPhone mirroring, natural language event creation in Calendar, and updated video podcast playback.

We generally encourage caution when upgrading to a new version of macOS, but lately Apple has done a good job at making sure that the OS is stable enough to update sooner rather than later. If you rely on older Mac apps, especially Adobe apps, wait at least a month or two before upgrading your primary Mac to Golden Gate.

(Featured image by Apple)

In a move designed to clear the decks in advance of the company’s September 9th iPhone and Apple Watch unveiling, Apple has refreshed its compact desktop Mac lineup with new chips, faster connectivity, and—unsurprisingly given the ongoing memory shortage—higher prices. The Mac mini receives the new M6 chip and M5 Pro, while the Mac Studio gains the M5 Max and the new M5 Ultra. Both are available for pre-order now and ship September 22.

Mac mini Gets M6 and M5 Pro

Skipping the M5 at the base level, the Mac mini debuts Apple’s new M6 chip, which is the first to use a 2-nanometer manufacturing process that promises increased performance and power efficiency. The M6 features a 12-core CPU (two more than before) and a 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each core—a first for the Mac mini. Apple claims up to 4x faster AI performance compared to the M4 model, along with 2x faster graphics and storage. 16 GB of unified memory is standard, with 24 GB and 32 GB options.

For users who need more power, the Mac mini with M5 Pro offers a 15-core or 18-core CPU and a 16-core or 20-core GPU, with 24 GB of memory standard and support for up to 64 GB. The M5 Pro model also includes Thunderbolt 5 ports instead of the M6’s Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Both models gain Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread, and upgraded 2.5Gb Ethernet (with 10Gb available as an option). New genlock support through USB-C enables precise synchronization between a display and camera—including iPhone 17 Pro—for video professionals who need frame-accurate capture. The front panel retains two USB-C ports and a headphone jack.

Pricing continues to climb. The M6 Mac mini starts at $899—$100 more than the post-June M4 pricing and $300 more than the original M4 launch price. The M5 Pro model starts at $1,699, up $100 from the June adjustment.

Mac Studio Adds M5 Max and M5 Ultra

The Mac Studio receives the M5 Max and the new M5 Ultra, Apple’s most powerful chip ever. The M5 Ultra uses a quad-die architecture—combining four smaller dies rather than two larger ones—which improves manufacturing yields while delivering extraordinary performance.

The M5 Max model offers an 18-core CPU, a 32-core or 40-core GPU, and 36 GB to 128 GB of unified memory—plenty for most professional workflows.

When that’s not enough, the M5 Ultra features a 30-core or 36-core CPU, a 64-core or 80-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and 96 GB to 512 GB of unified memory with 1.2 TB/s of bandwidth. Apple claims up to 4.3x faster AI performance compared to the M3 Ultra and 1.8x faster graphics. For teams running large AI models locally, multiple Mac Studio systems can be clustered via Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA (remote direct memory access) to create a shared memory pool.

Both Mac Studio models gain Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread via Apple’s N1 wireless chip. Storage performance doubles thanks to a new SSD architecture. As with the Mac mini, genlock support through USB-C enables frame-accurate synchronization between displays and cameras.

The M5 Max Mac Studio starts at $2,499—unchanged from the June price hike. The M5 Ultra model starts at $5,499, up $200 from June (and $1,500 more than the pre-June price). The 512 GB memory configuration won’t ship until October.

Should You Upgrade?

For users with M1 or M2 Mac mini models, the performance gains may be substantial enough to justify an upgrade. Those with M4 Mac mini models can probably wait unless they specifically need the M6’s improved AI capabilities or the M5 Pro’s additional memory and Thunderbolt 5. And if you’re still using an Intel-based Mac mini for anything where performance matters, upgrade immediately—the difference is like night and day.

Mac Studio users face a different equation. The M5 Max and M5 Ultra deliver meaningful improvements for performance-driven professionals whose work involves large-scale video projects, complex 3D rendering, or AI inference. For such users, the speed improvements may justify upgrading even from M4 Max or M3 Ultra machines.

The memory crisis shows no signs of abating, so don’t assume prices will drop. If you need a new desktop Mac and one of these new models fits in your budget, they’re all excellent choices.

(Featured image by Apple)

Reading articles on the Web has become fraught with distraction. Ads are terrible, of course, but publications also inundate you with navigation links, pop-ups encouraging you to subscribe, popular article lists, and more. Even worse is when an article requires multiple clicks or taps to keep reading. It’s maddening—you just want to read and get on with your day!

The easiest, built-in solution to this admittedly first-world problem for Apple users is Safari Reader on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, which you can use to “hide navigation menus and other distracting items.”

Apple is careful not to say that Reader hides ads—which it does, most of the time—to avoid conflict with publications that rely on advertising, some of which may even be placed by Apple itself.

Beyond hiding distracting items, Reader displays articles as a single page and automatically generates a summary and table of contents for longer articles to make navigation easier.

Even better, you can configure Safari to show articles in Reader automatically for specific websites, so you don’t have to turn it on manually for each article.

Here’s how to use it.

Switch to Reader

Since Reader’s reformatting would break many non-article Web pages, Safari offers Reader only when you’re viewing a page that it can reformat. As a reminder, Safari on the iPhone and iPad shows a brief “Reader Available” mention in the address bar when you open a Reader-compatible page.

To display a compatible page in Reader, tap the website button at the left of the address bar ➊, then tap Show Reader ➋. Safari immediately reformats the page, removing many extraneous items and potentially changing the background and font.

The reformatting can be even more significant in Safari on the Mac, where websites often add columns of ads, pop-ups over the text you want to read, and more.

When Reader decides a page is long enough and has enough headings, it automatically generates a summary and table of contents, displaying them in expandable sections at the top. This feature is, frankly, a little random. We couldn’t always predict when Reader would generate those sections, and it even sometimes varied by device.

Adjust the Look of Reader

By default, Reader uses a white background with Apple’s San Francisco sans-serif font. That’s entirely acceptable, but you can switch to a sepia, gray, or black background, choose from a selection of serif and sans-serif fonts, and increase or decrease the font size.

Tap the page icon at the left of the address bar to pick from those options.

The presentation looks a little different on the iPad (left) and Mac (right), but the options are essentially the same.

Use Reader Automatically

For websites you regularly read, it’s best to set Reader to kick in automatically. It won’t reformat pages that don’t make sense, such as section pages that contain links to multiple articles. How you enable this option varies by platform:

• iPhone and iPad: Whether or not you’re in Reader, tap the icon at the left of the address bar, tap the ••• button, scroll down in the page menu, and turn on Use Reader Automatically.
  
• Mac: When you’re not in Reader, click the website icon at the left of the address bar, choose Website Settings, and select “Use Reader when available.”
  

If you want to manage which sites use Reader automatically all together, on the iPhone and iPad, open Settings > Apps > Safari > Reader (way at the bottom), and on the Mac in Safari, choose Safari > Settings > Websites.

Helpfully, Safari syncs appropriate website settings between devices via iCloud, so once you set a site to use Reader automatically, all your other devices will default to that as well.

Switch Back to Standard View

Although Reader works well most of the time, it’s possible to run across an article with interactive elements that don’t display in Reader. If something seems wrong about an article in Reader, you can switch back to the standard presentation of the page. Just tap the page icon at the left of the address bar and tap Hide Reader.

The hardest part of using Reader is getting started. Once you’ve become accustomed to switching into it and setting it to trigger automatically for websites you visit regularly, you’ll find reading the Web easier, more relaxing, and less likely to tempt you down a rabbit hole of additional content.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Tippapatt)

Generative AI is transforming software development. Large language models are good at human languages, but they’re even better at programming languages, which have much smaller vocabularies and fewer ways to combine words. Most importantly, code does something, so running it confirms whether it performs as intended.

The result has been a democratization of development, much as happened with desktop publishing. The Macintosh and PageMaker made it possible for almost anyone to produce a newsletter or brochure, but they did not turn every user into a professional designer, illustrator, or prepress specialist. AI can now produce working software for people who could never have written it themselves, but generating code is only part of building a reliable, trustworthy system.

Today, if you have a repetitive task that’s annoying to do but doesn’t warrant hiring a developer, you can use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to help you create an AppleScript, shell script, Mac or iPhone app, or even a full-fledged Web app. However, if you’re going to dip your toe into AI-assisted development, you need to be careful. Professional developers know to watch out for numerous pitfalls, but if you’re using an AI, it’s up to you to make sure the AI takes them into account. Also, be aware that you’re still ultimately responsible for what you create with AI.

What Could Go Wrong?

In AI-powered development, there are two broad failure categories: problems with the development agent itself and problems with the finished product.

The AI world has moved past basic chatbots to agents that can look up information, change files, write and execute code, drive apps, and more. That makes them much more capable, but it also creates a situation where they could change or delete data, expose confidential data, or install software that itself creates a vulnerability.

On the other side of the equation is the finished product. If it’s local code, it could run but produce incorrect results, fill up a drive with data, overwrite important data, or cause crashes. A networked app could also generate excessive traffic, leak or expose confidential data, or serve as an entry point into your network.

Take AI Development in Steps

Professional developers aren’t born that way. They start with simple tasks and tackle more involved projects as they gain experience. With AI handling the programming for you, it can be tempting to take on a major app, but it’s safer to start with simple data analysis and local automation tools before moving on to full-fledged apps and networked systems. The process won’t turn you into a professional developer, but you’ll have a greater appreciation for all the things they have to consider.

Read-only Experiments

The best way to get started with AI development is with data analysis that would otherwise require you to build spreadsheet formulas, parse large CSV files, compare exported files, and the like. This may not seem like development, but when you drag the files into a chatbot conversation and ask it to work on them, you’ll notice that it does so by writing and executing one or more scripts, often in Python.

With this sort of AI work, you’re limited only by your data and your imagination. You could analyze an event registration or inventory spreadsheet to find trends, get a human-readable summary of errors in a massive log file, or compare data between two differently formatted CSV files to see which people appear in both.

The reason to start here is that you can easily detect errors, and nothing you do can change the data. Incorrect results may still look convincing, however, so compare them against known examples, verify totals, and spot-check the underlying records.

Local Automation Scripts

The next type of AI development to try is local automation via AppleScript or shell scripts. (If you’re uncertain how to execute a script, remember that you can always ask the AI for detailed instructions.) You could build customized scripts for batch-renaming files, creating future calendar events, manipulating images, and even reformatting HTML files.

However, because scripts can modify and delete data, you need to be more careful here. When possible, have the script create new output rather than modifying the original. Otherwise, work on a copy and ask the AI to:

• Warn you about risks or ambiguities in your request
• Preview exactly what it plans to change
• Act only after you confirm the preview
• Log what it changed
• Record enough information to reverse its actions

Standalone Mac or iOS App

Apple’s App Store contains a vast number of apps, but it’s time-consuming to search for apps that promise to do what you want and test them to see if they actually do. All too often, they don’t.

With AI and Apple’s Xcode development environment, you can now create native apps for all your Apple devices. Needless to say, even setting up Xcode is complicated, but once again, an AI agent can do much of it for you and walk you through the rest of the steps. The hard part is often figuring out where some interface control is located, so don’t be shy about pasting a screenshot into the chat and saying, “I don’t see that control—where is it?”

The sky is the limit when it comes to developing your own apps for personal or internal use. You could create an injury rehab tracker, a publishing production checker, a custom document converter, a specialized camera app that adds metadata to photos, and more. Any workflow that’s awkward or doesn’t meet your needs is a candidate. Mac apps can be shared by copying; iPhone and iPad apps must go through Apple’s TestFlight. Again, ask for help.

When it comes to safety, as long as the apps are for personal or internal use, you mostly need to focus on app reliability and data integrity. Make sure to emphasize that the AI should build and run automated tests on every change, and when you’re testing, comment on anything that seems wrong—don’t settle. Specify that data integrity is paramount, require automatic backups, and allow for manual exports.

The bar gets much higher if you plan to distribute the app more widely. You’ll need to consider your obligations regarding support, compatibility, privacy, distribution, and long-term maintenance. An AI can help with some of those issues—be sure to ask it if there are any ways that user privacy could be abused, for instance—but the buck stops with you.

If you’re contemplating selling your app, you’ll also need to confirm that the licenses for any external code, images, fonts, and other components permit commercial distribution. Be extremely cautious if you plan to build a business around an app!

Networked Systems

With great power comes great responsibility. You must be much more careful with networked systems, especially if they’ll be accessible over the Internet. But it can be compelling to build such systems—you could make an equipment checkout system, an event registration system that goes beyond Google Forms, a shared inventory system, a document submission service, or a dashboard that aggregates live data from multiple services.

The problem is that the list of considerations goes well  beyond app reliability and data integrity, including these questions:

• What data and operations must be protected? Some data may be confidential, and personally identifiable information is especially important to protect. Authentication credentials, API keys, and other secrets should never be embedded in source code, prompts, logs, or shared configuration files. Instead, store them in a system designed to manage secrets and limit who and what can access them.
• Who may perform each action, and how is that enforced? Define user roles and limit each role’s permissions to only what is necessary. You don’t want a novice support representative accidentally deleting the database.
• How do you contain hostile inputs and abusive use? Attackers will probe what happens when they submit malicious URLs, API requests, filenames, uploaded files, Web hooks, and other unexpected input. To reduce your exposure, validate all input, limit its size and complexity, and restrict how frequently users can trigger operations.
• How do you separate development, testing, and production? Once you go live, it’s essential to separate these different environments so mistakes made during development don’t take down the live system and data generated during testing doesn’t contaminate the production database. Make sure to separate data and credentials as well.
• How will the system handle simultaneous requests, retries, and partial failures? Network requests can arrive twice, overlap, or fail midway through multi-step operations. Work with the AI to prevent these sorts of issues, which can result in duplicate payments, registrations, messages, or inconsistent records.
• How will you detect and contain attacks, outages, and unexpected behavior? Decide what to log, what conditions should trigger alerts, how access can be revoked, and if it’s possible to isolate a compromised component without shutting down the entire system.

Finally, assign an owner before putting any significant networked system into use. That person must be responsible for investigating failures, restoring data, updating dependencies, renewing credentials and certificates, responding to vulnerabilities, and eventually retiring the system. An internal application that nobody maintains may become less reliable and less secure with every operating-system update, expired credential, and newly discovered vulnerability.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Boonyakiat Chaloemchavalid)

Apple released macOS 26.6 Tahoe, iOS 26.6, and iPadOS 26.6 with a huge number of fixes for security vulnerabilities. However, the release notes for each also include an unusual comment along the lines of “optimizes the Spotlight index in preparation for macOS 27.” At WWDC, Apple promised a rearchitected Spotlight search engine that would be faster and more reliable, so this optimization is likely designed to reduce the time that Spotlight spends rebuilding its index (and thus degrading system performance) after the forthcoming major upgrade. We’ll see how well it works, but for now, consider Spotlight optimization another reason to update to the 26.6 versions using Software Update before you make the jump to the 27 versions later this year.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Pakpoom Makpan)