Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
macOS Monterey: What Does a Green or Orange Dot in the Menu Bar Mean?
If you're wondering what the green and orange dots are that you sometimes see in your Mac's menu bar, just next to the Control Center icon, you've come to the right place. Apple has added these to macOS as a privacy feature in order to indicate when an app is using your Mac's microphone or camera.
The feature was first introduced on iPhone and iPad, after it emerged that some popular apps...
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Apple TV Just Got More Screen Savers, Here's How to Get Them on Your Mac
With the release of tvOS 15.2 earlier this week, Apple added nine new high-resolution screen savers to Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, including three featuring Scotland's Isle of Skye and Loch Moidart, and six offering various views of Iceland's stunning landscapes.
Traveling along the coast of the Isle of Skye, Scotland
Apple TV downloads new screen savers on a regular basis depending on your...
Apple Removes All References to Controversial CSAM Scanning Feature From Its Child Safety Webpage [Updated]
Apple has quietly nixed all mentions of CSAM from its Child Safety webpage, suggesting its controversial plan to detect child sexual abuse images on iPhones and iPads may hang in the balance following significant criticism of its methods.
Apple in August announced a planned suite of new child safety features, including scanning users' iCloud Photos libraries for Child Sexual Abuse Material...
How to Turn Off 'Shared With You' on Mac
In macOS Monterey, Apple introduced a feature called Shared with You that takes content you've received in Messages and makes it available in the relevant app on your Mac. So when a friend shares content with you, such as a link to a news story or TV show, that content will show up in a dedicated Shared with You section in the corresponding app.
If you don't want content that's been shared...
How to Use Safari Tab Groups in macOS
In macOS Monterey, Tab Groups are a new Safari feature that aim to make organizing and preserving your open browser tabs more manageable without having to have those tabs active and taking up space.
Tab Groups are a way to easily save and manage related tabs, such as those used when planning trips or shopping, or groups can be used to store the tabs you visit daily.
If you're planning a...
WhatsApp Now Hides Your 'Last Seen' Status From Strangers
WhatsApp has made a privacy change to prevent people on the messaging platform from viewing the "Last Seen" status of users whom they have never chatted with, according to the latest report from independent feature specialist WABetaInfo.
As regular WhatsApp users will know, the "Last Seen" status of a contact sits atop the conversation thread, informing you when that contact last opened the...
How to Open Spotify Links in Apple Music and Vice Versa
Spotify is the biggest music streaming service available, so it's not uncommon to receive a Spotify link from someone to something they want you to listen to on your iPhone or iPad. If you're an Apple Music subscriber, however, that link isn't going to work for you. The opposite of course is also true – if a Spotify subscriber receives an Apple Music link, they'll have to search for the content ...
British Car Leasing Company Creates 'Apple Car' 3D Render Based on Patents
British vehicle leasing company Vanarama has taken a stab at imagining what the first Apple Car could look like, taking inspiration from iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products, and combining them with real Apple patents to come up with a 3D concept render that can be explored inside and out.
Given that Apple remains tight-lipped about its electric self-driving car plans, the concept is ...
EU Member States Agree to Extend Free Mobile Roaming Policy Until 2032
So-called mobile phone "roaming" will remain free within the European Union for another decade, the European Commission has confirmed.
The governing body said that a political agreement had been reached between the member states and the European Parliament to extend the practice until 2032.
In a press release announcing the agreement to extend the free roaming policy, the European...
Firefox 95 Brings Security, Performance, and Efficiency Improvements to Mac
Mozilla has released Firefox 95, featuring a new version of its security sandboxing subsystem called RLBox, and additional performance and efficiency improvements for the macOS version of the web browser.
According to the release notes, RLBox is a new technology that hardens Firefox against potential security vulnerabilities in third-party libraries.
The sandbox subsystem works by...
macOS: How to Quickly Convert Images in Finder
There are many third-party apps available for Mac that will convert images for you, but if you're running macOS Monterey or later, you can convert an image or a selection of images from directly within Finder using a new default Quick Action.
If you're not familiar with them, Quick Actions help you perform certain tasks, such as creating a PDF or rotating an image, right from the Finder or...
macOS: How to Prevent Emails From Tracking You in the Mail App
In macOS Monterey, Apple introduced a new email privacy feature called Mail Privacy Protection, which prevents companies and advertisers from tracking how you interact with their emails. This article explains the feature and how you can control it.
Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature is designed to allow users to opt out of the surreptitious tracking that third-party apps have...
How to Test Your Internet Speed in macOS
Since macOS Monterey was released, Apple has included a tool to check the quality of your Mac's internet connection without having to rely on benchmarks from third-party websites.
After you've joined the Wi-Fi network that you want to test, the tool is accessed via the command line, so you'll need to open the Terminal console (found in Applications/Utilities) and type in the following at the...
How to Customize the Mouse Pointer in macOS Monterey
In macOS Monterey, Apple allows you to change the color of the mouse pointer from the standard white outline and black fill, to pretty much any color combination you want.
So if you're having a hard time working out when it moves or changes to an insertion point, crosshair, hand, or other shape, it's worth switching things up. The following steps show you how.
Launch System Preferences...
iOS 15: How to Add a Hotel Room Key to iPhone and Apple Watch
In iOS 15, Apple has introduced the ability to add a hotel room key to the Wallet app on your iPhone, allowing users to consult their phone or Apple Watch for reservation details, as well as use them to check in and unlock their room.
For example, Hyatt, a well-known hotel chain, in December 2021 announced its adoption of Apple's Wallet technology, with guests able to use Apple Wallet room...
What the Colored Bars Mean in the iPhone Weather App
In iOS 15, Apple's stock Weather app received a major design overhaul, thanks in part to a number of features brought over from the popular weather app Dark Sky, which Apple acquired in 2020.
These features have made the Weather app interface a lot more detailed and extended existing sections to include things like weather maps, rainfall, air pressure, and more.
Apple has also...
How to Check for COVID Exposure Notifications on iPhone
Apple in May 2020 introduced an Exposure Notification System, which lets public health authorities and governments worldwide help people figure out if they've been exposed to COVID-19, and if so, what steps to take next to minimize the spread of the virus.
Apple and Google developed the underlying APIs and Bluetooth functionality, and that technology has been incorporated into apps designed...
WhatsApp Launches Instant Cryptocurrency Payments in the US
WhatsApp has launched a cryptocurrency payment feature for a small number of users in the United States, thanks to Novi integration, a digital wallet owned by Facebook (now Meta).
The pilot program lets users of the encrypted messaging app send and receive money "instantly, securely, and with no fees" using the Paxos Dollar (USPD) stablecoin, whose value is linked to the US dollar.
The...
Microsoft Releases Preview of Native OneDrive Client for Apple Silicon Macs
Microsoft today offered OneDrive users a pre-release version of its OneDrive syncing client for macOS that is optimized to run natively on Apple silicon.
The official support for M1 Macs should make the OneDrive Arm preview run faster on Apple's latest machines, since the client will no longer need to go through Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer.
OneDrive users need to be in the Office ...
Initial Time Machine Backup Failures Increasingly Being Reported by Mac Users
Apple's built-in Time Machine backup solution for macOS appears to be causing problems for some Mac users running the latest versions of Monterey and Big Sur, based on a steady trickle of reports on both the MacRumors Forums and Reddit.
While some users are complaining of different issues with Time Machine on different Macs and versions of macOS that are hard to replicate, one common...
