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How to Disable Auto-Play in Safari on Mac for All Video & Audio

written by applenws

Many web users are not too thrilled about auto-playing media, whether it’s autoplaying video or autoplaying sound, or even an autoplaying ad, it can be annoying and frustrating to encounter as you browse the web. But don’t sweat it too much, because modern versions of Safari for Mac allow users to easily disable all auto-playing video and autoplaying audio content.


You must have Mac OS with a modern version of Safari or Safari Technology Preview to have this feature easily available. Safari 11 or later will include this capability, whereas earlier versions will not, however older versions of Safari on Mac can stop autoplaying video with a Debug trick described here. You can update Safari via the App Store Updates tab, and anyone can optionally download and install Safari Technology Preview if you want to run a beta version of a modern Safari version, it will install concurrently to the regular Safari release.

And yes you can also disable autoplay in Chrome, but we’re focusing specifically on disabling autoplay in Safari here.

How to Disable Auto-Play Media in Safari for Mac

This setting will completely prevent all websites from autoplaying any media, whether video or audio, in Safari on a Mac:

  1. Open Safari if you haven’t done so already
  2. Pull down the “Safari” menu and choose “Preferences”
  3. Select the “Websites” tab
  4. Click on “Auto-Play” in the General sidebar of the Websites tab
  5. Look in the bottom right corner of the preference window for “When visiting other websites:” and pull down the submenu to select “Never Auto-Play”

    6. Disabling Auto Play in Safari for Mac for all websites

  6. Optionally, set per-site settings in the ‘Currently Open Websites’ list above*
  7. Close out of Preferences for the changes to take effect

Now you can browse the web without having to worry about auto-playing media blasting unexpectedly .

You may need to quit and relaunch Safari for the change to take effect everywhere.

* You can set exclusions by choosing the per-site settings and allow specific sites to autoplay video if desired, or allow autoplay on every website except for a particular site, and so on. That’s up to you.

Disable Autoplay in Safari for specific websites

Help, I Don’t Have the “Never Auto-Play” Section in Safari Preferences

As specified above, if you do not have the “Auto-Play” settings section of Safari Preferences and the ability to choose “never auto-play” then you are not running a modern version of Safari that supports the feature. You must have Safari 11 or newer.

You can either update Safari to a newer version, or you can follow instructions to stop autoplaying video in earlier Safari builds.

What About Disabling Auto-Play Elsewhere?

Chances are good that if you don’t like Autoplay video in Safari, then you don’t like autoplay in general. Welcome to the club! You can read our various articles discussing auto-play and how to disable it for specific apps and services. Some of the more common places you might want to disable auto-play are:

Do you have any rants, thoughts, tips, or tricks about managing or disabling auto-play media, whether video or audio? Share them with us in the comments below.

Source: OSX Daily

December 12, 2017 0 comment
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Apple Keyboard Light Blinking Twice and Won’t Reconnect to Mac? Here’s the Fix

written by applenws

The Apple Keyboard light blinks twice when the keyboard is ready to be paired via Bluetooth with a Mac or another device, indicating it is ready to be setup. In other words, if you just got a brand new Apple Keyboard then the light will blink when turned on, and you need to pair it to a Mac before it will work. But that’s not our focus here, this article is for troubleshooting the rare situation where the Apple Keyboard indicator light will randomly start blinking twice after disconnecting from the computer for no obvious reason, typically met with the MacOS Bluetooth preference panel reporting errors like “Not Connected”, “Couldn’t connect to the device”, and “Pairing failed”.

If you run into the blinking keyboard light problem seemingly out of nowhere on an Apple Keyboard that has already been paired with the Mac before, or after a Mac has been asleep and then woken up, you can typically fix the blinking keyboard light problem with a relatively simple troubleshooting approach.

Before beginning, be sure the Apple keyboard batteries are sufficiently charged. If the battery charge is too low or zero, the Bluetooth connection will not sustain itself or even initiate at all. In fact if the keyboard is disconnecting seemingly at random, it’s likely because of battery. This article does not aim to be another general Bluetooth device disconnection troubleshooting guide however, and instead is focused specifically on the twice-blinking light on Apple Keyboards after they have already been setup before.

The blinking Apple Keyboard light looks like the following, the light is at the top of an Apple Keyboard and will blink twice, then briefly stop, then blink twice again, repeating until the keyboard is either paired or turned off:

Blinking Apple Keyboard light fix

Wait! Is the Apple Keyboard new? Did you Setup & Pair the Bluetooth Keyboard and Mac Yet?

The reason the Apple Keyboard light blinks twice is to indicate it needs to be setup and paired to the Mac. Typically this only happens when the the Apple Keyboard is brand new or being setup with a new Mac.

If you have not setup the Apple Bluetooth keyboard on the Mac yet, do that first by going to the Bluetooth control panel ( Apple menu > System Preferences > Bluetooth) and pair the Apple Keyboard to the Mac.

Apple Keyboard working in Bluetooth and connected

Remember, the guide here is aimed at users who experience the blinking light keyboard issue at random on a Mac that was already configured to use the paired keyboard.

How to Fix Blinking Apple Keyboard Light on a Mac

Try this simple approach first to resolve the blinking keyboard light issue:

  1. Turn the Apple Keyboard off (hold the power button for a few moments)
  2. Pull down the  APPLE menu and choose “System Preferences” then go to the “Bluetooth” preference panel
  3. Click “Turn Bluetooth Off”
  4. Now go back to the  Apple menu and choose “Restart”
  5. When the Mac starts back up, go back to the  Apple menu > System Preferences > Bluetooth, an now choose “Turn Bluetooth On”, then leave the Bluetooth preference panel open
  6. Turn the Apple Keyboard ON again by pressing the power button
  7. Wait a moment and the Apple Keyboard should appear within the “Devices” list of the Bluetooth preference panel and re-sync

That should fix it, but if the Apple Keyboard is still not working you may need to go a step further and remove the paired keyboard from the Mac, then reboot and pair the keyboard yet again. Those steps are covered next.

Is the Apple Keyboard Blinking Twice Still? Try Removing & Re-Pairing Apple Keyboard to the Mac

If the above trick fails to resume keyboard functionality for whatever reason, you can remove and then re-pair the Apple Keyboard to the Mac:

  1. Go to the  Apple menu > System Preferences > Bluetooth
  2. Select “Apple Keyboard” and then hit the Delete key on the keyboard and confirm you want to remove the Bluetooth device
  3. Restart the Mac
  4. Upon a successful reboot, return to the Bluetooth system preference panel
  5. Turn on the Apple Keyboard by pressing the Power button to trigger the pairing process again
  6. Choose “Pair” when Apple Keyboard reappears in the Bluetooth Devices list
  7. Enter the numbers shown on screen via the connected Apple Keyboard to pair the keyboard to the Mac

    8. Pairing the Apple Keyboard to stop blinking light

The removal and pair again approach works every time that I personally have run into this issue on my Apple Keyboard, but since it’s slightly more cumbersome than the first approach, which often works too, it’s included as secondary troubleshooting tip.

The above steps should do the trick. If for whatever reason you continue to have difficulty with Bluetooth keyboard, you might want to reset the Bluetooth module on a Mac and start over. That should really not be necessary for the vast majority of Bluetooth troubles however, and usually just confirming the battery is sufficient and then pairing a device again is sufficient to remedy a Bluetooth connection problem.

By the way if you find yourself struggling with this issue with Bluetooth peripherals, you may find it useful to learn how to enable Bluetooth on a Mac without a keyboard or mouse. Note if you ever see the “Bluetooth not available” error on a Mac then you have a separate issue that is typically resolved with a hardware SMC reset and the forced creation of new Bluetooth preferences.

Did this article help you resolve the blinking light issue on an Apple Keyboard and a Mac? Do you have another solution? Share with us in the comments below!

Source: OSX Daily

December 11, 2017 0 comment
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How to Stop iTunes Shuffling Music on Mac and Windows

written by applenws

iTunes for Mac and Windows has a feature which allows music to shuffle between songs in a library, and sometimes iTunes appears to automatically shuffle songs in a music library whether the user intended to enable the feature or not. Often this is because a user has selected to enable the shuffle option intentionally but forgot about it, but sometimes shuffle my be turned on accidentally or inadvertently. Additionally, some iTunes users occasionally report that their music will seemingly shuffle and skip between songs randomly as well.

If you want to disable music shuffling in iTunes in Mac OS or Windows, you can easily do so using a few different methods.


One approach is to look for the little shuffle button which toggles the feature off and on, it looks the same in iTunes on a computer as it does in iOS. Another approach is to disable the shuffle feature through menu options.

How to Stop iTunes Shuffling Music on Mac or Windows

Setting shuffle off via the iTunes menu items is easy:

  1. Open iTunes if you have not done so already, and start playing any music or song from a library
  2. Pull down the “Controls” menu and then go to the “Shuffle” submenu
  3. Select “OFF” so that the checkmark appears next to the Off label to disable shuffling

    4. Stop iTunes shuffling music by turning Shuffle OFF

This should completely turn off shuffling of music in iTunes on Mac OS or Windows.

Note that if you turn shuffling to OFF and the music continues to shuffle, you will likely want to turn shuffle on, start playing music, then turn shuffle OFF again, and that should resolve it. It’s likely iTunes version dependent, but some users have reported off and on that shuffle seems to either turn itself on, or is stubbornly persistent even if toggled off. Of course, user error or misunderstanding how shuffle works is also a possible explanation, particularly for those who are not familiar with the shuffle button icon which exists in iTunes, and is fairly easy to toggle on unintentionally. That’s another way to turn off and on shuffling, which we’ll get to next.

Disabling Shuffling of Music and Songs on Mac or Windows via Shuffle Toggle

Another approach to disable shuffling of iTunes music is to toggle the button switch. The shuffle button in iTunes looks the same as it does on iPhone and iPad, so if you’re familiar with shuffling music in iOS 11 and iOS 10, or disabling shuffling in iOS, then you likely know what button to look for.

  1. Open iTunes and start playing any song as usual
  2. Look at the little iTunes track info display at the top of the app which shows the artist, song name, and song length, then find the little shuffle button and click it so that it’s not highlighted

    3. Turn off Shuffle music in iTunes

The shuffle button looks like two intersecting arrows.

If shuffle is enabled, it will look like it does above and below, with a darkened highlight around the button:

Turn off Shuffle music in iTunes

If shuffle is disabled, it will look like two intersecting arrows without a border or highlight on them:

Shuffle button in iTunes

Some people may disable Shuffle in iTunes because they want to play through a track list as it appears in iTunes library, or because they want to stay on one particular album. If you’re disabling shuffle for the latter reason, another helpful tip for shuffling in iTunes involves joining songs together as a compilation in iTunes so that they shuffle together, which works great for shuffling within albums or within artists with broad libraries.

This may seem like a simple or obvious trick, but many users are not aware of how shuffling works or may not be aware that they enabled it accidentally, usually by clicking the little arrow shuffle button.

Of course enabling shuffling is just as easy as selecting the “ON” option in the Shuffle menu, or by clicking on the shuffle button and leaving it highlighted. Use the setting as you want and as you enjoy your music library.

Source: OSX Daily

December 10, 2017 0 comment
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iPad Says “Not Charging” When Plugged Into Computer? Here’s The Fix

written by applenws

You may have noticed that iPad can be charged not only with the included iPad charger, but also by using an iPhone charger, or by connecting an iPad to a computer via USB cable to charge. While all of these methods will charge an iPad battery, though some slower than others, sometimes you may encounter an error message with certain charging methods, where the iPad says it is “Not Charging”. The “Not charging” message usually shows up when iPad is plugged into a computer via USB, but sometimes it will show up when plugged into an iPhone charger as well.

While there are many reasons an iPad may report it is “Not Charging”, a particularly common reason relates to the power source, and thus here offers a simple solution. But there are a few other possible issues that can cause an iPad not to charge as well, so lets cover the most common reasons an iPad will show “not charging” message in the top bar of the device, and what you can do to fix it.

1: Wait! Check the iPad Port for Obstructions

Before going any further and tweaking with power cables and iPad chargers, check the iPad charging port for any potential gunk, dust, lint, debris, or another obstruction.

Use a wooden or plastic toothpick and clean out the port on the bottom of iPad to make sure there’s nothing stuck in there.

Check for port obstructions on iPad which can prevent charging

This probably sounds silly, but it’s more common than you might think to find some kind of stuff jammed into the lighting port on the bottom of iPad, particularly if the iPad gets placed into bags often, or gets used frequently by kids. Mystery lint, play dough, food particles, a grain of rice, dirt, rocks, you’d be surprised at the strange things that can end up jammed into the little charging ports which will prevent the thing from charging at all, so be sure you thoroughly check it and make sure it is clear of obstruction. Anything that interferes with a connection can prevent the device from charging, and while crud prevents iPhone from charging far more often than it might on an iPad, it can still happen to the tablets too.

2: iPad Says “Not Charging” When Plugged Into a Computer with USB? Try This

I frequently see the “Not charging” message on my iPad when it is plugged into a particular USB port on a particular Mac. This suggests that given USB port isn’t sending enough power to be able to sufficiently charge the iPad, so despite being plugged in it may continue to run down the battery, or the very least not actually charge the battery and just show the ‘not charging’ message. Two possible solutions to this are as follows:

  • Try connecting the charger cable to a different USB port on the computer
  • Try a different USB cable completely*

* You can always buy a Lighting USB cable from Amazon for a reasonable price here if need be.

Important: if the USB cable is frayed, torn, or otherwise damaged, you will want to get a new USB cable and use that one instead. A damaged charging cable will be unreliable at best and should be replaced as soon as possible, you can get a new Lighting to USB cable from Amazon for a reasonable price here. Be sure you get a certified charging cable, since cables that are not certified often won’t work.

iPad says Not Charging and how to fix that

That alone may resolve the issue, but not always.

3: Next, Try Connecting iPad to the iPad 12w Wall Charger

A solution that almost always resolves the iPad “Not Charging” message if it relates to power insufficient is plugging the iPad directly into a dedicated iPad 12w charger from a wall outlet. These come with every iPad sold and look like a little square block that plugs into an outlet.

iPad charging 12 watt adapter

Note you want to use the iPad 12w charger, and not a 5w iPhone charger, because while the iPhone charger should technically charge the iPad, it will do so much more slowly simply because the power output is dramatically less (5w vs 12w). You may also experience that if a game or something power hungry is running on iPad while connected to a 5w iPhone charger, the battery may still drain despite being connected, simply because the charger power output is dramatically less than what is intended for iPad. Thus, use the 12w iPad charger, and it should charge just fine.

If you somehow lost the iPad 12w charger you can buy a new one on Amazon for a reasonable price here, some of them are third party chargers so pay attention to who you order from on Amazon.

Now iPad is charging as should be

If you’re still having problems you can also see some tips on how to fix an iPhone that won’t charge here, most of those suggestions apply to an iPad as well.

Those three major tips should solve your iPad charging problems if you see the “Not charging” message in the top bar of the iPad. Give them a go and let us know what works for you in the comments below.

Source: OSX Daily

December 9, 2017 0 comment
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How to Show Battery Percentage on iPhone X

written by applenws

If you have an iPhone X you may have noticed that the battery percentage indicator is not an option to enable in the device settings. This is probably because the prominent notch at the top of the screen, which houses the front facing camera and the phones ear speaker, does not allow for sufficient room on its sides to fit the battery percentage indicator.

So how do you see the battery percentage indicator on iPhone X? And how do you know what percentage charged the iPhone X is, or how much percentage charge is left on the iPhone X battery?

With iPhone X, there is a way to see the battery percentage on the phone, but it’s probably not where you’d expect it to be.


That’s because battery percentage on iPhone X is now tucked into Control Center. Thus, you must access Control Center to see the battery percentage on iPhone X. Well, technically there’s another way too with charging the iPhone X, but we’re emphasizing the Control Center approach here.

How to See Battery Percentage Indicator on iPhone X

Open Control Center on iPhone X, which is different than opening it on any other device, and you’ll find the battery indicator you are looking for:

  1. Swipe down from the top right of the iPhone X screen (the portion of iPhone X screen to the right of the Notch) to access Control Center
  2. Look in the upper right corner of Control Center to see the battery percentage indicator next to the battery icon

    3. View the battery percentage indicator on iPhone X

Anytime you want to see battery percentage on iPhone X, just open Control Center.

Show battery percentage indicator on iPhone X

This is notably different from other iPhone or iPad models without the screen notch, where you can use an iOS setting to show battery percentage all the time in the top icon bar.

Seeing Battery Percentage Indicator on iPhone X When Charging

There is one other way to see battery percentage on iPhone X: when charging the phone.

When you start to charge iPhone X either with a pad charger or plug-in charger, you will see the battery percentage as well splash on the screen briefly. Just plug in iPhone X or rest it on a plug-free conductive charger, and you’ll see it briefly.

But that’s much less convenient and you likely won’t use that method if you’re on the road. So we’ll focus on the Control Center approach instead.

It’s possible Apple will change who you invoke Control Center on iPhone X and place it into the App Switcher like it is on the iPad now, and it’s also possible Apple will enable some other way to see the percentage of battery on iPhone X without having to access Control Center. But for now, open Control Center on iPhone X to see the battery time remaining.

Source: OSX Daily

December 8, 2017 0 comment
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How to Use the One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

written by applenws

The latest iOS versions support one-handed keyboard mode for iPhone. One Handed Keyboard shifts the touch screen keys over on the screen to the left or to the right, so that it’s theoretically easier to reach the keys with a single thumb. This keyboard feature can be particularly helpful for users who have the larger iPhone Plus and iPhone X models and find them challenging to type on one handed.

It’s very easy to enable and use the one handed keyboard on iPhone, but like so many other iOS features it’s also easy to overlook or miss entirely. This tutorial will show you how to enable and use the iPhone One-Handed Keyboard feature.


You will need a modern version of iOS for iPhone to have this feature available, anything beyond iOS 11 has the capability. The iPad does not have one handed keyboard support.

How to Enable and Use One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

You can quickly switch into and out of One Handed Keyboard mode on iPhone, here’s how it works:

  1. Access the keyboard anywhere on the iPhone as usual, whether in Messages, Mail, Safari, Notes, etc does not matter
  2. Tap and hold on the Emoji icon in the lower left corner of the keyboard (it looks like a little smiling face icon)*

    3. How to enable One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

  3. When the pop-up keyboard menu appears, tap on the keyboard icons to shift into the equivalent One Handed Keyboard mode:
  • Left: keyboard shifts to the left, if you type with your left thumb this is likely what you’d use
  • Center: the default iPhone keyboard, centered and not shifted over into One Handed Mode
  • Right: keyboard keys shift to the right, if you want to type with your right thumb this is probably what you’d use

How to enable One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

  • One Handed keyboard will be enabled, shifting the keys over to the left or right side of the screen depending on what you chose

    • If you struggle with typing with a single hand and usually rely on using two hands for texting and typing, try out the one-handed keyboard, it might help you out and you might just like it.

    The One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

    * Note the Emoji access icon, which is now a smiley face, used to be a little globe icon, and is also where you switch keyboard languages in iOS if you have multiple different languages and/or emoji enabled. If you somehow don’t have Emoji enabled you can easily turn it on in iPhone settings.

    Exiting One Handed Keyboard on iPhone

    Note that once One Handed Keyboard is enabled, you can quickly disable it and go back to the normal default keyboard by tapping the arrow button on the side of the iPhone one-handed keyboard.

    Exit One Handed Keyboard mode on iPhone

    This feature is only available for iPhone and iPod Touch, perhaps for obvious reasons it is not on iPad. The iPad does have some other nifty keyboard typing tricks though, including the split keyboard which can help typing with thumbs only. If you like this, you may appreciate some other helpful iOS touch screen typing tips too.

    Source: OSX Daily

    December 7, 2017 0 comment
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    How to Play All Videos in a Folder on Mac OS with a Playlist and VLC

    written by applenws

    If you’re a Mac user with a lot of video files and movies, you may wonder how you can play multiple video files one after another in a playlist. While the native Quicktime app is a great media player, it doesn’t offer a playlist capability, so if you want to play all videos from a folder on the Mac you will need to rely on a different app.


    There are a few options for playing multiple video files from a folder or some other movie collection, including even using iTunes, but perhaps the best option for most Mac users is VLC, a free third party app that is also a bit of a swiss army knife of media playing, not to mention cross platform compatible, and arguably one of the best video players on a Mac.

    How to Play Videos in a Playlist in Mac OS

    1. Download from here (it’s free) and install VLC on the Mac if you have not done so already
    2. Launch VLC

      3. Play multiple videos in a playlist on the Mac with VLC

    3. From the Finder, locate and select the multiple video files you want to play sequentially in a playlist on the Mac
    4. Drag and drop those selected video files into the VLC icon, or the VLC application interface that is open in Mac OS

      5. Drag and drop videos into VLC

    5. The videos will begin playing automatically, in sequential order
    6. Access the playlist by going to the VLC “Window” menu and choosing “Playlist”

      7. Playlist under the Window VLC menu

    7. Modify the play order by dragging and dropping the video files shown in the playlist as necessary

    You can drag an entire folder of videos or movies into VLC to create a playlist, otherwise choose a collection of movies to play by selecting multiple files on the Mac and dragging those into the media player app.

    VLC can make video playlists easily

    While this applies to the Mac, you can accomplish the same sequential video playlist on iPhone and iPad by using VLC for iOS, which also plays a wide variety of video formats and types. And since VLC is cross platform compatible, you can also setup the same playlists the same way on a Windows PC, Android, or linux machine too.

    As mentioned before, you can also create a new playlist in iTunes and play multiple video files that way, but VLC is a better choice for many users because VLC has a very broad range of media file compatibility and is able to play MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, amongst many other video file formats.

    If you know of another (or better) approach to playing multiple video files in a playlist on the Mac, let us know in the comments below!

    Source: OSX Daily

    December 5, 2017 0 comment
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    How to Disable Emergency SOS on iPhone X to Stop Accidentally Dialing 911

    written by applenws

    The iPhone X offers an Emergency SOS feature which will automatically dial 911 when the devices side buttons are held down for several seconds. The Emergency SOS countdown then starts blaring an alarm and counts down from 3, 2, 1, before dialing emergency services on your behalf, thanks to a feature called Auto Call. While this could theoretically be useful in some extreme scenarios, it can also be triggered surprisingly easy by simply trying to force reboot the iPhone X, taking a screenshot on iPhone X, by trying to temporarily disable Face ID, or even just by accident of holding down a few buttons.

    With a little settings adjustment, you can disable Auto Call with Emergency SOS. With the feature disabled, you can still use Emergency SOS, but you will have to swipe the onscreen Emergency SOS control to dial emergency services, rather than simply hold down the iPhone X hardware buttons.

    How to Disable Emergency SOS Auto Call on iPhone X

    This disables auto calling of emergency services by holding down buttons on the iPhone X, yet still allows the feature to be used directly if need be.

    1. Open the “Settings” app on iPhone X and then go to “Emergency SOS”
    2. Disable “Auto Call” by flicking the switch to the off position

      3. Disable Auto Call of Emergency Services on iPhone X

    Now you can still summon the Emergency SOS screen (which is also the same screen which lets you shut down and turn off iPhone X and access Medical ID), without accidentally calling 911 due to the Auto Call feature by holding the buttons a little too long.

    Again, you can still call emergency services through Emergency SOS if you disable Auto Dial, but you must swipe to the right on the Emergency SOS button when it appears on screen after holding down the side buttons on the iPhone X.

    Emergency SOS screen on iPhone X

    Don’t forget you can have Siri dial Emergency Services and 911 for you too, so if you have Hey Siri enabled for voice activation, you can do it entirely hands free, and perhaps more intentionally.

    And in case you were wondering, yes people are accidentally dialing 911 due to this feature, and I myself have unintentionally activated it several times, thankfully canceling it within the few second countdown in time to avoid a mistaken call which ties up local emergency responders. The same feature also exists on the Apple Watch, where likewise people are accidentally dialing emergency services with that device too.

    If you’re at all worried about this, or if you have discovered the siren alert blaring out of your pocket unexpectedly because it’s dialing 911, just disable Auto Call and you’ll prevent most erroneous dialing.

    Source: OSX Daily

    December 4, 2017 0 comment
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    iPhone or iPad Crashing to a Black Screen as of Dec 2? Here’s How to Fix

    written by applenws

    Is your iPhone or iPad crashing repeatedly to a black screen as of December 2? The crash is usually seen by the end user as a sudden appearance of a black screen with a spinning wheel cursor, and then you must enter your passcode to use the device again. If the bug is particularly bad, sometimes the moment you enter the passcode the device will crash yet again, putting it into some sort of annoying crash loop.

    If this describes what you are experiencing on an iPhone or iPad, your device is likely being impacted by the odd date bug that has now been patched with iOS 11.2.

    In other words, you can fix this problem (or prevent it from happening in the first place) by downloading and installing iOS 11.2 on the iPhone or iPad.


    The problem appears to originate with other versions of iOS 11 and how some apps handle local notifications and alerts, so apps that may try to remind you or alert you of something can trigger the bug and then cause the crash loop sequence.

    Tips for Fixing the Crash Loop Bug in iOS 11

    If your device is actively stuck in a crash loop with iOS 11, you must update to iOS 11.2 to resolve the problem. You can try the following if you’re stuck in a crash loop:

    • Put the device into Do Not Disturb mode via Control Center
    • Or, disable notifications in iOS completely for each third party app (via Settings > Notifications > toggling off per app)
    • Then update to iOS 11.2 via the Settings app, or via iTunes on a computer

    It’s not clear how widespread the problem is, and not everyone will be impacted by the bug because not everyone has one of the apps pushing local notifications to the device which could then trigger the crash.

    And as to why it started happening on December 2 specifically is also a bit of a mystery, but perhaps we’ll find that out over time.

    The crash loop bug is pretty annoying, and is probably why Apple released iOS 11.2 on a weekend – an unusual perhaps even rushed move for the company, which typically only releases new system software versions during the week days.

    Anyway, if you’re impacted by this and have an iPhone or iPad on iOS 11, or you are concerned about being impacted by this, update to iOS 11.2 on the iPhone or iPad. The bug should not impact devices running earlier system software releases prior to iOS 11.

    Source: OSX Daily

    December 2, 2017 0 comment
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    How to Disable Auto HDR on iPhone X and iPhone 8 Camera

    written by applenws

    The latest iPhone models from Apple default to automatically enabling HDR on the device camera, this includes iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 8. HDR can often create better looking pictures by blending color range from different exposures into a single image, but it can also sometimes make pictures look strange or even worse, particularly in some lighting situations and with some pictures of people as well.

    By disabling auto HDR on iPhone, you also regain the “HDR” button in the iPhone camera app, which lets you choose HDR to be on, off, or automatically enabled depending on lighting, and directly from within the camera app itself. This contrasts to the default state on new iPhones, which hides the “HDR” button since the auto feature is enabled by default. In other words, if you want the HDR button controls returned to the iPhone Camera app, you have to disable Auto HDR in Settings.

    How to Disable Auto HDR on iPhone and Get HDR Button Back in Camera App

    This only applies to the latest iPhone models with auto HDR enabled by default, older iPhones will not have auto HDR enabled in Settings.

    1. On the iPhone, open the “Settings” app and go to “Camera”
    2. Look for the “HDR (High Dynamic Range)” section and toggle “Auto HDR” to the OFF position

      3. Disable Auto HDR in iPhone Camera Settings

    • Optional but helpful to some; enable “Keep Normal Photo” so that you can determine which of the two photo types you prefer*
  • Return the iPhone Camera and you will now see the “HDR” button option at the top of the camera screen again

    With Auto HDR disabled in the general Camera Settings, the “HDR” button option returns to the Camera app itself, where it can toggled directly.

    HDR options returned to Camera app in Iphone

    And yes, you can also set HDR to be on “auto” within Camera app again, even if Auto HDR is turned off in Settings. When you turn off “Auto HDR” in Settings, it brings the controls back into Camera app, just like they were on prior iPhone models. Additionally, you can also turn HDR off, or HDR on, directly from the camera app again on iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. This is admittedly confusing, but that’s the way it works in current versions of iOS for the newest iPhones. Basically, if you want more direct control, turn the feature off in Settings, so that you can then turn the feature on or off as you want in the Camera app itself.

    The Camera Settings section on iPhone has some other useful options you might want to check out, including enabling the camera grid, making sure iPhone camera can read QR codes, setting iPhone camera to take photos as JPEG or HEIF format, and many others.

    * The “Keep Original Photos” option is recommended if you want to see what both the HDR and non-HDR photo looks like when an HDR photo is captured. You’ll see them both alongside one another in the Photos app Camera Roll when available, it may look like the same photo from the thumbnail, but if you look closely at the two images you’ll see they are different as HDR pulls in a wider range of exposures and then uses software to join them into a single picture, whereas the standard photo does not do that. HDR is often loved or hated, and other times not even noticed, but for anyone who likes to geek around with an iPhone camera they will undoubtedly appreciate the choice and being able to see both pictures directly. The primary downside to enabling “Keep Original Photo” with HDR is that you end up with two of the (generally) same picture.

    If you enjoyed this you’d likely appreciate browsing through other Camera tips as well.

    • Source: OSX Daily

    December 1, 2017 0 comment
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