It was always good, but now it has selective edits, making it great. Adobe’s AI is still better, though — Apple Photos has great features, not least a comprehensive set of image editing functions. What it lacks is selective edits, and its AI is a little under-powered. Tap the magic wand icon, and the results can be underwhelming. Other apps do better. Adobe Lightroom is very capable, even the mobile…

Add this simple shortcut to create shortcuts for contact details, addresses, standard responses and more — The iOS/iPadOS operating systems offer a simple text replacement capability, which is handy. For example, if I type “zwm”, it expands to “Will Murphy”. You can find this in Settings/General/Text Replacement. There are limitations, however. You can’t include new lines, and there is no support for formatting.

I use memories of talks with my mother + ChatGPT to explore how AI could soothe the loss of a partner — I supported my bereaved mother from a distance in what turned out to be her last year. I lived abroad, but we had always been in regular contact by phone. Weekly calls became (at least) daily calls after my father’s passing. It’s obvious to me now that my mother was…

You can’t be too careful with your iPhone screen; other uses for portrait mode; iPhone helps out Sony a7 IV; Puzzling out Osmo — Get a screen protector for your iPhone! In years past, I wouldn’t dream of using my iPhone without a case, but with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, I went MagSafe. I like seeing the colour of my iPhone, so I went with the leChivée Magnetic Crystal Clear Cover. It claims drop protection. Good job because I did…

I had a list of 84 albums. Why didn’t anyone say I could organise them with folders? — Over the last 16 years, I’ve accumulated 84 photo albums in Apple Photos, not counting what’s in the shared library. I’m certain most of them are there for a reason, even if some of those reasons are lost in time. My biggest gripe? It’s not that I’ve forgotten why many…

It has gotchas but it’s worth it: how I began turning my house into a smart home — Apple HomeKit is like a garden shed project you began but only partially completed. The basic structure is there — doors, walls, roof, windows — but it isn’t fully fitted out. That doesn’t mean, however, that it won’t keep the rain off or the wind out. Apple haven’t finished HomeKit…

Tim, ChatGPT will transform how we use computers, not VR — Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything… — Steve Jobs, MacWorld 2007 In 2007, Steve Jobs famously introduced the iPhone, and its potential for transforming how we lived, worked and entertained ourselves was clear for all to see. And it fitted into your pocket…

Innovation from Canon got me into photography, but sadly Canon and its competitors lost their way. — Selling stock photos in 2005 meant spending big money. Submissions had to meet high technical standards that only expensive cameras could deliver. One stock agency, for example, demanded 50MB image files — I think it was Alamy. Only pro cameras could create image files that big. …

The iPhone makes it easy, but the Sony makes you feel — The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have remarkable cameras. Remarkable enough to make wonder why I bother with my expensive Sony equipment. On a trip to London, I did a general comparison between the iPhone 14 Pro Max and my Sony. I’ve also looked at their telephoto capabilities, so…