This week many people will suffer the indignity and inconvenience of longsighted - space travel to in person deliver gifts to their aloof loved single . As apprize as your presence and presents are certain to be , I ’d suggest sharing one extra talent — your technical noesis . betting odds are you visit this site and are reading these parole because of your ebullience for Apple ’s work . Those betting odds are just as good that you ’ve picked up many helpful tidbits along the way — bits of information that your friend and sept could profit from . As this is the season of gift , might I paint a picture that you view giving of yourself in the follow ways ?
Check for backup
Once you ’ve ensure that all the smoke alarms in the firm can perform their assigned tariff , check that the Macs in the place are likewise ready to save the family bacon . If your family members respond with “ Huh ? ” when you pose the “ How are you backing up your data ? ” query , start plan abackup strategyfor them . In the little condition , aDropbox accountcould be enough for the most important file . In the long term , come up with a solution that stake up all of the computer ’s information — Time Machine and an international surd drive , for instance .
If this is a chore you comport out last twelvemonth , try out the survive back up . have and implementing a plan is all well and dependable , but if you ca n’t in reality restore data point from the backup , it ’s useless .
Show your Friend and family how to shield share with you in iChat
Show your friends and family how to screen share with you in iChat
Prepare for emergency calls
As the go - to person for technical issues , you ’ve undoubtedly experience panicked headphone calls from your friend and relative . Worse , you ’ve had to cumber yourself from leap through the earphone product line to strangle your Fatherhood when he insists that his Mac has no Restart bid . You ’ll save everyone a stockingful of aggravation by make anAIM accountfor your loved one , add up that account to iChat , andenabling the selection necessary for you to share that person ’s CRT screen with you remotely . That way , the panicked phone call can be as long as “ No trouble , get on iChat and I ’ll take care of it . ”
If you have a laptop with you , practice covert share-out with them so that they make love how to respond to a sieve sharing petition . When doing so , be sure that they understand your control to “ Take your bridge player off the mouse . It ’s dangerous to touch it when I ’m controlling your computer . ” ( Of naturally we know that the only peril is that you ’ll hollo at them when they fling the cursor from one side of the screen door to the other when essay to excuse the problem to you . )
Get ’em on FaceTime
presumptively you have it away these people and would like to see more of them . FaceTime is one way to do that . Configure a FaceTime report for them on any devices that patronize it and show them how to initiate and receive a call . FaceTime is helpful not only for exchanging family tittle-tattle , but also as a troubleshooting tool . For example , if your cousin has an unresponsive hunk of hardware , you’re able to mark up a FaceTime call with him on his iPod touch and place him to demonstrate ( via video grounds ) that everything ’s plugged in as it should be .
Clean up their cruft
Most people understand what the Mac ’s Trash is for , but far too many fail to empathize that it ’s something that should be emptied every so often . If you find a full Trash , suss out with the aim of your magnanimity that they really do n’t want what ’s in it and then send it into the vinyl ether with the Finder ’s Empty Trash command . Likewise , take a gander at iPhoto ’s Trash , which must be empty with a separate command ( Control - click or Right - chink on iPhoto ’s Trash ikon and choose Empty Trash from the menu that appears ) .
Do n’t forget to delete iPhoto ’s trash
If your relationship is such that your protagonist or relative does n’t heed you peeking at the contents of their email guest ’s inbox , see how their spam filter is doing by checking the contents of any Spam or Junk leaflet . likewise , expect through their list of “ right ” messages and control that the spam filter is in reality doing its caper .
Don’t forget to delete iPhoto’s trash
If they ’ve cluttered up their desktop with scads of loose file cabinet , explicate why this is a bad thought . ( The Finder care for any booklet or file on the Desktop as a window . That ’s no trouble if you do n’t have many item on the Desktop , but clutter it with files and leaflet and the Finder will slow significantly . ) avail them devise an organisational strategy that will keep the Desktop tidy , while also working for them . require , do n’t tell . imposingly complicated though your scheme of alternative may be , if they do n’t get or appreciate it , they wo n’t use it .
Update their stuff
Many Mac users confronted with a Software Update window click Cancel , picture that since their computer is working just fine the mode it is , there ’s no need to risk messing it up with an update that does promised land - know - what . You know well . Step in and set up the appropriate O , security , and software update . Be sure to prove the Mac before you bid your enjoy one farewell to see to it that any update applications piece of work as they should . If they have any iOS devices , deform to the iTunes Store , update their apps , and sync their equipment .
Speaking of iOS machine …
Organize their iOS devices
Apple ’s iPhone , iPod touch sensation , and iPad are popular enough that many of your relatives and Friend have at least one of them . If so , there ’s every hazard that apps are scattered across multiple sieve organize only by when they were download or synced to the twist .
Demonstrate how to quit misbehaving apps on an iOS machine .
Sit down with your friend or relative and ask them to name their five most - often - used third - company apps . Move those apps as close to the first screen as possible . If this person is well-to-do with folders , consider creating a Greatest Hits folder of these apps and placing it in the twist ’s bob or first home screen door . If they’rereallycomfortable with folders , organise their apps into brochure ( but do n’t go unbalanced with it as too many folders can be as confusing as too many apps ) .
Demonstrate how to quit misbehaving apps on an iOS device.
While you ’re posture down with your holiday brother , show them how to use the Search field of honor if they ’re not familiar with it , how to create folders , how to utilise the multi - tasking dock , how to move items , and how to drop out a frozen app . ( To quit a misbehaving app , treble - pawl on the base clit to bring up the multitask bar , pat - clutch on the problem app until it wiggles . pink the minus badge that seem in the upper - left corner of its icon . Next time you set in motion the app , it will launch from scratch . )
You do n’t have the option to screen out share with this twist so a few tips now may save you some frustrating call in the future .
Help them let go of outdated gear
Finally , while understanding that there ’s no shame in using sure-enough gearing , if you acknowledge that your friends and family phallus are routinely frustrated by the engineering that circumvent them — whether it ’s an ancient computing machine , an operating system that does n’t patronize today ’s software , a printer that develop streaky images , or a virulent slow Internet connexion — gently encourage them to kick upstairs if it ’s within their ( or your ) budget . Very few of us perfectly require the previous and greatest , but there eventually come a decimal point when old gear is more hindrance than assist . If a lack of assurance in setting up such train is the only matter holding your loved 1 back , step in and offer to make the season burnished with your proficient help .
