Quick Tips!

One of the best parts of my job is how excited I still get when I learn about something new I can do with my devices. I am constantly learning and finding out about new things that I can do or as often is the case, an old tip I’ve forgotten about. Here are three favorites!

Read Song Lyrics in iTunes

How many times have you found yourself singing along to a song and just start to hum through the part you don’t know? Better yet, how many times have you had a friendly argument over what the lyrics really are in a song? Most of us know that you can simply Google the lyrics, but did you know you can get these answers right from iTunes? If you’re running iTunes 12.5 and using Apple Music you can instantly get song lyrics. You can check to see if what you just heard was what you sang by clicking the lyrics button in either the” up next” popover or the mini player window. I will say it doesn’t work for every artist. In my playing around with this feature it worked for most artists. This article took me down memory road for some forgotten artists. Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus album was a favorite of mine in high school. The album is in Apple Music but, alas, not the lyrics.

Copy Phone Numbers From Incoming Calls

I’ve been adding contacts to Contacts from incoming text messages or even via digital address cards, but did you know you can also copy numbers via your incoming call log? This is handy if you need to redial a phone number or share it but you don’t want to keep it on file in your phone. In the phone app’s recent screen, there is a hidden workaround that lets you copy the number. Tap the ‘i’ button (it’s typically blue with a circle around it) next to the call, then press and hold the number for a second or two until the copy button appears. Tap copy and you can then paste that number into Mail, Messages, Notes etc. To paste: tap where you want the number to go and then the paste option will appear.

Take Screenshots

If you experience something weird on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you might find you’re in a situation where you need to record what’s on your screen. There are two quick ways to do this: press command-shift-3 to take a screenshot of your entire screen or command-shift-4 to select a specific area you wish to take a screenshot of. The image will go to your Desktop. On an iPhone or iPad, press the Home and sleep/wake buttons at the same time. Your image will go to your camera roll in the Photos app. On your Apple Watch, press the digital crown and side button simultaneously.