Software - Tech Tips

New Feature Makes for Stunning PowerPoint Slides

If you’re design-challenged like me, PowerPoint can be a painful experience for everyone. I can select a presentation template to make sure there is a cohesive theme for the slides, but I’m pretty much limited to the layouts provided in the template. Any deviation tends to look unpolished. Then, I learned about the new Designer feature. It’s a game-changer.

Designer takes the content you’ve entered in a slide and suggests different ways to lay it out and use the theme colors. The end result is a much richer variety of slides that make it look like the creator has an eye for good design. Unfortunately, Designer is only available with an Office 365 subscription, not a perpetual license version of PowerPoint.

To get design ideas, select a slide and then Design>Designer in the top menu. If Designer does not appear in the options, go to File (top menu)>Options (bottom left menu)>Scroll to PowerPoint Designer and check these two boxes:

Screenshot showing PowerPoint Designer options with "Automatically show me design ideas" and "automatically show me suggestions when I create a new presentation" checked.

The folks at Tech-Talk have created an article and short video about what Designer is and how to use it in Office 365. This is a great place to start learning about how to use Designer.

If you still have questions after visiting the Tech-Talk article, this page from Microsoft goes into a bit more detail: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-professional-slide-layouts-with-designer-53c77d7b-dc40-45c2-b684-81415eac0617.

Are you using the Designer feature in PowerPoint? Let us know how you like it!

Windows 11: What You Need to Know

If you have a new Windows computer, it probably came with Windows 11. If you have a newer Windows 10 computer, Windows Update is probably nagging you to upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible. The truth is, the Windows 11 interface is significantly different from previous versions, and the new operating system is not without its growing pains. Many Windows 10 users are staying on that version as long as they can. Eventually, though, change is inevitable.

The folks at Tech-Talk have been busy creating articles and webinars to help you make the switch to Windows 11, and the East Greenbush Community Library provides access to Tech-Talk for its patrons.

If you’re currently using Windows 10 and considering an upgrade, check out this video and article about what to do before you update from 10 to 11.

If you’d like a guide to the new interface, this video and article about the new look may be helpful.

They have also created a full webinar with a printable reference guide, which is the most complete resource on Windows 11 that Tech-Talk offers.

Tech-Talk has lots of tips and tricks about Windows in general, not just Windows 11. Check out this list of resources related to Windows.

Still have questions that Tech-Talk hasn’t answered? You can leave them in the comments for us to answer or you can ask Tech-Talk for more information using their “ask a question” form.

How to Find Your Lost Device — Apple Edition

It’s a moment of panic we’ve all had at some point. You reach for your phone or device and it’s not there. You try to call yourself from another phone but you don’t hear your phone ring. Fear not! There is a way you can locate your device, even if it’s in a different location.

Apple has an app called Find My. By default, it comes pre-installed on all devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch).

Setting Up Find My on an iPhone or iPad

There are various ways you can access Find My. The first step is to make sure that it’s enabled on your device.

On an iPhone or iPad, go into the Settings app, and then tap on your name at the top.

Screenshot showing the selection of your name on the settings app.

From there, tap on Find My on the next screen.

Screenshot showing app list with Find My as the third item

Next, you can verify if Find My is on for that particular device. You can also choose to turn it off if you’d like. If you have more than one Apple device, it will show which device is sharing your location with friends and family you have chosen to share your location with. If you are sharing your location with anyone, they will be listed below underneath family (if you have set up Apple Family Sharing) or friends.

Tapping on Find My iPhone/iPad gives you more options, including the option to turn off Find My (note you will need to enter your Apple ID password if you want to turn it off). Find My Network lets you locate your device even if it’s offline. Send last location sends the location of the device to Apple if the battery is very low.

Screenshot showing advanced options in find my app settings.

Setting Up Find My on a Mac

To set up Find My on your Mac, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of the taskbar and then click on System Preferences. Next, click on Internet Accounts. On the left panel, click on iCloud and then scroll down to Find My. Click on the Options button next to Find My. The options below apply to Mac OS Monterey and later.

Screenshot showing how to view find my options on a Mac.

Here you can see if Find My Mac is on and you can also choose the option to locate your Mac even if it’s offline. You have the option to turn both of these off. Keep in mind that to turn off Find My Mac, you will need to enter your Apple ID password.

Screenshot showing find my Mac and find my network are turned on.

Setting Up Find My on Apple Watch and Other Devices

By default, Find My is automatically set up on an Apple Watch when you pair it with your iPhone for the first time. For more information on using Find My with your Apple Watch, Apple has written up a great how-to article.

Additionally, Find My is automatically turned on when you pair your AirPods with your iPhone or iPad for the first time.

Using Find My

Now that it’s been set up, you can easily locate your missing devices in several ways. On an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can open the Find My App, which has an icon that looks like this:

On a Mac, the Find My app is located in the Launch Pad by default.

When you open the app, you will see a map, along with a dock on the bottom. On the bottom dock, tapping the people icon shows friends and family who have shared their location with you and their locations. The devices tab shows mini icons of your devices and their locations on a map. Your family’s devices are also displayed if you have set up Apple Family Sharing. The items tab is for Find My compatible items such as AirTags. The Me button (on an iPhone and iPad) shows your location and from which device the location comes, as well as the option to turn off sharing your location. On a Mac, these tabs are located on the top left.

Screenshot of Find My App showing a map and bottom dock.

Finding a Device on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac

To find a device, tap on the devices tab and then tap on the name of the device you want to locate. It will zoom into the device’s location on a map and give you the address of your device. You’ll have the option to play a sound, which may help if you are near your device’s location.

Screenshot showing find my app detail for a particular device.

Finding a Device with a Web Browser

If you only have one Apple device, don’t worry, there is another way you can locate your lost device. Go onto a web browser on a laptop, desktop computer, or another mobile device, and navigate to iCloud.com. Next, click or tap on sign in. Log in with your Apple ID and password. Don’t worry if you have two-factor authentication enabled, simply click or tap the Find Devices on the lower left.

Screenshot showing how to log in without having access to a second device for two factor authentication.

Enter your password again, and then a map will appear. Click on all devices in the top center, and select a device to locate. A map will zoom into the location of your device. There are options to play a sound, put the device into lost mode, or remotely erase the device in the case of an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.

Screenshot showing device detail on iCloud.com in a web browser.

Putting a Device into Lost Mode

If you cannot find your device, or if it has been stolen, there is also the option to mark the device as lost or remotely erase it. Marking the device as lost causes the following to happen: you will receive a notification on your other devices when its location is available, the activation lock will be enabled so no one can reset your device and link it to their account, a passcode will be required if they try to turn it on, any payments (such as Apple Wallet or Apple Pay) will be suspended, and you will have the option to leave a message on your device displaying a phone number where you can be contacted.

Screenshot showing the option of what happens when you put a device into lost mode.

A device can be put into lost mode from any of the Find My apps or on iCloud.com.

Finding a Device with Apple Watch or with Siri

To find a device with your Apple Watch, check out this helpful article from Apple. If you are in the same location as your device but aren’t sure where it is, you can ask Siri to find it if you have a second Apple device. Simply say, “Hey Siri, where’s my [device name]?” If it’s nearby, she will respond, “your [device name] is nearby, pinging it now” and she will play a sound on the device you’re looking for, including AirPods. If your device is not within range, she will say she can’t find it and suggest that you use the Find My app.

Have you used Find My to locate a device? Let us know in the comments!

How To Stream Video Without an Internet Connection

Streaming video is one of the great entertainment inventions of our time. Before streaming video, you needed a TV with an antenna/cable box/satellite attached or a portable DVD player with physical DVDs to see your favorite shows. Now, you can take them with you on small, convenient devices. This is perfect for those who do a lot of traveling. But what if you are on an airplane or traveling so remotely that there is no internet service? Or what if you are on a limited data plan and want to make sure you don’t get overage charges? Thankfully, most streaming services offer an offline viewing option for just these sorts of situations.

YouTube

Let’s start with YouTube, since it’s probably the most popular video service. In order to make content available for offline viewing, you must have a YouTube Premium subscription.

Downloading

Login to youtube.com or the YouTube app using your YouTube Premium account.
Go to the video and click “Download” below the video.
When the download is complete, the download icon under the video will turn black.

Viewing

Visit youtube.com or open the app while logged in with your Premium account.
Click/tap on Downloads in the menu to access the list. App users will need to click on Library to see the Downloads menu option.
To remove the video from Downloads screen, click/tap “More” next to the video and select Remove from Downloads.
Confirm by clicking/tapping delete.

After downloading a video, you can play it offline for up to 29 days. After that, you must reconnect to the internet so the app can confirm the video is still available for offline viewing. If it’s not, the video will disappear.

Netflix

It is important to note that ad-supported Netflix plans do not include downloads. You must change to an ad-free plan before taking these steps.

Supported devices are:

iOS devices running version 9.0 or later
Android devices running 4.4.2 or later
Amazon Fire tablet running 4.0 or later
Windows 10 (1709 or later), Windows 11
Chromebook and Chromeboxes using the Netflix app from the Google Play store.

The Netflix app has a dedicated tab for “Available to download” in the “Categories” section if you wish to browse. On a Windows device, open the app and select the menu to see the download option. If you know the TV show or movie you want to download, search for it and look for the download icon:

The Fine Print

You can have 100 items downloaded across devices.
You can save the download to an SD card.
Some videos expire 48 hours after you start them, while others don’t.
Some titles limit the number of times you can download them, while others don’t.
If a title leaves Netflix, your download disappears.

Hulu

In order to download, you need to be a subscriber on the ad-free level using the mobile app. If you have add-on subscriptions (like Showtime), you won’t be able to download add-on content. Likewise, content available on demand through the live TV tier is not available for download. If you are logged in with an ad-free account, you will see a download symbol on any eligible title you search for. Tap the symbol to download.

Supported Devices

Hulu supports pretty much every type of device, unless it isn’t updated: https://help.hulu.com/s/article/supported-devices.

The Fine Print

You can only download a total of 25 titles at a time across 5 devices.
Unwatched downloaded videos stay on the device for 30 days.
After you start watching, you have 48 hours to finish before it is no longer downloaded.

HBOMax

Most of the HBOMax streaming catalog is available for download. Like other services, you need to be signed in with an ad-free level plan to download content. Downloading is only available in the app (phone or tablet), and is done by tapping the download arrow icon on the item. To view your downloads in a list, tap the download icon on the bottom edge of the screen.

The Fine Print

Be sure to confirm your preferred language before downloading. You can’t change your audio track once you download.
You can only have 5 copies of the same show downloaded across your devices.
You can have up to 30 downloads at a time across devices (does not include expired)
After you start watching, the download expires in 48 hours.
You can renew an expired download from the download list by tapping the ! icon, and then renew.

Disney+

Like other services, downloading is only available on phones and tablets. There are also very few restrictions, except only being able to download the same title on 10 devices. Once you download a title, you can play it over and over and it never expires. Every 30 days you need to connect one of your Disney+ devices and tap the arrow to download the item. You don’t actually need to wait for it to download again, it just refreshes the download that is already on your device. Just be careful not to logout, or you will need to download all of your titles again. If your subscription expires, you lose access to your downloads.

Download Settings

One thing that is different about Disney+ is that you’ll want to configure your download settings before you download anything. Tap your profile picture, then app settings to enter the settings menu. Scroll to the downloads section.

Select options for video quality, which networks can download content, and where to save the downloads.

Downloading

To download a movie, click on the download arrow icon.
For a TV series, scroll down to Episodes.
- To download the entire season, tap the download arrow icon next to Season, then tap the confirmation prompt.
- Or, tap the download icon next to an individual episode.
- To view your list of downloads, tap the download arrow icon at the bottom edge of the screen.

Amazon Prime

You can download video using a Fire tablet or through the Prime Video app on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows 10. On Android and Windows, you can choose where to save downloaded content. Due to varying licensing agreements, which titles can be downloaded seems hit or miss.

Downloading

For movies, go to the detail page and click the “Download” button.
To download an entire season of TV show episodes, select “Download Season” from the season’s detail page.
To download a single episode of a TV show, Scroll down to the episode list and click the download arrow icon next to the episode you want.

The Fine Print

You can only download an item on up to three devices at a time.
There is no concrete answer to how many titles you can download at a time. Several factors come into play, including your location.
Once a title is downloaded, you have 30 days to watch it. After starting it, you have 48 hours to finish watching.

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ has a smaller streaming library than some of the other services, but the good news is that most titles are available for download. You aren’t limited to the number of Apple Originals you can download, but they do state some of the partner services (like Starz) may have limits on the number of titles you can download on how many devices. If you reach a limit, you will get a notification.

Supported Devices

It probably won’t be a shock to learn that only Apple devices are supported for downloading. You can do so using the Apple TV app on a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

Downloading

Open the movie or show in the app on your device.
Tap the download button, which is next to the episode title for a TV show or on the cover art for a movie.
There is no option to download an entire TV season at once.
To watch downloaded content, open the app and select Library (icon on the bottom edge), then Downloaded. Open a show to see downloaded episodes.

Deleting

To delete in the app, return to the Downloaded list and tap the edit button on the upper-right. Select the items and tap delete. Confirm.
To delete on a Mac, hover over the title card or episode title and select the three-dot icon. Choose “delete from library”, then confirm.

Paramount+

Once again, an ad-free plan is needed for the ability to download. Downloads can be done on iOS and Android phones/tablets, unavailable on iOS 12 and Android 4.4 and below. Use the download icon next to a movie to TV show episode title to download. To watch them, tap Menu, then more, then Downloads, and then tap on the title you want to watch.

To delete from the list, swipe left on the title and select Delete. You may want to select the option to auto-delete after you finish watching to save space on your device. This option is in Menu, then More, then Settings. Toggle the option on.

The Fine Print

Unwatched videos will remain in your download library for 30 days.
One a video is started, you have 48 hours to finish it.
Limited to 25 downloaded videos at a time.
Limited to 5 copies of the same video across devices.

Peacock

You must be logged in on the app with the Premium Plus plan to download on Peacock. To download, tap the download icon in the bottom-right corner. To watch downloaded content, you must be offline. When you open the app offline, you are directed to your downloaded content. To delete, open the app and select the download icon in the bottom-left corner. On the content to delete, tap the icon that says, “Downloaded” and delete.

The Fine Print

Unwatched videos will remain in your download library for 30 days.
One a video is started, you have 48 hours to finish it.
Limited to 25 downloaded videos at a time.
Some pieces of content can only be downloaded twice. Per account. Ever.
Logging out or uninstalling Peacock removes downloaded items from the device.
Peacock is not clear about which types of devices support downloading.

Other Popular Services

Acorn

This service is pretty vague about limits, stating that there may be some limits to the number of times a title can be downloaded a year, and that titles may expire after some time. Like most services, not all of their content is available for download. To download, tap the down arrow icon next to a movie or TV show episode. To watch a download, open the app while you are offline and tap “view my downloads.”

Britbox

Interestingly, Britbox only allows downloading if you subscribed through Apple TV. They do not allow it on their own app, though they say they are exploring more download options for the future.

Summary

Downloading streaming content can be a great way to save data or enjoy content without an internet connection. Do you ever download streaming content to watch offline? Did you even know you could? Let us know in the comments.

How To Make Your Home Screen More Manageable and Efficient in Minutes: Apple Edition

Depending on how long you’ve had your smartphone, your home screen may be pretty crowded and unorganized. Luckily, there are easy ways you can organize your home screen.

screenshot of an iphone showing the home screen.

A Home screen is the main screen or screens on a smartphone where you can tap app icons to access the apps you have installed on your phone. In this post, we will discuss the Apple home screen. Stay tuned for an Android home screen post.

Home Screen and Dock

By default, an iOS device (iPhone or iPad) automatically adds a newly installed app to your home screen.

Screenshot showing location of page indicators and dock on an iPhone.

There is a dot for each home screen page you have. At the bottom of the screen some apps are displayed regardless of which page you are on. This area is called the dock.

Moving and Deleting Apps

To rearrange apps, hold your finger down on an empty area of the screen. The apps will start to wiggle and each app will have a minus symbol next to it. From here, drag the apps into the desired order. If there is an app you use frequently, you can drag it into the dock on the bottom of the screen.

screenshot showing the screen with minus symbols next to each icon

Tapping on the minus symbol next to an app gives you several options. Delete app removes the app completely from your device. You will get a confirmation that verifies that you want to remove the app completely. The second option is to remove the app from the Home Screen. This removes the app icon shortcut, but the app is still on your device and can be accessed on the App Library screen.

screenshot show the message that appears when remove app is tapped. The options include delete app, remove from home screen, and cancel.

Using Folders

You can group your apps into folders. For example, if you have more than one weather app, you may want to put them into a folder called Weather. To create a folder, long-press a blank area of the screen until the apps wiggle. Next, drag an app to another app you’d like to group it with. This automatically creates a folder. A default name is given, usually related to the type of apps you are grouping. To change the name, tap on the folder, and then the name of the folder. To remove a folder, drag all items out of the folder.

GIF showing how to drag an app onto another app in order to create a folder.

Long Pressing an App

Holding your finger down on an app icon gives you quick app shortcuts specific to that app. For example, long pressing the Notes app has several options. You can write a new note, a new checklist, scan a document, and more. There is also the option to choose edit home screen to rearrange your app icons.

screenshot showing what happens when you long press on an app.

The App Library

Starting with iOS 14, there is also the addition of the App Library, which lists all of your installed apps in organized groups. With the addition of the App Library, you no longer need to have all of your apps on the home screen. Each screen where you see app icons is called a page.

The App Library is accessed by swiping through all of your existing pages until you get to the last screen.

GIF showing how to swipe through all the home screen pages to get to the app library

The App Library organizes all of your installed apps into categories such as social, utilities, and more. You can also search your app library to easily access any of your currently installed apps.

If there is an app that is in your App Library and it’s not on one of your home screen pages, tap into the search box. You will get a complete list of all your installed apps in alphabetical order or you can search for a particular app.

screenshot showing an alphabetical list of the app library

If an app is in your App Library but not on your home screen, locate the app in the app library. Once you have located the app, long press on the app icon and tap on add to home screen.

Home Screen Settings

There are several home screen settings you can change depending on your preferences. Go to the Settings App, then Home Screen (Home Screen & Multitasking on a iPad). You can choose whether newly downloaded apps should be added to the home screen or only the app library and whether you want to see notification badges in the App Library. On an iPad, you will also get the option to change app icon size and whether you want to show or hide the dock. Also in iPad settings, you have the option whether you want to see suggested and recent apps in the dock. The image below is a screenshot of the iPad settings.

screenshot showing the home screen and multitasking settings screen from an iPad

Have you used any of these methods to organize your home screen? Let us know in the comments!