Quick-fire questions & answers
WHAT’S BEST TO FREE UP STORAGE ONMY IPHONE?
In Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage there’s a detailed breakdown of how space is being used, listed by purpose. Below that, iOS may list recommended actions you can take, each with an estimate of the amount of space it could save. Offloading unused apps — a new capability in iOS 11 that enables you to remove an app but keep its docs and data on your device — and making use of iCloud Photo Library are usually the best options.
IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO CUSTOMIZE MY IPHONE’S KEYBOARD?
Two popular apps are SwiftKey ( bit.ly/swftkey), which offers in-app purchases, and Google’s Gboard ( bit.ly/googbrd), which is free but encourages you to use Google Search and to provide usage data. Both have an extensive choice of localized layouts, easy access to emoji, and support using your own custom layouts.
WHY WON’T ICLOUD DRIVE KEEP LARGE FILES ONMY MAC?
It’s due to Optimize Mac Storage in iCloud Drive’s preferences. When turned on, it allows macOS to remove local copies of files stored in iCloud Drive and not used recently, if it needs extra space. Their icons remain in place, and copies of the files are kept on Apple’s server. They will redownload if you try to open them, however.
HOW CAN I PREVIEW AFOLDER OF FILES?
The preview in Finder’s Column view is often too small. Instead, you can select the files to inspect and press the Spacebar to open Quick Look; use its buttons or the arrow keys to step through the files. Many common file types can be viewed this way thanks to plugins provided by macOS or with apps.
WHY DOES DISK UTILITY’S FIRST AID FEATURE WARN ABOUT OVERALLOCATION?
Disk Utility may report overallocation on APFS disks that contain more than one volume, when the total size of volumes exceeds drive capacity. This is normal for APFS, and is a warning rather than an error.
HOW CAN I REMOVE A FILE FROM MY TIME MACHINE BACKUPS?
With your backup drive connected, open Time Machine (from its menu bar icon or by opening the app in /Applications). Locate and select the file, then click the cog in the toolbar and choose ‘Delete all backups of’. Don’t delete items using Finder or Terminal; doing that could make your backups unusable.
HOW DO I DOWNLOAD 4KFILMS IN ITUNES?
Although you can buy 4K films on your Mac or iOS devices, Apple TV 4K is the only Apple device that’s currently allowed to download or stream at that quality — not even Retina 4K or 5K iMacs allow it. HDR content is supported on second-gen iPad Pro models and iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus, but at 1080p quality.
HOW CAN I REDUCE THEAMOUNT OF SPACE USED BY MESSAGES?
In Messages, Ctrl-click a conversation in the left pane that you know contains media or other files. Choose Details from the contextual menu; the popover that appears displays all media and files exchanged in that conversation. You can hold Cmd and click multiple items to select them, then Ctrl-click one of your selections and choose to delete those items.