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Michael E. Cohen

Michael E. Cohen

Michael E. Cohen has worked as a teacher, a programmer, a Web designer, a multimedia producer, and a certified usability analyst. One of the developers of the first commercial ebooks, Michael is the author of several such works, including the compendious Take Control of Pages.

Michael E. Cohen 1 comment

PDFpen 9 Improves Markup, Tables of Contents, and More

Smile has released version 9 of its PDF utilities, PDFpen and PDFpenPro, featuring enhanced annotation handling, a new search-and-highlight capability, linked files, and more.

Michael E. Cohen 9 comments

TextExpander by Subscription One Year Later

A year ago, Smile made TextExpander a subscription service, causing much hubbub in the Apple community. How has that worked out for the company?

Michael E. Cohen 16 comments

iWork Updates Bring New and Returning Features

Giving new meaning to March Madness, Apple has updated its suite of iWork apps for the Mac, iOS, and iCloud, bringing new refinements and restoring some missing features.

Michael E. Cohen 22 comments

How to Restore Data from iCloud

Calendar confused? Contacts corrupted? Bookmarks bungled? A trip to iCloud.com can help you recover lost data.

Michael E. Cohen 25 comments

The State of iBooks in Early 2017

The capability of storing your iBooks library on iCloud Drive caused problems when Apple introduced it last year. Michael Cohen takes a look to see if the company has resolved those issues.

Michael E. Cohen 5 comments

iBooks StoryTime Brings Read-Aloud Books to Apple TV

Want your kids to turn off the TV and open a book? Apple’s iBooks StoryTime for Apple TV gives your kids a counter-argument. But screen time concerns remain.

Michael E. Cohen 3 comments

Touch Screens, Touch Bars, and the Single Point of Focus

The Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pros is a gimmick, but so was the mouse once upon a time. In fact, Apple’s latest gimmick addresses a problem we didn’t know we had: the friction caused by a single point of focus.

Michael E. Cohen Josh Centers No comments

Despite $9 Billion Profit, Apple Revenues Slump Again in Q4 2016

Even though Apple introduced new products in Q4 2016, the company’s financial slump has continued, with services being the main bright spot in its quarterly earnings report. It’s not exactly doom and gloom, though, since Apple still posted a net profit over $9 billion on revenues of $46.9 billion.

Michael E. Cohen 13 comments

Highlights and Tips for macOS 10.12 Sierra

macOS 10.12 Sierra is now out! We look at some of its new features and offer some tips for using it.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

Massive iOS Text Editor Comparison Chart

How many iOS text editors are there? We’re not sure, but the number certainly exceeds 100. We know this because text maven Brett Terpstra has, with the help of a number of contributors, compiled a list of more than a hundred such apps, presented in an extensive dynamic chart that lists several dozen features and characteristics of each app. If you’re looking for an iPhone writing tool that can export PDF, costs less than $3, and supports Markdown, Brett Terpstra’s chart is the place to go.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

Apple’s iPhone Event: Education, Karaoke, Mario, and More

Before Apple dove into hardware announcements at its September 7th event, the company discussed education initiatives, new enhancements to iWork, Apple Music, and more.

Michael E. Cohen 6 comments

Bookmarks, Top Sites, and More: Finding Your Way Back in Safari

Since Safari’s introduction in 2003, Apple’s default Web browser has added ever more bookmark-like features to help you find your way back to interesting or useful Web pages — so many, in fact, that you need help finding your way among them.

Michael E. Cohen 2 comments

Apple Reports on its 2016 Diversity Efforts

Claiming that “the most innovative company must also be the most diverse,” Apple has released its annual report on the gender and ethnic diversity of its employees.

Michael E. Cohen No comments

Apple Simplifies Relationship between Apple Music and iTunes Match

At Macworld, Kirk McElhearn describes changes coming to Apple Music that make deciding between it and iTunes Match much easier. Apple Music will now match tracks using acoustic fingerprinting instead of track metadata (as iTunes Match already does), and it will no longer apply DRM to matched tracks you download to other devices. Kirk explains the differences in detail with recommendations for those who have subscribed to both services.

Michael E. Cohen 2 comments

First Look at Scrivener for iOS

One of the premiere tools for creative writers, Literature & Latte’s Scrivener, is breaking away from the desktop with a powerful mobile version.