Andy Betts

Bournemouth

Freelance Journalist at MUO

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Freelance tech journalist, former magazine editor, #afcb fan. Averaging around 10 tweets per year.

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Articles

The Apple Watch Is 10 Years Old. Here’s Why I Never Bought One

1 week ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

The Apple Watch's focus on health and fitness features lacks appeal for those who do not prioritize fitness tracking, leaving a gap for a broader "killer app." The continual barrage of notifications can become intrusive at a time when many are trying to cut back on their screen usage. The bulky design, short battery life, and environmental impact make it less desirable for skeptics.
Learning to Code Online? Don't Make These Mistakes I Did

2 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Online courses are a great starting point but won’t guide you through the entire learning journey. Hitting a wall is common after finishing the beginner material, so be prepared to self-direct your learning. Without a specific project or goal, it’s easy to lose direction and motivation. A while back, I tried learning Python through online courses. Although it was fun, it ultimately didn't end well.
I Always Make These 9 Changes When I Reset My Mac

2 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Although it's nice to start afresh with a new or newly reset Mac, there are several essential changes that I make every time. It's good to have mainstays like the dock, trackpad gestures, and hot corners set up as you like (while disabling some of macOS more irritating features). These are the tweaks I make to help improve multitasking, reduce distractions, and streamline my everyday macOS experience.
I Always Make These 9 Changes When I Reset My Mac

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Andy Betts

2 hours agoSpring clean your Apple Watch to make it feel brand new Why is it so common to treat our homes to a refreshing deep clean every spring, yet we neglect a device we wear all day every day? Unlike your home, it takes very little time to make your Apple Watch feel brand new—inside and out! 1. How to …
I Disabled Animations on My Mac, and It Feels So Much Snappier

2 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | killall Dock |Andy Betts

Disable animations in macOS through the Accessibility settings to boost perceived system responsiveness. Use Terminal commands to speed up the Dock and Launchpad animations. Removing animations may make your Mac feel more responsive when multitasking, although it takes some getting used to. macOS is packed with smooth, fluid animations that both look pretty and help guide you around the system. However, if you multitask heavily, these animations can start to feel a little sluggish.
9 Quick Tips for Apple Notes on a Mac

3 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Apple Notes has been a standalone app in macOS since 2012. It's easy to take for granted, but over the years, it has grown and added some useful and powerful features. From ways to improve your note-taking to tools for better organization, here's how to get more from the Notes app. 1 Stay Organized With Tags We're used to hashtags on social media, and Notes supports them too. Simply type them into your notes, and they will appear in the Tags section in the sidebar.
I Added External Storage to My Fire Stick, and Now I Use It More Than Ever

3 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Adding external storage to a Fire Stick makes it significantly more useful for playing media files, photos, and music. Setting up external storage requires an OTG cable and a USB drive formatted to FAT32, with apps like NOVA Media Player or VLC for playback. A Fire Stick can use external storage for either media or apps, but not both, and not all apps support being moved to external storage. Got a Fire Stick that you don't use very much?
7 Zero-Effort Ways to Instantly Take Better Photos

4 weeks ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Photography can be frustrating. There's often a large gap between how we imagine our images will look and how they actually turn out. But you don't have to learn photographic technique in great detail if you want to get better. A few quick tricks will help make your photos stand out. 1 Change the Perspective The simplest way to make your photos look more interesting is to offer a different perspective on a subject.
Google Pixel 9a vs. iPhone 16e: Which Is the Best Sub-$600 Phone?

1 month ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

Announced within the space of a month, the Google Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e are premium mid-range phones that come in under the $600 mark. If you're in the market for a high-quality but somewhat affordable device, these will likely be at the top of your list. So how do they compare? The Pixel 9a Has Better Color Options The Pixel 9a is a little larger and heavier than the iPhone 16e, in part to accommodate a bigger screen and higher-capacity battery. It also has thicker bezels.
Is It Worth Upgrading to the 2025 MacBook Air M4?

1 month ago | howtogeek.com | Andy Betts

The M4 MacBook Air features a 10-core M4 chip, support for two external monitors, and 16GB memory in the base model. The upgrade might not be so pronounced for M3 MacBook Air owners, outside of superior AI performance and double the RAM. For M1 owners, the upgrade is far more noticeable. If you're still using an Intel MacBook Air, the change will be night and day. With the new M4 chip and a sub-$1000 price tag, the 2025 MacBook Air is a compelling laptop. Does that mean you should upgrade?