• iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Swift

    Hello Swift

    Let’s do a typical Hello World example in Swift. I have Xcode installed, so I can invoke a swift environment using xcrun, a command to start an interactive Xcode environment and then defining swift as the language I want to use, as follows using a standard Mac terminal session: $xcrun swift Then I get a welcome screen, which is kind: Welcome to Apple Swift version 2.1.1 (swiftlang-700.1.101.15 clang-700.1.81). Type :help for assistance. Then, I can throw some string into a variable: 1> let mystring = "Hello Swift" And I get a response that the string was accepted, as a string: mastering: String = "Hello Swift" Then I can just echo…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Hey Photos, stop opening when I plug in my devices…

    When I plug my iPad in, Photos opens. I want it to stop opening when I plug it in. To make it stop, write a disableHotPlug key into com.apple.ImageCapture as true: defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ImageCapture disableHotPlug -bool true To enable Photos opening when you plug in a device again, just delete the disableHotPlug key: defaults -currentHost delete com.apple.ImageCapture disableHotPlug

  • iPhone

    A quick list of iOS Functionality Restrictions

    There are a lot of payloads that MDM and profiles can manage in iOS. Restrictions are probably the one I get the most questions about. And most are pretty self-explanatory. Sooooo, rather than open Profile Manager every time I need to see the list, here it is: Allow use of Camera Allow FaceTime Allow screenshots and screen recording Allow AirDrop (supervised only) Allow iMessage (supervised only) Allow voice dialing while device is locked Allow Siri Allow Siri while device is locked Enable Siri profanity filter (supervised only) Allow user-generated content in Siri (supervised only) Allow iBooks Store (supervised only) Allow installing apps using Apple Configurator and iTunes Allow installing apps…

  • Bushel,  iPhone

    Blueprints and Bushel

    Bushel shipping a new feature this week call Blueprints. Blueprints are similar to groups, and allow you to assign different options in Bushel to different devices that have a blueprint assigned to them. This also allows you to define one device per blueprint and therefore have different options for different computers. Pretty cool on a few different fronts. And it provides a lot of flexibility for some really, really cool new features we’ve planned for the product. For more on this great new feature, check out this great article from the new Bushel Product Manager, Michael Devins.

  • Apple Configurator,  iPhone,  JAMF,  Mass Deployment

    Use Apple Configurator 2 To Automate Casper Enrollment

    Enrolling iPads and iPhones into JAMF’s Casper suite can be done through Apple Configurator 2, text messages, email invitations, Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP), or using links deployed to iOS devices as web clips. When doing larger deployments the enrollment process can be automated so that devices are automatically enrolled into Casper when set up using an Enrollment Profile that is manually downloaded from Casper and deployed to device. Additionally, a certificate can be needed if the certificate is not included in the profile, an option available as a checkbox in the setup. While you hopefully won’t need to download the certificate, we’ll cover that as well: Download the Enrollment Profile…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    10.11.2 and iOS 9.2 Available

    The last couple of days have resulted in a lot of bug fixes from our friends at Apple. OS X 10.11.2 and iOS 9.2 are available. Hope you have a caching server right about now! The 10.11.2 update notes: The OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 update improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update: Improves Wi-Fi reliability Improves the reliability of Handoff and AirDrop Fixes an issue that may cause Bluetooth devices to disconnect Fixes an issue that prevented Mail from deleting messages in an offline Exchange account Fixes an issue that prevented importing photos from an iPhone to a Mac…

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Is Imaging Dead In OS X?

    I love answering a question with a question. Is asr still in OS X? Is NetInstall still in OS X Server? Can OS X still NetBoot? Does System Image Utility still work? The answer to all of these is yes. Therefore, the answer to “Is imaging dead” is clearly no. Is it on its way out, maybe. Debatable. Is it changing? Of course. When does Apple not evolve? What have we seen recently? Well, the rhetoric would point to the fact that imaging is dying. That seems clear. And this is slowly coming out of people at Apple. The word imaging is becoming a bad thing. But, as a customer…

  • Articles and Books,  Bushel,  Interviewing,  iPhone,  Mac OS X

    My First Huffington Post Article On Switch To The Apple Platform

    My first article on the Huffington Post is up on HuffPost here. I feel very lucky to have gotten to meet Arianna years ago when I did tech work for her company, publishing, and at her home. She’s a very special lady and, while it’s been a long time, I still recall a few very cool and sometimes odd conversations. She’s not connected to this, but I’m proud to be involved with anything she’s involved with. And, oddly there’s parity: we’ve both written 15 books. Not even remotely oddly, she’s sold far more than I have. I hope this is the first of many articles, helping with tech and Apple and…

  • iPhone

    Setup A Medical ID To Be Prepared For Emergencies With Your iPhone

    I was going through Red Cross training recently, and one thing that was mentioned was whether we have Medical IDs setup on our iPhones. I do. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d set it up a long time ago. I then asked around and no one else had one setup. So I grabbed my testing iPhone and decided to write it up. To get started setting up your Medical ID on your iPhone, open the Health app. From the Health app, tap on Medical ID and then tap on Create Medical ID. At the Medical ID screen, enter allergies, medications you are on, add emergency contacts, provide your…

  • Apple Configurator,  iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Recruiting Good Mac Talent

    When I was doing a lot of hiring, the pool of Mac Admins was smaller. And it was in a way easier for me to recruit people, because I knew a lot of them. As the pool has grown and a lot of the talent has matured, keeping your finger on the pulse of the hiring market around Apple has become much more challenging. Also, I’ve recruited far more developers and marketing professionals than Apple engineers in the past couple of years. But, there are still a number of places that you can look to find good Mac and iOS engineers looking for a gig. Here’s a quick and dirty…