App Settings Make Them Behave

Client Notes

Last week, I rebuilt Leigh’s home wireless network with eeros, making device connections way faster throughout. Next, I’ll probably install an outdoor node for reliable garden access as well — yes, so the vegetables can get online, too!

I also helped Jan make the transition to Mail on her Mac, which is probably pretty easy since she’s already using it on iPhone. Plus, I empowered Pat to stop memorizing and self-generating passwords and instead rely on her Passwords app to handle these security responsibilities.

Mac App Settings

On a Mac, you’ll consistently find Settings in the application menu. (On macOS 12 and earlier, and in some applications that haven’t changed their beat, the menu item is called Preferences.) In most apps, the keyboard shortcut for Settings (or Preferences) is Command+Comma.

As noted in Mac Interface Basics, the application menu is the first menu to the right of the  menu and it carries the name of the currently active application. Since the menu bar changes dynamically depending on the active application, you need only open or switch to a particular application to find its menus.

When a Mac app is first released, its settings window often has very few options, because designers have not identified very many changes that a user might make. As the developer iterates and issues updates, more options appear.

Eventually, you might find a series of app settings categories across the top or along the left side of the window. Upon opening Settings, the application might return to the same category you were last in, or it might default to the same starting pane every time.

Either way, I encourage you to become familiar with the available choices and their respective categories so you find the options you want to change. You can also ask me for guidance.

App Settings on iPhone & iPad

On mobile devices, the locations of app settings are somewhat disparate but there’s a logic to them. For Apple applications, you’ll find the entirety of their setting options in the Settings app.

There’s a split for third-party apps. Any settings related to their interaction with device and OS features, like Search, Notifications, and whether an app can access the Internet when the device is using Cellular Data instead of Wi-Fi, are aggregated in the Settings app. Apple directs developers to create a space inside the app for any other options.

Shortcut to Access

Since iOS 18, navigating to app settings on iPhone and iPad has become more complex. Apple shortened the list of categories at the top level of the Settings app, even removing its first-party apps, and added an Apps item at the bottom.

As a result, to reach the settings for Mail, for example, you open Settings, scroll down, and tap Apps. Then, you can scroll down manually — which might take a while if you have a lot of apps — or you can tap M in the alphabet on the right side to jump to apps starting with that letter.

Tip: You can even swipe along the alphabet to quickly navigate through the alphabetical listing.

App Settings Shortcut in Control Center

Want a faster way? Quinn Nelson recently developed a shortcut you can install to make it much easier to reach an app settings screen in the Settings app. If you’re interested, here’s how I recommend you proceed (as shown in the animation above):

1. On your iPhone or iPad, visit the shortcut page and tap Get Shortcut
2. Your device switches to Shortcuts; tap  Add Shortcut at the bottom
3. On the App Settings shortcut you just added, tap , then the App Settings name at the top, and Choose Icon
4. I recommend searching for “gear” and selecting the cog icon because it best represents the Settings app
5. Tap Cancel and then swipe the panel down; tap the Back button and go home
6. Open Control Center (on most devices, swipe down from the top right corner; if your iPhone has a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen)
7. Long-press in any vacant space to enter edit mode and tap Add a Control
8. Choose Run a Shortcut, searching as helpful, and choose the App Settings shortcut you just installed; tap outside the panel to close it
9. If you like, use the grip in the bottom right of the new control to resize it
10. Tap in any vacant space to exit edit mode

Let me know if you need help with this.