Set up Photo Stream on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone and see your photos on all your Apple devices

Step 1 of 9: Create an iCloud account on your Mac or iOS device

For Photo Stream to work you’ll need to have an active iCloud account.

Usually you’ll create this when setting up a new machine, but if you skipped that part it’s easy and free to open one now on your Mac or iOS device.

On your Mac click on the System Preferences icon in the Dock, then select iCloud and simply enter your Apple ID. You’ll be given a few settings to enable, just make sure that you click on the options button next to Photos and that the My Photo Stream box is ticked.

To create an account on an iOS device go to Settings, iCloud, and enter your Apple ID.

Step 2 of 9: Enable iCloud in iPhoto

Now that your account is created you’ll need to give applications permission to use it before any photos will be able to download.

Again this is very simple. Launch iPhoto on your Mac and look in the left hand column where you’ll find the Library, Recent, and Sharing categories.

Under the latter is iCloud, click on this and then select the Use iCloud option.

Your account is now ready to receive any images you create, so it’s time to enable that feature on your iOS devices.

Step 3 of 9: Enable Photo Stream on your iPhone

As the iPhone is likely to be the device you use most for photography, having a working Photo Stream is very important.

To do so you’ll need to go to Settings, then iCloud and ensure that the My Photo Stream button is enabled.

Depending on which iPhone you have you may also see the Upload Burst Photos option, which will transfer only your favourite photos from Burst mode if you enable it.

This is good as otherwise your photo library would be swamped with duplicates of essentially the same image.

Step 4 of 9: Enable Photostream on your iPad

As the iPad is running the same software as the iPhone the setup is pretty much identical.

The one omission is the Upload Burst Photos option is missing from the iPad as the cameras are not quite as powerful as those of its smaller sibling.

So to enable Photo Stream go to Settings, scroll down until you find iCloud, tap on Photos, then ensure that the My Photo Stream button is slid to the right and coloured green.

Step 5 of 9: Take a picture to see how it works

Now that all your devices are in sync its time to see just how easy Photo Stream is to use.

With your iPhone or iPad take a picture of something. It needn’t be high art, just a quick shot to test that everything is working properly.

Once the picture is taken go to the iPhoto library on your Mac, or to the Photos app on your iPad, and (as long as you are connected to WiFi) you should see the photo arrive shortly after you snapped it on your iOS device.

It’s that simple. As you continue to capture moments, the photos will now sync quickly and quietly in the background.

Step 6 of 9: How many pictures can Photo Stream store?

While Photo Stream is very easy to use, understanding how the storage works can be a little more challenging.

Essentially you are entitled to one thousand photos, which is a large amount, and none of these count against your iCloud storage.

One thing to note though is that the photos are only held on the iCloud servers for thirty days. This means that if you buy a new iPhone or iPad and setup Photo Stream, you’ll only see photos from the last four weeks.

Existing devices will hold all one thousand as they’ve already synced them from the servers before they were deleted.

Step 7 of 9: Sharing your Stream - Creating a folder

Along with your own devices, it’s also possible to share your photo streams with friends and family. To do this you’ll need to create a new stream folder.

First off you’ll also need to check that Photo Sharing is enabled by navigating to Settings>iCloud>Photos. Then go to the Photos app on your iOS device and tap the Shared icon at the bottom of the screen.

After the library has updated you’ll see the option Create New Stream. Tap this, name the Stream, and then add the contacts you wish to share your photos with.

Bear in in mind that the recipients will need to have Apple IDs and iCloud accounts to access the Stream.

Now tap Create and your Stream is ready. You can create multiple Streams, and add different photos in each. We’ll do that next.

Step 8 of 9: Sharing your Stream - adding photos

Tap on the Stream name you’ve created and you’ll see the folder is empty. To remedy this tap the plus box in the top left corner then select the photos you wish to share in the Stream.

You can do this individually or tap on the Select option on the right which will highlight all the images in that particular group.

When you’re happy tap Done, add a note if you want to, and the Stream is now accessible to those you invited.

Step 9 of 9: Photo Stream in iOS 8 and Yosemite

With iOS 8 on the Horizon, and new changes set to take place in OS X Yosemite, Apple is set to update these features to even better ones in the near future.

Come the autumn, Apple’s 1000-photo iCloud sync limit will be history, to be replaced by an all-encompassing, some-storage-required iCloud Photo Library.

iOS 8 you’ll have two choices: Keep your photos on the phone locally and use Photo Stream to wirelessly sync them to your other iCloud-enabled devices, as you have in the past; or use Apple’s new iCloud Photo Library.

If you enable the library, and any photo or video you shoot or import will automatically upload to iCloud. That content will be stored at its full resolution and in its original format (e.g. JPG, PNG, Raw.)

All of those images will be viewable on any iOS device or on the web; and from the beginning of 2015, you’ll be able to upload and view photos from your Mac, too.

Unfortunately you will have to start paying for the storage you use, unlike Photo Stream, but it’s going to be cheap. Apple says you will get 5GB for free as part of your iCloud account, and you’ll be able to buy 20GB of storage space for just $1/month—or 200GB for $4/month. We expect that UK pricing will be around 79p - £3.49 a month (in line with prices on the iOS App Store).

Having your library synced and backed up to iCloud should be a great way to keep your pictures backed up and easily accessible. We hope that you will be able to manage your storage space by only downloading the photos that you want, rather than filling up your devices with every image you’ve ever taken, which could eat up a lot of storage on a 16GB iPhone.

How to use Parental Controls in Mac OS X Mavericks and Yosemite

Apple has developed substantial tools to help parents who want to make sure their children are safe when online. With Parental Controls, located in System Preferences, parents can allow their children freedom to use a Mac computer safely.

Setting up Parental Controls is a must for parents, and it's easy to do. With Parental Controls turned on your can limit the applications, and internet usage of a child. This feature looks at how to set up Parental Controls on a Mac, and set sensible limits for a child's computer usage.

How to use Parental Controls: set up a child’s account

The first thing you will need to do is set up a separate account for your child. This won’t be a full account, like the one you use, but a restricted account (and you get to decide on the restrictions). Don’t worry about your child having their own account, you will get full access to it.

Follow these steps to set up an account.

1. Open System Preferences (click Go > System Preferences).
2. Click on Parental Controls.
3. Click the Lock icon in the bottom left of the window.
4. Enter your Password and click Unlock
5. Click the Add (‘+’) icon in the bottom left of the window.
6. Enter the Full Name, Account name and Password fields and click Create Account. Make sure your child knows the password (this is for their limited account).

You now have another user in the Parental Controls window. Select them in the left-hand sidebar to view the settings.

How to use Parental Controls: Limit Applications to an age range

You can limit the child’s Mac access to specific applications. Follow these steps to use Parental Controls to set limits on which Mac apps a child can run:

1. Select the child’s name in the sidebar and select the apps tab.
2. Place a tick in Limit Applications.
3. Use the Allow App Store Apps option to select an age range for apps.
4. Click the small reveal arrow next to App Store in the Allowed Apps section to view which apps are available. You can see the age range next to each app on the right-hand side.
5. Use the reveal arrow next to Other Apps to view apps that were included in Mac OS X (like Safari). These will not have age ratings.
6. Remove the tick next to any app to prevent it from running.

How to use Parental Controls: Simple Finder and Dock

A neat aspect of the Apps menu in Parental Controls is to tick the Use Simple Finder and Prevent The Dock From being Modified options. The Simple Finder options makes Mac OS X a lot easier to use for young children.

How to use Parental Controls: limit access to websites

The internet is one of the largest concerns when it comes to Parental Controls. Apple has you covered with three distinct ways your child can access the web. Open Parental Controls and click on the Web tab: here you will see three options:

• Allow unrestricted access to web sites. Normally this is only for older children, and is not selected by default.
• Try to limit access to adult websites automatically. This is the default option, and Apple runs a comprehensive list of websites that are appropriate and inappropriate for kids. Click customise to add and remove websites (that your child may require, or that you don’t want them to use).
• Allow access to only these websites. This is an option for younger children. It blocks web access apart from just sites you add. There are a bunch of kid friendly sites, like Discovery Kids, National Geographic, and Disney. Use the Add (‘+’) button underneath the websites to add more websites to the Allow Access list.

How to use Parental Controls: People, Time, and Logs

You can also use the Parental Controls preferences to adjust these settings.

• People. You can control contact through Game Center, Mail, and Messages. Create a list of Allowed Contacts to limit your child’s interaction.
• Time Limits. You can specific specific time limits (such as 3 hours a day) for weekdays, weekends and you can use the Bedtime setting to prevent access during specified hours.
• Other. Disable the Camera, Dictation, Printer, and hide profanity in the Dictionary (both printer and Dictionary profanity are limited by default).
• Logs. Click the Logs tab to view the websites your child has visited, blocked websites that the child has tried to visit as well as application and Message usage.