I never knew why some of my iPhone messages are green and others the color of blue.

When you send a regular SMS message to an Android phone, they appear green, but in iMessages, they appear blue. iMessages only work with other Apple users, so they’ll all appear blue.

Many people don’t understand what Time Machine Backup is. It back-ups and protects your files on the Mac, but many people simply use iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos to backup.

While Cloud services are a great way to sync and access your files across devices, they fall short when compared to backing up with something like Time Machine. I use Time Machine and can go back to last year and pull up a file that I currently deleted by mistake.

Time Machine is so simple to set-up. All you need is a new USB Hard Drive that you can buy at Costco for under $75. Just plug it in, and a message pops up asking you what you want to do with the new Hard Drive. Choose Time Machine and follow the instructions – that’s it.

Now a warning. You don’t have to keep it plugged in all the time. Once a week is enough, and never put anything on it (like trying to copy photos over to it). Use a thumb drive if you want to copy anything, and keep Time Machine clean. You should use Time Machine in addition to iCloud to keep your files and photos safe.

Microsoft just announced the new All-in-One Office App with Word, Excel and Power Point. This app is free, and if you want more format features, then you’ll have to pay for it.

The new features of iOS 13.4 include a CarKey API designed to allow Apple Watch and iPhone owners to unlock, lock, and start their cars straight from their devices.

People ask me all the time how they can e-mail a bunch of photos and not clog up or slow down their e-mail and Internet. So, let’s have some fun and send out some photos to your friends.

Open up the Photos App on the Mac. Hold down the Command key and start clicking on a bunch of photos. The selected photos are outlined in blue. On the top upper right corner, click on the icon that has a box and an arrow pointing up in it; choose Shared Albums. Tap the + sign (New Shared Album) and a box appears where you can type in a name like “Beach Pics” on the top (shared Album Name), then hit Create. Wow, that was easy. Your now back to seeing all your old photos on the app. On the left side, click on Shared Albums and double-click on your new named album that will display all the photos you selected. Okay, that was fun. Now get ready to send your new creation to all of your friends.

Click on the icon at the top right corner that looks like a person in a circle and click on Public Website. Whammo – a blue Http:\\ address now shows up. Just right-click on it and choose Copy. Okay, we’re finished with the Photos App, so close it and open up the Mail app. Let’s send a friend some pics.

Create an e-mail. In the area where you normally type in your usual message, just right-click and choose Paste. The blue Http:\\ address appears in the message area. You can add on to your message telling your friend to click on the blue Http:\\ address, which will show him all the photos.

When finished, just click on Send. Now when your friends open up the e-mail from you, they will see the blue Http:\\ address. When they click on it, all your selected photos will show up. Realtors can send multiple photos of a house they are listing.

Basically your blue Http\\address is a website you created all by yourself. Have fun trying this out!

Send your computer-related questions to MauiMist@aol.com.