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Avatar for Jeff Benjamin

Jeff Benjamin

Jeff Benjamin

Jeff is the head of video content production for 9to5. He joined 9to5Mac in 2016, producing videos, walkthroughs, how-tos, written tutorials, and reviews. He takes pride in explaining things simply, clearly, and concisely. Jeff’s videos have been watched hundreds of millions of times by people seeking to learn more about today’s tech. Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube to catch Jeff’s latest videos.

iOS Decoded is Jeff’s flagship video series that breaks down what’s new in iOS betas, including behind-the-scenes deep dives into undiscovered features and exclusive details on the iOS roadmap. 

Jeff also produces a weekly podcast, alongside co-host Fernando Silva, entitled 9to5Mac Overtime. A video-first podcast, 9to5Mac Overtime airs weekly on our YouTube channel, but can also be enjoyed in audio form via Apple Podcasts, or your podcast app of choice.

Have a tip or exclusive? Connect with Jeff!

Connect with Jeff Benjamin

How to use Instagram Stories – a step by step walkthrough [Video]

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Instagram Stories

With the launch of its new Stories feature, Instagram is positioning itself to not only capture the interest of current Snapchat users, but it’s also likely seeking a way to keep existing users firmly locked into its service.

Yes, as you’ve likely heard, Instagram Stories is similar to Snapchat Stories, but there are differences. In this video walkthrough, we’ll showcase the basic mechanics of Instagram Stories, show you how to create new stories, and more.
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Chinese company creates high quality deep blue iPhone 7 Plus mockup to promote upcoming headphones

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BeSound iPhone 7 Mockup

BeSound, a company that’s currently running an Indiegogo campaign for Lightning-enabled noise cancelling headphones, has developed an iPhone 7 Plus mockup in a deep blue color to help promote its product. It also teamed up with a popular YouTuber to show off the mockup on video and help spread the word about its campaign.
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Jailbreakers who used new Pangu tool report unauthorized access to credit, debit, PayPal & social accounts [U: Pangu responds]

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5 reasons why you shouldn't jailbreak

There’s been a lot of pent up anticipation for the iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak, and Pangu, the Chinese security researchers behind the latest tool, have answered the call.

Unfortunately, it appears that some jailbreakers have had various accounts compromised after jailbreaking, and several users on the popular subreddit r/jailbreak have corroborated these claims.

To be fair, it’s possible that these reported breaches are just a big coincidence, or that a compromise occurred after the tool left Pangu’s hands for distribution. Whatever the reason, however, it highlights one of the potential risks involved with jailbreaking.
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How-To: Use the Timeline Index in Final Cut Pro X to efficiently select multiple clips [Video]

Timeline Index FCP X

When editing projects in Final Cut Pro X, it’s easy to accumulate a wide variety of different clips in the timeline. These items can be spread out across the timeline in such a way that it can be cumbersome to select multiple clips at once using a cursor and keyboard.

Thankfully, a very handy tool, called the Timeline Index, makes finding, identifying, and selecting clips a breeze. The Timeline Index is not only useful for quickly identifying clips inside the project timeline, but it’s capable of filtering on specific types of clips, and selecting multiple clips simultaneously.
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Apple’s security chief to go behind the scenes of iOS security during upcoming BlackHat USA 2016 briefing

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touch-id

Apple is planning on discussing various aspects of iOS 10 security in “unprecedented detail” at the upcoming BlackHat USA 2016 security conference. Ivan Krstic, head of Apple Security Engineering and Architecture, will give a 50-minute briefing to discuss cryptographic design, the Secure Enclave found in Touch ID-enabled devices, and a new JIT hardening mechanism in iOS 10.
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Hands-on: Channels for iOS – a beautiful live local TV solution for cord cutters [Video]

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Channels

If you’re a cord cutter who owns a 4th-generation Apple TV, then it’s highly likely that you’re already intimately familiar with Channels. Fancy Bits’ well-received app lets Apple TV 4 owners, who own an HDHomeRun device and an antenna, watch, pause, and rewind live TV.

Although a tvOS version launched earlier this year, Channels has been conspicuously missing from the iOS App Store. Today, that all changes, as an iOS version of the app has been released on the App Store for $14.99.
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Opinion: 5 reasons why you shouldn’t jailbreak your iPhone

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5 reasons why you shouldn't jailbreak

Most people know that I’ve been a staunch jailbreak proponent over the years, but my enthusiasm for jailbreaking has been waning as of late. Much of this has to do with the amount of features, jailbreak-inspired or not, that Apple stuffs into new iOS software each summer.

That’s not to say that I’d knock anyone who chooses to jailbreak, because that’s your prerogative. But there are some things that should give potential jailbreakers pause when it comes to the latest iOS jailbreak. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to play devil’s advocate…
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How-To: jailbreak iOS 9.2 – 9.3.3 with the Chinese Pangu tool [Video]

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Jailbreak

Pangu today released a jailbreak tool that allows users to jailbreak iOS 9.3.3 on eligible 64-bit iPhones and iPads. As of now, the tool is only available in Chinese and is Windows-only. An English version should be arriving shortly.

The jailbreak will also work with older iOS versions all the way back to iOS 9.2. In the following tutorial, we’ll show you how to jailbreak your eligible iOS device step by step.
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How-To: Fix iPhone videos that are mistakenly started in portrait mode [Video]

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Vertical video fix iPhone iMovie

Have you ever started shooting a video in portrait orientation on your iPhone, only to quickly rotate into landscape mode after realizing the mistake? Once you’ve begun recording a video while in portrait orientation, it stays locked that way for the duration of the video, and vice versa.

Fortunately, inadvertent vertical videos can be quickly fixed by taking advantage of iMovie’s rotation feature on iOS. If you’d prefer to apply the fix on a Mac, you can just as easily utilize QuickTime’s rotation feature. Watch our hands-on video tutorial to see a couple of brief examples in action.
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How-To: Use Final Cut Pro X’s move event feature to archive events and save space [Video]

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Archive FCP X Events

Since the 12″ MacBook is significantly limited when it comes to attaching external peripherals, I generally do all of my editing work in Final Cut Pro X with events stored directly on device. Being that I shoot 99% of our videos in 4K, you can probably imagine how quickly my MacBook’s storage is exhausted.

Needless to say, I’ve become accustomed to archiving events on a bi-weekly basis to save on space. In this hands-on tutorial, I’ll share my easy-to-use workflow for archiving Final Cut Pro X events and media to an external drive.
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Hands-on: 15 new features in iOS 10 beta 3 [Video]

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15 new iOS 10 beta 3 features changes

Today Apple released the third beta for iOS 10. As expected, it features several new changes when compared to the previous beta. Some of the changes reimplement features found in the original iOS 10 beta. Other changes, such as haptic feedback when manually locking an iPhone, are brand new. Have a look at our video walkthrough for the details.
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Opinion: iOS’ Control Center could learn a thing or two from popular Android phones

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iOS Control Center vs Android

I’m not going to get into the politics of who came up with which ideas first, or who steals ideas from the other, because quite frankly, both iOS and Android have borrowed heavily from one another over the years. I could just as easily head over to 9to5Google and highlight iOS features that I’d love to see in Android, and I probably will in the future.

For now, though, I’d like to focus on iOS, specifically Control Center. It’s a feature that’s been around for going on four generations, and although it has evolved over the years, it still has a long way to go as far as I’m concerned. Here’s a look at four lessons that iOS could learn from Android when it comes to Control Center functionality.
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Review: G-Technology 1TB G-Drive mobile USB-C portable drive for 12″ MacBook [Video]

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G Drive 4

As a MacBook owner, USB-C peripherals are still a little hard to come by, but the accessory situation has improved significantly over the past year. One of the latest USB-C-centric peripherals to hit the scenes is an external bus-powered hard drive from the folks over at G-Technology. If you’re looking for a way to quickly offload files to and from your MacBook, the G-Drive is a good option.
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Hands-on: EditorsKeys Final Cut Pro X backlit keyboard [Video]

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EditorsKeys Hero

I’ve been using Final Cut Pro X on a regular basis since it debuted back in June of 2011. With five years under my belt, I feel pretty comfortable navigating around the interface, utilizing custom keyboard shortcuts, and all of the other benefits that come with being intimately familiar with a piece of software.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts about Final Cut Pro X, you’ve probably concluded that I have a strong affinity for the app, despite some of the hate that it receives.

I’m also someone who likes to recommend Final Cut Pro X to new editors. I think that it’s easier to grasp and much more friendlier to work with on a Mac than competing apps like Adobe Premiere Pro.

So when EditorsKeys, a company that produces a keyboard specifically designed for Final Cut Pro X, asked me to do a review, I was intrigued.
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