Joe Hutsko

When you first turn on your Mac (or install an upgrade to the operating system), a series of questions and prompts appear, including a prompt to sign in to your Apple ID account or create a new Apple ID.An Apple ID identifies you and your devices in all things Apple that you do: registering new products, purchasing media and apps from the iTunes Store, the Book Store, and the App Store, as well as signing in to your iCloud account.

iCloud remotely stores and syncs data that you access from various devices — your Mac and other Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPads, and iPods, and PCs running Windows. Sign in to the same iCloud account on different devices, and the data for activated apps syncs; that is, you find the same data on all your devices, and when you make a change on one device, it shows up on the others.

Safari and iCloud have terrific built-in features that help you remember user names and passwords and credit card information. And Safari has security and privacy features to keep that personal information to yourself — or to your Mac. Here, we tell you how to use AutoFill so Safari remembers passwords for you, and then we explain how to keep your information safe.

Many people consider passwords to be less than ideal for security. To begin with, you have to remember them. The only sure way to make sure you don’t forget or lose your password is to write it down and keep that piece of paper (or whatever you wrote on) safe.There’s a better way if you have a current MacBook Pro or MacBook Air that supports Touch ID.

iPhone’s Numbers comes with 30 templates and one blank, and these are the same templates as in the Mac version of Numbers. Templates make it really easy to create a new document and just type in your data and substitute the placeholder text with your own. Even if you don't use a template, looking at them gives you a good idea of the power of Numbers — granted, if you want to get fancy, you probably want to create your spreadsheet on an iPad or a Mac and use your iPhone to access your data, make minor corrections, or project it on a computer or monitor.

Notes is a super-simple app on your iPhone that you can use to make lists, jot down ideas, and record anything you’d normally scribble down on a sticky pad or cocktail napkin. Notes you create are stored on your iPhone and, optionally, synced with your computer and other iOS devices through iCloud, Gmail, or another IMAP account, through Microsoft Exchange 2010 or later.

When you make presentations at client meetings or conferences, you may use an electronic slideshow to support your spoken words, and that slideshow is more than likely projected on a large monitor or projector screen connected to your computer. Download the appropriate app, and you can use your iPhone as the remote control.

Location Services is auxiliary to a lot of apps on the iPhone — Camera uses it to geotag photos, that is to add information about where the photo was taken in addition to putting a time and date stamp on it, and Reminders uses it to alert you to a task when you arrive at or leave a specified address. For Maps and Compass, however, Location Services is essential in order to get the most out of the app.