Hands-On Apple 211 transcript
Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:00]:
Coming up on Hands on Apple, we are continuing our practical guide to understanding what the heck is going on on our devices and how to use them. This time we're taking a look at how we can recover messages and photos and links that people have sent us. Stay tuned.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:19]:
Podcasts you love from people you trust. This is TWiT.
Mikah Sargent [00:00:34]:
Welcome back to Hands on Apple. I am Mikah Sargent and today we are going to take a look at something that I routinely provide advice about. So a common question I get or a common thing I hear more so than a question I get is now where can what didn't. Now someone sent me this and I just can't seem to find it. Or there was a photo somebody sent me and I don't know where it is. Or I think it was like a link, something somebody sent me one time and they struggle to find that file, that photo, that link, whatever it happens to be. Well, there's a very easy way to access the documents, the photos, and even more information that has been sent to you in your Messages app. So we're going to head over to macOS and take a look.
Mikah Sargent [00:01:26]:
All right, here we are on macOS and in looking at macOS what you are going to do is launch the messages app. So again, this is if somebody has sent you a message over time and it could be a link again, it could be a photo, it could be any number of things, but you have a long ongoing message thread with this person or with these people and being able to gain access to all of them and sort of scroll back, it takes a long time and there's no need to do so. So let me tell you how you go about accessing it. In the messages app, on your phone, on your iPad, or in this case on the Mac, you will note that the person's name and in some cases depending on your settings face will appear at the top and directly to the right of their name is a little arrow pointing to the right. It tends to be that if you see one of these arrows it's a disclosure triangle or disclosure arrow in this case and clicking on it will open up a new tab or in the case of your phone will open up a new sort of slide over a sheet as it were, that comes over the top. Now in this section at the top it shows the person's name. I have a check mark next to mine because of imessage verification. It also shows some basic shortcuts for being able to do certain tasks.
Mikah Sargent [00:02:45]:
So call this person, FaceTime, this person, email this person, or ask to Share screen screens with this person. Each of these will appear based on what is available in the Contacts app to iOS or iOS or what have you. So because it has a phone number, because it has an imessage and therefore facetime registered phone number and email address, because it has an email address, and because it has again an imessage registered phone number and email address, all of those together are what make it possible for each of these four to show up. If this contact did not have any email, then it would not show the email icon. So that changes based on what's in the contact. Now, if I were to click on info, I'm not going to do that. It will show you the contact information for this person. If you have shared your location, it will also have the person's location in that area and a bunch of other stuff that is related to that person's contact.
Mikah Sargent [00:03:43]:
So that's why I'm not showing it, because it'll show my exact location, but choosing Info will show you that information. The next is Backgrounds. This lets you change the background of the iMessage conversation. So currently I have it set to none. I could change it to photo, which will let me select a photo that I think looks good, or that iOS thinks looks good, or in this case, macOS thinks looks good. And I'll choose Set. It'll show you a preview of how that will look. I can choose a color and it will let me see the different kinds of colors that are available.
Mikah Sargent [00:04:17]:
Now. Crucially, it's important to understand that when you set a background, it changes it for both you and the person on the other end of the line. So it's not just showing up for you. It will be the way that they see the background too. And if they were to change the background, that's how it would show up for them. So that is backgrounds. But here is the stuff that I'm really wanting to talk about today, which are the next three tabs, Photos, links, and documents. If I choose Photos, it shows me all of the photos that I've sent to this person over iMessage.
Mikah Sargent [00:04:54]:
I can click on any of these photos to pull them up and see them in preview. In the case of macOS, I can click and drag to save these photos to my desktop on imessage. If they are not currently saved to my Photos app, then I can save them to my Photos app. And basically it just gives me access to each of these photos. Now, if you have icloud messages turned on then or imessages in the cloud, then what this will do is will actually keep these photos and other items backed up based on your settings for how long you choose to save your messages. So if you aren't seeing the photo that you're looking for in the current kind of gallery, scroll to trigger the messages app to start pulling from the cloud and finding the photos that have been sent in this message before. Also important to understand these are messages from both parties. So not just message, not just photos that I have sent, but also photos that I have received.
Mikah Sargent [00:05:55]:
In this messages thread, it basically filters all of the messages for just the photos. The photos will also show video as well Are you ready to grow in 2026? Let me tell you why Advertising on TWiT is the way to make that happen. I'm Mikah Sargent. I'm the host of Tech News Weekly and several other shows on the network. And if you've ever listened to our shows, then you know what makes what we do different? It's trust. When we introduce a new partner on the show, the audience knows we believe in what they offer because we're only taking on partners that will actually benefit our audience. And they know that when I'm waxing ecstatic about your product or service, I'm doing so with authenticity. Some other reasons why you should join the network? It's all about the numbers.
Mikah Sargent [00:06:38]:
88%. That's the number of listeners who've made a purchase based on a TWiT ad. 90%. Those are the people who are involved in their company's tech and IT decisions. Oh, and by the way, 99% is the number of people who listen to most or all of the episode. Every host read ad we offer is authentic. It's unique, it's embedded permanently. So that means that your brand is going to get exposure even after your campaign concludes.
Mikah Sargent [00:07:06]:
Because yes, our nerds, our listeners, our viewers, they go back and check out the stuff we've done in the past. Every ad is simulcast across our social platforms. It's always available in both audio and video formats. So if you want your brand woven into conversations with tech experts and the world's most tech savvy audience, I mean, where else are you going to turn, except right here at TWiT? So let's make 2026 your most substantial reach yet. Get in touch with us. Email Partner@TWiT.tv or visit TWiT.tv/Advertise. The next category is links. Links will, as you might imagine, be links that have been sent in this chat.
Mikah Sargent [00:07:50]:
I like this one in particular because I'm always getting articles and Funny threads and funny reels and funny tiktoks from people that I might want to show someone else. So being able to tap on links and find the one I'm looking for makes it very easy to do so These are also click and draggable. You can. You can click on them or tap on them to open up the link directly in Safari or your browser of choice. So that's another great way to keep track of that. And then the last tab here is Documents. So if you have ever shared a PDF with someone, a Pages document, in this case a file Japan 2026, then that will also appear in the Documents tab and give me access to previous documents that I've had on the Mac. You can actually swipe between these so I've got two fingers on the trackpad swiping left and right and that switches between them so I can quickly access old documents, old links, old photos, all from the Messages app.
Mikah Sargent [00:08:48]:
Again, depending on what you've sent, those are the categories that are going to appear in this section. And if you'll notice down at the bottom we have a little filtering icon so it lets you sort them as well between photos, videos, screenshots or all. So you can very easily see what you're looking for. Very easy. You can very easily kind of sort between what you're looking for. The same applies to Documents where I can select this and choose I want to see all of the files that I have shared in my Messages thread or I just want to see the collaborations. That means when I have chosen to share a specific file or share a folder or a note, whatever it happens to be there with another person where you're both accessing it to add information versus just clicking and dragging and dropping a PDF to share with someone else.
Mikah Sargent [00:09:39]:
So next time you're going now, what in the world was that message that somebody sent me that had a link in it and it was really funny? I can't. All you got to do, hop into the Messages app, tap on the little disclosure arrow to bring up this set of tabs and choose the proper tab for the type of shared content that you're looking for. There's a very simple tip for you as we continue with this series. Thank you so much for tuning in today. As always, I appreciate the support and your ongoing enjoyment of the show. If you have specific questions for me, Mikah@TWiT.tv is how you get in touch and I'll catch you again for another episode of Hands on Apple. Bye bye.
Mikah Sargent [00:10:27]:
Sam.
