MacWorld

It's every iPhone user's worst nightmare: your iCloud account is compromised, exposing location data to the web in real time, without your knowledge.

Apple showed its commitment to keeping that confidential data secure by adding two-step verification to Apple ID and iCloud users today. The new security feature will prompt users to to enter their Apple username and password, plus an additional verification code sent via text message to one of your devices.

Enable two-step verification by signing in with your Apple ID at appleid.apple.com. Then go to Password and Security, and follow the instructions at the top of the page.

Setting up extra measures to protect your information is of the utmost importance in today's increasingly digital age. At a MacWorld session in February on how to toughen smartphone security, Ars Technica's Senior Apple Editor Jacqui Chang told a frightening tale of how her friend, after breaking up with his partner of 20 years, was stalked — and how iPhone location data, accessed through iCloud, made it possible.

When iCloud was introduced in 2011, we loved that the cloud-based service provided a free storage and syncing solution for our Apple devices. But with so much of our data automatically uploaded to the web, the service makes us more vulnerable to privacy predators. After her friend's traumatic experience with his ex, Jacqui investigated exactly how iCloud could put your privacy in danger, and offered these safety tips for smartphone users who are at risk of being stalked.

Even though iOS 6 launched in September, there's still much to explore in Apple's latest mobile operating system, as we discovered from Macworld magazine writers Lex Friedman and Dan Moren at Macworld 2013. We've compiled the best tips and tricks from the iOS 6 talk, from asking Siri for public transit directions to making sure your little ones don't accidentally delete or install new apps.

Before we begin, make sure you have the latest mobile OS installed (iOS 6.1, which pushed just last week), and remember to back up your phone before going through with any major changes. Have fun discovering iOS 6's best features, and let us know which tip changed the way you use your iPhone.

Siri

• Get public transit directions — Ask Siri, "Get me to [your destination] via transit," and she'll input your destination into the public transit apps already installed on your phone. You can then tap on one of the apps, and you'll be automatically routed via public transit.
• Buy movie tickets — She won't hand you a wad of cash, but if you ask, "What's playing at [name of movie theater]?", Siri will offer showtimes and a button to purchase tickets via Fandango.
• Find movie reviews and trivia — Ask "Is the Rugrats in Paris movie any good?", and Siri will tell you if that film is certified fresh from Rotten Tomatoes or not. You can also grill Siri with movie trivia like, "Show me movies starring Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry."
• Edit fumbled speech — Apple's sharp-witted artificial intelligence doesn't always get it right, in which case you can actually edit her translation instead of trying again. Tap on Siri's translation and then type to edit or press the microphone to use dictation to correct the transcription.
• Post to Facebook or Twitter — Tell Siri to "Post [insert status update here] to Facebook [or Twitter]," and as long as you have either account set up in Settings, Siri will post on your behalf.

Read on for more iOS 6 tips, including getting your iPhone to speak in Emoji.

Finally, the secret behind mad science success revealed: Starbucks! This crazed inventor was sipping a frothy drink at Adobe's MacWorld booth, where we plunged into all-things Apple this past week.

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Multitasking may be a necessity of modern life, but it certainly doesn't lead to optimum productivity levels. How do we stay focused on the work task at hand when there's a Facebook status alert, tweet notification, and constant stream of emails to respond to? At Macworld 2013, Ben Waldie of Automated Workflows, whose work is teaching companies how to work efficiently within the Mac OS ecosystem, revealed the one key for staying focused while online, and it's something you can do right now, in seconds.

In three words, streamlining work is all about hiding the clutter. Sure, easier said than done, but getting all that junk off your desktop is crucial for staying at the head of the productivity pack. Hide the clutter in four steps:

• Move files into folders — You can't be a taking-care-of-business machine when there are random files hanging out amid that sweet desktop picture. Create folders for every sort of document you would ever normally save to the desktop, be it Random Cat Pictures, Tax Docs, or Résumés, and then actually move the files to those folders. A zen desktop is the gateway to getting work done like a boss.
• Hide background apps — Work is completed through a variety of apps and programs, but having those up on the screen is distracting. Hide background apps with the keyboard shortcut Command + Alt + H.
• Use full-screen mode — If you work in multiple screens, ensure your eyes can't wander to another program by enabling full-screen mode if the app or program supports it with the keyboard shortcut Control + Command + F. Press Escape to exit full screen.
• Use Reader in Safari — Read a web article minus the flashy distractions of ads or video by using Reader. In Safari, press the Reader button, found to the right of the address bar, for a bare-bones and easier-to-read layout.

If the Curiosity Rover and the iPhone 5 went head to head, who would win? Today at the MacWorld/iWorld Expo, Ben Cichy, James Kurlen, and David Oh of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory got under the hood of both robot and device, and showed how the nearly two ton Martian stacks up against the .25-pound iPhone 5.

So, how does Apple's latest and greatest smartphone fare against the NASA rover currently transmitting HD images and video from the surface of Mars? The iPhone 5 bests Curiosity in terms of processor, memory, storage, and (low) cost. But the rover indisputably takes the cake in terms of temperature range and accessories (laser auto-win). Plus, it's a little more mind-blowing to know a computer not even as powerful as many people's phones is currently hard at work on another planet.

In truth, NASA and Apple aren't competing at all. In fact, most of the software code that landed the Curiosity Rover was written on Macs. And, just in case you forgot how amazing that landing was, here's a little reminder.

Stay tuned for even more updates from Macworld by following us @geeksugar on Twitter and Instagram and, of course, the GeekSugar homepage!

The 2013 Macworld Expo in San Francisco opened today with a word from Steve Jobs — well, sort of. Ashton Kutcher, who transforms into the iconic Apple founder in the upcoming feature film Jobs, took to the Macworld/iWorld main stage to talk about playing one of his heroes.

Ashton, who cofounded digital media company Katalyst in 2000 and venture fund A-Grade Investments in 2011, is no stranger to the tech industry. The actor not-so-subtly established his geek cred with the Macworld/iWorld crowd, mentioning that his first computer was the Apple IIGS (followed, naturally, by loud applause) and that his major in college was biochemical engineering.

Here are some highlights from Macworld's first big event featuring the actor discussing what it was like to become one of the tech industry's most influential figures for the film.

On Playing a Real-Life Character
"Steve is really fresh in the minds of a lot of people. He's a person that we have a daily reminder of in our hands. Playing that guy, that everyone already has a judgment or criticism of, is really, really scary."

After the break, see a photo of Ashton with co-star Josh Gad (who plays Woz) on the MacWorld stage, and hear more about how the film changed Ashton's life.