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Ask TUAW Live is on the air at 5 PM ET today!
"Ask TUAW Live" will air today, Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 5:00 PM EDT. You can check here for showtimes in your area. We're taking your questions now via the Ask TUAW feedback form, Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Today we are doing a recap of the announcement at WWDC 2014. To watch the live feed and participate in the chat, jump over to the TUAW page on Google+. There you will find links to this Google Hangout. Bring your questions, ideas, tips and tricks, or recipes for craft cocktails to share with the rest of the TUAW community. NOTE: Due to the way Google handles Hangouts for Pages, you will need to add the TUAW page on Google+ to your circles so we can circle back. Is that what they call it these days? Panel Ben Roethig Charles 'ChUber' Akimoto Hal Sherman Kelly Guimont Mikel Potts Richard Drummer Josh Centers (TidBits) Jesse Grosjean (Hog Bay Software) Shawn 'Doc' Boyd (Host) Folding Text Folding Text Hog Bay Software WWDC: iOS8/Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite Apple Event Video Swift OS X Beta Program Apple iCloud Pricing Family Sharing Casper Suite (Jamf Software) Dilbert: Things I can't do Seamless How to create a test Partition for the OS X Yosemite Beta Picks Ben: Focus@Will Kelly: Two Dots Charles: Kami Hal: OS X Beta Program Josh: Parallels 9 Mikel: Talking to Siri Patrice: TestFlight and TheTech Hangout Richard: Waterlogue Doc: PNY 256GB Turbo Flash Drive (TigerDirect) and Folding Text
Ask TUAW Live at 5 (Eastern) today!
Ask TUAW Live is be happening today at 5:00 PM ET. (Check showtimes in your area.) This week, since a certain co-host is out of the country, Kelly will be holding down the fort and answering your questions, be they big or be they small. We're always taking your questions via the Ask Tuaw feedback form, Twitter, Facebook or Google+. To watch the live feed and participate in the chat, jump over to the TUAW page on Google+. There you will find links to this Google Hangout. Bring your questions, ideas, tips and tricks or recipes for craft cocktails to share with the rest of the TUAW community. NOTE: Due to the way Google handles Hangouts for Pages, you will need to add the TUAW page on Google+ to your circles so we can circle back. Is that what the kids call it these days?
Dear Aunt TUAW: Can I turn off Messages logging?
Dear Aunt TUAW, Ever since I started using Messages, it appears to be logging everything it does. Can this be disabled, or can the log file be moved to somewhere out of the ~/Documents folder? Your darling nephew Tommy Dear Tommy, Auntie's tending to the spring turnover of the vegetable garden, so she asked Uncle Mike to chime in on this question. The beta of Messages, like its predecessor iChat, has a feature that automatically saves chat transcripts (including transferred files or images, which can get out of control pretty quickly if you're not minding it). Unlike iChat's setting, however, in Messages there's no way to turn the logging off. Be sure to let Apple know that you'd like to see this changed before Mountain Lion ships! With regard to the second half of your question, the answer is absolutely yes; you can go into Messages' preferences, click the Messages icon in the top bar, and then adjust the "Save chat transcripts to:" folder however you like. Since you can't disable the logs, the next best thing would be a way to clear them out periodically -- once an hour, once a day, once a week, whatever. There are scores of approaches to scheduling repeating tasks on your Mac, ranging from the UNIX-savvy one-liners (cron, launchd etc.) to capable and flexible commercial applications (Auntie's terribly fond of Noodlesoft's Hazel). For something like this, though, if you want to clear out the logs once a week, you might give OS X's built-in Automator utility a try. Automator lets you set up a workflow to run when triggered by an iCal event, so it's straightforward to set up a repeating "silent reminder" that simply goes into the logs folder, grabs what's there and tosses it into the Trash. Here's what the workflow would look like: Each step in the workflow passes its results along to the next step, letting us zero in on what we actually want to throw out. This workflow starts by identifying a specific folder (in this case, the iChats log folder), then getting the contents of that folder, and finally moving those items to the Trash. When you save an iCal alarm workflow, it gets dropped right into your calendar. You can then adjust the repeating schedule to make it run at whatever frequency you like. The log files will end up neatly in the Trash; no muss, no fuss... which is more than Uncle Mike can say for Auntie's rows of sugar snap peas. This same technique can be used for any folder that tends to accumulate things you don't actually need to keep. Toodles, UM
Ask TUAW: SSDs, Bug Reports, and "4G" iPhones
It's Ask TUAW, our question-and-answer column! Since last we rounded up reader questions, we've seen the release of the iPhone 4S, iOS 5, iCloud, the announcement of OS X Mountain Lion, and, of course, the new iPad. You can head down to the comments and tell us what Apple/Mac/iOS questions keep you up at night. If you'd prefer, instead of asking questions in the comments, you can email your questions directly to ask@tuaw.com, ping us on Twitter or hit up our feedback page. You can also direct your questions (via the same channels) to my colleague in the flowered hat, Aunt TUAW. For our first question, Sepp wonders: How do I actually submit a bug report to Apple? I came across some software fault, found a post in the Apple Support Communities and commented to confirm the bug and give more details on it. I am not quite sure if anybody at Apple actually reads these. Can I do something else to get this bug fixed or do I just have to lean back and wait for things to happen? Hi Sepp. Folks in the Apple Developer Network can file bug reports and enhancement requests through the Apple Bug Reporter. Anyone can sign up as a developer for free, but for the average user who finds an issue and merely wants to notify Apple about it, there is a much easier way. Apple's feedback page at Apple.com/Feedback includes links for nearly every product that Apple sells, including hardware, operating systems, and software products. For example, if you select to give feedback on Mac OS X, Apple requests a number of different types of feedback, including reports on bugs, design and connectivity issues and much more. Messages sent via this page do get read and forwarded to the appropriate departments at Apple, but there is no guarantee of receiving any confirmation or other response from the company. However, Apple has been known to follow up with customers to get more information in some cases. Our advice is to be as professional and detailed as possible with your feedback. The more information the better. Good luck! Jay is looking for some buying advice: I'm looking to upgrade my MacBook Pro's RAM and the hard drive to a solid state drive. I have the RAM part down, and I feel relatively confident that I will be able to install the SSD on my own. What is really throwing me is what type of SSD to buy. I could go the official Apple Store route, but those options are way more expensive than what I could find on, say, NewEgg or Amazon. My problem is that there seem to be a wide range of SSDs, both in terms of price and quality. What should I be looking for, besides the obvious (one that is the correct size for my computer)? I'm willing to pay a little more for one I know is going to work well with my MBP, but I don't even know where to start. Upgrading a MacBook Pro to a solid state drive (SSD) is an excellent way to get the most out of your Mac, and we highly recommend it. The SSD's from Other World Computing are widely praised and the folks at OWC are Mac specialists. They can help you pick out the right SSD for your MacBook Pro and they provide detailed installation videos for do-it-yourselfers. One of the neatest upgrades for MacBook Pro owners -- and one that I have installed in my 2009-era 15" MacBook Pro -- is the Data Doubler. This allows users to replace their optical drive with a SSD, adding even more storage options. OWC offers a USB enclosure for the now-removed optical drive, making it very similar to the USB SuperDrive that Apple offers for the MacBook Air. For you, Jay, which SSD you need depends on which MacBook Pro model you have. OWC offers both 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s-capable solid state drives. Give OWC a call and they can help you determine the best drive for you. Jamie wonders about a recent change to her iPhone 4S: After upgrading to iOS 5.1, my AT&T iPhone 4S now shows 4G in the top-left corner instead of 3G. Is this an upgrade in speed? I haven't noticed any difference, but maybe that's just me. We've got a number of folks asking about this change. We actually addressed it earlier this month, but it's worth mentioning again. In general, "4G" is mainly a marketing term at the moment. No carrier currently supports the recently adopted IMT-Advanced specification, which has a theoretical maximum download of 1 Gigabit per second. There are a number of different cellular technologies at varying speeds that carriers choose to market as 4G. The new iPad supports Verizon and AT&T's 4G LTE networks, which most folks agree is "next-generation" technology. However, the AT&T iPhone 4S supports a technology called HSPA+, which is considered a version of 4G by most carriers; Android HSPA+ phones have said 4G for a while. All that aside, AT&T's HSPA+ network is speedier than the EV-DO networks provided by Verizon and Sprint. The upshot for iPhone 4S owners is that the change is merely cosmetic; nothing has changed inside the phone, and the cellular connection isn't any faster. Anandtech has an extensive rundown on the different cellular iOS devices and the technologies they are using, and our own colleague Rich G. did a thorough dive into the sticky web of cellular data standards. Regardless, enjoy your "4G" iPhone -- and thanks for all your questions!
Ask TUAW: How do I setup a Mac with both an SSD and a regular hard drive?
Reader Mark R. Friedman wrote in to ask about setting up a Mac Pro with an SSD in the second optical drive, keeping the /Users folder on another drive; he wasn't sure how to do it. Macworld just discussed one method, using the built-in home folder path controls in System Preferences. The magic begins with right-clicking or Control-clicking the user name in the Users preference pane, which allows you to access the Advanced Options that control where the home folder lives on your drive. This was the same approach my friend Jon Deal detailed in an article explaining how to Move Your Home Folder Off Your SSD Boot Drive in OS X way back in November 2009 (because he's a huuuuuge nerd. I kid because I love, Jon) but his information is still relevant. If you want to move your entire /Users/ folder to another drive, or to a different partition on the same physical drive, Jon's instructions will work fine. There are, of course, other ways to do it. Matt Legend Gemmell rightly points out that while moving the entire /Users/ folder is straightforward, it may not be your best option. He recommends only moving some specific folders to the non-SSD drive, specifically Downloads, Movies, and Pictures (for some users, Music may also fit in that category). Those folders tend to be the largest ones, and can easily be symbolically linked from your non-SSD drive. (A symlink is the UNIX equivalent of an OS X alias or a Windows file shortcut, but in some edge cases and for some applications it behaves more predictably than an alias would.) Having used a MacBook Air for about a year now, I can't stand to use a non-SSD drive anymore. Even accessing files on an HDD is slow enough that I want to avoid it whenever possible. Another option for setting up your new SSD-based Mac Mark asked for instructions for setting this up on a Mac Pro, which has plenty of drive bays for additional hardware. Laptop users (who ordinarily would not have space for two fixed drives) may be considering replacing the SuperDrive with an SSD. The user folder process is the same for any of them. Step 0: I'm borrowing this from Jon, but before you do anything else make sure you have a working backup of all of your stuff. Check to make sure. Disconnect any drives which don't need to be connected during the install to reduce the chance of accidentally installing it on the wrong drive. Step 1: Install Mac OS X directly on your SSD (if it isn't already). With Lion this will mean downloading the Lion Installer from the Mac App Store and following the steps to install it on your SSD. Step 2: Don't migrate your apps and settings. If you're switching to a completely new drive, now is a good time to make a clean break from cruft you don't really need: apps you installed but never used, leftover project files from 2007 that you'll never look at again, that folder of animated GIFs from Geocities, etc. Start with a clean installation of OS X. Only install apps as you need them. Step 3: Use your non-SSD as a reference drive. It will appear as /Volumes/{drive name} and you can access your old files as you find you need them. For the purposes of this article, let's assume that your old drive is /Volumes/OldDrive. You will see a bunch of folders in there, including /Users/ which is where your old home account is located, including your old iTunes and iPhoto libraries, if you use them. Matt Gemmell explained how he linked some folders to their usual spots (if you want to do that and are not comfortable with using Terminal.app, I recommend SymbolicLinker which will make it easier to manage.) One potential tricky part is that OS X does not want you to delete some "default" folders, so it makes it difficult to do so. You can either fight it, or you can just leave the system folders where they are and just tell various apps to look elsewhere for their data. For example, if you start iPhoto or iTunes while holding down the Option/Alt key, it will ask you where to find their library. If your libraries have gotten out of hand, this is a good time to start over. It is particularly easy in iTunes to put the media (songs, videos, podcasts, etc) on an external drive, but keep the actual library files on your SSD. Having the library files on the SSD will makes iTunes faster than you've ever seen it before (iTunes is still one of my least favorite apps, but at least it's faster). Most Mac web browsers will default to saving files to ~/Downloads/ but you can change that in preferences to /Volumes/OldDrive/Downloads or anywhere else on the non-SSD drive. The same goes for movie/video files. They don't have to be in ~/Movies, that's just where OS X defaults to putting them. Which trade-offs do you prefer? Now you have are three options for using an SSD plus HDD: Move Your Home Folder Off Your SSD Boot Drive in OS X as Jon Deal suggested. Keep everything on your SSD except for a few linked folders as Matt Gemmell suggested. Use the SSD and change applications to point to your HDD as I have suggested by changing preferences where possible. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Jon's is the easiest, but you lose some of the advantages of the SSD for applications which store library/cache files in your $HOME. This is probably the best solution if you have a small SSD. Matt's method has you tinkering around with folders Apple really doesn't want you messing with, but it will work with all applications, even ones which don't let you define where their data is kept. If you want to dive in, set everything up, but then not have to worry about changing much after the initial setup, Matt's ideas may work for you. If you have specific applications that you use which cannot change where their files are stored, this is your best option. My suggestion tries to maximize the SSD benefits for those willing to change some app settings. It works especially well if you've been lugging around a bunch of files that you don't really use that often and are ready for a clean start. I've done this with a 250 GB SSD, and currently have 168 GB free. My large downloaded files, movies, music, and pictures are all on external drives. I use DiskAlarm (US$2, Mac App Store) to keep an eye on available space on the SSD. When it starts to get low, I go through ~/Downloads and ~/Desktop delete files I no longer want or need, or move them to external storage if I no longer need them. Of course, I am also using a MacBook Air, which means that I don't have the option of a second internal hard drive. If you do, you may want to do things differently.
Ask TUAW: Replacement Batteries, Keychain Sync, AppleIDs, and More! (Updated)
Welcome to Ask TUAW, our weekly (mostly) question-and-answer column. We're nearing the release of iOS 5, iCloud, iTunes Match and the next version of the iPhone. We get to as many questions as we can, so head down to the comments and tell us what Apple/Mac/iOS questions keep you up at night. If you'd prefer, instead of asking questions in the comments, you can email your questions directly to ask@tuaw.com, or simply ping us on Twitter. For our first question, Ryan asks: I have a quick question, about moving from MobileMe to iCloud. I heard Apple will not support Keychain syncing via iCloud to multiple Macs. I know i can use 1Password, or Dropbox or rsync (yikes), but I loveeee things as is. Do you know if this is true, and if, so, if there is a seamless work around? I have been putting off transitioning to iCloud just for this exact reason.
Ask TUAW: Disk Permissions, Wireless Syncing in iOS 5, Attachments on the iPhone, and More!
Welcome to Ask TUAW, our weekly (mostly) question-and-answer column. First off, we're back! Our intrepid question-and-answerer has spent the last month moving across the country and getting settled into a new place. Now, finally, it's time to answer some questions! A lot has happened since our last column: Lion has been released, a number of new versions of the iOS 5 beta have been released, iCloud is nearing completion, and now iTunes Match is out in beta. Exciting stuff! I'm sure everyone has lots of questions about all these things, so please ask them! We can't have this awesome Q&A column without the Q, so go to the comments of this post and ask away. If you'd prefer, instead of asking questions in the comments, you can email your questions directly to ask@tuaw.com, or simply ping us on Twitter. For our first question, David asks: I was wondering why Apple has killed support for WinXP for iCloud. Does this mean iTunes will no longer support it either? Is there a programming API that is only supported in Vista/Win7? Many people have older machines such as myself that love Apple products. What is the reason for dropped support (please don't say only that XP is old). I'm sure there is a better answer than that. Until I can save some more money to buy a Mac I'm stuck with this older machine.
Ask TUAW: shuffle by album and AirPlay from iOS, plus lots of iCloud questions
Welcome to Ask TUAW, our weekly (mostly) question-and-answer column. This week we're again hitting a ton of questions about iCloud and iOS 5. By the way, we can never have too many questions. You can't have a Q&A column without the Q, so please go to the comments of this post and ask away. Believe it or not, we've had a little bit of a drought of questions, so now's your chance to get them answered! If you prefer, instead of asking questions in the comments, you can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or simply ping us on Twitter. For our first question, Guillaume asks: Does the Music (née iPod) app in iOS 5 have a "shuffle by album" feature, rather than just "shuffle by song" like currently? On my old first generation iPod nano, or in iTunes, I can play albums at random. This is not possible on my iPhone. I can only play songs at random, and it doesn't make for a very pleasant experience if you jump into the middle of a classical concerto and then to a song from a rock concert.
Ask TUAW: WWDC/iCloud Edition
Welcome to Ask TUAW, our weekly (mostly) question-and-answer column. This week we're addressing your numerous questions about Apple's introductions at WWDC. We'll try to tackle questions about Lion, MobileMe and more. By the way, we can never have too many questions. You can't have a Q&A column without the Q, so please go to the comments of this post and ask away. Believe it or not, we've had a little bit of a drought of questions, so now's your chance to get them answered! If you prefer, instead of asking questions in the comments, you can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or simply ping us on Twitter. Now, questions! John asks: How do you remove iCloud music downloads from my iPhone and iPad? There seems to be no way to do it on the device or in iTunes when connected via USB to my computer.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Extending your AirPort wireless
Ahhh ... Tuesday -- what a glorious day, and a perfect day to talk about AirPort wireless setups. For this week's Ask TUAW video, here's a short piece on how to extend your wireless network. We're using an AirPort Extreme, but the steps are the same for the Express. The video is in the second half of the post; as always, email us questions or leave 'em in the post.
Ask TUAW: AirPlay and the Apple TV, Exchange 2003, enterprise iOS management and MobileMe calendar publishing
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Do you know what my favorite thing in the entire world is? No, besides grilled cheese sandwiches. That's right! Questions! We can never have too many questions! You can't have a Q&A column without the Q, so please go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, queries! Dan writes: The place I work refuses to upgrade their version of Exchange to anything newer than 2003. They also won't enable IMAP for email. On my iPhone and iPad, I have no problem using Exchange 2003, but on the Mac it's a different story. Apple Mail will only see newer versions of Exchange, and even Microsoft's Outlook 2008 can't use this version of Exchange Server. I know you could use the God-awful Entourage software or run a Windows program in emulation, but isn't there anything else? I would have thought that with the plethora of new Mac-based mail apps, there would be at least one that could do mail as well as the iPhone. Help me!
Ask TUAW: Durable iPad Cases, iPhone Mail Signatures and the 'Insert' Key
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. We can never have too many questions, so please go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! Than queries: I am starting to use my iPad to score my son's baseball games, doing the scoring from the dugout/field. Any suggestions on a good case? Would really like something waterproof or pretty air tight. Some of the fields can be pretty dusty in the summer and I don't want the dust getting into the iPad and I don't want to have to worry about some rain drops.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Geeking on GeekTool
It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another edition of Ask TUAW video! On the heels of our AppleScript episode, we are going to talk today about GeekTool. GeekTool is a great way to have information displayed on your desktop, without it being too intrusive. First thing, you need to download GeekTool here. I have posted some example GeekTool scripts, which can be downloaded here. As always, the video is in the second half of the post, and please ask questions -- that's what we're here for!
Ask TUAW Video Edition: VPN services
It's the first Tuesday in May, which means it's time for another edition of Ask TUAW, the video version. Today, Brad writes to us with a security question: I love using Wi-Fi where available, but I am always leery of doing anything requiring secure access as I don't know who is on the network and what they are up to. I think the best way to protect myself is using a VPN. But what service do you choose? Is there any chance they can see my info and passwords? Any help you can give would be great. We answer Brad's question in the video below by showing him two companies that offer VPN services, then we tell him how to set up a VPN in OS X. Companies mentioned in the video: StrongVPN OverPlay Other VPN approaches we've covered in the past include Hamachi, HotspotShield, CJB and more.
Ask TUAW: Charging MacBooks, securing passwords, color matching and more
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! Daniel asks: I have a original MacBook for which I am currently on my third charger. And for the third time, it's no longer working. So I need to buy a new one, but was considering buying the 85-watt adapter (with the new metal end) meant for the larger MacBook Pros. This way, I can use it as a spare charger when I eventually buy a new MacBook Pro. What I'm wondering is if I can use the 85-watt charger with my 60-watt MacBook without any adverse effects? The general idea I've gotten from forums is that it is OK, but is there any documentation from Apple on this?
Ask TUAW: AppleScripting coolness
It's Tuesday Wednesday, which means it's time for Ask TUAW Video Edition. We've gotten great comments and questions coming in, and we have been trying to get to them all. Some of them are just too hard to show in a video format such as Ask TUAW, so today I have decided to do a little AppleScript "tutorial." Here are 4 scripts that I use: iTunes - this script will automatically play/pause my music I'm back - will automatically make Adium go available, and start my music Mail Announce - will announce who incoming mail is from (works with mail.app only) Tell me a joke - tells a random joke You can download the scripts here. Updated the download link at 5:30pm EST As always leave us comments below or email us here.
Ask TUAW: Where is the new Mac mini?, turning off iPhone noises and more
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! Muhammad asks: Is there any way to set up a mode in my iPhone that's exactly like airplane mode but still allow phone calls to be received? When I sleep, I want everything like texts, email, push notifications, etc. to be off, but I still need to be available in case of an emergency.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Airport Breakdown!
Happy Tuesday!!! Dave is a nice boyfriend who purchaed an AirPort Extreme for his girlfriend's birthday in order to help her. While the Extreme solved her printing/backup issues, he wanted to know about playing music through it. Today we discuss the different AirPort base stations and show Dave his options. Any questions? Please leave them in the comments or email us. Read on for the video.
Ask TUAW: iPad browser refreshing, iPhone headphones, laptop upgrades and more
Welcome to Ask TUAW, your favorite weekly question-and-answer column. Now, we can never have too many questions, so please, go to the comments of this post and ask away. To get fabulous answers, we need your fabulous questions. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com, or ping us on Twitter. Now, off to the questions! Mandojustin is frustrated by Safari on his iPad: On my iPad, pages sometimes auto-refresh when returning to them, either during page-switching or when opening Safari. What's up with that? Can it be turned off? When using Google Reader, I'll often check out a link and then decide I want to keep that item unread until later. However, when I go back to the page with reader open, the refresh makes the item disappear. I know I can go back and find it, but this is rather annoying.
Ask TUAW Video Edition: Cloning Data
Douglas asks how to upgrade his hard drive and clone his Mac and Bootcamp data to the new one. We discuss new hard drives, enclosures, and cloning processes. Some resources for everyone: Carbon Copy Clone - More Info SuperDuper - More Info WinClone - Download Norton Ghost - More Info OWC - HD/Enclosure Upgrades Any questions, please leave them in the comments or email us! Read on for the video.
