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Mac 101: quickly change volume input, output
Many Mac users have several input and output devices for sound. For example, I have a mic, external speakers and a set of headphones connected to my MacBook Pro pretty much all the time. I also use Soundflower for capturing audio from my Mac. I can make any one of them active via the sound System Preference. Or, I could use this trick, which is much faster. Just Option-click on the volume icon in the Menu Bar and presto! A list of available input and output devices appears. Just click the one you want and you're all set. Nice and fast.
Mac 101: How to add custom artwork to your iTunes songs and movies
A significant chunk of my iTunes library is comprised of CD rips and a few independent recordings from musician friends. As a result, a fair number of tracks lack the excellent artwork that graces iTunes. If you are in a similar situation, you can quickly add artwork to individual tracks or even several tracks with just a few clicks. This trick also works with video, too. Individual Tracks To add artwork to an individual clip, simply select the track in iTunes and use Command-i to open the inspector (or File > Get Info), which will show all the details of the track. You can change other details from this interface, but we are most interested in the "Artwork" tab as shown above. Select the Artwork tab and use the "Add" button to insert your custom artwork. You also can drag the artwork from Finder into the artwork area. Multiple Tracks You also can add artwork to several tracks at once by selecting a handful of tracks and then clicking on File > Get Info or Command-i to open the inspector. Click "yes" if you are warned about editing multiple files and then select "Info" to view the contents of the information pane. You then can drag the image to the Artwork area to assign new art to all those tracks at once. Other Details iTunes 11 supports adding JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and Photoshop files as artwork. The app will resize the images to proper size so you don't have to worry about sizing down the artwork before you add it to iTunes. You also can have iTunes do the artwork importing for you if the track is from a known album by a known artist. Just control-click the songs without artwork and choose "Get Album Artwork" from the pop-up menu. This automatic method pulls the art from a central database and is less reliable than the manual import described above as the song matching is not always accurate.
iPhone 101: Always show walking directions in iOS Maps
Occasionally, I will travel to Boston, where it is much easier to get around by foot than by car. Apple's default Maps application will provide you with walking directions, but you have to switch from the default driving directions to walking directions by tapping the "walking person" icon in the navigation section of the Maps app. I don't mind switching between directions on occasion, but if I walked around the city every day, I would get irritated by this extra tap that is needed to jump from driving to walking directions. You can save yourself save some time and possibly a bit of frustration by changing the default directions from driving to walking. To change the default directions, just open the iOS Settings app, scroll down and then tap on Maps. Scroll to the bottom of the Maps settings and look for "Preferred Directions." The default option is "Driving," but you can select "Walking" if you travel primarily by foot. The next time you fire up Maps to navigate from one location to another, the app will show the walking directions first. Sweet!
Mac 101: Send a message with a screen grab quickly through OS X Notification Center
OS X's Notification Center is great for receiving incoming alerts, but you also can use the panel to compose a quick message and send it via the Messages app. Even more useful is the ability to add a screen grab right along with your text, making it perfect for those "you gotta see this" moments. To use Notification Center to pen quick messages, you need to enable the feature by opening System Preferences > Notifications and then selecting the "Share Button" option in the left-hand column. Make sure the checkbox next to "Show share button in Notification Center" is selected as shown above. Once the share button option is enabled, you can open Notification Center by clicking on the icon in the top right-hand corner of the menu bar. You now should see a box at the top with the label "Messages" as shown below. If you don't see the Messages option, you may have to drag down on the Notifications pane, which is the same gesture you use to expose the "Do Not Disturb" option in OS X. When you see the Messages icon, you can click on it to open a small message composition box where you can enter the recipient's contact information and your message. The contact information is pulled from your OS X address book so you can easily type in a few letters of a person's name and OS X will list the compatible address book entries. Just click on the address book entry you want to use. Type in your message, and when you have finished composing it, you can send it along by clicking the "Send" button. One useful option in this quick messaging is the ability to add a screen grab to an outgoing message. Follow the steps above to create a new message, add a recipient and type in your text. Before you hit send, right-click (or control-click, or two-finger click on a trackpad) on the text entry box to open the contextual menu. At the bottom of this contextual menu is an option to "Capture Selection From Screen," which provides you with the ability to select a region of your screen that you want to embed into your message. To add the screen grab, just select the "Capture Selection From Screen" option, use the crosshairs to select the area you want to capture and wait a few seconds for OS X to do its thing. Depending on what you are capturing, you may have to size up the windows in advance so your content appears on the screen when notifications is open, Once you select the region of the screen you want to capture, the screen grab will appear in your message and you can send it along by pressing the send button.
iPhone 101: Quickly change camera modes in iOS 7 without accidentally snapping a photo
One of the main reasons why I love my iPhone is its outstanding camera that allows me to capture a photo at a moment's notice. As noted when iOS 7 was released last year, Apple's latest version of iOS significantly improved the camera app, providing options for panorama mode, square photos and slow-mo video on select models. When you are shooting with the default iOS 7 camera app, you can swipe to switch between the modes to select the one you need for the moment. Most people instinctively swipe on the small bar where the modes are labeled in the iOS app. This small area can be difficult to tap especially when you are in a hurry, leading you to accidentally take a photo, choose a filter or open the thumbnail view. There is an easier way to switch between modes -- instead of swiping on the labels, swipe anywhere on the screen. Swiping anywhere on the screen will cycle you through the modes. If you are lazy with your swipe, you may accidentally activate focus, but if you are prompt, you will be able to select your photo mode in just a few seconds.
How to download YouTube videos to your iPhone
YouTube is pretty strict about its stance on not allowing downloads of its videos. Even many popular browser plugins that once supported downloading of YouTube videos are now blocked from the site, so it should come as no surprise that any apps that once allowed you to do the same have been patched to remove the ability. That being said, there's still a way to do it, and here's how. First, you'll need to download a free app called Titan Downloader. This was one of the apps that once allowed super easy downloading of YouTube videos, but has since blocked the feature -- on the surface, at least. If you browse for a YouTube video directly from the app and attempt to download, you'll be met with a warning that, due to "copyright issues," the app doesn't allow downloading on YouTube. Instead, use Safari to find the video you wish to download and copy the url. Now, back in Titan Downloader, paste the address and bring up the video. Click the play button so the video begins to play, and then quickly tap the "Done" button in the upper left corner. As soon as the video window shrinks down, tap and hold your finger on the video window itself. After a moment, a menu will appear. Tap either "Download" or "Download As" and the video will be saved within the app. Now, if you wish to save the video directly to your phone, tap the "Videos" tab on the bottom of the screen, tap and hold the video icon and then click "Save to Camera Roll." Tada! I wouldn't be surprised if this hidden (or overlooked) bit of functionality was patched out before too long, so if downloading YouTube videos is something you want to be able to do long-term, and without jailbreaking your device, make sure you download the app with a quickness.
Mac 101: Use Command-P to print and other useful Finder keyboard shortcuts
Yesterday, our Editor-in-chief Victor Agreda misfired in one of his keyboard combinations -- selecting multiple files and then hitting Command-P, instead of Command-O when trying to open the documents. He was reminded of this longstanding "Print" feature and other similar shortcuts that are often overlooked by new and veteran OS X users alike. Besides Command-O to open documents and Command-P to print them, there is a long list of keyboard combinations specifically for the Finder. Below you will find the list as documented by Apple. Key combination Action Command-A Select all items in the front Finder window (or desktop if no window is open) Command-Option-A Deselect all items Command-Shift-A Open the Applications folder Command-C Copy selected item/text to the Clipboard Command-Shift-C Open the Computer window Command-D Duplicate selected item Command-Shift-D Open desktop folder Command-E Eject Command-F Find any matching Spotlight attribute Command-Shift-F Find Spotlight file name matches Command-Option-F Navigate to the search field in an already-open Spotlight window Command-Shift-G Go to Folder Command-Shift-H Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account Command-Shift-Control-T Add to Dock Command-I Get Info Command-Option-I Show Inspector Command-Control-I Get Summary Info Command-Shift-I Open iDisk Command-J Show View Options Command-K Connect to Server Command-Shift-K Open Network window Command-L Make alias of the selected item Command-M Minimize window Command-Option-M Minimize all windows Command-N New Finder window Command-Shift-N New folder Command-Option-N New Smart Folder Command-O Open selected item Command-Shift-Q Log Out Command-Shift-Option-Q Log Out immediately Command-R Show original (of alias) Command-T Add to Sidebar Command-Shift-T Add to Favorites Command-Option-T Hide Toolbar / Show Toolbar in Finder windows Command-Shift-U Open Utilities folder Command-V Paste Command-W Close window Command-Option-W Close all windows Command-X Cut Command-Option-Y Slideshow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) Command-Z Undo / Redo Command-1 View as Icon Command-2 View as List Command-3 View as Columns Command-4 View as Cover Flow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) Command-Comma (,) Open Finder preferences Command-Accent (`) (the Accent key above Tab key on a US English keyboard layout) Cycle through open Finder windows Command-Shift-Question Mark (?) Open Mac Help Command-Left Bracket ([) Go to the previous folder Command-Right Bracket (]) Go to the next folder Command-Up Arrow Open the folder that contains the current folder Command-Control-Up Arrow Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window Command-Down Arrow Open highlighted item Command-Shift-Up Arrow Make the desktop active Right Arrow (in List view) Open the selected folder Left Arrow (in List view) Close the selected folder Option-click the disclosure triangle (in List view) Open all folders within the selected folder Option–double-click Open a folder in a separate window, closing the current window Command–double-click Open a folder in a separate window Command-click the window title See the folders that contain the current window Command-Tab Switch application–cycle forward Command-Shift-Tab Switch application–cycle backward Command-Delete Move to Trash Command-Shift-Delete Empty Trash Command-Shift-Option-Delete Empty Trash without confirmation dialog Space bar (or Command-Y) Quick Look (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) Command key while dragging Move dragged item to other volume/location (pointer icon changes while key is held--see this article) Option key while dragging Copy dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held--see this article) Command-Option key combination while dragging Make alias of dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held--see this article)
Ransomware worries? Turn off Find My Mac/Find My iPhone
Note: Here's how to enable 2-step authentication for your Apple ID. It's been a rough day Down Under; several iOS and Mac users have found their devices held "ransom" by a hacker leveraging Apple's Find My iPhone and Find My Mac services. Australia's The Age reports information acquired by recent security breaches, combined with the human tendency to reuse security credentials across services, may have led to the lockouts. The normally-helpful (or at least benign) Find My X services can indeed be used for ill, as Wired's Mat Honan learned last year to his regret. It's noteworthy that iPhone users who have a passcode in place should be able to recover access, as long as the passcode was created outside of setting up Find My iPhone. In this post, I'll explain how to disable Find My iPhone/iPad and Find My Mac, as well as how to create a passcode on your iOS device. First, let's disable those services. Note that you must know your iCloud account information to turn off either of the Find My X services -- that's the point, really, as a thief presumably would not know your password and wouldn't be able to unlock or reinstall your purloined device with FMx turned on. Disable Find My iPhone/iPad This is quite easy to do. Just follow these steps: Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap iCloud. Scroll to the bottom of the list, and move the slider labeled "Find my iPhone" to the Off position. You'll need to authenticate with your iCloud password. That's it. On the Mac, the process is just as simple. Disable Find My Mac Launch System Preferences. Click iCloud. A new pane appears. Scroll to the bottom of the list on the right. De-select Find My Mac. (If you aren't using it, best to uncheck Back to my Mac as well -- if your iCloud password was compromised then BTMM could also be a security risk.) Again, you'll need to authenticate with your iCloud password. Create an iOS passcode Just to be sure that you can unlock your device locally if you do re-enable Find My iPhone, it's a good idea to set a passcode. (If you have an iPhone 5s and you enabled the Touch ID feature, iOS forced you to create a passcode, so you're all set.) These screenshots are for iOS 7, but the iOS 6 process is similar. Open the Settings app. Scroll down to Passcode. If you've never created a passcode before, toggle Turn Passcode On. You'll be prompted for a short (4-digit) numeric "simple passcode" or a longer/complex alphanumeric passcode. Pro tip: Even if your employer or educational institution requires a complex passcode via MDM, you can still access the "quick entry" numeric keypad for your passcode... just create an all-numbers passcode of the minimum length or longer, and you won't have to peck out the unlock code on the full keyboard.) Once your passcode is enabled and verified, you can set the timeouts for passcode access, which apps can be accessed from the lock screen, and more. In general, Apple's recovery/security services like Find My iPhone are a very good thing, and beneficial to have up and running -- as long as you observe reasonable password hygiene with your iCloud credentials, which are the "keys to the kingdom" for iOS app purchases, iTunes music, your iCloud email and iWork online documents... well, you get the idea. But turning off Find My iPhone is a reasonable temporary measure if you're concerned about this kind of hack attack, or worse things that could happen with a compromised iCloud password. Michael Rose contributed to this post.
Mac 101: How to type an accented character in just a few seconds
If you communicate internationally, there will be times when you need to use an accented character in your prose. If you don't use these special characters very often, you may fumble around OS X looking for a way to add to your text. Don't waste extra time hunting through the preferences or the character viewer looking for a match, these accented characters are right at your fingertips if you know where to find them. The quickest way to add an accented letter also is the easiest one to remember. Just tap and hold the letter key and a box will appear with a selection of the available accents. You can click on the correct character or type the number underneath the character that you want to enter. It works with all the vowels as well as a few consonants that have special accents, like C, L and N. Now that you this trick, it'll only take you a few seconds to enter "olé" the next time you want to express your enthusiasm.
iPhone 101: Five useful Clock app tips for iPhone and iPad owners
Since the beginning, Apple has always included a Clock app in iOS, providing iPad and iPhone owners with a world clock, an alarm clock, a stopwatch and a timer. You likely are familiar with the basic functions of the app, so here are five tips to help you get even more out this simple, yet handy utility. 1. Tap on the clock in World Clock to change the clock style (iPhone only) If you tap on the clock face in the World Clock on the iPhone you can switch between an analog clock and a digital clock. I prefer the analog version because its shows night and day, with a black clock face for locations where it is night and a gray one for daytime areas. 2. Tell the time down to the second using the Clock icon (iPhone and iPad) Did you know that the iOS 7 clock icon on your home screen is dynamic? It displays the current time and even has a red hand that ticks off the seconds. The seconds feature is useful when you need to time something for less than a minute and don't want to open a dedicated timer app. 3. View weather around the world (iPad only) Add your favorite cities to the Clock app in iOS 7, and you can quickly view their weather by selecting the World Clock tab. Only on the iPad, the World Clock displays a map that locates each city and highlights its time, temperature and weather conditions. 4. Drag to change the time for an alarm (iPad only) The iPad version of the Clock app displays each alarm on a calendar grid, allowing you to see your alarm schedule quickly and easily. If you want to change the time for an alarm, just tap, hold and drag it to a new time. You can adjust the alarm time in 15-minute increments using this method. 5. Use the timer to play music until you fall asleep (iPhone and iPad) You can use the timer in the iOS 7 clock app as a sleep timer that plays background music as you fall asleep. Just open the Clock app, choose timer and set the amount of time you want the music to play. Tap on the "When Timer Ends" option, choose "Stop Playing" from the list and then tap on "Start" to begin the countdown process. Now open the Music app, select your favorite "fall asleep" music and relax knowing that your music will stop playing when the timer ends.
iPhone 101: Turn off read receipts to hide the fact that you've read an iMessage
Apple's iMessage app provides message status updates that let you know when a message has been delivered. It also has a handy feature called Read Receipts that lets you know when someone has read the message. This status update can be a blessing when you want someone to know automatically that you have viewed their time-sensitive response. Apple handles the status update so you don't have to do anything other than open the message. Just read the iMessage and the sender will see the "Read" timestamp in their timeline. As useful as the Read Receipts feature may be, it also can cause angst both for the sender and recipient. You can imagine the following scenario -- a wife discovers she is pregnant and sends an excited message to her husband. She sees that he read the message an hour ago and is upset because he never responded. On the other end is the husband, who viewed the message right before an important meeting. He now is agonizing over how to respond while his boss is breathing over his back, knowing that his wife is aware of the fact that the message has been read. If you wish to avoid such complicated message relationships, you can easily turn off read receipts, which hides the fact that you have read a message from the sender. The sender will still see the "delivered" status, so they can be assured the message arrive on your handset. They just won't know if or when you have read the message. Follow these steps to turn off Read Receipts: Open the settings app in iOS Scroll down to "Messages" and tap on it to view the Messages settings Find "Read Receipts" and make sure it is toggled to the off position (in iOS 7, green is on and clear is off) Resume your normal messaging behavior Once this option is toggled off, other people will not be alerted when you read their message.
Mac 101: How to scroll quickly through a web page or long document
In so many areas of OS X, Apple has added quick little tricks that make it easier for you to complete an action -- such as using the Option-Shift key when adjust volume to raise or lower it in smaller increments. When you are reading a long document that does not have a text entry field, you can use the space bar to scroll quickly down the document. The space bar will jump you down the page in large increments and is a much faster method of scrolling than the page down arrow, which moves you in smaller increments. When you reach the bottom of a document, you can use the shift-space bar combination to move back up the document in an equally quick manner. The only caveat is the space bar option does not work when the document has a text entry field as you need the space bar to add spaces between your words. As a result, you cannot use this trick when you are writing a long blog post in a web page editor or using a desktop text editor to modify a long document. It works perfectly, though, when you are reading a long webpage or browsing a PDF in Preview.
Mac 101: How to manage website Push Notifications in OS X Mavericks
OS X Mavericks added a new feature to Safari that allows websites to send you push notifications when there is breaking news and other new content. Websites that support this function will display a pop-up asking you if you want to receive alerts when you visit their website for the first time. If you are like me, you may click on the button just to get the alert out of the way without realizing what you just permitted. Thankfully, Apple provides an easy way for you to manage these push notifications within Safari. In Safari's preferences section, you can see which websites are sending you alerts and which ones are disabled. You also can disable those sometimes annoying push notification requests entirely. Follow these steps below to manage your Safari push notification list and other push notification preferences: 1. Open Safari and select "Safari" from the menu and then choose "Preferences." 2. Click on the tab labeled "Notifications." 3. The dialog box should display your website list at the top, with each site's push notification status clearly indicated as "Allow" or "Deny." 4. Select "Allow" if you want a website to send you push notifications or "Deny" if you want to disable the alerts. 5. You also can use the buttons at the bottom to remove websites from the list, individually via "Remove" or in bulk using "Remove All." 6. At the bottom, there is a checkbox labeled "Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications", which is the global switch that toggles on and off the notification request feature (the popup that asks if you want alerts). 7. If you select that checkbox, then websites will ask you whether you want push notifications. 8. If you deselect this checkbox, Safari will ignore all push notification requests and you can browse uninterrupted. Note: If you don't see this checkbox then you need to update Safari as it is only available in Safari 7.0.3. 9. If you want to fine tune your alerts, you can click on the "Notifications Preferences" button to open the system-wide notification settings for OS X. 10. This notification panel allows you modify how the alerts are displayed (None, Banners, Alerts) as well as prevent the alerts from appearing either on the lock screen or in Notification Center.
Mac 101: How to add images to an iMessage
Adding images to an iMessage on your iPhone is easy to do as there is a "camera" icon right next to the message composition field. On the Mac, though, this option is not readily apparent, leaving many desktop users scratching their head when they want to add a simple image to a message they are writing. Though it is not intuitive, Messages for Mac does allow you to attach on image to an outgoing message. There are two basic ways -- one uses the Finder, while the other uses the sharing feature that is available in most apps. Using the Finder If you haven't started writing a new message, you can select the image in Finder and right-click on it to bring up the contextual menu. Select "Share > Messages" from the contextual menu to create a new message. This opens a small dialog box directly over the Finder window that allows you to enter the recipient information and a text note before sending the image. If you already have a message in progress, then you will need to follow the steps below: Position the Finder window and the Messages window side-by-side on your screen. This makes it easy to drag the image from one window to another. Select an image file in the finder. (This also works in iPhoto if you have that app open) Drag the file to the text entry field in Messages. You will see a "+" icon as you add the image. You can add text directly after the image or use Option-Return to add some line returns between the image and your text. Using the "Share" feature in third-party apps Many OS X apps that work with images, such as Preview or Acorn, allow you to select an image and then choose the Share option either from the main menu bar or from the contextual menu. When you share an image from a third-party app, Messages launches a small dialog box where you can enter the recipient information as well as add some text before sending it along.
Blizzard's new level 90 crash-course videos
Blizzard has released 11 instructional videos designed to give a new level 90 a quick and dirty introduction to their class. The title is perhaps a bit misleading, because these are not complete class overviews. Instead, each video focuses on a particular specialization of that class--and specifically, a DPS specialization. The specs featured are: Frost death night, Balance druid, Survival hunter, Arcane mage, Windwalker monk, Retribution paladin, Shadow priest, Combat rogue, Elemental shaman, Destruction warlock, and Arms warrior. If you've got a brand-new 90 that you're still figuring out, or if you're looking to busy yourself learning a new aspect of your class before Warlords of Draenor, these might be of interest to you. It is nice to see a Blizzard-sponsored guide for specs such as the Balance druid, which I personally find annoyingly complicated to play, but I'm a bit puzzled by the extremely specific nature of the videos. Are there going to be further guides for tanking and healing specs? Or for the DPS specs not covered here, such as Affliction warlocks, Fury warriors, Feral druids, Subtlety rogues, and more? I think videos like this that come straight from the horse's mouth of Blizzard are a great idea, but it's strange to see a set of them that feels so incomplete. Still, if you're toying with the idea of learning one of the specs covered, the videos are a good place to start.
Automatically unhide the /Users folder after 10.9.3 update
Update 2014-05-17: There is strong evidence via The Mac Observer that this was caused by an odd combination of iTunes 11.2 and Find My Mac, not 10.9.3. Apple even mentioned a related permissions issue in the security release notes for iTunes 11.2.1 So the best fix for this is to download and install iTunes 11.2.1. Apple released Mac OS X 10.9.3 which seemed like a fairly minor update, but some users reported that their /Users/ folder was hidden after they restarted their Macs. I haven't seen this myself but Chris Breen at Macworld explained that the problem could be solved by running: chflags nohidden /Users in the Terminal. Unfortunately, when you restart your Mac, you will have to run the command again. Chris walked through the steps of creating an AppleScript app to do this, but that requires hard-coding your administrator password into an app. That's probably completely safe, but there's an easier way. (Well, it won't look easier at first, but bear with me.) You can create a launchd plist which will run this command every time that your computer starts, and it can be run as root without having to make it into an app. To do this, the plist has to be place into /Library/LaunchDaemons/ and must be owned by "root:wheel" and the permissions should be set to "-rw-r–r–" (chmod 644). The plist should look something like this: You can download my com.tjluoma.unhide-users.plist, install it to /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tjluoma.unhide-users.plist and set the permissions and ownership if you want, or (here's where it gets easy) you can download Unhide-Users.pkg and run it using Apple's Installer.app. It will install the file for you in the proper place, with the proper permissions and ownership, and load the plist for you as well. You will be prompted to enter your administrator password. To uninstall: Regardless of which method of installation that you choose, uninstalling this is as simple as entering this line in Terminal: sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tjluoma.unhide-users.plist
What happened to my 'Most Recent' Newsfeed in Facebook v10 for iOS?
Facebook updated its iOS app this week to version 10.0, adding an offline writing mode and a new review feature that previews your posts and allows you to remove links before sharing your status with friends. As noticed by many users (myself included) and reported by iMore, Facebook also removed the popular "Most Recent" newsfeed option from the main screen and buried it in the settings. This feature lets you sort your newsfeed according to the most recent posts instead of the most popular, which is the default option. Follow these steps below to access your most recent newsfeed: 1. Open the Facebook app and tap the "More" button at the bottom right side of the screen. It is the one with three lines as shown above. 2. This opens the settings portion of the app, providing access to your events, pages, groups and more. 3. Scroll down until you see a section labeled "Feeds," as shown below. 4. Tap on the "Feed" title bar to expand this section. You should see a list of available feeds, including those from your close friends, family and others. 5. Scroll down until you see the feed labeled "Most Recent," as shown below. 6. Tap on the "Most Recent" link to open the newsfeed. The posts now should be sorted by date with the most recent status updates appearing at the top of the feed . Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do within the Facebook app to make it easier to access this most recent feed. You'll have to get used to jumping through several hoops instead of just one, if you want to view your friend's latest posts.
Mac 101: How to quickly hide desktop icons
If you need to use your Mac for a presentation at work or school, you may want to tidy up your machine by removing all the icons that are cluttering up your desktop. You can drag all the icons off your desktop for your presentation and then drag them back when you are done, but that method can be inconvenient and increases the chance that you could accidentally lose a file or two in the moving process. There is an easier way that allows you to temporarily hide the icons, while still keeping the files in their original location. The simplest way of hiding your desktop icons is to use a third-party app to do all the work for you. You can check out Camouflage (US$5.99), which has been around for a long time and is regularly updated to support the latest version of OS X. There's also Desktop Curtain ($4.99) that supports a variety of options for setting the curtain coverage amount, extending the cover to external monitors and more. If you prefer a no-frills option, then you should download the free HiddenMe app and see if that does what you need it to do. OS X owners who are comfortable with the terminal app can use the following command to hide all icons on the desktop without deleting or moving the files stored in the desktop folder. This first command will remove the icons: defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false && killall Finder While this second one will restore all the icons: defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true && killall Finder If you have any other interesting Finder or terminal tips, please share them in the comments.
How to fix disappearing iMessages after switching from iPhone to Android
As mentioned in this morning's news roundup, a number of iPhone users who have since switched to Android are finding that they are unable to receive messages sent from iPhone users. The problem lies in the fact that some folks have phone numbers tied to iMessage even after leaving the iOS ecosystem. Lifehacker EIC Adam Pash recently experienced this problem and detailed it in a post aptly titled "iMessage purgatory." I recently switched from an iPhone to Android, and discovered shortly thereafter that my phone number was still associated with iMessage, meaning that any time someone with an iPhone tried texting me, I'd receive nothing, and they'd get a "Delivered" receipt in their Messages app as though everything were working as expected. While disassociating one's number from its associated Apple ID seems to fix the problem for some, Pash, and others, are still finding that texts sent from iPhone users aren't coming through. This isn't an entirely new problem as there are a number of support threads on the topic on Apple's website. Fix 1: The official response from Apple, naturally, is for users to deactivate iMessage. To deregister your phone number, tap Settings > Messages and turn iMessage off. Funny enough, Eric Schmidt's guide on converting to Android from iPhone even mentions this. An in-depth guide for deactivating iMessage can be found here on OS X Daily. Fix 2: Another recommendation via Apple's support forums reads: Go to: https://supportprofile.apple.com/MySupportProfile.do Log in if not already logged in. Click on "edit products" Click on the "x" to the right of the product. Click "unregister" Fix 3: Some commenters on Apple's discussion forums also recommend that users sign out of their App Store accounts if possible. While some users have found that texting the word "stop" to 48369 seems to alleviate the problem after about a 12 hour period, Apple's support document explicitly states that doing so "won't deregister iMessage." How to prevent this problem in the first place! To hopefully avoid this type of frustrating experience altogether, Apple reportedly recommends that users should deactivate iMessage before switching their phone number to a new device. If none of the above serve to fix the problem, or if you happen not to have access to your iPhone anymore, Apple recommends contacting Apple support at 1-800-My-Apple.
iPhone 101: How to easily combine multiple iMessages into a single message
Have you ever received a series of iMessages with important information that you need to share with someone else? You could forward each iMessage separately and spam your recipient. You also could copy and the contents of each message and then paste them into another message, but that is time consuming. Or you could use our tip below to quickly combine multiple messages into a single message that can be forwarded to a third party. Here is how you can combine several iMessages into one message that is ready to be sent to someone else: 1. Tap and hold the first iMessage that you want to forward and then select "More" from the popup menu as shown above. 2. Tap on the checkmark bubbles to select the messages that you want to forward. Each selected message will have a white checkmark inside of a blue circle as shown below. 3. Tap on the arrow in the bottom right corner of the screen. 4. This will open the "New Message" window, as shown above, with an iMessage that contains the text from the messages that you selected in step 2. You can edit the text as needed and also enter the name, email address or phone number of the recipient(s). 5. Hit the "Send" button in the right corner to send along the message. If you have any particularly helpful tips or tricks for iMessage, please share them in the comments.
