Safari
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iOS 8 Safari can block ads from automatically redirecting to the App Store
One of the most frustrating aspects of the modern mobile internet is advertising that kicks you off the webpage you're on and forces you into the App Store. Oftentimes websites -- including TUAW -- aren't even aware that their ads are doing this obnoxious and vile act until it's too late and readers are already ticked off. Thankfully, the upcoming iOS 8 will fix this problem for Safari users. In the release notes for the latest iOS 8 Beta update comes this wonderful hidden gem: That's right folks, the days of intrusive spam ads kicking you out of the article you want to read and into the App Store for a product you don't want are almost over. HealthKit, time lapse video, and the other wonderful features of iOS 8 we've found out about so far are all exciting, but this? This will make Safari the go-to browser for a large chunk of iOS fans, if only so they can browse the internet in peace once again. We can't wait for the arrival of Fall.
Finally! Third party apps on iOS 8 can load websites as fast as mobile Safari
If you've ever had the displeasure of attempting to bring up a website from within third party apps like Facebook or Twitter, you've undoubtedly noticed that pages often load markedly slower than they do on mobile Safari. The reason for this is that Apple hampered the ability of third party apps to leverage the Nitro JavaScript engine that powers its own Safari app. Thankfully, that hindrance -- which some speculate was initially enacted due to security concerns -- will now be nothing more than a relic once iOS 8 is released. Re/Code reports: With iOS 8, though, developers will have access to Apple's fastest Javascript and other improved browsing methods as long as they use Apple's latest WebKit programming interface. That could be a big deal for both rival browsers such as Chrome, Opera and Dolphin as well as for other apps that display lots of Web links, such as Twitter and Facebook. This can't come soon enough.
Netflix worked closely with Apple to bring HTML5 video support to Safari in OS X Yosemite
So long, Silverlight! Apple on Monday announced that Safari on OS X Yosemite will support HTML5 video streaming for Netflix. Translation? Users can enjoy the majesty of Netflix without having to fiddle with any external plugins. On top of the added convenience, the transition to HTML5 video will offer much improved battery life to the tune of two extra hours of 1080p streaming on a MacBook. In a blogpost highlighting the news, Netflix relayed that it worked closely with Apple to implement the upcoming transition via HTML5 Premium Video Extensions. We've been working closely with Apple to implement the Premium Video Extensions in Safari, which allow playback of premium video content in the browser without the use of plugins. ... We're especially excited that Apple implemented the Media Source Extensions (MSE) using their highly optimized video pipeline on OS X. This lets you watch Netflix in buttery smooth 1080p without hogging your CPU or draining your battery. In fact, this allows you to get up to 2 hours longer battery life on a MacBook Air streaming Netflix in 1080p - that's enough time for one more movie! Finally, a Safari announcement even non-techies can get excited about.
Junglecat iPhone controller and other news for June 4, 2014
We're halfway through the week and you know what that means. Here's the Apple news you need to know this morning. Razer has announced the Junglecat game controller for iPhone 5 and 5s. The slide-out case, available in white or black (sorry, no gold), adds a D-pad and four buttons. A companion app lets you customize its functions. It seems OS X Yosemite's version of Safari will truncate URLs to the domain level. The current build at least. I dislike this behavior in mobile Safari and will be bummed if it's a part of the release version of Safari. Here's hoping we get a setting to disable it. Apple updates MFi program to allow Lightning headphones. The MFi program gives developers the tools to make Apple-certified hardware for use with its devices. This latest update will let headphone manufacturers use a device's Lightning port, as opposed to the headphone jack. Here's a first: iOS apps are the most popular way to watch TV online. A report conducted by Adobe revealed that iOS apps hold a 43% market share of online TV viewing, versus the 36% that browsers hold. Goodness knows I use my iPad as a TV all the time.
Safari in OS X Yosemite gets new sharing and browsing options, and saves even more battery life
Apple is giving Safari a big makeover with the launch of OS X Yosemite, as previewed at WWDC 2014. They're adding a whole host of new features while attempting to simplify the experience at the same time. Most noticeable is the thin, one-bar browser bar that the company insists eliminates the need for a standard favorites bar. Now, when you type a search term into the address bar you'll be greeted with results from the web, a list of relevant sites you've already added as bookmarks, as well as a Spotlight search of your computer. There's also a new sharing feature that lets you forward web pages to social networks Twitter and Facebook, and also send them to your recent contacts via Mail. You can also subscribe to RSS feeds right from the menu and then have those subscriptions pop up in a Safari sidebar. Tabs also get an update with a new overview screen that shows a screenshot of all your tabs at once, and stacks tabs from the same site. On the Internet front, Safari scores WebGL support for 3D web applications as well as HTML5 Premium Video functionality. According to Apple, this makes streaming video so much more efficient that it can actually save a ton of battery life on a MacBook. If you're watching 1080p video via Netflix, your MacBook battery will last up to 2 hour longer thanks to the HTML5 upgrade.
Apple revamps Safari with new UI, power-saving features
Apple's not forgetting about Safari with all the changes to OS X Yosemite. The browser has been completely overhauled with power-saving tweaks, new tabs and a privacy mode, among other new features. By far the biggest change, though, is in the UI -- it's got a new flat look that matches the new OS. On top of eliminating the favorites bar (which now pops up when you type in the address field), you get a bird's-eye view of tabs, and can scroll from side to side to select them. There's also a new Spotlight search that gives additional suggestions, as well as those from search engines like Google. Apple also says its latest Safari is standards-compliant and no longer requires video plugins for premium services like Netflix's HTML5 player -- which could net you up to two more hours of battery life when playing video.
Apple's WWDC 2014 keynote will be streamed live on Safari and Apple TV
A liveblog of an Apple keynote is great, but sometimes you just want to see the real thing for yourself (while reading our commentary at the same time, of course). We totally understand. And apparently, so does Apple, since the company is once again streaming the WWDC keynote live. The usual caveats apply: You'll need to use an Apple product or service to view the event -- specifically, Safari browser on OS X (version 4+ on Snow Leopard or later), Safari on iOS 4.2+ or a second-gen Apple TV or newer. Don't have any of those but still curious about what groundbreaking products will be announced? No worries, our liveblog will come with all of the news, quotes, specs and photos as they come out, so be sure to go here and bookmark it. Livestream of Apple's WWDC 2014 keynote June 2, 2014 1:00:00 PM EDT
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.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Why don't my searches work in Safari anymore?
Dear Aunt TUAW, Safari search is broken as anything. I use Safari, what, once a month, and it can't even work right? I have a page that has at least 20 times my search phrase. And it can't find it. I do CMD + F and then I type my term and then return. It's all keyboard. Help. Your nephew, M. Dear M, Take a close look at the Safari search field. Do you see the little drop-down triangle to the right of the magnifying glass. Try clicking that and changing your search from "Starts With" to "Contains". Hugs and snuggles, Auntie T.
Don Melton on Steve Jobs and other news from April 10, 2014
Former Apple engineer Don Melton posted a heartwarming and fascinating post late on Thursday highlighting his memories of working with Steve Jobs. The entire post is well worth reading in its entirety as it provides a more up-close and personal glimpse into a side of Jobs that doesn't often get a lot of ink. The post is packed with a number of interesting stories regarding the development of Safari (the team at Apple Melton worked on) along with a few memorable anecdotes detailing Jobs' kindness, his sense of humor, and of course, his uncompromising pursuit of excellence. One quick story with sharing is how the idea of putting Safari's URL progress bar into the browser's URL address view came about: Steve didn't like the status bar and didn't see the need for it. "Who looks at URLs when you hover your mouse over a link?" He thought it was just too geeky. Fortunately, Scott and I convinced Steve to keep the status bar as an option, not visible by default. But that meant we had a new problem. Where should we put the progress bar to indicate how much of the page was left to load? Before, the progress bar lived inside the status bar. So we needed to find it a new home. We discussed all sorts of silly ideas including making it vertical along the edge of the window. ... The room got quiet. Steve and I sat side-by-side in front of the demo machine staring at Safari. Suddenly we turned to each other and said at the same time, "In the page address field!" Smiles all around. Which I followed with, "I'll have a working version of that for you by the end of the week." Over-committing my engineering team, of course. But I didn't care. I had just invented something with the Big Guy. True, it was a trifle, but there's no feeling like sharing even a tiny byline with Steve. Again, the entire post is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in one of the tech industry's all-time great visionaries. Other quick hits from Thursday includes: AltConf2014, the alternative conference to WWDC, has announced its speakers for this year. AltConf will be held across the street from WWDC in San Francisco on June 2-6. Entry is free and is on a first-come, first-served basis if you have a ticket. Donations are voluntary. Speakers include Michael Lopp, Andy Stone, Brianna Wu, Saul Mora, Josh Michaels, Mike Lee, Orta Therox, and Aaron Hilleglass. Remember Boxee? If you were a member of the forums during its heyday, the service is notifying users that a hack caused data for more than 158,000 users to be exposed. This includes names, emails, full message histories and partial login credentials.
iPhone 101: How to use Reader mode in Safari to simplify web pages for reading
It doesn't take long to get annoyed by ads and images that clutter your reading space in Safari when you are trying to digest a long-form article on your iPhone or iPad. To clear your browser window and bring focus to the words on the page, you can activate Reader mode in mobile Safari in a single tap. When browsing a compatible web page, you can easily remove almost all the distracting content by tapping the line-style icon in the left corner of the URL bar (as shown above). This enables a Reader mode in Safari, which removes all advertisements and extra images in the article's content. You will be left with a single column of easy-to-read words. If you want to go back to the original webpage, just tap the icon again. The biggest drawback to this Reader feature is that it is not available on all web pages. You don't have to guess whether a page is compatible with Reader, as the icon only will appear on pages that support the feature.
iPhone 101: Use Safari AutoFill to enter information into web forms on your iOS device
Typing on a mobile keyboard can be a pain, especially when you are entering information into a long web form. To make it easier, you can enable the useful AutoFill feature in Safari, which will automatically enter contact and credit card information into compatible web forms. It'll take a few minutes to setup, but it will save you frustration later on. Before you get started in Safari, you need to add a contact for yourself in your address book, if you don't already have one. If you do have a contact with updated information, then you can skip to the Safari-specific instruction below. Open up the Contacts app on your iOS device Tap the "plus" sign in the upper right corner Type in your personal details Hit Done to save your contact information Now that you have a valid contact in your address book, it is time to hop into the Safari settings and enable AutoFill. Open up Settings on your iOS device Tap on Safari Tap on AutoFill Toggle "Use Contact Info" to on. The toggle will be green on iOS 7. Tap on "My Info" and select your contact entry in your address book These few steps will enable AutoFill on your iOS device, making it an available option the next time you visit a compatible web form. To test that it is working properly, visit a site with a web form and select the text box at the top of the form. When the keyboard pops up, be sure to select the option for AutoFill.
Why what you think about that "new category" thing may be all wrong
Spectacle. We love it. That moment when technology changes and our minds are blown. It's easy to forget that many "one more thing" things were actually pretty boring: the iPod mini, Safari for Windows, the Power Mac G5. Our current obsession with "new categories" derives from the heroin-like highs of the iPhone and iPad. While every year, Apple's laptop and desktop lines iteratively improve in user features and hardware, it's hard to get past that rush of newness that iOS delivered. Even iPod, the consumer device that more or less revolutionized Apple's marketplace in 2001, didn't produce the kind of magical expectations that iOS mobile did. Is Apple still innovating? Is the Tim Cook catholic...er...in the woods...um...wait, I'm pretty sure there's a metaphor here that means "yes". Yes, Apple is still innovating. Since we haven't had our next holycrapdoodle moment, I'm going to guess that none of these internally developed products have been suitable or mature enough to bring to market yet. There's the whole wearables thing... If you're willing to strap your iPhone 5S to your forehead, it's already here with its new-fangled motion chip supported by literally several apps! It's not what everyone was expecting, but it kind of positions Apple. There's also Apple TV, which keeps getting better but still doesn't "rule the living room" in any meaningful way. And then there's that car thing, which, *shrug*. Back in reality, there are lots of hints in iOS 7 about possible future directions. The latest OS now supports hardware keyboards including control keys, and alt keys, and stuff like that. There's also massively expanded support for document containers like RTF. It all could potentially hint at a toasterfridge merging of iOS and OS X -- or not. The problem is that two major innovations do not a corporate trend make. They were amazing but they may not have been defining as in specifically "Apple is the company whose new products always produce paradigm shift". Sure, we want more amazing but it's not something that it's reasonable to expect on a regular, scheduled basis. You know the meme. Meth, not even once.
Toggle JavaScript in Safari with Keyboard Maestro
I was very pleased to be a guest on Mac Power Users Episode #181. We had a great conversation about all things automation on the Mac, but Katie and David both seemed to like one Keyboard Maestro macro in particular. Three years ago, I wrote about how to Quickly enable or disable JavaScript in Safari, but had not yet come up with the Keyboard Maestro macro. After we finished recording the show, I decided to "flesh it out" a little with some additional error checking. In the course of doing so, I learned a new Keyboard Maestro feature thanks to its developer, Peter Lewis. The macro itself is fairly simple: it is designed to be used in Safari, a simple press of ⌘ + J will toggle Safari's JavaScript setting on or off, and then reload the current page (if any). Although the macro is simple, it is very convenient for those sites which are filled with all sorts of annoyances and distractions. The second macro uses ⌥ + J to only display the current JavaScript status in Safari, without changing it. If you are impatient, you can jump over to the Github page for these two macros where you can download the macros. If you want to learn more about how it works (and the new 'trick' I learned in Keyboard Maestro), read on. Building the macros Most Keyboard Maestro macros fall into one of two categories: "global" macros, which should work anywhere, and "local" macros, which are only meant to work in a specific app (or group of apps). For example, most people are familiar with the keyboard shortcut ⌘ + space to start a Spotlight search. That keyboard combination should work in any application. That's what I mean when I say "global" –- it works at any time, in any application. Contrast that with something like ⌘ + Y which may or may not do something, depending on which app you are in, and it will most likely do something different in different applications. That would be an example of a "local" macro. The reason I mention this is that these two macros which I have created are meant to be local macros, in the sense that they are only meant to be used when you are using Safari. For example, if you press ⌘ + J while you are using the Finder, you don't want Keyboard Maestro changing your JavaScript setting in Safari! To limit these to just Safari, the macros need to be placed in a Keyboard Maestro "Group" which has been limited to just be active in Safari. Don't get overwhelmed! I'm telling you this detail to help you understand how it works, but if you use my macros you won't have to worry about creating this Keyboard Maestro Group, it will be done for you. But it's important to understand how it works and why it is important. It's really not as complicated as it sounds; hopefully, this screenshot will help: A larger version of this screenshot is available on Github. In the left column, you can see a group called "Safari Only" Macros has been created. This group is like a folder which can hold any number of macros. In the second column you can see that I have 4 macros in that group (the 2 mentioned here and 2 others which are unrelated). In the right-most part of the window you can see that the "Safari Only" Macros have been set as only available in Safari. (If you wanted to rename the Group to something other than "Safari Only" Macros you would do that here.) When you import the macros I have created, Keyboard Maestro automatically creates the "Safari Only" Macros group, and it knows that these macros are only to be used in Safari. I mention it here only as explanation; you should not need to do anything in Keyboard Maestro to get them into this group. Once you have imported the macros into Keyboard Maestro (either by double-clicking on the .kmmacros file or by choosing File » Import... in Keyboard Maestro) you can look through the macros to see how they were put together. Do not be overwhelmed! These macros may look complicated, but that's mostly because I was very thorough, and added a lot of error-checking that I will admit I don't always include. What these macros do is really quite simple. Look at this menu item, and notice that in one there is a checkmark, and the other there isn't: I previously suggested you could go into System Preferences and assign a keyboard shortcut to "Disable JavaScript." The reason that Keyboard Maestro is better than that is that Keyboard Maestro's macros will sync via Dropbox, which means that if I create a macro once I will have it on all of my Macs, instantly. Maybe you're thinking, "But isn't a keyboard shortcut easier?" Well, maybe, but at its core, the macro to toggle this setting simply chooses that menu item, then it looks to see if the "Reload Page" item (under Safari's "View" menu) is enabled. If it is (meaning Safari has already loaded a page), it reloads the page, otherwise it stops. Now, already I have improved upon a keyboard shortcut, because I'm getting two actions for one keyboard shortcut. With a few minutes of extra work, the macro can be easily expanded, and the benefit of those extra minutes will benefit me every time I use this macro in the future. So here are the extra features I added into the macro: If there is no menu item 'Disable JavaScript' then chances are that the user has not turned on the "Show Develop menu in the menu bar" option in Safari's "Advanced" preferences. Oops! But we don't have to just give up; we can use Keyboard Maestro to open Safari's preferences (using the menu item), then select the "Advanced" preferences (telling Keyboard Maestro to press the 'Button' labeled "Advanced"), and then press button "Show Develop menu in the menu bar" which should have the effect of checking the box and enabling the menu. Just in case, we leave the Preferences window open, and open an alert window using a shell script set to 'Display results in a window' telling the user what should have happened, and what to do next. The macro is then canceled. It is easy enough for the user to press ⌘ + J again, if desired. Now if I reinstall this macro on a new Mac (remember, it syncs via Dropbox, so I can do that very easily) it will help me customize Safari even if I have forgotten to turn this option on! It is important to notice that, unlike some menu items, the Disable JavaScript menu does not change when it is toggled. For example, Safari's "Show Status Bar" menu changes to "Hide Status Bar" when the setting is changed. Ideally, "Disable JavaScript" would change to "Enable JavaScript" but, alas, all that happens is that a check mark is added or removed. Fortunately, Keyboard Maestro is smart enough to be able to tell the difference between "Disable JavaScript" and "Disable JavaScript with a check mark" and we can test for it by looking to see if the menu item "is marked" as shown here: If you were to click on "is marked" you would see another option for "is not marked" which means that now we can tell whether JavaScript is currently enabled or disabled! (This is the "new Keyboard Maestro trick" I learned while writing this.) With a little bit of effort we can not only tell the user (using OS X's built-in notification settings) whether they have just enabled or disabled JavaScript (rather than the generic "toggled"), and if the user uses the new companion macro (⌥ + J instead of ⌘ + J) we can use a notification to tell the user whether JavaScript is enabled or disabled without changing the setting. What problem did we solve, and how much effort did it take? JavaScript has a lot of good and beneficial uses, but it can also be used to have parts of a web page move around while you scroll, or have something jump up and block what you were trying to read. If you have been annoyed by something on a website, chances are good that disabling JavaScript would make it stop. Apple has made it very simple to disable JavaScript in Safari, but it's not very convenient. After all, once you disable JavaScript, you'll probably want to (or even need to) reload the page. Being able to do that with a keyboard shortcut is much more convenient. (Oh, and if you'd prefer to be able to trigger this macro using your mouse, Keyboard Maestro can do that as well.) So we've solved a real problem that can be a daily annoyance when browsing the web by making it convenient to turn JavaScript on or off, and making it even easier to check to see if it is off or on. Creating this macro probably took me about 10 minutes, but I will benefit from it every single day that I use Safari, on every Mac that I own, into the foreseeable future. Every time I press ⌥ + J or ⌘ + J, I'm going to be just slightly happier than I would have been without it, and I'm going to be slightly happier just after a moment of frustration ("Why is this site doing that?! Well, I can fix this easily enough.") This is the one of the benefits of doing these bits of automation on your Mac: it may not change the world, but it makes your part of it a little better and more enjoyable. What may be the best part of this particular effort, for me, is knowing that Katie Floyd and David Sparks are probably going to be using this too, as well as some listeners to the Mac Power Users podcast, and some people reading this article. So I've made their part of the world just a little better too.
Tell Gmail what to do with the latest Dragon Dictate for Mac
Let's face it: not everyone uses Nuance's Dragon Dictate software to power a ridiculously automated dorm room, the less creative among us have had to get by using it to take notes or write term papers. No matter what you do with it, however, you might appreciate that the latest Mac version of the app lets you use your mouth instead of your fingers to write emails and navigate your inbox -- so long as you're using Firefox or Safari to access Gmail. You can tell Mac's word processor, Pages, what to do too. Beyond that, Dictate will also transcribe single-speaker recordings either from a smartphone or digital voice recorder now (including .mp3 and .wav files), and, what's more, it apparently boasts improved voice recognition accuracy. The suite is $200 directly from the developer should you want to give your hands a rest, or perhaps you just really like hearing the sound of your own voice.
Skype's web-based version is now available worldwide
You no longer have to live in one of a few fortunate countries to make a Skype call while checking your Outlook.com email: As of today, Skype for Outlook.com is available worldwide. All you need now is to download a browser plugin and link your Skype account. The global release comes alongside improved software support, too. PC users can now participate in HD video chats, while Mac users get a Safari plugin. If you're heavily invested in Microsoft's internet services, everything you need to get started is at the source link.
AnyFont helps you configure custom fonts for all your iOS applications
AnyFont (US$1.99) enables you to add custom True Type and Open Type fonts to your iOS device for use in any application. When I first heard about this app, I was curious. How could an app like this "break sandboxing," the security feature that keeps each app separate and safe? I contact the developer, Florian Schimanke, who explained the steps the application takes. "[In iOS 7], it is possible to include fonts in configuration profiles. You can do this for example using the Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store," he wrote. "[AnyFont] takes the fonts that are added to the app's storage by the user via iTunes file sharing or the 'Open in...' dialog and creates a configuration profile from it so it can be installed on the device. AnyFont hands over the newly created profile to Safari which then takes the user to the installation process. When finished, the user is then taken back to AnyFont." I added a copy of the app to my iPod and dropped in a copy of a True Type (ttf) font I found on my Mac. I then launched the app and selected the font, which moved me through a few screens to the "Install Profile" pane you see in the image at the top of this post. From there, I clicked Install and then consented to having the profile install the font. A further tap to "Done" and I was ready to start using my new font. What's more, once installed, the font appears in the General > Profiles settings, making it simple to remove the item should you change your mind in the future or wish to tidy up your device. A visit to Pages showed the new font was installed and ready for use. If you regularly perform content creation on iOS, this clever two-dollar utility will expand your font horizon. I found it easy to use and that it delivered exactly the functionality promised.
These five surprisingly pointless OS X mods may amuse you
I recently went hunting for interesting OS X mods. For every useful item that turned up, I found lots of dead ends. Many items read by the OS X preferences system (through, for example, calls to CFPreferencesCopyAppValue) have little or no application to end-user needs. They're there primarily for the app's internal state or as remnants of Apple's development process. I've curated a bit of a slush pile for items that are interesting enough to take note of, but haven't quite made the grade when it comes to utility. Here are five of my favorite "interesting, but not very handy" tweaks that I've encountered while scanning for defaults or, in the case of the System Preferences one, that I've stumbled over while using an app. 1. Reset the Dock The OS X installer regularly leaves debris in your Dock. OS-promoted apps include such items as Mission Control, Safari, Photo Booth, iLife apps and so forth. Now, with a simple system command, you can restore all those apps in the Dock that you laboriously removed at least once before. Tip to the wise: Make sure you back up com.apple.dock.plist in ~/Library/Preferences before applying this one so you have a reference guide of your prefs to help you move back to. In the Terminal app, enter the following. defaults write com.apple.dock version -int 0 ; killall Dock Once the Dock restarts, it returns itself to its newly installed default glory. Admire the jam-packed contents before spending the next 10 minutes editing it back to the way it's supposed to look. 2. Prevent edits to the Dock If you're in a particularly evil mood and this is not your Dock, you might want to add this little default tweak. It prevents users from further editing the Dock contents. defaults write com.apple.dock contents-immutable -bool yes ; killall Dock To restore end-user editing, switch off the immutability: defaults write com.apple.dock contents-immutable -bool no ; killall Dock 3. Reveal desktop background paths This next tweak shows the paths for your desktop backgrounds on each of your screens. Why would you want to do this? One of my testers suggested it might help when you have a regularly rotating desktop background. For most people, it's not very handy at all. defaults write com.apple.dock desktop-picture-show-debug-text -bool yes ; killall Dock and going back: defaults write com.apple.dock desktop-picture-show-debug-text -bool no ; killall Dock 4. Remove pane icons from the main System Preferences window The System Preferences app consists of rows and rows of icons, which you tap to access individual settings panes. Did you know that you could tweak this presentation and remove items? I have no idea why anyone would ever want to use this feature, but it's a standard part of the app. To choose which panes to view, select View > Customize. Uncheck any item to hide it. You can still access all the panes from the View menu. Another option, View > Organize Alphabetically, replaces the category grouping with a large mash of alphabetically presented icons. 5. Add a useless debugging menu to iBooks for OS X This tweak does just what it says on the wrapper. If you've ever dreamed of a special secret app menu, then this is the system mod for you. (Similar mods exist for several other apps, so Google around to find some other exciting suggestions.) At the terminal, enter: defaults write com.apple.iBooksX BKShowDebugMenu -boolean yes And then launch iBooks. The new Debug menu appears to the right of other options. And there you have it. Five obscure and not-very-handy tweaks. Got any more tweaks you've stumbled across and want to share? Drop us a note in our tips line. We may cover your OS X mod in a future write-up.
Awesome Safari tip in iOS 7 you probably weren't aware of
Mobile Safari in iOS 7 introduced a number of new and interesting changes to the way users browse the web and access information. One such feature you may not be familiar with is dubbed "Shared Links." "Shared Links" allows you to quickly and seamlessly scroll through all of the links in your Twitter feed directly from within the Safari app. All in all, this provides a superior and more efficient way to peruse your Twitter links. Here's how it all works. Open up Safari and tap the Bookmarks icon located toward the bottom of the screen. This brings you to the "Shared Links" pane. From here, select the "@" tab located in the upper-righthand portion of the screen. You are then presented with all of the links from your Twitter feed. Note that only tweets containing embedded URLs show up here. Think of it as a streamlined Twitter feed. If I tap on one of the entries, I'm immediately whisked away to the desired URL, in this case an article from the WSJ tweeted out by the Huffington Post. As I scroll down, the end of the article lets me know where the next tweet is from, in this case a tweet from Bomani Jones about NCAA athletes unionizing. If I keep scrolling downwards, that story soon takes center stage. When I get to the end of this article, the next Twitter link is already there waiting for me. And so on and so forth. Altogether, this is a great way to browse through your Twitter feed if you're actually looking to do some web browsing. Not only does the scrolling provide a seamless way to jump from story to story, it's also always typically more enjoyable to browse in Safari than with Twitter's built-in browser. One final point: Even though you scroll downwards in order to access new Twitter links, be aware that you cannot scroll back up to revisit stories you've already read. Instead, simply swipe to the right as you would normally do in Safari.
This one weird Siri feature turned me into a Bing user
Even Spider-Man couldn't make Bing cool. So when Apple introduced Bing integration into its Siri voice assistant for iOS 7, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the change. Bing is basically the search engine equivalent of the sixth Doctor, loud clothes and all. Sure, Apple included a Google workaround for Siri for die-hards. If you wanted to use Google to search for specific terms, you can Google those phrases. For example, you say "Siri, Google fezzes." It's pretty unsatisfying. This just tells Siri to open a new Safari window with a Google search. You lose the cool (and I use that term in its proper bow tie sense) integrated result on the Siri dialog screen. Now, after months of using the latest Siri, I'm publicly outting myself. I like those integrated results and I don't care that Bing, saddle shoes and all, has joined Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia as a primary Siri information source. Bing's results are... just fine. Sure, I'm not so far gone to reason that I am using Bing as a verb (which you can do; just say "Siri, Bing TARDIS") because there are, after all, standards. But I'm enjoying the slick new integration with web results tied directly into the dialog. If one weren't a search engine snob, one probably wouldn't even notice that those results involved Bing at all. (I specifically exclude the Duck Duck Go die-hards from this write-up. The DDG folk are basically the rabid libertarians of the search engine world. That's an entirely different creature from Google snobbery.) Bing is doing my searches, and it's doing them well. And, as shocking as it is to discover, Siri has made me a regular Bing user. Whodathought? Steven Sande and Erica Sadun have been working on the third edition of Talking to Siri, the book that covers all the ins and outs of everyone's favorite digital assistant.
