utilities
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Keep your CPU under control with App Tamer
It's been a little while since we've heard from St. Clair Software, makers of the well-known system utility, Default Folder X (which we've covered before). You may recall that we caught up with St. Clair Software developer Jon Gotow at WWDC '09. Well, he's got something new to announce today: App Tamer, a system utility for keeping CPU-intensive applications under control. App Tamer is similar to some other utilities, in that it allows you to "freeze" selected applications so that they use up zero CPU time, leaving more processing power for other applications. What makes App Tamer special is AutoStop, which pauses and unpauses frozen applications when you switch away from or back to them. It also has options for temporarily unfreezing applications at a configurable interval, allowing apps to complete background activities even while frozen. It's quite flexible, but takes very little user knowledge or time to get it up and running.
Breeze: another fresh take on window management
We've covered a surprising number of innovative Mac utilities for easily positioning windows, from MercuryMover to SizeUp and, most recently, Divvy. Well, a new one, Breeze, is taking yet another look at the task of window management. Breeze is similar to the others in that it runs in your menubar and handles resizing and positioning windows via keyboard shortcuts. Unlike some of the others, it does away with the confines of presets and grids, and instead lets you memorize any window position and assign a shortcut to it. What makes Breeze stand out, though, is per-application settings: you can assign a single hotkey to perform different window movements depending on which application you're in at the time. That's pretty cool. Breeze is resolution independent, allowing you to perform equivalent positioning no matter what display you're using at the time. The latest version also handles "drawers" (the sidebars that dock to some windows), adjusting as necessary to fit. It has a simple interface, too. It's a cinch to add new window states and shortcuts, and easy to see existing states from its menubar icon. Breeze also has a "Rescue Window" feature that will bring stray windows to the center of your screen. That's not a daily need of mine, but I can think of several frustrating incidents when I would have loved to have the option. Breeze has a couple of shortcomings, the biggest one being an inability to edit existing shortcuts. I have little doubt that the developer is working hard on expanding new features as I write, though, so this is one to keep an eye on. Try it out for free, and if you like it, pick up a license for $8.00US.
Ten tiny and amazing Mac apps you've never heard of
The following is a guest post from Tod Maffin, one of Canada's most influential web and technology commentators. Thanks, Tod! -Ed. Air Video Server (Mac app is free, iPhone/iPad app is $2.99 or free Lite version) This is a great little app that for people who have lots of videos on their computer, but want to watch them on your iPhone, iPod Touch, and an iPad. Previously what I had to do was to convert the videos to MP4 (often a very slow process), import them into iTunes, and tweak the metadata. Only then could I watch the movies I have on my iDevices. That still wasn't a great solution, since those videos then took up space on those devices. This app is really a tiny file server that runs on the same computer on which your videos are stored. You can point it to any number of directories containing your videos, including attached servers, and it'll stream them live to any of your iDevices. The other great bonus is it'll convert from basically any video format -- on the fly. Brilliant. [You might have heard of this one -- we covered it on TUAW back in April, along with workalike competitor StreamToMe. –Ed.] Appfresh (Free) I've always been an early adopter and, probably to my detriment, I always want to try the latest versions of programs. Appfresh will scan your Applications folder and compare your versions with the latest versions. Within a minute, it'll have a list of programs that need updating. You can always pick and choose which to update - it suggests beta versions, so if you're not up to a pre-release version, you can opt to not update that app. Keep vigilant, though, for big upgrades to paid programs (i.e., from 3.1 to 4.0) -- they may drop a new version that wants you to pay for an upgrade, leaving you to manually find and re-install the old version (if it's still available on the developer's site!). [TUAW post from back in ought-seven.] Click the link below for the rest of the list.
Ecamm introduces iPad document management with PadSync
It's a sad fact. The current version of iTunes can barely handle the new document management features introduced by Apple. As part of the 3.2 release of the iPad and soon to extend to the iPhone, the Apps tab now allows you to manually add, replace, and delete documents from applications that support iTunes-to-user file sharing. The big problem is that iTunes does this poorly, with lots of bugs in its implementations. Worst of all, you cannot directly access files from iTunes to edit those documents in-place. Think about it: You offload a text document to your iPad, make some in-place edits, and want to continue updating that document on your Mac until you next hit the road. Enter Ecamm. The company, well known for its Mac and iPhone utilities, has released the first version of its PadSync tool. PadSync, which retails for $9.95, offers direct access to your iPad Documents folders from a desktop Mac application. As the gallery here shows, your shared files are accessible on an app-by-app basis. Double-click on a Word file, and you can open it in Microsoft Word, edit it, and save it back. Updates on the Mac instantly sync back to the iPad -- with one exception. Ecamm is still working on subfolder support, such as the Inbox that's created by the 3.2-and-later document sharing classes. Beyond that, PadSync offers all the instant synchronization you could wish for. Oh, and don't forget my favorite feature: since files are mirrored as well as synced on the Mac, you can access those files and queue up new ones even when the iPad is not connected to the Mac. PadSync offers a 7 day free demo, so you can test out the app before purchase. %Gallery-94504%
AppTools 100 in 1 provides a hundred handy utilties for your iPhone
It's kind of like a Mel Brooks movie. Throw a lot of jokes at someone, and a few of them will be funny. This iPhone app has a hundred apps built-in, and some of them are quite good. Others are completely worthless. For US$0.99, AppTools 100 in 1 is probably sure to please. A complete list of the utilities can be found at the App Store. What's inside? Quite a lot.There are apps that turn your iPhone into an electronic level, a baby monitor, or a language translator; there are photo apps, the usual loan calculators, dice rollers, and Morse Code apps. There are silly apps like Clap Lamp, where you clap your hands and the screen goes all white, and Flashlight Pro which is essentially the same thing. There are some really handy things though, like an app that creates a background for your emails instead of just plain white, and a talking battery monitor. There's a radio app that lets you pick your genre of music and then offers dozens of stations. Most of the apps are obvious in what they do, but some need instructions. I didn't know what Walkie Talkie did, or how it works. Good luck with that one. %Gallery-94331%
Agile Web Solutions takes over development of Knox
Years ago I started using Knox for securing files, folders and drives. It's an easy and very secure way to keep your private files private. This week, long-time developers Marko Karppinen & Co. handed it over to Agile Web Solutions. As Agile is behind the popular 1Password, I think it was a great choice. In fact, the two utilities work well together: Knox protects your files while 1Password protects your passwords. Knox employs the US Government's Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit or 128-bit key length. What that means is that your stuff is safe from the cranky teenager down the block as well as hostile nations. I've used it to secure USB flash drives, as they're so easy to misplace. Version 2 is available here. It's a useful application that's in good hands at Agile. A 30-day free trial is available, and a single license will run you US$34.95.
Divvy up your windows
For those who deal with a lot of windows, especially on multiple screens, any utility that makes it easier to organize and reposition those windows quickly is a boon. I've used SizeUp for a while now, and have become very accustomed to being able to quickly snap my windows into halves or quarters of a screen and jump them from one screen (or Space) to another with keyboard commands. We've mentioned SizeUp before, as well as MercuryMover and Cinch. There's a new kid on the block, though, and it's a brilliant take on the existing ideas. Divvy is a utility that takes advantage of both keyboard and mouse to quickly move windows into place. Where the others allowed a certain amount of control over presets, and offered a certain compromise between flexibility and speed, Divvy takes the cake by using a visual (mouse-driven) interface that also allows custom keyboard shortcuts, assigned to any part of your screen that you define.
Rudix, a lightweight way to add new Unix utilities
Rudix offers a collection of Unix utilities which do not come with OS X by default. When setting up a new Mac I always install these Unix utilities: wget, ncftp, lynx with SSL support, and the GNU Core Utilities. I compile them manually whenever possible, despite options like MacPorts or Fink. I don't need everything that MacPorts and Fink offer, and installing them always felt like overkill -9 (that's a commandline joke, kids). Generally they try to mimic the commandline syntax of either Linux or FreeBSD, neither of which I have used extensively. Although Rudix offers a giant 361MB DMG with all of the packages includes, I recommend only installing what you need. You can find each program with its own OS X .pkg installer. These pkgs install to the traditional location of /usr/local/ (something both MacPorts and Fink avoid, a side effect of the volume of software they are designed to install, as well as a difference in approach).
Dropbox app brings iPad support, fantastic external editing
The Dropbox team updated the Dropbox app today with full iPad compatibility and the option to choose which app will open a document. It's a very welcome refresh for an application that many users (myself included) depend on. As usual, the app is free. Let's look at the improvements. First of all, the cosmetic changes. While in the landscape orientation, Dropbox offers the same split view that Mail and several others use. Pictures and documents look great and legible on the large screen. Across the toolbar are icons to jump to your favorites, adjust your account settings, email a public link to a file (or copy it to the clipboard), mark a file as a favorite and finally choose an app to open a file. In portrait orientation the sidebar disappears and you're left with a full-screen view of your document and a few icons at the top. It looks super. I flipped through a multi-page PDF document as if it lived on my iPad, then sent it to GoodReader just as easily (for the record, GoodReader can also access your Dropbox files directly). Other apps that handle PDFs include QuickOffice and Air Sharing HD. You say you don't have any of those apps? No problem. Dropbox will suggest apps that support a given document type, complete with icon, brief description and purchase link. It gets better: Microsoft Office docs (.doc/docx, .xls/xlsx, .ppt/pptx) can be sent to their corresponding iWork apps for editing. I took a huge PPT file from Dropbox (about 400 slides), sent it to Keynote, and it opened right up, looking good. The new build is a solid update that makes Dropbox a pleasure to use on the iPad. The UI is uncluttered, files look great (especially in portrait mode) and it's simple to send a file to your favorite app. What's not to love? If Dropbox doesn't float your boat, check out Pogoplug (and its accompanying iPhone app), a USB NAS adapter that gives you network access to your data from home and on the road. %Gallery-92270%
App4Mac screen shots of Projector for iPad; project management on the go
At one point in my life I was a project manager for a large IT-related company that has three letters in its name. It was the most stressful time in my working life, made even worse by the godawful project management software that we used to create and track our project schedules and costs. If I had known that App4Mac was going to be coming out with a project management app for the iPad, maybe I'd still be a PM. TUAW received some screenshots this morning of App4Mac's upcoming Projector for iPad, which is an iPad version of their existing Mac application Projector 2.0.9. No price has been set yet for the iPad app, nor do we have a delivery date from the developers. However, for PMs who use Apple products and would like to have an easy way to keep their project information at their fingertips, Projector for iPad is something to keep in mind. Check the gallery below for screenshots, which include a "Welcome" screen with a project list, the very detailed settings screen, and a closeup of a task entry screen. %Gallery-91136%
What's on your iPhone, Steve Sande?
What's on your iPhone? is a new TUAW series that we'll run occasionally so you can see what the bloggers at your favorite Apple site are running on their pocket devices. This was suggested by one of our readers, who wanted to know just what kind of stuff we had on our iPhones. Since we're a group of individuals who all think a bit differently, it makes a lot of sense to have each of the bloggers in turn write up a short blurb on their favorite apps. In this post I'll list those apps that deserve special attention, but to see all of the apps that I currently have on my iPhone 3GS, you'll need to take a look at the gallery at the end of the post. To start with, you'll find that I have a lot of camera apps. In nearly three years, I've used my iPhones to take literally thousands of pictures. I love the look of most of the photos, and it's even more fun to run them through a filter or two to add some pizazz to the pics. I currently have the default iPhone Camera and Photos apps, but have added Best Camera, Zoom Lens, Pano, Color Splash, Project 365, Lo-Mob, Self Image, ReelDirector (for video), FocalLab, CinemaFX, iTimeLapse, iCamcorder (for video), and CameraForiPad to my 3GS.
iPad apps: utilities you need
Utilities are the vegetables of the software world -- not fun, rarely pretty, but gosh darnit, they're good for you. Whether they're checking that your new TV has been mounted square on the wall, crunching your numbers, getting you up in the morning, or keeping track of your mad ramblings in the middle of the night, these little bundles of binary joy can save your job (or your marriage) every time an iPad game almost destroys it. We've taken a close look at a few of the utilities available to iPad owners in the first volley of native, high-resolution apps for the platform and come away with a few winners -- and even better, some of these suckers come at absolutely no cost to you. Follow the break for the full rundown -- and don't forget to check the rest of our app roundups after you're done!
Make your Magic Mouse more comfortable and ergonomic
Here's a clever solution to an aggravating problem. Apple's Magic Mouse ships with all new iMacs and features the first multi-touch surface on a mouse. As you would expect, it's got a sleek, tidy design that looks great on your desk. But doesn't necessarily feel great in your hand. It's no hockey puck, but for some users the ergonomics aren't what they should be. Will, an Apple fan and part owner of hybridracing.com, decided to do something about it. After some testing, he came up with a small chunk of silicone that sits atop the Magic Mouse with the help of a suction cup. Hence, the Magic Mouse, Fixed was born. This US$10 accessory sits between your palm and the mouse, and can be positioned just so. Watch the video after the break to get an idea of what it feels like. Nice work, Will! To get even more out of your Magic Mouse, check out our picks for must-have utilities.
ComEd launches pilot solar energy program for 100 customers in Chicago
Chicago utility company ComEd announced earlier this week it will launch a pilot program for 100 of its customers to test out the power of the sun. The program will include the installation of solar panels into 100 homes, and further devices -- such as smarter thermostats which do things like lower during the day when no one's at home, and give out hourly pricing information -- in fifty of those homes. The meters will also have the ability to reward customers who generate excess solar power that can be pumped back into the grid -- because everybody loves being rewarded, right? ComEd will choose the pilot families by mail-in survey, and by factors such as their roofs, and the amount of shading trees there are in their yards.
Manually schedule Software Update 'the OS X way' with launchd
In response to a Macworld article, TidBits' Chris Pepper elaborated on ways to run Software Update, Apple's means of delivering updates and patches, on your own schedule. Beginning with the fact that Software Update schedules its next update based on the time it's currently being run, setting the time for the next update is as easy as running it manually at the time you want it to be scheduled for in the future. Later, Pepper delves into the command line method of updating, using the softwareupdate tool (which we've talked about on TUAW, too) to run it from Terminal. Taking that a step further, it's suggested that you run the command from cron, a UNIX command for scheduling tasks, to automate the command-line updates. However, while it still works fine and is perfectly capable of the task, cron has technically been deprecated in OS X since Tiger. I thought I'd mention the newfangled "Mac OS X way" of handling scheduled tasks, and demonstrate a little of its flexibility. Launchd is Apple's replacement for several UNIX ways of doing things, including init, rc.d scripts and cron. It provides a uniform, XML configuration method and -- in many cases -- is more secure than the replaced methods. Launchd can trigger applications and scripts at boot time, at intervals or even when a file or the contents of a folder change. It can also make sure a daemon or an application keeps running, with the ability to respawn and throttle it. If that's just a bunch of nerd-speak to you, don't worry, this isn't going to be an overly technical post. You can read more specifics about launchd on Apple's developer site, if you want more geeky goodness.
BetterTouchTool makes multi-touch infinitely more useful, for free
We recently covered a utility called MagicPrefs that adds a hatful of new and configurable multi-touch gestures to your Magic Mouse. Well, there's another free utility called BetterTouchTool that works with both trackpads and Magic Mice, providing a huge number of gestures and infinite possibilities for configuration. BetterTouchTool is a fork of the MultiClutch project, built for Snow Leopard and expanding the feature set greatly. It's the work of Andreas Hegenberg (also the author of SecondBar), and it's come a long way since the first alpha version I tested a while back. Aside from improved stability, the interface is one of the elements that's come the farthest. It's now quite easy to start adding gestures such as 'Three Finger Swipe Down' and 'Four Finger Click,' and assign them to predefined actions like 'Show Desktop' or 'Open Finder.' You can also assign any shortcut key you like, or assign a gesture to launch any application ... meaning you can make just about anything happen. BetterTouchTool also has actions available that control window sizing and movement, ala SizeUp, but with gestures. Groups of gestures can be assigned to specific applications, or made global. The latest version includes presets (which you can switch between), import, and export. Separate gestures are available for the trackpad and the Magic Mouse, and the new "Live View" feature makes it very easy to gain precise control over sensitivity settings and to test out gestures. BetterTouchTool is free, and is likely to remain that way, according to the author. It's still got the occasional glitch, but development is rapid and it's improving and expanding almost daily. If you've got a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a multi-touch trackpad, a Magic Mouse, or both, give it a shot!
SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them
The last time we heard from SmartSynch it had inked a deal with AT&T to provide communications between its smart energy products and power companies. Now the company's back with a little something called the GridRouter, an IP-based device based that connects appliances, smart grids, and utilities -- no matter which communication protocol is used. The device is built on an open platform since the current grid is a mish-mash (or a hodge-podge, if you will) of proprietary hardware and software, and includes WiMax and Wi-Fi capabilities. Sounds like it just might be the thing for utilities struggling to catch up to the 21st century smarter energy revolution -- and those of you who are really, really into Google's PowerMeter beta. Want to give it a spin? Hit the source link to get in touch with the company. PR after the break.
Mac 101: Building a bootable diagnostic and repair flash drive
More Mac 101, our tips and tricks for novice Mac users. Update: You cannot install Snow Leopard on an 8 GB flash drive. I was incorrect in writing that an install of Essential System Software would take 3.81 GB. As a few of our commenters pointed out, and as is the case, in testing I erroneously tried to install Snow Leopard on a flash drive that already had a version of OSX on it, making the installation much smaller than installing on an empty flash drive. According to readers, installing Snow Leopard on an empty flash drive will take 8.01 GB requiring a 16 GB flash drive. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. It's a good idea to have a strategy in place in case of emergencies. If your hard drive tosses you errors, behaves badly or doesn't even appear, what to do? If programs crash at random, you need to be ready. You can prepare for this by creating a bootable flash drive containing some diagnostic and repair utilities. This is not meant to replace or in any way affect backing up your hard drive. Time Machine makes it so easy that not having a backup plan is just silly... but so much for the disclaimer. To make a diagnostic and repair flash drive, I'd suggest buying an 8 GB flash drive, 16 GB flash drive which can be had for around US $20 US $35 these days. When you get it, it probably won't be formatted for your Macintosh, so plug it in and run Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities) to format the flash drive. In doing so, you have a number of choices. With your flash drive highlighted click on Erase and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and give the flash drive a name. Then click on Erase on the bottom right side of the screen and in a few seconds your flash drive will be ready for an operating system. I inadvertently omitted a step! Click the icon for the drive (not the disk partition -- the one that includes the size) and click the Partition tab. Choose "1 Partition" from the pop-up menu, Mac OS Extended on the right, then click Options at the bottom of the screen and make sure "GUID" is the selected partition type. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out. At this point do the Erase as mentioned above which should look like the following screen shot.
Save URLs for later with Quiet Read
Bambooapps has released a simple and useful utility called Quiet Read that has earned a spot on my Mac's menubar. With a simple drag-and-drop, it lets you save a web page for later review. Of course, there are many apps that do this, including Instapaper and Evernote. Instapaper gets the job done via a bookmarklet; just give it a click while at the desired URL and it's saved. Evernote does pretty much the same thing, thought their bookmarklet behaves differently between Safari and Firefox. In addition, they have the Mac application for tagging and organizing. I spent the day using Quiet Read instead of the other two. Here's what I liked and disliked. First, adding a URL is as easy as possible. Simply drag it out of your browser's address bar and drop it onto the menu bar icon. The display keeps track of how many you've collected. A tidy drop-down lets your browse the saved articles for easy selection. What I disliked is that once an app is gone, it's gone. Instapaper saves read articles. But Quiet Read isn't Instapaper. If you're looking for a free, simple way to save articles for later reading (and you're running 10.6 or later), Quiet Read could be the solution.
Dropzone makes it easy to copy files, install apps
We've mentioned Dropzone before as a Friday Favorite, but I just happened across the app while I was trying to solve a problem. I suspect many TUAW readers find themselves in the same situation that I am in: I use a desktop and a laptop. I often find myself wanting to move files between these two machines, so here's what I do: switch to Finder, click on the shared Mac I want, navigate to the folder I'm looking for, and then track down the file I want to copy there and drag it over. I could drag a folder from the other computer to my "Places" sidebar in Finder, but honestly, I just never do. What I wanted was something quick and painless. I tried to whip something up using Automator and Folder Actions where it would copy/move files saved in one folder to the other machine, but even that would get messy. Most often I don't want to move the file, I just want to copy it. I could put the files in Dropbox, but some of these files are sizable (i.e. the 30+ MB iMovie update). To use Dropbox for this would take a long time. Turns out that Dropzone offers the perfect solution: by enabling FTP on both Macs (System Preferences > Sharing > File Sharing, then click the "Options" button, and check the box "Share files and folders using FTP") I now have a drag & drop solution to copying files between computers. Simply drag the file to the Dropzone icon on the dock and then drop it onto one of the many "dropzones" which I have defined, and Dropzone does the rest. Two folders that I added almost immediately? The "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder in the iTunes folder and the Auto Import folder from inside my iPhoto Library (you will have to control-click your iPhoto library and choose "Show Package Contents" to find the "Auto Import" folder). There are several plugins available to extend Dropzone to other services such as ImageShack, TwitPic, Flickr, and more. For Internet services, not only will the file get copied to where you want it to go, but the URL will be placed on the clipboard so you can paste the URL wherever you want it to go. I often FTP files to my website, and files Dropzone FTPs to a website can also support putting the URL on the clipboard. There are several other nifty options, Dropzones for starting the screensaver, putting your Mac to sleep, or drag & drop printing a file to the default printer. You can also zip files (or zip and email them) and many other conveniences. The biggest feature of all was one that I almost overlooked until I watched a screencast from macosxscreencasts.com about Dropzone. A built-in Dropzone called "Install Application" will allow you to drag a .dmg onto Dropzone and have the DMG mounted, the app installed to /Applications, the DMG moved to the recycle bin, and the app launched (it also works with applications which have been .zip'd instead of put into a disk image). If you are anything like me, the "install a new app" process is several steps that you repeat a lot. Dropzone's handling of it is incredibly fast and works really well. If it opens a DMG it cannot handle (such as an installer), it will simply open the folder. Great, start stuff that saves you time and frustration. Remember how computers were supposed to make our lives easier? Dropzone does just that.
