Miscellaneous stupid Mac tricks, cool Mac tricks, and stupid cool Mac tricks Thread

[WhiteyFisk]

I think it's mainly targeted for environments with large numbers of devices deployed, but for me it's been transformational for iCloud Drive even in my home environment. Previously it was flaky, with new files often taking ages to show up (or not showing up at all). With my Mac mini acting as a cache updates are immediately reflected on other devices.

The software update side is less useful as my devices aren't homogeneous enough to make it worthwhile - i.e. the iOS 17.3 installer for my iPhone 13 is different to the one for my wife's 12 Pro, so caching is pointless.

But for iCloud it's great. Can recommend trying it out if you have a suitable Mac.

I've been using one since Server.app, and last year I wound up redeploying it on virtual machines running on a household hypervisor. There are some tricks you need to use with OpenCore, but i have two virtual Sonoma servers running on my Proxmox server. It's pretty sweet when OS updates are released. the iCloud user data portion of it is working well or at least seems to but sometimes reconciliation will take a minute if i've got the same document up on my iPad and a computer. It's faster and more reliable than OneNote at least?

The cache service will refuse to run on macOS if sysctl says it's virtualized, so you can imagine what was required. It wasn't difficult once I learned about Lilu.kext.

 

[Honeybog]

Here's one I just found by accident: doing a three/four finger swipe down on a dock icon will trigger App Exposé the same way it does when you do it with the active window. So, for instance, if you're in Safari and swipe down on Word, it'll open exposé for Word, even though it's not foregrounded. The nice thing is that the app doesn't even have to be running, but will still show the exposé list of recently opened documents (provided that the app makes use of "Show Recents").

 

[DovePig]

Here's one I just found by accident: doing a three/four finger swipe down on a dock icon will trigger App Exposé the same way it does when you do it with the active window. So, for instance, if you're in Safari and swipe down on Word, it'll open exposé for Word, even though it's not foregrounded. The nice thing is that the app doesn't even have to be running, but will still show the exposé list of recently opened documents (provided that the app makes use of "Show Recents").

The same works with any mouse with a scroll wheel. Which kinda drives me nuts when I move the pointer down to the dock by accident when scrolling a long document with a Logitech mouse in a freewheeling mode...

 

[Honeybog]

I honestly don’t know if this is more a stupid cool trick or a rant, but it fixed an issue I’ve been having for months, so I’ll put it down as a stupid cool trick:

Despite absolutely nothing in the UI suggesting the possibility, a lot of options in Settings on Mac expose more advanced settings if you control+click/right-click on them.

Notably, in Users and Groups, you can access advanced settings, which gives you a GUI for all sorts of command line bad ideas, like changing the default shell, user groups, and home directory.

In my case, right-clicking in Printers let me completely reset all of the print preferences, which finally resolved nearly six months of having the print dialog crash every other time I opened it.

 

[iljitsch]

Definitely not cool, but super useful.

A while ago I complained about my AirPod Pros not charging after putting them in the charging case. I tried cleaning out the inside of the charging case to no avail. I even thought I had bent the connectors doing that, making the problem worse.

I'm sure many of you have had the same experience.

Turns out, wiping the stems of the APPs with a cloth with a little bit of force will solve the problem almost all of the time...

 

[papadage]

Same thing works when an IPP does not recognize it’s mounted on a Magic Keyboard. Cleaning the pins on the iPad and keyboard fixes that every time.

 

[CommanderJameson]

Not a trick or anything, just about two minutes of ‘stalgia:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYUtxjKy50

 

[CommanderJameson]

(I miss the battery charging sound)

 

[iljitsch]

Ok, not specifically a Mac thing, unless you use your AirPod (Pro)s with your Mac... But:

I'm pretty sure I complained about the APPs sometimes refusing to charge after being placed in the charging case. I blamed all kinds of stuff for this: the contacts in the case being dirty, me bending the contacts when trying to clean them, random Apple software fails...

But it looks like the answer usually is that the contacts on the AP(P)s are dirty. Wiping the ends of the stems with a cloth (usually my T-shirt...) almost always helps.

 

[Honeybog]

Multi-platform and kind of obvious, but I guess I never thought to explore it: tapping in a textbox (mobile) or right-clicking (Mac) brings up the option to autofill contacts and passwords.

If you use Apple for your password management, this is a huge time saver for those cases where a field isn’t recognized as a login field.

 

[DovePig]

Screenshots via keyboard shortcuts:

After you initiate screenshot mode via that, pressing [space] switches between "select an exact area" and "screenshot the whole window under cursor" modes.

It even adds the cute little rounded window bezels to to the alpha channel...

 

[Jonathon]

Multi-platform and kind of obvious, but I guess I never thought to explore it: tapping in a textbox (mobile) or right-clicking (Mac) brings up the option to autofill contacts and passwords.

If you use Apple for your password management, this is a huge time saver for those cases where a field isn’t recognized as a login field.

This integrates with third-party password managers too, if they provide a credential provider extension and it’s enabled in Settings. 1Password has one for iOS/iPadOS, for example. (They don’t have one for Mac, unfortunately, although the same APIs are available on Mac if they wanted to make one.)

 

[Hap]

https://www.devontechnologies.com/blog/20240711-network-utility-10
Not a trick, but DEVONTechnologies released a remake of Apple's Network Utility for free

You want to learn more about your Mac’s current network connection or test if a remote server is still alive or already swimming belly-up? Your connection to a server is slow and you want to find out more about what detours your data packages take on their way to their destination? Or you’re on the hotel Wi-Fi and plan to flip out on the poor network speed based on proper empirical data?

You could use the Terminal for all of this, of course, and type ping or traceroute. But there’s a more Mac-like way: Meet our new Neo Network Utility 1.0. It got you covered with a full range of networking tools for retrieving information about your network adapter and diagnosing common network problems. Netstat, Ping, Lookup, Traceroute, Whois, Finger, Port Scan, and Network Speed, they’re all here in a nice and clean user interface.

Neo Network Utility runs on all Macs with macOS Ventura or later. Download it from our Download page and use it free-of-charge. Feel free to share it with your colleagues, friends, or family.

All similarities with an application of the same name that was once bundled with legacy versions of Mac OS X and OSX are, of course, purely coincidental.

 

[Hap]

Apple Maps now has a standalone web interface.

 

[Hap]

Maps in macOS Sonoma (yes, I know still in beta - but this one I read a lot of complaints about) has a new "Search Here" filter for searching just the visible area on the map.

How to use:

1. Enter your search term in the maps search bar (I used "burgers" as a test)
2. Move and resize the map to the area you want to search. Note that icons will pop up showing locations in the area on the map itself, but the results on the right don't filter (yet)
3. In the bottom center of the map a button will show up once you've moved the map from original location. The button is labeled "Search Here" - tap it. Results on left will filter to just the area on the map
4. You can now move the map around and results should auto filter to the area on the map now (still in beta, so it's been a little inconsistent for me, but not too bad)
5. To reset, just enter a new search term

Applicable to all new Apple iOSs to be released this fall (that have maps that is).

 

[wco81]

Sounds like they're trying to catch up to Google Maps. You know, save stuff on the desktop browser and when you open the apps all the saved locations are there.

 

[phlaym]

Apple Maps now has a standalone web interface.

Hopefully they'll add Firefox support when it comes out of beta

 

[KhaineBOT]

I just found this app https://github.com/lra/mackup that you can use to backup Mac app configuration, and then restore on a new Mac.

 

[Hap]

Hopefully they'll add Firefox support when it comes out of beta

Ask, and ye shall receive.

 

[benwiggy]

Despite absolutely nothing in the UI suggesting the possibility, a lot of options in Settings on Mac expose more advanced settings if you control+click/right-click on them.

There are also 'hidden' functions by holding Option (Alt) and clicking on things.

For instance, it used to be the case that the Displays System Preference pane would show more options if you Alt-clicked on a button. Also Alt-click on "Print" in the print menu would save your settings as default (don't know if that's still the case, but that trick goes back to Classic MacOS).

Similarly, holding Option while pressing the volume keys brings up the Sound Settings panel. Alt-click on the Wifi menulet brings up loads of info on your connection. Alt-click on the menu date turns on Focus mode.

MacOS (and iOS for that matter) are pretty poor at making objects with function 'discoverable'. Are there more options here? Don't know. Alt-click, right-click, swipe, tap....

 

[Soriak]

I just found this app https://github.com/lra/mackup that you can use to backup Mac app configuration, and then restore on a new Mac.

Does this only create and restore backups, or does it reference the config file in Dropbox (or other cloud storage service)? The latter would mean that changes sync across computers... right? That would be pretty neat! But I suppose it would have to be reset each time a new app is installed?

 

[benwiggy]

You can press Command Tab to switch to another app while dragging a file.

For instance, if your Finder windows obscure the browser window that you want to drop a file onto; start dragging, then switch app while you're dragging to reveal the browser window, and then complete the drop.

 

[DovePig]

That also works with any other keyboard shortcuts for Exposé (Mission Control), Show Desktop or Spaces.

In fact, you don't have to use keyboard shortcuts at all – just drag the file into top of the screen, Mission Control appears after a second or two. Drag the file into the app window you want and hold it, MC shows that app's window after a sec or two and now you can drop it into it normally. Though keyboard is faster, of course.

 

[DovePig]

Mac OS Sequoia, the window tiling and snapping feature:

Apart from the keyboard shortcuts that are really handy (already covered on Ars, fn+ctrl+arrows et cetera), I totally missed one setting to maximise the windows to full screen estate without the bothersome margins around it. Big thanks to Jonathon for bringing that obscure setting to light:

There's a setting for that-- "Tiled windows have margins" in Desktop & Dock settings.

With that setting on off, no more ugly window margins wasting screen space when snapping or tiling windows in Sequoia! No idea how I have missed that one, but it was a pet peeve of mine right after the upgrade. Glad the option is there.

 

[Honeybog]

I spent so much time going back and forth on that option. If I manually resize a window, I need the edges to be flush, but I weirdly like the margins when tiling.

 

[DovePig]

I spent so much time going back and forth on that option. If I manually resize a window, I need the edges to be flush, but I weirdly like the margins when tiling.

Although I don't really get you – window edges should be flush, all the time!!! ;-) – you can still have both. Turn the option on and manually resizing still works to flush edges, while snap‑tiling keeps the margins. It even seems to remember the flush edge size prior if you drag the window upwards to restore the previous size.

 

[DovePig]

Sequoia window tiling, maximising windows by dragging them to the top screen edge has a hidden feature (well, one that previously existed, but they dealt with keeping it in a pretty clever way):

1. drag a window to the top at normal speed, it will offer to maximise the window

2. drag a window to and "over" the top at a wrist‑flick speed, it will open Mission Control, allowing you do drop the window into another Space or whatever

3. when maximised, drag the window a bit down, and it instantly resumes its previous size, even without moving vertically

 

[Jonathon]

#2 is not new for Sequoia (and seems to kind of conflict with the gesture for #1; the margin between the new tiling feature and opening Mission Control is small enough I have trouble reliably doing the first).

 

[DovePig]

#2 is not new for Sequoia (and seems to kind of conflict with the gesture for #1; the margin between the new tiling feature and opening Mission Control is small enough I have trouble reliably doing the first).

I know, I just thought that they would remove #2 because of the conflict, but nice it was left in. Even if the margin between the two can be small, though IMHO is OK.

 

[DovePig]

It had already been mentioned in the Ars Sequoia review, but Sequoia finally added a keyboard shortcut to show the contextual right‑click menu on a selected word or file or whatever.

CTRL+ENTER.

What this means it's now really easy to correct ones' typos when just using the keyboard, as CMD+; highlights all typos sequentially, and CTRL+ENTER shows up the right‑click menu where all the suggestions are.

And it literally works everywhere where you can select a single item by keyboard, including the selected file or folder in Finder ("New Terminal Tab at folder" just by a few keystrokes instead of mousing over? Count me in!!!).

Some webpages that hijack CTRL+ENTER (Ars does) clicks might still suppress it, but that's another matter.

What's even better, you can still customise the keyboard shortcut for "Show Contextual Menu" in the System Preferences' Keyboard Shortcuts to whatever is your liking. SHIFT+OPTION+ENTER? No problem!

This was likely my most requested feature as I use keyboard much more than mouse, but invoking the contextual menu on just a misspelled word had been previously downright impossible without using the mouse. No more!

 

[JimCampbell]

I haven't seen this discussed anywhere else in the Ach, and have only just found this out so I thought it was worth sharing. Apologies if I've missed posts about it here or elswhere.

Short version: WiFi performance on M1 MBP (running Sonoma) has been utterly woeful for ages. Basic web pages timing out instead of loading, streaming videos being unplayable even at low quality. I'd assumed it was probably reduced reception since I moved the MPB to a vertical dock and started using it in clamshell mode.

Kept contemplating rearranging my desk so I could put the MBP back on a stand before I finally thought to google the problem. Turns out, it's an easy fix.

System Settings -> WiFi -> select your current network and hit 'Details', then turn this option off:

Now, I appreciate there are benefits to blocking IP trackers… but I'm now actually getting the advertised broadband speed out of my machine instead of recreating dial-up speeds from a couple of decades ago.

 

[CommanderJameson]

I think the impact on performance caused by this feature may also depend on your router.

I have a wifi6 Hub 5 supplied by my ISP (Virgin Media), and turning this on or off makes no difference.

 

[JimCampbell]

I think the impact on performance caused by this feature may also depend on your router.

I have a wifi6 Hub 5 supplied by my ISP (Virgin Media), and turning this on or off makes no difference.

Fair enough! I'm on Virgin Media, too, but we've had our router for years and it's lurking behind the TV, so I have no idea what model it is…

 

[CommanderJameson]

Fair enough! I'm on Virgin Media, too, but we've had our router for years and it's lurking behind the TV, so I have no idea what model it is…

Ring ’em up! I got my old Hub 3 replaced FOC, and the Hub 5 is better in ever conceivable way.

 

[cateye]

This is not really a cool trick or anything new or secret, but, more of a tip-of-the-hat to the amazing folks behind OCLP—Open Core Legacy Patcher—the suite of software that allows older Macs to run up-to-date versions of MacOS.

Long, uninteresting story short, I had a super specific need/reason to install Sonoma on a 2015 MacBook Pro. Without ever having looked at OCLP before, I was up and running on that machine in under an hour. And everything works, as if blessed by Apple itself.

While having experience dealing with OS installs and the boot stack on a Mac certainly helped me troubleshoot a couple glitches unique to my setup and what I was trying to achieve with this machine, the majority of the process was point-and-click easy. I can't fathom the amount of work that must go into enabling and maintaining everything that makes OCLP work, but I'm grateful that the Mac community rose to the challenge.

 

[gabemaroz]

Isn't a large part of the work forward porting libraries from previous versions of Mac OS? And in the process turning off System Integrity Protection?

I'm all for it, but I think there is a bit of a non-zero security risk for the unaware. I tend to drop unsupported hardware and upgrade just for security if nothing else but the fact that it exists is a boon.

 

[cateye]

Great point, gabemaroz. There are security challenges to doing something like this, and I would never use an OCLP-patched computer as a general purpose daily driver unless I was certain I had the knowledge to mitigate the risks. As a way to take a vintage/obsolete machine and make it usable on a modern OS for a narrow and specific need, as was my case? Aces.

 

[jaberg]

It was a(nother) failed update to my patched 2016, leaving me with a non-bootable, non-recoverable (but fully-backed up) computer for the second time in three months, this time with a deadline looming, that forced my hand to purchase my current Air. No complaints, but I’d hoped to hold out for another year, and get another MBP. (Possible in part because I do much of my work on iPad.)

I love and support the project, but I can’t recommend it for production.

 

[VirtualWolf]

Hat-tip to Daring Fireball:

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2...-restore-slow-motion-dock-minimizing-on-macos

defaults write com.apple.dock slow-motion-allowed -bool YES
killall Dock

 

[Carhole]

Who's got the kung-fu to a) reduce the 3x verticaly-oversized menubar in Sonoma and Sequoia back to say, 10px above and below the text and b) can set the color to dead black so that it better ties into the wasted space of The Notch in the mobile devices? I just grabbed an Air and it's pretty much driving me insane to see such horrid design decisions in practice from Apple of all companies. The device itself? Glorious despite haing the center and corners of the screen missing, but that menubar bloat is downright awful, stealing even more screen real estate by padding even farther below the missing content of the notch.

Searched around and while it seems that we can undo the insane blank kerning of menubar text there's no easy solution I've found to shrink the menubar itself back to smaller than 10mm of wasted vertical space across the entire screen at default resolution. Still no scaling options either. Yikes, c'mon Apple.

Anyone have some tricks for making the menubar and notch cut out of their screens disappear a bit as desired above?

Edit: new keyboard typos plus some tips:

If you prefer a lighter background desktop image head into settings>Accessibility>Display and turn ON Reduce Transparency. Apparently the menubar thinks that it's translucent but seems to have about a 200px gaussian blur applied to it. Reducing Transparency makes it black. It's one way to make it look less stupid, though I prefer transparent effects when done well so:

Option two: choose a very dark background image such as the night shot of the sand dunes from MacOS Mojave and this greatly reduces the jarring visuals of the missing screen aside a brightly illuminated menubar as the the values drop pretty far down from left to right using that image as an example. You could go one step further and apply a vignette to the image though this is close. Still no solution for simply making it take up less vertical space on the screen, say, flush with the giant chunk of missing screen. Perhaps this will roll out a few months before Apple releases the next chassis redesign which will naturally be a notchless design. Heh. Cheers