The “Other” capacity in iTunes is supposed to estimate the size of system software, contacts, Messages data, and things that are not listed elsewhere in the capacities list. Sometimes other data will become mislabeled or misappropriated to the “Other” category, and suddenly it’s reported as being much larger than it actually is. Though this has no impact on device performance some people find it annoying, so here’s an easy fix:

1. Connect the iPad, iPod, or iPhone to a computer
2. Launch iTunes
3. Hold the Power and Home button until the device forcibly reboots

The Other space should recalculate to be a reasonable amount, though you may need to relaunch iTunes to see the change.

If the above method didn’t work for you, try the traditional approach to fixing a gigantic Other category size, you may need to restore the iOS device though.

Thanks to hironaka and alan for the tip

Update: Apple has released a Java software update that includes automatic detection and Flashback removal ability. Go to “Software Update” from the  Apple menu to download that update and automatically remove the trojan if you happen to have it on your Mac.

Trojans and viruses are generally something Mac users don’t have to worry about, but there’s a lot of hubub about the so-called Flashback trojan that has apparently infected a several hundred thousand Macs worldwide. The trojan takes advantage of a vulnerability in an older version of Java that allows it to download malware which then “modifies targeted webpages displayed in the web browser.” As we mentioned yesterday on Twitter, the vulnerability has already been patched by Apple and if you haven’t downloaded the latest version of Java for OS X yet you should do so now. Go to Software Update and install the Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 or Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7, depending on your version of Mac OS. That will prevent future infections from occurring, but you’ll also want to review if a Mac is infected.

We haven’t heard of or seen a single case of the Flashback infection on a Mac, but for the sake of optimal security we’re going to cover how to quickly check if a Mac is afflicted by Flashback trojan:

• Launch Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities/) and enter the following commands:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

• If you see a message like “The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist” than so far so good, no infection, proceed to the next defaults write command to confirm further:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

• If you see a message similar to “The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist” then the Mac is NOT infected.

What if you see something different in the Terminal? If the defaults read commands show actual values rather than the “does not exist” response, you may have the trojan, though this does seem to be extraordinarily rare. In the event you run into a Mac with the problem follow the guide on f-secure to remove the Flashback trojan, it’s just a matter of copying and pasting a few commands into the Terminal.

All in all this is nothing to freak out about, but it does serve as another reminder as to why it’s important to update system software as part of a general maintenance routine. If you want to take some extra security precautions and preventative measures, don’t miss our article on simple tips to prevent Mac virus infections, malware, and trojans.

Need to refresh the App Store or iTunes Store? Hit Command+R at any screen in the iTunes, iOS, or Mac App Store, and the page will reload with whatever new data awaits, whether it’s a revised Top Charts listing or just to see the latest Featured apps. You can refresh any screen in any of the Apple iTunes or App Stores with this method,

Reloading an App Store page is also an easy way to resolve quite a few common issues, like when the App Store claims to be inaccessible, new app updates aren’t displaying, or when recently purchased items are missing from the Purchased list. If something is still not appearing in the purchases list after a refresh, it could be hidden, here’s how to unhide it.

Note this is for the desktop versions of the App Store, on the iOS side you can typically just quit and relaunch iTunes or App Store to resolve any problems. If that doesn’t work, you may need to manually force quit the App Store itself or even reboot the device to fix stalled downloads and force updates to the page.

Ever wondered what those Mac keyboard symbols mean and what they translate to? You see them on a lot of Mac keyboards and on plenty of keyboard shortcut lists, looking like strange glyphs (⌥), shapes (⇪), and bugs splattered on windshields (⌘). They can be fairly confusing, which is why we at OSXDaily.com always try to manually write out the key itself. Using the name of the key is becoming the norm on newer Apple keyboards, but many pre-2011 Macs have keyboard symbols on keys, and with really old Macs you get all symbols with no labels. Additionally, you’ll find the symbols in drop-down menus throughout OS X, so what the heck are they in plain english?

⌘ is the Command () key

⌃ is the Control key

⌥ is the Option (alt) key

⇧ is the Shift key

⇪ is the Caps Lock key

fn is the Function key

Now you know, but if the symbols confuse you, don’t feel too bad about it. I’ve been using Macs since I was a little kid and the Option and Control key symbols have always perplexed me to the point where I’ll forget which each is, and that is precisely why Apple is gradually moving to the labeled keys rather than symbol keys. Simple is better.

The above list is the standard keyboard symbols for most keyboard shortcuts, below is a more complete list of some of the symbols that appear elsewhere in menus and the keys they map to. Thanks to Lri for posting these secondary symbols in the comments.

Full Keyboard Symbol List:
⌘ is command

⌥ is option

⌃ is control

⇧ is shift

⇪ is caps lock

← is left arrow

→ is right arrow

↑ is up arrow

↓ is down arrow

⇥ is tab

⇤ is backtab

↩ is return

⌤ is enter

⌫ is delete

⌦ is forward delete

⇞ is page up

⇟ is page down

↖ is home

↘ is end

⌧ is clear

␣ is space

⎋ is escape

⏏ is eject

If your new iPad 3 has poor wi-fi reception, you’re not alone. After getting a shiny new iPad 3rd gen, I immediately noticed it wasn’t registering any bars of wireless reception, and wi-fi was strangely slow regardless of the network I joined or the distance to the router. It must be defective and I should storm down to the Apple Store and get a refund, right? Wrong. It’s actually really easy to fix, so before you call AppleCare support, give this fix a try, it worked for me.

• Open Settings and tap on “General”
• Tap “Network” and tap “Wi-Fi”
• Tap the blue arrow next to the wireless router you are connected to
• At the next screen, tap “Forget this Network”
• Go back to Wi-Fi and rejoin the network you just forgot

Like magic, you should now have full reception bars, as visible in the upper left wifi indicator.

If wi-fi is still not working, try this as well:

• From Settings, tap “General” then “Reset”
• Tap “Reset Network Settings”
• Reboot the iPad
• Connect to a wireless network again

Resetting network preferences loses router passwords, be sure to have those handy beforehand.

Often these issues are software related and fairly easy to handle, as I’ve resolved a number of times with OS X Lion too, so don’t assume some of the complaints you’ll read on Gizmodo and Apple Discussions are all hardware related. That said, if you’ve attempted both of the methods outlined above and your 3rd gen iPad wi-fi is still problematic, you might actually have a genuine problem and it would be worth contacting Apple or AppleCare.

If you have an older Mac that feels slow and sluggish from time to time, follow these simple tips to regain some long lost speed. Ranging from a few basic Finder tweaks to some general maintenance and usability tips, your Mac should be feeling quicker in day-to-day tasks in no time.

The first three tips can be done in the same “View Options” panel, so take care of those at the same time. Be sure to click “Use as Defaults” so the changes are universally accepted, not just on a per-folder basis.

1. Disable Thumbnails in Finder – Each thumbnail of an image or document takes resources to render and display, disabling these in favor of the default icons can give a nice performance boost when in the Finder:
   • Open a Finder window, and click the “View” menu, selecting “View Options”, then uncheck “Show Icon Preview”

   

2. Disable Item Info in Finder – This shows you things like dimensions of pictures, it’s useful but it has to be pulled from the file and takes resources to do so. Disable it if it’s enabled.
   • While in View Options, uncheck “Show Item Info”
3. Disable Size Calculations – While it’s handy to see the file and folder size of everything while in directory list view, it causes the system to check each files size and add them together. With huge folders, this can take a very long time and it’s not unusual to find the Finder process taking up 15-20% CPU while the sizes are being generated, disable this.
   • Also in View Options but only for directories shown in “List” view, uncheck “Calculate All Sizes” to speed things up considerably

   

4. Remove Login Items – This will mostly speed up the boot process by reducing the amount of applications that are launching on boot and reboot, but it also has the benefit of reducing running processes which are taking up system resources. A general rule of thumb is this: if you don’t use something, disable it.
   • Open System Preferences, click on “Accounts” and go to “Login Items”, remove everything you can get away with removing

   

5. Keep 5% of Total Disk Space Available – Be sure to always have sufficient free space available on the hard drive for caches, temporary files, and virtual memory (swap). Once your hard drive gets full or almost full, things will really slow down as the operating system is constantly having to remove and manage cache files and virtual memory to make room for new caches and swap items. Doing this on demand is slow and bogs down resources, so keep a healthy disk space buffer and prevent the headache. This is good advice for all computers really, old or new.
   • Quickly see available disk space by hitting Command+/ to show a Finder window status bar, if it’s less than 5% of total disk space, delete unnecessary files until you can recoup a couple GB’s of storage

   

6. Clear Files and Folders Off Desktop – Each file and folder shown on the desktop uses memory to display. Use the home folder and their directories to sort and store files, or at the very least, throw everything from the desktop into another folder and keep it in your home directory. We’ve covered this tip before and we’ll reiterate it again because it can make quite a difference, especially on older Macs. If you can’t remember to do this, there are apps that will do it for you.
   
7. Use the Fastest Web Browser and Slim it Down – Typically the most up to date version of Safari is the fastest browser on a Mac, though many swear by Chrome as well. Whichever browser you choose, limit the number of tabs and windows you have open, and disable or remove all browser extensions and plugins that aren’t 100% essential.
8. Quit Unused Applications – While this may seem like common sense, nearly everyone is guilty of leaving apps open that aren’t currently in use. Most newer Macs with quick drives and plenty of RAM can handle this just fine, but older and slower Macs really feel the pinch when a handful of apps like Photoshop or Firefox are left running in the background, even if they’re not in use. Get in the habit of quitting apps when you are done with them, or if you aren’t going to use them for a while.
9. Bonus: Clean Reinstall Mac OS X – OK this isn’t necessarily simple or convenient, but completely formatting and reinstalling Mac OS X can make a huge difference in performance because it forces you to start from scratch with no installed software, no lingering cache and preference files, no custom settings, nothing. If your Mac is especially old, say from 2006 or 2007 and still running the same version of OS X it shipped with, a fresh reinstall is strongly recommended.

Give these and go and let us know how they work for you, and chime in the comments with any of your own performance tips while you’re at it.

While you’re at it, don’t miss some basic Mac OS X maintenance tips too, though you already have cleaned off the desktop, and you regularly back up your Mac, right?

Need to reveal hidden App Store purchases so you can access and download them? It’s easy to do directly on an iOS device, grab the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and do the following:

1. Launch the App Store
2. Scroll down to tap on “Apple ID: email@address.com”
3. Tap “View Apple ID”
4. Enter the password for the account
5. Scroll down and tap on “Hidden Purchases”
6. Find the app(s) you wish to unhide, and tap the “Unhide” button



7. Find the unhidden apps under the “Purchased” section of App Store

Remember, you can always hide a purchase from the App Store again by swiping next to its name in the purchased list.

If you’re trying to install a handful of iOS apps and your entire home screen is filled with app icons labeled “Waiting…” without any of the progress bars moving, downloading, or installing, you can fix this fairly easily with the two methods below. Try the first method before going nuclear with a reboot though:

1. Tap a single app icon so that it says “Paused” and then tap that app icon again to see if it resumes downloading
2. If pausing and resuming didn’t work: Reboot the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch

You may notice a related issue where apps from the App Store will say they’re “Installing” though they aren’t appearing on the iOS home screen yet, that is also resolved with a reboot.

It’s not totally clear what causes this, though it seems that a lot of people are encountering the problem right now when moving from an old iPad to a new one. It could be that Apple’s servers are just overloaded with downloads from the App Store, or it could be a bug.

We’ve heard from a few readers in our comments and through emails that after updating to iOS 5.1 their Personal Hotspot disappeared on the iPhone. The reason for this is unclear, but thankfully the fix is extremely easy:

• Open Settings and tap on “General”
• Tap on “Reset Network Settings”

Now tap back to Settings and you should see the familiar Personal Hotspot option. Yes, you will lose your wireless network passwords and custom DNS settings by resetting network preferences, so be sure to note any necessary network settings before doing so.

Strangely enough, the same Personal Hotspot disappearance happened with some users who updated to iOS 5 too, so presumably it may even happen in the future with yet another iOS update. Why? It’s probably a bug, but it’s so easy to fix it’s not that big a deal.

Update: Another possible fix is to retype the access point name in through Internet Tethering settings. This can be accessed through Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data, look under “Internet Tethering” for APN, and fill in an access point name. A username and password are not required.

Thanks to Gregory and Sayuru for the solutions!

Is Safari no longer remembering logins and passwords? Is Mail.app asking for a password every time you launch the app and try to check or send mail, despite the fact that you’ve entered login credentials over and over? When a Mac app no longer remembers password and login data, it’s often the result of corrupted keychain files. This is easy to fix in three easy steps with Keychain Access first aid.

1. Use Spotlight by hitting Command+Spacebar and then type “Keychain Access” and hit return
2. Open the “Keychain Access” menu and choose “Keychain First Aid”
3. Enter the users password and check the “Repair” box, then click “Start”

After keychain repairs are completed, exit out of Keychain Access and return to the application that wasn’t remembering the login and password information. You may be asked one more time for the login, but from this point on it should remember it.

You can use the same fix when a Mac won’t remember wi-fi passwords, though forgetting networks is resolved through Repairing Permissions instead.

This process will be the same for Mac OS X 10.6, OS X 10.7, and OS X 10.8. You are welcome to verify the keychain configuration before repairing it, but there’s little reason to not jump straight to the repair process.