One of the bigger complaints stemming from the iOS redesign is that the stark white interface with thin fonts can be difficult to read. Setting text to Bold makes an enormous difference, but some of the color choices in iOS still lack enough contrast to make things easy on the eyes, particularly for those with … Read More

OS X provides a great way to quickly find what app is using battery power from a drop-down menu on portable Macs, but you’re usually left with a single option to address the battery hog, and that is quitting the app. But it’s not always necessary to quit out of the entire app in question, … Read More

Chrome users may have noticed that the popular Emoji characters found on iPhone and the Mac render just fine in Apple’s Safari web browser of MacOS X, but not in Google’s Chrome browser. Instead, us default Chrome users on the desktop will see a square rendered 😃 rather than the intended emoji character, largely being … Read More

This weeks featured setup is the minimalist desk configuration of photographer and vlogger Arttu K., who uses LED backlighting to achieve a really nice mood effect behind the iMac setup. Let’s learn a bit more!

Voicemail messages have been modernized quite a bit by the iPhone’s visual voicemail service, but it’s still fairly common to wind up with many stale voicemails that aren’t listened to. You don’t have to delete the messages, or even listen to them to mark them as read (listened? heard?) though, thanks to a simple yet … Read More

A fair amount of Mac users have ditched the “All My Files” default Finder window option by setting new windows to open to the ~/ Home directory again, which was long the default in Mac OS X anyway. This is usually because All My Files is viewed as an overwhelming amalgamation of every single thing … Read More

iPhone and iPad users can now directly control whether their iOS wallpaper moves around dramatically, thanks to a setting called “Perspective Zoom” that was added in iOS 7.1. The toggle is separate from the general reduce motion setting, and is selected when choosing a wallpaper, offering a separate control for some of the more exaggerated … Read More

When you think of sending out text messages you probably think of the iPhone or an Android, and the command line doesn’t cross your mind, but thanks to the ever-useful curl command, you can send out a SMS text message to any phone number right from the Terminal. Yes, curl, the same command line tool … Read More

The Mac can now make outbound voice calls to other Apple users that have an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or another Mac, using nothing but the native FaceTime Audio service. Built into Mac OS X, FaceTime Audio can be used to call any other FaceTime user, free, anywhere in the world, and it provides excellent … Read More

Some iPad Air owners have been impacted by a persistent crashing issue, where either the entire device crashes and reboots, or, more commonly, where the Safari browser crashes and randomly quits. The Safari crashing issue is often repeatable by pointing Safari at several Javascript heavy web pages with numerous tabs open, or by opening a … Read More

Have you ever wished you could tag files on the Mac with a simple keystroke? You’re almost certainly not alone. Tagging files and folders in Mac OS X can be a handy way to help manage and organize the contents of the Finder, even if only used on a limited basis for specific projects. To … Read More

Apple has released iOS 7.1 for all compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, the first major system software update to iOS 7 since the launch last year. The update includes many bug fixes, feature enhancements, speed improvements, as well as a variety of updated user interface elements. Updating to iOS 7.1 is recommended for … Read More

Once a wi-fi network has been joined in Mac OS, the Mac will default to joining that network if it’s within range and available again. This is undeniably convenient for joining our home, work, and regular wireless networks, but it can be a nuisance when the Mac rejoins a network that you no longer want … Read More

This weeks featured Mac setup is the desk of Stephen G., a web programmer with a genuinely awesome quad display configuration. If you’re wondering how this great setup gets used, or if you’re just curious how on earth to drive three additional screens off of a MacBook Pro in a similarly sweet four-panel layout like … Read More

The Macs default boot login screen is fairly boring by default, and though it can be spruced up with custom wallpaper, another option is to set a screen saver to run at the login window of OS X. This requires using a defaults command string entered at the command line, which then makes the screen … Read More

Most smartphone owners are pretty set on their preference towards the iPhone or Android, but that doesn’t mean you can’t cross-pollinate a bit… at least with your device wallpaper. With the general bright-color trend, many of the Android wallpapers look absolutely fantastic on the iPhone and iPad too, and some of the KitKat wallpapers are … Read More

Ever launched the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad to discover an “Unsent Message” indicator at the bottom of the screen? An email usually goes unsent if you lose internet access while trying to send the message, a fairly common occurrence for those who live in areas with poor cellular reception or that have … Read More

Most command line users rely heavily on Terminal keyboard navigation to move about within text files and get around within the Terminal, but Mac OS X has a super simple trick up its sleeve that lets you instantly position the mouse cursor anywhere in the Terminal. This means no more tabbing around or repeatedly tapping … Read More