Find System Preferences Easier in Mac OS X by Sorting Alphabetically

Nov 12, 2011 - 8 Comments
System Preferences

Mac System Preferences are grouped by categories by default, basically into Personal / iCloud, Software, and Hardware. For most of us this is intuitive and easy enough to navigate, but with modern versions of macOS they’ve been condensed down from more category separation, from Personal, Hardware, Internet & Wireless, System, and Other, to just the … Read More

Mac Setups: iMac, MacBook Pro, iPhones, & iPad 2

Nov 12, 2011 - 14 Comments
iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad, and lots of iPhones

This reader submitted Mac setup features an iMac 21″, MacBook Pro 15″, white iPad 2, a handful of iPhones, the wireless keyboard, mouse, and Magic Trackpad, and a Time Capsule for backing it all up. Great Mac setup, thanks for sending this in Tom! You can send us your own Mac setups at osxdailycom@gmail.com

Enable a Hidden Auto-Correct & Auto-Complete Word Suggestion Bar in iOS 5

Nov 9, 2011 - 18 Comments
autocorrect suggestion bar in iOS

A hidden autocorrect suggestion bar has been uncovered in iOS, and with a bit of patience you can enable it yourself with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5+. The discovery was made by iOS developer Sonny Dickson, who provides the details on how to edit your iOS backups to turn the feature … Read More

Show Full File & Folder Names on the Mac Desktop

Nov 9, 2011 - 22 Comments
End file name truncation in Mac OS X

Have you ever noticed that some files and folders display truncated names when they’re placed on the Mac OS X Desktop? A file or folder named anything over a certain character limit will be shortened with a series of three periods, something like “Mobile Documents Sync” will display as “Mobile Do…ync” and so on. One … Read More

Share iPhone, iPad, and Mac Calendars with Anyone Else from iCloud

Nov 8, 2011 - 13 Comments
Share Calendars with anyone else through iCloud

Using iCloud, sharing a Calendar from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac OS X iCal with anyone else is now easier than ever. This is a straight forward process that requires iCloud, set it up if you haven’t already and you can get sharing, here’s how:

Firefox 8 Released [Download Links]

Nov 7, 2011 - 11 Comments
Firefox 8

In the never-ending quest to make version numbers irrelevant, Firefox 8 has been released. Technically it’s not supposed to be out until tomorrow, but as with past Firefox releases, the download was pushed early to the Mozilla public FTP servers and is widely available for anyone to pick up for each supported platform (Mac, Windows, … Read More

Still Having Lion Wi-Fi Problems? This Solution Works

Nov 6, 2011 - 240 Comments
Renew DHCP in Mac OS X Lion

We’ve published a variety of fixes for wireless connections dropping in Lion, and even a keepalive script that helps many users maintain a connection in some of the stubborn cases, but some Mac OS X Lion users continue to have problems with their internet connection failing. After diagnosing another MacBook with wireless stability problems post-Lion, … Read More

Mac Setups: Back Porch Music Studio with a MacBook Pro 15″ & iPad 2

Nov 5, 2011 - 13 Comments
MacBook Pro outdoor music studio

This reader submitted Mac setup comes from sound designer and musician Richard D, who may have one of the coolest seasonal offices I’ve seen. Ignoring the great view of the woods for a minute, the Apple gear is a MacBook Pro 15″ running Logic Studio alongside an iPad 2, in addition to a Magic Mouse … Read More

Kill Google Chrome Tabs and Windows with Task Manager

Nov 4, 2011 - 4 Comments
The Chrome Task Manager

Google Chrome has a built-in Task Manager tool that lets you kill individual tabs, windows, plugins, and even extensions. This is extraordinarily helpful if you encounter a page that gets tied up, beach balls, or can’t be closed due to any number of errors. For those of us who live centered around the web, this … Read More

Install OS X Lion on a Hackintosh the Easy Way with UniBeast

Nov 4, 2011 - 2 Comments
Installing OS X Lion on a Hackintosh with Unibeast

For those running a Hackintosh (a PC built to unofficially run Mac OS X) who haven’t upgraded to or installed Mac OS X Lion yet, your excuses to delay the 10.7 update are dwindling. The newly released Unibeast tool from the ever-resourceful TonyMacX86 makes the entire process easier than ever. The requirements for using Unibeast … Read More

Fix “This device isn’t eligible for the requested build” Error in iTunes When Updating iOS

Nov 3, 2011 - 100 Comments
iTunes

If you’re trying to update iOS to the latest version on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and you get an error in iTunes saying: The iOS Device “Device Name” could not be updated. This device isn’t eligible for the requested build. You’re most likely encountering one the following problems: either you are using an … Read More

Sync Files Between Macs with iCloud

Nov 3, 2011 - 53 Comments
iCloud File Syncing in Mac OS X

You can sync files across iCloud-equipped Macs by using an unofficial feature tied to a little known folder hidden in OS X. We’ll walk you through exactly how to get this set up, allowing you to sync files and folders across Macs seamlessly, but first make sure you meet some basic system requirements. Requirements: Macs … Read More

Enable and Use the ‘locate’ Command in the Mac OS X Terminal

Nov 2, 2011 - 12 Comments
find process running to build locate db

The locate command is very useful if you’re looking to track down every instance of a file, filetype, app, extension, things hidden deep in system folders, or just about anything else that Spotlight can’t manage. It’s extraordinarily useful for troubleshooting and even more mundane tasks like completely uninstalling Mac apps. In order to use locate, … Read More

Set the Default PDF Viewer in Mac OS X Back to Preview

Oct 31, 2011 - 51 Comments
Preview in Mac

If you’ve downloaded Adobe Acrobat on the Mac you’ve probably discovered that it takes over Preview as the default PDF viewer in Mac OS X, which is annoying because Acrobat is slow to load and a fairly bloated application. Given that Preview comes bundled with Mac OS X, is extremely fast, and quite efficient at … Read More

Mac Setups: Dual Screen Mac Mini Server & iPad 2

Oct 29, 2011 - 20 Comments
Mac Mini Server and iPad 2

Another great reader submitted Mac setup here: this one is a decked out Mac Mini Server Quad i7 with 8GB RAM and dual 7200 RPM 500GB hard drives, connected to dual monitors, and to the right is an iPad 2 64GB model. Rounding out the desk is an iPod touch, iPod nano, MacBook Air superdrive, … Read More

Monitor Network Connections in Mac OS X with Private Eye

Oct 28, 2011 - 7 Comments
Private Eye open connections

Private Eye is a free real-time network monitor app for Mac OS X that is extremely easy to use. Upon launching the app, you’ll start to see all open network connections by application and process, and you can then filter connections by app, monitor all open connections, or watch only incoming or outgoing transfer. Connections … Read More

How to Tile Desktop Background Wallpaper in Mac OS X

Oct 26, 2011 - 9 Comments
set a background image to tile in Mac OS X Lion

Want to tile a wallpaper on the Mac? A tiling wallpaper will repeat all over the desktop background, just like a tile is repeated in flooring or a wall. Well, you’re in luck because modern Mac OS X versions can do tile a wallpaper image, just like you could do way back in ancient Mac … Read More

Use Different Desktop Background Pictures for Spaces in Mac OS X

Oct 26, 2011 - 5 Comments
Set Different Wallpapers for Desktop Spaces in OS X Lion

The Mission Control “Spaces” feature in OS X is essentially a virtual desktop environment. A nice way to differentiate each individual desktop Space is to go about assigning different wallpapers to different desktop spaces. Setting unique wallpaper backgrounds per desktop is easy in Mac OS X now, here’s the quickest way to do this:

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