Tips & Tricks

Tips and tricks for all things Apple! Whether you want to learn tips for a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or much more, you will find many tricks, tips, tutorials, and excellent walkthroughs for Apple devices and software here.

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Change the Green Button Maximize Behavior in OS X Yosemite with BetterTouchTool

Mar 11, 2015 - 42 Comments
BetterTouchTool preferences for changing green button behavior in OS X

The Green Button in OS X window bars used to maximize windows to fit the Mac screen, but since OS X Yosemite the Green Button now sends windows or apps into full screen mode by default. This can be modified one-off by Option+Clicking the maximize button, but a better solution for some users is to … Read More

How to Change the Root User Account Password in Mac OS X

Mar 8, 2015 - 13 Comments
Login as root user in Mac OS X

Some advanced Mac users require having the root user enabled in Mac OS X for administrative or troubleshooting purposes. While many will keep the root user account password the same as their general administrator password, this is not always recommended for some situations, and thus these Mac users may wish to change the root user … Read More

How to Bypass a FileVault Password On a Per Boot Basis with Mac OS X

Mar 6, 2015 - 12 Comments
Lock a Mac Screen

Using FileVault full disk encryption is one of the better ways to protect your Mac and personal documents from prying eyes and password resets, but if you’re troubleshooting a Mac with FileVault, either your own or someone else’s, it’s kind of annoying to have another layer of passwords necessary to enter before you’ll be able … Read More

Type the Apple Logo Icon on iPhone or iPad with Keyboard Shortcuts

Mar 5, 2015 - 28 Comments
The Apple Logo icon

The Apple logo is iconic and used frequently by fans, but if you’re looking to type the Apple logo () on an iPhone or iPad you won’t find it in the standard keyboard options or special characters. Indeed, for the time being anyway, the Apple logo does not have an easily accessible character option in … Read More

How to Force Reboot an iPhone & iPad (with Home Buttons)

Mar 3, 2015 - 48 Comments
How to Force Reboot an iPhone

Rarely, an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch will become completely unresponsive and errant, leading to what amounts to a frozen device that just won’t do anything. The most obvious indicator of this is when something on screen just cease up completely and the touch screen becomes unresponsive to all input, and clicking on any of … Read More

Audio & Sound Not Working in Mac OS X? It’s an Easy Fix

Mar 1, 2015 - 116 Comments
Fix no audio output on a Mac

A few Mac users that update to Mac OS X discover their sound and audio output has ceased to work, leading to a completely mute Mac that does not respond to the volume keys. Fortunately, the mysterious missing sound output issue is incredibly simple to fix, and there is nothing actually wrong with the Mac.

Instantly Add Item to the Mac Dock with a Keyboard Shortcut

Feb 28, 2015 - 9 Comments
Add to the Dock keyboard shortcut in OS X

Just about all Mac users know that you can add items to the Dock of Mac OS X by dragging and dropping things into it, but another option, which may even be faster for some users, is to use a keyboard shortcut. With a quick keystroke, you can instantly add any item from the file … Read More

Simple Tips to Improve Battery Life for Macs with OS X El Capitan & Yosemite

Feb 27, 2015 - 31 Comments
Battery life in OS X Yosemite

Some Mac users have noted that MacBook Air and MacBook Pro battery life has taken a downturn with their Macs running OS X El Capitan and OS X Yosemite. While this doesn’t impact all users, and much of the perception of diminished battery is likely due to usage and various features, there are some easy … Read More

Can’t Open a Specific File in OS X? Search the Mac App Store Quickly to Find an App That Can

Feb 25, 2015 - 1 Comment
Find apps to open unknown files in Mac App Store of OS X

If you’ve ever come across a file that you can’t open on your Mac, or perhaps that doesn’t open as you may expect it to in a particular OS X app, maybe rendering poorly or like a bunch of gibberish after forcing it, this quick trick can help find a more appropriate application to open … Read More

How to Visit Open Web Pages on Other Devices with iCloud Tabs on Mac, iPhone, iPad

Feb 24, 2015 - 2 Comments
iCloud

Safari iCloud Tabs are a great feature that allow you to visit and access any actively opened web page in Safari on one device on another iPhone, iPad, or Mac. This is really handy if you found something interesting on your iPhone but you’d rather read it on your iPad or Mac, or vice versa, … Read More

How to Customize the Login Screen Wallpaper of Mac in OS X Yosemite

Feb 24, 2015 - 25 Comments

Customizing the login screen appearance on a Mac is a nice way to add some personal (or corporate) flair to the OS X login experience. How exactly to change the login screen wallpaper has differed continuously in the many versions of Mac OS throughout the years, but with OS X Yosemite, the process of setting … Read More

How to Fix Error Code 36 in Mac OS X Finder

Feb 21, 2015 - 78 Comments
Fix error code 36 in Finder of OS X

On some rare occasions when trying to copy files, Mac users may encounter “error code 36”, which completely halts the copy or move process in the Mac OS X Finder. The full error is usually read as “The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “FileName” can’t be read or written. (Error code … Read More

“My iPhone is Not Ringing or Making Sounds with Inbound Messages Suddenly, Help!”

Feb 21, 2015 - 108 Comments
Fix iPhone not getting calls or alerts suddenly

Have you ever had the experience where an iPhone is suddenly not ringing on incoming calls, or making any sounds when a new message arrives? The mute button isn’t turned on, so what on earth is going on, right? This is surprisingly common experience for those who are more novice iPhone users, and after troubleshooting … Read More

iPhone Plus Home Screen Not Rotating? It’s Your Display Settings

Feb 20, 2015 - 46 Comments
Standard View enables Home Screen rotation on iPhone

One of the more interesting features that arrived with the larger screen iPhone Plus models is the ability to view the devices Home Screen, where app icons are shown, in a rotated sideways horizontal format. This places the Dock onto the side, and kind of resembles a tiny iPad. To rotate the iPhone Home Screen, … Read More

How to Enable & Disable root User from Command Line in Mac OS X

Feb 19, 2015 - 7 Comments
Terminal in macOS

Though most advanced Mac users will find it easiest to enable root with Directory Utility from the GUI of Mac OS X, another option is to turn to the command line. No, we’re not talking about using sudo or su, we’re talking about enabling the actual root user account, which can be appropriate for some … Read More

Remove Bluetooth PAN Helps Resolve Wi-Fi Conflict in OS X Yosemite?

Feb 18, 2015 - 56 Comments
Remove Bluetooth PAN to fix Wi-Fi in OS X Yosemite maybe

One of the most frustrating issues that has impacted some users of OS X Yosemite are persistent wireless networking difficulties. Apple has released multiple updates to OS X aimed at addressing the problem, but for some Mac users, they either offer no help, or even worse, may add new trouble for wi-fi connections. We have … Read More

How to Remove a Password from a PDF File in Mac OS X

Feb 17, 2015 - 26 Comments
Unlock the protected PDF to remove the password

Many users who send PDF documents with sensitive data back and forth will password protect the files from their Mac so that only authorized users can read and access the data contained within the document. This is fairly common with everything from contracts to accounting and financial records, and it’s equally common to sometimes require … Read More

Turn Off the FaceBook App Sound Effects on iPhone

Feb 16, 2015 - 19 Comments
Turn off Facebook app sounds in iOS

The modern versions of Facebook app for iOS make various sound effects when interface elements are interacted with in the app, from liking something to leaving comments and refreshing the feed. The little popping and squishing sounds have annoyed some people apparently that use Facebook, but some of our readers have found that you can … Read More

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