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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How to Enable Flash Plugin for Specific Web Sites Only in Safari for Mac OS X

Dec 18, 2013 - 7 Comments
Block or Allow Flash Player selectively per website

Safari now provides finely tuned controls over what websites can use which browser plugins, and there are few better uses for such a feature than selectively limiting the Adobe Flash Player plugin to only be enabled for specifically approved websites. Basically this means you can have the Flash player installed on your Mac, but blocked … Read More

Turn Off the iPhone Flashlight with a Quick Camera Tap

Dec 18, 2013 - 3 Comments
iPhone flashlight icon

Maybe I’m just a total boring square, but the newly built-in iPhone flashlight is probably my most used feature of iOS 7, and the Control Center in general is really my favorite feature of all the changes brought to the iPhone software. I use the flashlight setting just about every evening, whether just for unlocking … Read More

Generate Secure Passwords in Safari with iCloud Keychain for Mac OS X

Dec 17, 2013 - 16 Comments
iCloud Keychain

iCloud Keychain is a password management feature that arrived to the Mac with Mac OS X Mavericks, and to the mobile Apple world with iOS 7 and remains available in all modern system software releases. Basically it stores encrypted passwords securely within iCloud, which can then be accessed securely through your Mac or iOS device, … Read More

Improve the iOS Define Function by Adding a New Dictionary

Dec 16, 2013 - 5 Comments
Add a new Dictionary to improve the iOS Define function

The tap-to-define a word trick in iOS can dramatically help reading comprehension and with learning new words when an unfamiliar word comes up in an article or book. This quick Define feature isn’t just useful for students with an iPad or iPod touch, it’s helpful for the rest of us too, long out of school … Read More

How to Remotely Wake a Mac from Sleep with Wake On LAN from iPhone

Dec 14, 2013 - 14 Comments
Use Wake On LAN with a Mac and iPhone

Using a handy network feature built into OS X and supported by most modern Macs, you can remotely wake a Mac from sleep using an iPhone (or iPod touch, iPad, and Android too). This is done using something called Wake On LAN (WOL), and it’s easy to set up in Mac OS X and use … Read More

Use “Apps Near Me” When Traveling to See Popular Local Apps for iPhone

Dec 13, 2013 - 2 Comments
App Store Icon

The App Store gained a location awareness feature in iOS 7 that lists the most popular applications used in any given region, based upon the devices current location. For iPhone users who live in a particular location, it may not be that exciting beyond a one-time check up – though some cities do have great … Read More

Reduce the File Size of PDF Documents on Mac with Preview

Dec 12, 2013 - 35 Comments
Export a PDF to compress the file size in Preview app for Mac OS X

The PDF file format is ubiquitous for good reason, mostly because it allows for perfect preservation of a documents formatting, text, and other elements, but also because it allows for encrypted password protection of documents. But let’s face it, sometimes PDF files can be bloated, and something that should be 200k or less can be … Read More

How to Block Access to Adult Content & Websites on iPhone & iPad

Dec 12, 2013 - 16 Comments
web

Apple has long included various means of placing parental controls and filtering for content available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, but up until recent iOS updates there was not a simple method of blocking web-based adult content and material in Safari. That has changed with new iOS releases, which makes it extremely easy … Read More

Get Walking Directions in Maps for iPhone

Dec 11, 2013 - 2 Comments
Maps icon

Many urbanites and city dwellers get about by walking, the oldest form of transportation in existence. If you’re one of us who often gets about a concrete jungle by propelling your legs in a forwardly direction, you’ll be pleased to know that the popular mapping applications in iOS have you covered. Both the default Maps … Read More

How to Find the Best Wi-Fi Channel with Wireless Diagnostics in Mac OS X

Dec 11, 2013 - 40 Comments
Scan and find the best Wi-Fi channels to use

Just about every semi-technical person has setup a wireless router at home or in the office, and in that process has wondered which broadcast channel would be the best to use. Sure, some wi-fi routers make it simple and will recommend a channel on their own, but often it’s left up to the user to … Read More

Carry the Full MacBook Pro MagSafe Adapter Hassle-Free with This Trick

Dec 10, 2013 - 12 Comments
The best way to wrap the full MagSafe adapter

If you’re like me, you carry the full length MacBook Air / Pro MagSafe adapter cord with your portable Mac. And if you do, you’re familiar with how cumbersome having that large extender cable attached to the MagSafe is, either taking up tons of space as it unwinds, or just being a huge tangled mess. … Read More

Share an iTunes Radio Station with Anyone from iOS

Dec 10, 2013 - Leave a Comment
iTunes Radio Music

iTunes Radio is an excellent free streaming music service that arrived to the iOS Music app with the 7.0 update. For those unfamiliar with Radio, you can create a station from any artist or genre, and enjoy an endless stream of great songs, both new and familiar. If you’re a music fan, it’s easily one … Read More

See a List of All Apps Installed on iPhone / iPad with Spotlight

Dec 9, 2013 - 14 Comments
Get an Application list in iOS Spotlight

It’s easy to wind up with a lot of apps installed on our iPhones and iPads, and if you’ve ever wanted to see every single app on an iOS device you have probably noticed there isn’t any obvious way to do so without connecting to iTunes or looking at the Storage Usage list in Settings. … Read More

Manage & Resume Multiple Terminals Easier with Window Groups in OS X

Dec 9, 2013 - 7 Comments
Save terminal window group with commands

Do you have your terminal windows arranged in a particular way, perhaps running particular processes, that you want to consistently resume to without having to rearrange and relaunch things? Rather than relying entirely on the OS X Resume feature, you should use the Terminal app “Window Groups” tool, which lets you save not only the … Read More

Quickly Send Images & Video to a New Contact from a Message Thread in iOS

Dec 8, 2013 - 1 Comment
Create a new message from an existing Image in Messages app

Get a funny picture or movie sent to your iPhone or iPad that you want to send along and share with someone else? Messages app allows you to easily create new image and media messages directly from an existing message thread, without having to use the traditional forward feature. This makes sharing images, funny videos, … Read More

Give Safari a Speed Boost on Older iOS 7 Devices by Ditching Web Javascript

Dec 6, 2013 - 6 Comments
Safari icon in iOS 7

It’s a fairly widespread complaint that iOS 7 can feel sluggish running on the oldest supported iPad and iPhone hardware, but with a few tweaks you can usually speed it up enough for the performance difference to barely be noticeable, if at all. Those adjustments are limited to the general iOS experience though, and they … Read More

Let it Snow in the Terminal of Mac OS X with This Command

Dec 6, 2013 - 3 Comments
Make it Snow in the Terminal with a command

Tis the season for some winter fun and holiday magic… in your Mac OS X Terminal with some digital snow fall! This nifty not-so-little ruby command string will make it snow in the command line of your Mac, there isn’t much to get it snowing beyond a simple copy and paste, but for best results … Read More

How to Show the Events List View in Calendar for iOS 7

Dec 5, 2013 - 1 Comment
Calendar icon

Update: iOS Calendar apps List View has been changed significantly from iOS 7.1 onward, learn how to access the new and improved version here for the iPhone and iPod touch. Users continuing to run prior versions of iOS can continue to find the broad events list using instructions detailed below. The Calendar List view is … Read More

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