How to Enable Dynamic Desktops in MacOS

Oct 4, 2018 - 4 Comments

How to use Dynamic Desktops in MacOS

Dynamic Desktops are a new feature in MacOS that allow the desktop background wallpaper of a Mac to change throughout the day as the time changes. Perhaps the most prominent example of this feature is the default desktop in macOS, whether in Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, or Mojave, which when Dynamic Desktops is enabled will time-shift the scene from morning, day, and night. It’s a subtle effect that is really quite nice, even if it’s purely visual in nature and mostly just eye candy.

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By Paul Horowitz - Customize, Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 4 Comments

How to Re-Download MacOS Mojave Installer (from MacOS Mojave)

Oct 4, 2018 - 31 Comments

How to Redownload MacOS Mojave installer

Some users may occasionally need to re-download the MacOS Mojave installer application while actively running MacOS Mojave. This is usually done for making a MacOS Mojave boot installer drive or some other similar purpose, or perhaps to copy the installer onto another computer or as a backup, but there are other reasons someone may want to download the “Install MacOS Mojave.app” package again too.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 31 Comments

How to Clean Install MacOS Mojave

Oct 3, 2018 - 26 Comments

How to clean install macOS Mojave

Performing a clean install of MacOS Mojave may be desirable to some Mac users. A clean install means erasing all data on a hard drive, and then installing a fresh new installation of MacOS Mojave to that Mac. The idea is that a clean install starts fresh, sort of like how a new Mac comes when you first open the box, with no customization, no third party apps, no user accounts, no user data, preferences, settings, caches, no personal files or data, it’s basically just a new clean installation of MacOS Mojave, and nothing else.

While the vast majority of Mac users should simply prepare for and update to macOS Mojave as usual from a prior MacOS system software release, thereby preserving their apps, customizations, personal files, and all else, this walkthrough is intended for users who want to erase a Mac completely and start over fresh to perform a clean install of macOS Mojave 10.14.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 26 Comments

Can You Disable Presidential Alerts on iPhone? Or Mute Them?

Oct 3, 2018 - 24 Comments

Presidential Alert on iPhone

Did your iPhone start playing a loud alarm sound with an Emergency Alert notice or Presidential Alert message on your screen? Then you may have received the test of the “Presidential Alert” from the Emergency Alerts system sent to your phone!

Indeed most Americans received an alert on their cell phone (iPhone or Android) that said something along the following: “EMERGENCY ALERTS – Presidential Alert – THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” as part of a scheduled test of the Presidential Alerts system.

Now you may be wondering how you can turn off presidential alerts, opt out of the government alerts, or maybe you want to disable all other emergency alerts and FEMA alerts for that matter too. Or maybe you want to keep the alerts enabled, but you want to mute them?

It turns out that some of these government alerts you can turn off, and some of them you can’t (for now anyway). And there may be ways to mute the alerts, but otherwise keep them enabled too. Let’s review the options for government alerts on iPhone with a little Q&A!

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How to Update MacOS System Software with Software Update (Big Sur, Catalina & Mojave)

Oct 2, 2018 - 10 Comments

How to install system software updates in Mac OS

Want to check for software updates in macOS Big Sur, Catalina, or MacOS Mojave? Perhaps you’re wondering where system software updates went in MacOS Mojave or Catalina? You may have noticed that the Software Update mechanism is different in MacOS Mojave and Catalina than in other recent prior Mac OS releases, with system software updates no longer arriving through the Mac App Store ‘Updates’ tab (well, except for the initial download of macOS Mojave). Instead, software updates are now downloaded from System Preferences, which is a bit more like iOS, and older versions of Mac OS X too.

If you aren’t sure how to updates system software in macOS Mojave 10.14 and beyond, read on to discover it’s quite simple.

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Beta 2 of iOS 12.1 & MacOS 10.14.1 Released for Testing, Includes 70+ New Emoji

Oct 2, 2018 - 4 Comments

macOS and iOS beta testing

Apple has released the second beta versions of iOS 12.1 for iPhone and iPad, along with beta 2 of macOS Mojave 10.14.1 for Mac. Beta releases are available for users enrolled in the respective beta testing programs.

iOS 12.1 beta 2 includes many new Emoji icons, while macOS 10.14.1 beta will presumably get the same Emoji icons later.

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By Paul Horowitz - News - 4 Comments

How to Force Reboot iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, iPhone XR

Oct 1, 2018 - 18 Comments

How to force restart iPhone XS Max and iPhone XS

The iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, and iPhone XR have new and different methods for force restarting these model iPhones, due to the fact that none of these models have a Home button. Initiating a forced restart on these new iPhone models may be different and slightly more complicated than before, but it’s still easy enough that even a novice user can master the method.

This article will show you how to force reboot an iPhone XS, XR, and iPhone XS Max.

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How to Change Gmail Back to Old Versions Appearance

Sep 30, 2018 - 33 Comments

Gmail

If you use Gmail.com as your primary web mail client, you likely have noticed that Gmail has a new redesigned visual interface and appearance that is larger, more spacious, a bigger sidebar, and more bold appearance all around, with a series of new cursor hover detection features as well. Many Gmail users like the change and others may not notice the difference, while some others may feel the new visual interface of Gmail is not what they’re hoping for and would prefer something a bit more simple in appearance, or a faster version of Gmail. Thus some Gmail users may want to change Gmail back to the old classic version, or at least something that looks and feels closer to the older Gmail versions.

We’ll show you a few different ways to change the Gmail interface and appearance, including switching back to Classic Gmail (though this may not be possible for everyone), some tips for adjusting the visual appearance of new Gmail to make it appear a bit more like the older version of Gmail, and even a method for how to use a much older simple version of Gmail that has a very simplified appearance without some of the newer features but in turn is lightning fast to load and interact with. Explore each of the options below to see how you can change Gmail.

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How to Download a Full Size MacOS Mojave Installer

Sep 29, 2018 - 60 Comments

How to download the full size MacOS Mojave installer application

Did you go to download macOS Mojave but found an incomplete installer application arrived in your /Applications folder? Some Mac users have discovered that when trying to download macOS Mojave from the Mac App Store, they end up with a very small 22 MB mini-installer that is not the full size 6 GB macOS Mojave installer app.

While the regular update or installation for macOS Mojave works just fine from the 22 MB stub installer (the other install files are downloaded later), you can’t use the 22mb incomplete installer to make a bootable macOS Mojave installer flash drive, nor use the mini-installer offline, and also since it’s not the full installer app it makes little sense to copy it to other Macs if you want to install Mojave onto them too.

This article will show you two different methods and tricks for how to download the proper complete macOS Mojave installer application if you ended up with the small 23 MB version of “Install macOS Mojave.app” rather than the full sized one.

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How to Stop Receiving Beta Updates in MacOS Mojave

Sep 28, 2018 - 1 Comment

How to stop receiving beta MacOS updates

If you are (or were) participating in the beta testing program for MacOS Mojave and have since updated to the final version of Mojave, you may wish to no longer receive beta software updates. By opting out of beta updates in MacOS Mojave, you will be sure that a Mac only receives final stable builds of future macOS releases, rather than any of the ongoing beta testing builds.

Halting the beta system software updates is recommended for most Mac users who were participating in the MacOS Mojave beta program at any casual level, particularly public beta users. If you’re a developer running beta system software for testing purposes, this may not apply to you.

Read on to learn exactly how to opt out of beta system software updates and stop receiving them on a Mac.
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How to Install MacOS Mojave on Unsupported Macs with DosDude Mojave Patcher

Sep 27, 2018 - 116 Comments

How to run MacOS Mojave on unsupported Macs

As you may know by now, the list of MacOS Mojave compatible Macs is more strict than previous releases of Mac OS system software, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t install and run macOS Mojave on some unsupported Macs. If you’re an advanced Mac user and you’re reasonably brave (and have adequate backups), then it turns out you might be able to install and run MacOS Mojave on unsupported Mac hardware after all, thanks to a free third party tool from the technical wizard known as “DosDude”.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 116 Comments

How to Make a Bootable MacOS Mojave Installer Drive

Sep 26, 2018 - 57 Comments

How to make a MacOS Mojave Bootable Installer Drive

Want to make a MacOS Mojave bootable USB installer drive? It’s pretty easy to do, as long as you have the MacOS Mojave installer app and a USB flash drive.

Much like prior versions of Mac OS, you can easily create a bootable install drive for MacOS Mojave 10.14. These boot install drives allow for things like easily formatting a Mac to perform a clean install of macOS Mojave, installing macOS Mojave onto multiple Macs without them each having to download the installer, or even as a troubleshooting tool since it can be booted from by any compatible Mac at any time.

This article will show you how to create your own macOS Mojave bootable install drive out of a USB flash key.
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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 57 Comments

How to Fix Blurry Fonts in MacOS Mojave for Non-Retina Displays

Sep 26, 2018 - 32 Comments

How to adjust font smoothing settings in macOS Mojave

Do you think fonts and screen text looks fuzzy, blurry, or excessively thin in macOS Mojave? If so, it may be due to changes in anti-aliasing in Mojave, particularly for users with non-retina displays. If you are running macOS Mojave on a Mac without a retina display, or with an external monitor that does not have an ultra-high resolution screen, you may have noticed that some fonts and text can appear as fuzzy, blurry, or excessively thin and difficult to read. Fortunately, with a little effort you can make some adjustments to how MacOS Mojave handles font smoothing and anti-aliasing which may improve the appearance of text and fonts on your Mac screen.

We’ll show you a few tips on how to adjust font smoothing in MacOS to attempt to remedy any problematic font rendering or blurry text in macOS Mojave for non-retina displays.

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MacOS 10.14.1 Beta 1 Released for Testing

Sep 25, 2018 - 2 Comments

MacOS Mojave beta

Apple has released the first beta version of macOS Mojave 10.14.1 for testing, just a few days after the final version of macOS Mojave 10.14 became available for the general public.

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By Paul Horowitz - News - 2 Comments

8 Great MacOS Mojave Features You’ll Actually Use

Sep 25, 2018 - 45 Comments

New macOS Mojave features

MacOS Mojave is one of the more exciting MacOS system software releases in quite some time, with many new interesting features and capabilities tucked throughout the new release.

Some of those new features are more interesting and or useful than others however, so we’re going to focus on a handful of new features in macOS Mojave that you’re most likely to actually use and appreciate.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 45 Comments

How to Update MacOS Mojave Beta to Final Version

Sep 24, 2018 - 2 Comments

How to download the final version of macOS Mojave from beta

If you’re running a beta version of MacOS Mojave you certainly will want to update to macOS Mojave final version, but you may have noticed that visiting the Software Update preference panel shows no available update despite the final version of macOS Mojave being available to download now. Does that mean you’re stuck running the beta version or that you need to reinstall macOS Mojave? No!

If you are seemingly stuck on the macOS Mojave beta and want to update to the final stable build, you’ll find that updating from macOS Mojave beta to macOS Mojave final is pretty easy, but you’ll have to go through a few different steps you might not be expecting.

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How to Prepare for and Install macOS Mojave

Sep 24, 2018 - 37 Comments

Prepare for and install macOS Mojave

Now that MacOS Mojave is available to download for all Mac users, you may be interested in updating to the latest and greatest Mac system software release. But before diving in with the installation, it’s often a good idea to prepare a Mac for a major system software update.

This article will go through a handful of simple tips that can help to prepare a Mac for the MacOS Mojave update.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, Tips & Tricks - 37 Comments

Download MacOS Mojave Now

Sep 24, 2018 - 30 Comments

Download macOS Mojave 10.14 now available

Apple has released macOS Mojave (versioned as MacOS 10.14) for all Mac users with a Mojave compatible Mac.

MacOS Mojave includes an all new Dark Mode theme for the general interface, desktop Stacks to help declutter a desktop, new screenshot tools and capabilities, a variety of improvements to Finder, the inclusion of several new apps from the iOS world like Stocks and Voice Memos, a redesigned Mac App Store experience, Dynamic Desktop which slowly changes the wallpaper throughout the day, along with various other new features and refinements.

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By Paul Horowitz - Mac OS, News - 30 Comments

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