The Mac Preview app has long included the ability to digitally sign documents with a signature, but up until the most recent versions of Mac OS X, users had to basically sign a piece of paper and then use the Macs front-facing camera to ‘scan’ and digitize the signature. That has changed with modern releases of Mac OS, and if your Mac is running Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, or newer, you can now sign documents using just a trackpad.

Read more »

Apple has released a series of small updates to the Safari web browser for users of OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, and earlier versions of OS X including Mountain Lion. The contents of the updates vary per release, but include bug fixes and resolutions to some issues that users were experiencing with specific versions of the Mac web browser and the autofill feature.

The updates are versioned as Safari 8.0.1 for OS X 10.10, Safari 7.1.1 for OS X 10.9.5, and Safari 6.2.1 for OS X 10.8.5.
Read more »

When you send or receive a picture, audio message, gif, video, or file in the Messages app of Mac OS X, it obviously appears within the conversation window of that particular message, but those attachment files are also stored locally in a caches directory that can be accessed through the traditional file system of your Mac.

Read more »

Many command line users are familiar with the ‘man’ command that will open a manual page for a specific command, but what if rather than a specific commands man page, you’re looking for a string match within all man pages? That’s what this tricks is for, so whether you’re trying to learn more about a specific process, daemon, configuration file, or whatever else, the Terminal app of OS X includes a really nifty quick search feature that allows users to instantly search the man page index for all matches.

Read more »

The Messages app in the newest versions of Mac OS X and iOS support audio messaging, meaning you can quickly record and send an audio message or verbal note to someone right from the messages app on the Mac. Perhaps even better, the recipient of the audio message does not need to be on the latest and greatest release of Mac OS or iOS to be able to play and listen to the audio message.

Read more »

If you’re the type of iPhone or iPad user who prefers to strictly control what alerts and notifications get pushed to their iOS device, you may be bothered by an unsolicited notification coming to your lock screen or the Notifications panel of iOS. Many apps will try to send you notifications by default, and even some of the Apple bundled apps will opt into that default as well. If those alerts bother you and quickly clearing them isn’t sufficient, the best thing you can do is to simply disable a specific apps ability to post a notification to your device.

Read more »

Many Mac users go with the full sized Apple wired keyboard rather than a wireless keyboard so that they can have a dedicated number keypad on their keyboard. Sometimes that numeric pad seems to randomly stop working though, and suddenly numbers don’t type at all, which can be frustrating to say the least. To further complicate the matter, the Apple Wired Keyboard does not include a traditional “Num Lock” key like you’d find on most PC keyboards, so it can be difficult for switchers to easily identify if that’s related to the issue or not. Fortunately, for almost every occurrence where the number keypad has stopped working with a Mac keyboard, the resolution is easy.

Read more »

Apple Maps in iOS includes a fun feature that allows you to take a 3D tour of major cities around the world, complete with rendered landmarks, buildings, and terrain. Called 3D Flyover, you can also choose to navigate around in the three dimensional view, to zoom, rotate, and tilt the viewing angle as desired.

Read more »

A group of Chinese developers have released a new jailbreak called TaiG for iOS 8.1.1 and iOS 8.2 beta. The tool will apparently jailbreak any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that can run iOS 8.1.1 and existing iOS 8.2 beta versions, as well as earlier releases of iOS 8 software. Apple strongly advises against jailbreaking, and reserves the right to void warranty service to any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has been modified with such a tool, making this a procedure that is best avoided by average iPhone users.

Read more »

The Safari web browser has always included an ability to delete all web history, site data, searches, and cookies on a Mac, but the latest versions of Safari for Mac OS make this task even easier and offer a bit more control with four possible options, allowing users to perform removal of web browsing history at multiple levels, including any of the following; remove website data from only the prior hour of browsing, delete website history data from today, delete browser data from today and yesterday, or, go all out and remove all data from all time periods.

This article will show you how to clear web history in Safari on the Mac.

Read more »

Many of us explored the array of new keyboard options available now that iOS supports third party keyboards, but if you’re anything like me you probably settled on one that worked for your typing needs (if not the iOS default and QuickType) and now your iPhone or iPad has multiple unused keyboards laying about. While there isn’t much harm to letting the unused keyboards sit idle on your iOS device, you may want to clean house and remove the unwanted options that were downloaded and installed onto your phone.

Read more »

Apple has started to run another new iPhone 6 ad, titled “Voice Text”. The commercial features Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake discussing the ability to send voice clips through the messages app of iPhones.

Read more »

Many of us use our iPhones and iPads in the kitchen to assist with recipes or even entertainment while cooking, and they work wonderfully for this purpose. But electronics and turkey gravy don’t mix well, and to have a hassle free experience you’ll want to follow a few simple tips to help prevent frustrations, a mess, or worse. So, keep your iPhone free of pumpkin pie mix, adjust a display setting, protect it from splashes, and work with a disposable stand, and you’ll be good to go.

Read more »

Many developers require MySQL on their Macs, but if you’ve tried to install MySQL in OS X El Capitan and Yosemite, you likely noticed that you’ll get an “installation failed” error during the process. That error sounds worse than it is, because you can avoid it entirely by choosing not to install the startup item included in the MySQL bundle, or, you can just ignore the installation error and start MySQL yourself when you need it. Either way, MySQL actually installs fine, it’s just the bundled startup item that does not function. As you probably guessed, that means you’ll need to start and stop MySQL yourself.

Read more »

Messages app is generally associated with conversations, but new to Mac OS is a feature which allows Mac users to initiate screen sharing with another Mac user directly from an active iMessage window. This is great for remote collaboration, showing off something on your computer, a file transfer between remote Macs, or even for quick troubleshooting assistance, and it’s not only easy to start but it works really well too.

Read more »

Want to see the full desktop version of a website when browsing the web with Safari on iPhone? It’s easy when you learn how.

Most iPhone users like to read and use websites specifically designed for mobile usage, which tend to simplify the user experience and focus attention a bit more. Since many websites detect you’re using an iPhone and automatically serve a mobile site (ours included) over the standard desktop site, there isn’t much involvement required from the user end. While this is generally a very good thing, sometimes users wish to see or use the full desktop version of an website on their iPhone, and that’s what this feature in iOS Safari allows for.

Read more »

Apple is running a set of new iPhone 6 ads, titled “Reservations” and “Gamers”. The two spots are similar to earlier commercials for iPhone 6, being narrated by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, as specific features are emphasized in a playful banter.

Read more »

The iPhone has long had the excellent Personal Wi-Fi Hotspot feature, which effectively turns an iPhone or cellular iPad into a wireless router that Macs and other devices can connect to. That iPhone Hotspot feature gets even better for Mac users running modern versions of Mac OS X, because you can now enable the iPhones personal Hotspot feature remotely just by connecting to it – the rest is automated. This is called Instant Hotspot, and it’s an excellent trick to use to speed up a personal hotspot connection, when you’re traveling or telecommuting, or just when you need an alternative internet connection for your Mac.

Read more »