You likely know already that the Mac has a built-in dictionary, accessible from the Dictionary app, but also through keyboard shortcut, Spotlight, and three finger tap. But did you know you can also edit the dictionary on the Mac to add or remove your own words to a user dictionary? This is useful if you want to stop spellcheck and autocorrect flagging words.
If you’re a longtime reader, you may recall that you can add words to spellcheck on the Mac, but if you don’t want to use the contextual menu method, or you have multiple words you wish to add or remove from your dictionary, you can also just directly edit the user dictionary file to add them yourself.
Apple has released the first beta versions of iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura 13.2.
Betas are typically issued to developers first and soon followed by the same build for public beta testers.
It is unclear what will be added in iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura 13.2, but the usual round of bug fixes and enhancements is expected as the beta process continues.
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.6.2 and macOS Big Sur 11.7.2 for Mac users continuing to run prior generation Mac operating systems. These software updates are available separately from MacOS Ventura 13.1.
MacOS Monterey 12.6.2 and MacOS Big Sur 11.7.2 both include important security updates and therefore recommended for all Mac users continuing to run the MacOS Big Sur or MacOS Monterey operating systems.
Apple has released iOS 16.2 update for iPhone users. The update includes a variety of new features, bug fixes, and security enhancements, and is therefore recommended for all iPhone users to install.
iOS 16.2 brings support for the digital collaboration app Freeform, a karaoke feature called Apple Music Sing, support for iCloud backup end-to-end encryption, lock screen widgets for medication and sleep, improvements to the Home app and homekit devices, a limit to AirDrop to be open to everyone for only 10 minutes, improvements that allow search in Messages to find things like dogs and cats in photos, a fix for a bug that caused Notes to sometimes not update through iCloud after changes were made, and more. Full release notes for iOS 16.2 are included below.
Separately, Apple has released iPadOS 16.2 for iPad, macOS Ventura 13.1 for Mac, along with updates for macOS Big Sur and Monterey, watchOS, HomePod, and tvOS. Older iPhone users will find iOS 15.7.2 available to download as well.
iPadOS 16.2 update is now available for iPad users to download for their devices.
iPadOS 16.2 includes support for the Freeform collaborative canvas app, Stage Manager support for external displays for M1 or better iPad models, Apple Music Sing which offers karaoke in Apple Music, E2EE support for iCloud data, along with a handful of other smaller features, bug fixes, and security enhancements. It is recommended for all iPad users to install.
Separately, Apple has released iOS 16.2 for iPhone, macOS Ventura 13.1 for Mac, updates to macOS Monterey and Big Sur, and software updates for watchOS, HomePod, and tvOS. Older iPhone and iPad models will also find iOS 15.7.2 available as an update with security fixes.
Apple has released macOS Ventura 13.1 update, the release comes as the first major point release update for MacOS Ventura.
MacOS Ventura 13.1 includes support for the Freeform collaborative digital canvas app, advanced data protection with end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, improvements to searching in Messages, along with security enhancements and bug fixes for a variety of issues. The full release notes are shown further below.
Additionally, Apple has released iOS 16.2 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.2 for iPad, along with updates for HomePod, Apple TV, and watchOS. Mac users running macOS Big Sur and macOS Monterey will also find macOS Monterey 12.6.2 or macOS Big Sur 11.7.2 available for those operating system versions.
Some M2 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro and Air users have been experiencing wi-fi difficulties with the latest versions of MacOS Ventura and MacOS Monterey. While we have covered wi-fi issues with MacOS Ventura that have been experienced by some users and offered some solutions, another potential fix is available for a particular use case with Macs having wi-fi problems when in busy network environments, like when on enterprise, corporate, or school networks.
By disabling AWDL, you may be able to improve wi-fi speeds and connectivity on M2 MacBook Air, M1 MacBook Pro, M1 MacBook Air, and M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro machines.
Creating a bootable macOS Ventura installer can be desirable for many advanced Mac users, whether to perform clean installations, install macOS Ventura 13 onto multiple machines without having to re-download the installer, to serve as a recovery boot disk, or any other number of reasons.
Making a macOS Boot install drive is not particularly difficult, but it does require using the command line.
MacOS 8 may have debuted in 1997, but thanks to the Infinite Mac project, you can run MacOS 8 right now in a virtual Quadra right in your web browser.
The Infinite Mac MacOS 8 installation is complete with a whole bevy of retro applications and games, including everything from Adobe Photoshop 3.0, KPT Bryce, ResEdit, BBEdit, Warcraft I, Warcraft II, Civilization, Glider, KidPix, MacPaint, HyperCard, and much more. All the major applications of yesteryear are bundled, and you’ll be sure to find something you remember and enjoy.
Some iPhone and Apple Watch users have noticed the Crash Detection feature of their device is inappropriately activating during activities that do not involve car accidents. For example, some users are finding the crash detection feature is activated on rollercoasters, when skiing or snowboarding, while mountain biking or road biking, long boarding, and many other physical activities that involve some degree of movement and speed with abrupt stops, pauses, or changes in direction.
Because Crash Detection will automatically call emergency services on your behalf, some users may wish to turn off this feature to prevent any misunderstanding or avoid tying up local emergency resources, or at least temporarily disable the feature while they’re participating in activities that involve speed with sudden stops.
Universal Control is a fantastic feature for Mac and iPad that allows you to share a keyboard and mouse or trackpad between devices. But aside from the convenient ability to share the keyboard and mouse, there are some additional handy tips and tricks available to Universal Control that you may not be familiar with, and we’ll be covering some of those here.
From copying and pasting, to dragging and dropping files, using keyboard shortcuts, arranging displays orientation to represent your physical setup, using gestures, reconnecting devices, and more, read along to better understand a wide variety of tips and tricks for Universal Control for both MacOS and iPadOS.
Some Mac users have found it difficult to see keyboard shortcuts in macOS Sonoma and Ventura, specifically within the freshly redesigned new System Settings experience that replaced System Preferences. Gone is the obvious and here comes obscurity, so it’s not too surprising that some users aren’t able to see the keyboard shortcuts for custom added App Shortcuts, for example, or perhaps able to find the Keyboard Shortcuts section at all.
Let’s walk through how you can see the Keyboard Shortcuts in MacOS Sonoma and MacOS Ventura System Settings, and how to see individual keyboard shortcuts and specific App Shortcuts.
By default, the Mac desktop will show external drives and volumes, including things like external hard drives, USB flash keys, and other external storage. If you wish to not show those external volumes on the desktop, you can adjust a setting in MacOS to hide external drives form the Mac desktop.
Hiding external drives from the Mac desktop offers a cleaner and more simplified desktop experience, and you can continue to access the external drives and volumes from the Finder at any time.
Apple has issued release candidate builds for iOS 16.2 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.2 for iPad, and macOS Ventura 13.1 for Mac.
All release candidate builds include support for iCloud Backups and iCloud Photos end-to-end encryption, a feature that has long been requested by data privacy advocates and security conscious individuals. Additionally, the release candidate builds for iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS 13.2 offer support for the new Freeform app, which is a collaborative canvas that allows multiple users to contribute content to a virtual canvas simultaneously. Support for Apple Music Sing, which is basically karaoke for Apple Music, will be included. Also, Apple has now limited AirDrop to be open to everyone for only 10 minutes, a change that recently helped a government in quelling protests.
If you work with a lot of PDF files, you’d probably appreciate having the ability to press a keyboard shortcut to save files, webpages, and documents as PDF files on the Mac. You can set that up rather easily, and we’ll walk through the process.
If you have long been using the old trick to create a Save as PDF keyboard shortcut and recently updated to MacOS Ventura, you may have noticed your old keyboard shortcut doesn’t work anymore. This is because Apple has renamed the menu title for the action, so if you’re using the old keyboard shortcut it will not register. But with a little adjustment you’ll be able to use the Command+PP trick again for saving as PDF in no time.
Renaming your Mac computer name offers a way to customize your Mac, differentiate it between other machines when using AirDrop, and make it easy to identify on a network.
With modern versions of macOS Ventura 13 and newer, how you change a Mac computer name is different than before, and you may have become accustomed to the previous approach which was fairly obvious in a system preference. With macOS Ventura, the setting is less than obvious, but you can still change and rename your Mac easily once you learn how to perform the action.
Amazon is back with some great discounts on various Apple products, ranging from hefty price reductions on everything from the latest iPad Air, iPad Mini, AirPods Pro, M2 MacBook Air, M1 MacBook Air, and more.Whether you’re shopping for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, why pay full price when you don’t have to?
iPad Air M1 64GB for $499 (reduced from $599)
The iPad Air features the M1 processor, 12MP camera, and a 10.9″ display, and is currently 17% off:
AirPods Pro are fantastic earbuds, featuring water resistance, active noise cancellation, head tracking, 6 hours of listening time on a single charge, a MagSafe charging case, and more.
FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running and available for free. This provides readers with an avenue of supporting the site indirectly. Shop on Amazon and support our site!
