With the abundance of icons in the upper right corner of the Mac OS X screen, it could be time for a change. If you’re tired of the same old Notification Center icon–the one that looks like a bullet list–this tip’s for you.
The Option key is a powerful ally in your transition from new, beginner user of OS X to the power user that you want to be. There are a ton of features in the Menu Bar that are hidden behind this underrated and unassuming Option key.
Here are some of the more useful ones.
![Get Your Gmail Backed Up Where You Need It [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/plugins/lazy-load/images/1x1.trans.gif)
![Get Your Gmail Backed Up Where You Need It [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/backupg.jpg "BackUp Gmail")
A few rough edges, but it works
BackUp Gmail does what you’d expect: it backs up your Gmail account to your desktop computer. It’s a simple Menu Bar app that works in the background. It’s only $2 in the Mac App Store, but does have a few problems.
![NotesTab Pro: Nice Idea, But Improvements Needed [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/notestab.jpg "NotesTab Pro")
NotesTab Pro and begging "join our mailing list" window. Could have been worse; could have said "Please rate us five stars!"
Do we need any more notepad apps for OS X? Of course we do, what a foolish question. We always need more notepad apps. But if a newcomer to the notepad app scene (what, you didn’t know there was a notepad app scene? tut tut) wants to make any impact, it needs to be really, really good at what it does.
NotesTab Pro is one such newcomer, and although it has some appealing features, it doesn’t offer enough to make it stand out from its rivals.
Maybe you’re a world traveler, looking to keep track of the time in the many places you visit around the globe. Or, you might be an office manager, only your offices are spread acloss several different timezones in as many countries. Heck, maybe you just write for a bunch of different websites and your editors need you to keep track of what time it is in their hometown before you call them about a hot story lead. Whatever the reason, today’s tip is an app that will help you with the need for many clocks.
![Skip Tunes: A Simple Way To Control iTunes Or Spotify From Your Mac’s Menu Bar [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Screen-Shot-2012-02-14-at-12.31.57-PM.jpg "Screen Shot 2012-02-14 at 12.31.57 PM")
I’m always looking for ways to enhance my music listening experience on the Mac. For the last several months I’ve been using Bowtie to control iTunes with keyboard shortcuts, and Ecoute is another great alternative for managing iTunes in a minimal, simplified way.
When the developers of Skip Tunes contacted me, I was intrigued by the app’s menu bar interface. For quick access to simple music playback controls, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Have you ever wanted a quick and easy way to search iTunes and the App Store from your Mac? Tunesque allows you to do just that, by giving you access to all of iTunes from your Mac’s menubar.
Have you fallen in love with Google+? Do you find yourself checking the social network frequently throughout your day?
There’s a free app in the Mac App Store that let’s you run Google+ from your Mac’s menubar, and it’s called Tab for Google+. With this app, you can easily check and interact with Google+ while doing just about anything on your Mac.
With Twitter gaining so much popularity in the mainstream, there seem to be hundreds of Twitter clients available for Mac. But what about us Tweeters who still have old Macs and are running OS X Tiger or even Panther? Twit Menulet fills the gap for those Mac users who still want to Tweet without having to upgrade their entire system. Read on for the full review and an exclusive offer for the Cult of Mac audience:
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![Set Up Multiple World Clocks In Your Menu Bar [OS X Tips]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Clocks-App.jpg)
