After neglecting its Mac app for more than two years, Twitter is finally rolling out a steady supply of updates to the OS X desktop app. Last month the app finally picked up Retina display support, and the company just released another update that brings Notification Center integration to the app.
Twitter for Mac version 2.2.1 just hit the Mac App Store, and along with the Notification Center updates the app is also getting Growl notifications for OS X 10.7 and 10.8, as well as a number of bug fixes.
Google has brought the new voice search features announced at Google I/O last week to its Google Chrome web browser for desktops. The latest version of the app (version 27) puts a little microphone icon alongside the search bar on Google.com which lets you find the things you’re looking for without touching your keyboard.
Google Chrome’s app launcher, which lets Chrome users quickly find and launch their favorite web-based applications, is coming to Google Chrome for Mac OS X. Google has already begun work on porting the feature to Windows, but it’s also been found in the latest Chromium build for OS X.
One of the coolest features of Photoshop for iOS is the "Scribble Select" tool. You draw a fat green line around any object you want to keep, and scribble some red into the parts you want to delete. Hit "OK" and a few moments later you have your subject, neatly cut out from the background, better than you could have managed on even the best desktop machine of a few years back.
But what if you aren’t near your iPhone or iPad when you need to do some quick ‘shipping? You need the browser-based Clipping Magic.
QuickLock is a terrific little tool from ThinkDev that makes it quick and convenient to lock your Mac when you leave your desk. It sits in your menubar out of your way, and a click (or a keyboard shortcut) is all it takes to keep your Mac safe.
With the latest version of QuickLock, users can enjoy a brand new interface and a number of new features. Best of all, it’s completely free.
A new Mac malware has been found in the wild that allowed attackers to steal data and install unauthorized apps on a compromised machine. What makes this malware different than other recent Mac malware, though, is that it breezes right past Gatekeeper… and the people behind it might have been gunning for the life of their malware victim.
Warning – this tip is fairly advanced. Use it at your own risk.
There’s a feature that debuted back in 2005, called SafeSleep. Basically, it’s a hibernation mode designed to save the current state of your running Mac, so that it can start up exactly the same way you left it when you put the Mac to sleep, even if the battery runs out and it shuts down completely.
In OS Lion, Apple introduced two new features, called Autosave and Resume which mirrors this functionality. Turning off SafeSleep, then, is really just disabling a duplicate feature. It shouldn’t affect Autosave or Resume if you’re running OS Lion or later, and it could potentially save you gigabytes of hard drive space.
Here’s how to do it, though we caution you not to do this if you’re even slightly uncomfortable with the idea.
Apple just released a new version of iTunes that comes with a couple of unexpected new features. The 11.0.3 update includes a new MiniPlayer, an improved songs view, and finally support for multi-disc albums along with some bug fixes.
While I think I’m finally coming to terms with Notification Center, and it’s becoming a normal part of my daily work routine, there are some folks out there who may not like it at all.
For those people, here’s a pretty simple way to get rid of the Notification Center from your Mac, menu bar icon and all.
Pixelmator 2.2 just hit the Mac App Store, bringing more than 100 new features and improvements to one of the finest image editors on OS X. The update includes smart shape tools, a new light leak effect, a custom shapes palette, and lots more.
