Mac tips - page 5

How to get gorgeous new Apple TV screensavers on your Mac

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Apple TV's wallpapers look even better on Mac.
Apple TV's wallpapers look even better on Mac.
Photo: John Coates

One of the coolest features of the new Apple TV is its absolutely stunning new screensavers, which fly you through some of the most gorgeous locations in the world.

Apple hasn’t announced any plans to bring the screensavers over to the Mac yet, but they’re such a perfect fit that developer John Coates created a new Swift app that lets anyone get the beautiful backdrops on their desktop.

Here’s how to do it:

Pro Tip: How to disable calls on other Apple devices

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Keep your Amazon details safe with two-step verification.
Keep your Amazon details safe with two-step verification.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bug

We received a message today on our Cult of Mac Facebook page asking about calls showing up on an iPad when the call originated on an iPhone.

There are a couple of different places to turn this feature off so you’re not juggling all your iPads and MacBooks when you make or receive phone calls.

How to auto-hide the menu bar in OS X El Capitan

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Look, ma, no menubar!
Look, ma, no menubar!
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Sometimes you need to use your entire screen at once, like when you’re working on a serious photo-retouching project or need more screen real estate for an epic GarageBand session and you don’t want to maximize the app you’re using.

If you’ve ever wanted to regain a little bit of space on your Mac’s screen, the time is right to make sure you’re running the latest version of OS X, El Capitan. It will let you hide the menu bar up top to give you more space to work with.

Here’s how to have your menu bar hide itself when you’re not using it.

13 awesome tricks your Mac just learned with El Capitan

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El Capitan beta is here to change your Mac.
El Capitan beta is here to change your Mac.
Photo: Apple

OS X El Capitan promises to redefine the Mac experience with a host of new improvements that make working (and playing) smoother than ever.

There’s a lot to learn about all the new goodies in El Capitan, which finally became available to the public for free today. Everything from Notes to Safari, from AirPlay to Spotlight, has seen gains both big and little.

After spending a lot of time with the new OS, which has been in beta for months, we’ve found 13 killer features every Mac owner needs to know to get the most out of El Capitan. Here they are!

10 essential Finder tricks every Mac user should know

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Photo: Yeray Hdez Guerra/FlickrCC
Master your Mac with these 10 Finder tips. Photo: Yeray Hdez Guerra/Flickr CC

In Mac OS X, you’ll spend much of your time in the Finder, the part of your operating system that manages files and such. While you might think you know all there is to know about it, the Finder is a complex and wonderful app — with its own special tricks to master.

Here are 10 essential Finder tips that will help you get the most out of your time working or playing on your Mac.

Top 10 Mac keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

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Using these simple keyboard tricks will make your life so much better. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Using these simple keyboard tricks will make your life so much better.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Mastering a few crucial Mac keyboard shortcuts will make using your Apple computer easier and much more efficient. Cutting your reliance on your mouse will help you work more quickly, and you’ll undoubtedly impress your family, friends and co-workers to no end. You might even end up becoming the go-to Mac person in your office, and we all know how wonderful that will be.

Here are the top 10 Mac keyboard shortcut tricks you really need to memorize right now, whether you’re a Mac newbie or a veteran user who still uses the mouse for everything out of habit.

How to download Apple’s iWork apps on older Macs for free

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Here's how to get the iWork suite for free on older Macs. Photo: Cult of Mac

If you bought a Mac from 2013 on, you can download the iWork suite of apps — Pages, Keynote and Numbers — from the Mac App Store absolutely free. But what if you bought an older Mac? You have to pay, and they’re expensive, running $19.99 each.

Thankfully, there’s a trick you can use to download iWork apps from the App Store for free. Here’s how.

Unleash the true power of your Magic Mouse with these productivity tips

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The technology behind the computer mouse has leaped to unimaginable heights in the decades following the first prototype in the early 1960s. And Apple’s latest variant of its Magic Mouse has quickly become one of the most powerful iterations of the revolutionary input device.

Its touch-sensitive body lets users manipulate their computers with more than mere clicks, thanks to an array of simple gestures and smart actions that make the Mac more productive than ever.

In today’s video, we’ll take a look at tips that will help you unleash the true potential of your Magic Mouse. You’ll learn how to access Mission Control, quickly switch between apps and do much more with these speedy tips.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

How to turn your Mac’s trackpad into the ultimate timesaver

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Mac are incredibly complex machines, but thanks to Jony Ive and the rest of the creators, they’re also incredibly simple to use. Mose Mac users know to use keyboard shortcuts to make daily tasks even quicker, but not many know how to turn your Mac’s trackpad into one of the best time-saving tools you’ll ever use.

In today’s video, we’ll take a look at a little known feature called Hot Corners. We’ll teach you how to set them up and how to use them. How to Put your display to sleep, clear your desktop and do even more useful actions, now with just a few quick flicks.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

5 tidying tips to help organize your Mac

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Over time when using your Mac it’s common to find your desktop in scattered disarray. With photos here and documents there, in the midst of this jumble mess completing further tasks seems trivial. Luckily there’s a number of tips that you can use if you find yourself trapped in Mac disorganization.

In today’s video take a look at some tips that will help you tidy up how you use your Mac and in return clean up your experience. See how to start tagging your files, use smart-apps and other great ways to get your Mac in structural order.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

5 tips to make your Mac the best college wingman ever

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Transitioning to the college lifestyle can be awkward at first. Being away from home, having a heavy workload and still wanting to hangout with friends can be a lot to manage all at once.

Luckily, your Mac can help relieve a little of that stress throughout the school year. In today’s video, take a look at these five hot Mac tips that can make your new year of college easier: be prepared for thieves, find the best way to take notes and more.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Safely get the grime off your beautiful Mac with these cleaning tips

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While our Macs were designed for power, they were also made for beauty. Sharply rounded edges and fine materials come together to create the computers we know and love. But with normal daily use, dirt and grime can make our Mac workhorses less attractive.

In today’s video, we show you the surprisingly simple steps you can take to relieve your Mac of filth and enjoy a cleaner, better-looking computing experience. Make use of these quick Mac cleaning tips and having a fresh-looking computer will be a cinch.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

5 Mac fundamentals everyone needs to know

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As user-friendly as they are, Macs are complex machines. They’re absolutely loaded with features, some of which might not be obvious from the start. In today’s video, we take a look at five basic tips that can help make everyday use of your Mac much more enjoyable. Find out how to clean up your desktop, customize your Dock, tweak audio settings and more with just a few quick clicks.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

When your Mac runs slow, give it a tuneup

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Mac Tune Up
Tune up your Macintosh and clean out the cruft.

Macs are solid machines, but just like their owners they have a tendency to get lethargic as they age. Launching and switching programs takes longer, simple tasks become arduous, and the dreaded beach ball of doom appears more often than it did when your machine was new. The operating system just starts to feel crufty, and can get worse over time. I see these issues in my IT consulting business regularly.

You may be asking, why does this happen? There are many reasons, but some are more common than others. Sometimes your hard disk (or solid-state drive) gets too full and interferes with normal computer operations. Crashes or misbehaving programs can corrupt the disk directory or application cache files. Remnants from old software may still be running behind the scenes, or you don’t have enough RAM to deal with your OS and workflow.

Is there some sort of tune-up you can do to sort it out? Your tech always tells you to just reboot the computer, but there’s got to be more than that. The good news: Yes, there are some things you can do. And, perhaps, adopt some more-efficient computing practices for yourself along the way.

Give your Mac a speed boost with this quick tip

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It’s totally irritating when you’re using your Mac and it slows down all of a sudden. While your computer is obviously doing what you’re focusing on, it can also be working hard on pointless tasks running in the background. In today’s how-to video, find out how to stop this and speed up your Mac in no time.

Automatically Add Lyrics To All Songs In Your iTunes Library [How To]

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Ever been singing along to a new song and wondered just what the heck the lyrics really are? Searching for the lyrics on the internet isn’t the fastest of solutions to avoid lyric confusion. Here we’re going to show you how to utilize scripts and a widget to search out the lyrics for all of the songs in your iTunes library and automatically save them to song’s meta data, so that next time you can correct your friend when they sing “where’s my Asian friend,” when the lyrics really are, “what’s my age again.”

Rip Songs Off Your iPod/iPhone & Back On To Your Mac [How To]

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iPods are great nifty little devices that allow you to take music off of your computer and carry  it around town with you inside a magical Apple electronic device. But what happens when you want to transfer the music that’s on your iPod and put it back on your Mac? Despite all of its friendliness, iTunes is unwilling to pry the music of your iPod or iPhone. In this walk-through we’ll show you how to reclaim your music from your iPod and get it back on your Mac.