Activity

New to Mac? Here’s all the tools in the Mac Utilities folder

macOS Utilities Folder

If you’ve just purchased your first Mac, and especially if you’re coming from Windows, you might be wondering about the Utilities folder. You may see the folder but have yet to open it or you might be looking for a specific tool and don’t realize it’s in that folder.

Whatever the case, we’re here with another in our New to Mac series to help you out! We’ll explain what’s in the Utilities folder and what each tool is for.

What is the Mac Activity Monitor and how do you use it?

Energy Tab Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor on your Mac is one of those tools that you should become familiar with. You by no means need be an expert on it, but you should know the basics. Why, you ask? Because the Activity Monitors shows all the processes running on your Mac. It’s like a task manager, so you can see how those processes affect your Mac and close any if needed.

Whether you’re new to Mac or simply new to the Activity Monitor, we’ll walk you through the basics you need to know.

This add-on puts Activity rings in the BottomToolBar interface

Just last year, we showed you a rather intriguing jailbreak tweak called BottomToolBar that made pertinent toggles and information easier to reach with just your thumb while using your iPhone one-handed. But we never imagined that we’d eventually see compatible add-ons capable of augmenting the user experience.

Enter Activity-BottomToolBar, a newly-released extension for the BottomToolBar tweak by XCCiao that adds Activity ring information to the interface for those who avidly concern themselves with their health.

This tweak makes your iPhone display the time in Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals are an acquired taste, but if you’ve come to appreciate them as a time display more than basic numbers, then we have a gut feeling that you’ll enjoy a newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Tempus Romānum by iOS developer Ryan Nair.

Tempus Romānum can be used to replace both the Lock screen time and Status Bar time with a Roman Numeral-centric display, and it’s very easy to use.

LiveRings updated for iOS 13, animates the Activity app icon’s rings

If you take advantage of the standard fitness features that ship with your iPhone and Apple Watch, then you might use the native Activity app to view daily progress. As you proceed, the rings inside the app slowly complete a 360–degree circle, an achievement commonly known as ‘closing rings.’ My only gripe with this is that you have to open the app to see any details.

Thankfully, a jailbreak tweak called LiveRings by iOS developer CPDigitalDarkroom lets you view a summary of your activity directly from the Home screen without even launching the Activity app. That’s because the tweak animates the Activity app icon itself to depict ring-closing progress.