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Using Do Not Disturb in OS X Yosemite’s Messages app

Like the Messages app in iOS 8, the Yosemite version of Messages allows you to mute specific conversations by enabling Do Not Disturb. Do Not Disturb ensures that you still receive messages, but you won’t be bothered by notifications when new messages arrive.

Have a look at our video walkthrough explaining the ins and outs of Do Not Disturb after the break.

Translucency: a big part of OS X Yosemite’s new visual style

Translucency is everywhere in OS X Yosemite. In Safari, you can see the subtle colorful translucent glow of a website behind its toolbar. In the Finder, you’ll see apps and wallpaper glow behind your list of favorites, and in the Dock, you’ll see the translucent visuals of any apps that are moved behind it.

Check inside, as we explore OS X Yosemite's translucent effects in our video walkthrough. We'll also show you how to disable translucency if you're not a fan of the effect.

OS X Yosemite adoption rate slightly outpacing Mavericks in first week

Apple's just-released OS X Yosemite is thus far seeing slightly better adoption rates than last year's Mavericks launch. New stats from the research team at Chitika ad network show Yosemite was installed on approximately 12.8% of Macs in North America in the first week.

Additionally, Chitika notes that OS X Yosemite accounted for more than 1% of all North American Web traffic from OS X users on launch day. That's more than double the first-day adoption rates of Apple's prior Mac OS updates, OS X Mavericks and OS X Mountain Lion.

Cannot activate iOS 8’s Text Message Forwarding and iPhone Cellular Calls? Here’s a fix.

As soon as iOS 8.1 hit two days ago, I immediately went about checking out a pair of new features I care about the most, Text Message Forwarding and iPhone Cellular Calls.

As a quick reminder, Text Message Forwarding lets me mirror text messages sent to my iPhone in the Messages app on the Mac or iPad. With iPhone Cellular Calls turned on, I can finally make and receive phone calls on my other Mac and iOS devices through my iPhone's cellular connection.

But something was amiss, or so I thought, because I just couldn't get either feature to work. While attempting to enable Text Message Forwarding, the system prompted me to enter a confirmation code my Mac was supposed to generated, but didn't.

Likewise, trying to enable iPhone Cellular Calls yielded a FaceTime error message saying my devices must use the same iCloud account, even though I was using FaceTime without any problems before.

Having spent a few hours restoring my devices as new, reseting network settings, changing settings on my router and checking the status of iCloud services, I eventually came to the same realization as did the other affected users: Text Message Forwarding requires you to use an email address and for iPhone Cellular Calls to work properly, FaceTime must be signed in with your Apple ID.

Improved Resize Controls: a new OS X Yosemite Feature

Apple has redesigned and redefined the window controls in OS X Yosemite, and like many of the other changes present in this release, it’s a welcomed change.

All of the window controls in OS X Yosemite—including the ability to invoke full screen mode—are now accessible from the red, yellow, and green “traffic light” buttons in the upper left-hand corner of every app. Check inside for the video details.

How to make and take phone calls on your Mac

Now that iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are out, the FaceTime app in OS X Yosemite is now capable of making and taking phone calls. It does so by connecting to an iPhone running iOS 8 to transmit calls via the iPhone’s cellular connection. All calls made from your Mac will appear as if they came from your iPhone’s phone number.

Want to see how it works in action? Check out our video after the break for a demonstration and setup details.

Tumblr launches new desktop app in the Mac App Store

Tumblr today released a new desktop application for OS X Yosemite in the Mac App Store. Complementing the micro-blogging site's iOS client, the new app allows users to browse Tumblr, post to their own blogs, and perform various other actions.

The UI is very minimalistic, and goes great with the new design language in Yosemite. The app also takes advantage of a few OS X features such as Full Screen mode, and the Share button—you can post to Tumblr from almost anywhere on your Mac.

Wunderlist for iOS gets 1Password integration, Mac app gains Handoff, Today widget and more

Wunderlist, an increasingly popular cross-platform to-do and task manager by German developer 6Wunderkinder, got updated both for iOS and OS X with cool new features.

The iOS edition now includes support for 1Password signing and the ability to see your to-dos in iCal while fixing UI issues on iPad and more.

The Mac edition has received a substantial Yosemite-ready refresh adding a more productive Today widget in the Notification Center, interactive push alerts, a more powerful “Add to Wunderlist” feature along with the complete Handoff experience for seamless moving between devices and more.

1Password 5 for OS X Yosemite released with refreshed design and more

Adding to the list of growing OS X Yosemite software updates, AgileBits posted a new version of 1Password for Mac this morning. The update, which brings the client to version 5.0, offers full support for the just-released OS upgrade, complete with refreshed design and other improvements.

Among the improvements is enhanced iCloud sync, which is faster and more reliable than ever (note: iCloud sync now requires 1Password 5 on iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite to function). Wi-Fi sync also got an upgrade, and now allows users to sync attachments with devices on the same network.

Apple event recap: new iPads, Macs and more

Well that’s all folks. Apple's iPad and Mac event has come, and gone. We'll continue talking about the announcements made today for many, many weeks, but the keynote itself and all of the speculation and rumors we heard leading up to it, are now over.

A lot has happened in the last 10 hours or so, and we understand that it might have been difficult to keep track of everything. So as usual, we’ve put together an awesome roundup for you of everything important that happened during and after today's event.

Apple announces 27″ iMac with Retina 5K display available today for $2,499

Thirty years after the first Mac was unveiled, Apple has announced its highly anticipated 27" iMac with Retina Display. The desktop's display, which comes in at 5120x2880 native resolution, features a stunning 14.7 Million pixels, and is available starting today at $2,499.

To put these numbers in perspective, the display has 7 times more pixels than standard 1080p Full HD. That's four times the pixels of the old 27" iMac's display, and 67% more pixels than a 4K display. In fact, it allows for full 4K video editing with room to spare.