Mac

Stay up-to-date on the latest Mac news, and tutorials. Get expert tips and tricks to optimize your Mac’s performance and learn about the latest Apple products and software updates. Discover the best Mac apps and accessories to enhance your user experience.

How to view recent Safari history on your Mac

Not only does Safari give you the fastest way to surf the web on your computer, it's also the most energy efficient web browser on macOS that maximizes your Mac's battery life.

As so many Mac owners use Safari on a daily basis, their browsing histories are packed to the gills with records of previously visited websites.

Finding your way back to a previously visited site by searching the entire browsing history can be quite tedious with months or years of data stored in it.

Like on iOS, Safari for Mac provides a convenient shortcut that lets you quickly jump to any previously visited webpage on a per-tab basis.

About XPS files and how to open them on a Mac

XPS files are essentially like Microsoft's version of a PDF file. They're easy to create and open on a Windows PC, but when it comes to macOS users, XPS files are anything but plug and play.

In this piece, we'll talk about XPS files and what they're used for, and then we'll touch on how to open XPS files on a Mac easily and for free without having to download any software.

These fine MacPaw apps are currently half price

Celebrating yesterday's launch of Gemini 2, its duplicate file finder application, Ukrainian developer MacPaw is now offering a special 50 percent off store-wide discount on all their paid-for Mac applications, valid through May 17, 2016.

If you've been on the lookout for deep discounts on quality apps such as Hider 2, which lets you keep sensitive information and private files from prying eyes, CleanMyMac and CleanMyPC for optimizing the inner workings of your Mac and Windows PC or the aforementioned Gemini 2, this is it.

How to enable YouTube’s upcoming Material Design face lift ahead of release

YouTube is getting Google's Material Design refresh pretty soon and it looks pretty neat. Aside from the Upload button being replaced by the upload arrow graphics consistently used across Google's mobile apps, you'll notice a Material Design-inspired search field in the center.

More importantly, YouTube's new looks include the background color on the Channel pages matching the header image, rounded icons in the sidebar, more whitespace around videos in the video player and a few other minor changes.

Chrome users can have an advance look at the upcoming refresh right now. Here's how you can enable Material Design on YouTube ahead of its release, in just a few clicks.

How to take a timed screenshot on Mac

Chances are, you're probably so accustomed to taking screenshots on your Mac with the stroke of a few keyboard keys that you didn't even know you could take a timed screenshot. In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can set your Mac up to take a timed screenshot, which depending on the situation, can be very useful.

WhatsApp launches desktop app for Mac

WhatsApp on Tuesday launched a native desktop app for Mac and Windows computers. The Facebook-owned messaging service says the app provides a "new way to stay in touch anytime and anywhere - whether on your phone or computer at home or work."

To download the new desktop version of WhatsApp, visit whatsapp.com/download from your desktop browser. Then, open the app and scan the QR code using the WhatsApp app on your smartphone (be sure to look for WhatsApp Web menu under Settings).

Review: freeing up your Mac’s storage with Gemini 2, a smart duplicate file finder

Ukrainian developer MacPaw, the makers of the versatile and powerful CleanMyMac and CleanMyDrive apps, today pushed a major new update for Gemini as a brand new app. For those unfamiliar with it, Gemini is an intelligent duplicate file finder that can help recover tons of storage space on your Mac wasted to duplicate files.

Aside from identifying identical duplicates, Gemini 2 uses a proprietary algorithm to spot similar files that are not 100 percent identical, but can be considered redundant due to little difference between them.

It scans your iTunes and Photos libraries in search of retakes of the same picture or different formats of the same song, and becomes smarter and more precise in automatic selection of duplicates the more you use it.

Ensuring your Mac is receiving updates about new malware and compromised web plug-ins

Among the plethora of built-in OS X features that help keep your Mac secure is something called File Quarantine, a download validation technology that checks any downloads for known malware when you try to open them.

File Quarantine is also available in compatible applications like Safari, Messages, iChat and Mail that download files from the Internet or receive files from external sources, such as email attachments.

Additionally, OS X blocks compromised versions of web plug-ins from functioning, including Java web apps and Adobe Flash content, to further limit your Mac's exposure to potential zero day exploits.

In this tutorial, we'll discuss how you can make sure that File Quarantine updates are turned on, which will allow your Mac to receive latest malware definitions and information about compromised web plug-ins from Apple.

Pop-ups in Safari on your Mac? Here’s what to do

I hate pop-ups, and chances are, you probably do too. They're not only a nuisance, but most of the time they're also designed to get in your way to purposely try and scam you and get you to click on malicious material.

Safari in macOS comes with anti-pop-up measures, but those with malicious intent are always coming up with ways to get around those measures.

In this post, we'll talk about what you can do in a scenario when you get these annoying pop-up messages on your Mac and why you might be getting them.

Can’t sync your iPhone or iPad with iTunes? Try resetting your Lockdown folder

Those who use iTunes on a regular basis to keep their iOS devices in sync with one another are probably familiar with the problems that can arise from using the software, whether it's on a Mac or a PC.

If you're having problems while trying to sync or back up your iOS devices, the problem could very much be with your computer's Lockdown folder, and resetting it could resolve the problem.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to reset your iTunes Lockdown folder.

Finding your Mac model number

Not too long ago, we shared how you can find out what version and build of macOS you're running on your Mac, but another important piece of information you should know is the model number of the Mac you're using.

This is an important piece of information that is used by Apple to identify exactly when your computer was launched and what hardware it has inside of it.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can find the model number of your Mac.