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.

Everything you need to know about the location services built into your Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 23, 2019

Not long ago, we took you through an overview of the location services settings that come with your iOS device and told you all about how you can increase your privacy by configuring your location services wisely.

It's worth noting, however, that even your Mac uses your location for certain things; and with that in mind, you may want to look at your location services settings on your Mac to make sure you're limiting what you need to limit and are only allowing location services for the things you actually use.

In this walk-through, we'll explain the location services settings that come with macOS and tell you all about what might be using your location in the background.

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Public beta testers: iOS 9.3 beta 2 and OS X 10.11.4 now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2016

Two days after seeding OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan beta 2 and iOS 9.3 beta 2 to members of the Apple Developer Program, public beta testers who are signed on the Apple Beta Software Program can now freely deploy these new beta builds on their Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

iOS 9.3 beta 2 is available as an over-the-air update in Settings → General → Software Update on enrolled devices. OS X 10.11.4 beta 2 can be downloaded through the Mac App Store's Purchased tab for those who are enrolled in Apple's beta testing program.

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Aura for Mac brings Quick Replies to your Gmail conversations

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Unlike most desktop notifiers that merely send you to Gmail's mobile interface on the web, the most recent update to a cool Mac app called Aura actually implements Quick Reply functionality so you can reply to messages, or add a new message to any thread—right from its notification banner.

This nifty little app can save you time when you need to fire off a one-line response. It supports Gmail and Google Apps accounts, it's fully native and optimized for OS X Yosemite and El Capitan.

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Sound issues when connecting your Mac to a TV with HDMI? Try this

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 26, 2016

On the right side of all modern MacBook Pro models is an HDMI port used for digital video and sound. It's a great way to take in all of your favorite movies on the big screen.

On the other hand, if you wanted to use external speakers or headphones, it can cause issues if your sound settings aren't configured just right because HDMI itself is also an audio out port in addition to video out.

In this piece, we'll walk you through how to make sure your audio out is going to the right place.

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Apple seeds OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan beta 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2016

Following the public release of tvOS 9.1.1 for the new Apple TV with the Podcasts app earlier this morning, Apple today seeded a second beta of OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan to members of its Apple Developer Program alongside iOS 9.3 beta 2, watchOS 2.2 beta 2 and tvOS 9.2 beta 2.

A standalone 10.11.4 beta 2 download should be available shortly via the Apple Developer Center and can be grabbed now through the Purchased tab in the Mac App Store on Macs with a prior beta.

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This prank webpage will crash your iPhone, iPad and Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2016

Jokers on Twitter are tweeting out links to a new prank webpage that, when clicked, will crash your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Mac, or cause the device to become unresponsive.

As Gizmodo explains, the aptly named website CrashSafari.com uses just four lines of code to crash Safari for iOS and OS X by running a script which adds thousands of characters per second into the address bar, causing Safari to overload its memory.

In the case of the Mac, you'll see the beach ball spinning and your computer will become unresponsive. On the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, Safari will hang and start heating up your phone until it reboots itself.

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Safari for Mac not resolving Twitter’s shortened “t.co” links? Apple’s identified a fix.

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 23, 2016

If you prefer to browse your Twitter timeline in Safari for Mac, you must have noticed the irritating issue where the browser won't resolve shortened “t.co” links, resulting in an error message informing you that “Safari can't open the page because the server where this page is located is not responding”.

What's really surprising is that this persistent Safari bug, which basically renders most Twitter links unreadable, has been around since last November, as evidenced by the Apple Support Communities.

According to an Apple engineer, a fix has been identified but it's unclear when an OS X software update, or a Safari patch, that would squash the bug might be issued.

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Remote Buddy review: control your Mac from Apple TV via Siri Remote

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Don't you wish there was a hassle-free way to bring your Mac apps, documents, media, games and more to the big screen—and control them? Enter Remote Buddy, a sweet little app by Roth, Germany based developer Felix Schwarz.

This high-performance screen sharing software—along with its tvOS, watchOS and iOS apps—streams your Mac's screen to the new Apple TV and turns the Siri Remote into a trackpad, a full virtual keyboard and an advanced remote so you can control Mac apps with gestures and shortcuts, without getting off that couch of yours.

Building on the latest GPU and CPU technologies, Remote Buddy uses a proprietary engine to deliver up to 60 frames per second with a latency of around 0.1 seconds so you really get a smooth, high-speed screen sharing experience.

Having taken Remote Buddy for a quick spin, I'm happy to report that it works incredibly well and really comes in handy when you want to do simple tasks on your desktop-bound Mac without actually sitting in front of your computer.

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Duet Display, Things and other great productivity apps are 50% off right now

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Folks in the market for a good productivity app will want to head over to the App Store as soon as possible. Apple kicked off a new "Get Productive" promotion on Thursday that takes 50% off some of the most popular titles in the category.

Among the apps included in the sale are Duet Display, which allows you to use an iPhone or iPad as an extra display, the highly respected PCalc calculator, Readdle's PDF Expert 5, and the celebrated task, reminder and to-do list app Clear.

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