In this tutorial, we go over four ways to force-quit apps on Mac so you can close an app that is misbehaving, frozen, unresponsive, or monopolizing system resources and slowing down your computer.
How and why to Force Quit one or all apps on Mac
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Apple posts OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 with Wi-Fi fixes, Mail and Photos improvements and more
In addition to the new iOS 8.4 software update with a redesigned Music app, Beats 1 radio and Apple Music for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, Apple also released the free OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 software update for Macs.
In addition to various other big fixes, enhancements and nice-to-haves, this release of OS X Yosemite gets rid of the dreaded “discoveryd” network process which was responsible for a range of network issues, marking the return of the old but way more reliable “mDNSResponder” process.
How to prepare for a possible iOS 8.3 downgrade
When Apple closes the firmware signing window for iOS 8.3, users wishing to downgrade (or upgrade) to iOS 8.3 won't be allowed to do so. Instead, you'll have to settle for whatever firmware Apple is signing, which is usually the latest and greatest out there.
When that happens, it's quite probable that it could spell the end of jailbreaking for a while—remember we just got out of a significant lull.
With this in mind, the ability to downgrade back to iOS 8.3 is very desirous for would-be jailbreakers. While there is no confirmed downgrade ability just yet, there are some things that you can do to ensure that you have the best chance to downgrade should that ability arrive.
This is accomplished by saving your iOS 8.3 SHSH blobs.
To save your SHSH blobs and prepare for a possible iOS 8.3 downgrade, you'll need to use TinyUmbrella to do so. I'll show you how in this post and video.
How to halve your data usage on Chrome for Mac, iPhone and iPad
Google's Chrome browser includes a handy feature designed to decrease bandwidth usage by up to fifty percent for mobile users on very slow networks. Called Data Saver, it works by passing webpages you visit to Google servers that compress graphics and other web content.
You can even tell Data Saver to replace the originally requested image with a small placeholder graphic, if the original image is likely not a crucial element of the page.
Here's how you can reduce the amount of data that Chrome uses on your Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad by enabling Data Saver mode to cut your bandwidth usage up to fifty percent, and even more.
Stuck on 20% in TaiG? How to jailbreak iOS 8.3 with TaiG 2.1.3
As we mentioned earlier, TaiG has released version 2.1.3 of its jailbreak tool, and it's a significant update as far as fixes go. First and foremost, it works with virtual machines, so you no longer need to modify your virtual machine to use the tool. Secondly, it fixes the 20% hangup. With these things in mind, we thought we'd show you how to jailbreak using this latest TaiG update.
This post is primarily aimed at those who have yet to jailbreak, and are looking for guidance with the latest tool. In the video that follows, we'll show you the proper way to go about jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad, and we'll show you how well the tool runs on a virtual machine.
How to encrypt Time Machine backups
In our second Time Machine tutorial, we're going to show you how to encrypt a Time Machine backup. Encrypting your backups is extremely easy and straightforward. All you need to do is select a single check box in order to enable encryption and enter a password. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to do it, and why you should consider encrypting your backups.
How to tell if your Mac supports AirDrop, a device-to-device wireless file transfer feature
AirDrop simplifies wireless file sharing between Macs and iOS devices without having to connect to an existing network or going through the hassle of typing a password.
Every Mac bought in almost the last decade supports AirDrop. But if you have an old Mac and are wondering if it supports AirDrop or not, this tutorial will help.
Developer hacks Apple Watch to run 20-year-old Mac operating system
Developer Nick Lee on Monday posted a video showing off his Apple Watch running a 2o-year-old Mac operating system. Lee's watch is running the watchOS 2 developer beta, as well as the Mini vMac Macintosh emulator, and the Mac OS you see loading up is version 7.5.5, which was first introduced in 1996.
Tweetbot for Mac brings support for Twitter’s new quoting format and longer direct messages
Tweetbot for Mac with support for Yosemite's design and a plethora of other improvements hit earlier in the month as a free upgrade for existing users. Monday, its developer Tapbots issued the first maintenance refresh bringing out support for a pair of Twitter's recently introduced handy new features.
Tweetbot 2.0.1 for Mac now lets you quote tweets using Twitter's new embedded quoting feature. In addition, they've laid the groundwork for longer direct messages, a feature Twitter announced almost two weeks ago but hasn't implemented yet.
How to install beta software on a separate partition
Itching to run the latest macOS beta, but don't want to upgrade your primary Mac installation with a beta release? You'd be wise to carefully consider the prospects of running a beta release as a daily driver. That said, it is possible to run beta software on your primary machine without compromising your current installation.
By creating a small test partition on your primary drive, you can create a great landing space for the beta. Read and watch our walkthrough to see how easy it is.
How to set up Time Machine on Mac OS X
Time Machine is a Mac utility that allows you to automate hourly, daily, and weekly backups on an external drive that's connected directly to your Mac or via a local network. It's seen as the first line of defense against data loss, and features simple setup.
Setting up Time Machine, in its most basic configuration, is extremely easy. All you need to do is launch the Time Machine preferences, turn on Time Machine, select a Backup Disk, and you're pretty much set.
Of course, there's much more to Time Machine than just the initial setup, but in this first post in our Time Machine tutorial series for OS X, we'll cover some of the basic set up options.
How to see the cycle count of your MacBook battery
In this tutorial, we show you how to find the battery cycle count of your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or MacBook Neo to get a clearer picture of its overall health.