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.

Apple releases OS X 10.8.4 with improvements for Wi-Fi, Exchange and more

Heads up Mac users, Apple has just released OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4. The update, which was in beta testing for several months, features a number of long awaited improvements and bug fixes.

Included in the list of refinements is better compatibility with certain Wi-Fi networks, Exchange improvements in Calendar, and—yes!—a fix for the iMessage issue that displays messages out of order...

Giveaway: we have ten copies of FX Photo Studio Pro for Mac

FX Photo Studio, the already excellent iPhone photography app, is getting better with each new update. Recently, the iPhone version has gone free permanently and the iPad definition has been discounted to a $2 download.

iDB has teamed up with the fine folks over at MacPhun to give you, our readers, a chance to win a copy of FX Photo Studio Pro for Mac.

Mind you, we're talking a pro photo editing app here.

FX Photo Studio Pro supports image resolution up to 32 megapixels and a variety of photo formats, including RAW. The software normally costs twenty bucks on the Mac App Store and we have ten copies to give away.

Best of all, we're not requiring you to tweet out a message, like a Facebook page or anything like that. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment at the bottom along with your Twitter handle. Good luck!

Airmail may be the next big thing for Mac email clients

Mac users, celebrate. A new and classy email client has just hit the Mac App Store. If you are tired of the native Mail app on OS X, or are a recovering Sparrow victim, you now have more choices.

Airmail is an OS X email client that offers a clean, attractive look, plus all of the features you’d like to see in a mail client. Not only can you have multiple accounts from different mail services, but you can also individually adjust the settings on each account. Your email experience may never be the same again…

Tweetbot for Mac refreshed with Media timeline, profile cover image support

TapBots' Tweetbot to this date is my go-to Twitter client, both on iOS and Mac. The iOS app was updated a month ago with a handy new Media timeline, revamped image viewer and a few under-the-hood tweaks. Today, Tapbots gave the Mac edition some love.

On top of fixing a few nagging issues, the new Tweetbot 1.3 brings the Media timeline to your desktop. As part of Twitter's new guidelines, tweet details now have favorite and retweet counts, which comes in handy when checking how viral a tweet is. Another nice-to-have: the Mac edition now supports Twitter's profile cover images...

OS X 10.8.4 build 12E55 seeded to developers

Registered OS X developers may be interested to know that Apple has seeded a new build of OS X 10.8.4 today. The update marks the eighth beta of the firmware, and comes just 9 days after the previous release. As before, As before Apple is asking developers to focus on specific areas of the OS, namely Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers and Safari...

How to clear duplicates from Open With menu on Mac

I love my Mac but sometimes it does some strange things, such as showing me duplicate entries in the "Open With" contextual menu you get when you right click on a document. While I'm not sure why it happens, I hear it's due to the Launch Services database.

Of course, there probably is a valid explanation as to why and how it happens. Some people might even be able to convince me it's more of a feature rather than a bug, but the fact of the matter is that it drives me absolutely insane.

If like me, you are annoyed by this, I'll show you how to delete duplicates from the "Open With" menu on your Mac.

Clear for iPhone and Mac updated with e-mail list sharing and more

Realmac has updated its Clear app today for both the iPhone and the Mac today, bringing it to version 1.2.2 (or 1.0.1). The update brings about e-mail list sharing—which was a highly requested feature—as well as new themes and other improvements.

On the iPhone, the new list sharing feature can be activated simply by shaking the handset while Clear is open. Doing this brings up the email tool  that includes the active list, plus a link that lets the recipient open it within their own version of Clear...

Twitter for Mac now plays nice with OS X Notification Center

Twitter, the leading micro-blogging service turned media platform, has just updated its Mac client with a much-needed native support for OS X Mountain Lion's Notification Center. The new Twitter version 2.2.1 also includes half a dozen fixes. The native OS X Notification Center support lets you not only receive notifications when someone mentions you or when you receive a direct message, but also for any new tweet surfacing in one's stream...

Google Now-like conversational search goes live in latest Chrome build

Google Now-like voice search in the desktop Chrome browser is definitely one of the easily overlooked Google I/O 2013 announcements. There's no denying that it makes a hell of a lot of sense to unify Google's voice search experience, no matter what device or operating system people happen to be using.

Having recently added Google Now to its native Search app on iOS devices, the Internet giant has now enabled very similar conversational voice search capabilities in the latest build of its Chrome desktop browser for Mac and Windows...

iTunes 11.0.3 released with revamped MiniPlayer

Apple just dropped a 129 MB iTunes 11.0.3 update and it brings quite a few new features to the iconic app. The big ticket item, if you will, is a new MiniPlayer, which is a bit ironic given the release schedule of the jailbreak version of MiniPlayer for iOS.

iTunes' updated MiniPlayer now features a beautiful new view that shows off album artwork. The new MiniPlayer also includes a handy progress bar this time around to track the song's playhead location.

You'll also find an improved songs view, which allows you to enjoy album artwork in that view. Lastly, you'll notice support for proper multi-disc albums. Check inside for the full change log.

Google Now likely coming to Macs via Chrome

Isn't it interesting how Google circumvents Apple and builds its own platform on top of iOS? Not only are the Internet giant's popular services like Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Search available as native iOS apps, they're among most downloaded App Store items.

Despite early complaints of excessive battery drain (and Google's mild response), the potentially disruptive Google Now feature is now available on iOS devices through Google's standalone Search iOS app. And now, Google Now could be heading to Macs...

Viber hits desktop, iOS app gains video chat, live call transfer, new stickers and more

Viber, the popular instant messaging service and WhatsApp's chief rival, has fallen behind a bit in the past year or so. Not only did WhatsApp take the lead - the service claims to handle an astounding eighteen billion messages every day - but the search monster Google is getting ready to unify its many chat services under a new Bable IM brand.

Small wonder then that Viber in a major move on Tuesday announced a brand new desktop application for Mac and Windows PCs. Available as a free download from the Viber's web site, Viber for Mac lets you send free messages as well as make free calls to other Viber users.

The much-welcomed software release now enables one to keep their communication in sync across mobile and desktop devices because in addition to desktop, Viber is now available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia and Bada platforms.

Moreover, Viber - which was founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Talmon Marco - has revamped its mobile iOS/Android client with video messages, an improved voice engine said to help improve call quality and lots more. Go past the fold for an introductory video and more tidbits...