Tips

19 useful Mac startup keyboard shortcuts you should know

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 14, 2022

For those of you who have wondered about the many ways you can start up your Mac, here's a list of the Mac startup keyboard shortcuts you can invoke to access handy macOS features, which are only available at boot time.

Most of the time, your Mac just works—until it refuses to start up properly due to an unforeseen system error, a misbehaving app, a broken system component, and whatnot. Beyond system errors, different people have different needs when it comes to starting up their computers.

For example, you could be a pro user who dual boots between macOS and Windows on a daily basis. Others might wonder about booting a Mac from a disk other than their designated startup disk. Or perhaps you're looking to isolate the cause of a software issue in the macOS Safe Mode or boot straight into Recovery OS as the last option?

How to find the RGB or Hexadecimal value of any pixel on Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated October 10, 2023

RGB, otherwise known as red/green/blue, is a color identification method used by digital computer monitors. Every color gets its own RGB value, and this is because a mixture of those three colors makes up the color you're looking at.

RGB values may be used for a variety of reasons, but mostly for those that do a lot of photo editing or who may be tinkering with graphics or web design.

A little-known feature of your Mac is that its operating system comes with a meter that can identify the RGB color of any single pixel on your screen, and in this tutorial, we'll show you just how that's done.

How to use your iPhone as a keyboard for your Mac or PC

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 5, 2022

Mobile Mouse Remote is a great app that turns your iOS device into a powerful utilitarian accessory for your Mac or PC. So far, we've shown you how the app can be used as a mouse or trackpad for your computer and how you can use the app as a remote control for your computer, but it also has a lot of keyboard functionality built into it to make your device into a software-based keyboard for your computer.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can use Mobile Mouse Remote to type or perform keyboard commands on your Mac or PC directly from your iPhone or iPad.

Give your photos a vintage look with Tonality

Jim Nix ∙ Updated April 22, 2019

We are back with more photo tips today, so if you missed our first two articles, be sure to go back and read them. We covered creating a stunning HDR in under 3 minutes as well as 3 tips for creating eye-popping photos.

If you are like me, you like to experiment with different looks in your photos. That’s part of the beauty of digital photography - you can quickly and easily try out new ideas and processing styles, without permanently altering your original image. While you probably have a “go-to” style, it’s always rewarding when you step outside the lines a little bit and try something new.

I tend to be drawn to bold and expressive colors, so for me, experimenting with muted colors and vintage effects is kind of like a science experiment - it’s not my natural state, but it’s sure fun to mix things up in the digital lab and see what I come up with. I’m often surprised at the results, and I always learn something new.

Today, we will explore using Tonality from Macphun to quickly and easily add a vintage effect to your photos. You can download a free trial of Tonality and follow along with us. Like all Macphun products, the interface is simple and easy to use, yet there is a lot of power underneath the hood. This means you can go as deep as you like and make some significant changes to your photo, or you can do something a little less involved and create a masterpiece in just a few clicks. It’s really up to you.

That’s what we are doing today. We will walk you through some basic edits in Tonality, but just keep in mind that the end result is always wide open, limited only by your interest in experimenting and your own creativity. You can use Tonality as a one-click solution, or you can delve a little bit deeper and customize the look of your photos.

We will start with a one-click solution, and then make a few minor changes to demonstrate how powerful this product really is. Let’s get started!

Making your iPhone and iPad charge faster

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 22, 2019

It's somewhat depressing that Android manufacturers increasingly outfit their flagship smartphones with fast-charging capability while iPhones, and especially iPads, still take forever to charge from zero to hundred percent. And if you happen to actually use your iOS device while it's connected to power, you'll experience even slower-than-usual charging times.

But as it turns out, there's one simple trick everyone should employ every time they plug their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into a power brick in order to make it charge faster.

Clearing your Apple Music search history from iTunes on Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 19, 2016

Not long ago, we showed you how you can delete your Apple Music search history on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad to protect your song-searching privacy, but this capability can also be achieved on your Mac.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can clear your search history from Apple Music on your Mac directly from the iTunes app itself.

iTunes tip: see Apple Music songs in your library that are no longer available for streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2016

The biggest problem with subscription services like Apple Music, Spotify and others is the unnerving fact that labels make songs available for streaming on a time-limited basis. As a result, some of the tracks you add to Apple Music playlists may no longer be available for streaming, leaving you with no other choice but to purchase them on the iTunes Store.

Starting with iTunes 12.4, there's a new iCloud status of 'No Longer Available' which you can use to create a dynamically updated playlist containing the songs that you added to your Apple Music library that are no longer available for streaming, here's how.

How to stop your iPhone from counting your steps and tracking fitness activity

Sébastien Page ∙ May 18, 2016

Newer iPhones come with a chip called a motion coprocessor which gathers data from the accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses of the device to precisely measure motion and fitness data such as body motion, step count, stairs climbed, and more. Most people, including yours truly, do appreciate the data collected as it's particularly helpful if you want to use your iPhone as a step counter and pedometer, for instance. Others are creeped out by this feature.

If you belong to the latter group of people, then I will show you a quick and easy way to stop your iPhone from tracking your steps and other fitness activity.

Manually checking for Java updates for your Mac or PC

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 19, 2018

Java, just like Adobe Flash, is often a major security flaw waiting to happen for both Mac and PC owners.

Although Apple takes security very seriously and just about forces Mac users with Java to check for Java updates automatically, it's still never a bad idea to check on your own from time to time.

Since we recently showed you how to check for Flash updates manually, it only made sense to follow up with a similar guide for Java, which is also a commonly-used web plugin.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to see if you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer or not.

Tip: this secret Safari shortcut quickly loads your last search results

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2016

SnapBack, a long-standing and very easily overlooked Safari for Mac feature, can save you a ton of clicks if you search a lot, and most of us do. With SnapBack, you can go right back to the last full search results page, even after traveling multiple pages in from your search results.

Part of the reason most users aren't familiar with SnapBack has to do with Apple's decision to remove the little orange SnapBack icon from Safari's address bar and bury the feature in the menus.

Here's that secret SnapBack shortcut that everyone should start using right now.

How to watch YouTube in VR mode on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2019

Google Cardboard may be the simplest, most affordable way to experience virtual reality content on a smartphone, but up until recently Google's mobile YouTube app only supported Cardboard on Android.

Beginning with YouTube for iOS version 11.18, iPhone owners can watch YouTube in virtual reality mode on their device.

Here's how you can experience YouTube in VR mode on your iPhone.

How to manually check for Flash updates on your Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 17, 2016

Flash is among one of the most targeted web platforms for injecting computers with malware, including Macs, and that's why Adobe is always turning around with updates for Flash all the darned time.

If you're like me, then your security is important to you, and you may not trust automatic updates to deliver updates to you quickly enough.

This tutorial will show you how you can make sure Flash is up to date on your Mac, the manual way.