Siri turned five years old Tuesday, having been launched on October 4th, 2011. She’s changed a lot in that time, grown up a bit. But she’s not too old to appreciate us singing to her.
macOS
macOS Sierra Now Auto-downloading, but not Auto-installing
If you haven’t upgraded to macOS Sierra yet, get ready for Apple to push it to your Mac automatically. That doesn’t, however, mean Apple is forcing you to upgrade because the automatically downloaded update isn’t auto-installing.
macOS Sierra: Fast Sound Settings from the Menu Bar
Apple gets that we’re always looking for ways to make the routine things we do on our Macs easier and some of the subtle changes in macOS Sierra really show that off. The Sound menu bar item is a perfect example because now switching audio input and output sources is even simpler.
How to Make macOS Sierra Empty Your Mac's Trash for You
macOS Sierra is loaded with cool new features, but sometimes it’s the little things that make your life easier, like not needing to remember to empty your Mac’s trash. You can set the Trash to auto-delete after 30 days, and it’s easy to do. Read on to learn how.
How Do You Export Multiple Albums in macOS Sierra Photos?
You can export multiple albums in one fell swoop in Photos in macOS Sierra (this may work in previous versions). Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun explained how in Mac Geek Gab 623, and this is what you do.
How to Set Up Universal Clipboard for Your Mac and iOS Devices
iOS 10 and macOS Sierra support a new feature called Universal Clipboard that lets you copy text or graphics on one device and paste them into documents on another. It really is as simple as copy-and-paste—assuming everything is configured correctly. Read on to learn how to make sure you’re set up to use Universal Clipboard.
New in macOS Sierra: Keep Folders on Top When Sorting by Name in Finder
macOS Sierra finally allows users to keep folders on top when sorting files by name in Finder. Here’s how it works.
Mail: Using "Erase Deleted Items"
Mail on the Mac is the subject of this Quick Tip, and we’re gonna discuss how to clear out your trash in moments. We’ll also go over setting how long each of your accounts waits before it empties its own trash automatically. That’ll help you keep stuff neat and clean, too!
macOS Sierra Coming September 20
Apple’s big focus today is the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2, but that doesn’t mean the Mac didn’t get any love—or more precisely, macOS Sierra. Apple quietly updated the Sierra website on Wednesday to say the replacement for Mac OS X El Capitan will ship on September 20th.
Apple Patches 2 Critical Security Flaws in OS X Yosemite and El Capitan
Apple released separate security updates for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan on Thursday. Both updates patch the same two critical security flaws. One flaw potentially exposed kernel memory, and the other allowed a maliciously crafted app to take over your system.
OS X: Renaming a Bluetooth Device
If one of your Bluetooth devices (like your Magic Keyboard or Magic Mouse) has a name you aren’t fond of, how do you change it? The process is a bit different than it used to be, so we’re going to go over what you’ll do!
OS X: Installing the Older Version of Microsoft Office
On September 22, Microsoft is going stop allowing its Office 365 customers to download Office 2011. So if you need to take advantage of the time remaining to grab the older version of the popular Office suite, there’s no better time to do so! We’ll show you how.
OS X Preview: Clipping Out Backgrounds Using Instant Alpha
Today’s Quick Tip is on how to use Preview’s Instant Alpha tool, so if you’ve got an image on a colored background, for example, you can clip that baby right out. Better-looking graphics with no Photoshop required? We love it.
How to Display the macOS/OS X Version From the Command Line
There may be occasions when one wants to verify what OS X version is running on a Mac. We all know how to do it from the GUI with “About This Mac,” but John shows us how to do it from the UNIX command line when necessary.
New Security Threat Targets OS X, iOS through Graphics
There’s a new security threat for OS X and iOS that could let attackers remotely control your device or install malware by sending you an image file. The threat is fairly serious, although so far it’s still just a proof of concept, and Apple patched the flaw in OS X 10.11.6 and iOS 9.3.3.
WebP Comes to iOS 10, macOS Sierra Betas: What You Need to Know
Apple added support for Google’s WebP image format to Safari in the beta versions of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, which could make websites load faster. “Could,” in this case, assumes Apple keeps WebP support in the shipping versions of its operating systems, and Web developers adopt the format for their site images.
Apple Rolls Out Bug Fix and Security Updates for OS X, iOS, watchOS, tvOS
Apple rolled out updates for OS X, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS on Monday. The updates are all free and fairly easy to install, and they haven’t caused any problems on The Mac Observer’s test devices so far. Read on to learn about the updates and how you can get them installed.
OS X: Using Safari’s "Open Page With" Feature
Safari’s got a hidden way to help you open a page in another browser you’ve got installed, and this feature’s really helpful for troubleshooting problems with websites. Melissa Holt’s gonna give us the rundown in today’s Quick Tip.
Apple Launches iOS 10 and macOS Sierra Public Betas
Apple delivered on its promise of public betas for iOS 10 and macOS Sierra on Thursday. The betas were previously available only to developers, but now everyone can get in on the pre-release action.
Dropbox: Using Selective Sync
If you use Dropbox, you’ve gotta check out how to use its Selective Sync feature. This’ll let you remove folders from your Mac (but not from Dropbox’s website or any other computers you’re syncing with!), so if you need to reclaim some space on one of your machines, you can easily do so. We’ll give you the scoop in this Quick Tip.
OS X: Create a One-Click Dock Folder Alias
Today’s Quick Tip is about folder shortcuts you can put in the Dock; there’s actually a really easy way to use them to open folders in Finder. Since Melissa Holt’s not the biggest fan of navigating through files from the Dock, she’s going to walk us through this productivity trick!
OS X: Safari's "Close Other Tabs" Option
Today’s Quick Tip is about a nifty little Safari feature that’ll let you close all of the tabs you’re not using, in a flash! We’ve got the details on the different ways you can do this, so come read all about it.
OS X: Using Policy Banner for Custom Login Screens
You may know that you can set a custom message on your Mac’s lock screen, so if someone takes or finds your computer, he’ll have an easy way to contact you. However, if you’re an administrator who manages multiple machines, there’s also a built-in way to add a policy banner, which’ll make anyone who logs in click an “Accept” button to continue.
