3D Touch versus Haptic Touch I’m in the market for a new iPhone and based on Apple’s specs the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have 3D Touch but the iPhone XR does not. While there is no mention whatsoever of Haptic Touch on their specs page, I have read that the iPhone XR has Haptic Touch instead of 3D Touch. Frustratingly I can’t find anything on Apple’s website about this.

Can someone explain the differences between 3D Touch and Haptic Touch?

At this stage it’s somewhat unclear how many of the functions supported by Apple and 3rd party apps on 3D Touch can and/or will be supported on Haptic Touch.

According to Apple, the iPhone XR:

  …doesn’t have 3D Touch, but here again the team came up with something
  really smart. It has a new feature we call haptic touch. So to get to
  the camera from the home screen, we just press on it. You feel a
  haptic tap, and you’re taken right to the camera. This is a similar
  technology to what we do with the track pad in the MacBook Pro that we
  all love so much. It is a great experience.

Source: Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing, 12 September 2018.

What does this actually mean?
The iPhone XR doesn’t have a pressure sensitive screen, but it does simulate the response that 3D Touch offers in that it provides haptic feedback to the user by way of a vibration instead of an actual haptic engine producing that feedback. But the biggest difference for power users of 3D Touch is that at the outset the user won’t get the additional options offered by 3D Touch.

For example, with 3D Touch a hard press on the Clock app will present the user with the following three options:

Create Alarm
Resume Stopwatch; and
Start Timer.

On the iPhone XR a hard press will launch the Clock app with a slight vibration feedback, but will not provide these additional options. This is akin to having no contextual menu when right-clicking on an item in macOS or Windows, except that with computers the right-click is much loved and used while on the iPhone the usage of 3D Touch has not been so widespread.

All that said, it’s unclear if iOS will try to offer some of these same features via the use of long presses instead of firmer presses in future updates. At present though, if you’re a power user of 3D Touch and don’t want to give it up, you’d be better off purchasing an iPhone XS / XS Max  or one of the older iPhone models.


VirtualBox 5.1.28 fails to install on MacOS 10.13 due to KEXT security I have tried to install VirtualBox 5.1.28 to macOS high sierra but it fails every time with the following screen:

After some looking around I found this thread and I did indeed see that it was blocking VirtualBox from installing.

After clicking allow and then trying to run the VirtualBox installer again it just fails again with the same generic error message and the same Security warning reappears in the "Security and Privacy" settings.

I tried to also run the pkg install from the terminal to see if I could get more information about why its failing but it doesnt help.

➜  Documents sudo installer -verbose -pkg VirtualBox.pkg -target /
installer: Package name is Oracle VM VirtualBox
installer: Installing at base path /
installer: Preparing for installation….....
installer: Preparing the disk….....
installer: Preparing Oracle VM VirtualBox….....
installer: Waiting for other installations to complete….....
installer: Configuring the installation….....
installer:
#
installer: Writing files….....
#
installer: Writing files….....
#
installer: Optimizing system for installed software….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
#
installer: Running package scripts….....
installer: Validating packages….....
#
installer: The install failed (The Installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.)

The VirtualBox application does appear to install and it can be launched however nothing functions.

Does anyone have any ideas how to solve this?

Managed to solve it.

Eject the VirtualBox image from: Finder > Devices

Now allow the exception in: System Preferences > Security & Privacy

Finally but not least click Allow button so that way the developer with the name "Oracle America, Inc" will be accepted and the installer using that certificate will run just fine (basically this installer is signed using "Oracle America, Inc" certificate so we are required to enable it use on our machine first)
Then try to install from the .dmg again so that it remounts the device.

Now its working fine for me.


How can I create a user account without password? I'm trying to create a second user account with limited permissions which I can use as a honeypot if someone steals my MacBook, but it refuses to allow a standard user without a password. Is there a way to work around this?

Write the password clearly within the password hint field. You might have to surround it with some extra non-password text.
For example, the hint —

  Forgot your 9-character password? It's not qwerty1234 of course

would be crackable (probably first time) by any kid who thinks about it for five seconds. Mac OS will allow multiple attempts.


Skype on ios7/iPhone4 completely useless I have an old iPhone4 with iOS7. It does, until now, what I need it to do so I've not upgraded.

Unfortunately, the last few versions of Skype are killing the phone. I mean the whole OS is completely unresponsive. Even volume controls take seconds to respond!!

I've tried killing all other apps with no difference. At least if Skype behaved itself it would be some consolation but even that being active is completely useless. Even calling the test service makes it behave oddly. It says it is ringing, and the audio ringing is playing but then the call is answered while it still says it is ringing and playing the ringing tone.

Even the audio is breaking up and parts are coming through out of order!

It is a complete and utter mess!!. I am NOT getting a new phone just for Skype but I've got credit through Skype Out and need to be able to use it.

I've send feedback to Microsoft through the app a version or two ago, nothing.

I was running 6.8 but I've gone to the app store and installed the latest version, 6.12 for my OS and no difference.

I've tried restarting the phone and again no difference.

It used to work just fine before they did the UI changes and then undid them.

Is anyone else having this problem? I've even contemplated installing an older version through some hack I found but it is time consuming to get it done...

After spending a considerable amount of time, I managed to install a much older version of Skype using the Windows version of the guide mentioned here,

http://lifehacker.com/download-old-versions-of-ios-apps-with-a-clever-workaro-1749950092

I was lucky that my first attempt gave me a version that worked so I only had to do it once.

For anyone else interested, in the list of softwareVersionExternalIdentifiers I selected 756732646 which corresponded to Skype version 5.7.120

HTH


Is there any way to see the last location with find my iphone before it was wiped? I lost my iphone three months ago and it was dead so I could never locate it with the "find my iphone" app. Eventually I gave up and did the wipe feature next time it was turned on. I just got the notification that it was wiped. Is there any way to see where it was in that moment it was turned on and before it was wiped?

No, this is not possible. You are not able to see the last location of a device, only the current location, and since you've removed the device you can't obtain any location information.


Two strange icons in my menu bar I have two annoying icons in my menu bar.
The first I have no clue at all. If I try to click on it, the pointer changes to the "waiting coloured ball".
The second one relates to Malwarebytes that I deleted for I didn't trust.
I would like these two "intruders" out of my way.
Does anybody know how?
Thanks your help
Manuel

If you simply want to remove the icons from the menu bar, you can ⌘-Click the icons and then drag them out of the menu bar, one at a time. Be sure to drag them down far enough so a little ⓧ icon appears on the cursor.

However, that doesn't uninstall whatever application put them in the menu bar in the first place. If you want to uninstall the original application, you'll need to figure where the menu bar items came from.

You can use the Accessibility Inspector tool to start to understand which applications originally installed the menu bar icons. Follow the instructions from this Ask Different Q&A for how to use Accessibility Inspector. Essentially, it comes down to:

Clicking the crosshair/reticle button in the toolbar
Clicking the menu bar icon in question
Clicking SHOW in the Accessibility Inspector's Hierarchy section

From there, you should be able to search around online for instructions on how to uninstall a specific application.


How to suppress the “OS X Spotlight search information was removed” warning? Whenever I open an old Pages document in Pages 5, I now get the following warning message:

  Some changes were made to your document.

  OS X Spotlight search information was removed.

Is there a way to suppress this annoying and useless warning forever? Like, a shell script I can run on a list of documents to remove the search information all in one go? (I assumed xattr would help with this, but I couldn’t find any specific metadata on the files.)

Simply save the document and you will be asked if you want to upgrade. Click "Agree" and the next time you open the document there will no longer be any warning.


Using The Terminal Command and Emacs To Play The Video Game "Tetris"? OS X via the Terminal command and Emacs apparently allows you to access and play a version of the video game Tetris.

How do you accomplish this (and can you play via keyboard controls) ?

To start emacs just type emacs↩
This tells the shell to look for an executable file emacs in a directory listed in the PATH environment variable.

When in emacs run the command tetris that is escxtetris

The controls are the arrow keys

Note that something seems to be wrong with the score file e.g. it won't save high scores etc.


How to activate an Automator application with AppleScript? Why does this fail to open the application?

try
    open application "Macintosh HD:Users:TheUser:Desktop:Automator test 2"
on error
    display dialog "could not open the automator"
end try

I've also tried the following:

tell application "Macintosh HD:Users:TheUser:Desktop:Automator test 2" to activate

tell application "finder" to activate "Macintosh HD:Users:TheUser:Desktop:Automator test 2"

The file path is correct and the application works when activated manually.

I was being stupid. This version works:

tell application "Finder"
    try
        open "Macintosh HD:Users:TheUser:Desktop:Automator test 2"
    on error
        display dialog "could not open the automator"
    end try
end tell

Just have to use the tell finder command and open instead of open application.


Unable to partition external disk after using diskpart in Windows I was trying to follow a tutorial online that included using diskpart on Windows 10 to format my 1TB external drive, with commands such as clean and partition. But after learning that it would not produce the results I wanted, I decided to stop and erase the disk from Disk Utility on macOS Sierra (10.12.4). So I completely erased it and formatted it as Mac OS Extended Journaled, but now I am unable to partition the drive because the button is greyed out.

I have tried erasing the drive multiple times, including writing zeros over the data (which took forever) but nothing has changed. Help?

Mac mini (Late 2014)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
macOS Sierra 10.12.4

This might be a volume error that can possibly be fixed with the first aid functionality of disk utility.

Go to disk utility and select your disk exactly as you have in the picture. Do not select the volume. Next you need to run first aid. Click on the button that says first aid and let the magic happen. If it doesn't work, you can give me an update.

Good luck!


Smart Playlist in iTunes for songs without ratings Is there a way to create a Smart Playlist in iTunes that will show songs that aren’t rated?

Just create a playlist with a rule matching ratings with no stars.


Remove "Windows" Entry from Mac Boot Loader Background

A while back, I installed Windows 8 on my MacBook Air (mid 2013 model) using Bootcamp. It never really worked, (it would freeze all the time, the WiFi would cut in and out, etc.) so I got rid of it. I tried to do this through Bootcamp again, but for whatever reason this didn't work, so I booted up on a live Ubuntu USB and manually erased the NTFS partition for Windows.

Once back in OS X (Mavericks, but it was Mountain Lion when I installed Windows), I expended the default HFS+ partition to fill the full space of the SSD. So now I've got a nearly out-of-box Macintosh HD partition; everything on the Mac side works fine.

But lately, I find myself getting increasingly annoyed at the BSD coreutils among other things, and so I'd like to be able to dual boot into some version of Linux (probably Ubuntu or Xubuntu, but this is kind of arbitrary).

My Issue

So but it turns out that when I "uninstalled" the Windows partition, something didn't quite update in the boot loader (I'm kind of fuzzy on my knowledge of the difference between a boot loader and a boot manager, so I might be using these terms incorrectly). When I start up my Mac holding down option, I get the following...

which is weird because this is what my main hard drive looks like in Disk Utility

and again with gpt:

$ sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         PMBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6
         40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     409640  489562928      2  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
  489972568     262151
  490234719         32         Sec GPT table
  490234751          1         Sec GPT header

To Be Fixed

I can't see where these icons would be coming from. In the end, I'd like to just have both of these gone (and I guess any other hidden remnants of Windows that they might be indicating).

When you don't use the Boot Camp utility to remove Windows, the Windows boot image on your EFI partition is not removed. This is what you see when you hold down ⌥ during boot.

The procedure to solve this is not for the faint of heart. You need to mount the EFI partition in OS X (normally, it only gets mounted for system updates).

Mounting the EFI partition

List the partitions on your Mac:

diskutil list

You should see something like this:

/dev/disk0
 #: TYPE                     NAME          SIZE       IDENTIFIER
 0: GUID_partition_scheme                  *251.0 GB  disk0
 1: EFI                                    209.7 MB   disk0s1
 2: Apple_HFS                Macintosh HD  250.1 GB   disk0s2
 3: Apple_Boot               Recovery HD   650.0 MB   disk0s3

Take note of /dev/disk0 and 1: EFI. The numbers 0 and 1 have significance later.

Now mount the EFI partition (replace the numbers 0 and 1 if they are different in your output):

sudo mkdir /Volumes/efi
sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/efi

Remove the Windows boot image

Now navigate to /Volumes/efi/EFI. This directory is supposed to only contain an APPLE directory. On a machine where I had Windows installed, it also contained a Microsoft and Boot directory. These can be safely removed, but for extra safety I would recommend renaming them to something different instead.

Then umount and delete the directory you created earlier.

sudo umount /Volumes/efi
sudo rmdir /Volumes/efi


Is there an iphone app to check if the brightness of your computer monitor is too bright? I've been looking for an app to check if the brightness of my computer monitor is too high and is straining to my eyes.
Does such an app exist that measures brightness of a monitor using the camera perhaps?

I'm not sure this is exactly what you're looking for, they can be pretty expensive, but apps made for professional designers and photographers can do this.  DisplayMate and  Datacolor Spyder5Elite are two often cited products.

On the free side, there's several dozen that use the iPhone camera, including LuxCamera, Luxi, and LightMeter Free, to measure light.  Although, YMMV with these free apps, they should be able to give you a semi-decent reading.

I use a free application named f.lux to automatically adjust the 'blue' light emitted by my monitor.  It works great and I would strongly recommend it.


Transfer the Whatsapp Windows Phone Backup file to Iphone Is there any way to transfer the backup file from windows phone to Iphone 5S.

Iphone whatsapp restore the data from icloud so is there any way to replace that file with the Windows phone whatsapp backup file or manually restore the iphone whatsapp from that backup.

or a way to atleast open and view the threads

Following is the structure of Windows phone whatsapp backup file i have saved.

Reading your WhatsApp chat history:

Go to http://inloop.github.io/sqlite-viewer/ and upload your message file. Select ZWAMESSAGE and press execute.

Restoring WhatsApp's chat history to iPhone

This method worked for me when migrating from WA for Android to WA for iPhone. This may not work with your WP backup of WA. If this should be the case, please leave a comment below.

Warning: Please create a separate backup of your iPhone before following the steps below.

Step by step instruction:

Make sure you have installed and configured WhatsApp on your iPhone.
Send someone a message. This will create the chat history file.
Connect your iPhone to a computer running iTunes.
Create a local, unencrypted backup of your iPhone.
Go to iTunes' settings and navigate to the tab "Devices"
Under "Device backups:" you should see your created backup. Right click on the backup entry and choose "Show in Finder" (or similar if you are running Windows).
Open the folder and navigate to "1b" (folder).
Find the file "1b6b187a1b60b9ae8b720c79e2c67f472bab09c0" and delete it.
Copy your Windows Phone's WhatsApp chat history file to the "1b" folder and rename it to "1b6b187a1b60b9ae8b720c79e2c67f472bab09c0".
In iTunes, navigate to your iPhone and select Restore. Select the just created backup and follow the instructions.

This process will import your old chat history into WA on the iPhone. You may need to re-register your phone number with WA.

Please let me know if it worked for you.


Applying Windows-style Bulk Renaming Mechanism in MacOS For simple bulk renaming actions, which is what I do most of the time, I really like the way Windows does it - select a bunch files, press CTRL+F2, write the string, and all files are renamed to that string, followed by a serialized number enclosed in parenthesizes.

Is there ANY way to configure macOS to behave the same (but using macOS's default ↵ as the shortcut)? Paid 3rd party solutions are totally accepted.

Thanks!

The build in Finder application supports bulk renaming...

In Finder: Just select the files you want to rename, right click on them, then click rename...


How do I make my USB pen drive writable? My pen drive is currently read-only, how can I change this?

Some usb's have write protect switch ! (a real switch, not software)

Sometimes it is a simple as flipping the switch.


How can I tell if my iPad is 32 or 64-bit? How can I tell if my iPad is 32 or 64-bit? I use iOS 9.3.5.

I don't want to have to look at the back of my iPad (the iPad is badly scratched, I can't read anything on it, e.g. I cannot read the model number). I also don't know anything about the iPad (e.g., I don't know which yet it was purchased). The only information I have access to is whatever the programs installed on the iOS are telling me.

Any iPad Air or later or iPad mini 2 or later has 64 bit processors.

This basically means any iPad released on/after November 2013.

In terms of iOS devices generally (i.e. iPods, iPhones and iPads) any device with an Apple A7 or later chip will be 64-bit.

For iOS devices generally (as well as tvOS and watchOS devices), you can refer to Blake's iOS Device Specifications Grid for an easy reference to determine this and other specs.

Note: I have no affiliation with Blake Patterson or blakespot.com.

If you have no idea what device you have

If you aren't sure what device you've got, then:

Go to Settings > General > About
Make a note of the Model
Now visit EveryMac.com's lookup page
You'll see a field labelled as: Enter Mac, iPod, iPhone or iPad Identifier
Enter the Model number you obtained at Step 2
Click on the Lookup button
Now you'll get a summary of the device with a link to full details
Compare that info with my answer above, or click on the link to view full details. If viewing full details you'll find whether it's a 32-bit or 64-bit processor that powers your device.


Confused about Compressed option in Disk Utility? When I use Disk Utility to create an image, it gives me five options:

Read only
Compressed
Read/Write
DVD/CD Master
Hybrid Image

Most of these make sense to me why someone would prefer one option over another option, except for Compressed.  I tested it out and the Compressed option made my image nearly half the size of the uncompressed version, which is great.

Now, I don't know for sure by I am assuming that this Compressed format is either Read only or Read/Write and if this is the case, why would you ever choose one of those formats over Compressed?

I did not experience any loss of data when I did the Compressed and given the significantly smaller file size it seems like a no-brainer to always choose Compressed. Maybe I am making some wrong assumptions here...

When you create an image and you select Compressed, you are doing so at the sake of speed and read/write capability

To access the data on a compressed image, you have to uncompress it first; that takes cycles (cpu time).  Secondly, per Apple, the image is read only, not read/write so you will lose that capability as well.

The "Compressed" format is great for archival of data, not for daily access.


How can I make Time Machine do a full backup? Recently, my Time Machine disk exhibited some filesystem errors.  Disk Utility was able to correct them, but I don't trust the existing backup content much, and by extension, don't trust incremental backups made against that content.

I would like to force Time Machine to create a new, full backup (or, at the very least, an incremental backup while actually comparing all files and their content) without destroying the old backup content.  I know I can destroy the existing backups and go again, but I'd rather preserve the history, imperfect as it may be.

How can (or, even, can) I do this?

The mechanism to force a full backup isn't well documented, but it does get logged to the console logs as Forcing deep traversal on source: "Macintosh HD" ... but even if this happens, the system will base the storage of new copies of files on what exists on the backup volume previously.

I would add a new drive and back up to it once if you are concerned that your backup is no longer reliable.

From the command line, you can then check on things with tmutil compare or by using a tool such as BackupLoupe to convince yourself that specific (or ongoing) backups are correctly being made.

You can hint that a full scan is needed by excluding all the files you care about in options. Then run a backup, then remove the folders / files from the exclusion and then tigger or wait for the next backup.


How to remove Linux from my Mac? I have installed Ubuntu on my Mac. But then after a few times, neither can I boot to Ubuntu nor can I find where it actually is. Total a mystery. Now I actually try to erase this part in my computer. But I don't know where to start. Even in Disk Utility I do not see the space it takes. Here is a screenshot:

Please advise me how to erase Ubuntu and release the space. My internal SSD has a total size of 251 GB. But now I can only see 165 GB of it.

Thank PSN for his advice.But something weird just happened again.. This is what happened in my terminal when I tried to install the rEFInd:

dhcp-10-176-3-41:~ anthony$ /Users/anthony/Downloads/refind-bin-0.10.0/refind-install
Not running as root; attempting to elevate privileges via sudo....
ShimSource is none
Installing rEFInd on OS X....
Installing rEFInd to the partition mounted at /Volumes/ESP
Found rEFInd installation in /Volumes/ESP/EFI/refind; upgrading it.

**** ALERT: SIP ENABLED! ****

You are attempting to upgrade an existing installation, but it appears that
System Integrity Protection (SIP) is enabled. If rEFInd is working now, then
this is fine; you can upgrade your existing rEFInd. If rEFInd is not working,
though, re-installing from this boot will not help. To re-enable rEFInd, you
must re-install it from a Recovery system or from another OS. To enter the
Recovery system and re-install rEFInd:

Reboot
Hold down Command+R as the chime sounds
When the OS has booted, select Utilities->Terminal
Change to this directory with the 'cd' command; it will probably be under
 /Volumes/Macintosch/Users/anthony
Re-run this script.

For more on this subject, see http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/sip.html

Do you want to attempt installation (Y/N)? y
Copied rEFInd binary files

Notice: Backed up existing icons directory as icons-backup.
Existing refind.conf file found; copying sample file as refind.conf-sample
to avoid overwriting your customizations.

Could not set boot device property: 0xe00002bc

WARNING: If you have an Advanced Format disk, DO NOT attempt to check the
bless status with 'bless --info', since this is known to cause disk corruption
on some systems!!

ALERT:
Installation has completed, but problems were detected. Review the output for
error messages and take corrective measures as necessary. You may need to
re-run this script or install manually before rEFInd will work.

Unmounting install dir
Volume EFI on disk0s1 unmounted

I think the easier solution for you is :

• Do a back of your Macintosh partition : (Use Time Machine is probably a good idea)

• Restart you're computer with alt R (Recovery mode)
 (You may need to be connected to internet with an ethernet connexion)

• From there Do a clean install within your time machine.

And there you should be done !


"Failed to check receipt hash" after switching to a new computer? I just had to move my drives over to another Mac Pro and now when I attempt to open apps purchased from the App Store, I'm getting Failed to check receipt hash.  What does one need to do in order to revalidate a machine properly for the App Store so that these errors go away?

I think you have to redownload those apps from the App Store in order to get new receipts that match your new Mac.


How to use AppleScript to un-hide a file's extension? In Finder, if you right click a file → Get Info, you will see a checkbox in the Name & Extension section that offers users the ability to Hide extension.

If you press Command (⌘)-Shift-3 to take a whole-screen screenshot on your Mac, a screenshot is saved as a .png file. By default, the .png extension for a screenshot is hidden.

Can I change this hide extension status using AppleScript?

If you are curious as to why I'm trying to perform this action in AppleScript, it is because I have a script that involves taking & saving a screenshot, and then naming the file based on the text on the clipboard. And, in this process of renaming the file, Finder no longer recognizes the file as a .png file, so I have to manually change the filename.

Never mind! I found the answer here:

Super User: Show/hide extension of a file through OS X command line

I will delete this question now!

EDIT -

Since some are upvoting this question, I will echo the top answer in the linked question (supplied by @slhck).

A straightforward solution exists, because AppleScript specifically offers a set extension hidden command designed to do exactly what I'm looking for.

tell application "Finder"
    set some_file to (choose file)
    set extension hidden of some_file to false
end tell

And that will make the file extension visible!


bepbmhgboaologfdajaanbcjmnhjmhfn.crx suspicious file in chrome (MAC) When I open this chrome this file downloads automatically. I don't know what is it. But I think this is some malicious file. How fix it? An other get around it, other than just quickly resetting everything?

I do not know about the fancy name?

But .crx is Chrome Extension type.

So check for Chrome extensions you have installed.

According to Google Chromium it is a part of the Google Voice:

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=357738


How do I delete a song from iCloud? I updated to iTunes 11.0.2 very recently, and I'm fairly certain this version specifically brought a change of wording regarding deleting songs from iCloud, and I'm curious if there's changed functionality to match.

After perusing Apple's support documentation, it seems I was correct:

I intend to replace the current version of this song, and figured the easiest way to ensure everything updates would be to delete the song from iCloud and my Library, and then import the new version.

Now that the functionality of deleting songs has changed, how do I delete the song from both my local library and iCloud as well?

No, the functionality hasn't changed. The first screen shot is what you see when you want to delete an item you have purchased. As part of "iTunes in the Cloud," you can never delete those items, but you can hide them. Deleting from iTunes Match is the same, and that's the second dialog you show.


How to stop Xcode downloading iOS support package of my iPhone? I want Xcode to stop downloading the files in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport/12.4 where 12.4 is the iOS version of my iPhone. I have deleted them a couple of times now.

I also want to be able to connect my iPhone via USB to the Mac, without the fear of 2.5 GB bandwidth and storage cost.

This setting in Xcode Preferences → Components doesn't list 12.4.

Xcode 10.3, iOS 12.4, macOS 10.14.

These posts talk about removal only:

Can I delete unnecessary device simulators of Xcode?
Reduce size of the Xcode application

Looks like it wasn't downloading the thing, I checked in activity monitor after deleting the folder. It copies it from somewhere else, most likely

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/

Xcode simulator constantly download something

I removed all the listed items from Xcode's Window Menu → devices and simulators, which listed iOS 12 as their OS version.
Went to iOS settings → Developer and cleared paired devices.
Connected iPhone, unlocked it and chose "Don't Trust" upon prompt.

No more unnecessary folders.

Since  it causes problem for iTunes backup and network sharing, Go to /Users/ankitkumar/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport/12.4 right click on it > get info > Check locked.


How can I continue a partial, interrupted download of Yosemite? I was trying to download OS X Yosemite. It is very big - more than 5GB.

The download did not succeed due to some problem in internet connection. Only 2.5 GB is downloaded and I wanted to continue from where it stopped. I closed the Mac App Store and reopened. I lost what was downloaded till that time. I want to know where it is stored in my Mac so that I could start from there. It saves me lot of time and internet download usage, since it is a limited internet plan.

It is stored in the Application folder - if it doesn't continue, then delete the already downloaded file, and retry from the App Store again.


Why the iPhone doesn't automatically switch 3G off when connected to a wireless network? This doesn't make any sense to me: why the iPhone doesn't automatically switch 3G off when connected to a wireless network?

I always thought iPhone did that since the very beginning and my battery lasted 4–6 hours on average per day. (I can almost swear that I remember Steve Jobs himself telling that in the stage back then)

Then a friend of mine asked me why I don't switch off the 3G when I am in the office to save some battery instead of charging it at my desk so in case I had to get out it was fully charged back again.

So, I tried... Boy, it was a huge difference! My iPhone's battery will last 10–13 hours on average. That means usually I can get back home from work and have my phone still working in my pocket.

Any ideas?

EDIT: my question is about worse battery performance when 3G is enabled. (Even though not supposed to be used) And I believe this isn't related to me, but to any iPhone user really.

Although your iPhone will use WiFi when available, that's only to save your cellular data limit being reached as quickly. Your iPhone keeps the 3G antennas active (while the internet is in use) for the following reasons;

In case you have 'flaky' WiFi; your iPhone will switch between WiFi and cellular without you noticing to keep a reliable connection working source*
In case you leave WiFi range; your iPhone can then immediately switch to cellular and use it right away without any delays.
In case your WiFi network doesn't have a 'proper' internet connection; if your WiFi network can't load certain pages (either because it's configured incorrectly, or because of a fault/security settings) your iPhone will use cellular to load those pages if possible. **

So, to answer your question, the iPhone keeps your 3G connection live while the phone is using the internet in some way so you can have a reliable connection. Your phone will only turn it off automatically when/if the phone is trying to save power.

*I believe the toggle to enable/disable this feature has been removed, but the feature still exists (and remains always on).

**I've seen this happen with those WiFi networks which would make you fill in a form/login before using the connection. The phone would be connected to WiFi, but apps would be using 3G to load new content as I was not yet logged in


What external hardware allows a fingerprint to login/unlock a Mac? I own a mid-2009 MBP with OS X Mavericks installed. I'm a hi-tech enthusiast who wants to use the fingerprint scanning feature made available by many scanners on the market to login into my account after boot and unlock the screen after the screensaver has started.

The scanner I'm willing to buy is a DigitalPersona U.are.U-5160 which is not only FIPS 201 PIV certified, but it's also designed to work in harsh environments and situations. See: http://www.fulcrumbiometrics.com/Digital-Persona-U-are-U-5160-p/101106.htm

Please note that I've already read this article on StackExchange (How can I enable fingerprint authentication on a Mac? What compatible scanners are available?) which talks about the same, but I've found nothing interesting in it.

In particularly, supposed that I've gotten all the Smart Card Services/CAC Libraries:

How do I switch from password login to fingerprint login?
Can I use fingerprint login with FileVault 2 too? (i.e. decrypting the HD using my fingerprint, with no passwords to type)

I think these features require dedicated API's or SDK's, and Apple stopped deploying them since it bought AuthenTec. Now, all fingerprint-scanning feature are officially unsupported by Apple except for the iPhone 5S.

I've read somewhere that LastPass does a very similar job indeed, and is used for the purposes I've listed.

How can I achieve this?

I think this Mac OS Forge project might be your best bet – SmartCard Services.

My research leads me to believe Apple stopped putting 'official' efforts (documentation, etc.) after OS X 10.6.


AppleScript : add to plist instead of replacing I have a script which add the current time to a plist.
Basically it's help me taking track of my overtime.

That's work fine if I run it once but if I run it more than once the primary
Plist is replaced by the value of the new one.

Can I add all in the same plist instead of overwriting ?
e.g

"Start Time 1 : 06:39"
"Start Time 2 :  21:05"

Where is my current script :

set ShortDate to short date string of (current date)
set myDate to date string of (current date)
set [dayLetter, dayNumber, MonthLetter, yearNumber] to the words of myDate
set t to (time string of (current date))
set [hoursInNumber, minutesInNumber, secondInNumber] to the words of t
set startTimeValue to (current date)
set startTimeClear to dayLetter & " " & dayNumber & " " & MonthLetter & " at " & hoursInNumber & ":" & minutesInNumber
set plistR to {startTime:startTimeValue, startTimeClear:startTimeClear}
tell application "System Events"
    set plistf to make new property list file ¬
        with properties {name:"~/Desktop/Time/myTime" & dayNumber & "_" & MonthLetter & ".plist"}
    set plistf's value to plistR
end tell

I figured out that I need to add " at end with properties" and make the key's name different, in my case I'm adding the time in the key's name

tell application "System Events"
    tell property list items of property list file Secondplistfile_path
        make new property list item at end with properties {kind:string, name:"OverTime stoped at " & hoursInNumber & ":" & minutesInNumber, value:myGoodNumbers}
    end tell
end tell


How can I open multiple URLs in a new Chrome window from the terminal I can open multiple URLs in the current Chrome window from the terminal:

open https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ https://www.amazon.com/

When I tried to open them in a new window using

open -n https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ https://www.amazon.com/

Chrome responds with only a blank new window.

How can I open all of the URLs in a new window?

The lazy solution

Use AppleScript to make the new window, then use open without the -n:

osascript -e 'tell app id "com.google.chrome" to make new window' \
  && open https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ https://www.amazon.com/

As soon as the window has opened, chances are that Chrome will use it for all the URLs.
However, that solution is prone to race conditions, especially if another window is created or activated while your command runs.1

[1] In practice, there are several scenarios where this can happen, e. g. if you run your command in parallel, or if Chrome tries to recover its windows after a crash, or when the user (or another program) attempts to open a new window, etc.

The more robust solution

A more robust alternative, which does not have the race condition mentioned above, is the following all-AppleScript solution:

#!/usr/bin/osascript
on run(theUrls)
    tell app id "com.google.chrome" to tell make new window
            repeat with theUrl in theUrls
                set newTab to make new tab with properties { url: theUrl }
            end repeat
            tell tab 1 to close
    end tell
end run

Save that code, preferably as a file without extension (e. g. open_new_window). Place that file somewhere into your PATH. Make sure to chmod 755 the script so it’s executable. For good measure, I’d recommend to also sudo chmod root:wheel it.

From now on, you can invoke the script like so:

open_new_window https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ https://www.amazon.com/

In case you don’t want to use a separate script

Use the following variant for testing, or if you prefer a command line without a separate script:

osascript \
  -e 'on run(theUrls)' \
  -e '  tell app id "com.google.chrome" to tell make new window' \
  -e '    repeat with theUrl in theUrls' \
  -e '      set newTab to make new tab ¬' \
  -e '        with properties { url: theUrl }' \
  -e '    end repeat' \
  -e '    tell tab 1 to close' \
  -e '  end tell' \
  -e 'end run' \
  https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ https://www.amazon.com/


Stiff trackpad on Macbook air I just got a used Early 2015 Macbook Air. I got it a bit cheap, due to the trackpad being stiff.

Basically when I first open it, it registers all clicks, although I need to press somewhat hard. But if I click on it about 50 times, it starts to loosen up a bit, and act more like a normal trackpad would. However, if I then leave it for an hour, it is back to being stiff again.

What could the problem be, and is it fixable?

The rest of the computer works perfectly fine.

Thank you.

Your trackpad is most likely bad.  It's not unheard of, after all, it is a mechanical device to some extent.

It could be either it's just worn out or there may have been some sort of liquid spill like juice that is causing it to become "sticky" (I personally repaired this condition).

There is the possibility that the battery may be swollen (you may have to examine it when the back cover is off; even remove the battery).  If that's the case, you will also want to replace the battery.  I recommend getting one with at least an 18 month warranty.

You can get a replacement trackpad fairly inexpensively, but it will take some effort - you will have to remove the battery.  Ifixit.com has an excellent step-by-step guide to walk you through.

As you can see in the pictures, once you have the back cover off, you can gain access to the battery.  After you remove the battery, you then have access to the trackpad.

This is not a difficult repair, but detail oriented.  If you take your time, you should be able to accomplish this.  If not, any reputable repair shop can tackle this for you.


Error configuring mcrypt after upgrading to El Capitan I am facing the following issue after upgrading to El Capitan. It says:

Installing shared extensions: /usr/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20121212/
cp: /usr/lib/php/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20121212/#INST@826#: Operation not permitted

while running sudo make install in mcrypt/php-5.6.13/ext/mcrypt folder.
I think this is due to SIP but what is the other way round.

What is SIP and how do I know if it's causing this error?

After reading @user980575's response (which is a bit redundant with directories) and a comment on Coolest Guide's On The Planet's post regarding this subject (which requires manually editing your ./configure script) I came up with an alternative solution. Overriding the EXTENSION_DIR on the fly.

It took a little trial and error but when you're ready to actually perform the install after phpizing (is that a word?) simply make the directory:

mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/php/extensions

And then run:

./configure

make

sudo make EXTENSION_DIR='/usr/local/lib/php/extensions' install

Now that the extension is placed in a non-protected directory you just have to update your php.ini to point to the extension with the full path.

extension=/usr/local/lib/php/extensions/mcrypt.so


Can't download Google Chrome on my Mac! I'm on the page http://google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html

There is a large blue button "Download Chrome" and below it "For Mac OS X 10.6 or later".

I click on the button. Result: the whole screen goes gray, and all links are de-activated, like a "lightbox" effect, and nothing else?!

Safari Version 8.0 (10600.1.25) On a Mac OS X Yosemite Version 10.10 iMac 27-inch

Try downloading Chrome from the command line instead. This solution has the command to download Chrome AND install.

solutions outlined are:

Using Homebrew cask

brew install brew-cask
brew cask install google-chrome

Using wget command

wget https://dl.google.com/chrome/mac/stable/GGRO/googlechrome.dmg
open ~/Downloads/googlechrome.dmg
sudo cp -r /Volumes/Google\ Chrome/Google\ Chrome.app /Applications/

Alternatively, using your browser, you can go to the direct link HERE and the browser will download the file automatically.


How to delete friend's gmail account from my MacPro To help a friend with a project, he gave me his gmail account login information. Now I don't know how to delete his email account from my Gmail list without affecting his account.

It's a bit unclear what your asking, but I'll proceed with an answer based on my interpretation.

Deleting his account from your computer will not affect his email account. That's the great advantage of IMAP based accounts.

To delete his account from your Mac, go to System Preferences > Internet Accounts > Select his Gmail account from the Sidebar > Remove (the "-" in the bottom left hand corner)


Who controls the contact picture on iOS in address book? My son has a inappropriate picture of a girl as her contact photo... When I questioned him about it he said that she had made it her outgoing contact photo and he had no control over it... Is this possible or am I being lied to?!

Yes, it's possible. If you go to the iOS settings app and sign in with either Facebook or Twitter, there is a button to retrieve contact pictures from those services for each contact on your device.

So, your child has the option to change that photo on a case by case basis, but what they said could be entirely true.

At is point, it gets less clear with syncing your address book with Facebook (or other). Presumably it could use each person's Facebook picture, set by them, as their photo in your address book.

I've never seen a picture I assign get overwritten, but it's clearly possible that might happen.


Problem seeing Macintosh HD under Boot Camp I can't see the Macintosh HD partition under Windows 10 in Boot Camp. I've already followed some guides on how to solve this problem that talk about CoreStorage etc...

Now when I get this:

sudo diskutil cs list
No CoreStorage logical volume groups found

I still can't see the drive from Windows, what should I do?

My Mac is a 13" Mid-2012
macOS Sierra 10.12.3
Windows 10

This a known issue that was introduced with the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" as discussed,
for instance, here or here.


Are there open source software that let OS X see a generic NAS as a Time Machine destination? Is it possible to use "Time-Machine" with an external hard-drive through an IP?

I have an external HD connected to a Raspberry Pi and I have installed SSH. What I am hoping to achieve is this:

I have a Mac Mini and a Macbook Pro, I want their back-ups to be in-sync but, through the user of an IP that is directed to the raspberry pi that connects the hard-drive.  I know/read that this is possible using Airport extreme but, I do not have that, instead a standard router but I am able to port forward.

Can anyone recommend any open source solutions rather than needing a Time Capsule or OS X Server running on the NAS?

I think what you really want is Netatalk. It is excellent software, and if run with a zfs backend, it is simply perfect as a time machine target.


Can one access the iTunes Store Wish List via either of the two iOS app stores? I use the "My Wish List" feature in the iTunes Store to keep track of music, movies, and apps that I discover via various RSS feeds, curating them for later purchase. Can I view my "Wish List" in either the "App Store" or "iTunes" apps in iOS? If so, where can this feature be found?

Not at the moment, but when iOS 7 is released later, the wishlist feature will be available using a button in the corner of the app (source)


Application to imitate Win+R (Run) I'm searching for an OS X program that will open a plain text box, and allow me to type either a directory path, a file path, or a shell script, and have it open/execute my input.

Are there any programs like this on the market?

App launchers and utilities like Launch Bar and Quicksilver can be pretty useful, but you might want to try learning the command line. After all, the Windows Run prompt is just a single line command prompt.

It can be a bit daunting, but you can just learn bit by bit, and after a while you'll be able to do some pretty powerful things.

To get started, open up Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities).

Here are a few basic commands that you'll find useful:

open opens whatever path it's followed by. Some examples:

open /Applications/ opens the Applications folder in Finder.
open ~ opens your home folder. ~ is shorthand for your home folder (i.e. /Users/you.
open ~/Documents/myfile.txt opens myfile.txt in your Documents folder in whatever application is set to open that file.
You can use open to open a file in a specific app with the -a flag. open -a TextEdit website.html would open that file in TextEdit, and open -a Safari website.html would open the same file in Safari.

open -a followed by an application, with no file or path specified will activate that application.

ls lists the contents of the current directory, or any other directory you specify.

By default, your current directory is ~, so if you specify a file without a path, the command line looks for it in your current path. But you can specify a full path to address any file in your filesystem.

cd changes your current directory. E.g. cd ~/Documents moves you to your Documents folder, and cd /Applications moves you to the applications folder.
Bonus: say "I know now why you cry, but it's something I can never do"

That's just a small fraction of what you can do with the command line, but perhaps it will whet your appetite. If you want to learn more, there are tons of resources out there for learning the command line — OS X's command line is very similar to BSD and Linux, so many resources applying to those will be helpful. There's also a big thread here on Ask Different with various tips and tricks for the terminal.


How to make brew install a package only if it is not yet installed, and upgrade otherwise? I found it surprisingly hard to make brew either install a package (if it is missing) or upgrade it (if it is already installed). Is there no simple command / arguments to do that?

Based on this answer, I ended up doing (at the example of the git package)

brew ls --versions git && brew upgrade git || brew install git

after doing a brew update, obviously. However, that still seems clumsy to me compared to other package managers.

Homebrew doesn't support that way of use.

To reduce keypresses you could leverage SHELL-scripting (makes sense to add to your SHELL's .rc-file), say:

brewIn() { if brew ls --versions "$1"; then brew upgrade "$1"; else brew install "$1"; fi }

— Works both in Bash and Zsh. Usage: brewIn …formulae…. But none except this.


Internet Sharing supports WEP but not WPA? I am trying to make a WiFi hotspot through my MacBook. It has Snow Leopard 10.6.7 on it.
The thing is that when I go to sharing and then configure internet sharing, it only gives the choice of using WEP password encryption.

Is it possible to use it with WPA or WPA2? If yes, how?

It is not possible to use OS X's internet sharing feature to create a WPA- or WPA2-protected network [through v10.7 Lion, see below]; WEP (40- or 128-bit) or no encryption at all are the only available options.

Note that the original title on this question ("Airport supports WEP but not WPA?") was a bit misleading, as this is only a limitation on wireless networks created with internet sharing.  Mac computers can join WPA and WPA2 wireless networks, and have been able to for years and years.  Similarly, Apple's Airport base stations (except for early models) can create WPA and WPA2 networks.  It's only when the Mac is acting as a base station that this limitation exists.

UPDATE: In OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), the normally-visible security options changed to WPA2 Personal or no encryption. WEP is still available in 10.8, but only if you hold Option while clicking on the Security pop-up menu.


Exchange contacts do not appear in iCloud On my iPad and iPhone I have several email accounts: three Gmail and one Exchange account. I stopped using the Exchange account and tried to remove it from the iPhone, but also all my contacts were deleted. On the iPad the Exchange account is still configured and the contacts are still there.

Is there a way to transfer all contacts into iCloud and distribute it again on the iPhone (and my MacBook)?

From http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5058 :

  Data stored with iCloud will not interact with your Microsoft
  Exchange data, while likewise your Exchange data will not interact
  with iCloud data.


Symlink User Folders - Can I keep original Sidebar Icons? I have my user folders (Music, Movies and Pictures) stored on an external drive, so I used terminal to delete the existing user folders on the boot drive then created symlinks to these folders and placed then in my user directory.

They function correctly but when I drag them into the sidebar I can only see folder icons, not the original music, movies and Pictures icons. How can I keep the original icons I'm the sidebar whilst using symlinks to my user directory folders?

I've already posted the solution on a previous question with a similar problem.

Restoring finder icon


Alternative backup solution for a mac? I know that we can easily use time machine. However, i wonder if there exist any other way to backup the data on my macbook? Since I do a lot of modification to the system and sometimes make it has kernel panic, I would need the backup program to be able to restore everything from a bootable cd (the backup file can be on the hard disk).

So, if your solution offers a bootable backup, that's great, but I'm more interested in equivalent functionality of Time Machine where multiple snapshots are available.

To create bootable backups which contain everything including system files, you may want to look at Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper.


Silencing the Memory slot utility I recently upgraded my Mac Pro with 24Gb of ram, quite the nice feeling.

When I booted up the system again, I got this message :

Quite nice I thought, seems the memory is working as it should. And apparently, it is.

But now, every time I reboot my computer, Memory Slot Utility feels the need to tell me this again. Ive been trying to find a setting or app for this Memory Slot Utility, but with no luck.

Does anyone know how to silence this on start alert forever ?

You can turn it off by logging in once as the root user. Root's disabled by default, but here's how to enable it and log in as root:

Steps taken from here:
http://www.dreness.com/blog/?p=231

In Finder, choose Go –> Go to Folder... (or shift command g), and enter /System/Library/CoreServices
In the CoreServices folder, open Directory Utility.
From the Edit menu, choose "Enable Root User", and supply a password.
Open System Preferences –> Users & Groups prefpane, and under Login Options, turn off Automatic Login, and set the login window display to Name and Password.
Reboot. Log in as root from the login window. Perform one final heroic click of Memory Slot Utility’s OK button, going for maximum style points.
Log out, log back in as yourself, put settings back the way you like them. I suggest using Directory Utility to disable the root account.


How to verify if pmset works correctly? Is there any log, where I can see what pmset did and when?

I am thinking about scheduling my macbook power on and the power off and scheduling some job in between to see if it worked, but is there any better way (some power management log file etc.)?

$ pmset -g schedule will show you scheduled events.  John Keates' comment shows you how to review the log file as well:

  Pmset -g log ; also check the system log as that's where the kernel
  logs other startup info. – John Keates Oct 24 at 2:48


Which iPhone apps to become more proficient speaker in foreign language? I use Livemocha but it does not work with iPhone due to the lack of Flash. Which apps are good to learn pronunciation and articulation of foreign language?

Voice Translator helps you check whether your pronunciation matches any known word.

Voice Translator

The BETA services are new but interesting.

BETA HelloTalk (social network)


iMessage doesn't say "delivered" or "not delivered" I sent an iMessage from my iPod touch to my friends iphone on Monday. It didn't say delivered or not delivered. It was just nothing. His phone is on (I know because my other friends are iMessaging him) and my friend said her messages don't say "delivered" at the bottom but they still talk. Mine always say delivered at the bottom. So is this an error, like it didn't go through, or is he just ignoring me?

Your friend needs to have turned on iMessage and automatically send a confirmation.

Settings -> Messages -> iMessage : On

Settings -> Messages -> Send Read Receipts : On

If they don't have these both on, you will not get a confirmation.


AirPlay Music From AirPort Express Dropping Out My AirPlay music keeps disconnecting. Here's my gear:

AirPort Extreme 2013
AirPort Express 2012
MacBook Air 2013
iPhone 4S

And my setup:

Extreme is in the living room
Express is in the adjacent kids bedroom
Express connected to Extreme over WiFi - it does not extend the Extreme's WiFi network

My problems are:

The Express' AirPlay icon occassionally disappears from my iPhone
When the icon does appear, and I start streaming music to it, the music will stop playing anywhere from 15-30 minutes later. This happens if I stream from my iPhone or MacBook

What can I try to prevent the AirPlay music from dropping out?

I have struggled with a similar issue for about a year now. Under the veil of secrecy, I think that airplay is a solid protocol.

I use an AT&T Arris Gateway for a DHCP server with an Airport Express as a LAN node. Here's what seems to have solved my problem:

Deep inside the configuration pages for my Arris router (Firewall > Advanced) I found a "Flood Limit" option, which was stated to block "bursting new traffic." Essentially, the router was dropping packets after a certain limit had been reached (I believe this is a mechanism against DoS attacks). Disabling this seemed to stop the AirPlay from dropping out.

Long story short, you may have a router that is tampering too much with the packets on your LAN. Go through every setting on your routers/APs. Disable MAC address filtering, make sure these TCP/UDP ports are open, and steer clear of firewall features that are degrading the performance of your network. Also, wired connections between APs really help with streaming.


Change Date/Time format in the Screen Shot filename? By default, screenshot files are saved with names like this:

Screen Shot 2016-07-12 at 1.07.34 PM.png

The date format is great, but the time format annoys me because it doesn't sort automatically. Is there any way to change the format to:

Screen Shot 2016-07-12 at 13.07.34.png

It's using the system's standard date/time display format which you can customise in the 'Formats' tab in System Preferences → Language&Text

Or, it might be quicker to just change the time display of the clock to 24-hours mode: System Preferences → Date & Time

(I have OS X 10.7.5, so it may be organised/worded slightly differently in newer OS X versions.)


Where are the emoji *category* icons stored on OSX? The emoji picker on OSX has a series of "category" icons, which emoji are grouped by:

Do you know where those can be found? I looked in the system icons directory, /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/, and couldn't find them there.

I then used Font Book to look at all of the symbols in the Apple Color Emoji font, and I couldn't find them there, either.

Are there other common places that Apple stores resources for apps? Do you know where these things are stored?

Thanks!

The icons are stored as PDF and TIFF files in the resources for the character palette:

/System/Library/Input Methods/CharacterPalette.app/Contents/Resources/


How to group certain apps and add as a stack to the Dock? There is a set of apps I use for my job.
Instead of having them individually on the dock, I'd like to have them in a "stack" all together.

How can I create a stack on the dock and add these apps to it?

Create a folder in your user directory.  Make an alias for each app and move the alias to the folder.  Then drag the folder down to the dock, to the right of the divider line but left of the trash.

Once the folder is in the dock, click on it and the available apps will pop out and you can select whichever one you like.

P.S. this works for any kind of file or document, not just apps.  I.e., if there are favorite docs frequently used, you can put aliases in a folder and add the folder to the dock.


iphone shares my email address without permission I've found that with my iPhone 5 the following happens. When i give out my phone number to other people who also have an iPhone they can see my email address. I would rather this didn't happen. How do I stop it?

I assume you mean that this happens when using iMessage? (SMS messages sent with a blue background instead of green.) Check your sender ID under Settings: Messages: Sender ID. Change it from your email address to your phone number, or turn off the iMessage service completely.


Can't restore disabled iPhone because not enough disk space I am trying to restore a disabled iPhone 4s so my daughter can use it but iTunes gives the error not enough disk space. Obviously I can't delete anything from the phone because it's disabled. Is there any way to clear up storage space while disabled?

When connecting it to iTunes, I would choose to set it up as a new device, rather than restoring from a backup.

Once you've done that then do the restore on your iPhone from the backup you wanted to use.

NOTE: Ensure that you do not do a new backup of your iPhone 4s before doing the restore. You may want to make a backup of your iPhone 4s backup before you begin, just in case. If you're not sure of where the backups are located, refer to this article.


Copying start volume contents with SuperDuper without copying filesystem I have a MacBook Air with one SSD that unfortunately is formatted as journaled, case-sensitive.

I have an external HDD that I copied my whole start volume bootable to with the tool SuperDuper and it works fine.

When I format the SSD to the correct filesystem (journaled, not case-sensitive) it successfully formats it, but when I copy the data back with SuperDuper it transfers the old file system, too, rendering it useless.

How can I have the SSD with the system on it and the new filesystem?

If you are familiar at all with Terminal you could try reading up on rsync and using that to copy stuff selectively over from your backup drive.


Removing .ds_store from desktop while still having view hidden files on? I have a .DS_Store on my desktop. Ruins the flow. I want to remove it and have it hidden, but I have hidden files enabled on my mac as I need it. This file however, is annoying.

There is a thorough discussion on this Superuser question.

Having a transparent icon that is off the desktop (Kevin Suttle), or a read-only desktop (joshfindit) seem to be the best feasible solutions.


Connecting a MacBook Pro to a Windows ad hoc network I'm trying to share my wired ethernet connection from my Windows 7 laptop with my MacBook Pro (running 10.6.5). I've just set it up to be an open network; no encryption. I'm pretty sure I set up the ad hoc network correctly, it's broadcasting, and I can connect to the network on the mac.

The catch is that the network shows up under the "Devices" part of the menu, rather than the main networks area. I can't browse to any websites, nor connect to the Windows box via samba. The IP assigned is a 169.254 one.

Is there some setting somewhere that I missed to get this to work correctly? Do I need to manually set this up some how? Here are my network settings:

You've set up the connection correctly, but it looks like you haven't set the Windows machine to allow other computers on the ad-hoc network to access the internet. Here are the steps you need (shamelessly taken from this blog post):

Note: I assume that you have ensured that the Windows machine is connected to the internet through some non-wireless method. If not, you definitely need to do that first, otherwise there's nothing to share.

Click on the Windows icon, and type View network connections and press enter.
Identify the wired internet connection and the wireless card. Locate the wired internet connection and right click on it. Select Properties.
Click on the Sharing tab. Make sure the box Allow other users to connect through this computer's internet connection is checked.


Macbook Pro 2015 waking from sleep every few seconds My 2015 Macbook Pro loses charge rapidly while asleep (almost as fast as while it's awake and I'm using it). From looking around online, some people seem to have resolved this by resetting the PRAM - no luck. I checked the sleep settings and they seem to be normal. pmset output is:

> pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
 lidwake              1
 autopoweroff         1
 standbydelayhigh     86400
 autopoweroffdelay    28800
 standbydelaylow      10800
 standby              1
 proximitywake        0
 ttyskeepawake        1
 hibernatemode        3
 powernap             0
 gpuswitch            2
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 highstandbythreshold 50
 displaysleep         2
 sleep                2
 acwake               0
 halfdim              1
 tcpkeepalive         1
 disksleep            10

Disabling tcpkeepalive and turning off Find My Mac didn't help the issue. Turning off wifi before closing the lid to let it go into sleep mode still resulted in the same amount of lost charge. In the logs, there are entries like this every few seconds while the laptop is closed and theoretically should be asleep (from running log show --style syslog | fgrep "Wake reason"):

2020-05-21 15:20:41.355102-0400  localhost powerd[149]: [powerd:sleepWake] Wake reason: "<private>"  identity: "<private>"
2020-05-21 15:20:54.768976-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:20:54.768979-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:20:55.772516-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01)
2020-05-21 15:20:55.777431-0400  localhost powerd[149]: [powerd:sleepWake] Wake reason: "<private>"  identity: "<private>"
2020-05-21 15:21:11.717276-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:21:11.717279-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:21:12.594368-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01)
2020-05-21 15:21:12.605039-0400  localhost powerd[149]: [powerd:sleepWake] Wake reason: "<private>"  identity: "<private>"
2020-05-21 15:21:25.126875-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:21:25.126878-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleACPIPlatform) AppleACPIPlatformPower Wake reason: EC.DarkPME (Maintenance)
2020-05-21 15:21:26.007442-0400  localhost kernel[0]: (AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver) [HID] [ATC] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::processWakeReason Wake reason: Host (0x01)

I assume EC.DarkPME is the culprit here, but I can't figure out what it is or how to get rid of it (if that's the solution). I've seen this question over here, but I don't have bluetooth devices allowed to wake the computer. The computer's running Catalina 10.15.3. Any help would be very appreciated!

Edit: I forgot to add another very weird thing that's been happening: if I completely power off the computer and plug it into the charger, it turns back on. The lid is closed, but I can hear the startup chime and see the apple logo light up. When I open it afterwards, it's at the logon screen.

I had a similar issue with my 2015 Macbook pro 13. Even if I had turned off tcpkeepalive and power nap, the system was waking up from sleep. In one of my tests I realized that if I close the lid and enter sleep while the charger was plugged in, the system wakes up from sleep, because "Power Adapter" settings are left effective. Eventually, I had to turn off "Wake for Wi-Fi network access" and powernap for both Battery and the Power Adapter modes.

Just to test if this is the issue, can you try to first unplug the laptop from charge, and then close the lid to enter sleep, and see what happens?


Mac OS X (10.9.2) Terminal: Getting Weird Characters ~$â out of nowhere I am getting the following weird characters:

$â followed by a paragraph sign. See the below image for more detail:

Also note where the white cursor is: it's basically 'one-off' so it's tough to tell where the cursor actually is, and becomes quite frustrating when typing.

I generally work with Ruby on Rails and have NOT added anything recently out of the ordinary. This just started happening out of the blue.

Any ideas?

Mark, you are 100% right! I have no idea how those characters got into my /.bash_profile, but they did! So I just went in there and removed them and now all is working correctly. Thanks again!


Is there a way to automatically adjust EQ settings when the audio output changes? I have particular EQ settings I like to use for my speakers at home, however when I'm using my laptop speakers or Bluetooth headphones I prefer to have a flat EQ.  Is there a way to specify different EQ settings for each audio output and automatically switch to the correct setting when the audio output is changed?

Reading the current audio output gives "Built-in Output" for both headphones and internal speakers, however we need to be able to tell between headphones and speakers.  In order to do this, you can use code from this answer to create a program that checks whether headphones are plugged in or another audio output is in use:

#include <CoreAudio/CoreAudio.h>
#include <iostream>

void updateEQ() {
    AudioDeviceID defaultDevice = 0;
    UInt32 defaultSize = sizeof(AudioDeviceID);

    const AudioObjectPropertyAddress defaultAddr = {
        kAudioHardwarePropertyDefaultOutputDevice,
        kAudioObjectPropertyScopeGlobal,
        kAudioObjectPropertyElementMaster
    };

    AudioObjectGetPropertyData(kAudioObjectSystemObject, &defaultAddr, 0, NULL, &defaultSize, &defaultDevice);

    AudioObjectPropertyAddress property;
    property.mSelector = kAudioDevicePropertyDataSource;
    property.mScope = kAudioDevicePropertyScopeOutput;
    property.mElement = kAudioObjectPropertyElementMaster;

    UInt32 dataSourceId = 0;
    UInt32 dataSourceIdSize = sizeof(UInt32);

    AudioObjectGetPropertyData(defaultDevice, &property, 0, NULL, &dataSourceIdSize, &dataSourceId);

    if (dataSourceId == 'hdpn') {
        std::cout << "Changed to headphones" << std::endl;
        system("osascript <<path to speaker EQ script>>");
    } else {
        std::cout << "Changed to not headphones" << std::endl;
        system("osascript <<path to other EQ script>>");
    }
}

int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    updateEQ();
    return 0;
}

Each EQ script is then a simple AppleScript script that updates iTunes's EQ, for example the speaker EQ script is:

tell application "iTunes"
    set current EQ preset to (get first EQ preset whose name is "Speakers")
    set EQ enabled to true
end tell


MacBook Pro with Retina display - three external displays under Boot Camp Is it possible to drive three external displays (3x 22" inch monitors, each at 1680 x 1050) on my MacBook Pro with Retina display under BootCamp / Windows?

A couple of guys have shown that it works under OS X. Can this work under Windows as well?

I see no reason why you could not plug three external monitors into a Mac, whether it's running OS X, or Windows under bootcamp.

There are two Thunderbolt connectors and one HDMI connector, and they all work as video outputs - the driver should be able to handle a monitor plugged into each of these.

As the comment on the question mentions, Windows does not know how to handle retina displays all that well - but for external (non-retina) monitors it should not have any issues.


Crop video that has been taken the vertical way on iPhone I frequently capture video holding my phone as usual, which means vertically.
But when I want to watch it on a computer screen, I would like to have it full screen - even if it means loosing the top and bottom of the scene.

I'm sure there a lot of softwarz that do this on a mac but I wanted to be able to do it directlty in my picture library of my phone.

Is there an app that makes it ? Or is this an hiddent trick to do it with the Photo App?

no not really, you could find a third party app, doing this on a comp is easy however! why not use it in landscape to begin with? it drives me crazy when people film in portrait, why? because almost every screen you watch your media on is "landscape"


Display Entire Album Art Lock Screen iOS 11 So I have noticed that on iOS 11 my lockscreen displays like this now.

I would like to display the entire album art in full screen.  Is there a way to get the old behavior on the left maybe?

No definitely not with out a jailbreak.  There are several reddit threads about this.


Are all Notes.app notes stored in iCloud encrypted? This page makes it unclear:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

It notes "Encryption is available only when you use the latest iOS or macOS and upgrade your Notes app." - and the latest version of Notes app has a "password protect" option.

What I'm trying to figure out is in the latest version of Notes app, are all notes encrypted on Apple's servers, or just ones that are explicitly password protected?

Yes. All iCloud data is protected at rest minimally by encryption as described in the security white paper Apple publishes regularly.

  Each file is broken into chunks and encrypted by iCloud using AES-128 and a key derived from each chunk’s contents that utilizes SHA-256. The keys, and the file’s metadata, are stored by Apple in the user’s iCloud account. The encrypted chunks of the file are stored, without any user-identifying information, using third-party storage services, such as Amazon S3 and Windows Azure.

https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf - Page 44

iCloud Drive and CloudKit data have additional layer(s) of encryption / keys added, but for notes you get the described level of security where data is encrypted before it leaves the device and hits the network.

The local password feature is solely to prevent access of the note on your device(s) once the note is retrieved from the cloud.


There is a blue dot to the left on my screen when im on safari on my Ipad? Why does a blue dot appear only when im using safari on my Ipad? I havent seen it before and has anyone noticed that dot to the left of the screen on an Ipad?

I have heard of such a mysterious blue dot before. In those cases it disappeared after a reboot of the iPad - so you might want to try that!


how to stop background app refreshing in iOS9 I'm using the latest version of iOS on iphone 5s  (till the date of this post) and I want to stop apps like whatsapp and so from refreshing in the background but without stopping notifications of these apps so that I can get notifications ONLY when running these apps.
When I go to the app settings in SETTINGS and disable ( Background App Refresh ) I still get notifications when someone msg me .
Does that means the apps still working in the background ?

There is a difference between background app refresh and push notifications. Push notifications have been with the iPhone almost since inception. If you want to disable those, go to the Settings app and then Notifications. Choose the app in question and disable all notifications.

If you have disabled Background App Refresh, then that is set and it is disabled. There shouldn't be any need to do anything else and battery life will be maintained. Push notifications cause minimal battery loss and apply to all apps the same. As described above, you can disable those, still.


Disable Command-W Everywhere There was a question on Disable Command-W in the terminal but is there a way to determine Command-W globally on MacOS? I keep accidentally closing my applications.

System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> App Shortcuts

Just add a new CMD-W shortcut should override the actual behavior.

Edit: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7634486


Does FileMaker Server 16 prevent use of the system apache in macOS? I'm running FileMaker Server 16 ("FMS") on macOS High Sierra, without the macOS Server package. I set the FMS web server components up on ports 8080 and 8443 because I wanted to continue running other web services on ports 80 and 443.

I notice that FMS runs /usr/sbin/httpd (i.e. Apache) under its fmserver user, with configuration at /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/conf/httpd.conf.

I was trying to configure the system Apache (at /etc/apache2/httpd.conf and using apachectl start), but couldn't get it working at all, even with the default config. apachectl -t said Syntax OK. There were no error messages or logs, and connections to port 80 were refused.

The only relevant thing I could find on the web is a report of the FMS installer refusing to install if Apache is running as part of macOS Server.

I was able to serve on port 80 using nginx installed via brew.

Is the fact that FMS is running apache preventing me from running it under another user?

I know that it's possible to run both the system instance of Apache in addition to the FileMaker Server instance in version 16, provided they run on different ports, so I guess that's a 'No' to your question.

For a better answer, I suggest you post the question at the community forum where FileMaker support staff also chimes in where appropriate. You can also report this as an issue there and get swift support from them.

https://community.filemaker.com

https://community.filemaker.com/community/discussions/report-an-issue


Is there a way to log outbound HTTP requests that pass through my Airport Extreme? My wireless router is an Airport Extreme.  I would like to log all outbound HTTP requests (leaving my Mac for an internet web server) for later review.  Is that possible?

I would suggest you to install Squid  HTTP Proxy through Brew Package manager

Squid is a HTTP Proxy and will log and cache all Browser requests passing through it.Since we are installing Squid on your Mac, it will log only the one's passing through it.

Procedure :

Install Brew using Terminal.app
 Make sure Brew is ready to be used by used by running following command:

$ brew doctor

If not ready follow the instructions.

(Generally this requires you to upgrade XCode to latest version.

Install Squid

$ brew update && brew install squid

Point your Browser  to use Proxy localhost:3128


Is there a way I can customize the application names in the Application folder? I have so many apps in the Applications folder that I forget what some of them do.  Is there a way to customize the name to be more descriptive, other than renaming the app?  I am afraid that if I rename the app it might not work, like if the app checks to see if it's name has been altered.

you are right changing the names may have unforeseen consequences later.

You can make a new folder somewhere. Named Apps. Or what ever you want to name it.

Then create alises to the applications Placing the aliases in the new folder.
You can name the aliases what ever you like and have the new folder in the dock.

1, Create the Aliases. Drag Applications to your new folder.

They should automatically choose to be alias files because you are dragging from the Applications folder.
The cursor should become a curved arrow while you are dragging. If not then hold down the alt+cmd keys to make the copies allies files.

2, Now rename the alias files what ever you want. This will not affect the real files.

I have just named some of them here

3, Place the Folder in the Dock. And now when you go to it the Alias file will look like the real apps. Have your names and open the real apps.

You can Also just place any of the Alias files directly on the Dock.


Colloquy + Google Talk = Possible? Has anyone tried to get Colloquy to work with Google Talk? Have searched online, but couldn't find any useful articles.

PS. Not sure if this is the right place to ask for such a question.

I'm afraid it's not going to work. Colloquy is a client for the IRC protocol (also SILC and ICB, both of which are rarely used). Google Talk uses XMPP (aka Jabber) for its text chat, which Colloquy doesn't support.

If you want a 3rd party client for Google Talk, anything that supports XMPP/Jabber will do, but keep in mind this works only for the text chat. The VoIP capabilities require the Google client or website. iChat includes a Google Talk account option, you just need to fill in your Google ID and password:

Another popular Mac option is Adium, a multi-protocol IM client, that will do Google Talk as well as AIM, MSN, Yahoo and others.


app won't run when DVD is inserted I have an older iMac running El Capitan.  I want to run a shell script when a DVD is inserted.  I used Script Editor to create an Applescript that runs the shell script.  The Applescript is just

do shell script "sh /Users/shannon/bin/myscript"

I used System Preferences > CDs and DVDs to configure the action when a DVD is inserted to run the Applescript.

It didn't work, DVD Player still runs and the script doesn't.

I used Script Editor to save the script as an application and configured it to run the application.

Still didn't work.

I copied the application to /Applications and changed it to run that copy of the application.

Still didn't work.

I changed the ownership of the application to root (sudo chown -R root /Applications/myapp).

Still didn't work.

No matter what I do, my script/app won't run, and DVD Player runs instead.

What am I doing wrong?

If I run the app by double-clicking on it, it runs correctly and invokes my shell script, so I know the app itself is working correctly.

Do I need to do something special in or to my application to convince the OS that it's capable of running when a DVD is inserted?

(This is very similar to this much older question, which has no answer.)

I tried changing the configuration to open Text Edit when a DVD is inserted, and that didn't work either, so the problem has nothing to do with my program or my script.  It appears that this feature just doesn't work at all.

I restarted my system and now this is working, it's invoking my app when the DVD is inserted.  There's nothing in the instructions suggesting that a restart is required, but that seems to be the key to making this working.  I didn't test whether logging out and logging back in would be sufficient.


Chrome: When menubar displays, webpage shifts down All of a sudden, a couple weeks ago, I've noticed that whenever I hover my mouse at the top of my chrome browser while in fullscreen, when the top menu bar appears it shifts the whole webpage a couple inches down. It's a really clumsy interface experience - when reading ebooks on google play books, to accidentally hover my mouse to the top of the webpage causes the page to shift and subsequently reformat me to a new page in the book.

The menu bar used to just come down over the webpage, covering whatever inch or two it took up. Now the whole thing reformats. Any solutions to this?

I understand this is is similar to other threads, but what I'm looking for is not for the menu bar to be there permanently, just that when I hover my mouse, it doesn't reformat the page as it is now doing.

I have added a GIF, hopefully you can see the effect I'm talking about. The recording isn't perfect but, basically, no overlay. Just slides the whole webpage down.

I just tested it on my Chrome Version 69.0.3497.100 (Official Build) (64-bit)

on OS X High Sierra 10.13.6

and it works just fine !

Update your Chrome and OS X

and disable Chrome add on's to test.

Go to chrome://flags/ and Reset to Defaults.


How do I launch an application with a specific JDK? I'm on Sierra, and I have one legacy application that requests Java 6 to run. I have Java 7 installed, and I've also installed Java SE 6 from Apple, but I'm not sure how to force the application to use it.

When I launch it now, it does not launch properly, although the process seems to have started:

$ ps -ef | grep Java
501   572     1   0 11:29PM ??         0:04.63 /Applications/Memoir'44 Online.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

There may be some subtleties with JavaApplicationStub and plists that I don't understand, but in any case the application never gets beyond initial startup (drawing a blank window), and does not function.

There's a support article from that game's developer addressing an issue where "the game freezes at start-up (blank screen)". It involves installing Java 1.6 (as you've done) and manually updating a library file, libjogl_awt.jnilib. However that article says the issue occurs when "[upgrading] to High Sierra", so this might not be what's causing your issue if you're still running Sierra.


iPhone keeps losing signal right after picking up a call We have an old iPhone 5 at work that is used as a general incoming-calls phone. It’s used for very little other than just making and receiving calls.

In general, its reception has always been good and stable, with no unexpected problems.

Lately, however, an issue has started repeating with annoying frequency: when we receive a call and pick up the phone, the conversation goes smoothly for about 20–30 seconds or so, then you hear three short, rapid bleeps (‘doot-doot-doot’), and the connection is dropped. A few seconds later, the signal strength indicator at the top of the screen says “No signal” for about 10–20 seconds. Then full signal comes back and you can continue to make calls as usual.

I haven’t experienced this issue when calling out—only when receiving calls. When calls are not being made, signal strength also seems to be normal (at least I haven’t noticed it cutting out at other times).

The actual signal strength is excellent, so it’s not because of dodgy coverage. We have about ten other phones, both iPhones and Androids, that manage just fine, and this is a recent issue with this one phone as well. Wifi signal/connection is not lost.

I’ve tried Googling for a solution to this issue, but all I’m able to find are countless reports of either people who can’t receive calls at all on their phones (which we can), or people whose phones just generally have bad reception/signal (which ours doesn’t).

I’ve tried toggling basically all the reception/signal/connection-related settings I could find, and the phone has been restarted and switched off/on several times, with no effect.

Is this a known issue that my weak Google-fu is just unable to unearth? And more importantly, is there a solution for it?

In order of my preference to get things fixed, you'll likely need help from someone else to tell which.

The battery is failing and can't provide the extra power once the call comes in. The radio may be fine at idle listening, but when you call it could need to boost power to get the signal to the tower for transmission from the phone to the tower.
The phone is on an overloaded cell tower and once the call is connected - the cell tower wants to hand off your active call to a less loaded tower that has different distance / signal strength. (The overload would be non-idle lines - towers can handle many devices that are idle - but need to hand off active transmitters and downloaders when bandwidth caps are reached.)
There's something about that specific radio where the tower is cutting the calls short.
All of the above might be summarized as "call the carrier" in question for more help

The battery might be diagnosed by Apple or you might need the carrier to see the transmit power on your phone when this happens. The cell tower shift would also need the carrier to help. I suppose field test mode might work as well to help diagnose this, but I'd start with the carrier first. The last is 100% the carrier that needs to look over the patterns of disconnect. They surely can trace why 5 calls all drop from one piece of gear if you ask.


How to switch Photos library to browse to upload pictures I have two libraries in Photos on my Mac. When I browse to upload images to a photo-sharing website, or email, I can't locate the library that the newer pictures are in. It only shows one of the libraries. How do I get it to browse in both libraries? I don't see a way to choose more than one library.

Photos can have any number of Libraries, but by default, it opens the last open library when you click on the Photos icon. To open other Libraries, hold down the Option key when clicking on the Photos icon. This will pop-up a dialog, showing you the available Photos libraries.

Photos sync's new photos from iCloud (say from your iPhone or iPad) to only one of the libraries, and that library must be declared as the System library. Perhaps you are not seeing new photos because the library that is opening is not the System Library.

You will see which Library is the System Library when you hold down the Option key and open Photos: that library will have 'System Photo Library' next to it. This one will have your new photos in it.

If you want a different library to be the System Library, simply open that other library (as mentioned above), then in Photos, choose Preferences>General> Use as System Library. This will cause your iCloud photos to sync with this Library.

There is no a way to browse all images across all libraries, each are separate. Photos does not have a way to open multiple libraries at the same time. If you only want one library, you can simply import photos from the other library into your System Library, by using the Import function, and navigating to the other Photo library, typically found in your Pictures folder.


How can I delete photos from the photo library in iOS 8? I'm using an iPhone with iOS 8.4, and a Mac with Yosemite using the Photos app and syncing with iTunes. iCloud Photo Library is turned off on both the Mac and the iPhone.

After syncing with iTunes there are photos on the iPhone that should not be there; they are not included in the "selected albums" list in iTunes. Some of them are no longer in my Photos library (on the Mac) at all. But after many syncs they still appear on the iPhone.

When I look at the offending photos there is no trash can icon (like there would be if they were in the Camera Roll), and tapping the Edit button brings up the message "This photo is not editable".

How can I delete these rogue photos? An ideal solution would be one that actually "syncs" my phone to the selected albums list in iTunes (ie. removing any photos that aren't in that list). But a way to manually delete photos would also be appreciated.

Edit: None of the photos in question were ever shared with iCloud sharing. They do not appear in any Shared Albums, and turning off iCloud sharing has no effect.

The only way that I have been able to delete photos that didn't have the trash can icon is with an app called Cleen.  Available from the Apple app store. I don't remember if it was free or not.  Once downloaded, pull the app up and you will see all your photo albums listed.  Click on the album that contains the photos you want to delete, which is probably the All Photos album.  When the next screen pops up, you will see the first photo in that album in the center of the screen.  Then you will see a little row of blank squares going across the top and bottom.  All you have to do is swipe the photo shown up, if you want to keep it, or swipe it down, if you want to trash it.  Keep going through the album until you get to the photos that you want to delete.  (Just in case you have some photos that you are not sure if you want to keep or delete, you can swipe them to the left and decide on them later)  Once you get those photos that you want deleted in the bottom row, hit the trash can.  The next screen will show you all the photos that are being deleted and if all is okay, hit Delete at top right.  Then a message will pop up saying "Allow Cleen to delete photo from album" and then you click Delete All.  It sounds like a lot, but it is really easy.  Doesn't take hardly no time.  I hope this helps you.  This is the only way that I have been able to delete photos when there was no trash can option available.


What might break Mavericks "look up" gesture? On my main OSX account, the define gesture on my trackpad (three finger gap) recently stopped working. It's checked in System Preferences, but not functioning. This affects both my magic trackpad and my MacBook's built in trackpad.

So far, I've tried:

Deleted com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist and com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist.
Deleted and re-paired the trackpad.

This isn't a hardware issue, as an another user account on the same computer works fine.

Has anyone seen this? What might be wrong?

Although I never found which preference file was responsible, deleting all of them (I'd already tried com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist and com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist) restored the gesture.


How can I automate pasting of password into SecurityAgent? On OS X 10.8.x I had an Automator service set up to paste a password from clipboard into the password window that pops up for mounting an encrypted disk.

I don't wish to store the password in my keychain, and it is long and tedious to type out.

I never got the applescript within the Automator service quite right. It would generate an error, but it still got the job done (i.e. the password was pasted). Since upgrading to Yosemite it seems the script in the Automator service doesn't work at all. The error generated indicates "window 1" doesn't exist.

Here is what I had:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "SecurityAgent"
set value of text field 1 of window 1 to (the clipboard)
if exists (text field 2 of window 1) then
    set value of text field 2 of window 1 to (the clipboard)
end if
click button 1 of group 1 of window 1
end tell

I don't recall where I got this from, but some of it may have come from here

I know very little about AppleScript, and would appreciate some help fine tuning (or completely rewriting) this script so that it does the following:

Checks there is data in the clipboard
Checks the SecurityAgent window is active (or in some way ensures it can be interacted with, to avoid generating an error)
Pastes the content of clipboard
Clicks the 'Unlock' button

I don't know if it is possible, but it would be handy if it also brought 1Password to the foreground and activated "Copy password" (which is a menu option in the "Items" menu). I can, however, have Automator actions perform that task. But it would be nice to see (for learning) how to achieve that with AppleScript.

With thanks to input from markhunte and tetsujin, I came up with the following solution. With all things considered, the exact requirements evolved to the following:

Ensure a SecurityAgent dialog is actually present so that script doesn't run otherwise.
Reposition the SecurityAgent dialog because it can readily get in the way in its default position.
Display a message which will stay on top of 1Password, but is not generated through 1password, instructing the user to select the correct item in 1Password
Automatically copy the password for current 1Password item
Delay the script long enough for the password to actually end up in the clipboard, before the script attempts pasting it.
Paste the clipboard into the SecurityAgent, and submit it.

I came up with the following solution:

set appName to "SecurityAgent"
set passApp to "1Password 5" (* set this to the name of your password manager *)

tell application "System Events"
     if not (exists window 1 of process appName) then -- test if SecurityAgent window exists
         return -- abort if SecurityAgent window does not exist
     end if
 end tell
 tell application "System Events"
    set position of window 1 of process appName to {10, 10} -- move SecurityAgent window out of the way
 end tell
 tell application passApp
      activate -- bring 1Password to the forefront, run it if not running
 end tell
 tell application "System Events"
    tell application "SystemUIServer"
      set answer to display dialog "Make sure correct 1Password item is actively selected (i.e. click it again if it was previously selected), then click “Continue” to proceed." buttons {"Continue"}
    end tell
    tell process passApp
    (* If you are not using 1Password, you may need to change the menu item clicks, below, to whatever is correct in your particular password manager *)
        click menu item "copy password" of menu "item" of menu bar 1
        delay 1
        set appData to the clipboard
    end tell
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process appName
            set value of text field 1 of window 1 to appData
            if exists (text field 2 of window 1) then
                set value of text field 2 of window 1 to appData
                click button 1 of window 1
            else
                click button 2 of window 1
            end if
         end tell
     end tell
end tell

I made the whole script conditional on the presence of SecurityAgent, because this script will be assigned to a keyboard shortcut, and if that key combination is inadvertently selected by the user, I'd rather they not be bothered with an unexpected script process.

If there are ways in which I could refine or improve this solution, please advise. I am very happy to be learning more about AppleScript.

FINAL UPDATES: Had to make one final change. It turned out the button numbers for CANCEL and OK change around from the SecurityAgent instance for creating an encrypted disk/disk-image, and for when opening an encrypted disk/disk-image. So I had to modify the IF THEN statement right near the end to handle each scenario.


how to make Terminal (unix) use Microsoft Outlook instead of Apple Mail We use Microsoft Outlook at work so I need to be able to use Microsoft Outlook instead of Apple's Mail program when I invoke it in Bash. Can anyone help me associate programs inside of Bash?

To activate Outlook from Bash (assuming normal install):

open /Applications/Microsoft\ Office\ 2011/Microsoft\ Outlook.app

What did you want to do with it beyond that?