
Hard to discover tips and apps for macOS - trishume
https://thume.ca/2020/09/04/macos-tips/
======
luizfelberti
_Does anyone have a tip to keep macOS from phoning home when you run unsigned
binaries?_

I almost locked up my entire computer this week, presumably because of this...
here's the story for that:

I had setup unbound listening on 127.0.0.1:53 as the only DNS resolver for all
network interfaces, so that I hijack several responses that I might want to
(e.g. adnet sinkholes) and forward the rest to Google/Cloudflare over TLS.

When I rebooted the Mac, the entire computer was so fucked that I panicked
cause I thought my SSD was failing. Turns out unbound failed to start so all
DNS was down. I suspect it to be the "phoning home" because when I opened the
Terminal, running `ps aux | grep unbound` took like 5 seconds to return
anything (as did everything else that tried to run), and that behavior has
been reported by other users as Gatekeeper's Phone Home checks being at fault.

 _So that 's why I was wondering if anyone has found out how to keep macOS
from doing this (preferably without disabling all of SIP), cause that'd be one
hell of a tip..._

~~~
xenadu02
First: binaries that ship with the system are not included in this because
they're platform binaries. Tools like ps or grep won't be included.

Second: once the binary has been checked for malware it won't be checked
again.

Third: if the connection fails immediately the malware check is skipped
immediately. So if you are offline or otherwise force the relevant server DNS
names to be rejected immediately it shouldn't wait for any timeout.

Fourth: anything you build with the Xcode UI is automatically excluded since
you are using the user interface and explicitly asking to run "unknown" code.

Fifth: Anything listed as a Developer Tool in Privacy will have its child
processes excluded from GateKeeper scanning. This command will make the
category show up and put Terminal in it:

"sudo spctl developer-mode enable-terminal"

Once it shows up there go to Privacy and check the box to enable Terminal.

If you run CI or automation you can do the same by putting your Jenkins or
other binary in the list, causing all subprocesses to be excluded.

~~~
luizfelberti
I was partly aware of many of these, and like I said I'm not 100% sure if this
really is the culprit. Your comment is a solid reference on this topic though
(better than most of what's on SO), but here's a few comments regarding my
specific incident...

 _On your first point:_ Was aware of this, and this is the part that is most
puzzling about the whole incident to me. I just checked my $PATH and I am
indeed running the system binaries, so not sure how to explain this one.

 _On your second point:_ Was aware of this too, but I assume a lot of the
slowness comes from JITted programs, for which there will be phoning-home for
any new executable memory page (AFAIK), and the policy decision caching
semantics for things that are not on disk are not as clear to me.

 _On your third point:_ While this is true for the connection that gets
established to Apple's servers, I think this might have had to do with DNS
being UDP based by default (AFAIK), so there is no explicit refusal, and it
hangs on a timeout because of that, even though DNS can be done over TCP as
well. Haven't investigated this though, just a hunch...

 _On your fourth and fifth points:_ I don't use XCode, but my terminal (Kitty)
was already on the Developer Tool list when this happened, which makes the
situation with ps and grep even more mysterious to me...

~~~
xenadu02
#2: JIT pages are not run through an online scan

#3: Sorry I meant use hosts to skip DNS resolution and just map them to
127.0.0.1 directly (assuming you aren't running an https server locally). The
names are ocsp.apple.com and api.apple-cloudkit.com.

Clearly something was trying to resolve hostnames but it may not be related to
GateKeeper malware scanning. TBH a tarpit DNS server is not a case I have
personally thought about before but is interesting to consider!

------
newsbinator
Spotify flashes non-stop (the left sidebar and the bottom control strip, but
interestingly not the main app window).

> Quartz Debug: There are some apps that reduce your battery life in an
> insidious way where it doesn’t show as CPU usage for their process but as
> increased WindowServer CPU usage. If your WindowServer process CPU usage is
> above maybe 6-10% when you’re not doing anything, some app in the background
> is probably spamming 60fps animation updates. As far as I know you can only
> figure out which app is at fault by getting the Quartz Debug app from
> Apple’s additional developer tools, enabling flash screen updates (and no
> delay after flash), then going to the overview mode (four finger swipe up)
> and looking for flashing. This same problem can also occur on Linux and
> Windows but I don’t know how much power it saps there.

~~~
saagarjha
If you're using Quartz Debug, you probably want to set these as well:

    
    
      defaults write com.apple.QuartzDebug QuartzDebugPrivateInterface -bool YES
      defaults write com.apple.QuartzDebug QDDockShowFramemeterHistory -bool YES
      defaults write com.apple.QuartzDebug QDDockShowNumericalFps -bool YES
      defaults write com.apple.QuartzDebug QDShowWindowInfoOnMouseOver -bool YES
    

The first one lets the window list work, which Apple in its infinite wisdom
has decided you as a non-Apple engineer don't need. The middle two are things
you can set from inside the app but show useful things in the dock icon. And
the last lets you identify which app a window belongs to (press ⌃⌥ while
hovering over it), which is very useful when you have a random thing pop up
and you don't know how to get rid of them.

~~~
torarnv
Thank you!

------
doctoboggan
> cmd+shift+4 pops up a crosshair to take a screenshot of a region.

If you hit space at after invoking the crosshairs then you can take full
window screenshots. This mode is nice for marketing material as it also
captures the drop shadow and rounded corners rendered properly as a
transparent png.

~~~
hibbelig
After cmd-shift-4 and space, a simple copies the window with its shadow. Some
modified allows to copy just the window. But I forgot which modifier.

~~~
jasomill
Hold down Option while clicking the window to exclude the drop shadow from the
screenshot.

As a vastly more general rule, hold down Option while clicking _anything_ on a
Mac to get the alternate/advanced form of the click action ( _e.g.,_ try
Option-clicking the various status icons on the right end of the menu bar).

~~~
lostgame
>> Hold down Option while clicking the window to exclude the drop shadow from
the screenshot.

You just taught an exclusively-MacOS user of 15+ years a new trick! Thank you!
:) I often marvel at how fantastic this OS truly is.

------
lunixbochs
If you use multiple monitors, and you're frustrated with the cmd-tab app
switcher only appearing on the last monitor you touched the dock, this will
make it show up on all monitors.

    
    
      defaults write com.apple.Dock appswitcher-all-displays -bool true
      killall Dock

~~~
jawngee
You're a good person.

That's been bugging me for years, but just a tad under bugging me enough that
I'd take the time to solve it.

Thank you!

~~~
saagarjha
Have a couple more, although they are purely eye candy:

    
    
      defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string suck
      defaults write com.apple.dock slow-motion-allowed -bool YES

------
ViViDboarder
I’ve been a long time user of Dash. There is a Linux alternative called Zeal
for those that use multiple platforms.

I use Alfred quite a bit as well, though not as an alternative to Spotlight. I
use it for automations via workflows instead. Turning on or off VPNs, sending
files, converting date times, reading 2FA codes off my Yubikey, etc. I haven’t
found a great Linux alternative for this. Ideally I’d have something that
lasts me reuse my workflows that I’ve written.

Not mentioned in the article is Better Touch Tool[1]. I’ve had this since the
original Intel MBP and it’s been incredible for making the fancy trackpads and
touch bars actually useful. I’ve got a Pomodoro timer, Dark Mode toggle, Do
Not Disturb toggle (also automated by ControlPlane), and lots of simpler app
shortcuts.

I responded to someone else about ControlPlane a bit further down, but I have
it automate things like DND when I start a call from my Mac.

[1] [https://folivora.ai/](https://folivora.ai/)

------
hardwaregeek
Having emacs commands by default on native apps is a really nice detail. It's
nearly impossible to do on Windows since there's already a bunch of shortcuts
using control. On Linux it's definitely doable but you have to install a
keyboard shortcuts app, get an emacs profile, etc.

If only reddit didn't use C-b to insert bold text, it'd make navigating in
text boxes a lot easier.

~~~
m463
If firefox had a setting, maybe per-site, to prevent text boxes from "helpful"
editing key overrides it would be _wonderful_.

I have to use a web application that uses CKEditor for text boxes.

And just like you - the most annoying thing in the world - j I get: control-b
is bold instead of back one character (one of my most commonly used
keystrokes)

The other annoying one is control-k pops up a link dialog.

I tried to figure out how to override or disable it, but never got very far.

------
chime
Author says Alfred is marginally better than Spotlight but I use it for so
many different things. Doing quick math is a very common function for me. My
favorite hidden trick is cmd+L which displays the typed text in HUGE fonts, so
someone across the room can read it.

~~~
scarlac
A few tips for Spotlight that made me stop using apps like Quicksilver and
Alfred:

1\. Typing something and pressing CMD+B will open a browser and do a Google
search for that

2\. Typing math works now

3\. You can change your Spotlight preferences to not include files you don't
wanna search on, essentially always showing apps (if you just want it do be an
app launcher)

Alfred does a lot more than this, but for me these were the key automation
features I needed to stop using it.

~~~
rgovostes
Spotlight’s math support is very rudimentary. I think I even found a bug in it
recently trying to use “1e9” scientific notation.

I’ve found Google has the best calculator feature, which supports complex
unit-aware inputs like “6 gigabytes / (7.1 mb/sec)”. Even Wolfram Alpha seems
to get confused with some simple inputs.

~~~
johnwalkr
I reach for my physical calculator that is always with me. Seems weird as it's
less convenient that using spotlight in the moment and larger than my iphone
11. Just never got out of the habit.

------
eyesee
Surprised no one has mentioned QuickLook. In Finder, select a file (document,
image, movie, etc.) and tap the space bar to bring up QuickLook. You’ll see a
full preview of that document instantly. The preview window follows your
focus, so you can use mouse arrow keys to navigate between files, etc and see
an updated preview. Also works in Open dialogs, Mail attachments and
elsewhere.

~~~
trishume
I briefly mention the spacebar shortcut in the article but it does indeed
deserve more explanation. One of my favorite macOS file browsing features for
sure, miss it all the time on Linux, especially the part where it follows your
focus when you use the arrow keys. Great for looking through large folders of
poorly-named PDFs for the right thing.

~~~
read_if_gay_
If you’re looking for text, pdfgrep works pretty well too.

------
ladberg
I'll add one of my favorite ones: you can do Option-Command-C to copy the path
of a file to the clipboard (if you need to use it somewhere that doesn't
support dragging to paste a path).

~~~
mindfulhack
This just made me able to de-bloat my macOS by removing the 'PathSnagger 2'
app from my system! Thank you! :)

To add to this marvellous shortcut I will now be using very frequently:

Right click on the file in finder, then hold the Option key and you'll see the
copy command change from "Copy [file]" to "Copy [file] as Pathname".

------
WantonQuantum
My tip:

System Preferences -> Desktop & Screen Saver -> Screen Saver -> Hot Corners ->
Bottom Left Corner (or whichever you prefer) -> Put Display To Sleep (or Lock
Screen if you prefer).

~~~
kmundnic
You can also lock the screen with control + command + Q. I always bump into
the corners so I prefer a key combination.

~~~
selrond
If you press ⌘ when selecting hot corner action you can make it so assigned
hot corner only activates when holding ⌘

~~~
xanathar
Mind. Blown.

(seriously, this is a game changer for me, thanks!)

------
evadne
I have a few favourites

ControlPlane
[https://github.com/dustinrue/ControlPlane](https://github.com/dustinrue/ControlPlane)

Divvy [https://mizage.com/divvy/](https://mizage.com/divvy/)

Stay [https://cordlessdog.com/stay/](https://cordlessdog.com/stay/)

~~~
AnonHP
Looks like ControlPlane is not actively maintained now. Last pull request
merge was a year ago, with many issues and some more pull requests open.

~~~
mikewhy
Someone has a fork that gets it working with later versions of macOS, but it
still has some worts. Very sad cause it's a brilliant little tool.

[https://github.com/PBMacDev/ControlPlane/tree/mojave](https://github.com/PBMacDev/ControlPlane/tree/mojave)
[https://github.com/dustinrue/ControlPlane/issues/501](https://github.com/dustinrue/ControlPlane/issues/501)

------
dschuessler
To add some shortcuts that I use regularly but don't appear on the list:

\- Ctrl+Cmd+Space brings up a Unicode-Char-Picker

\- Shift+Alt+Cmd+V pastes from your clipboard without formatting from the
source

\- Shift+Fn+Ctrl+Power shuts off the display

~~~
spurgu
For shutting off the display (locking) I use Shift+Ctrl+Power (not Fn). Or are
the two somehow different?

~~~
laurent92
Ctrl+Cmd+Q = locks the screen, Cmd+Alt+Power = locks and sleep. It seems there
are a lot of variations with slight details.

~~~
astrocat
This right here is what I've been waiting for all these years...

------
adamnemecek
I'll add another one, if you have a file dialog open, hit Command+Shift+G to
open a dialog that let's you type in the path. Useful if you are going back
and forth between terminal and some GUI app and some path is in your
clipboard.

~~~
saagarjha
You can also use tab completion in said dialog.

~~~
layoutIfNeeded
And tilde also works for your home.

------
eric-hu
Does anyone know of a way to enable keyboard control of menus on Touch Bar
MacBooks?

There’s the keyboard preference which I have enabled, but it doesn’t behave
the same as my non Touch Bar MacBook. I can keyboard-interact with
confirmation dialogs on my 2012 MacBook to hit Ok or Cancel. On my 2019, I
must use the trackpad or the Touch Bar. I’ve been googling for a fix or even a
bug report but it’s a surprisingly hard thing to google for.

~~~
extra88
Do you mean “Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls?” That’s
in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

~~~
eric-hu
That’s what I have enabled. That setting behaves differently between Touch Bar
and non Touch Bar macs. On non Touch Bar Macs, you can hit space or enter to
interact with a pop up dialog. On Touch Bar Macs, the tab key skips over
certain UI elements as if they don’t exist. “Conveniently”, those elements are
on the Touch Bar.

~~~
addandsubtract
I'm not sure if this solves your problem, because I'm still on a non-TB Mac,
but you can use CMD + [first letter] to select dialog options. For example, if
you're closing an app and are asked if you want to save an open file, the
dialog might have "Yes" preselected, but also let you choose "Don't save". If
you hit CMD + D it will choose the "Don't save" option. Same thing for
something that might say "All files" you can hit CMD + A to select it.

~~~
eric-hu
I just took some time to try this and it didn’t work. I think the Touch Bar
acts as another device and UI prompts get forwarded to them. Thank you for the
suggestion though.

------
macinjosh
My favorite is this:

You can drag the Spotlight search bar anywhere on your screen. But if you want
to restore it to the default position long tap/click on the Spotlight icon in
the menu bar and it will snap back.

~~~
antipaul
Wow, how did you discover the long tap/click to restore it...

------
totetsu
So long as we are sharing.. looking through my shell history:

organize windows without using a mouse.
[https://github.com/eczarny/spectacle](https://github.com/eczarny/spectacle)

stop accidentally navigating back in chrome with the touchpad.

    
    
       defaults write com.google.Chrome AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool FALSE
    

Something about enabling darkmode?

    
    
       defaults write com.google.inputmethod.Japanese.Tool.DictionaryTool NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance 0
    

show hidden files in finder?

    
    
       defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
    

Disable attention seeking app bouncing animation, for those of us sensitive to
these things..

    
    
       defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
    
    

If you run dnsmasq, you can add addn-hosts=/etc/dnsmasq-hosts-blocking/ to the
your dnsmasq.conf. In that folder you can put files from
[https://github.com/unixsheikh/dnsmasq-
blacklist](https://github.com/unixsheikh/dnsmasq-blacklist) and
[https://github.com/adversarialtools/apple-
telemetry](https://github.com/adversarialtools/apple-telemetry) to try and
block apple and others telemetry .. but apple just seems to get around it by
using, _x_.apple.com.akadns.net or _x_.apple-dns.net

~~~
krackers
I think that darkmode is applicable for Google's Japanese Input IME app (which
I didn't even know existed!)
[https://www.google.co.jp/ime/](https://www.google.co.jp/ime/)

~~~
totetsu
I think that one didn't work to enable darkmode. I use the google IME so I can
use the same dictionaries as i do with linux mozc. You can have a dictionary
with the reading and english meaning of words, that pops up when selecting
them, also lots of ascii emojis. I have a memo about it here.
[https://become.radioac.dev/posts/terminal-
tools/#language](https://become.radioac.dev/posts/terminal-tools/#language)
(*^_^)ﾉどもっ

------
uniqueid
Cmd+Shift+Period : toggles 'shows hidden files' in Finder

~~~
seriocomic
was literally looking for this only 2 hours ago...

------
mindfulhack
My tip:

Make your Cmd-Tab do everything you've ever wanted it to do that it currently
can't:

[https://github.com/lwouis/alt-tab-macos](https://github.com/lwouis/alt-tab-
macos)

~~~
gauchojs
Tried now and the .5s delay that happens sometimes already kills this for
me...

------
Gys
Maybe my biggest improvement: Paste. A graphical clipboard history manager.
Still cannot understand that I did not come up with this myself.

~~~
seriocomic
Worth it for the Setapp subscription alone!

------
peterhil
Some hard to find tips that are a bit old (tested on OS X Lion), but most of
them still work: [https://software.clapper.org/cheat-sheets/mac-
os-x.html](https://software.clapper.org/cheat-sheets/mac-os-x.html)

For me, an immediately useful tip was hiding user login for Git user.

I would add the following tips to above article:

# System resource usage

* USE Method: Mac OS X Performance Checklist: [http://www.brendangregg.com/USEmethod/use-macosx.html](http://www.brendangregg.com/USEmethod/use-macosx.html)

# Emacs users

* For Emacs users with their config in version control, I would recommend downloading the latest Emacs.app version 27.1 instead of using Aquamacs, because Aquamacs has a bunch of customizations that do not play so well with original Emacs.

[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/)

# Printing

* If you have Acrobat or Acrobat Professional installed, add an Adobe PDF printer from System Preferences > Printers and scanners, so you can make better PDF files by printing from any application.

* You can save anything as PDF by choosing "Save as PDF" from the dropdown on the lower left corner on any print dialog.

* Open CUPS web UI by opening the following URL in a web browser:

[http://localhost:631/](http://localhost:631/)
[http://localhost:631/printers/](http://localhost:631/printers/)

You may need to enable the web user interface by issuing:

cupsctl WebInterface=yes

Warning! Be sure that you are behind NAT or a firewall so as not to expose the
web UI to internet!

------
ChrisMarshallNY
Weird. No DefaultFolderX. That is an awesome tool.

Also no Little Snitch.

I have had problems with iStat Menu. I _really_ want it to work, but it always
introduces random crashes into my system. Every couple of years, I try it
again, but it hasn’t stabilized yet.

~~~
dundercoder
FWIW iStat menus has been working flawlessly for me for months.

~~~
ChrisMarshallNY
Nope. Still causing problems.

It's messing with my displays (I use an eGPU and an LG Ultrawide 49-incher),
and I am getting more crashes than usual.

It's def iStat Menus. When I removed it, all the issues stopped.

------
Hammershaft
Swish, it's a clever window management app designed for speed with touchpads.

[https://highlyopinionated.co/swish/](https://highlyopinionated.co/swish/)

------
johnmw
I'll throw in another:

For a cool "hacker" (and more powerful in many ways) alternative to spotlight,
install iTerm2, and activate a drop down quake style hotkey window. [1]

Then install broot, which is a fantastic command line search tool. [2]

[1] [https://www.iterm2.com/documentation-
hotkey.html](https://www.iterm2.com/documentation-hotkey.html)

[2] [https://github.com/Canop/broot](https://github.com/Canop/broot)

------
jungletime
I have a macbook which I partitioned and installed windows on. the macbook is
in a drawer in a stand up desk. The desk has a terrible ergonomic design. So I
ended up using the pullout drawer as a shelf form my external keyboard, which
is rested on a board.

So my macbook is closed, inside a drawer, covered by a board, and connected to
external monitor and keyboard.

1\. How can I boot into windows from the mac desktop. Current procedure is to
take off the board, open up the laptop, wait for startup, press a macbook key
waiting for the os screen to start from which I can select windows icon. For
some reason my external keyboard doesn't work during boot time. Its very
annoying. Is there an app that will boot me into windows, from a mac desktop?

2\. I have to shutdown the laptop at night because the fans are driving me
crazy. But that means I have to pullout the macbook out of the drawer in the
mornings, and open up the laptop to start it with a power button. Any apps
that will put the macbook into sleep mode, that turn off the fans and external
drives, quickly.

3\. I miss cut and past for files the way it was on windows. This effectively
moves them. Now I have to hold a key down and drag on a mac. Requires much
more coordination, in selecting the destination folder. Is there anything
equivalent to cut and paste on mac?

Thanks for any help.

~~~
peterhil
1\. I vaguely remember there being some command or sysctl preference which you
can use to set options for next boot and also control sleep options.

~~~
peterhil
The command is bless, and it requires some options to be able to boot a
Windows partition:

Example to boot from `dev/disk0s3` once:

sudo /usr/sbin/bless --device /dev/disk0s3 --setBoot --legacy --nextonly

More information:

[https://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=201106012209257...](https://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20110601220925705)

~~~
peterhil
Actually there has been a `systemsetup` command for a long time now, that is
preferred to using `bless`:

List the available startup volumes:

sudo systemsetup -liststartupdisks

Set startup partition:

sudo systemsetup -setstartupdisk /Volumes/MyPartition

[https://krypted.com/mac-security/dont-use-bless-to-change-
st...](https://krypted.com/mac-security/dont-use-bless-to-change-startup-
disks-any-more-in-os-x/)

------
dwighttk
Two apps he didn’t include that I like:

Levelator (free): [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-
levelator/id1493326487?mt=...](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-
levelator/id1493326487?mt=12)

LaunchBar (alternative to Alfred, free trial):
[https://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html](https://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html)

~~~
mindfulhack
Side comment: anyone else feel like an app that only is in the MAS is lower
quality for some reason? Apps in that quality seem to have a high ratio of
junkware. This one looks good though, just giving my reaction to even seeing a
MAS link. It's interesting how IMO macOS really doesn't need an app store.
It's different.

~~~
dwighttk
I usually don’t use the App Store unless it is the only option

------
Austin_Conlon
I love how you added Option-2 for ™ as a tip, that's the only shortcut for one
of those symbols I've committed to memory before for using in a jokey context.

~~~
saagarjha
I believe "tm" automatically corrects to "™" by default–it's one of the ones
that are set up automatically to show you how to make you own autocompletions.

------
catmistake
I recommend macports package management system, similar in function to BSD
ports collection. Superior to Homebrew, the johnny-come-lately PMS with all
the penguinista-style hype that seems to lean towards binary installs, unlike
roll your own from all source in macports. Homebrew also does not honor the
default privileges of /usr/local, which is an annoying security flaw.

~~~
talentedcoin
Agreed 100%. No idea why homebrew is so dominant while doing the wrong thing
by default. Binaries are nice but not worth the trouble Homebrew gives
compared to sane, rational MacPorts.

~~~
catmistake
While Homebrew defaults to binary, it can build from source, though it tends
to leave behind a bloody mess when it does.

MacPorts has excellent housekeeping, which is controlled through port command
arguments. One can choose to leave everything from the entire build, or have
everything cleaned up as it builds, or clean it up after the build. Showing
and eliminating leaves is also pretty simple.

Uninstalling MacPorts with these 3 commands leaves absolutely nothing behind:

>$ sudo port -dfp uninstall --follow-dependencies installed

>$ sudo port -dfp uninstall all

>$ sudo rm -rf /opt/local /Library/Tcl/macports*

Good luck completely uninstalling Homebrew without having to look everywhere
to make sure it is all gone. It requires downloading and trusting the Homebrew
uninstall script.

~~~
saagarjha
You may wish to follow the official instructions, which will also remove users
that MacPorts creates:
[https://guide.macports.org/chunked/installing.macports.unins...](https://guide.macports.org/chunked/installing.macports.uninstalling.html)

------
michelb
I'm having several finder windows with tabs open as I work on certain
projects. From time to time something crashes and closes all windows. Is there
a way to 'store' the finder's open windows(including tabs!) and then restoring
them again? I have not found anything that works on Catalina. (Stay doesn't do
this)

~~~
jastuk
Finder is essential yet it's the biggest pain point I have with macOS.

\- You've already mentioned a big one

\- Related would be remembering which Finder window goes to which "desktop" or
screen

\- Another is no (permanent) custom width per folder or auto-sizing column
view. Fixed width is either wasting space or not showing nearly enough. I
always end up manually resizing the last/active column.

\- They recently added shared iCloud folders as well. Guess what, you can't
see any filenames in column view because they repeat "Added by {Owner}" for
every single file/folder which takes way too much space. I guess an
icon/avatar was too much. Heck, even that is questionable since we have a
sidebar with all the metadata.

I don't know the technical aspect of it but they seem to have also locked down
macOS which resulted in TotalFinder calling it quits. Not sure how viable it
is for alternatives nowadays. I have no need for split/ftp Finder
alternatives, just need a polished column view.

------
mekster
There are better tools than a hex editor or system monitor (why do you want to
constantly be bothered how well your hardware is performing?).

Unclutter - This gives you a nice non intrusive "memo zone" as well as manage
your clipboard, so that copying password won't lose your user name into limbo.

BetterTouchTools - Who'll live without this one? Just give "three fingers
swipe down" mapped to cmd-w and your life will be quite that much better. No
more click at the upper corner tiny button to close a window which is an
insanely dumb usability. Add several more to your likings and your life is
even rosier.

And use a password manager, so that a new login made from your phone will be
on your mac without effort and nothing gets lost on clean install even if you
forget to export them if they're saved in the cloud, not to mention you can
have randomized password for every site, but make sure to secure the master
password with 2fa.

~~~
arafsheikh
A free alternative to BTT trackpad gestures is jitouch2
([https://www.jitouch.com](https://www.jitouch.com)). It's not as versatile
and no longer maintained, but works well for most use cases even in the latest
version of MacOS.

~~~
reaperducer
Thanks for the recommendation. I paid for BTT, and find it very unstable. More
often than not the custom snap windows function just doesn't work. That's the
only reason I bought it.

I used to be able to restart BTT and snapping would work again, but that is no
longer effective in the latest version. I guess the fact that it even has a
"restart" option in its drop-down menu should have been a hint.

~~~
arafsheikh
Check out Rectangle ([https://rectangleapp.com](https://rectangleapp.com)) for
window snapping. It's open source and I've had no issues with it.

------
AnonHP
> You can select multiple images in Finder and drag them onto the Preview dock
> icon to open them in one window with a Sidebar where you can quickly flip
> between them with arrow keys.

Instead of wasting time dragging and dropping, just press Cmd+Down Arrow to
open the files (usually images are associated with Preview.app as the default
application). Cmd+Down Arrow in the Finder opens (navigates one level down)
whatever is selected: folder or single file or multiple files. Cmd+Up Arrow
goes one level up from the current folder.

> Path Finder: A fancier version of Finder with multiple panes and various
> other advanced features.

Path Finder has a few nice features, but its updates and update schedules
haven't been great. A cheaper alternative that also supports network transfers
is Forklift.

~~~
derefr
> Instead of wasting time dragging and dropping, just press Cmd+Down Arrow to
> open the files

I believe this does something different: it opens each photo in its own
Preview window.

It’s basically the difference between passing multiple arguments to one “Open”
invocation, and passing one argument apiece to multiple “Open” invocations.

If the images are in a folder, though, you can “Open With” the folder with
Preview.

------
coldtea
> _iTerm2: An alternative Terminal with just so many features. I particularly
> like the ability to split windows into panes, which Apple’s Terminal does
> not have._

Terminal actually has it, View -> Split Pane or Command-D - and has had it for
ages (as well as tabs).

~~~
trishume
Terminal's split panes are a totally different thing than iTerm2's and IMO not
very useful. Terminal can have multiple panes that all show different places
in the same scrollback buffer, not different terminals. iTerm2 can have many
different terminals within one tab, which I use for example to have a tab for
a project with one pane ssh'd into a VM/server and another pane on my local
machine for file munging and syncing.

~~~
mercer
The tmux integration is amazing too! When I ssh into a server, whatever
window/pane setup I last had (tab colors, names, and all), are restored.

On one server I run a few 'production' apps, but I also have a tab for 'random
shit' and a tab for 'nginx config'. the production tabs are bright red, and
are usuall split pane with the left showing logs, and the right giving me a
terminal with app-specific commands (and in the current app home dir).

But then on another server I have two separate windows, and each window deals
with one of the two 'concerns' on that server.

It's a massive help in managing all my panes/sessions.

------
uuuuuuuuuuuu
One useful shortcut I've discovered recently is cmd-[ and cmd-] to go forward
and back through link history. Works in the browser as well as pdf viewers.
With regards to pdf viewers specifically, this has greatly improved my paper
reading experience.

------
tanin
Shameless plug.

You can use a programmable tooltip for macOS, so you don't have to remember
all the shortcuts for these workflows.

Please see [https://github.com/tanin47/tip](https://github.com/tanin47/tip)

------
bhaskara2
Add a “folder..noindex” to disable files in the folder from getting indexed

------
shinycode
I’ve been searching for a long time a tool that would resize all the windows
open on a given space to fill up the entire screen.

I open lots of things when working and that would be more useful than doing
the exposé and switching back and forth do declutter.

It seems to me that this feature is available on Windows and has been for a
long time.

I tried almost everything that I could google and I even bought apps that I
don’t use anymore because I though that the level of customization would
enable it.

Is there someone that knows a tool or a trick to allow that ?

~~~
saagarjha
Hammerspoon can do this quite easily, just grab all the windows using
hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:getWindows() and set each's frame to it's
screen:frame().

~~~
shinycode
Thank you for the tip, I'll to code the algorithm to do it myself. That's
great !

On an other note: a tip on iOS and MacOS, when you make a voice recording then
you can edit it and activate a feature with the top left wand icon which is
going to clear up the sound. When it's a voice recording it's pretty amazing
how well it works, in particular to remove the echo.

~~~
shinycode
I guess the topic is buried now ... but I'll update it for posterity.

What I want to do actually IS the mission control mode where all the windows
are resized to fill up the screen.

To close a window while in exposé mode, the easy solution is effectively to
use BTT, creating a new gesture for example "3 fingers click" with the ctrl
modifier. Then selecting the action "Close Window Below Cursor (Works in
Mission Control)".

And this effectively close my window. An other tip here, still in mission
control while the cursor is on a window, pressing the space bar displays it
full screen.

One more thing: While doing COMMAND + TAB to show the open apps, pressing the
bottom arrow key show all the open windows for this app, regardless of the
space they are in. Really useful.

------
AJRF
Cmd + Shift + 5 gives you a crop tool and you can choose to create a
screenshot or start a video. Little options menu lets you pick between audio
inputs and outputs for the video too.

~~~
mindfulhack
It pays to just try things out of curiosity:

Cmd + Shift + 6 takes a 'screenshot' of your touch bar!

(But let it be said that the touch bar should be deprecated. I want my Fn keys
back.)

------
rsync
What I miss the most is a workable "focus follows mouse" solution.

Circa Snow Leopard, I used "mondomouse" but that is abandonware and does not
work.

I tried to use "dwellclick" but it's not a good solution.

I _think_ there are now some new accessibility settings that actual enable a
proper focus follows mouse in Mojave and later, but I don't have anything
later than El Cap installed and am unable to test that ...

~~~
saagarjha
I've looked into this and the focus-follows-mouse part isn't actually all that
difficult; there is SPI to do this. The difficulty is that picking what things
should get focus is hard, because there are things in macOS that actually care
about what is focused. For example, as I was running my test, from Xcode of
course, I moved my cursor over the sidebar, which changed the focused item as
I moved my mouse…of course, this had the effect of opening a different file.
If anyone has any ideas on how do deal with this, I'd be happy to hear it!

------
kratom_sandwich
Also, check out

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091707](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091707)

------
xenadu02
For presentations turn on Zoom hotkeys in accessibility. Then you can
instantly zoom in or out by pressing Control then doing a scroll gesture.

~~~
saagarjha
Thanks for the reminder to turn this back on; it used to cause some nasty
WindowServer crashes in earlier betas…

------
t0rst
Cmd-tab extras:

\- before releasing the command key and in between tabbing you can type H to
hide/show and Q to quit the currently highlighted app. Note that quitting is
often slow - can take a while for app’s icon to disappear.

\- with shift to reverse direction

\- you can start a drag, then use Cmd-tab to switch to your destination app,
and then drop

------
diegoperini
FinderPath.

It makes Finder's title clickable to be able to copy or change the current
path, just like Windows' explorer.exe.

~~~
saagarjha
I assume this requires disabling SIP?

------
CGamesPlay
In Finder and also in "Open File" dialogs, Command-Shift-G will allow you to
type a path directly. You can use this to open the dialog to hidden paths, for
example: "~/Library" and enter will open the dialog to that folder, allowing
you to browse the folder normally.

------
jawngee
My personal must haves are Yoink for drag and drop, Moom for window
sizing/placement, Default Folder X.

------
greggman3
The tip I want answered... how do I make the icons on the file open dialog
large enough that they actually become useful? I can enlarge them in the
finder but not in an open file dialog.

------
djKianoosh
Is there a setting to tell Mac OS to follow the mouse for focus, and
optionally activate (bring to foreground) the window under the cursor (after
say, a 300ms delay) ?

------
missing_paren
> cmd+backtick is like cmd+tab but between windows of the same app.

Well, I wish that were completely true, because cmd+backtick only cycles
through the windows of the application, while cmd+tab lets you select the
application you want.

From Ubuntu (or maybe rather Ubuntu's default desktop environment?) I am used
to cmd+backtick allowing me to select the window - I did find an application
that does enable this behavior [1] but I wonder what else is out there. I used
to use Hyperswitch but it doesn't seem to work on Catalina

[1] [https://contexts.co](https://contexts.co)

~~~
JadeNB
> > cmd+backtick is like cmd+tab but between windows of the same app.

> Well, I wish that were completely true, because cmd+backtick only cycles
> through the windows of the application, while cmd+tab lets you select the
> application you want.

I'm having trouble distinguishing between these two descriptions of the
behaviour. What is different between what you say and what the author says?

~~~
D-Coder
Cmd-tab shows the row of open applications, you can tab through them (or
shift-tab to go backwards), OR mouse over and click whichever app you want.

Cmd-backtick only cycles through the windows.

~~~
peterhil
Speaking of which — while cycling through windows with Cmd-tab, you can hide
or quit them by pressing h or q, by keeping the command button pressed.

------
LanceH
When I turn off my bluetooth headphones osx switches my speaker to my
microphone. Is there some hidden menu to disable this as an output device?

~~~
cawlin
You might try the Audio MIDI Setup utility. This allows you to add/remove
devices which might work to remove the microphone as an output device.

If you're looking for a fix and more advanced customization you could try
Soundsource:
[https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/](https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/)

------
tagawa
Can anyone explain what a backtick is please?

~~~
mikeklaas
It's the key beside "1", namely "`"

~~~
tagawa
Ah, thank you. It's in a different position on my keyboard (Japanese) but now
I know what it's called.

------
pragmaticpandy
Has anyone done or know of anyone who has done a third party security review
of Karbiner-elements?

------
thomasdd
in Finder, when you cusomize the toolbar(icons), yo can Drag-Drop, Folders,
Files or Applications into the toolbar!

that's what I discovered lately, as cool feature.

------
mcraiha
My tips: 1\. Forget Finder, it is just bad for any power user scenario, and
IMO worst part of Mac OS. Use Forklift or other similar app for all GUI file
management operations. 2\. Never drag and drop (this applies to any OS). Early
release can cause all kinds of issues. 3\. Make sure that you have fast access
to Activity Monitor, since some GUI applications do not show any reasonable
progress indicators when they start long lasting compilation/export
operations.

~~~
mekster
1\. This. The only thing I miss from Windows is Explorer. I just can't
understand how macOS dev feels Finder would work like that for 20 years
without much change. It resets the config and the window size for a folder at
every random occasion, creates .DS_Store garbage all over, you cannot even cut
files and just feels uneasy. I even enable "Quit Finder" menu and get it out
of my app cycle list but it randomly resurrects itself...

ForkLift is something that keeps my sanity.

~~~
reaperducer
_creates .DS_Store garbage all over_

Has Windows stopped polluting the world with Thumbs_db files? I hate when I
see those things on a server.

~~~
joan_kode
Yes, ever since Windows Vista thumbnails are in a central per-user directory.
Old thumbnails are removed automatically. Definitely an improvement over
previous behavior, at this point I would say it just needs easier
configurability.

