How do I prove I own/am the developer of an iOS app?

Is you app available in App Store? Is your name officially mentioned there as the author. If yes, then I would consider this as a proof.

Are you talking about being iOS developer in general or developer of particular iOS app? If first case is true then maybe your certificates of employment could solve the problem?


Failed upgrade from macOS Sierra to High Sierra on late 2010 MacBook Pro 15"

I have faced the same issue with the same MacBook. What worked for me was to restart and immediately press Option key. The computer asked me which start up disk to select. Avoid the updater and select your hard disk. Right now I am trying to figure out how to fix the High Sierra damaged installer. If anyone knows, let us know.


Another device is using your IP address mac, what do I change my IP address too?

Often times these issues can be solved by rebooting ALL computers (iPhones, Macs, etc.) on your local LAN. A reboot causes DHCP to request a lease. And your router should only hand out ones that are unused. So every device should get a unique address

HOWEVER it is possible that you have manually assigned an IP address to one or more devices, so check for that. Make sure all are different and all are on DHCP.

ALSO possible, someone unwanted is on your network. Change the WiFi password just in case.

Failing all of that assign everything a static IP address like this

192.168.1.x

Where x is as follows

between 2 and 254
  unique (only one device has any one number)
  Your subnet mask is likely 255.255.255.0
  Your Gateway is likely 192.168.1.1 (your cable modem or WiFi access point)
  Your DNS will vary

The last three should be listed in your network System Preference and will be the same on all devices (only the IP address must be different). Select the connection (WiFi) and click Advanced, then the TCP/IP and DNS buttons. Record the subnet mask, gateway and DNS servers. Then fill that info in on all devices.

It would be a good idea, if you do this, to make a note of all the settings and which device gets which address. Keeping track can be a pain, which is why we have DHCP. It is supposed to hand out all that info automatically. So it is likely that there is a device on your network NOT set to DHCP.


Boot Camp OS startup selection not available with Windows Alt

Actually, Boot Camp installs a Boot Camp Control Panel in the Windows Control Panel. The large icon appears as shown below.

Also, Boot Camp installs a gray diamond icon in the Windows notification area (system tray).

By clicking on this icon,

a menu will appear,

which allows you to easily switch back to OS X.

Upon opening the Boot Camp Control Panel, the Windows icon will be highlighted.

If the OS X icon is selected followed by clicking Apply or OK, the default startup partition will change back to OS X without the system restarting.

The same is true for the Startup Disk window under System Preferences for OS X.

In conclusion, the only functionality missing is a menu to select an operating system on start up. I suppose rEFInd would serve this purpose. I will point out there are others for which you have to pay for. For example, there is Boot Runner which has a 14 day trial period. It installs in the OS X partition and can be uninstalled. rEFInd may have problems with both installs and uninstalls.


Golden Rule: No Mac can run an OS older than the OS it shipped with.

The hardware drivers do not exist, as the hardware wasn't invented at the time.

From Snow Leopard Server 10.6/Lion 10.7 you could virtualise it in Parallels etc, but nothing before that.


When online my webpage becomes unresponsive on my macbook-pro osx?

Which browser are you using?

I was experiencing the same issue on Chrome, all I did was

Go into Chrome - Preferences
Go to advanced settings
Un-tick the box "Predict network actions to improve page load performance"
Restarted Chrome

Then it worked fine


Install OS X on replaced blank SSD in iMac

The 2009 iMac does not support Internet Recovery, so you'll not be able to download and install Mac OS X directly from the iMac without any external installation medium.

You'll to acquire the installation DVD, insert it into the drive and power on the Mac while holding down the C key on the keyboard.

If you have another Mac, you could possibly download the installation DMG from the App Store and burn it to a DVD or transfer to a USB drive for the iMac.

Another option would be to request the installation discs in an Apple Store - if they still have a supported OS for sale.

A third option is to use eBay or similar to purchase a used installation disc.


Finder remounts DMG files that I opened previously

This is strange behavior, but you might try checking Disk Utility. Load Disk Utility and look in the left sidebar. See if any DMG files are listed there. If they are, even if unmounted, click the DMG file and then the Eject button in the toolbar. If Eject is unavailable simply select the image and press the forward Delete key (Fn-Backspace on laptops). This should cause OS X to "forget" about that particular DMG file - at least until you mount it next.

If this is happening regularly - DMGs are always persistently remounting - then some extension is most likely causing it. If you removed this "TotalFinder" app by just dragging an .app file to the trash, it may not remove any extensions it installs into the OS that do those sorts of things. Look on the Internet - ideally on the software publisher's website - for instructions on completely removing the application, including all support and system files. Many apps that do install stuff deep into the system will come with an uninstaller or at least a shell script that will perform the necessary uninstallation commands for you.


Unable to remove login item from Users & Groups startup list

For some reason, Content Manager Assistant added the login item to /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist instead of ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist.

I was able to remove the login item by deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist and restarting (logging out and back in wasn't enough).


Recommended way to back up a Macbook before upgrading its OS?

Hard to answer, not because of technical difficulty - but psychology. ;) So I will take the answer a bit easy...

A. The simple way

Make a Time Machine backup (if you do 1st times will get a full backup) so you will be able to restore anything that you created on the Mac. For this, you will need:

one external HDD (big enough), connect it
go to System Preferences
use this external HDD as Backup disk for the Time Machine

B. As A. but with a bootable Time Machine HDD

For this, you will need:

one external HDD (big enough)
your OS X install DVD
turn off Time Machine, if you have it on
connect HDD
insert install DVD
start /Applications/Utilities/DiskUtility.app
select your external HDD
go to "Restore" Tab
into "Source field", drag your Install DVD
into "Destination", drag your external HDD
triple check (so DON'T ERASE YOUR INTERNAL HDD!)
press Restore and go to have a lunch
after the restore, exit Disk Utility
eject Install DVD
go to System Preferences and enable Time machine
select your external HDD as BackupDrive
Make a full Time Machine backup

With the above, you get a BOOTABLE Time Machine HDD. When things go wrong, you can hold down Alt when your Mac is booting and select this HDD for BOOT and restore from it without needing the install DVD (faster restore).

C. Want even more?

Make working copies of your HDD. Like above, you will got a BOOTABLE external HDD, but not for install purpose, but for working from it. So, you can boot it and continue work as from your internal HDD.

For this you can:

get a donationware: CarbonCopyCloner, or
make a normal install into external HDD, boot it, and use the MigrationAssistant.app to migrate data from the internal HDD to freshly installed external HDD

Do you know that paranoia is the right state of the system administrator's mind?

Do B and C - So you will need two external HDD's. It is the best, because you can drop your backup HDD from the table, and after this crash-test, the drive will be probably unusable (broken). :) Anyway, for this solution, you need to not crash-test both drives.

With this, you will be able to WORK immediately (from the external drive) and restore from the Time Machine (from the second external HDD).

Know Murphy?

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. (Hang up Murphy!)
Your upgrade will fail (but usually it doesn't)
Your backup will fail too (but usually you don't need it)
so... take it easy ;)

Ps:

Here are more ways, e.g.: over the network from the command line with rsync command, etc. etc...

YOU REALLY WANT TO READ

This, especially
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1553
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1177


Whilst the device hardware does support Wi-Fi Direct, the limitation in this case is software.

There is currently no software on iOS that connects to a wireless hard drive through Wi-Fi Direct, but that hasn't stopped apps being developed to take advantage of this — Seagate has an app that connects to wireless hard drives:

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/services-software/apps/seagate-media-app/


Way to logout a user from the command line in OS X 10.9

sudo launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u <username>)
or
sudo launchctl bootout user/$(id -u <username>)

Replace username with the target user's user name or replace the whole subshell with the user's uid.  This tells launchctl to teardown the users login session (gui specifically refers to the user's temporary login session, user specifies the users background processes).

You can log yourself out without the sudo to test this.

Note that this will ONLY work on macOS 10.11.x or newer (see launchctl help for more)


Can you prevent the iPhone browser from reloading pages?

The behavior that you've described appears to be a limitation of the Safari mobile browser. Other users have complained about the Safari Mobile auto refresh behavior on several Apple community forum posts.

This iFans post offers some explanations and potential solutions:

  This is not a feature... It's a limitation.

  MobileSafari keeps website cache only in RAM, and therefore, once it
  runs out of RAM, it'll automatically destroy an entire page, forcing
  the refresh, disguising itself as an auto-refresh feature. You can
  only keep at most 3 pages open at any time... Even the iPhone 4 with
  double the amount of RAM can only keep 5 pages.

  You can try a third-party browser that has offline caching, and it'll
  remedy the situation. Or alternatively, use the swap file mod I posted
  in the jailbreak forums and it should work, too.

  These third-party browsers have offline page caching as far as I know:

  iCab Mobile (also supports concurrent tab, which means you can browse
  websites while listening to music on youtube, this is my personal
  favourite)
  Atomic Web Browser (many useful features, but the interface
  is a bit strange)
  Mercury (cool browser that looks like a shrunk
  version of desktop Safari)

Your choices appear to be:

Use a jailbreak mod to increase the swap file size (hopefully will increase number of pages that can be stored)
Use a third party browser that supports offline caching


I finally figured out a way to do it. I've kept the Auto Swoosh setting on but I've changed the way I open safari. I created a new application using automator with a single applescript block. It has the following code:
tell application "Safari"
    make new document
    activate
end tell

The order is important because its what prevents the spaces switching on activate as there is already a new window in the current space.
To open a new safari window in my current space I simply run this app.
(In case it doesn't make any sense how this is fast, I use spotlight as an app switcher - simply type the first two letters of any app)
EDIT:
I've made a new version that also supports opening links. This is so that when you click a link in e.g. Mail it opens a new safari windows instead of randomly moving to a different space where safari is already open.
Specifically:

Opening this app creates a new safari window without moving spaces
Clicking a link in any non-safari app will create a new window or a new tab
depending on if there is a window already in the space it will open a new tab in that window

Note: the code is modified from here
on open location theURL
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process "Safari"
            try
                set frontWinName to name of window 1
            on error
                my openNewWindow(theURL)
                return
            end try
        end tell
    end tell

    tell application "Safari"
        try
            tell (first window whose name is frontWinName and miniaturized is false)
                set current tab to make new tab with properties {URL:theURL}
                #activate
            end tell
        on error
            my openNewWindow(theURL)
        end try
    end tell
end open location

on openNewWindow(theURL)
    tell application "Safari"
        make new document with properties {URL:theURL}
        #activate
    end tell
end openNewWindow

tell application "Safari"
    make new document
    activate
end tell

Save this in AppleScript as application and set it as default browser using this or this.
Copy the following into the app's info.plist to register it as allowing for link opening
 <key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
 <array>
     <dict>
         <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
         <string>local file</string>
         <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
         <array>
             <string>file</string>
         </array>
     </dict>
     <dict>
         <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
         <string>http URL</string>
         <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
         <array>
             <string>http</string>
         </array>
     </dict>
     <dict>
         <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
         <string>Secure http URL</string>
         <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
         <array>
             <string>https</string>
         </array>
     </dict>
 </array>

Accept app permissions (for some reason the app needs to be in the /Applications folder first). And voila! Now just change the app icon to the safari icon and retain your muscle memory to type the name of this app instead of "safari" when opening new browser windows. (I have put way too much effort into this but after months of using it, I'm so happy with the change)


What screwdriver size is needed for MacBook Pro mid 2012 back cover?

Yes.
The back cover is secured with Philips #00 screws.
Note that is says:

The lower case is secured by ten Phillips #00 screws.

You can see the ten screws on the back cover:

four each at the top/bottom
one each on the left/right


How to stream Spotify from iPad to receiver?

You can use an Airport Express router or an Apple TV:

  Play iTunes music on your speakers. Wirelessly.
  AirPlay takes the music from the iTunes library on your computer, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and sends it wirelessly to any stereo or speakers in your home. Simply connect your speakers to AirPort Express using an audio cable (sold separately). Then, using iTunes on your computer or the Music app on your iOS device, choose which speakers you want your music to play on. If you have more than one AirPort Express connected to speakers, you can play the same music from iTunes on your Mac or PC on all your speakers at the same time. Already have a Wi-Fi network in place? Use AirPort Express to add music streaming to its capabilities and create a whole-house musical experience.

Basically, play your track on Spotify, go full screen which reveals the sharing options, and from there you can pick your Airport Express which should be cabled to whatever AUX-in inputs your amp/receiver has.

The following pic' shows me doing something similar to an AppleTV (I don't own an airport express but the process is is essentially the same thing).

In fact for audio there isn't much difference between the an Apple TV and an Airport Express, and the choice of Apple TV or Airport Express is whether you want TV functions or Network functions as extra functionality over and above the audio.  The only difference for audio is that the Apple TV has an optical out port (& HDMI), and the Airport Express has a 3.5mm Analogue/Optical output,

The iPhone version of Spotify doesn't have a full screen mode, but hit the i for info screen and it's next to the volume slider in the bottom right - easy to miss.


Thanks for the update, your partition table looks fine.

One more thing to try would be to boot from the recovery system or installation media, or access the drive from another Mac via Target Disk mode and try to resize the partition from a Disk Utility instance that isn't booted off the partition you're trying to resize. Unfortunately, it's fairly unlikely this will help - I've seen more instances where it didn't than where it did.

If Disk Utility can't help you, the only solutions are:

Back up, erase and restore
Try your luck with something else. In the past, resizing via parted (an open source Linux utility) has worked for me in such cases. I'm writing this on a MacBook Air with an OSX installation that survived the procedure unharmed. There's a bootable Live CD/DVD distribution of this available, called "Parted Magic"; "GParted Live" is another, which seems to be a bit more user friendly. You can burn either to disc and boot into it by holding the option key during the boot chime, as usual. Then shrink your main partition - this will take a while, as it needs to move the data to free up the space at the end of the partition. There is of course a certain risk associated with this, so make sure you've backed up and are prepared to go through with option 1 instead. Make sure to unplug your backup disk during any such procedure. One issue with using another tool is that unlike Disk Utility or Boot Camp, this won't move the Recovery HD. So your best bet is usually to shrink by the required amount, then grow it again to the original size. Doing this will then "unstick" Boot Camp/Disk Utility, and they'll be able to proceed with the shrinking as normal.


How do I get an operating system onto a new hard drive?

Being a 1 Mac household and an IT professional who has only supported PCs, I had a challenging time trying to figure out how to reload OSX after my husband's Mac hard drive died. Hopefully I diagnosed a bad hard drive correctly (I'll provide my method) and I hope this helps someone out there. This is probably overkill on instructions, but there are PC people out there who may try to help out the  (much more) rare critical Mac issue. I did most of this from memory, so I may have messed up a label here or there. Please use Common sense if I did this and look around the screen for something that looks like what I'm talking about.
NOTE: This process only worked because the hard drive was still able to access recovery mode by holding Command+R on startup. If your Mac is unable to access that feature, this may not work for you, but I included some other handy stuff, like recovering files from the drive.
Initial Symptom: My husband's Mac had been randomly shutting down for some time, but we were limping it along. Finally, on startup one day, he saw a progress bar that would complete and then the device would shut down. Here is the process I followed:
Things you'll need:

SATA/IDE to USB Adapter (Mine was Vantec USB 2.0, but it shouldn't matter. Be sure to get one with external power source. I've had little to no success with USB powered devices.
Mac running OSX Lion or later (prior versions didn't have the recovery partition)
New Hard drive that is compatible with Mac.
T8 Mini Torx screw driver
Small phillips screwdriver
Recommend: A cold beer and a lot of patience
Just in case you pull off the rubber coating, you'll need a case removal tool like you use to replace a cell phone screen. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XVPDSG/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

Step 1: Troubleshoot the Device

Power off the Device
Hold down the Command+R keys as you start the device. Continue holding the keys until the Recovery Utility prompts you to select a language (Grey Screen) **NOTE:**You may have to hold the keys for up to two minutes.
After you've selected a language preference, Select the Disk Utility item in the list of utilities.
Select your drive on the left navigation panel (It's probably already selected)
Click the Verify Disk button in the Disk Utilities. It will probably show some erros. Click the Repair Disk button that will only appear after you click Verify. Do this until there are no errors or (like me) you receive a message saying that the disc couldn't be repaired.
Click the Verify Disk Permissions button. If this completes successfully, click Repair Disk Permissions
NOTE This may solve your problem. If you didn't receive a nasty message on step 5 saying the Disk was corrupt, to back up your files and such, good on ya! Try some Canadian troubleshooting -- When in doot (doubt) Reboot!

Step 2: Removing the Hard Drive from the Mac
Here's a great visual guide to the steps below: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4305

Turn off the MacBook.
Remove the hard drive from the device by removing the 8 screws from the bottom of the MacBook and pulling off the bottom cover, being careful not to pull at the edges as it will pull off the rubber coating. If you accidentally do this, tip to follow. To pull the cover, put your fingers at the hinge of the MacBook screen (from the bottom), and lift from the metal part under the rubber cover.
You will see a small black bar held down with two screws right next to the hard drive. This must be removed before the hard drive is pulled out.
If your hard drive is OEM, there should be a plastic tab that you gently pull on to lift the hard drive, being cautious of the SATA cable
Pull gently at the cable connector seated in the end of the hard drive facing the exterior of the case to disconnect the hard drive.

If you messed up and pulled off the rubber coating:

After you have finished removing the bottom cover, get out the case removal tool from the list of things you'll need that you diligently ordered with your new hard drive for just $1 or so
Hold the rubber coating on the metal case with the metal part (inside of the cover) facing you.
GENTLY slip the edge of the case removal tool under the edges of the rubber coating with the edge of the tool facing towards you and lift the edge back over the edge of the metal backing.
Slowly glide the tool around the edge, lifting the rubber back into place, being extra cautious around the corners.
Put the back plate down and don't breathe on it or the rubber stuff will come off again.

Step 3: Using a PC and HFS Explorer to Recover Files

Download HFS Explorer and install it on your PC (http://www.catacombae.org/hfsexplorer/)
Plug the removed hard drive into the SATA/IDE to USB device. There will be two cables to plug in and they are directional. The smaller plug is the data cable that goes into the rectangular USB connector. The other goes to the power cable. If you bought the same one I did, there is a connector that adapts the standard power supply connector to SATA. There is a power switch on this cable.
Plug the USB cable into your PC and turn on the power switch on the cable (if you haven't already).
You should hear the device chime in Windows, or you can verify that the device driver was recognized and installed in Device Manager. Note: You will not see it show up as a hard drive as the Mac drive format is not diurectly compatible as a disk drive with Windows.
Open HFS Explorer and click File > Load File System From Device
I was not able to use the AutoDetect Button successfully, but you can try. I selected the Select a Device radio button and in the Detected Devices drop-down and click Load
Select the files and folders you wish to back up in the tree to the left just like you would any Explorer (or Finder for you Mac peeps) tree, then click Extract. My husband's files were in the second partition under the Users > [Username] folder.
Follow the prompts to extract the files to the desired location. You will have to babysit it because there are a lot of Mac file names that are not OK on Windows. I used the "Auto-Rename" feature and it worked swimmingly.

Step 4: Installing OSX on the New Hard Drive
If you're still with me, crack open another beer, because you've probably finished the first one. This was the most frustrating part to research. When you Google, " How do I load OSX on a new hard drive using a PC ", you end up with some great suggestions to use VM Virtual Box, which means you have to get a copy of your OSX load. Well, mine happened to be on this one very broken Mac hard drive, and you can only make a Mac bootable with a Mac. Grr...So, I gave this a shot. I hope it works for you.

Install the NEW hard drive back into Mac. Before you do this, there are a couple of screw-in pins that are in the sides of the old hard drive that you will need to hold your new hard drive in place. Use the T8 mini Torx screwdriver to remove them and place them into the sides of the new drive. These will hold your new drive in place. Put a couple of screws on opposite corners of the bottom plate to hold it in place and protect all the precious bits in there. Do not turn on the Mac yet
Connect the OLD device to the SATA/IDE connector, connect the USB to the Mac and turn on the power to the new hard drive
Hold down the Option key and turn on the device to choose which device to boot to.
Select the OLD hard drive (Probably called Recovery_[something]) when prompted to choose a boot device.
The boot sequence will take you into the Mac Recovery Utilities menu
Select the Disk Utilities option from the menu
Select the NEW Drive in the list to the left and click Verify Disk. This should come out clean
Click the Erase option in the Disk Utility and complete a format of the hard drive using the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option
If you like, partition the drive using the Partition option and set the number and size of partitions to the desired size.
Exit the Disk Utility tools using the menu in the upper-left
In the recovery menu, click the Reinstall OSX option
If you are prompted to connect to a wireless network, you can either connect it to an ethernet cable to speed things along, or click the Wireless icon in the upper-right of the top toolbar to search for an SSID to connect to. This will permit you to use the online recovery options to download the operating system.
Follow the prompts and enter your iTunes login info
When prompted to select a disk for installation, select the disk (or partition) you would like to install OSX on on the NEW hard drive and follow the prompts to initiate the installation.
IMPORTANT When the reboot after download occurs, if the installation gets stuck on Verifying Disks or shows symptoms of pixelation on the progress bar and corresponding status text, hold down the power button on the Mac to shut it down. CONGRATULATIONS! You successfully diagnosed that the old hard drive is bad. ;-) If this occurs and your installation doesn't go through, pull the USB cable from the SATA/IDE to USB adapter from the USB port, hold down the Control key and turn the Mac on. Select the Install OS X drive as the boot device.
Wait for an eternity...have a couple more beers...Voila.


I've upgraded my iPhone 4S to iOS8 and now the GPS is always on

Did you try updating your app? In my version, it has "Never" and "While using the app" options under location settings.


Ordering prints from iPhoto and having them shipped to a different country?

We found a "solution" (more like a workaround) which worked for us. Thought I'd post it, in case someone else is in the same situation.

Go to iTunes and change the address of your Apple account and the credit card to the country you want to order the pictures to (I think you can also do this online from Apple's website)
Restart iPhoto; you should now be able to ship prints to another country
When you're done, switch back to the country where you're living

It's rather inconvenient, but it works.


Cannot partition w/ Boot Camp Assistant on macOS Mojave

The secret trick was running fsck_apfs -o -y. ♂


iPad Air bedtime alarm sample loops indefinitely when stopped after upgrade to iOS 11

The workaround is to unplug the IPad over the night. For some strange reason sound looping is not happening, if the power is not supplied during the alarm sound. Software fix is not available so far.

Suggested here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/32517010#message32517010


How to see what process on iPad/iPhone is using data?

On an unjailbroken device you can't see this information.

On iOS 7, you can only see cellular data usage ( Settings > Cellular network > Usage )

Maybe you could just try to kill one by one the apps that are running in background.


Can I use Airport if the network needs daily authentication?

The Airport line of devices do not support captive portals, if that's what you're referring to. There is no way to set one up to support this. That's more an enterprise feature, and wouldn't be found in most consumer APs.


What ways can I purchase a newspaper subscription for viewing on an iPad?

For the Kindle system, if one looks carefully under the product description such as you would find under this list, http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Newspapers/b?ie=UTF8&node=165389011,  one can see a link for "Available on these devices". This link will tell you if an Amazon subscription for that newspaper can be read on "Free Kindle Reading Apps",  or exclusively on "Kindle e-readers".

In order to have the freedom to read on multiple devices (which seems to be the intent of your question, but forgive if I assume too much), you'd want to choose a newspaper available on "Free Kindle Reading Apps".


Disable zoom animation in Chrome when going to full screen video

chrome://flags/#enable-simplified-fullscreen; Enable it and restart chrome


Syncing photo library to PC - Number of photos does not match

Windows has an application called Windows Photo Gallery. I think Windows 10 has it out of the box, for Windows 7 you can download it for free from MS site (or at least you could). It is a MS try for local photos keeper, it keeps all photos in actual folders, not in a giant database. So I use it mostly for importing photos from the iPhone. It sees the device, shows all the photos by dates (and actually by events, can be several in a one day, pretty neat). I never delete old photos from my phone, so import finds them all every time. But you can deselect all and then select only for the last two days, for example.

If you have this application I recommend to try it.


macOS Mojave stacks not grouping by type

I have same issue when I change System Preference->Spotlight setting.

From Monitor App, I found Spotlight progress takes a lot of memory, so I disable some options from Spotlight setting's *Search Results*, and then Desktop Stacks with those types disappear.

So, re-enable the expected type in Spotlight setting, the type will show on Desktop.


How to search for empty emails in Apple mail?

It's not possible to make a rule with an empty field in Mail.app on OS X apparently. The solution I found is to list all vowels as necessarily missing in order to process the message (in this example case, move it to the trash).
Note: this does not deal with images or attachments of any type as the sole content of the message body however. An attachment does count as 'content' in the message body. The rule(s) and criteria would have to be quite extensive to deal with attachments in addition to non-character message content.
See image:


Can Apple developers see app uninstalls?

No, iOS does not send a ping when an app is deleted from the device. Also, user choice determines whether iOS reports generic analytic information to Apple, so even if Apple wanted to process that analytics and possibly report that to a developer, it’s opt in by end user.

Developers that desire that need to build an activity reporting service that exists outside the App Store. Look at MAU, monthly active users, count of launches, etc...  just be sure you think of the privacy concerns. Once you start collecting this data, you are liable under GDPR and many governments to handle it properly and respond to legal and extra-judicial requests properly.

Not collecting this data and not retaining it can be a very smart business decision. Measuring engagement can be very valuable, but think how to benefit the end user and consider privacy while you do that. You might request this to be aggregated like the installs are as I could see Apple providing that in the future if it was balanced and useful to most developers rather than forcing them to roll their own analytics.


just upgraded iMac late 2015 ram from 12 GB to 28 GB and it became too slow to use

You should have matching DIMMS in order to maximize performance / dual channel functionality.  Also note that RAM is going to operate at the lowest speed of all the DIMMS, which is another reason why they should all match.

That being said, it shouldn't be operating that slowly.  I would start with removing the original 4 GB stick, possibly doing a PRAM reset, and maybe shuffling around which slots they're installed in, since the problem only starting showing when you used the two vacant slots with the new RAM, if I'm reading correctly. Also confirm that the system is recognizing all the memory you installed.

Finally, it's possible you got bad/defective memory.  You can also try running diagnostics to rule out logic board issues etc.


It is not EXACTLY an answer to your question but might be helpful anyways. I am using a program called Slink. It forwards all Bonjour-traffic over ssh. This makes it really easy to connect to my home-network. You get a list of services like Plex, iTunes, filesharing, screensharing, printers, and so on. You can also easily browse the web (via firefox) over this connection as well. You don't get to send all traffic through Slink like a normal VPN thou.
I have used a number of VPN-solutions, but this made everything much easier. Hope it helps. It is not free, but well wotrh the money in my opinion.


How to give enough access so a child can use the terminal, download packages, yet does not have full admin rights on mac?

You can give admin access to specific commands using sudo. To do so, log in as an admin user, open Terminal and run EDITOR=nano sudo visudo /etc/sudoers.d/myconfig (which will create a new file and open in nano). Then add the following line (replace KID with the name of the unix account of your kid, ADMIN with the account name of the user which installed brew)
KID ALL = (ADMIN) /usr/local/bin/brew

He should then be able to run brew commands by typing sudo brew ... and entering his password.
To allow commands to be run as root (things you already run with sudo even from an admin account) use
KID ALL = /path/to/command

(obviuosly this has some risks).


How to change the recent files smart folder icon in the dock?

You can easily change any icon folder from any picture you want (copy the picture you want -> get info of the folder -> click the actual picture folder -> paste the new picture).
From Apple support to change picture of folder :
Create custom icons for files or folders on Mac
You can create a custom icon for any file or folder using your own pictures, icons downloaded from the web, or the icon from another file or folder.
Use your own picture or a picture from the web

On your Mac, copy the picture you want to use to the Clipboard.
One way to do this is to open the picture in the Preview app , choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.

Select the file or folder whose icon you want to replace, then choose File > Get Info.

At the top of the Info window, click the picture of the icon, then choose Edit > Paste.


Mac Pro starts with folder icon and question mark, HD is empty. How to install Ubuntu?

I suggest you use the tutorial from Ubuntu.
This requires access to another running computer (Linux, Windows, Mac). If you don't have one, consider to reinstall macOS with macOS Recovery installer to prepare the stick. Press shift + opt + cmd + R during a restart to reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.


New Apple nfc door opener as seen on iPhone 12 keynote video?

NFC detection is available to app developers on iPhone for some years since iOS 11.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc

I use it for hardware authorization with yubikeys and 1Password app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/1password-password-manager/id568903335
https://www.yubico.com/us/store

Apple hardware can scan for NFC and then take whatever action the developers code up for the apps.


Switched SIM cards but contacts are no longer on my iPhone?

SIM cards can store a certain amount of contacts, but most phones nowadays do not automatically store them there, instead storing them on the phone itself.

If your old phone has stored your contacts on the SIM card, you can import them onto your iPhone in the Settings app:

Go into Mail Contacts and Calendars, scroll down to the Contacts section, and tap on Import SIM Contacts.

Note: iPhones CANNOT store contacts onto the SIM card. If your previous phone was an iPhone, you will need to sync them by some other method.

More Info: Apple Support Doc


How to set up an iPhone or iPad to act as an Apple TV (4K) remote?

From the link you referenced, it tells you exactly what's required to use your iOS device as an AppleTV Remote

  1. Check that your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV

You need to have both the iOS device and the AppleTV on the same network.

  Is there any way to make it work? Such as moving the iPhone or iPad 2 feet away from my Apple TV and have them "hooked up"? I guess one possibility was if that Apple TV sent a token to iCloud for my account long before, and can let me download that token to my remote app to authenticate it is the same user trying to use the remote functionality but I guess such functionality is not there (yet)? Is there any method at all?

Proximity and tokens are not methods that have been implemented so while it an interesting concept, it simply doesn't exist.

  A side note is, if a new remote needs to be purchased, I supposed it can still hook up to my existing Apple TV (4K), or else there really is no point in selling a remote by itself?

Yes.  You can (re)pair a new Apple Remote with your existing AppleTV.  You can get more info from the Apple Support document If you lost the remote for your AppleTV.


Can the Macbook Pro drive two Ultra HD monitors at 60FPS each?

According to this document https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204154 The MacBook Pro (15-inch and 17-inch, Early 2011) and later have Thunderbolt2 and can handle two thunderbolt displays (2560x1440).

According to this document https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856 The MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013 and later) can handle one MST 4K display at 60Hz.

You can run one 4K monitor off of the Thunderbolt display at 60z and a second off HDMI at 30Hz. the two thunderbolt ports are connected. Once you try to connect a second 4K monitor to the other port, you will go over the bandwidth and the second monitor will go dark.


Not booting after replacing the SuperDrive with SSD

I configured the SDD as the main startup disk and I transferred all
  the libraries in HDD.

How exactly did you transfer the libraries?!
Note, that Disk Utility.app (if used) does not create a bootable HDD backup!

There are different ways to clone/transfer the entire content of your previous installed main HDD. The following applications will allow exact and bootable drives/disk images.

Option 01: Carbon Cloner creates a bootable drive/volume

Option 02: CloneX4 allows you to make a bootable copy of your startup disk, as well as if you want to change your hard disk. Clone X will create a perfect bootable copy of your startup disk, or of any of your other disks. Clone X automatically handles all settings needed to make a correct bootable copy.


The log files are rotated and eventually removed by the asl system. You can change the configuration by editing /etc/asl.conf under sudo. Start Terminal.app and issue this command:

sudo -e /etc/asl.conf

You'll find in there a comment stating that rules for /var/log/system.log follows, the first line looks like this:

> system.log mode=0640 format=bsd rotate=seq compress file_max=5M all_max=50M

Change that to look like this:

> system.log mode=0640 format=bsd rotate=seq compress file_max=5M all_max=9999G ttl=99999

This means that each seperate log file will be maximum 5M. Normally the asl system removes log files when either they exceed the all_max limit (before 50 megabyte, now 9999 gigabytes) or when the file is older than ttl days (before 7 days, now 99999 days).


How is iOS updating all my apps without permission?

FWIW, this just happened to me. Had auto updates turned off, kinda freaked me out. Turned out, in my case, I had enabled “offload unused apps” to free up space - got a feeling this might be why all my apps needed re-downloading. Not sure if “re-downloading” == “upgrade”.


Assuming your Xcode.app is installed in /Applications you can just run
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/

to fix this.


Why does my Gmail signature on my iphone default to my gmail app on my ipad

The Gmail app syncs your signature to your account, not just your device. One solution would be to use the Gmail app on one device, and the default Mail app on the other. The Mail app stores the signature only on your device, so you can keep it separate from the one synced to your Gmail account.


This seems unusual if you can reproduce this after holding the power buttons and then sliding to turn off the iPad.

Which application is this failing once you restart cleanly? Safari or Notes app ar good to check. Also, make sure it’s not text copy and just photos.

Sorry I don’t have an absolute fox, but since you didn’t mention and troubleshooting I figure I can help with some things to start with.


Do /etc/resolver/ files work in Mountain Lion for DNS resolution?

This question seems a bit old, but I'm going to answer it anyways as I had a similar problem:

Yes, this works.

Your first problem is that you obviously have the wrong IP (8.8.8.8 instead of 203.12.160.35) in /etc/resolver/apple.com. Verify that the contents of this file is really:

nameserver 203.12.160.35

Then scutil --dns should have an entry like this:

resolver #8
  domain   : apple.com
  nameserver[0] : 203.12.160.35

The second problem is that you tried to verify it using nslookup which does not use the DNS resolution mechanisms of OS X. If you look at the man page of nslookup you will find this:

Mac OS X NOTICE
   The nslookup command does not use the host name and address resolution or the DNS
   query routing mechanisms used by other processes running on Mac OS X.  The results of
   name or address queries printed by nslookup may differ from those found by other
   processes that use the Mac OS X native name and address resolution mechanisms. The
   results of DNS queries may also differ from queries that use the Mac OS X DNS routing
   library.

To check your DNS config you could do

dns-sd -G v4 images.apple.com

and verify if it yields the same IP as

nslookup images.apple.com 203.12.160.35


Mail.app smart mailbox "match any" problem

Apparently it's a known bug.

  Helpful AnswerRe: Mail.app : smart Mailbox misbehaves with condition "any"
  15-Jun-2011 08:47 (in response to Claude Cauwe)

  That's a known bug.  I've reported it, and was told that it was already something Apple is aware of.  Evidently hasn't been fixed yet, though.

Edit: I've just checked, and the bug appears to be fixed in Mail.app from Lion. At least it works as expected (mich732).


Have to recently turn on visibility for hidden files?
I see this file from time to time in my Dropbox too, however this file exists in every directory on macOS, it's just normally hidden. If you don't have hidden files turned on it's likely just an error with the Dropbox sync. See this really in-depth answer on Super User:
https://superuser.com/questions/298785/icon-file-on-os-x-desktop


Unfortunately, with games like this, the answer is typically no - at least not by yourself.

The best course of action would be to contact the developers of the game (Zynga). In games like this, it is very server-heavy, so they may be able to restore your progress from your profile that they have saved somewhere.


What is this strange process `qemu` connecting to minergate.com?

Qemu is a virtual emulator. Minergate is mining software. As mentioned it is probably installed via something you installed by Homebrew.

I would recommend a AntiVirus


Is there any way to watch Hulu (or Hulu Plus) on the new Apple TV?

Unfortunately, it seems that AirPlay is audio only for third-party apps for the time being, and there's no other way to get Hulu Plus on the Apple TV.


Is it possible to upgrade from ios 4.3.5 to 5.0.1 even though the current version is 5.1?

Actually, you don't even have to hunt it to a Bittorent. You can just download it from the Apple servers by visiting the RedMondPie website. Links are listed below the page.


USB Keyboard changed keymap automatically

Either you're holding it down, or your Option key is stuck ;-)

Regular...

With Opt held - note the greyed key, marked in red

Also note this is a UK keyboard, but the main layout is the same UK/US


Why isn't my Bluetooth printer appearing on iPhone but is appearing on Android and PC?

The thermal printer is not an AirPrint device - as such you cannot use it as a generic printer throughout the iOS system. I.e. this doesn't work like your regular inkjet or laser printer for desktop usage.

Instead the printer connects via Bluetooth and presents a "virtual serial port" to that is available to application developers. This means that the specific app you want to print for must be created to specifically support the DPP-350, or at least this particular type of printer language.

This means that you need to find an app that specifically supports this printer before you can have any hope of printing with it from an iPhone.

In terms of printer language, this printer does not use AirPrint, PCL, PostScript or similar that would be typical of a normal printer. Instead it uses the old Epson ESC/P printing language, which were used for ordinary printers back in the day (i.e. in the 80s for example). Today it is only really used for smaller receipt printers and the like. They have relatively limited printing capabilities.


Safari randomly and periodically loses cookies

It could be of because reasons mainly,

Any unwanted extension that is supposed to behave this way
Some software running in background to clear caches for freeing up space
Browsing in Incognito Mode


How to ensure security updates are installed without daytime interruption in macOS Sierra

I would suggest turning off automatic updates and scheduling a run of softwareupdate yourself. If you’re using shutdown to do the nightly reboot, you could turn that into:

softwareupdate --install --all; shutdown -r now

CNet has an introductory article on “How to apply OS X software updates from the command line”. Below, I’ve quoted sample output from a blog post (though an old one) where softwareupdate is used to install updates that require a restart. You might also be interested in an (old) hint on Mac OS X hints with a more complicated script that installs all available updates, reboots, and repeats the process until there are no more updates left.

iBook-G4:~ root# softwareupdate --install --all
Software Update Tool
Copyright 2002-2007 Apple

Downloading iLife Support       0..20..40..60..80..100
Verifying iLife Support
waiting iLife Support
waiting QuickTime
Downloading Mac OS X Update     0..20..40..60..80..100
Verifying Mac OS X Update
waiting Mac OS X Update
Installing iLife Support        0..20..40..60..80..100
Done iLife Support
Installing QuickTime    0..20..40..60..80..100
Done QuickTime
Installing Mac OS X Update      0..20..40..60..80..100
Done Mac OS X Update
Done.

You have installed one or more updates that requires that you restart your
computer.  Please restart immediately.


iOS 11: iPhone freezes/shuts down since update

There are lots of issues right now with iOS 11, especially with the iPhone 6S. A quick look at the iFixit Answers Forum will convince you of that. Of course, these are just a tiny percentage of all iPhone owners so it's not like there is a pandemic going on. If your screen has been replaced with an aftermarket screen in the past, this may be the source of the problem.

This blog post explains:

The problem appears to be caused by the software driver of the Touch Controller IC that is embedded into the display assembly. Aftermarket screens produced with Hancai or Tianma LCD's using the Aichungjia (a Flex/IC manufacturer) "copy" driver appear to be incompatible with iOS 11. This driver is said to be unable to handle the iOS configuration and therefore shutting down and causing the lack of Touch functionality. OEM or Original grade iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 series replacement screens are not affected by this problem.

I don't believe it is battery related although you should check this Apple official website to see if you are elegible for a free battery replacement. Unfortunately, it is now too late to downgrade to iOS 10 as Apple have stopped signing those versions.


Check the Energy tab of Activity Monitor and look for processes that have a high energy usage.

Screenshot Source
Leave it for a bit longer (up to a week) to see if there's any change.


How to start Firefox web browser from terminal in private mode?

You can start Firefox directly in a private window, at least two ways, in a Terminal. The first is using the open command.

open -a Firefox --args -private-window

In a Terminal, type man open and press Enter for a synopsis of the open command.

Note: When passing command line arguments to the application being opened by the open command they go with and after the --args argument.

Another way is to use the fully qualified pathname of the Firefox executable, e.g.:

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -private-window &

See Firefox Command Line Options for additional arguments when starting Firefox from the command line.
It's better to use the open command because while the use of the ampersand & at the end of the command line will allow the prompt to return in the Terminal nonetheless closing the Terminal will also close Firefox, where it doesn't terminate Firefox started with the open command when the Terminal is closed.


Mine did this for a bit - turn it off, pull out the batteries, and turn it on again. Failing that, un-pair it from your computer (ideally, pair it with something else too) and then re-pair - this solved my problem (although it was never as regular as yours).


iPhone upgraded to iOS 11 - retrieve log data from an old incompatible app called "Articles"

There are a couple possibilities.

You can backup your iPhone using iTunes, and then try restoring your iPhone's backup to another iPhone that is running an older iOS version.

You can backup your iPhone to a Mac using iTunes with encryption turned off, and try using one of the (paid?) Mac utilities that can read unencrypted iOS backup files in the iTunes backup directory.


What is the data type of background images in a Pages template?

After flipping through "iWork:The Missing Manual" and digging a little deeper, I discovered that those watermark style background images were immobile because they were "Locked." So I clicked "Unlock" in the Arrange menu, and then I could delete or manipulate those images.


Standard (ISO 8601) week number in Calendar.app?

Calendar System

System Preferences in Yosemite 10.10.5 (and all later OS X releases, through El Capitan 10.11.3)  lets you change the calendar system used across apps. The default for a United States install is Gregorian. To get behavior compliant with the ISO 8601 standard, change to ISO 8601.

Choose System Preferences > Language & Region > Calendar (popup menu) > ISO 8601.

Below are screen shots of Apple’s Calendar.app, before and after switching between Gregorian calendar and ISO 8601 calendar. I added the "Gregorian"/"ISO" labels.

Note the week numbers shown on the left. Weeks 52 & 1 changed to weeks 52 & 53. In a standard week, January 1st of 2016 is in Week 53. In ISO 8601 notation for weeks, that would be the week 2015-W53, and January 1st 2016 would be 2015-W53-5 with the weekday number appended.

For more info, see an entire Wikipedia article dedicated to ISO week date.

CAVEAT I do not know the ramifications of changing your Mac calendar system from Gregorian to ISO 8601. I searched support.apple.com but found no documentation.


After upgrade to macOS Sierra secd is using 98% power and cannot be force quit in Activity Monitor

To fix this go to the iCloud settings panel and start the process to enable iCloud Keychain, enter a password, but cancel before completing.


Keychain passwords suggestions that I can't remember, how do I log in from a different pc

While Keychain Access and the iCloud Keychain is specific to the Mac and iOS, there are other applications such as 1Password and LastPass which have various syncing options (Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, and even web-based) so you would never be without access to your passwords.


I dropped my iPhone 5c and it cracked; now the screen is changing colors

If your screen is cracked and it is showing "lots" of colors, it means your digitizer is cracked/broken as well.

AFIK, AppleCare doesn't cover accidental damage, AppleCare+ does.

If you don't have AppleCare+, then you need to take it in to an Apple Store or to an authorized repair shop.

All of this is spelled out clearly at Apple's service page for iPhones:

https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/service/pricing
https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/service

For an out of warranty screen repair in the US you should expect to pay $129 and if more things are broken than just the screen the total could go up to $269 before it's considered "totaled" or "beyond economical repair". Apple support should be able to tell you if your phone has AppleCare plus from the second link above for iPhone service center information.


This seems to be a high Sierra Bug it is not even fixed in the latest software update which is 10.3.1 I guess. I have the latest version installed and ever tim it shows that system uses up 40GB even though I have 20GB worth of hoots it always shows 0KB. So I don't know how to fix this but hope that another software update fixes this.Try running df in terminal located in Applications>Utilities it should work because it works fine for me.


bluetooth keyboard not in keyboard preferences

It doesn't show up for me either on 10.12.2.

Karabiner Elements is working great for me.


Navigating OS X dialogs with the keyboard

OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" (and older versions at least back to OS X 10.7 "Lion") lets you use the Tab key to navigate between buttons (and other items) on the screen. To configure it select "All controls" in System Preferences>Keyboard>Shortcuts as shown below:

When the desired button has focus, press the Space bar to select it. (Don't press Enter, as it will select the default button.)


How can I open a Google Maps URL in Apple Maps?

You can simply copy and paste an URL from Google Maps (either from sharing with the Google Maps app), paste it in the Apple Maps search bar and it will resolve the correct location.

Google Maps short URL (of the form goo.gl) won't work and will need expansion before proceeding.

I've created myself a Workflow (soon to be named Shortcuts in iOS 12) to expand the URL automatically. You can force-touch an URL going to Google Maps and use this Workflow with the Workflow share extension.


HD does not show up when attempting to reinstall OS X (El Capitan)

This happened to me too. It means your hard drive is unpartitioned. Go to Disk Utility and add a partition to the hard drive which you just formatted. You can use MacOS Journal File System while doing so. Once this is done, you will see the hard drive in the UI that asks you to choose where to install the OS when restoring the MacOS.


Is the "Cellar" folder only used for Homebrew?

The script for uninstalling Homebrew removes it completely, so it's probably safe to remove it.
https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/FAQ

How do I uninstall Homebrew?
If you installed to /usr/local then you can use the script in this gist to uninstall — it will only remove Homebrew and the stuff Homebrew installed leaving anything else in /usr/local alone.
Provided you haven’t put anything else in Homebrew’s prefix (brew --prefix), you can generally just rm -rf that directory. This is because Homebrew won’t touch files outside its prefix.


This will require your participation :)

Download and run free Key Codes utility.
Press ± § key on your keyboard and write its HEX code from the utility screen.
Press ` _ key and write HEX code for it.
Open Terminal app and enter the following command (copy and paste it):

hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000032,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000035},{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x700000035,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x700000032}]}'

HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc is what you press on your keyboard and HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDstKey is what will be the result.
Pay attention to the bolded numbers endings!! You will need to replace them with actual readings from the Key Codes utility (Step 2 and 3). I wrote most probable values, but they may differ in your case.

As an alternative solution, you may want to try Flamingo app.

Reference to the hidutil usage is here: Technical Note TN2450.


Why am I being asked for local password in 'update apple ID settings'?

With new hardware and new OS - Apple can entangle the local device password and keychain to cryptographically log in to your iCloud account / AppleID account without needing your password once the setup and initial hand shake to sign in with that iCloud/AppleID is completed.
This confuses a lot of people since they are expecting to enter an iCloud password and not the local admin credentials. This change is across watchOS, TVOS, iPadOS, iOS and macOS.
This also can be prompted when you do a setup / transfer:

iPhone asks for Mac password (or Mac asks for iOS password)
Why do our iPhones keep asking for passwords of other users?
Shady password required for Update Apple ID Settings

I feel this is much more secure overall since it mitigates if you have a key logger and if you lose control of your local admin - this means someone can't use Keychain Access to reveal your iCloud password - it just reveals a secure token that works with one device and can't be abused to download your iCloud data from another device.


You could also try to run

rm -r /var/folders/*/*/*/com.apple.iconservices
rm -r /var/folders/*/*/*/com.apple.dock.iconcache
rm -r ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder
qlmanage -r
sudo rm -r /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store

and restart.


iStat Menus and its free Dashboard widget version iStat Pro can show you a good broad overview of your Mac's systems, but I'm afraid I don't know of any monitoring utilities that show individual application processes (ie Finder activity copying files) other than shell tools like lsof or top.

edit I had forgotten about good old fseventer - last updated in 2010 but still working on 10.6.8.


Will Time Machine store the same data twice in this situation?

No, if you move the files back to another location on the disk backed up by Time Machine, the next backup will create a new copy of these files on your backup volume. This may even occur if you put them back into the same place (because the files will get a new creation timestamp which AFAIK triggers Time Machine to create a new file on the backup drive).

What you can do though is to navigate to the folder which originally contained the movies, open Time Machine from there, navigate back in time until the movies are displayed and then delete all backed up versions of them.


How to search a phrase in Preview of OS X?

Just like you would with a Google search, use the double quotes operator to tell Preview the result must be an exact match.

In your case, for example, typing "formation water" should yield the desired result.


iPhone AppStore always asks for password when redeeming

This is by design. The prompt to enter your password shows you the Apple ID that you are using and for people that use more than one ID - it's quite helpful to prevent inadvertent redemption of money. I agree for some people it would be easier to just use the fingerprint, but I've seen cases where $100 gift cards went to the wrong account and it was a hassle to correct it.


Microsoft Remote Desktop local redirection?

It should show up under Devices with Removable Storage.  When you add the folder in Remote Desktop try clicking browse when adding the folder and confirm its the right path to the projects folder.


How to create Dock entries via Terminal in macOS Sierra?

As a test in macOS Sierra, I just downloaded the vlc-2.2.4.dmg file and installed VLC to /Applications via drag and drop to the Applications alias within the installer window.

In Terminal, I ran the following command:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add "<dict><key>tile-data</key><dict><key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key><string>/Applications/VLC.app</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key><integer>0</integer></dict></dict></dict>"; killall Dock

Note that I added ; killall Dock directly after the command line from your question.

As the Dock reappeared, the VLC Dock Tile was present and I then click it. VLC opened as expected.


I don't know when it could be set up in Firefox, but in Safari you can open Preferences->Security->Manage Website Settings... In opened window select java, then select your website and in drop down list select "Run in Unsafe Mode". You will see warning icon at near the text. See screenshot from my Safari


How can I display contents of trash using terminal?

You can run

ls -al ~/.Trash

to show the content of the Trash of the current user.

To see the content of all Trashes, use

sudo ls -al /Users/*/.Trash

from an admin account.

And if you also want to include the content of the Trash on external volumes, use

sudo sh -c 'ls -al /Volumes/*/.Trashes/*/'


Where can I get the image of the installation disc that came installed (mountain lion)?

There was no DVD for Mountain Lion. Since Lion arrived with the App Store as a digital release, the core OS is not something you re-download from the store. You don't need to pay to re-download, but you do have to go through the Recovery HD to initiate the download.

When you buy an upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion or an upgrade to Mountain Lion - that installer can be re-downloaded, but when the OS is included with a CPU purchase, you don't need to have an Apple ID or account to re-download the OS. You just enter recovery mode and run the installer. It downloads the package after verifying eligibility by checking the serial number on the Mac hardware.

If you interrupt the process, you can grab the installer from the drive - but it's not something that the system was designed to deliver to you as a downloadable package. It was designed to download and re-install on an "as-needed" basis without needing an account, a password - just an internet connection and some time to wait for the download.


iPhone backup encryption with password cannot be disabled

My phone had a Profile, which forces backups to be encrypted.

To enable unencrypted iPhone backups again, I removed any Profiles from my phone under Settings -> General -> Profiles.

Profiles can be either Provisioning or Configuration Profiles, and are used for iPhone development and by Enterprise Deployment tools. More information about profiles can be found in the Apple Enterprise Deployment Guide.


How do you add a custom social profile in Contacts on macOS?

While tedious and a little annoying, you can export the contact card, edit it manually in a text editor, and then import it back into contacts.
Select on the contact you want to change, then go to File → Export → Export vCard…. Open the vcf file in a text editor such as TextEdit.
You’ll see a file that looks something like this:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//Mac OS X 10.15.6//EN
N:Last;First;;;
FN:First Last
END:VCARD

To add a custom social profile, add this before END:VCARD, replacing Service with the social profile service (e.g. Twitter) and username with the contact's username:
X-SOCIALPROFILE;type=Service:x-apple:username

To use special characters, such as : or ;, in the service, put it in quotation marks ("). (To use a " use ^" and use ^^ for ^.) However, these will not display correctly and show up as “profile” in the Contacts app.
To use special characters in the username (including spaces), use the URL encoding.
For example, if you want to add the username “first_last123” for the service “Foo bar”, and the username “with space” for the service “Special:characters"^”, the file may look like this:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//Mac OS X 10.15.6//EN
N:Last;First;;;
FN:First Last
X-SOCIALPROFILE;type=Foo Bar:x-apple:first_last123
X-SOCIALPROFILE;type="Special:characters^"^^":x-apple:with%20space
END:VCARD

You can now import this VCF file into Contacts.

Alternatively, you could use AppleScript:
tell application "Contacts"
  -- theContact is a contact
  make new social profile at theContact with properties {service name:"Service", user name:"Username"}
  save
end tell

Here's a script you could run to add a custom social profile to the selected contact:
tell application "Contacts"
    set selectedContacts to selection
    if (count selectedContacts) is not 1 then
        display alert "Please select 1 contact to modify."
        return
    end if
    set theService to (display dialog "Service?" default answer "")'s text returned
    set theUsername to (display dialog "Username?" default answer "")'s text returned
    make new social profile at selectedContacts's first item with properties {service name:theService, user name:theUsername}
    save
end tell


How do I stop iTunes from re-syncing to iPhone?

To solve your problem, just simply go into iTunes with your device connected, and click the little icon of a phone below the play/pause button.

(The icon at the bottom right corner of picture)

Once in that page, scroll down to the "Options" and uncheck "Automatically sync when this device is connected.

If the "Sync with this device over Wi-Fi" is on, you should turn this off as well to prevent accidental syncing.

Hope this helps!


How to force empty Trash if it has system files?

Try the following:

Open the Trash, click on it in the Dock.
Open Terminal and type the following command, followed by a space:

 sudo rm -rf

Now drag and drop the target folder from the Trash onto the Terminal window.
Press Enter and type in your (Admin) password and press Enter.

If that doesn't remove the target folder, then make note of its pathname, writing it down on a piece of paper.

Reboot the Mac to the Recovery HD, pressing ⌘R, and holding it, as the computer starts up after having shut it down.
Once the macOS Utilities window appears, select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
In Terminal type the following command:

 rm -rf /path/to/target/folder

Example:

rm -rf /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/johndoe/.Trash/Previous\ Content/Devices

Note: Because this is being done from the Recovery HD, you need to add e.g. /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD to the pathname you wrote down earlier.

NOTE: Make sure you type the fully qualified pathname correctly as once you press Enter, that's it, it's gone and cannot be recovered!

Then type reboot and press Enter.

See: About macOS Recovery


How can I cancel an app installation on the iPhone?

I just figured out one way to do this:

Pause the download on the iPhone by tapping the icon.
Connect the iPhone to iTunes. This will cause iTunes to start downloading the app.
Go to the Downloads tab in iTunes and delete the download.


Tell iPhone that this wifi is a hotspot so it doesn't download 1MB/s for no reason when idle

No - on iOS 12 and lower, the device will not conserve data when you connect to WiFi.

Apple has previewed and announced that there will be a low data mode as part of iOS 13. This announcement was made at WWDC in June 2019 and also listed toward the bottom of this feature announcement page:

https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-13-preview/features/

  Low Data Mode

  Apps on your iPhone reduce their network data usage.

You would need some more elaborate networking filter to reduce data usage via WiFi when tethered or just connected to WiFi today on shipping iOS. For now, the practical way is to closely monitor and manage your updates and settings so you don’t automatically update when connected to WiFi or ensure those downloads and syncs complete before you rejoin your hotspot.

You can use services to proxy or log data connections. Two I think are very useful are CharlesProxy and guardian firewall:

https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/ios/
https://guardianapp.com/blog/2019/06/introducing-guardian-firewall-for-ios/

They both do more than simply meter bandwidth, but are trusted and clear how they generate revenue and are unlikely to abuse your data or privacy if you cannot wait for Apple solutions.


How can I force my right-hand monitor to always be my primary monitor on my MBP?

Swap the plugs over.

If it absolutely always does it the same way whichever way you put the plugs in, then swap the monitors over.


There is a fuse in the charger, but replacing fuse is not recommended.

And this is not the only surge protection unit. I recommend to test with another working charger and your mac and if your mac works well with another charger, then get another Apple charger.


Screen remains on after bringing it to my ear during a call

Either the software isn't seeing the proximity sensor or your hardware needs a repair.

I have had good luck testing the phone immediately after a normal reboot (slide to power off and letting it shut down) Then place the phone flat on the table, press sleep/wake to power it on and once it starts - just call 611 or another free call before starting any apps. Place your whole hand over the top half of the glass and play with the sensor that is near the receiver / front camera to see that the screen goes on and off as designed.

Restoring the phone (and sometimes setting up as new) is needed to reset the software when it fails. Calling or going to an apple store for assistance or repair is the next step once you've decided it's not fixable from simple software.


Method 1:
Try resetting it via iTunes. To do this: Plug your iPhone into your computer and open iTunes. In iTunes, select your iPhone device and click on "Restore iPhone". Let the process finish and the phone restart. After the restart you can plug it out of your computer. Now should your iPhone be reseted to factory defaults.

Method 2:
You say that you can't connect it to your Wi-Fi network. Have you tried with forgetting the network? To forget the network: Go into the Settings application -> Wi-Fi -> Tap on the little "i" at the same row as the name (SSID) of your Wi-Fi network.
Now you can try to reconnect to the Wi-Fi network again and see if it works better. If you are able to connect to the Wi-Fi network, then you can reset it via the Settings application.


Can I answer an incoming phone call on my Apple Watch using Siri command?

This seems to be now possible with just "Hey Siri" and "Answer the phone".
It is also possible with iOS v14.5 and compatible headphones. In Siri settings enable:

"Allow Siri when locked"
"Announace Calls" -> always

And now you can answer by saying "Answer" when there's an incoming call. Doesn't work with Apple Watch though.
Ref: https://lifehacker.com/use-siris-ios-14-5-update-to-answer-calls-with-your-voi-1846774139


How to fix Run-time error 53 every time I open a document in Word or a worksheet in Excel on Big Sur?

After looking really hard for a solution, I finally found in a very obscure page the answer, which is quite simple and works with the latest Microsoft Word on Big Sur:

Close all Office applications
Go to /Users/your-user-name-here/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Word
Remove linkCreation.dotm
Restart Word and problem solved

Unfortunately that does not solve the problem for PowerPoint or Excel because if I remove SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam inside the PowerPoint folder or the SaveAsAdobePDF.xlam inside the Excel folder will trigger another error on application launch.
To fix these errors, you need to:

Remove the SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam and SaveAsAdobePDF.xlam from the PowerPoint and Excel folders next to the Word folder.
Launch Excel and PowerPoint and go to the menu Tools -> Excel Add-ins... and Tools -> PowerPoint Add-ins..., respectively, and remove the Save as Adobe PDF add-in, by unckecking it and removing it with the "-" button and then click OK.
Restart Excel and PowerPoint and the problem should go away. If not, try several times to remove those options from the Tools menu until the problem goes away. I had to repeat this procedure in PowerPoint until this got fixed.


iOS app Distribution outside of App Store

Your question seems quite unclear as you seem to have given the answer together with the question.

The way to do this is to apply to the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. Using that account you can create an In-House Distribution Certificate that you can use to sign your app with in Xcode.

After you have signed your app, you'll need to create a manifest plist file. Host the app (.ipa) and the manifest (.plist) in a folder on a web server, and send the user's an invitation via email.

The user will then be able to download the app, trust the enterprise profile and eventually run the app.


macOS/iOS devices reconnect automatically to airplay/bluetooth device disturbing intended audio stream

It may sound like a simple solution, and it may not be what you're looking for, but it is the easiest to accomplish: turn off Bluetooth on the devices you don't want to connect.

Personally, I don't like leaving BT on and running on my devices when it is not in use. A quick swipe on the Control Center and the On/Off toggle is right there.


How do you type a character with its ASCII code?

Add Unicode Hex Input as your Keyboard.  Hold the option key while typing.


How to delete an app stuck in update mode?

Have you tried deleting Groupon, or any other problematic app, directly from your device?

Hold your finger down on the app icon.  When it wiggles, tap the delete button.  After confirming and deleting the app, download it again from the App Store on your device.

I've had this same problem before.  I'm not sure what causes the problem but this has always solved the problem for me.

I'm not sure why iTunes won't let you delete the application.  Maybe this is because it first poles your device to see if it is updating.  In such a case, it may prevent the deletion from occurring.

I hope this helps.  If it doesn't, I'd like to know how the device responds when you try to delete the app from the hardware.


I’ve noticed a button you don’t have. What version of Numbers do you have? (I have 09)

Look at this:

That swaps the columns in the graph (exactly like you describe). I’m not really very good at Numbers.

Do you have that? One thing I’ve done, is used the price as a “column” but maybe that’s why you don’t have it?

My graphic looks awesome (sarcasm)…

(btw I hadn’t saved it and had to do it again)


ctrl alt h shortut not being caught by my active program anymore

That's VoiceOver, an accessibility tool. Go to System Preferences → Universal Access → Seeing, and set VoiceOver to Off.


You need to make sure that iTunes is up to date. If using a Mac, then your Mac needs to be updated in order for iTunes to update.

Once its updated then you should be able to backup.

Keep in mind, iCloud can also be used to backup your iPhone as well.


Can you do a Find and Replace all in the Pages App for iPad?

Here are the steps I took to Find and Replace a word with a word(s) in Pages app for iPad:

Tap in the toolbar and tap Find in the popover.
When the search field appears at the bottom of the screen, type in the word(s) you’re searching for. The results are immediately highlighted in the document. Use the forward and back arrows to move through the document to see the results in context.
To replace the found term, tap (gear) to the left of the search field.
In the popover, you can refine your search by searching for matching cases or whole words only. Or, simply tap Find and Replace and a second text field appears to the right of the search field.
Type in the replacement word and tap Replace. Pages for iPad finds the first instance of the word and replaces it. Tap the forward and back arrows to find each instance and manually replace it by tapping the Replace button.
To automatically find and replace all instances of the word, tap and hold the Replace button until Replace All appears in the popover. Tap it and all the found words are automatically replaced.

For a graphical representation of the steps mentioned above, check out this article which I found useful:

Find and replace in Pages for iPad

Source: my.safaribooksonline.com


Why is iBooks progress incorrect in my Siri Suggestions, and how is this fixed?

Go to Settings>General>Spotlight Search. Turn off and on Siri Suggestions. It worked for me.


How can I force default DNS query to work in TCP mode?

AFAIK it's not possible to force the mDNSResponder to use TCP instead of UDP.

I've found a workaround though. The method outlined below uses a local DNS-proxy (dnschef) forced to use TCP for outgoing DNS-requests.

Download and unzip dnschef-0.3.
Download and unzip dnslib
Download and unarchive IPy-0.76
cd to the dnslib folder:

cd ~/Downloads/paulc-dnslib-04713cc4a9df

install dnslib:

sudo python ./setup.py install

cd to the IPy folder:

cd ~/Downloads/IPy-0.76

install IPy:

sudo python ./setup.py install

Open System Preferences -> Network, replace your current DNS-server(s) (e.g. 8.8.8.8/8.8.8.4) by a local one with the IP 127.0.0.1 and apply the changes.
cd to the dnschef folder and start it:

cd ~/Downloads/dnschef-0.3
sudo ./dnschef.py --nameservers 8.8.8.8#53#tcp

If the last command is too troublesome or ugly (well, it is ugly because you have to open Terminal.app and start the DNS-proxy), you can move the dnschef.py and .ini to another path and create a launch daemon to start the DNS-proxy while booting.

Example:

sudo mkdir /usr/local/python
sudo cp ~/Downloads/dnschef-0.3/dns* /usr/local/python/
sudo rm /usr/local/python/dnschef.exe
sudo touch /Library/LaunchDaemon/local.dnschef.plist
copy and paste the following content into the newly created file with an appropriate editor
(e.g sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemon/local.dnschef.plist):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>local.dnschef</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/local/python/dnschef.py</string>
        <string>--nameservers</string>
        <string>8.8.8.8#53#tcp</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Load the file with sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.dnschef.plist

All files and folders created must be owned by root:wheel.


Will Time Machine recognize my account if I change the user name?

No, it wont see the files as the same files.

Time Machine has no deduplication or moved file capabilities, so if you were to make a new user folder (which is what the short name is), your new user folder would double up the space on the backup destination.

Now, all is not lost, since you can use a tool like Daisy Disk or just Finder to calculate all sizes. Once you know your backup drive has room for the extra new files, just make the change you want. Over time, the older backups thin and you can also go in after a month or three or however long you want to delete all backups of the old user folder.

If you know you don’t need your backup files, you could even delete them before you change things, but you are on a trapeze without a net until the first backup completes. And you lose backup history of changed and deleted files.

Better to just double up and wait. At some point, those old backups are not needed. Or - just consider when the drive fills - duplicate files or not - just put that old drive on a shelf or in storage and buy a new drive. Start with the new backups. The time you will lose trying to micromanage backups isn't worth the cost of a TB drive for many people so even though you are well armed knowing that changing path to a file makes a new backup, it's not a large problem in practice for all but the most cost conscious people.

Buy advice is go be Barney and let Fred sit until you're sure you don't need that past data and then erase that when you need to and not when you make the initial change.


How to move Mail messages from Apple Mail back on to Hotmail server?

Setup a second account in Mail for your Hotmail account. This time choose Exchange IMAP for the protocol, not POP3. (Use the server settings here: http://www.sirslur.com/2010/09/01/hotmail-has-imap-and-works-on-iphone/)
Drag your messages from your previous Hotmail account to your new IMAP-enabled Hotmail account.
Grab coffee and wait.

Sometimes messages will fail to sync. Just re-drag them as previously to re-sync them.


It sounds like you have gotten a little confused with the difference between backing up your iPod and backing up your iTunes library. You can back up your iPod to iTunes on your computer, but this is different than backing up your iTunes library itself - all the music, movies, books, apps, and such that you have placed in iTunes.

If you want to backup your iTunes library
(Apple.com):

Open iTunes Preferences.

Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences.
Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences.

Click Advanced.
Make sure the option to "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" is selected.
Choose File > Library > Organize Library.
Select the option to "Consolidate files."
Locate your iTunes library.

If you can't find it, open your iTunes Preferences and click "Advanced." The location of your iTunes folder will be listed in the "iTunes Media folder location" box.

Copy the iTunes library directory over to your backup location.

If you really would like to back up your iPod:

Plug your iPod in and view its details.
Under "Summary" tab there is a heading called "Manually Backup and Restore"
Select "Back Up Now" from under that heading.

For more information on backing up iOS devices in general, this article is a good start.


iOS 7 seems to be killing apps too often

iOS will kill apps if it needs to.

There's not really much you can do about it, without jailbreaking. iOS will automatically manage an app's memory, and will kill an app if another app requests more memory. Also, apps using a large amount of CPU will cause iOS to kill other apps so that the foreground app always has the best experience.

If you find that it's killing apps more than it should be, try using apps with less memory usage. For example, try only opening one tab in Safari, then switch apps and switch back. It should be less likely to be terminated if it has less tabs open since there will be less memory usage.

For more information about multitasking, see:

iOS: Understanding multitasking


Can I upgrade my Macbook pro 13 inch mid 2009's logic board?

The 'problem' with Mac laptops is that generally they are not upgradable except for RAM and HD/SSD and sometimes the battery. And newer Mac laptops none of the above.

At one time I had heard of Mac laptops with video cards that were on a daughter card of sorts. So theoretically replaceable but no one ever made a replacement to my knowledge.

This is becoming more and more common to find laptops from other manufacturers where there is little, if anything to upgrade. It is (probably?) a side-effect of the push for smaller/lighter making modular parts less and less of a reasonable (from an engineering/design standpoint) option.

So essentially what Tetsujin is correct: you have no upgrade path for system boards, CPUs and the like.


Is it possible to take a screenshot in Recovery Mode?

Where OS X is booted but you can't take a screenshot because you're not logged in (e.g. the login screen, lock screen) you can take a screenshot over SSH. Connect over SSH to your Mac and run…

sudo screencapture /path/to/screenshot.png

Where OS X isn't displaying a GUI (e.g. single user mode, boot sequence), you can't take a screenshot. This doesn't apply to virtual machines though, if you're determined to get a screenshot.


Assistive Touch on iPad mini is getting turned off automatically

At the very bottom of the assistive preferences there's an option to put something on "shortcut" - meaning pressing the home button 3 times.
Any chance you have that on assistive touch and do it by accident?


How to keep messages after deactivating imessage?

In the morning, reactivating imessage, adding back the numbers, then disabling it removing the numbers, fixed it. I still have all my old messages.


How long does the DNS cache last in Mac OS X?

You can flush the local DNS cache with the following command:

dscacheutil -flushcache

How long a DNS entry is cached typically depends on the TTL of that DNS record, which is configured by the DNS admin of the relevant hostname.

You can find out the (remaining) TTL of any given DNS record with the dig command:

dig apple.stackexchange.com

In the answer section you'll see the remaining TTL right next to the hostname (in this example 257 seconds).

;; ANSWER SECTION:
apple.stackexchange.com. 257    IN  A   198.252.206.16


How to activate new iPad without disclosing credit card number?

I think you are going to need an iTunes account, but you can get around the need of a credit card. You can follow Apple's support documentation on how to setup an iTunes account without a credit card. You can use a Mac to make a free account that works on iOS and iOS to make a free account that works on Mac. Once your iTunes store account is set up once, you might want to avoid creating a second one since they cannot be merged later.

Creating an iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store account without a credit card - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204034


Script to move files under their first letter name

In a terminal: cd into the directory in question, then

for x in `ls -1 | sed -e 's/^\(.\).*/\1/' | sort -u`; do
mkdir $x && mv -i ${x}?* $x
done

This assumes that no files have a single character name before you start. If they do, you might move them aside before you run the above procedure:

mkdir singles && mv ? singles

and then move them to their appropriate destinations aftwards.

Edit: See the comments below for some caveats. If you run into problems with too long command lines, you could replace the second line by

mkdir $x && find . -maxdepth 1 -name "${x}?*" -exec mv -i {} $x \;


App to Ensure Healthy Coffee Consumption?

so there's an interesting web tool I would recommend: http://chartmyself.com/

You can use it to figure out just how much coffee you're drinking and how much you can get away with not drinking. There are articles on the site to recommend how to not drink too much :)


OS X: is there any (area selection) screenshot tool that can upload to Imgur?

I've done a bit of searching in the past for the same thing and didn't really find anything. Although this doesn't upload directly to Imgur, it's not very time consuming.

Step One: Take a screenshot of an area with the keyboard shortcut Command (⌘)-Shift-4

End result should be something like this.

Step Two: Just upload it to Imgur. http://imgur.com

List of other keyboard screenshot shortcuts.


Screen Capture tool that allows me to use keyboard?

The only one I know of is Snapz Pro, but there are a lot of screenshot utilities available for the Mac.


Are macOS Photos supposed to be synced to iPhone Photos automatically?

After waiting enough time it finally synced photos to the phone too, thanks all!


Can't create events on iPhone 6 calendar

Sometimes all it needs is a push.

Go to Settings > iCloud

Switch off Calendars. Wait a minute…
Switch it back on.


Why doesn't crontab run if screensaver is on?

/home is used by the automounter and can't be written to. Just try with another directory (eg /tmp).


How to write a formula with a reference that adapts to new columns

Sadly, there simply is no feature in Numbers resembling open-ended cell-range references.

The only manageable workaround I observed actually working as intended involved either using entire rows, or marking as headers all of the columns/rows to be ignored.

"Whole rows" tack, example procedure:

Normalize and rearrange your data to inhabit the entire set of rows in question, rather than starting in column G.
in your formulas' references to those areas, don't use any column letters. For example,
rather than COUNTA(G3:AA82,">50") use instead COUNTA(3:82,">50")

"Headers" approach, example procedure:

select Table2 column A
choose 'Add Header Column Before' from the 'Table' menu (may differ between versions?)
select cells in the new column A, from A3 down to A82
from the 'Table' menu, choose 'Merge Cells'
enter a fitting name for that group of rows into A3
use that name in any formulas needing those rows

All data following the header column/row is referred to by its chosen label. You'll see Numbers offering it in the auto-complete choices as you type it into formulas, and when chosen that area will be highligted.

They're both means to the same end, and behave similarly in practice. With both, you'll see the desired behaviour that when adding additional columns/rows, the new area will be no exception—the formulas with references to whole rows/columns or names from headers will also see any new data.

Again, particular to your described spreadsheet, note that since you're starting your data in column G, you may need to…
• alter your formulas to ignore non-numbers
• alter your formulas to ignore data that doesn't pass some other test
• rearrange your overall layout so the data starts in column B


Where does Messages.app store its "Play sound effects" setting?

Since Messages.app is a sandboxed app, the preferences would be under ~/Library/Containers/:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat.plist

or look through ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.*iChat*/.


Can I have photos on my iCloud but not held on my iPhone?

If you have a Mac or Windows with iCloud on it, you can have them uploaded to iCloud via iCloud Photo Library.

If you don't want them on your computer then you'll have to upload them via www.icloud.com manually and that way takes a bit of time.

Your best route is via a computer.

Just make sure that you keep iCloud Photo library turned off on your iPhone's iCloud settings.


It's a Google Reader setting. Scroll to the bottom of the Google Reader mobile page. Select "Settings". There's a checkbox you can tick that says "Reformat linked web pages for mobile browsers".

If you're using Google Reader a lot on your mobile phone, you may like a dedicated app. Reeder is great.


how do I merge the tabs of two open Preview windows if I have more than two open?

Maybe I misunderstand your question, but here's what I think you're asking:

With two (or more) open windows in Preview (macOS 10.15.x & probably other recent versions):

In the menu bar, while one of the Preview windows is in focus:

click the menu bar item labeled Window
select the Merge All Windows item from the drop-down menu
all open Preview windows are merged into one window, and each (former) window is now a tab in the single Preview window

You can also drag tabs between windows in Finder. With two open Finder windows, and both windows set to View -> Show Tab bar, just drag a tab in one window into the tab bar area in the other window.

AFAICT, it works the same my browser windows do.

This may all seem a bit confusing. If so, here's a video that may explain it more clearly.


Why does OS X Mail fail to recognize that an e-mail address belongs to an existing contact?

I was having the same issue. To resolve it, I went into the previous recipients list and removed all entries of the offending address, as well as any other email addresses associated with that person. From that point forward, when composing an email it correctly pulled the Address Book entry and not the independent address.


Is there a way to save notes to the iPhone itself and not to any account for syncing?

In Notes.app when you are in the "On this iPhone" section, any notes you create will exist only on the phone (not synced with google or iCloud). The option disappears when all your notes are synced, presumably to encourage you to save to iCloud by default, but the solution is simply to leave one in the "on this iPhone" folder.


What do I need to connect a second monitor to my MacBook Pro?

Your MacBook Pro could have various display ports depending on its vintage:

Dual-Link DVI for the oldest models
Mini DisplayPort on the 15" from late 2008, on the 17" since early 2009

Both can drive a monitor in analog mode (via a VGA port on your monitor) or in digital mode (via a DVI port). Most monitors, except really ancient ones, have both connectors. The quality of the image beeing better with a DVI connection I recommend you go this route.

All monitors are shipped with a DVI/DVI cable, if not go get one at your nearest cheap PC place. For old MacBook Pro that's all you need. For more recent models you need to add a adapter. Apple has one, but I don't like it: It's really short and put pressure on the port when the computer is used on a support. Not to mention ugly. I bought on ebay a 6 foot Mini DisplayPort/DVI cable for cheap, it's all digital so you don't need huge shielding and "super copper wire balanced to give you the best image". Around 10 quids.

Note: Smaller models like the MacBook and the Macbook Air came with different ports: A mini DVI or a micro DVI. For the people reading this with a non "pro" model, make sure you check for those as well...

PS: You can find pictures of the various ports by searching for their names on Wikipedia. I wanted to put the links directly, but apparently I do not have enough reputation to post more than one link:(


How to separate iCloud Drive from Desktop & Documents

To answer your first question:

Deactivate storing your Desktop & Document files in iCloud by doing the following:

Click Apple Menu (in the upper left corner of the menu bar) -> System Preferences -> iCloud -> Click Options (next to iCloud Drive) -> Uncheck Desktop & Documents Folders -> Turn Off -> Done.

What may seem counterintuitive is that your files are still stored in the iCloud ( which is perhaps why you thought you lost them).

To retrieve your files, you should open Finder and navigate to iCloud Drive, and then to the Documents folder within iCloud Drive. You should then manually transfer or copy the files from that directory to the local Documents directory on your computer. You should then do that same with your Desktop folder.

Answer to your second question here: Does Time Machine backup iCloud Drive files that are not stored locally?


You have to put them in "the right" folder to make them work properly.
You can find all different rather complicated solutions including disabling the SIP (System Integrity Protection) with going into the Safe Mode and so on, but the easiest method that works (as of Big Sur 11.2.1) is to copy them to: /Library/Desktop Pictures folder for which you need only regular root rights:
So basically you do something like:
sudo cp ~/Downloads/Firewatch.heic /Library/Desktop\ Pictures

then you see them appear along with the original ones:


Switching between RDP sessions on OS X El Capital

Same key command as any Mac app…   Cmd ⌘   `
which cycles through all open windows [in RDP's case, that also includes the 'picker'.]
 Cmd ⌘   Shift ⇧   `  will reverse the direction.

 `  seems to move around depending on which nationality keyboard you have, on a UK keyboard it's left of  z .

 Perhaps others could add in the location for other keyboard layouts…


How can I sign up for a non-free iCloud account (having exceeded the 3 free ones)

Why not just upgrade one of the existing accounts?

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12796

or see this for deleting unused iCloud accounts

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/how-remove-your-apple-id-completely-shut-down-your-itunes-store-icloud-other-accounts-3474388/

(too much info to précis here, unless votes/comments would suggest it worth it)


How can I Ensure a Retired iPhone Stays Activated

I had the same "issue" with my iPhone 1. gen a few months ago. It was like four years ago I've been messing around with jailbreaks and what not. A buddy of mine asked if he could borrow my retro iPhone and there I was googling after an updated jailbreak.

Like you, I found a lot of forums with a lot of different solutions but I ended up with finding a download-link to a .ipsw which was already jailbroken/unlocked with the latest 3.1.3 version. Then I went to iTunes and restored the thing, and voila!

Of course I cannot find the exact .ipsw right now, but you cannot 'brick' the iPhone 2G, so you should be safe no matter what :)


I restored the files that were moved and deleted then logged out and restarted, that resolved the issue.


Check /Applications/Utilities/Console.app after the firewall is turned off.
There might be a message about the change.