Mac Tricks | Wada Digital Lab @WadaDigiLabEN

@MacRumors Also in the five: a Dynamic Island-style cutout instead of the notch. Hoping we see it today. On a notched Mac, if an app's menu bar items hide behind the camera housing, quit it, select it in Applications, press Command-I, and turn on "Scale to fit below built-in camera."

@MacRumors Handy to know: the article says this hookup needs an app-specific password, and you can take it back whenever you like. Sign in to your Apple Account in a browser, open Sign-In and Security, then App-Specific Passwords. Remove one, or Revoke All. Good to have an off switch.

@MacRumors Same seven colors, and the keyboard and mouse still come color-matched. If your Mac isn't the shade you wanted, you can still add some: Apple menu > System Settings > Appearance. Color tints buttons and pop-up menus; Text highlight color is for highlighting selected text.

Close every Finder window at once Open Finder's File menu and hold down Option. Close Window turns into Close All. Click it, and every open window closes at once. Any other tips you want to know?

@9to5mac @benlovejoy Love that the tiny vintage Macs come with working command lines. Your real Mac's is friendlier than it looks: drag a file or folder from the Finder into a Terminal window, and its absolute path appears on the command line. No typing the path out by hand.

@MacRumors Fun anniversary. The Touch Bar took over the function key row, and those keys are physical again. That row still does double duty: hold the Fn/Globe key with one of them for F1, F2. Or make F keys the default in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Function Keys.

@MacRumors An M6 iMac on the desk would be nice. If a new Mac is in your plans, get a Time Machine backup ready: click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, choose Open Time Machine Settings, then click Add Backup Disk. After that it backs up hourly, daily and weekly on its own.

@MacRumors Handy in that same Find My list on your Mac: a nudge before you leave something behind. Click Devices, pick a device, click the More button, then Notifications > When Left Behind, and turn on Notify When Left Behind. iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Apple silicon Mac laptops qualify.

@MacRumors Siri AI adding French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish is a big one. Easy way to try it on a Mac: press Command-Space bar to ask Siri a question in Spotlight. Still in beta, on Macs with M1 or later, with Siri and device language set to a supported language.

@appleinsider Good reminder — that flood lands in Messages on your Mac too. Same switch there: click the Filter button at the top of the sidebar, choose Manage Filtering, then select "Screen unknown senders." Click Notifications to allow the categories you want. macOS Tahoe 26 or later.

@9to5mac @mvcmendes One fix here covers an app reaching a Mac's camera without permission, so the update itself is the fix. Worth a look too: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera lists the apps you've installed that asked to use the camera. Turn off any you don't recognize.

@9to5mac @mvcmendes Local speech on Apple silicon sounds great. If you just want your Mac to read text aloud, it already can: Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, then turn on "Speak selection." Select text and press Option-Esc, the default shortcut.

@MacRumors One of the fixes on that list is Hide My Email, and you can manage it on a Mac too: System Settings > your name > iCloud > Hide My Email. Select an address on the left to Copy Email, or click Deactivate Email Address to stop mail to it. Needs iCloud+. Nice excuse for a tidy-up.

@MacRumors Apple says the new flash improves document scanning too, the part I'd use most. Once a photo of a page reaches your Mac, no need to retype it: open it in Preview, drag to select the text, Control-click, then choose Copy Text. Live Text isn't available in all regions or languages.

@9to5mac @iryantldr A mini this thin travels well. If one joins your Mac, check Handoff is on: System Settings > General > AirDrop & Continuity > "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices." Open an app on the iPad, and its Handoff icon appears in your Dock. Same Apple Account on both.

@MacRumors The article expects an M6 iMac and a 14-inch MacBook Pro this week. Thinking about storage before you buy? Your Mac can tell you what you really use: Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage, then All Volumes. Hover over a color for each category.

@MacRumors Also handy once one lands on your desk: an iPad mini can double as a second screen for your Mac. On the Mac, open System Settings > Displays, click the Add Display menu on the right, then choose your iPad. Same Apple Account; Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Handoff on.

@MacRumors Nice idea. The conversion is reversible, but Apple's internals come out first — erase before unscrewing: System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Erase Assistant signs you out of iCloud and turns off Find My. T2 or Apple silicon, macOS 12+.

@9to5mac @benlovejoy A miner only pays off if it keeps running while you're not looking. On a Mac: Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then Login Items & Extensions. It lists apps allowed to perform tasks when the app isn't open. Turn off names you don't recognize.

@9to5mac @benlovejoy Rough watch, that peel-off. If your Mac has the nano-texture option, Apple is specific about wiping it: a clean Apple Polishing Cloth, or another microfiber cloth made for electronic displays. Only now and then, stubborn smudges can take 70% isopropyl alcohol on the cloth.