Top 10 Mac os tips

Turn off iCloud Private Relay for Wi-Fi

If you notice a major dip in data network speed following the iOS 15 update, you need to disable iCloud Private Relay for the Home/Work Wi-Fi. Simply open the Settings app on the iPhone, navigate to Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi network, and turn off iCloud Private Relay from the following menu.

Reading List

Bookmarks were yesterday’s news. Today, it’s all about Safari’s Reading List. We have all come across interesting articles that we want to read but don’t have time at the moment. Across all Apple devices, Reading List is enabled via the Sidebar icon on Safari on Mac or by using the book icon on Safari on iOS/iPadOS. You can choose the eyeglasses icon to view your entire article list. To add a new article, you have two options on Mac.

  1. The first is to hit the “+” sign that appears next to the website URL. The article or site will automatically save itself to your reading list.
  2. Alternatively, you can click on the Share Sheet icon, and the first option in the drop-down is “Add to Reading List.” Select that and the article will automatically save itself to your Reading List. If you want to read these articles offline, say while you are on a plane, go to “Safari -> Preferences -> Advanced” and click on “Save articles for offline reading automatically.”

Set Notifications to Deliver Quietly

In macOS Big Sur, the notifications are grouped by the app and can be interacted with. For instance, you can play a podcast episode or reply to a message without opening the app. However, if you are getting way too many notifications from a particular macOS app, you can manage them right from the Notification Center. To control what notifications you want:

  • Go to the Notification Center
  • Right-click on an app’s notification stack
  • Select Deliver Quietly or Turn off depending on your choice.

Reset Your Chromebook

If you are having any problem with your Chrome OS, you can easily factory-reset (called Powerwash on Chrome OS) your machine, similar to Android devices. The great part about Chrome OS is that all your files are synced to Google Drive so you don’t have to worry about data loss. Just open the Settings and click on “Advanced” from the left-pane menu and then move to “Reset Settings”. Here, click on the “Reset” button and the computer will restart to complete the process. After that, sign in with your Google account and everything will fall into its place just like before.

Other Chrome OS Tips

If you were reading something on your Android and suddenly moved to a Chromebook then you can continue reading it on your computer easily. Just press the “Search” button once and you will find the link in the first entry. Click on it and there you have it. Other than that, if you want to quickly call a phone number from a webpage, you can right-click on it and send it to your Android device. Your smartphone will prompt you with a one-tap call notification.

  • Chrome OS Tips and Tricks for Advanced Users

Collapse Pinned Notes

The Notes app in macOS Big Sur comes with an improved search engine and enhanced document scanning capabilities. It largely remains the same otherwise, though there’s a new option collapse pinned notes. If you have a ton of pinned notes, for example, this makes getting to the rest of your notes much faster. Simply use the arrow-shaped Collapse/Reveal icon to the top of the Pinned section to hide/unhide the list.

Safari Reader

Safari Reader strips away all of the distractions from any site where it’s available, allowing for an uninterrupted view of your chosen content. Note that it does not work on every website but definitely works on many.

  1. To activate Reader, click on the four-line icon that appears next to the “+” button to the left of the URL.
  2. A single press of that button will enable Reader view. Clicking on it again will take you out of reader view.

Open apps on startup

If you start each day by opening the same apps on your Mac, you can make this much easier. Set up your Mac so that the same apps open automatically when you start your computer. Open System Preferences > Users & Groups. Select your username and click Login Items at the top. You can then check the boxes for those apps in the list or add more using the plus sign button.

Sign documents in the Preview or Mail app

If you're emailed a PDF to sign, you don't have to waste time printing it out, signing it and scanning it back in. Instead, you can use one of the best macOS 12 tips & tricks, signing in Preview or Mail app.

  • Drag the PDF into an email message, hover over the PDF, click the button with a down arrow at the top right and click Markup.
  • Click the box at the top that looks like a signature.
  • Click Camera sign your name on white paper and take a photo of it with your computer's webcam. You can also save a signature to reuse.

Watch YouTube in 4K

A great macOS Big Sur feature that a lot of people don’t talk about is Apple providing support for Google’s VP9 codec. What this means for users is that Safari now supports 4K video playback on YouTube. While Google Chrome and other browsers have had this feature even before Big Sur, it’s a great addition for people who prefer using Safari. Safari on macOS Big Sur also supports 4K HDR streaming on Netflix.