Tricks Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

That hide-the-Newsstand trick? It works

by Erica Sadun (Oct 13th, 2011)

Yes, it works. You can hide Newsstand and it works exactly like those hundreds of posts and tips and videos say it does. We don't know exactly who figured this out -- coverage of the trick is pretty widespread at this point and there aren't exact credits -- but kudos to who did. It wasn't us. ...

Mac 101: The two Applications folders

by TJ Luoma (Dec 3rd, 2010)

Mac users quickly come to know the /Applications/ directory, where you will find all of the default applications that come with OS X (Safari, Mail, iChat, Preview, iCal and so on), as well as the Utilities folder (/Applications/Utilities/), where more advanced users get to know Activity Monitor, ...

Mac 101: Autocomplete words in TextEdit

by Dave Caolo (Oct 28th, 2010)

More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users. For those with modest text-editing needs, Apple's TextEdit is a great choice. Did you know that it's got an autocomplete option? David Mendels points out how it works at Mac OS X Hints. As you're typing a long word, hit the ...

Mac 101: Adding screenshots to Stickies

by Dave Caolo (Aug 26th, 2010)

More Mac 101, our series of tips and tricks for novice Mac users. Here's a great tip from Mac OS X Hints about an old, old Mac utility. Stickies has been around since the System 7 days, and it provides a super-simple way to store quick bits of information. Did you know that, with Snow Leopard, ...

Tip: 'Hide' sensitive data in Address Book

by Dave Caolo (Aug 9th, 2010)

Here's an interesting tip from The Apple Blog about hiding sensitive data in plain sight. In this instance, Dave Greenbaum explains how he uses an app like Apple's Address Book to plainly display a credit card number. The catch is that, upon first glance, the record looks like any other collection ...

International keyboard changes in iOS 4

by Dave Caolo (Jun 22nd, 2010)

This week we're exploring iOS 4 for hidden gems. We received two tips this morning about international keyboards that were both useful and fun. The first makes switching between keyboards much easier. To enable international keyboards, select Keyboards from the general settings. Tap International ...

Eye Illusions app will fool you over and over again

by Mel Martin (Jun 12th, 2010)

I have to admit it. I just love optical illusions. I remember buying books full of them when I was a kid, and sharing them with anyone I could find. Now, an incredibly complete collection of illusions called Eye Illusions has come to the iPhone and the iPad. For this review I've tested the iPhone ...

A little iPad magic

by Mike Schramm (May 31st, 2010)

Here's a little iPad magic for your Memorial Day afternoon -- turns out the iPad really is a "magical" device. I'm not sure what app video is being used here, but I think it's a proprietary one, and probably not something you could use yourself (unless you know how to do some of the great ...

App Store filling up with spammers and clones of popular apps

by Mike Schramm (May 7th, 2010)

Marco Arment has noticed a growing problem on the App Store; as hits emerge from among the free and paid apps, some companies are doing a little search scamming. They're ripping off the names, styles, and sometimes even the art of popular iPhone apps. He went to get the popular Angry Birds game and ...

hacksugar: Hiding Apple's built-in applications

by Erica Sadun (Apr 13th, 2010)

TUAW reader Joe Thompson pointed us to this hint over at Mac OS X Hints that helps you hide the standard applications that ship with the iPhone, without jailbreaking. This allows you to use those spots for your preferred 3rd party alternatives without sacrificing valuable home screen real estate or ...

Eliminate the blue outer glow in Exposé

by Aron Trimble (Feb 24th, 2010)

One of the more questionable changes that was introduced in 10.6 Snow Leopard was a soft, blue glow that appears around application windows when using Exposé. Previously, in 10.5 Leopard, the entire Window was highlighted blue; now, however, the Exposé window previews are able to ...

TUAW How To: Downgrading your 3.1.3 iPhone to 3.1.2

by Erica Sadun (Feb 9th, 2010)

Last week I downloaded (but did not install) the iPhone OS 3.1.3 firmware for my 3GS. I wanted to have a copy of the firmware on hand, but didn't want to upgrade right away. I checked "Do not ask me again" and clicked Download Only. I thought that was the end of the matter. Unfortunately, this ...

Found footage: Jailbreak BTstack support extended to 1st gen iPod touch

by Erica Sadun (Jan 24th, 2010)

The BTstack project that we've covered before on TUAW, offers a way for iPhone and iPod touch units to communicate with arbitrary external Bluetooth devices. To date, it's been used to connect keyboards, mice, and wiimotes with iPhone software. This system has now been extended to the first ...

Mac 101: Eject a stuck disc

by Dave Caolo (Dec 15th, 2009)

Now that the holidays are approaching, you'll probably be asked to service your relatives' computers. "You like computers, right? Will you take a look at this for me?" Prepare yourself, it's coming. Some fixes are easy, including the stuck disc. It can happen for a variety of reasons that we ...

5 Smart Playlists to help you manage your iTunes library

by Sang Tang (Oct 30th, 2009)

Smart playlists have been a feature of iTunes since version 3.0 (circa 2002), and they provide a means for you to create automatically-updated playlists that fit a certain criteria. For me, they serve as a hands-off way to stay up-to-date on my latest music and Podcasts, as well as a repository ...