Customization Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Making custom alert sounds for your Mac

by Chris Ward (Mar 7th, 2011)

When you're fed up with your Mac telling you it's not about to open the pod bay doors and wondering if, Dave, you really want to do that, you may want to think about making some custom sounds for it yourself. And as luck would have it, there's a great tutorial on how to do just that over at ...

Swap out your iPhone 4's rear glass with a replacement panel from voBack

by Chris Rawson (Jan 11th, 2011)

A few days ago, one of our readers emailed us to ask, "Is this a photo of the Verizon iPhone, or a Chinese knockoff?" It only took me a couple seconds to realize it was neither; it was a voBack replacement iPhone 4 rear panel from Fixxed, a company based out of Christchurch, New Zealand. I'd seen a ...

Dear Apple: It's (past) time to let us customize our alert tones

by Chris Rawson (Jan 9th, 2011)

Picture this: you're hanging out at a friend's house, and the familiar "doodle-dee!" of the iPhone's Tri-tone alert sound goes off. But four people simultaneously start reaching for their iPhones, because they're all using that sound for SMS/MMS alerts. Or how about this: you're on a bike ride and ...

Macworld 2010: MyFrogz cases, designed by an iPhone app

by Mike Schramm (Feb 15th, 2010)

There were a lot of case vendors and manufacturers at Macworld, and we didn't have time to run around and talk to all of them (not to mention that most of them aren't all that interesting anyway). But we did make a stop by the iFrogz booth, because we'd heard about something interesting they're ...

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 ...

Pimp your MacBook (Pro) with custom vinyl decals

by Brett Terpstra (Dec 28th, 2009)

If you're feeling like your MacBook or MacBook Pro is cool, but could be cooler, maybe it's time for a trip to Etsy to check out the selection of custom vinyl decals. For as little as US$10, you can make your MacBook a one-of-a-kind at the coffeehouse, and maybe even pick up a date for New Year's ...

Hey! Lego my Apple!!

by Michael Jones (Nov 11th, 2009)

No, I'm not talking about any of these Lego Mac mods, A relatively new startup called MacSlaps brings us some personalization goodness in the form of custom vinyl stickers for your MacBook and MacBook Pro. Using stickers (or even laser engraving) to customize your MacBook is nothing new, but what ...

Cool tool: Change your Mac's boot image with BootXChanger

by Steven Sande (Jul 27th, 2009)

Every once in a while, I get reminded about a cool tool that I've used and then totally forgotten about. In today's example, the reminder came in the form of a post on UNEASYsilence about how to change your Mac's boot image. The boot image, in case you're new to the Mac world, is that gray Apple ...

We [heart] Icons really does [heart] icons

by Aron Trimble (May 9th, 2009)

One of the most common ways to customize your tried-and-true desktop is by changing the wallpaper. While easy and effective, the wallpaper switcheroo is not the only trick up the sleeves of the customizers among us. For some, the most rewarding customization results from replacing icons. There are ...

Get into the Halloween spirit with a screen saver

by Cory Bohon (Oct 12th, 2008)

With Halloween only a couple weeks away, it's time to get your Mac into the holiday spirit ... with a screen saver! The free Jack-o-Lantern screen saver from Killer Robots does just that -- without the mess of carving a pumpkin. It has over 25 pre-made designs, but you can also create your own ...

ColorWare does their thing for the iPhone 3G

by Mat Lu (Aug 6th, 2008)

If black and white aren't enough for you, ColorWare is now offering their gadget coloring service for the iPhone 3G. Their iPhone site allows you to customize parts of your phone with 35 different colors on an à la carte basis. Obviously you have to send in your iPhone and the service takes ...

Custom "Stealth iPhone" from ColorWare

by Brett Terpstra (Apr 28th, 2008)

If you're willing to go the extra mile (and paycheck) to customize your gadgets, but you're not a big fan of the flashy ColorWare colors that we've covered before, the new custom edition matte black iPhone (Stealth iPhone) may be the ticket. ColorWare has been making drastic hue adjustments on ...

ColorWare does the Air

by Brett Terpstra (Feb 22nd, 2008)

Macs, in general, have always been works of art compared to their rivals, and the MacBook Air is a pinnacle achievement in the line of lust-worthy Apple computers. There's just never been a lot of color choice in the Apple's lineup. For the audacious souls who choose to express their personality ...

How to tweak the Leopard Dock's color

by Mike Schramm (Oct 30th, 2007)

Earlier, I posted about how you can revert those new lights in Leopard's Dock back to Tiger's old triangles (and I can't say I was too surprised to find out that most of you didn't want to revert anything-- do what feels right, man), and I said that the next thing to go would be Leopard's shiny ...

Shades: application color customization

by Brian Liloia (Feb 6th, 2007)

You know those paint color sample strips that you typically see in home improvement stores? They usually have different shades of the same color on individual strips so that you can easily compare and fine-tune your color choices. Shades 1.0 applies this same methodology of color selection to the ...