Tips 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. ...

Epic Games shares tips on playing Infinity Blade

by Mike Schramm (Sep 27th, 2011)

Just in case you haven't mastered the great Infinity Blade game for iOS, Epic Games has posted some (spoilery, but the game's been out for quite a while now) tips over on its official blog. They start off with the best damage you can do for each kind of hit, and then move on to tips on specific ...

Macworld's tips to make OS X Lion's iCal less annoying

by Chris Rawson (Sep 12th, 2011)

The changes made to iCal in OS X Lion have definitely been polarizing, and even some of the novice Mac users I know have found some of them questionable. The word "fugly" has come up more than once when discussing iCal's new faux-leather trim, an interface choice that makes a little more sense ...

iPhone 101: How to turn caps lock on

by Matt Tinsley (Aug 19th, 2011)

Welcome to iPhone 101, the series that explains the basics of iPhone operation. This time, its enabling caps lock. It always astounds me how many iPhone users don't know how to enable caps lock while typing, not just newcomers. Just the other day I was chatting with a friend who's had an iPhone ...

Tips for traveling (or not) with the iPad

by Michael Grothaus (Aug 7th, 2011)

Gary Arndt has written an interesting blog post about traveling with his iPad for a year. In it, he offers some very helpful tips to world travelers who carry Apple's wonder device with them. As a fellow world traveler (I've been to 30 countries in two years) it was interesting to read and ...

Hackinations: 5 really good Lion tweaks

by Erica Sadun (Jul 26th, 2011)

Lion. We love the OS. We hate a few tiny details. Here are five extremely handy Lion tweaks that can improve your day-to-day use. Enable each by typing the supplied commands into Terminal. 1. Turn off those #*%(ing zooming windows Launch Safari or TextEdit and then hit Command-N a few times. ...

Lion: Deleting apps in Launchpad, and starting clean

by Michael Rose (Jul 25th, 2011)

Launchpad in Mac OS Lion shares a key behavior with its iOS counterpart: deleting an app from the launcher also uninstalls it from the computer, as long as the app was purchased from the Mac App Store. Of course, it's quick and easy to redownload the MAS apps if they're needed. While this ...

All our Lion tips in one convenient place

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Jul 20th, 2011)

First, make sure you've updated your 10.6 system before installing Lion -- there's a Migration Assistant update. While you wait for the download, here's where to see your progress. If you wanted to do a clean install, Macworld has some info. If you want to make an installer disc, here's info ...

Capturing the "rocket's red glare" of fireworks with your iPhone camera this 4th of July

by Mel Martin (Jul 1st, 2011)

With the 4th of July holiday rapidly approaching in the US it's time to think of both your backyard and big time municipal fireworks displays, and how to best capture them on your iPhone. The latest generations of cameras on the iPhone have greatly improved, and while still not up to high end ...

How to check if an Apple promo code has been used or not (Updated)

by Dave Caolo (Jun 6th, 2011)

Update: David Bernard figured out why this wasn't working as written. He writes, "Once you sign back in, you need to go to the account page and click the 'reset warnings' button. I wrote it up on my blog." He tried it and it works now. Thanks David! App developers often share promo codes with ...

Four tips for better iPhone battery life

by Chris Rawson (May 24th, 2011)

David Pogue from the New York Times recently got some tips on improving iPhone battery life from an Apple Store Genius. We've discussed how to get the most out of your iPhone's battery on TUAW before, but it's worth revisiting since both the iPhone itself and the software it runs have changed so ...

Removing Flash from your Mac

by Dana Franklin (May 12th, 2011)

Back in October, Apple shipped its first MacBook Air models without the Adobe Flash plug-in pre-installed. In the ensuing brouhaha, Ars Technica discovered Flash cut battery life by up to 33 percent on the MacBook Air and possibly other MacBook models. Personally, my MacBook often sounds like it's ...

iTunes 101: Making the most of contextual menus

by Chris Ward (Apr 28th, 2011)

I love contextual menus. In Mac OS X, you find them when you right-click, two-finger-click (on a trackpad) or when you hold down the Control key and click. They're handy in scores of applications and in the Finder; if you're looking to supercharge your iTunes usage in particular, Macworld's ...

Terminal Tip: Find out which files won't be backed up

by Samuel Gibbs (Apr 12th, 2011)

Backing up is one of the most important things you can do on a Mac, and thankfully, it's a pretty trivial affair with Time Machine built right in. Of course, when you're looking at what needs backing up, people often overlook what doesn't need backing up (or isn't, but should be). A good ...

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 ...