Without a doubt the main The difference between an Apple computer and a competitor is the software. They don't have many unique hardware components that you can't find on other computers. Perhaps the fusion hard drive system, already surpassed by the pure and hard SSD, and little else.
The strength of the company is undoubtedly in the "environment" that Cruyff would say. A very solid and safe firmware always cared for and updated by Apple. A very comfortable, safe, stable, robust and well-kept macOS. Today we are going to see some configurations that are not seen with the naked eye to finish adjusting it to our needs.
Apple has always taken care of its operating system so that it is easy and intuitive to use. It is true. But it also has a large number of options that you can configure to be able to adapt it to your needs, very different for each user. We are going to see a few details to finish putting your Mac to your liking.
Mute Siri
You can mute Siri without having to mute the entire Mac. If you want to be answered with only text on the screen, silently, open System Preferences and Siri. Deactivate Voice Responses and your friend will be silent forever….
Simplify the Safari view
Safari can hide ads and popups that appear on many websites, to facilitate your navigation without distractions. To configure it, open Safari, click on its menu, Preferences, the Websites tab, Reader, and leave activated "When visiting other websites".
Share files
If you have an iCloud account you can easily share your files with your contacts from macOS. Open Finder and select the file you want. At the top of the Finder window, click the share button and select Add people. There you can use the following dialog box to choose your method to share the file's recipients and if they will be able to make changes to it.
free up hard drive space
If you are running out of space on your hard drive, macOS can help you. At the top of the screen, click the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. In the window that appears, open the Storage tab and click Manage. To automatically delete cloud-based files that don't require local storage, such as Apple TV movies or TV shows, or email attachments, select optimize. If you prefer manual control, select review files in the "Reduce clutter" section to see the size of the files and decide whether to delete them or not.
Sometimes looking for a fit is like looking for Wally
Sanitize System Preferences
The System Preferences application acts as a control panel for all the settings on your Mac, this involves a lot of different icons. If you think you have icons that you will never use, you can hide them.
Open System Preferences, the display tab on the top bar, and customize. Uncheck the icons that you think you will never use and thus hide them.
Change the scroll direction
If you work with different Mac and Windows computers, you may find that the mice scroll the screen from top to bottom or backwards. If you want to unify it, you can change the direction of the screen scrolling of your Magic Mouse. Open System Preferences, mouse, and check or uncheck the natural scrolling direction at will.
Faster access to System Preferences
If you enter the macOS settings, keep it in the Dock. Open System Preferences, click and hold, a small menu will open. Enter options and check keep in the Dock. ready.
Stack windows like tabs
In the same way that you open several tabs with the different windows in the browser, macOS allows you to do it with the windows in the applications. In any app that supports tabs, choose Window from the top bar. Click Merge all windows to gather all the windows into one with different tabs.
Change the appearance of the search engine
When you browse your files in the Finder, you don't have to accept the default list. Open a new window, go to the display menu at the top of the page and choose to show display options.
The next dialog box allows you to set the icon size, grid spacing, size, and text positioning. Once you decide on these new settings, macOS will apply them to any Finder windows you open in the future.
If you delete, there is no going back
Delete files forever
Deleted items don't just disappear from your Mac, they stay in the Trash folder until you empty it. If you are tired of the trash getting full or worried about someone recovering one of your deleted documents, you can completely delete a file. In the Finder select the files you want to permanently delete. Then hold down the option key, open the file menu, and click delete immediately followed by delete. The event will bypass the trash entirely and disappear forever.
Add email appointments
If you receive an email with the date and time of an appointment or event, you can have it automatically added to your calendar. Open Mail, Preferences, the General tab, and check automatically add invitations to calendar. Ready.
Start programs automatically
Every time macOS starts up, you can automatically start certain programs. Control which ones you want to open by themselves and which ones not, so as not to slow down the system. To control them, open System Preferences, Users and Groups. Under Start Options, you can remove apps with the minus button or add with the plus.
Synchronize folders in iCloud
As the iCloud cloud storage app matures, Apple has given you new capabilities, like syncing desktop folders from the web if you have space to spare.
Open System Preferences and go to Apple ID. Go to iCloud. From this menu look next to iCloud Drive to find options where you can choose what folders and apps you want to automatically sync with your cloud storage account.
Disable content autoplay
Autoplay of ads and videos sometimes it can be very annoying. Disable it. Go to Safari, Preferences, go to the websites tab, go into autoplay, and at the bottom, you can choose to stop content at "When visiting other websites".
Fine-tune the screen brightness
To adjust the brightness of your Mac screen you can press the shortcut buttons on the keyboard. However this increases or decreases the brightness in large sections. To adjust it in smaller increments, hold down the shift and option keys while raising or lowering the brightness. You can also adjust the light level in the Displays menu of System Preferences.
Choose favorite Wi-Fi networks
When you connect to the Wi-Fi network, macOS remembers it so you can join in more easily in the future. If you move around a lot with your laptop on your back, in the end the list of accumulated networks can be very long.
You can modify the configuration to take your favorite networks to the top of the pile and forget the ones that you will never visit again. In system preferences, go to network and edit the list of networks.
Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch
Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch
If you have a Apple Watch you can use it to access your Mac using the watch if you have it protected with a PIN. This saves you from typing in your password when you log into your Mac. Put on and unlock the watch. On your Mac, go into system preferences and choose security and privacy. In general, check the box to allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac. Confirm the change and the next time you turn on your computer you will not have to enter your password. Very cool, really.
Narrow Spotlight Search
The Spotlight search tool that starts with Command + space allows you to find anything on your Mac. But sometimes its search parameters are so broad that you have trouble selecting the file you were looking for.
To limit its breadth a bit, open System Preferences and select Spotlight followed by search results. Turn off any of the less relevant categories like presentations spreadsheets that you want Spotlight leave out in the list of results.
Turn corners of the screen into shortcuts
It is a very comfortable function that I use very often. By hovering over the different corners of the screen, you can initiate actions such as showing desktop, starting a screen saver, putting the screen to sleep or opening the emission control but only in view of all its open windows.
But first you need to configure these shortcuts. And then open system preferences, choose desktop and screensaver, go to screensaver tab and click on Active corners now you can decide which function to associate with each corner.
Save battery
On a laptop like a MacBook one of the biggest energy consumptions is the screen. To save battery life, you can put your Mac to sleep quickly after a period of inactivity, or tell the screen to dim slightly when running on battery power. Open system preferences and go to Energy Saver to modify these settings and make your battery last longer.
Control the apps that track your location
Hide your location
There are services like maps or weather that need to access your location to help you get around on a rainy day. But they are not the only applications that can see where you are. To find out which ones have access to this information and block any that you don't trust, open system preferences and go to security and privacy.
In this menu open privacy and choose location to see the list of applications. Then uncheck the boxes for any program that you don't want to track you.
Trim your message history
By default, your instant messages will stay on macOS forever, which is useful if you're running low on memory, but it wastes disk space and could compromise your security. To have Apple automatically trim your message history, open the Messages app, click Messages in the bar at the top of the screen, and select Preferences.
On the General tab, open the Keep messages drop-down menu to limit your file size. You can save the last 30 days of Messages or keep your conversations for a year.
Use the "Do not disturb"
If you need concentration to work, the notification input can be distracting. Tell macOS to set a "do not disturb" time slot. Open System preferences, click on Notifications and on do not disturb. Here you can specify the hours you want to be without the warnings appearing.
Prevent other people from installing apps for you
If you share your computer with other people, you may not want them to install software without your permission. With the App Store open, go to the bar at the top of the screen choose App Store followed by preferences. Under the heading password settings configure always require and require password respectively. Now no one will be able to install new applications without entering your password.
These are 24 features that surely some you already knew and others not. I hope they help you a little more to customize the functionality of your Mac.