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MacOS

October 14, 2022

macos tools

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macOS Tips & Tricks

Advanced macOS Command-Line Tools

There are also a good number of macOS-specific command-line utilities that provide unique macOS functionality.

mdfind - search with Spotlight
say - text-to-speech engine
pbcopy, pbpaste - interact with system clipboard
screencapture - take screenshots
networkQuality - measure Internet speed
caffeinate - set Mac sleep behavior
open - open files and applications
pmset - configure power management
softwareupdate - manage OS updates
textutil - document file converter
caffeinate - set Mac sleep behavior

Setup New Mac

restore settings by mackup: mackup restore
Sharing
- Change computer name
  - sudo scutil --set ComputerName "newname"
  - sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "newname"
  - sudo scutil --set HostName "newname"

Fix not found git error

zsh

xcode-select --install

Install GUI applications (read more about these in GUI Applications)

zsh

# Install Homebrew as package manager for macOS
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

zsh

brew install --cask \
  google-chrome  \
  firefox \
  visual-studio-code \
  docker \
  slack \
  zoom

Install terminal applications (read more about these in Terminal Applications):

zsh

brew install \
  wget \
  mackup \
  git \
  nvm \
  pnpm \

Shortcuts

Lock: Control + Shift + Eject/Power
Create a new folder: Cmd + Shift + N

Log CPU and memory Usage

zsh

pip install psrecord, matplotlib
psrecord PID --plot plot.png

Finder shortcuts

Cmd + Shift + A – go to the Applications folder
Cmd + Shift + U – go to the Utilities folder
Cmd + Shift + D – go to the Desktop folder

Mac screenshot shortcut

Cmd + Shift + 3 – get an image of the full screen
Cmd + Shift + 4 – get just a portion of the screen
Cmd + Shift + 4 and then tap Space – get an image of the window

Tutorial

Reduce PDF File Size and Control Quality with ColorSync

From “Applications > Utilities,” open the ColorSync Utility
Go to the Filters tab and find the Reduce File Size option in the filters list
Expand the filter by clicking the arrows on the left, so that you can see the details. The default option to “Constrain Size” is set to a max of 512 pixels, which explains why you are getting poor quality PDFs when reducing the file size in Preview. This setting is not just good enough for retaining any detail.

Click on the down arrow on the right of this filter and choose Duplicate Filter. This will create a filter named Reduce File Size Copy at the bottom of the list.
On the duplicated filter, select the arrow on the left to open it up and change its name and settings. To change the name, double click it. To create some different filter options, create a few with different Resolution and Quality settings.

For example, I have the following custom filters set up:

Reduce File Size (100 dpi, low quality) Reduce File Size (100 dpi, high quality) Reduce File Size (150 dpi, high quality)

As soon as you create your custom filters, they will appear in the Quartz Filter dropdown of Preview’s “File > Export…” menu as well.

Tools

OnlySwitch

OnlySwitch is an all-in-One menu bar app, hide MacBook Pro's notch, dark mode, AirPods, Shortcuts.

Touch Bar System Monitor

A better simple reactive system monitor on macOS for your MacBook pro. It was built with Electron.

Triangula

An iterative algorithm to generate high quality triangulated images.

SwitchHosts

SwitchHosts is an App for managing hosts file, it is based on Electron , React, UmiJS , Chakra UI, CodeMirror, etc.

Falcon is a free, open-source SQL editor with inline data visualization. It currently supports connecting to RedShift, MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM DB2, Impala, MS SQL, Oracle, SQLite and more (for connecting to Oracle, please, see here the instructions to install the required free Oracle Instant Client).

Stats-system monitor

macOS system monitor in your menu bar

AltTab

AltTab brings the power of Windows alt-tab to macOS

jitouch

jitouch is a Mac application that expands the set of multi-touch gestures for the new MacBook, the Magic Mouse, and the Magic Trackpad.

Multitouch

hat.sh-client side file encryption

Encrypt and decrypt files in your browser. Fast, Secure client-side File Encryption and Decryption using the web crypto api

Easily add more gestures to macOS

Pock-display macOS Dock in Touch Bar

Turbo Boost Switcher for Mac OS X

Turbo Boost Switcher is a little application for Mac computers that allows to enable and/or disable the Turbo Boost feature.

Pap.er-wallpaper

Elegant Wallpaper App for macOS. Deliver fresh and stunning wallpapers everyday

Diagrams.net

Diagrams.net is a free, high-quality browser-based end-user diagramming application. Diagrams.net lets you store your diagram files where you need them - on Google Drive, OneDrive, Github, GitLab, Dropbox, or on your local device. It also provides a desktop version across major platforms.

Kris-ai powered noise cancelling app

An AI-powered noise cancelling app that mutes background noise during calls

Star/Unstar selected folder

applescript

property unset : 0
property red : 2
tell application "Finder"
repeat with f in selection as alias list
set tThis to label index of f
if tThis is 0 then
if kind of f is "folder" then
set label index of folder f to red
else
set label index of file f to red
end if
else
set label index of file f to unset
end if
end repeat
end tell

Awesome macOS open source applications

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