For instance, the top row of keys on a Mac keyboard serves a dual role: shortcuts for things like dimming the screen, playing music, adjusting volume, and so forth. The Option key also works with other keyboard shortcuts. 802.11n), what type of security is in place (such as WPA2 Personal or WEP), and other troubleshooting or diagnostics information. On the currently-selected Wi-Fi network, it will display useful information such as the connection mode (e.g. The airport menu bar icon provides more diagnostic-type information when clicked with the Option key held down. Holding the Option key expands this by giving some interesting information, such as the Bluetooth address of the computer and the option to run various Bluetooth diagnostics utilities and the Bluetooth Explorer tool. The Bluetooth menu bar icon offers a fair amount of functionality when clicked. With Option held down, you can also verify backups or browse another Time Machine disk. The Time Machine menubar icon allows you to enter Time Machine or start a backup when clicked. Great for when you want to switch from the primary speakers to a headset when using a VoIP application, all without taking a trip to the System Preferences. Clicking the volume indicator with the Option key held down lets you immediately assign what input and output devices are in use. There are a lot of hidden nooks and crannies in OS X where the Option key will deliver some neat extra functionality, without obscure command line tool usage or third-party software.Ĭlicking the volume indicator on the menu bar presents you with a slider for volume. Tools like TinkerTool and other third-party configuration tools put a GUI in front of many of these options so the need for using the defaults command is lessened.Īnother way of changing how OS X operates is with the Option (or Alt) key. A lot of these are hidden preferences that can be changed with the “defaults” command-line tool, but you have to know them in order to find them, so they are generally inaccessible to the average user. Mac OS X has a lot of hidden little secrets that you either need to ferret out yourself, find out from friends who are in the know, or by frequenting sites like. Vincent Danen shares some of the hidden commands in Mac OS X that you can get to by using the Option key. But I often scan the ones not related to software I use or already know, because I know there’s a high chance it will be interesting software.Finding hidden commands with the Option key I realise that in this specific instance I’ve missed a dozen or so previous ones about Ke圜ue. This is why I love these software update mini-articles in TidBITS. It’s nice to have another utility from the same company!) At some point with Mac OS X I found the Show Emoji & Symbols menu extra was sufficient for my limited needs, so haven’t used PopChar in a while now. (As a side note, I used to use Ergonis’s PopChar software back in the classic Mac days, and it was excellent, and indispensable at the time. And it’s great to see TidBITS members can get a discount on purchase. Plus, the emoji picker looks vastly superior to the stuttering (at least on my 2013 MacBook Air) one that’s built-in to Mac OS. I often want to learn more obscure keyboard shortcuts and this will make the process a lot smoother. I have somehow not known about Ke圜ue until seeing your note on their update, Looks like a fantastic app! Have downloaded and will be trying it out over the next few days, but am pretty certain I’ll be buying it.
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