Posts tagged with "os x"

A Simple “Open In Chrome” Keyboard Maestro Macro for Safari

My problem: I haven’t installed Flash on my Mac and I sometimes need to watch YouTube videos that require Flash Player in Google Chrome. Google’s browser is my Flash shelter: Safari is my main browser and I only keep Chrome around for Flash videos. I was getting annoyed by the process of copying a URL -> launching Chrome -> pasting the URL, so I made a simple Keyboard Maestro macro to automate everything with a hotkey. I don’t know what took me so long.

The macro checks if Safari is the front window, and, if not, it displays a notification with an error message. I do this to prevent accidental hotkey presses for URLs that I don’t want to open in Google Chrome. If Safari is the front window, however, what required a bunch of steps in AppleScript to open the current Safari URL in Chrome is a single action in Keyboard Maestro: Set Google Chrome URL, using %SafariURL% as a variable.

The two additional steps –  Open Chrome and Wait For Chrome To Finish Loading – were necessary because I discovered that, when launched with a Set URL action, Chrome wouldn’t intercept the URL sent by Keyboard Maestro and would simply display a blank tab. In this way, Chrome is launched, paused for a second as it reloads open tabs or the start tab, and then the Safari URL is opened in the current tab. If you want to open the URL in a new tab, change the Set Chrome URL action to New Google Chrome Tab.

You can download the macro here.

1Password 4.1: Password Fields, A New Classic View, A New Login Prompt, and More

It was October when AgileBits first launched 1Password 4 for the Mac, engineered and redesigned to be just as functional and beautiful as its iOS counterpart. 1Password 4 shipped with a ton of new features, which included iCloud sync, favorites, multiple vaults, Security Audit, and 1Password Mini. Today, our favorite password manager for the Mac is getting even more features in what AgileBits is calling, “The Little Big Update.” While this update is packed with lots of goodies, three stand out to me as the big ones.

New features

First up: one of my own requested features. A great feature on the iOS side lets you add password fields to items, and this feature has finally been brought over to the Mac. If you’ve been adding things like security answers as text fields, you can also convert them into concealed password fields as well. 1Password Mini makes these fields especially easy to get to if you ever need to answer any of your security questions.

Next up is a new option for viewing items. A new Top Item List Layout view (found under View > Item List Layout > Top) organizes items into multiple columns. It condenses a lot of information into a classic list, making it easy to view logins, dates, and password strength at a glance. Fans of MailMate should will appreciate the formal look.

Lastly, 1Password 4.1 has overhauled how Logins are saved and updated. When you change a password on a site, the 1Password extension will let you choose which Login to update if there’s more than one, while additionally letting you set tags and file Logins into folders. The new dialog box is much more like a save prompt for a Mac app, making it easier to save and sort your Logins on the spot.

There’s a few other notable little features that are worth mentioning as well. When you search, you’ll have the option to expand an existing search across all fields in items if what you’re looking for can’t be found by title alone. If you’re printing out items, you’ll be able to do so individually through their share menus. Lastly, lots of bugs have been squashed for WiFi syncing for those who prefer to keep their 1Password databases out of the cloud.

When can you get your hands on it?

You can download 1Password 4.1 from AgileBits’ website at 12pm Pacific Time / 3pm Eastern Time. If you purchased 1Password 4 directly from AgileBits, then you can grab it this afternoon.

Mac App Store customers can download 1Password 4.1 once it’s approved. Basically, “Soon.”

Looking to learn more about 1Password? Check out everything we’ve had to say, including news and reviews on one of our must-have apps.

#MacStoriesDeals - Black Friday 2013: Best Deals for iPhone, iPad, and Mac Apps & Games

Black Friday is upon us once again! #MacStoriesDeals is the best place to find great deals for Mac and iOS apps and games, Apple hardware deals, and some great book and audio specials.

There are thousands of software and hardware deals online. We carefully pick the best ones and collect them in a single post with links to buy or share discounted products. You don’t need to be overwhelmed by Black Friday deals because we take care of finding the best stuff for you.

Bookmark this post, and come back every day to find updated deals for each category. Updates will be listed as new entries at the top of each category.

You can find us as @MacStoriesDeals on Twitter.

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Apple Releases Mail Update for Mavericks with Gmail Fixes→

Apple:

Mail Update for Mavericks includes improvements to general stability and compatibility with Gmail, including the following:

Fixes an issue that prevents deleting, moving, and archiving messages for users with custom Gmail settings

Addresses an issue that may cause unread counts to be inaccurate

Includes additional fixes that improve the compatibility and stability of Mail

I don’t use Gmail as my primary email anymore, so I’m looking forward to reading reports about the stability of this update (will Joe Kissell tell us?). You can download it here or through the Mac App Store.

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Working with Mavericks After A Year of iPad

I don’t need my Mac as much as I used to.

When I started MacStories in April 2009, I had a late–2008 MacBook Pro and an original iPhone I had bought from the United States and unlocked to make it work in Italy. From 2008 and until the better part of 2012, my MacBook Pro (and then the Air) was my primary computer: it was the device I used to write, browse the web for research and leisure, respond to emails, and do all the other tasks to get work done on a daily basis. Because my Mac was also the only device that could allow me to manage MacStories, I had to bring it with me on trips or longer vacations.

I’ve always been the kind of Mac user who likes to enhance his OS X experience with little scripts, shortcuts, and automation tools to save a few minutes every day and speed up tedious work tasks. I have Keyboard Maestro macros to automatically resize and generate screenshots for my reviews; I have assigned hotkeys to actions that I run frequently; if necessary, I can trigger a Python script or AppleScript-based workflow and have OS X take care of a complex task for me. I fall into the category of OS X power users and I’m fond of the apps and utilities I rely upon. But, in the past year, I’ve found myself using them less and less because I enjoy working from iOS more.

Most of my work activities are related to writing: whether it’s an article, a quick research note, an email, or chatting with my co-workers, I spend a lot of time typing and assembling words in a way that (I hope) makes sense to my readers and colleagues. In the past year – as people who have been following this site know – I have realized that I can be as efficient on my iPhone and iPad as I am on my Mac. I was initially forced into my new iPad-first workflow by frequent hospitalizations and a general inability to use my MacBook Air for long writing sessions; after the initial “What do I do now” moment and annoyances, I’ve come to like iOS – and the iPad – more and more.

I haven’t listened to people who told me I couldn’t work from my iPad. Read more

OS X Mavericks: Tips, Tricks, and Details

Mavericks is the latest version of OS X that builds upon the foundation of Mountain Lion to offer new apps like Maps and iBooks, redesigned system apps, and new energy-saving technologies like App Nap and Safari Power Saver. For power users, Mavericks sports additions like improved multiple displays, Finder tabs, tags, and AppleScript Libraries.

At MacStories, we enjoy finding all the little tweaks and hidden features that come with a brand new OS X version each year. In this post, you’ll find over 70 tips, tricks, and details of OS X Mavericks that we’ve collected throughout the summer since the first beta release the new operating system.

Mavericks’ release was announced today at Apple’s media event in San Francisco, and it’s available for free on the Mac App Store. We will have more articles on Mavericks throughout the week in our Mavericks hub on MacStories.

In the meantime, you can enjoy our collection of tips and tricks to get the most out of Mavericks, and read my article on working with Mavericks.
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AppleScript XML-RPC→

Daniel Jalkut:

My mind was fairly well blown this morning to learn that for more than ten years, AppleScript on Mac OS X has included a built-in command for communicating with XML-RPC and SOAP endpoints on the web.

I had no idea this existed either. Following Daniel’s example script, I have put together a Keyboard Maestro macro that, with a single hotkey, gets the latest post from MacStories, shortens its URL, and tweets it with Tweetbot. It’s the Mac version of my Editorial workflow, and I’ll share it soon.

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