OS X

Screensavers used to be a really big deal back in the day. For those wondering why, it is because back then monitors were subject to burn ins, and the idea of screensavers is to keep the display dynamic enough to prevent that from happening. Today these aren’t really issues anymore, which is why screensavers are no longer quite as important or used.

Shazam is an incredibly useful app when you’re trying to identify songs. The fact that it made its way onto computers like the Mac makes it even more useful. Unfortunately it has been recently discovered by former NSA hacker Patrick Wardle that for the Mac version of the app, the microphone never turns off, meaning that it will always be listening.

Despite looking somewhat familiar on the outside, under the hood Apple has made quite a lot of changes to its new MacBook Pro. One of those changes that you might notice if you were to buy the computer, would be the omission of the classic Mac startup chime that you would hear whenever you turn the computer on.

When it comes to gaming on the Mac, developers are less keen to show love for the platform compared to Windows, and it’s easy to see why since the number of users on Windows-based PCs are considerably more than those on Mac. However this isn’t to say that the Mac platform is devoid of games, and recently the good news is that the recently released Civilization VI is now available […]

If you guys can recall, there was a zero day vulnerability discovered within iOS that prompted Apple to issue an emergency security update that patched iOS to iOS 9.3.5, something that you definitely should download if you haven’t done so already. It also seems that the vulnerability affected OS X computers.

Exclusives are what makes people flock to a certain brand. For example if you love the Halo franchise, then we guess it makes sense for you to keep purchasing the Xbox platform. Now Google for the most part has been pretty generous with its products and services and have typically made them available across the board, but no more.

The other day we brought word that popular indie game Stardew Valley would be launching on both Mac and Linux computers on the 29th of July, and for gamers who forget, it looks like the game has already been released according to a post on the Stardew Valley website, so gamers can check it out if they want.

The thing about indie games is that because there are no expectations, developers usually have free-reign when it comes to designing the game. This has allowed some pretty interesting creations, like No Man’s Sky, or if you aren’t a fan of that genre, it has also spawned some pretty fun games like Stardew Valley.

No one likes being eavesdropped on, especially by people that they don’t know. It’s not really about the content of the conversation, but rather simple basic privacy. Now Apple’s FaceTime had a bug that allowed third-parties to eavesdrop on conversations if they knew how to, but the good news is that it has been fixed.

No platform is completely invulnerable and from time to time, new security flaws and malwares are discovered. So far many of them seem to target Windows-based operating systems, but recently a new malware called Backdoor.MAC.Eleanor has been discovered and it seems to be targeting Mac users.

For professional photographers, shooting in RAW during an assignment is almost always the standard operating procedure. For those who aren’t professionals, the reason for shooting in RAW is that it doesn’t get processed by the camera’s image processing engine, meaning that the image captured isn’t compressed or filtered.

A couple of months ago, Apple made references to a “MacOS” on its website which seemed to hint that Apple could be rebranding OS X to MacOS. Granted it could have been a typo (an odd typo we might add), but it is possible. However to make the same “typo” again? According to reports, it seems that the MacOS moniker has been referenced once again.

Touch ID is Apple’s way of securing iOS devices by using biometric security in the form of fingerprints to protect devices like the iPhone and iPad. It is also used to verify iTunes purchases, passwords managers, and Apple Pay, and soon it could even be used to unlock your Mac computer.

If you’re experiencing some bugs or issues with your Mac computer, you might be pleased to learn that after being in beta, Apple has finally released OS X 10.11.5, which some have speculated could be the last major point update to the El Capitan platform ahead of the unveiling of the next major OS X update which should take place at WWDC next month.

Software updates typically introduce new features, bug fixes, and system improvements. However from time to time, an update does go awry and causes more problems than it fixes, take for example the latest OS X El Capitan update. If you haven’t updated to OS X 10.11.4, maybe you should hold off on doing so.

The other day it was speculated that WhatsApp could be working on a desktop version of its app Given that WhatsApp already sort of exists on the desktop via a web interface, we guess this was the next logical step. The good news is that we did not have to wait long because WhatsApp has since released its app for the desktop.

Just because there aren’t as many cases of malware infecting Mac computers doesn’t mean that they are immune. That being said if you want to be safe and keep your Mac computer free from ransomware, you will be pleased to learn that security research Patrick Wardle has released a tool called “RansomWhere?” to help combat ransomware on OS X computers.

OS X has been the name Apple has used for its operating system for awhile now, but it seems that Apple could be getting ready to move on to a different name. We’ve already seen how Apple’s naming system works as of late, like watchOS for the Apple Watch, and tvOS for the Apple TV.

From time to time you might receive notifications about an update for your operating system. Unless it’s a very obvious bug that impacts the performance of your computer, some of you guys might choose to ignore the update until a later date. Now if you are an OS X user, you might want to update your operating system ASAP.

Whenever a software update has been made available, it’s always good news since it means that problems are addressed, there are security improvements, and sometimes even new features. Unfortunately from time to time software updates actually end up causing more problems than before.