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Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

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Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#501

Post by eddyg »

dividedbyzero wrote: post #419
tptacek wrote: post #128

You can assign a folder full of images to the background of Terminal.app, and it will choose background images at random, so a folder full of dark solid colors gives you random dark backgrounds, enabling you to tell your terminal windows apart easily.

This does not seem to be supported in iTerm, if anyone else is wondering.

You can likely achieve something similar using iTerm's Python API.

For example, this script[0] picks a random color preset each time a new session is created, and this one[1] picks a preset based on the hostname.

[0] https://www.iterm2.com/python-api/examples/random_color.html

[1] https://www.iterm2.com/python-api/examples/colorhost.html

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#503

Post by maps7 »

jibbers wrote: post #410
aunty_helen wrote: post #217

Cmd-space to bring up spotlight Type whatever you want. Cmd-b Your default web browser with your default search engine will now open and perform your query. I can't stress this enough how much I use this workflow when writing code. Another thing for the OPs issue with the screenshots, (there's a few steps via terminal so maybe try the above shortcut to search for an article on how to do it) you can have all your scre…

Command + L inside Spotlight to jump to the dictionary definition of the word you just typed.

Did you mean Command + D? That is what works for me (thanks for the tip!)

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#505

Post by roryokane »

moralestapia wrote: post #58
jdub wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shift + Command + 5… click "Options" in the bar down the bottom of the screen. (Also, try hitting space a couple of times in that mode.)

Wait ... you can RECORD !

While recording your screen, you can also record your microphone by choosing it in the Options menu. However, there is no way to record audio that is output to your speakers unless you first create a custom audio source using Soundflower (https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower) or Loopback (https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/).

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#506

Post by roryokane »

joombaga wrote: post #122
GavinAnderegg wrote: post #53

Cmd-Ctrl-Space (⌘⌃␣) for the character/emoji picker. Also, under Keyboard in preferences, check the "Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar" option to get it as a menu-bar icon. This also includes the keyboard viewer, which is handy to figure certain Shift-Opt-Whaterver combos for seldom-used characters. EDIT: Updated with the actual default command.

How do you close it? Cmd-W doesn't work for this type of window.

I don’t know of a keyboard-only way, but I see that ⌘W does work after you focus the floating window by clicking on its title bar. Of course, you can also click the tiny red close button to close the window directly.

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#507

Post by roryokane »

eddyg wrote: post #102

Using the Touch Bar to adjust volume, brightness, etc. doesn’t have to be a two-step process... no need to tap, lift and re-position your finger to the slider that appears. Instead, just touch-and-hold the icon of the thing you want to adjust, and slide from there.

Be warned, though, that if you slide your finger before the slider finishes animating in, that movement is ignored. Too many times I tried a quick adjustment like that only for the volume to remain the same after my movement. It’s why I added separate volume buttons to my Touch Bar and switched to using those primarily.

The sad thing is there’s no good reason for the slider to ignore your input during the animation. I think Apple just didn’t care enough to test it thoroughly. They only tested the Touch Bar with computer newbies who press every key slowly.

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#508

Post by roryokane »

monokh wrote: post #48

Mac has a storage explorer called "Storage management app". I found it great for making space as it can sort by categories and file size. Before realising this, it was a pain to find decent software for the MacOS. I imagine this was added recently.

I’ve long used GrandPerspective (http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/) for this. It shows you how big each file and folder is visually, so you can more easily estimate the impact of deleting those files.

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#509

Post by roryokane »

evaneykelen wrote: post #430

I once discovered a way to restore a minimized window without using the mouse. It requires a bit of practice: 1. Press Command-Tab to show your running apps. Keep holding Command. 2. Press Tab until you've selected the minimized app. 3. Press the Option key, and let go of the Command key. You must release the Command key after pressing the Option key! The minimized app is now unminimized. Note that this only works fo…

Another way to restore a minimized wondow would be to use Ctrl+F3 to focus the dock (Ctrl+F1 to enable that shortcut), press Up repeatedly until the minimized window is selected, then press Return to open it.

Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?

#510

Post by roryokane »

throwawaw wrote: post #109
house9-2 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cmd + shift + h = home directory cmd + shift + a = applications directory cmd + shift + d = desktop directory Semi-related, type `open .` in terminal to open that directory in Finder

Is there a reverse version of that last one? For navigation I prefer Finder over `cd; ls`, but once I end up where I want to be I generally need a terminal. edit: Another user replied with what I want as I typed this! Thank you haddr.

You’re referring to the tip to drag the Finder folder onto the Terminal window. There’s another way that is easier if you don’t already have a Terminal window open:

Install the app “cd to…” (https://github.com/jbtule/cdto) and add it to your Finder toolbar. Now clicking that icon will open a new Terminal (or iTerm) window within the selected folder.

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