A quick way to glance at each app’s windows from the app switcher
Navigate the Mac App Store via keyboard
You can switch between the Mac App Store’s main tabs like Featured, Top Charts, and Updates, as well as the search field, with fairly standard keyboard shortcuts. Featured is Command-1, Top Charts is Command-2, and so on. If you need to search, the generally system-wide Command-F shortcut gets you there quickly.
Reeder has custom Tumblr support, lets you “like” and get back to reading
Reeder, a stylish Google Reader client for Mac, makes it easy to quickly “like” Tumblr posts and get back to skimming articles.
While viewing an article in Reeder’s Classic view (with a reading pane on the right), open the Tumblr page by either pressing ’v’ on the keyboard, clicking the title of the article, or performing a three finger swipe to the right on a multitouch trackpad.
The article will load in Reeder’s built-in browser as if you visited it in a stand-alone browser. Clicking the heart icon on a Tumblr post will “like” the post, close the website, and bring you back to the article view in Reeder.
Type to search in long drop-down menus
Instead of scrolling through a long drop-down menu to find an entry (for example: picking a country or your birth year), just start typing and it will highlight what you type.
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When you want to change a setting in System Preferences, oftentimes you don’t want to think about where it’s located. That sea of icon options — though organized — always makes my eyes glaze over.
Paul continues, describing a handy and often overlooked perk of the System Preferences pane.
The one in which you play a random album
There are those indecisive moments. We all have them. And especially when it comes to choosing just the right type of music entertainment for the following moments.
Get a sliver of volume
Ever wish there was a notch of volume between zero and one? Simply press the “volume down” key until there are no dots showing, and then hit the “mute” key.
The volume icon will display sound again. Even though the volume measurement bar remains blank, you should be able to hear the faintest of sound (you might need to plug in a pair of headphones).
This works at least in 10.6 Snow Leopard; not sure about Leopard or Tiger.
[Editor’s note: I verified this on my 2010 15-inch MacBook Pro. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but it’s there for people who want it.]
Easily check for App Store updates in iTunes
Instead of mousing to the ‘Check For Updates’ text button at the bottom of the Apps section of iTunes 10, you can simply hit ⌘-R to run the check.
Strangely, I cannot find this command anywhere iTunes’ menu system besides the main app menu, but that’s for checking on iTunes updates, not app updates. Plus, ⌘-R is set for the Store > Reload Page command, but then, only when you’re in the store; it’s grayed out when viewing your apps.
Exposé keyboard shortcuts
Exposé - All windows: F3
Exposé - Application windows: ^F3
Exposé - Show desktop: ⌘F3
Exposé - System Preferences: ⌥F3
How can you alt-tab between windows like in Windows? For example, I know you can Command-Tab between PROGRAMS, but what about individual windows within a program -- such as multiple Word documents?
Thanks,
Eric Metz
Asked by Anonymous
To switch between multiple document windows in a single app, you want ⌘-` (Command-Tilde, the second key is right above Tab).
