Siri Tips

Search the web using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Looking up information

• Search the web for Bora Bora
• Search for vegetarian pasta recipes
• Search the web for best cable plans
• Google the war of 1812
• Search Wikipedia for Abraham Lincoln
• Search for news about the World Cup
• Bing Alicia Keys

Using Wolfram Alpha

• How many calories in a bagel?
• What is an 18% tip on $86.74 for four people?
• Who's buried in Grant's tomb?
• How long do dogs live?
• What is the Gossamer Condor?
• What's the square root of 128?
• How many dollars is €45?
• What was the Best Picture of 1983?
• How many days until Christmas?
• How far away is the Sun?
• When is the next solar eclipse?
• Show me the Orion constellation
• What's the population of Jamaica?
• How high is Mt. Everest?
• How deep is the Atlantic ocean?
• What's the price of gasoline in Chicago?

Check the Weather using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Checking the Forecast

• What's the weather for today?
• What's the weather for tomorrow?
• Will it rain in Cupertino this week?
• Check next week's forecast for Burlington
• What's the forecast for this evening?
• How's the weather in Tampa right now?
• How hot will it be in Palm Springs this weekend?
• What's the high for Anchorage on Thursday?
• What's the temperature outside?
• How windy is it out there?
• When is sunrise in Paris?

Check Stocks using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Checking Stocks

• What's Apple's stock price?
• What is Apple's PE ratio?
• What did Yahoo close at today?
• How is the Nikkei doing?
• How are the markets doing?
• What is the Dow at?

Create Reminders using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Requesting reminders

• Remind me to call mom
• Remind me to call my mom when I get home
• Remember to take an umbrella
• Remind me take my medicine at 6am tomorrow
• Remind me to pick up flowers when I leave here
• Remind me when I leave to call Jason
• Remind me to finish the report by 6

Make Phone calls using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Phone calls

• Call Jason
• Call Jennifer Wright mobile
• Call Susan on her work phone
• Call 408 555 1212
• Call home
• FaceTime Lisa

Create and find notes using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Creating and finding notes

• Note that I spent $12 on lunch
• Note: check out that new Alicia Keys album
• Find my restaurant note
• Create a reading list note
• Add Tom Sawyer to my reading list note

Conrtol your music using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Playback

• Play The Light of the Sun
• Play Trouble
• Play Taking Back Sunday shuffled
• Play Alicia Keys
• Play some blues
• Play my party mix
• Shuffle my roadtrip playlist
• Play
• Pause
• Skip

Send, Read and Reply to Messages using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Sending Texts

• Tell Susan I'll be right there
• Send a message to Jason Russell
• Send a message to Lisa saying how about tomorrow
• Tell Jennifer the show was great
• Send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I'll be late
• Send a message to 408 555 1212
• Text Jason and Lisa where are you?

Reading Texts

• Read my new messages
• Read it again

Replying to Texts

• Reply that's great news
• Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes
• Call her

Use Maps and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Directions

• How do I get home?
• Show 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California
• Directions to my dad's work

Local Businesses

• Find coffee near me
• Where is Starbucks?
• Find some burger joints in Baltimore
• Find a gas station within walking distance
• Good Mexican restaurants around here

Check up on friends using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Checking Up on Friends

• Where's Jason?
• Where is my sister?
• Is my wife at home?
• Where are all my friends?
• Who is here?
• Who is near me?

Use Email and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Sending Messages

• Email Lisa about the trip
• Email Jennifer about the change in plans
• New email to Susan Park
• Mail Dad about the rent check
• Email Dr. Manning and say I got the forms, thanks
• Mail Lisa and Jason about the party and say I had a great time

Checking Messages

• Check email
• Any new email from Michael today?
• Show new mail about the lease
• Show the email from Lisa yesterday

Responding to Messages

• Reply Dear Susan sorry about the late payment
• Call him at work

Check, Set and Use Alarms with Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Setting Alarms

• Wake me up tomorrow at 7am
• Set an alarm for 6:30am
• Wake me up in 8 hours
• Change my 6:30 alarm to 6:45
• Turn off my 6:30 alarm
• Delete my 7:30 alarm

Checking the Clock

• What time is it?
• What time is it in Berlin?
• What is today's date?
• What's the date this Saturday?

Using a Timer

• Set the timer for ten minutes
• Show the timer
• Pause the timer
• Resume
• Reset the timer
• Stop it

Add, Edit and ask about Calendar events with Siri

Here are some example phrases and commands for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Adding Events

• Set up a meeting at 9
• Set up a meeting with Michael at 9
• Meet with Lisa at noon
• Set up a meeting about hiring tomorrow at 9am
• New appointment with Susan Park Friday at 3
• Schedule a planning meeting at 8:30 today in the boardroom

Changing events

• Move my 3pm meeting to 4:30
• Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Manning to next Monday at 9am
• Add Lisa to my meeting with Jason
• Cancel the budget review meeting

Asking about events

• What does the rest of my day look like?
• What's on my calendar for Friday?
• When is my next appointment?
• When am I meeting with Michael?
• Where is my next meeting?

Use the Address Book and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.
   
Address Book

Querying Contacts

• What's Michael's address?
• What is Susan Park's phone number?
• When is my wife's birthday?
• Show Jennifer's home email address

Finding Contacts

• Show Jason Russell
• Find people named Park
• Who is Michael Manning?

Relationships

• My mom is Susan Park
• Michael Manning is my brother
• Call my brother at work

Which apps does Siri work?

With which apps does Siri work?Siri works with almost all the built-in apps on iPhone 4S. And it's smart enough to figure out which apps to use to provide you with answers. It also uses Search and Location Services to help you with your requests.

 Here's a list of apps and services that Siri works with worldwide:

• Phone
• FaceTime
• Music
• Mail
• Messages
• Calendar
• Reminders
• Notes
• Contacts
• Alarms
• World Clock
• Timer
• Weather
• Stocks
• Web search
• Wikipedia search
• Wolfram|Alpha (English only)
• Find My Friends

Siri can also assist you with these apps and services but onin the US right now. If you are outside of the US you will have to wait at least until 2013.

• Maps
• Local search with Yelp!

Dashboard

Not everything you do on your Mac requires a heavy-duty application. For those smaller tasks, Mac OS X features Dashboard, a semi-transparent layer that floats above your desktop at the press of a key, and provides access to several fun and functional, mini applications called widgets.

Dashboard even includes widgets for some of your Mac applications, including Address Book and iTunes, which allow you to access your contacts and music, respectively, without having to switch over to the full application. But it doesn't end there, you can add more widgets to Dashboard and, if you're feeling really ambitious, you can even create your own widgets.

By default, Dashboard starts up when you first turn on your Mac, but you won't actually see it until you open it by either clicking its icon in the Dock, pressing the F12 key or the Dashboard key (F4 on the aluminum keyboards). To hide Dashboard, click on any Dashboard area that doesn't contain a widget or press the F12 key again. Here's a quick start guide to Dashboard and the included widgets.


Working with Dashboard

1. Make Dashboard active by clicking the icon in the Dock, or pressing F12.
2. A default set of widgets appears. You can move the widgets anywhere you want by simply dragging them, click and hold your mouse button on a widget and move your mouse—or finger, if you're using a trackpad.
3. To see all the widgets on your Mac, click the open (+) button in the lower-left corner of the screen. 
4. The Widget Bar, which displays all widgets on your Mac, slides into view at the bottom of the screen. Click the arrow buttons on either side of the bar to display more widgets.
5. To add a widget to Dashboard, simply click an icon in the Widget Bar.
6. If you want to download more widgets, click the More Widgets button to go to the Apple Dashboard download webpage.
7. To remove a widget from Dashboard, be sure that the Widget Bar is displayed, then click the unwanted widget's close button (the round, black button with a white X).
8. To close the Widget Bar, click the close button on the lower-left part of the screen right above the Widget Bar.
9. To use a widget, just select it and do your thing. In other words, if you click the Dictionary widget, type a word in its search field. If you click the Stickies widget, type a note or two. If you click the Tile Game widget, start playing.

Widgets
Here's a closer look at the widgets you'll find preinstalled in Dashboard, and how to use them.

Many widgets feature user options on their backsides so you can select the information to
display, such as the time in a chosen city in this World Clock widget.

Widget Manager
This widget manages other widgets. Uncheck Widgets that you don't want to use anymore and it will hide and disable them. You can keep check of all your available widgets from here.

Address Book
This widget feeds off Address Book proper, enabling you to look up a person's email address, phone number, and mailing address quickly. Just start typing a name in the search field, or click the arrow buttons to step through all entries.

Business
The Business widget is a great directory of local businesses and substitute for your yellow pages. Just type a business name or category (like "pizza") in the search field, and view your results in the expanded window. To change the local city, click the "i" button; enter a city, state, or zip code; and click Done.

Calculator
This electronic version works just like its real-world counterpart, letting you add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers without thought. You can enter numbers by clicking the buttons or pressing the numeric keys on your keyboard.

Dictionary
 Get word definitions, synonyms, and antonyms for any English language word you type in the search field. And because the dictionary is built into Leopard, you don't need an Internet connection to get this information.

ESPN
For sports fans, this widget displays the latest scores and news for your favorite baseball, basketball, football, and hockey teams. Just click the "i" button in the upper-right corner and choose a sport from the pop-up menu. When finished, click "News" to view the latest news feeds from ESPN or "Scores" to see how well your team is faring.

Flight Tracker
View the flight paths of practically any upcoming or in-progress flight around the world. Just choose an airline, departure city, and arrival city from the pop-up menus (or enter the information in the fields), click Find Flights, select the flight in the results, and click Track Flight.

Google
When you need information fast, just type what you're looking for into this widget to make Google scour the Internet on your command. Your default web browser will automatically open to display the search results.

iCal
This widget allows you to view the current day and date in a small calendar, as well as view days and dates in the future and past. Just click the up or down arrow buttons to jump through the calendar by month.

iTunes
This widget allows you to control iTunes playback (iTunes must be open for this to work). You can use the widget controls to play, pause, and skip forward and backward through songs in your iTunes Library or a playlist, or listen to Internet radio. You can even control volume with a twist of the outer dial.

Movies
Heading out to enjoy a movie? Use this widget to look up information about the latest releases and find show times at local theaters. Not sure if you would enjoy the movie? Watch movie trailers right in Dashboard, then click to buy tickets.

People
Feeling out of touch with friends and family? Don't use that old excuse of losing their phone numbers. Look them up with this widget, which can look up residential phone numbers by area. Just enter a first name, last name, and a city and state or zip code.

Ski Report
Find out the current weather and snow conditions at popular skiing locations across the country and head for the hills. Just click the "i" button in the bottom-right corner and type the name of a resort to get the current conditions, including the new snowfall, base depth, and temperature.

Stickies
Just like the paper version but for your Mac. Just type notes right on the Stickies pad. To change the paper color and font, click the "i" button in the bottom-right corner. Then select a paper color, choose a font from the Font pop-up menu, choose a font size from the other pop-up menu, and click Done.

Stocks
This widget lets you track your favorite stocks (with up to a 20-minute delay). To enter a company, click the "i" button in the bottom-right corner, type the company's name or ticker symbol in the field, and click Done. To get an overview of your stock's performance, click the company symbol to view a graph that shows the highs and lows over a user-selectable timeframe.

Tile Game
You probably remember this one as a kid; the goal of the game is to rearrange all the tiles so that they form a picture. Just click the widget to make it start scrambling the tiles. Click it again to make it stop. To rearrange tiles, click a tile that borders the empty space to move it in its place, and continue in this manner until you see the picture again.

Translation
For those times when you can't decipher a foreign language phrase, or you need to translate one of your own into another language, this widget comes in handy. Just choose the language that you want to translate from and to using the pop-up menus, and type the word or phrase in the text box below "Translate from." C'est facile!

Unit Converter
If you need to convert weights, measurements, temperatures, speeds, currency, volume, and other items, this widget will do the job. Just choose a unit category from the Convert pop-up menu, choose a unit that you want converted from the bottom-left pop-up menu, choose the unit that you want it converted to in the bottom-right pop-up menu, and enter a value in the left field to view the conversion to its right.

Weather
Be prepared wherever you may roam. The Weather widget displays the current weather conditions for the city of your choice in thermal terms (high, low, and current temperatures) and in current graphical conditions too. Click on the widget for a 5-day forecast. To change the city, click the "i" button; enter a city, state, or zip code; and click Done.

Web Clip
Say you check part of a particular website pretty often. Why not turn it into a widget? In Safari, click the Web Clip icon and select the part of the page you want to turn into a widget. Click Add and Safari launches your brand-new widget in Dashboard. From there you can customize it with a selection of themes. Your new web clip widget is always live, acting just like the website it was clipped from.

World Clock
The World Clock widget displays the local time for many cities around the world. Open multiple windows to keep track of different time zones. To change the city, click the "i" button, choose a continent from the Continent pop-up menu, choose a city from the City pop-up menu, and click Done.

Tip: Want to learn more about Dashboard? Check out the built-in Help guide on your Mac (in the Finder, choose Mac Help from the Help menu, and type dashboard in the search field).

Mac Tips and Tricks

Get all Mac OS X Tips, Tricks, Tutorials, Hacks, Support, Downloads, Updates...right in to your Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard, Leopard or Tiger Dashboard !
Learn How To using Finder, Preview, iChat, iCal, Mail, Safari, Address Book, Expose, Dock, Dashboard, Spotlight, Keyboard Shortcuts...or Customizing Your Mac !
↓ Download

Apps Apps Apps !

Application Launchers

Pre-Installed Apple Software

• Spotlight

Freeware

• Butler allows you to assign tasks to different triggers.
• QuickSilver is a powerful adaptive search and command application.

Shareware

• Drag Thing is a cutomisable dock application.
• Launch Studio shows a 'launch pad' displaying all of your applications for quick access. (Stacks in Leopard probably offer similar function.)
• Launch Bar accesses bookmarks, applications, documents, contacts, iTunes, search engines and others by just entering abbreviations of a searched item's name.

Blogging

Pre-Installed Software (on new Macs)

• iWeb in iLife

Freeware

• . xCHM is a .chm viewer for UNIX (Linux, *BSD, Solaris). Success stories of xCHM on Mac OS X have also been received, and apparently xCHM even works if compiled under the Cygwin environment in Windows.

Shareware

• Ecto you can write and manage entries for your weblog(s). You can compose entries offline and use the extra features ecto offers, such as spellcheck, creating links, attachments, and much more.
• MacJournal
• MarsEdit

Communication

Conferencing

Note: conferencing applications are free, however you may need to buy credits to do send SMSs or ring a telephone.

• SightSpeed
• Skype

Instant Messaging (IM) – Pre-installed Apple Software

• iChat

Instant Messaging (IM) – Freeware

• Adium
• AIM
• Google Talk
• ICQ
• Jabber
• Microsoft Messenger for Mac
• Skype
• Yahoo Messenger

IRC – Freeware

• Colloquy
• Conversation
• xChat (all OSs)

Twitter – Freeware

• Nambu
• Seesmic – Beta
• Tweetanium is an application built entirely in JavaScript that communicates with Twitter.
• TweetDeck

Twitter – Shareware

• Twitterific is an application to communicate with Twitter.
• Tweetie – New! (ad-supported version available as well).

 

VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

VOIP applications are free, but you might need to buy credits to send SMSs or communicate to a phone.

• Skype
• X-Lite, Free SIP client.

Data Recovery

For when your hard disk dies, make sure you backup (see below) as well.

Application – Pre-installed Apple Software

• Time Machine

Applications – Freeware

• Super Duper
• Macintosh Data Recovery

Applications – Shareware

• Disk Warrior
• Data Rescue
• Super Duper (Paid Version)
• Macintosh Data Recovery (Paid Version)
• Mac Hard Drive Recovery (Paid Version)

 

 

Data recovery companies

These are taken from user posts in the forums, and aren't endorsed or recommended by WP.

• Drive Savers
• Forensic Data
• Technetics Data Recovery

eBay

Freeware

• JBid watcher is eBay snipe, bid and watch software.

Shareware

• Garage Sale

Email Clients

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Apple Mail

Freeware

• Google Notifier for Mac — not sure if this does anything more than Apple Mail & Growl does?
• GrowlMail, Growl notifier for Apple's Mail app.
• Letterbox is a Mail plug-in to give you three-column-view.
• Thunderbird.

Shareware

• Mail Plane, Google Mail add-on.
• O2M. Office 2 Mac transfers your Outlook email to Apple's Mail app.

Finder enhancements

Freeware

• Find Any File is a free program that searches the file system rather than using Finder's database.
• Path Finder is a powerful file manager with many built-in utilities and tools. Built using 100% Cocoa and Objective-C, Path Finder leverages the built-in power of Mac OS X to give you fast, powerful access to your files and applications.

Shareware

• Deep is an image search program that uses tags and multiple sources of information to find similar images.
• Leap lets you tag files for easy indexing and searching.

Font management

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Font Book

Freeware

• Character Pal, font and character widget.
• Large Type gives you...large type!

Shareware

• Font manager

FTP

Freeware

• Cyberduck

Shareware

• CuteFTP
• Fetch
• Interarchy
• Transmit

GUI enhancements and add-ons

Freeware

• DockSpaces allows you to have multiple docks (can be used in conjunction with spaces).
• Growl is a discrete notifier program that flashes a translucent window pane above your desktop to notify of specified events.
• SpaceSuit allows you to have different desktop wallpapers for each Space/desktop.

Shareware

• CandyBar, customise and organise icons. Pixadex used to be a separate program, but is now part of CandyBar.

Graphics / Image editors

Pre-installed (on new Macs)

• iPhoto in iLife

Freeware

• the GIMP

Shareware

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• GraphicConverter, does what it says.
• Little Snapper
• Posterino creates poster-sized montages of your best photos! Get 'em off the hard disc and onto a wall!

iPhoto add-ons

Freeware

• iPhoto Library Manager. Manage multiple iPhoto libraries.
• Picasa for Mac, Google's new application for its online photo storage.
• Picture Sync allows you to sync photos with iPhoto and online image stores sites like Flickr, ImageShack and Photobucket. (not required as of iPhoto 2009)

Shareware

• iPhoto Library Manager. Manage multiple iPhoto libraries.
• Picture Sync allows you to sync photos with iPhoto and online image stores sites like Flickr, ImageShack and Photobucket. (not required as of iPhoto 2009)

iTunes enhancements and applications

Freeware

• Amazon Album Art Widget locates and adds artwork to your iTunes tracks from the Amazon database.
• Fluid Tunes allows you to control iTunes with your hand by using the power of iSight.
• iTuneMyWalkman is an open source application that will help you synchronize the contents of iTunes playlists to your mobile phone or other portable device. Helpful if you have a Sony Ericsson Walkman-featured mobile phone.
• SyncTunes is a really good iTunes sync program for Sony Ericsson Walkman 'phones. Sadly, the developer withdrew it. If anyone can find a legitimate mirror, please link to it.

Shareware

• FixTunes is an easy and powerful program that will fix any missing or misspelled song details, add album artwork, remove duplicates songs and organize your music
• Slingshot syncs iTunes libraries across multiple Macs
• SuperSync allows you to keep multiple iTunes libraries in sync.
• TuneRanger is another iTunes sync tool for libraries on more than one computer, and works across platforms

Menubar add-ons

iTunes – Freeware

• Bowtie
• GimmeSome Tune fetches artwork and lyrics for iTunes, and displays a floating bezel window when new tracks start.
• iController provides menu-bar control for iTunes, with menu-bar ticker.
• you control: tunes is another menu-bar controller, with a fair bit of customisation and the ability to deal with song ratings in the menu-bar controller.
• iTunes Menu is another menu-bar controller for iTunes with Growl notification

iTunes – Shareware

• Cover Stream
• CoverSutra
• Playwatch is a menu-bar controller with scrolling ticker.
• SizzlingKeys
• Synergy provides menu-bar controls for iTunes

Meters – Freeware

• iStat menus is an extremely powerful and useful set of menu extras. (MenuCalendarClock replications the calendar portion of iStat menus, but it costs money.)
• Menu Meters

Media streaming or playback

Freeware

• PS3 Media Server
• XBMC, or Xbox Media Center. Originally made to work on the first generation Xbox, now works on multiple platforms.

Shareware

• AirFoil sends any audio to AirPort Express units, Apple TVs, and even other Macs and PCs, all in sync!
• Connect360. Stream audio and video from your Mac to your Xbox360
• Rivet, another Xbox360 audio and video streamer
• EyeConnect media streamer for Macs
• MediaLink. Stream audio and video from your Mac to your PS3. Made by the same people who produce Connect360.
• TwonkyMedia, a Mac-compatible media streamer
• Xhub is an alternative to Apple's Front Row

Mobile phones

Freeware

• emitSMS is a bluetooth SMS widget
• Feisar provides iSync and Address Book plug-ins for Sony Ericsson mobile phones that aren't supported by Apple

Shareware

• BluePhoneElite is a bluetooth controller for mobiles phones, allowing you to control your phone from your Mac; send and receive SMS; and make and receive calls.
• FoneLink provides iSync and Address Book support for Nokia mobile phones not supported by Apple.
• Missing Sync is a Smart Phone plug-in providing SMS and Address Book support.

Mouse tools

Freeware

• Knock Knock is a freeware program for changing acceleration curve of the mouse you use with OS X.

Shareware

• CocaSuite is a suite of utilities for controlling Cocoa applications. It allows you to add new or reassign existing menu shortcuts; execute any menu command through customizable Mnemonics; execute any menu command via customizable mouse gestures; and use the track pad on your laptop as virtual scroll wheel or jog dial.
• Controller Mate allows changes to mouse axes and acceleration curves
• Side Track allows you to setup a trackpad to work as multi-button scrolling mouse. (It is not compatible with MacBook Air and 2008 MacBook Pro.)
• SteerMouse allows customization of mice, including tracking speed and sensitivity. It's designed primarily for the Apple Mighty Mouse, but works with other mice.
• USB Overdrive allows customization of most mice either globally or for specific apps.

Multimedia players + plug-ins

Pre-installed Apple Software

• DVD Player
• iTunes
• QuickTime

Freeware

• CocoModX – freeware audio module player, capable of playing .mod, .xm, .it, .s3m et al.
• MPlayer OSX. MPlayerOSX is binary distribution of MPlayer (The Movie Player for Linux) and comes with native GUI in MacOSX. After installation you can simply (by Drag&Drop) play almost all 3ivx, DivX 3,4,5 and other codecs files in the window or fullscreen mode.
• Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats.
• RealPlayer for Mac. Watch near DVD-quality video, view video clips in full-screen theater mode, optimize your sound with our graphic equalizer, behaves just like your other Mac applications and plays QuickTime files.
• Tunatic is a music tagging program that identifies unknown tracks.
• VLC media player is a flexible media player that can handle a lot of formats not supported by other Mac software.
• Windows Media Player for Mac is essential if you want to be able to view many videos available on the internet. (very old – 2003, version 9)

Shareware

• Flip4Mac provides codecs for QuickTime-based applications to play Windows Media Video & Audio (WMV) files
• MacVCD. Discover the easy way to play VCD, SVCD* and almost everything else with this easy to use video media player software for Mac OS X. Play VCD, SVCD*, AVI*, DivX*, MPEG, video, Quicktime movies and more with MacVCD X.

Multimedia backup and writing

Pre-installed Apple Software (on new Macs)

• iDVD in iLife

Freeware

• Burn is an open-source disc burning application, and for straight-forward backups is a good alternative to the more expensive commercial apps
• ffmpegx is another Mac mainstay for video conversion, but the GUI is not as intuitive as other apps
• HandBrake is a fantastic, cross-platform conversion tool. Quick pre-sets to convert media files to Apple TV, iPod, QuickTime, game consoles.
  

Shareware

• Disco is a disc-burning program.
• Drive-in, allows back-ups of DVDs in their original structure, and creates a cover-flow view of them
• DVD Ripper for Mac — name says it all
• DVD2one, compress or re-author DVDs. Allows extraction of title only, or to fit a title from a dual-layer disc onto a single-layer disc
• Popcorn is a well-regarded DVD backup and converter
• Ripit App – rips DVDs to your Mac.
• Roxio Crunch is another video converter
• Toast is the Rolls Royce of Mac DVD burners (with price tag to match)

Multimedia presentation

Create DVD and CD disk artwork on your Mac.

Pre-installed Apple Software (on new Macs)

• iDVD in iLife

Freeware

• Covers prints your DVD art just so.

Shareware

• Disc Cover

Music – Shareware

• iVolume adjusts the volume on your tracks in iTunes so they all play at the same perceived volume.
• Tangerine creates playlists based on music tempo. Great for chillouts or workouts.

Navigation

Add GPS-like/Mapping functionality to your Mac.

Freeware

• Google Earth

Shareware

• Mac GPS Pro, navigation software that integreates a GPS with your Mac.

Networking

Freeware

• AP Grapher is a program for Mac OS X which searches for and displays nearby wireless (AirPort/WiFi) access points along with information about their percent availability, maximum signal strength, and last contact time.
• iStumbler is the leading wireless discovery tool for Mac OS X, providing plugins for finding AirPort networks, Bluetooth devices and Bonjour services with your Mac.
• Kismac Welcome to the KisMAC wiki! KisMAC is an open-source and free stumbler/scanner application for Mac OS X. It has an advantage over MacStumbler / iStumbler / NetStumbler in that it uses monitor mode and passive scanning. Kismac is for professional users who know what they are doing. Novices beware — you can stuff things with this software. Take this as your warning!
• MarcoPolo brings context-aware computing to your portable Mac computer. It allows your computer to determine its context through gathering evidence from your environment (evidence sources), using flexible rule-based fuzzy matching to make an educated guess (rules), and then performing arbitrary actions upon changing context (actions).

Shareware

• Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge.
• Network Location allows you to set your laptop to change network connections and applications based on the environment you are in.
• Timbuktu remote desktop app.

Organizing software

Note: taking software, stickies programs and scheduling programs as well as project management software.

Pre-installed Apple Software

• iCal – Calendar program
• Stickies – A note-taking program

Freeware

• iProcrastinate, homework or task manager.
• Journaler is a notebook, and entry-based information manager. (Free for personal use)
• Plot is a scientific 2D plotting program.
• Schoolhouse. Aimed at students. Sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects.
• Skim is a reader and note-taker. It lets you read and annotate PDFs.
• TimeEdition allolws you to keep track of time spent on projects.
• Tinderbox, another information organiser.

Shareware

• Awaken – Alarm Clock software
• Base Camp
• Devon Think, information management software.
• Flying Logic, logic trees and tree-diagrams.
• FastTrack Schedule
• Ghost Action
• Journaler is a notebook, and entry-based information manager. (Shareware for commercial use)
• Merlin
• Note Book With NoteBook, you organize your information naturally, using a familiar notebook interface, complete with pages and tabs, sections and subsections. Add notes and other text. Drag in files and folders. Even "clip" web research, mail messages and other content into your Notebooks without leaving the application you're working in.
• Nova Mind, mind mapping software.
• Omni Outliner can create hierarchies of main headings and subpoints that can be expanded and collapsed, which are immensely useful when it comes to brainstorming new ideas, drilling out specifics, and lining up steps needed to get everything done. But you aren't limited to outlines – you've got multiple columns, smart checkboxes, customizable popup lists, and an über-innovative styles system at your disposal.
• Omni Plan
• Papers retrieves, stores and allows searching of scientific PDF articles.
• ProjectX 1.5
• ProWorkFlow
• Things, GTD task manager.
• VoodooPad is a place to write down your notes and thoughts. Plant ideas, images, lists and anything else you need to keep track of and VoodooPad will grow with you, without getting in the way. You can even drag and drop folders, images, applications, or URLs into VoodooPad — they're linked up just like on the web.
• Yep, sorts, collates and indexes PDFs, a bit like iPhoto for PDF.
• YoJimbo, information organiser.

Print drivers – Freeware

Print drivers for Mac can be difficult to find for printers that aren't major sellers.

• GIMP print (formerly Guten print)has open-source printer drivers, focusing on inkjets. It's particularly useful for older printers or if you have a printer that is not well supported by Apple.

Productivity and development

Office applications (Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, etc) as well as screen capture programs.

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Grab is a screen capture program.

Freeware

• Neo Office is a full-featured set of office applications based on OpenOffice, integrates dozens of native Mac features and can import, edit, and exchange files with other popular office programs such as Microsoft Office.
• Open Office. OpenOffice is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites. It works transparently with a variety of file formats, including Microsoft Office.
• Paparazzi – Takes a full-length screen capture of a web page.
• Skitch is an advanced screen capture and basic image editor.
• Side Note is a notepad that hides on the side of the screen until called out, a bit like an electronic Post-it Note.

Shareware

• iShowU, screencast creator
• iWork. Apple's office suite of Pages (word processor), Keynote (presentation software), and Numbers (spreadsheet).
• Office for Mac from Microsoft, is the Mac version of the ubiquitous MS Office, compatible with the PC version and similar workflow
• Salling Clicker, remote-control presentations and iTunes from your bluetooth-enabled mobile phone.
• Screen Flow, screencast creator (used by ScreenCastsOnline)
• Screen Steps creates screen capture videos
• Temporis, timeline software.
• Timeline is 3D timeline software that allows exporting to QuickTime.

Security (and Anti-Virus)

While debates continue about Anti-Virus on Macs, a Mac can pass viruses on to a Windows computer on the same network very easily.

Freeware

• ClamXav is a free virus scanner based on the ClamAV project for Windows.
• iAntiVirus Free version for Mac.

Shareware

• 1password is a secure password storage app, with browser auto-fill. It works with all major browsers, and also allows you to sync passwords across different computers and with your iPod Touch or iPhone.
• Virus Barrier – Virus protection for Mac OSX.
• Wallet is a secure password storage application, with browser auto-fill.

Screensavers – Freeware

• Fenêtres Volantes turns your open windows into screensavers.
• Moving Photos 3D Mac, creates 3D screen savers out of your iPhoto library.

Synchronising and Backup

Pre-Installed Apple Software

• Time Machine – A visual backup program

Freeware

• SpiderOak – Mac, Windows and Linux | First 2 GB Free | Unlimited devices
• Drop Box
• SuperDuper
• Syncplicity – Online Syncing (even between Mac & Windows – first 2GB free)

Shareware

• Carbon Copy Cloner
• Chrono Sync
• Daylite
• Jungle Disk
• MacDrive
• Mozy
• Spanning Sync
• Sugar Sync
• SuperDuper (with extra features)
• Synk Standard

System tools

System tools help with maintenance, updates and system-wide changes to your Mac.

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Disk Utility
• System Preferences

Freeware

• fKeys is a keyboard re-mapper.
• Main Menu. Don't have time to run all the various tools and scripts to keep your Mac running smoothly? MainMenu makes these tasks quick and easy, right from your menu bar.
• Onyx is a multifunction utility that allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files; run miscellaneous system maintenance and cleaning; rebuild miscellaneous indexes and databases, force empty trash (normal or securely mode), quickly find items with the locate command, display the Unix manual pages and configure lots of hidden parameters to personalize your Desktop.
• TinkerTool gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X, so you can activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.
• Trimmit – Removes excess files from applications (eg. PowerPC binaries, extra languages).
• uControl is a keyboard re-mapper.

Text (and CSS) Editors

Pre-installed Apple Software

• TextEdit

Freeware

• Text Wranger – Free version of BBEdit.

Shareware

• Bare Bones Edit is the leading professional HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. Specifically crafted in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers.
• CSSedit. Quite simply put, CSSEdit will save your sanity when editing style sheets. Its intuitive approach to style sheets and powerful editing features will make you deliver beautiful standards-based sites in no time!
• skEdit is a text editor for Mac OS X (10.3 or later), with a focus on web design and development.
• SubEthaEdit. SubEthaEdit is a powerful and lean text editor. And it's the only collaborative one you can actually use. By combining the ease of Bonjour with the world's best text collaboration engine, it makes working together not only possible but even fun.
• Text Mate

Torrent Clients

Freeware

• Acquisition.
• BitTorrent
• Cabos, a Gnutella file sharing program based on LimeWire and Acquisition.
• Poisoned lays claim to being fast and integrated with iTunes.
• Transmission is a reasonably good Torrent application, although one recent version caused large excess downloads. Visually very similar to the uTorrent interface, it offers more features and the ability to select individual files in a torrent.
• Tomato Torrent is a straight forward and easy to use client for the Mac platform.
• uTorrent for Mac is still in Beta, and not as feature-rich as it's older PC cousin, but for raw speed in a torrent application, it's hard to pass up.
• Vuze, formerly called Azureus, is a Mac torrent application that offers a lot of extra features aimed at creating a multimedia experience
• Xtorrent

Shareware

• Acquisition 2 Pro.
• Xtorrent Pro

Un-installers

Un-installing an application can become difficult because most applications don't come with uninstallers. These programs help you therefore uninstall those Applications from your Mac.

Freeware

• AppCleaner
• AppTrap Probably the best of the lot, because it sits in your System Preferences and uninstalls anything you Trash. The others all work much the same way, but to work they need to be open and sitting in your Dock.

Shareware

• AppZapper
• AppDelete (must donate to use)
• CleanApp

Usage meters (by ISP)

Bigpond

• MacPomme

Extel

• Exetel meter.

Internode

• Internode usage meters
• NodeToad

Mixed

• LemonJar aaNet, iiNet, Internode, NetSpace, OptusNet, WestNet.
• Ration iiNet, Internode, OptusNet, TPG
• Richard Heard's Usage Meter Widgets Netspace, iiNet, Optus, Ozemail, aaNet.

Usenet – Shareware

Usenet is world-wide distributed discussion system consisting of "newsgroups.

• News Life
• Unison

Virtual Machine (VM) Software

VM Software allows you to run Windows, Linux, BSD or any other operating system on your Mac.

Note: A copy of the operating system (and, if applicable, a license key for it) you intend to run is required for each piece of software below, except DarWine and CrossOvers.

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Boot Camp

Freeware

• DarWine – Mac OS X port of Wine
• VirtualBox – Open-source VM Player by Sun Micro-systems

Shareware

• Cross Overs – Official port of Wine for Mac OSX.
• Parallels Desktop for Mac – Competes with VMWare Fusion as the full on VM Player. It can also read a Boot Camp partition (VMWare Fusion can as well).
• VMWare Fusion – Made by the King of Virtualization, it competes with Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Web browsers

Pre-installed Apple Software

• Safari – Apple's native browser, integrates with other Apple and Cocoa applications

Freeware

• Camino
• Firefox – stable, with heaps of add-ons, including WP+
• Google Chrome in Crossovers (unstable – just an experiment)
• Flock The Social web browser.
• Fluid – Useful for Web Applications (creates SSBs)
• OmniWeb
• Opera
• Sea Monkey
• Shiira
• Stainless App

Shareware

• iCab

Web browser plug-ins

Plug-ins add extra functionality to your web browser.

• Cool Iris is a Safari plug-in to search and view images in a scrollable wall.
• Firefox add-ons
• Glims for Safari adds a host of features to Safari
• Pimp My Safari, website with heaps of Safari plug-ins.
• Safari Speed claims to improve the speed of Safari.

Web Development Tools

Useful applications in the web development industry that aren't FTP clients,, text editors or all-in-one packages).

Freeware

• MAMP contains Apache (web server), MySQL (database) and PHP (language module).
• Paparazzi – Takes a full-length screen capture of a web page.
• XAMPP is the same as MAMP.

Shareware

• Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium – Includes Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, Fireworks and more!
• MAMP Pro is MAMP with more features inbuilt.

Website Development Packages

All in one (FTP, editors, auto-preview, etc) packages built for web development

Pre-installed Apple Software (on new Macs)

• iWeb in iLife

Freeware

• Aptana – All in one Web IDE

Shareware

• Adobe Dreamweaver
• Coda includes Transmit (FTP), Text editor, CSS editor, auto-preview, SVN, books on HTML, CSS and PHP and more!
• Espresso – Similar to Coda but even newer.
• Rapid Weaver

Widgets – Freeware

Widgets go on your Mac OSX Dashboard and provide useful information or tools.

• Apple Dashboard Widgets – Complete list of Dashboard widgets.
• MacWidgets.
• TheDashboard - 'The Best'.

OS X Basics

"OSX is the world’s most advanced operating system..."
Learn more about Mac OSX: Installation, Finder, Preview, iLife, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, iDVD, iChat, iCal, Mail, Safari, Address Book, Exposé, Dock, Dashboard, Customizing Your Mac, Keyboard Shortcuts, and so much more...Check this out !
↓ Download

Get quick information with widgets

Dashboard contains a collection of handy “widgets”: small apps for a wide variety of tasks such as checking stock prices, finding local or global weather information, looking up words in the dictionary, and more. You can use Dashboard to get information and do common tasks quickly.

Some widgets are linked to larger apps. With the Address Book widget, for example, you can search for a name and address without opening the full Address Book app. Other widgets, such as Weather, provide information from the web without opening a web browser.

Dashboard is a full screen app that’s always available. To get there, just swipe up with three or four fingers, and then click Dashboard (first thumbnail on the far left next your desktop). Or press the Dashboard key on your keyboard. If your keyboard doesn’t have a Dashboard key, press F12 (Fn-F12 on portable keyboards).

Set Search Priorities in Spotlight

With Spotlight, the powerful search function built into Mac OS X Leopard, you can quickly find anything on your computer: files, folders, emails, applications, even calendar events. And to help speed your searches even more, you can specify which types of data Spotlight should list first when you type in a search term. This is useful if you tend to search for certain items, such as documents or Address Book contacts, more frequently than you search for things like applications or system preferences.

To customize the order of your search results in Spotlight, open the System Preferences menu under the Apple icon, then click on Spotlight. A list of search result categories appears. You can rearrange the order in which Spotlight lists these types of data by simply dragging the category names up or down in the list. If you’d prefer Spotlight to ignore any of these categories during searches, just uncheck the box beside that item.

Figure one: The default order of search items in Spotlight.

Figure two: A customized list of search result categories in Spotlight.

Tip of the Day !

Sharing Contacts with vCards !

Electronic versions of old-fashioned Rolodex cards, vCards provide the fastest way to import contacts into your own Address Book or to share your Address Book contacts with friends, family, or colleagues.

Much like their physical predecessors, vCards contain basic contact information (such as name, address, phone, and email). But you can easily add information to enhance their value, including URLs, photos, or logos. And since the vCard format works cross-platform with many contacts programs, including Microsoft Outlook, you can exchange contacts with people who don’t use Address Book in Mac OS X Leopard.

To export a vCard from Address Book on your Mac, just highlight the contact and drag it to your desktop or directly into an email. (The file icon even looks like a Rolodex card.) To import a vCard into Address Book, drag the card-shaped icon into your open Address Book application or onto the Address Book icon in your Dock or Applications folder. Address Book opens (if not already open) and asks you to verify the import. Click Import to have Mac OS X store the vCard’s contact information in Address Book.

Share contacts by dragging vCards to and from Address Book.

Want to export more than one contact from Address Book? Just Command-click to select multiple contacts, and drag them to the desktop or into an email. This method collects all the highlighted contacts in a single vCard file. (Note that although Address Book allows you to export multiple contacts in a single file, Microsoft Outlook only lets you import a single contact per file.)

When you drag this combined vCard into Address Book, all the contacts are added at once as separate Address Book contacts. So with vCards and Address Book, it’s as easy to share a large group of names as it is to share a single contact.

Tip of the Day !