Hi guys, I am running macOS Sierra 10.12.2 on my MacBook PRO 17 early 2011. Out of nowhere, my widgets (weather, stocks, calendar, monit) stopped. And Marketing Games General Mac Discussion Hardware Rumors iPhone Purchaser Meetups Leopard Event Meetups Mac Help/Tips Mac OS X 10.3. Siri has arrived on macOS Sierra, and with it a new feature that allows you to pin widgets to the Today column in the notification center. This feature is very simple and useful, so let’s take a few minutes and show you how it works.
MacOS Sierra, the latest iteration of Apple’s desktop operating systems comes loaded with a plethora of stock apps. Apps that can perform a variety of functions on your Mac, and do them well. However, not every stock Mac app is the best, and you may want to change the default app for a number of reasons, such as getting extra functionality, faster loading times, and more. So, if you want to switch from using the default Mac apps (such as the default Mail client), here is how to change default apps in macOS Sierra. Change Default Apps on Mac For the most part, the default Mac apps work well enough. However, you might want to use a third party app, which provides extra functionality, or just works better for you. The method for changing default apps in macOS Sierra is the same for almost every file type that you use.
For the purpose of illustration, I will change the default app for opening Images (Preview) to GIMP. Here’s how to do it: 1.
First select an image file in Finder, and then press “ command + I“. You can also right click on the file, and click on “ Get Info“.
This will open up the Info dialog box for the file. Under “ Open with“, click on the dropdown menu, and select the application you want to use.
I’m choosing GIMP. Once done, click on “ Change All” to ensure that every file of the same file type opens up in GIMP. You can now close the Info dialog box, and whenever you double click on a JPG file, it will open up in GIMP, by default. Note: This method only changes the default application for files of the filetype you’ve changed. If you used this method on a JPG file, all JPG files will open in GIMP, but PNGs, GIFs, etc will continue opening in Preview.
You will have to repeat this process for every file type that you want to change the default application for. You can use this method on any file. So, if you want to open PDFs in a third party PDF app for Mac, such as PDF Expert , instead of Preview. You can follow this method, by clicking on any PDF file, and changing the default app it opens with. All PDF files will open in PDF Expert after that. Change Default Web Browser in macOS Sierra While the method mentioned above works perfectly fine for files that you have on your Mac, what about changing your default web browser? Most people don’t like Safari, at least not as much as they’d prefer using Google Chrome. So, if you downloaded Google Chrome, and want to set it as your default web browser on Mac, here is how you can do it: 1.
Launch System Preferences, and go to “ General“. 2. Here, you will find an option for “ Default Web Browser“. Just click on the dropdown menu, and select “ Google Chrome” (or the browser you want to use). You can now quit System Preferences, and the default web browser on your Mac will be switched to Google Chrome (or the app you selected).
Change Default Email Client in macOS Sierra While the default Mail app on a Mac has been vastly improved in macOS Sierra, chances are, you still have a preferred that you’ve been using for quite some time. However, changing the default email client on a Mac is not as straightforward as changing the default image viewer, or even changing the default web browser is. If you want to change the default email client in macOS Sierra, you can simply follow the steps below: 1.
Launch the Mail app on your Mac, and press “ command +,“. You can also go to “ Mail - Preferences“. In the Preferences window, under the “ General” tab, change the “ Default email reader” to your preferred application. I’m using Spark. SEE ALSO: Easily Change Default Apps in macOS Sierra With these methods, you can easily change the default apps on Mac to any third party app that you prefer using.
Changing default apps in macOS Sierra can help you automatically open files, and documents in the app of your choice. There are a number of third party apps for Mac, that are very powerful. As always, we’d like to know your opinions on changing default apps on Mac. Also let us know about your favourite third-party apps; and, if you know of any other methods to change default apps in macOs Sierra, do let us know about it in the comments section below.
By. 9:30 am, September 20, 2016. macOS Sierra is here! Photo: Apple Today marks the release of Apple’s big software update, macOS Sierra. This huge update comes on the heels of the recent launch of iOS 10, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10. MacOS Sierra hosts some great new features including Siri support, a universal clipboard, auto unlock via Apple Watch, better file synching with iCloud and tons more. Fittingly, Cult of Mac has all the tricks and tips you need to get the most out of Apple’s new operating system including a few video tutorials for good measure.
Mac owners can today! What’s your favorite macOS Sierra feature? Siri Siri on macOS Sierra opens up a ton of intriguing new use-cases in terms of functionality. One of the most useful? The ability to use Apple’s virtual assistant to search for photos either on the web or your own computer, and then drag them into directly into apps. Up until now, Siri’s remained a tool for accessing services rather than helping us navigate our Apple devices.
That changes with macOS Sierra, which lets us use Apple’s helpful AI assistant to locate files using spoken commands. Through innovations like “Hey Siri” on iOS, and the ability to pin Siri search results to your Mac’s Notification Center, Apple has been working to make its virtual assistant more useful than ever. One more such application is the ability to use Siri to multitask on macOS Sierra. From now on, summoning Siri will require you to hold down the command key, then hold down the spacebar. This is the same shortcut used in previous OS X releases to invoke Spotlight, only instead of just tapping the spacebar, you need to hold it down.
Siri’s arrival on macOS Sierra opens up some great new features and possibilities. One of our favorites? The ability to “pin” Siri results inside Notification Center. Photos macOS Sierra boasts a new “Memories” feature, letting you rediscover favorite and forgotten moments from your library by automatically creating gorgeous slideshows and curated photo collections. Apple is giving its Photos app a massive overhaul for macOS Sierra, adding cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to make searching for individual pictures far, far smarter than it’s ever been before.
Using the in-built Photos app, it’s now easier than ever to relive your most cherished memories with nifty features like the ability to display all your photos on a world map — presenting a different way to access your pics. Universal Clipboard The ability to seamlessly hand off web pages or emails from your Mac to your iPhone has been around for a couple of years now. However, in macOS Sierra and iOS 10 it’s taken to the next level — courtesy of a Universal Clipboard feature. Messages macOS Sierra has a ton of neat features that’ll change the way you work using your Mac. The ability to play videos inside Messages probably isn’t one of them, but it’s certainly a nice touch that makes chatting to your friends and sharing content that much better. Optimized Storage With macOS Sierra, Apple makes it easier to free up space on our computers without having to undergo the time-wasting indignity of trawling through files and deleting them manually. Tabs Imagine if every time you opened a new tab in your web browser it instead opened an entirely new window on your desktop.
It would basically mean living like an animal, right? Apple Music Apple Music has had a nice clean refresh in macOS Sierra — making it far easier to search for and discover the best Apple’s streaming music service has to offer. Here’s what tune-lovers need to know when running the new operating system. Auto Unlock Apple’s ecosystem of devices has always worked really well together, and macOS Sierra doesn’t buck that trend.
In fact, the upcoming operating system lets Apple Watch owners automatically unlock their Macs using the wearable device — no lengthy password needed. Picture in Picture While I’m watching a YouTube instructional video or keeping half an eye on a TED Talk while answering emails, the ability to keep a small video window open on my screen while I switch between apps is something I’ve wanted for ages. ICloud Drive iCloud Drive previously worked a bit like Dropbox, asking users to drag and drop files into a special folder in order to access them across multiple devices. That changes in macOS Sierra, which allows you to enjoy the benefits of iCloud with the added bonus that your files can stay exactly where they are.