Twitter’s Official Mac Client Gets Its First Update Since 2011

Twitter’s long-neglected Mac application has just had its first update since June 2011. Version 2.2 of the service’s official desktop client adds support for Retina displays and a redesigned Tweet composer with support for image hosting at pic.twitter.com.

Also included in the update are a set of new icons and support for 14 new languages. The new version is already live in the Mac App Store and finally looks the part on Apple’s latest line of MacBook Pros with Retina displays. The update comes only a month after Twitter brought its TweetDeck app for Mac and Windows into line with the popular Web version.

Here is what the app looks like now, compared to the previous, 2-years-old version:

The update might seem barely noticeable, but makes a world of difference on a Retina display, finally replacing blurry text with crisp Retina font rendering. Unfortunately, Twitter has still not implemented support for Mountain Lion’s Notification Center, a feature which itself includes a Tweet button once paired with a Twitter account.

The New Tweet box, where you can compose new tweets, can be opened multiple times and also includes a dedicated button for attaching images, rather than the drag and drop approach it previously used.

The update is very much welcome and is hopefully indicative of Twitter’s intentions to better maintain its official clients, particularly since introducing API limits for third-party applications which have hindered app development on all operating systems.

Download: Twitter for Mac @ Mac App Store

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9 Awesome Alfred Workflows I’m Loving

Alfred is a task launcher for Mac OSX – hit a shortcut, start typing the name of a file, folder, contact, application or search term, and bam - there it is. Since version 2, the concept of workflows was introduced – essentially, user-created plugins that can extend the functionality. Bakari introduced the concept already in How to make your first Alfred workflow – and was kind enough to share one he made with fellow MakeUseOf authors that simplifies our adminstrative process when writing articles. My mind was blown – this in an incredibly powerful app, possibly the most useful I’ve come across yet.

To use Alfred workflows, you must have the PowerPack purchased for $25; the basic Alfred functionality is and always will be free, but these advanced features cost money. Given the amount of time and keystrokes it saves me in the long run, I have absolutely no qualms about recommending you upgrade too – some things deserve to be paid for, and this is one of them.

In this article, I won’t be addressing the technicalities of coding your own Alfred workflows, though I will mention how I adjusted these favourites of mine.

Should I Watch This Movie?

Included with the PowerPack, Should I Watch This Movie workflow can be found under theexamples folder when you click the +. It’s actually one of my favourites too though – finding a movie I want to know more about, navigating to RottenTomatoes to check out the ratings, and YouTube for a trailer – and this simplifies that whole process.

However, I did make one modification – instead of using the default search action on YouTube, I used a custom URL of http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query={query}+trailer in order to only get trailers and not just random clips from a movie.

If you’d rather just trust Rotten Tomatoes for your information, check out….

TomatoTomato

This lets you search and displays results inline, along with ripe red tomatoes and squished green ones depending on the user score. Also uses the “movie” keyword, but you can of course run both these movie workflows at the same time. Results will take a few seconds to appear depending on your Internet speed – like all web based workflows listed here.

Weather

Ok, you could just type “weather” in Google, but this will save you from opening a new browser tab.

Be sure to set your location first using the keyword “weather {location}” and “weatherunit {celsius}”. Then type “forecast” for a 4-day breakdown. Simple, effective, and always raining in England no matter which site I use to check.

Kill

When you have 12GB of RAM, you don’t tend to care that much about the number of open browser tabs or applications. Which is especially useful if you’re both a technology writer and a recovering Windows users who still can’t quite get the concept of closing a window not being the same thing as closing an application. Very occasionally though, something will run away and cripple my machine. In those cases, finding and opening up the Task Monitor is quite laborious.

This Alfred workflow makes it easy. Just type “kill” and the name of the offender. You can also just use this as a text based way to close down an application of course, though this really isn’t recommended since it’s the equivalent of force quitting. Still, a nifty function to have around.

Play

A couple of times a day, I have an insatiable desire to hear a particular song; this makes that easy. Note, iTunes will need to be running for this to work. Type play, a few characters of the song or more, and presto.

Lyric Search

I wasn’t entirely truthful in that last paragraph. I actually have to sing karaoke, not just hear the song. This workflow adds the keyword lrc (which I’ve changed to sing), and allows you to either download, copy to clipboard, or display onscreen via keystroke modifiers, once lyrics are found for the currently playing song.

Now if someone could combine this with the iTunes plugin above, James would be a very happy boy, able to belt out Meat Loaf hits pretty much non-stop.

PirateBay

Everyone’s favourite way to download Linux! This helpful workflow lets you search directly for Linux distros that are hosted on PirateBay (“pb”), or top torrents in each category (“ptop”), as well as copying the magnet link to the clipboard on completion. You can probably use it for downloading other things too, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Another bonus to using this is that it doesn’t matter if the PirateBay is blocked in your country, since it uses a third party API through Appify. Superb.

Password Generator

Generating strong passwords is something I do a lot, and usually involves searching for a web generator, tweaking the defaults and then copying out the result. With this handy workflow, all I need to do is type “pwgen” and the number of characters I want. It’s then output as a notification and saved to the clipboard. Small, but handy.

Reddit

A strange juxtaposition perhaps, with a tool designed for super-productivity, and a site designed to waste your life away. But nonetheless, for a quick Reddit fix, this is a useful workflow. Unfortunately, it’s not that effective for pictures, since it doesn’t display inline and you’ll still need to click through to the Imgur URL – hopefully someone will streamline this to be even more useful in future.

Need more? Very well – here’s the Alfred Workflow List (beta), and the Share Your Workflowforum.

To be honest, I’ve been blown away by the power of Alfred v2. It was already an essential app, now it’s just amazing. Alfred Workflows have brought the power of Automator to anyone, and then some (but if you’d rather use Automator, we have a great guide to get you started). Being able to edit the functionality of workflows to suit your own needs is also really nice – they aren’t just plugins where you get what you’re given!

How about you? What are your favourite workflows? Don’t forget to include a link.

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10 Productivity Apps For Your Mac-Based Home Office

If you work at a home-based office like I do, you no doubt spend a significant amount of time getting things done on your Mac. While I have already written about the advantages of using a standup desk, there are also several important and general productivity apps for Mac, for almost any type of workflow you engage in.

Though there is no robot application (yet!) that can do all the work for me, the following are 10 of the most useful free or low-cost productivity apps that I use on a daily or regular basis. These applications not only save me time but in many cases help me work more efficiently.

Fantastical

It’s difficult to work in any home-based office and not need a useful calendar. Though OS X comes installed with a default Calendar application, the third-party option,Fantastical ($19.99) is hands down the best calendar you should run on your Mac.

With Fantastical, you can input and check calendar events and schedules right from your Mac’s menu bar. You can create a new event simply by opening Fantastical’s drop-down window and entering the data for the event. Instead of clicking numbers and times, you simply write the event as if you were writing it on a scratch sheet of paper.

For example, to schedule a lunch meeting for next Wednesday, simply type: “Lunch with Bakari next wed, 11:30am, at Fresh Choice.” As you type, you watch Fantastical fill in all the data for you.

You can preset the type of reminders you want for calendar events. Fantastical syncs with Apple’s Calendar application, but there’s also an iPhone version ($8.99) of Fantastical that works the same way. By having Fantastical in your menu bar, you don’t have to open the Calendar app just to add or review a few events.

Super Memory Cleaner

If you find that your Mac slows down throughout the day or when you have several applications open, you should download Super Memory Cleaner (free). It does a great job of cleaning up hundreds of megabytes, or even gigabytes, of memory with one simple click. You can select to have it auto-clean, or clean at startup.

Desktop Wallpapers

If you meet clients in your home office, and/or you like your office to have professional décor, your desktop wallpaper should be just as classy as your iMac or Macbook computer. My wallpaper of choice is a collection produced by Vlad Studio.

These free wallpapers are designed by digital artist, Vlad Gerasimov, and you can download them for nearly any size desktop monitor. I recommend selecting and downloading a few dozens of your favorites and simply have your Mac change the pictures everyday, or each time you wake up your Mac. I find that these unique wallpapers add a little inspiration to my daily workflow.

Caffeine

There are occasions when you need to keep your Mac desktop or laptop awake when you’re doing a presentation, or playing a video while multitasking in another part of your office. This is where Caffeine (free) comes in. When you enable it, it keeps your Mac from going to sleep until you cut if off. Jackson reviewed this application when it was first released back in 2008.

Wunderlist

There are no shortage of to-do applications for the Mac, but if you’re still looking for one, you should give Wunderlist (free) a try. Dave reviewed the iOS mobile version of Wunderlist, but the desktop version contains a similar user interface.

Wunderlist is a clean, well designed cross-platform program where you can mange and sync all of your to-do lists. You can also share and collaborate lists with your colleagues. If you don’t need a task manager with lots of bells and whistles, Wunderlist can be very useful in your workflow.

FunctionFlip

FunctionFlip (free/donation) is a Preferences utility that allows you to customize those Fn keys at the top of your keyboard that you might rarely use. For instance, while I constantly use the assigned volume keys, I hardly ever use the brightness, iTunes, Exposé and Launchpad Fn keys on my iMac.

So with FunctionFlip, I can turn off those functions and assign them another purpose using applications like Keyboard Maestro or QuickSilver.

Trello

Another useful task and project manager is an online and mobile application called Trello. It’s sort of like a whiteboard for sorting ideas, lists of tasks, and project workflows. You can share your “whiteboards” with others, and view them in any web browser or the iOS version (free) of of the application and service. Erez reviewed Trello in more detail here.

Launchpad Manager

If you have amassed a lot of applications on your Mac, you have probably experienced how difficult it is to use Launchpad to access all of your applications. The Launchpad feature in Lion and Mountain Lion is not very useful if you don’t have your applications organized alphabetically or in folders. This is where Launchpad Manager ($7.99) comes in.

Launchpad Manager includes over a dozen features, including the ability to alphabetize applications, delete icons from Launchpad without uninstalling the applications themselves, and move selected applications to another Launchpad page. You can easily move applications into groups, rename icons and groups, and quickly cut and paste applications from one folder to another. You can use custom layouts of your Launchpad for different purposes.

You can download a free version of Launchpad Manager, but many of its advanced features are only available in the paid pro version.

Dropzone

Dropzone ($9.99) is a nifty little application that enables you to perform various tasks from the menu bar or from the left or right side of your desktop screen. For example, say you download a new application that is delivered to you in a DMG file. You can drag that DMG file to Dropzone and drop it on the Install Application action, and it will proceed to automatically open and install that application, and then delete the DMG file for you.

You can create another action that sends files to a pre-selected folder. There’s actions for quickly printing a file or converting a long URL to a bit.ly short URL. You can download a 15-day trial of the application, which I recommend. Spend some time with it, and check out theuser contributed actions for Dropzone.

If you find more than five actions that will enable you to be more productive, then it may be worth paying for the application, which you should download from the Mac App Store.

Time Out

One of the ways to be more productive in your Mac-based home office is to actually take breaks from your Mac. Time Out (free) will remind you to take “normal”, say 10 minute breaks, and “micro” breaks, like 10 seconds every 30 minutes, based on the time intervals you set.

When I don’t use this application, I end up working at my computer for hours before I take a break. Not taking a break causes a strain on my eyes, and by the afternoon I’m less productive. You can postpone or skip breaks, but doing so too often will defeat the purpose.

That’s it for my Mac-based home office applications. Let us know which productivity apps for Mac that you find most useful in your workflow.

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How To Mirror The iPhone Or iPad To Your TV [iOS]

The iPad (or even the iPhone) is a great device to enjoy apps and video while you’re on the road, or in bed. In fact, you can enjoy your media wherever you are. However, sitting a small distance from your big television set, some of this media might be wasted on the small screen of your iOS device.

Instead, you could switch to your computer, or amedia center hooked up to your TV. But if you want to enjoy the content from your iPhone or iPad, there’s a third option. You could display the image of your iOS device to your television set. This instantly makes any TV into a smart TV, allowing for Hulu, Netflix, and even apps that do not have a desktop alternative.

There are a number of ways to hook up your iOS device to the television screen; both wired and wireless.

1. Use A Video Adapter

The simplest solution to get your iPhone’s or iPad’s video to show on your television screen is to use a hardware adapter. Apple, and other third-party hardware manufacturers, provide adapters to convert Apple’s proprietary 30-pin, or the new Lightning Connector connector to another type of video plug.

Check the back of your television set, or its manual to find out which types of plugs are supported and read Video Cables Explained: Difference between VGA, DVI & HDMI to learn more about the differences between these video connectors.

Once you’ve found the right connection, likely HDMI or RCA, check out your local hardware store or the online Apple Store to find a connector. You can try online marketplaces like eBay too and save a big part of the money, but there’s no guarantee the connector will be recognised by your iOS device.

All generation iOS devices support Video Out, which is a framework that lets an app explicitly output video to connected AV adapters. You can expect Video Out to work with most video and photo apps, but it probably won’t be incorporated into your mail or calendar application.

Later generation iOS devices (iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and later devices) also support Video Mirroring. Here, you can mirror your entire iPhone or iPad screen to your television set, unless the app explicitly uses the video out feature to show a different image configuration.

View this Apple Support article for more compatibility information.

(Cydia) DisplayOut

Apple’s limiting of video mirroring is 80% marketing move. If you’ve jailbroken you’re device, you can use the $2.99 Cydia app DisplayOut to introduce the video mirroring functionality to all iPhones and iPads, regardless of generation and connector type (although, admittedly, HDMI adapters work better than component or composite cables).

Cydia is available through the BigBoss repo. This repo should have been added to Cydia by default. If nothing shows up on your search results, you can still add the BigBoss repo through Manage -> Sources -> More Package Sources.

(Cydia) Resupported 4.0+

Another Cydia tweak that’ll help you with your video output is Resupported 4.0+. As mentioned earlier on, not all AV adaptor cables are recognised by every iOS device. For example, iPod cables or usually unsupported by iPhones and iPads, even if the connector is essentially the same. Although Resupported 4.0+ provides no guarantee, it all but says to make every iOS AV cable supported again.

This functionality is available for $3.99 through the Cydia store, which is a lot less than you’ll save buying an “unsupported” AV connector. Better yet, you can try the product for free, for ten full days.

If you haven’t already jailbroken your iPhone or iPad, these two apps might be sufficient reason to do so. Read MakeUseOf’s guide, How To Jailbreak Your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad by Lachlan Roy, to get started.

2. Stream Over AirPlay To The Apple TV

If you have an Apple TV at home, this process gets a lot less convoluted. Instead of fumbling around with AV connectors, you can simply stream your iPhone or iPad’s image to the Apple TV. The third generation of Apple even supports 1080p video! If that doesn’t tell mean much to you, read our write-up on display resolutions.

Supported applications, like Apple’s own Video app, or in fact any web video, will show an AirPlay icon when there’s an Apple TV connected to your local network. Pressing the AirPlay icon and selecting your Apple TV will start wirelessly streaming your screen. Learn more about AirPlay from What’s AirPlay, And How To Use It In Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

If you want to mirror your iOS device’s screen from unsupported apps, there’s usually not much you can do. However, if you’ve jailbroken your device, the Cydia DisplayOut app discussed above also lets you mirror your device’s screen to the Apple TV on iOS 5+.

3. Stream Over AirPlay To Your Computer

Mirroring your iPhone or iPad’s screen to your television set might be a new obstacle, but chances are you’ve already found a way to connect your computer to your TV. In fact, most laptop nowadays come with HDMI ports, as do most new TV’s. This makes hooking up your computer to your TV easier than ever before.

If you’ve already connected your computer to your TV, you could simply project your iOS device’s screen to your computer and get the same results. This adds an additional device in the chain, but it may keep you from needlessly buying additional hardware.

AirServer transforms your Mac or PC into an AirPlay receiver. Instead of shelling out over a hundred bucks to purchase an Apple TV, you can purchase AirServer for $14.99 to transform your computer into one. With AirServer installed, you can stream video from your iPad to your computer, full-screen. In fact, you can even mirror multiple devices side-by-side!

How do you go about mirroring iOS to your television set? Do you prefer cables or wireless? Let us know in the comments section below the article!

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Popular Podcast Client Instacast Launches Beta Version For Mac

Popular podcast iOS client on Instacast has just launched a new version for Mac. The desktop version of the app is still in open public beta, so plenty of improvements are expected to come before the application hits prime time, but it’s shaping up to be a fantastic podcast client.

The beta period of the application will run until May 31st, so if you’re interested, you have exactly one month to sink your  teeth into the podcast client before the final release hits the market. The final release will not be free, so if you want to enjoy it without paying, now is the time.

Many of the features you  know and love from the iOS version of the app are included in the Mac app. You can subscribe to many popular podcasts (including my own, The Technophila Podcast), directly from within the application. Any podcast not featured within the app’s search field can be imported manually using its feed URL.

Like most good podcast managers, new episodes of your subscribed shows will be downloaded automatically once posted. Your shows are presented in a slick, easy to navigate layout, so you can get down to listening to your favorite podcasts without unnecessary fluff.

Another cool feature for users of the iOS app is the ability to sync podcasts between your devices with the creation of an Instacast account. This makes it easy to listen at home and keep going when you have to venture out into the world. Users who really enjoy the app during the beta period can purchase it for $14.99, which is still lower than the official launch price of next month.

As this is a beta, if you see any bugs, it’s helpful to report them so the creators can make the app run as smoothly as possible. Grab Instacast Beta for Mac from the Instacast website.

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Apps We Use: Essentials [OSX & iOS]

As the lead developer and head of everything tech here at MakeUseOf, most of my time is spent coding things and emailing people. My requirements aren’t hugely complicated, and I don’t use any “getting things done” systems, nor am I am productivity hound. I find simple works best and don’t enjoy life in the fast lane.

Read on to find out the tools and apps I consider essential – on both OSX, and iOS.

Evernote (Free)

For a long time, I ignored the legions of Evernote fans, confident that I didn’t need something that collates random notes – I had folders already, for God’s sake! But after just a week of having a central place to store all my writing and actually committing to use it, I am now proud to say I’m an Evernote convert. Being able to access my notes from anywhere – mobile, desktop or even web client – regardless of the OS, is just fantastic.

I’ve created notebooks for article drafts (I’m writing this directly into Evernote), topics to discuss on Technophila, a visual To-Do list of things around the home, garden or allotment, a shopping list, and finally a collection of clipped tutorials from the web in a “read me later” notebook; and even a home inventory with pictures and receipts.

In short, Evernote is an incredibly versatile app that can easily replace many smaller, specialized apps or services. If you’re new to Evernote, our free Evernote guide is one click away. That said, I haven’t yet converted to Evernote Premium – so if you can think of a good reason why I should, tell me in the comments.

Reeder ($4.99)

Reeder is a simple RSS client for both iOS and OSX that’s fast to navigate – and it integrates nicely into Evernote so I can fling articles around like a ninja. Despite Google killing off their Reader API and web client, RSS is very much not dead and Twitter will never be a suitable replacement.

Reeder does currently use Google Reader API to sync, but the developer has hinted that there’ll be a suitable replacement in time for the shutdown, so I’m not really worried – unlike some people who are scrabbling about for Google Reader replacements.

Mail

The standard OSX desktop mail client. Boring? Perhaps – most of my fellow writers swear by Gmail (here’s our free Gmail guide if you’re that way inclined) – but I prefer to have my email on the desktop rather than sitting in a web browser – with over 50 browser tabs constantly open, locating the email one would be a nightmare.

I don’t fiddle around with labels, I don’t file things efficiently, I have 850 messages in my inbox that really ought to be either responded to or actioned, and I even email myself occasionally as a reminder to do something important. I’m pretty much the worst kind of email user ever – I don’t even use a signature.

That said, I’m still awaiting the native version of Mail Pilot, which should allow me to treat my inbox like a to-do list, which is basically how I use it anyway. So I’ll use that as a more exciting screenshot instead!

Plex

For winding down, my Network Attached Storage device is full of movies and runs a native Plex server; a Plex client on both Mac and PC ensures I can watch them anywhere. If you have no idea what Plex is – we have a free guide for that too (yes, we have a lot of free guides – you should probably go check them all out actually, before you forget).

Plex is a fork of XBMC that I’ve written about before - it’s simply a beautiful media centre designed to be used with a 10-foot interface. Plex’ meta handling is perhaps the strongest of all media centres, with movies automatically categorized, DVD covers and features shots all downloaded for you.

Alien Blue ($3.99)

Finally, I couldn’t finish without mentioning my ultimate in-bed time waster app – Alien Blue for the iPad. It is, quite simply, the only way I will consider browsing Reddit – though I have dabbled with OSX Reddit clients in the past.

As you can see, I like to keep it fairly simple – there’s aren’t many apps that make it onto my real daily essentials. I do use Chrome, but I also use Safari, so I felt favoring one over the other here might make them jealous. Most of these apps are of course featured on the Best Mac Apps, Best iPad Apps, and Best iPhone Apps pages too, so be sure to check those out if you haven’t already got a million tabs open.

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OnyX Gives Access To All Kinds Of Hidden Mac Options

Keeping your Mac running in tip-top shape is important. If you use your computer for work, you are going to want it running as fast as possible. Apple actually has all kinds of hidden Mac options for keeping things running smoothly, but many of them are tucked away in places you would never think to look.

OnyX is a fantastic program that makes it easy to get access to all kinds of functions that keep your Mac running at its best. It does require some knowledge, and if you are not familiar with some of the more advanced aspects of your Mac, you are going to want to spend some time reading the help section of the app, so you don’t mess anything up.

OnyX performs a lot of functions, most of which are already available on a Mac. However, many of them are buried away in places that are just not convenient to find. It allows you to perform all kinds of useful tasks that will keep your Mac running as smoothly as possible without having to go and dig through the preferences and options hidden away in the unused trenches.

Using The App

When you first launch the application, it will run through a couple of checks to make sure your disks are functioning properly. These should only take a couple of minutes, and once finished you will be able to jump into the program and use all of the cool features.

Everything in OnyX is divided into sections, each of which are designed for a specific purpose. All of them have the ultimate goal of making your Mac run more efficiently and faster, which is of course, a good thing.

The first section is called Verify. This is where you will see the results of the processes that occur when the program runs the first time. There is not much to be done in this section, but if you decide you want to run those tests again, you can do so from here.

The next section is called Maintenance. From here you have the option of running various scripts and adjusting some options for your Mac.

Cleaning is where you will come to clear unnecessary files from your Mac. You can clear the cache for System, Users, Browser, and more from this section. You can check and uncheck certain options so you are in control of what gets deleted and what remains on your Mac. You’d be surprised how much space you can save on your hard drive deleting all these useless files.

Utilities is where you will come to access many of the lesser known utilities on your Mac. You can access all of these outside of OnyX, but they are hard to find, and OnyX puts them all in one easy to access place. The last page tab, called Applications, features some really cool programs like Screen Sharing, Network Diagnostics and more.

The rest of the panels feature some more advanced functions, so make sure to take the time to read the Help sections to familiarize yourself with them.

The next sections is called Automation. In here, you can quickly check off many of the functions within in the app and run them at one time. Not everything is here, as many of the functions in OnyX require a good amount of tuning, but the more basic functions can be checked off and launched in here in batches.

It makes running some of the scripts and functions a much quicker process than it would be going through them individually.

Parameters allows you to adjust many settings on the Mac. You can tweak options for Finder, Dock, Quicktime, Safari, Mail and more. The list of options for each thing is massive, so there is plenty of customizing and tweaking you can do. Like all sections, you are going to want to take your time and understand what each item actually does.

The last section is called Info, and in here is where you will come to see more data on your Mac hardware. You can view your HDD and RAM from here. You can quickly purge your inactive memory to speed up your Mac. You can also view the protection page to see the possible malware on your Mac.

Conclusion

The list of things you can do with OnyX is massive. The best thing to do is play around with it and see what interests you. You can really fine-tune the performance of your Mac in a way that most other programs simply cannot offer. It’s easy enough to use, but there is a learning curve for some of the more advanced functions. It’s free, and definitely work installing on your Mac.

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