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How to Get Access to Photos Master Image Files in Mac OS Quickly with an Alias

written by applenws

Photos app for the Mac imports images and manages pictures by automatically moving the files into organized folders within the apps dedicated package file. While this file container is not intended to be user facing, many advanced Mac OS users like to have access to the original master files rather than solely relying on the Photos app for image management.

One easy method to access those files is by using the Show Original File trick to jump to the Finder location of the master file of a particular image, but if you find yourself using that often, or frequently needing access to the master image files from Photos app in Mac OS, we’ll show a quick and easy way to instantly access those master images from anywhere in the file system in Mac OS.

How to Create a Quick Access Shortcut for Master Image Files from Photos App in Mac OS

  1. Open a new Finder window and navigate to the users “Pictures” folder, found at ~/Pictures/
  2. Locate the file named “Photos Library.photoslibrary” and right-click (or control+click) on that file name, choosing “Show Package Contents” from the menu

    3. The Photos Library package file in Mac OS contains master image files of photos imported into the application

  3. Within Photos Library package directory, drag and drop the “Masters” folder into the Finder window sidebar under the Favorites section – this places a quick access alias in the Finder sidebar accessible from anywhere in Mac OS X

    4. Fast access to Photos app master image files in Mac OS X

  4. Close out of the Photos Library.photoslibrary package

You can now click on the “Masters” item in the sidebar to instantly jump to the master image files found within Photos app, these are the original full resolution files that Photos app copies from iPhone, digital cameras, memory cards, and elsewhere, wherever they have been imported into the application.

Accessing the master image files in Mac OS X with a shortcut in Mac Finder Sidebar

Importing additional pictures into Photos app from the file system or another location will move them into the Masters folder as well (unless you specifically turned off that feature, which can lead to duplicates for certain use-cases)

If you decide you no longer want “Masters” in the Finder sidebar, simply drag and drop it out of the sidebar to remove it.

The video embedded below walks through how to access this “Masters” image folder and all of the original images contained at the ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters/ directory, if you’re having any difficulty in accessing the directory it may be helpful to refer to:

This trick works the same in all versions of Photos for Mac, whether you’re running a modern macOS release or a prior Mac OS X version of system software.

Know of another handy trick to access your originals and raw image files from Photos app on the Mac? Share it with us in the comments.

Source: OSX Daily

May 21, 2018 0 comment
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Deleted System Files from Mac OS? Here’s How to Get Them Back

written by applenws

Have you ever wondered what to do if you delete a system file from a Mac? Or maybe you’re wondering how you can get those system files back after they were deleted from the computer? While most Mac users should never modify system files in Mac OS and Mac OS X, some do anyway, and in that process of digging around in system contents, it’s possible to delete a system file or system folder either unintentionally, accidentally, or intentionally but without knowing what exactly the impact would be. Well, spoiler alert; usually the impact of deleting system files from Mac OS is that something that should work on the Mac suddenly no longer works. So what should you do in such a situation? How can you get back a system file that you have deleted from Mac OS? What should you do if you deleted an entire system folder from the Mac? This article attempts to answer that question.


If you have accidentally deleted a system file and now something is clearly not working as it should, you have two realistic options: restore the Mac from a backup you made prior to deleting the system file, or reinstalling Mac OS system software.

If you have Time Machine setup to backup your Mac and you do so regularly (and you should), then using a Time Machine restore can be the best approach for some users. Of course Time Machine rolls back to whatever the state was when it was last backed up, so if the backup is a week old then you’d lose data between then and now unless you specifically make copies of that data.

If you don’t want to use Time machine, or if Time Machine is not an option for whatever reason, you can also choose to reinstall Mac OS system software. Note that reinstalling macOS system software should not impact any data, as it will attempt to only reinstall the operating system itself without mucking about any personal documents, apps, or other data. But “should” is not a guarantee, and it’s always possible that reinstalling system software or starting any other recovery, restore, or reinstallation process may result in permanent data loss. Thus you should have a backup of your data made before attempting to reinstall Mac OS system software.

How to Get Deleted System Files Back on a Mac

Both of these approaches will rely on using Mac Recovery Mode, you’ll either restoring from a previously made backup, or reinstalling the operating system:

  1. Reboot the Mac, then immediately hold down COMMAND + R keys concurrently
  2. Continue holding COMMAND + R keys until you see the “MacOS Utilities” screen
  • If you have a Time Machine backup, choose “Restore from Time Machine Backup”
  • If you want to reinstall Mac OS system software, choose “Reinstall MacOS” (or “Reinstall OS X”, verbiage may be slightly different)

MacOS Utilities in Recovery Mode

  • Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the backup restore, or the macOS system software reinstallation process

    • Whether you choose to restore from a backup, or to reinstall MacOS, the process will take a while to complete (can be many hours if a large backup file is being restored). But when finished, either the restored version of system software will be back and running as it was before, or the new fresh version of Mac OS system software will be installed and running as intended.

    If you want full detailed tutorials for these steps, you can see those and learn how to use Time Machine to restore a Mac from a backup, or read about reinstalling MacOS High Sierra and macOS Sierra, or reinstalling OS X El Capitan and Yosemite – in either case, the process is reinstalling is largely the same despite the naming conventions being different and some verbiage being slightly different.

    If the above reinstall approach fails for whatever reason, another option is to attempt to use Internet Recovery to reinstall Mac OS X but that requires a consistent and reliable high speed internet connection, and the version of system software reinstalled may be different than what is currently on the Mac.

    How does a system file get deleted from a Mac in the first place?

    If you’re wondering how on earth someone could possibly delete a system file in the first place, well it can happen fairly easily.

    For starters, the various System folders in Mac OS are easily accessible through Finder as well as the command line by going to the root directory of the Mac file system. While most people will leave that stuff alone if it’s over their head, some novice users can either be extraordinarily adventurous, or confused, and wind up where they shouldn’t be.

    For the most common example, novice Mac users might mistake the user Library folder for the System Library folder, and vice versa. Perhaps they think they’re trashing individual user files, but they’re actually trashing system level files – something that can happen if someone is attempting to clean caches and temp files from Mac OS. Or perhaps a novice command line user is experimenting with the unforgiving rm and srm commands for the first time, and they accidentally delete an entire directory that is critical for Mac OS to function properly. Or maybe someone noticed that temporary items in /private/var/folders/ are taking up a lot of storage and they went about addressing that the wrong way. Whoops!

    The bottom line is that deleting system files is possible and it can happen either accidentally, unintentionally, or intentionally, by both novice users and advanced users alike.

    It’s worth pointing out that modern Mac OS versions use a feature called System Integrity Protection (SIP) to attempt to prevent modification and deletion of system files, but System Integrity Protection can be disabled in Mac OS (and often is by advanced users for various reasons), and older versions of Mac OS X do not have SIP protection at all.

    Hopefully this guide has been helpful to you in understanding how to restore and recover deleted system files in Mac OS and Mac OS X, a process which hopefully you won’t have to undertake (in other words, don’t delete system files!). If you know of any other helpful tips, tricks, or methods to achieve the same effect, share them with us in the comments below!

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 17, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Make Apps Open in Full Screen Mode on Mac Automatically

    written by applenws

    Some Mac users really enjoy full screen mode for apps and windows, so much so that they might want to make Mac apps open in full screen mode automatically.

    While there is no system wide setting in Mac OS to make apps default to opening in full screen mode, there is a workaround trick that will allow many apps to open directly into full screen mode on the Mac.

    The best way to make Mac apps default to opening in full screen mode is by changing your app usage behavior a bit, combined with an adjustment to a Mac OS system setting. The end result will be that, at least with many apps that support full screen mode, they will relaunch directly into full screen mode on the Mac. Let’s review how this workaround approach works to achieve the desired effect of launching Mac apps directly into full screen mode.

    How to Make Full Screen Mode the Default When Opening Mac Apps

    This is a two step process.

    First, we’re going to make a settings adjustment in Mac OS system preferences that will allow Mac apps to resume their prior state they were in prior to quit.

    1. Go to the  Apple menu and choose ‘System Preferences’ and then go to ‘General’
    2. Uncheck the box for “Close windows when quitting an app”

      3. Disable Close windows when quitting an in Mac OS to make Mac apps left in full screen mode re open in full screen mode

    3. Close System Preferences

    This setting basically makes it so that if you quit an app, windows within that app will not close automatically, and instead they’ll re-open to where you left off. This setting is essential if you want some Mac apps to default to opening into full screen mode.

    Second, you’ll need to change app quitting behavior. If you’re accustomed to closing all the windows of an app when or before you quit that app, you will need to stop doing that. Instead, place an app into full screen mode (like Safari for example), and when you’re done using that app, quit it while the active full screen window is still open.

    1. Open an app and place it into Full Screen Mode as usual (for example, Safari)
    2. When finished using that app, leave the full screen mode window active, even if it’s a new blank document or webpage, it must have an active full screen window left open
    3. Quit the app as usual, while that full screen window is active, and do not discard any open windows
    4. Upon relaunching that Mac app, it will open directly into Full Screen Mode by default
    5. Repeat with other apps as necessary

    Assuming you followed the steps correctly, and you continue to quit apps while that app is still active with a window in Full Screen Mode, when relaunching the app it will be immediately in full screen mode on the Mac.

    Putting it All Together: Relaunching Mac Apps Directly Into Full Screen Mode

    For this to work properly, you have to follow the above sequence:

    • You must quit the app while the apps primary window is still in Full Screen Mode
    • AND, you must have disabled the “Close Windows when quitting apps” feature in Mac OS system settings

    The system setting change is critical, because it causes Mac apps to basically resume their they left off upon relaunching. This means if you had previously enabled the “Close windows when quitting apps” feature in Mac OS so that app launching behavior is like what it used to be in older versions of Mac OS, then you’ll have to disable it.

    Of course you can also just use your Mac apps as you always have, quitting and resuming whether in Full Screen Mode or not, and just get accustomed to making a window full screen on the Mac either with the use of a keyboard shortcut to enter and exit Full Screen Mode in Mac OS, a menu option, or the green button to toggle in and out of full screen mode, but that’s up to you, and obviously it won’t be automatic.

    This trick works with all Mac apps that completely support Full Screen Mode in Mac OS, like Safari, Mail, Messages, Terminal, etc, but it may not work as well with some apps that aren’t designed to be used in full screen mode, and it definitely won’t work in any app which doesn’t support the feature to begin with.

    So that’s the workaround to attempt to default to open Mac apps into full screen mode. For now that’s the best method to achieve that result, but perhaps a future version of Mac OS system software will offer a universal settings toggle somewhere in system preferences that allows Mac apps to default into full screen mode. There could be other options out there too, so if you know of another method of launching Mac apps directly into full screen mode, share them in the comments below!

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 15, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Disable Loading of Remote Content & Images in Mail for Mac

    written by applenws

    Emails often contain remotely loaded content, and most email clients, the Mac Mail app included, will default to automatically loading those remote images and remote content into an email. This is convenient and desired by many as it makes HTML and rich emails appear as intended, including things like HTML signatures.

    But loading of remote content in email messages can also be undesirable for some Mac users, because remotely loaded content can also be used by an email sender to serve as a read receipt, or even as an attack vector by unscrupulous types (as we see right now with the efail GPG scare). Finally, some Mac users may want to disable remote loading of content in emails because it can reduce bandwidth usage, which can be helpful for cellular plans and low speed internet connections.

    We’ll show you how to disable loading of remote content found in email messages within the Mail for Mac app.

    How to Disable Remote Loading of Content and Images in Mail for Mac

    Disabling remote loading of content and images in Mail means you must manually approve the loading of remote images on a per-email basis.

    1. Open the Mail app in Mac OS
    2. Pull down the “Mail” menu and go to “Preferences”
    3. Click the “Viewing” tab
    4. Uncheck the box for “Load remote content in messages”

      5. How to disable remote loading content and images in Mail for Mac

    5. Exit out of Mail Preferences

    Going forward, all new inbound email messages with any remote content, images, read receipts and email open confirmations, rich email HTML signatures with images, and other email tracking and remotely loaded data will no longer automatically load into the email message, instead they must be approved on each email.

    Approving the loading of remote content on each email message can be annoying, and emails will be unstyled and uglier by default with this setting enabled. But, it also has benefits, like preventing a sender from knowing if you opened an email message. That can be particularly useful for spammers and unsolicited emails because they often use those read receipts to confirm that an email address is valid and that someone looked at the email message. Additionally, many email HTML signatures also include those read trackers, so blocking remotely loaded content can simultaneously break the intended appearance of an email signatures with images while also stopping that read receipt behavior.

    There are also potential security and privacy benefits to disabling remotely loaded content in messages, like preventing the efail GPG exploit (some researchers are recommending disabling remote loading content/images in addition to using Signal for encrypted communication too, at least until that security GPG bug is patched), or other potentially similar attack vectors.

    This is really somewhat advanced, and whether or not it makes sense for you to disable remote loading of content in email messages is entirely up to you, your tolerance for read receipts and related privacy implications, your bandwidth, and much more. Most regular Mac Mail users will probably not want to disable this feature however.

    If you’re disabling remote content loading in email messages on the Mac Mail app, you might want to also disable remote loading of content and images in email messages on Mail for iPhone and iPad as well.

    Have any tips or thoughts on remotely loaded email content? Share with us in the comments below!

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 14, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Setup & Use Signal on Mac or Windows PC

    written by applenws

    Signal is the popular encrypted messaging app that lets you send and receive encrypted messages across platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS. This makes Signal an excellent choice if you’re a Mac user or iPhone user that also wants to instantly communicate in a secure manner with someone else on a Mac, PC, Android, iPad, or iPhone. Signal also supports encrypted voice-over-IP for voice calls, image and media messaging, and a variety of other nice features for communication, and for maintaining some security, like auto-deleting messages.

    If you’re on a Mac, or Windows PC, and you want to setup Signal on your computer to communicate with other Signal users, the walkthrough below will detail the process.


    To get started you will need an iPhone or Android with a valid and active cell phone number, the Signal client for that cell phone, and the Signal client for the desktop. Of course you’ll need internet access on those devices too. The rest is easy.

    How to Setup Signal on Mac

    This will walk through setting up Signal messenger on the Mac, but the setup process is basically exactly the same for Windows PC and Linux as well, so if you want to set up the messaging client on another platform you don’t need to change much. Here are the appropriate steps:

    1. First, get Signal for iPhone or Android and set it up on your phone, it requires a phone number that can be verified and this is not optional *
    2. Next, download the Signal client for Mac
    3. Install Signal by dragging the Signal.app file into your /Applications folder, then launch the Signal app **
    4. Upon launching Signal, you’ll see a QR code, now you must go back to your iPhone or Android to complete setup
    5. Open Signal on the iPhone or Android, then tap on Settings (it’s the gear icon in the corner)

      6. How to setup Signal on a Mac or Windows PC

    6. Choose “Linked Devices”

      7. How to setup Signal on a Mac or Windows PC

    7. Select “Link New Device – Scan QR Code” and point the phones camera at the QR code on the Mac screen

      8. How to setup Signal on a Mac or Windows PC

    8. Once the QR code is recognized and the connection is confirmed, give the Mac an identifiable name, and that’s it

    Now you’re ready to use Signal on the Mac! Or a Windows PC, or whatever else you set it up on.

    How to setup Signal on a Mac or Windows PC

    Of course Signal is only useful if you have other people that are using it too, so if you like the idea of an encrypted messaging app for private or secure communications, then you’ll want to be sure you have colleagues, friends, family, or anyone else also sign up to use the Signal service. Signal is not able to send SMS text messages or iMessages, or use any other messaging protocol for that matter, it can only communicate with other Signal users, as any other messaging service would break the end-to-end encryption which is one of the benefits of using Signal in the first place.

    * When setting up Signal in iOS (and probably Android), it will ask for permission to access your contacts and other information, but this is not necessary to grant permission if it is undesired, as you can manually add phone numbers and contacts to communicate with yourself.

    ** You may need to bypass Gatekeeper’s warning message depending on how strict your Mac Gatekeeper settings are.

    Signal is said to be very secure with end-to-end encryption, though if you’re more of the “trust, but verify” type, and you happen to be a programmer, you’ll be pleased to know Signal is Open Source software and thus you can dig around in the Signal source code if you feel like checking it out.

    If this interests you, you might also appreciate our other posts and tips on Security topics and to read other tutorials focused on privacy.

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 12, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Export Notes as PDF on Mac

    written by applenws

    The Notes app for Mac is a great place to jot down notes, lists, tasks, tidbits of information, URL and links that you don’t want to bookmark, gather collections of pictures and other info, password protected notes, and much more. And thanks to iCloud Notes, you can also automatically have those notes sync to other Macs and to/from iOS devices like your iPhone and iPad too.

    But what if you want to save a note as a separate file, or share a note with someone outside of the Apple ecosystem? What if you want to save or export a note as a PDF file so that the notes full contents are preserved just as they were maintained in the Notes app?

    Fortunately you can easily export any note from Notes app as a PDF file, which can then be saved, sent, shared, or stored just about anywhere.

    How to Save Notes as PDF on Mac

    Have a note or several that you want to export from the Notes app and save as PDF files? Here’s how to get the job done on a Mac:

    1. Open the “Notes” app in Mac OS if you have not done so already

      2. The Notes icon for Mac

    2. Navigate to the note you want to export and save as a PDF and select it so that it’s the active note (alternatively, you can double-click to open the note in a new window)

      3. How to save a note as pdf

    3. Pull down the ‘File’ menu and choose “Export as PDF”

      4. How to export notes as PDF on Mac

    4. Give the note file a name and select the save destination, then click on “Save”

      5. Exported note being saved as a PDF file

    It’s that simple, the note will be saved as a PDF file and any styling or content within the note will be preserved in that resulting PDF document.

    If desired, you can confirm the note was properly saved as a PDF by locating the exported PDF file within the Finder of Mac OS, and then using Quick Look to glance at it, or opening it within Preview or another PDF reader app on the Mac.

    The exported note as a PDF file

    Using the Notes app built-in Export as PDF approach is easier and faster than using Print to PDF, though printing the note as a PDF works just as well and results in largely the same thing.

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 10, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Enable Mail Drop on Non-iCloud Email Accounts in Mac OS

    written by applenws

    Many people may think of the Mail Drop feature as iCloud-only, but Mac users can enable the convenient Mail Drop feature for other non-iCloud email accounts that are setup in Mail for Mac OS. This allows you to use the excellent Mail Drop feature for sending and receiving large files with just about any email account that you add to Mail app on the Mac.


    For the unfamiliar; Mail Drop is a feature in Mail for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, that allows you to send and receive large files that would typically not be allowed over email due to strict file size limits of most email servers. Instead, when using Mail Drop on Mac, the large file is uploaded temporarily to iCloud, and the recipient of the email gets a temporary download link to access that large file. It works quite well, and you can initiate Mail Drop sending from a Mac or an iOS device, and virtually any recipient can download the file via the link whether they have an Apple device or not.

    Mail Drop allows you to send files up to 5GB in size by using the feature, but remember it requires uploading the entire Mail Drop file to iCloud, which then presents itself as a temporarily available download link to the recipient so that they can download and access the Mail Drop file.

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    May 7, 2018 0 comment
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    How to View & Remove Extended Attributes from a File on Mac OS

    written by applenws

    Extended Attributes are metadata components that can be unique to specific files and file types on Mac OS. Those extended attributes can be anything from identifying data about the file itself, to quarantine information, origin data, label information, amongst other types of metadata.

    Sometimes, advanced Mac users may review extended attributes for a file, or even wish to remove extended attributes from a file or directory for a variety of reasons, and either of those tasks can be accomplished through the command line with the bundled xattr tool in Mac OS. This tutorial will walk through how to both view and remove extended attributes from a file on a Mac.

    This is an advanced topic that is really only relevant to advanced users who are already familiar with extended attributes and have a particular reason to want to remove them from a file. If you’re not sure what extended attributes are, why they may (or may not) matter, or why you might want to (or not want to) remove them, this is not for you.

    How to View Extended Attributes of a File in Mac OS

    The xattr command has been around in Mac OS and Mac OS X for a long time and thus this should work the same on virtually all vaguely modern versions of system software:

    1. Open the Terminal app, found in /Applications/Utilities/
    2. Use the xattr command like so, pointing at the file path to inspect extended attributes for

      3. xattr ~/Desktop/samplefile.jpg

    3. Hit Return to view the extended attributes for the file specified

    For example, you might see something like the following after executing the command:

    xattr ~/Desktop/samplefile.jpg
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemIsScreenCapture
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemScreenCaptureGlobalRect
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemScreenCaptureType
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms
    com.apple.quarantine

    In this case you’ll see metadata information that can be used by Spotlight and the Finder search features, as well as quarantine data which may be tied to data downloaded from the web, or brought onto the Mac through a third party app or source. And yes, that is the same quarantine data from that tells you whether or not you see the app “can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” Gatekeeper message when opening certain applications or files – that’s a commonly encountered practical example of an extended attribute.

    How to Remove Extended Attributes from a File on Mac

    Still in the Terminal app? If not, relaunch Terminal application to begin:

    1. Find the extended attribute you want to remove from the file using the previous step, in this example let’s assume it’s “kMDItemIsScreenCapture”
    2. Use xattr with the -d flag on the file like so:

      3. xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemIsScreenCapture ~/Desktop/samplefile.jpg

    3. Hit Return to strip the defined extended attribute from the file as specified by the path

    In this example, removing “com.apple.metadata:kMDItemIsScreenCapture” from the samplefile.jpg file strips out the screenshot identifier, which you may recognize from this tip for finding and showing all screen shot files on a Mac, which relies on that extended attribute attached to screenshot files in order to locate them. By removing that extended attribute, the file would no longer show up in such a search. Note that using a tool like ImageOptim to strip EXIF metadata from images and pictures does not also remove extended attribute metadata from the images, it only removes the EXIF data – the two are separate.

    You can use the xattr tool to view and remove extended attributes on files, directories, and symbolic links this way, and you can use wildcards to apply the extended attribute removal to multiple files as needed.

    This is really not something that should be of relevance to most casual Mac users, but for advanced Mac users, tinkerers, developers, sysadmins, information security workers, and many others, being able to view or modify extended attributes can be helpful for particular reasons.

    Source: OSX Daily

    May 3, 2018 0 comment
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    How to Play FLAC Audio Files on Mac

    written by applenws

    Want to listen to FLAC audio files on a Mac? Maybe someone sent you an audio file in .flac format and you can’t figure out how to play it? There are several options for playing FLAC in Mac OS, but iTunes is not one of them.

    Fortunately there are a variety of other choices available to play FLAC files in Mac OS, but for our purposes here we’ll focus on a simple and free solution that you might even already have on your computer.

    What is FLAC audio?

    For those who are unfamiliar with FLAC, here’s a brief explanation: FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, and it’s a lossless audio compression format, which basically means that the FLAC file is an exact replica of the original uncompressed high quality audio file, whether it’s from a CD, line-in recording, or some other audio source. Because it’s compressed, the file size takes up less storage space, but because it’s lossless, the audio quality is very high.

    Typically FLAC files are used by music enthusiasts, audiophiles, music producers, sound editors, and audio engineers, but there are other uses for them as well, almost always associated with either recording, editing, or listening to the absolute highest quality audio version of a song or audio track.

    Curiously, iTunes does not play FLAC files on the Mac, which is why if you’re a Mac user looking for a FLAC music player you will have to look elsewhere than iTunes.

    How to Play FLAC Audio Files on Mac with VLC

    There are a variety of FLAC audio players for Mac, but one of the simplest to use that also happens to be free is VLC. Yes, VLC the widely popular, multi-talented, and diverse video player, also plays FLAC audio files! The other great thing about VLC is that while it works on Mac, it also works on Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, so you can use the same app in virtually any OS environment for playing your FLAC files (or movies, for that matter).

    1. Click here to go the VLC developer website and then choose to download VLC
    2. Install VLC onto the Mac and launch the application

      3. VLC

    3. Locate the FLAC audio file(s) on the Mac and drag and drop them into the VLC window, or VLC Dock icon

      4. Flac audio file

    4. Click the play button to start listening to your FLAC format audio files in Mac OS

      5. Playing a FLAC audio file in Mac OS with VLC

    You can make and save large playlists in VLC as well, so if you drag and drop a large number of .flac FLAC audio files into VLC they will be playable in the same sort of playlist you’d expect in an app like iTunes.

    VLC is usually thought of as a video player, which it is too and that is certainly it’s primary usage, but it’s really sort of like a media playing swiss army knife with the capability to play a huge variety of video and audio formats, including FLAC and beyond. If you’re curious, you can see more VLC tips here.

    FLAC audio file logo

    Oh and I know what you’re thinking… how can you play FLAC audio files in iTunes? Well, since iTunes does not support FLAC audio playback, you can’t without converting the FLAC files to another format. For example, you can convert FLAC to mp3 and play those in iTunes, though mp3 audio is lossy and the audio quality will be reduced by doing so. You can also choose to convert FLAC to a lossless audio format that is compatible with iTunes, like Apple Lossless, but that’s a topic for another article altogether. You could however rip a CD into iTunes and change the audio import settings of iTunes to be Apple Lossless Encoder to get a similar effect. Perhaps we’ll cover this very topic in a another article.

    Do you know of a great FLAC audio player for Mac? Do you like using VLC for playing FLAC files? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

    Source: OSX Daily

    April 29, 2018 0 comment
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    MacOS 10.13.4 Update Failed to Complete? Mac Won’t Boot? Troubleshooting Update Failures

    written by applenws

    Some Mac users have reported installation failures when trying to install MacOS High Sierra 10.13.4 update, usually seeing an error about the installation not being able to complete. Sometimes the installer freezes after many hours of being stuck, or sometimes the update seems to install but the Mac refuses to boot as usual afterwards.


    If you have encountered an error or a failure when trying to update macOS 10.13.4 system software, you may be able to easily correct the problem by running through the troubleshooting steps detailed below. We’re going to focus on two main approaches; running the update again (if it’s a general failure upon attempting to install from the App Store) or by trying to install macOS 10.13.4 with the macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 Combo Update package instead of through the Mac App Store, or simply choosing to reinstall macOS system software.

    Before beginning any of these troubleshooting steps you should have a complete backup made of the Mac. Ideally you’d have made a backup before installing the system software update to begin with, which then allows you to roll back to that prior backup in the event neither of the following approaches work to resolve the problem.

    If the Mac boots as usual, try the Combo Update

    If installation fails but the Mac is still usable as normal, try running the 10.13.4 Combo Update:

    The Combo Update can be installed directly atop a prior macOS 10.13.x version.

    Using combo updates to install Mac OS updates is pretty straight forward process, similar to running any other application installer. The Mac will reboot when updating has completed.

    If the Mac won’t boot as usual, try reinstalling Mac OS through Recovery Mode

    If the Mac will not boot, you may need to reinstall Mac OS through Recovery Mode:

    • Reboot the Mac and hold down Command + R keys to boot into Recovery Mode
    • Choose “Reinstall macOS” from the macOS Utilities screen

    Reinstalling macOS will just install a new copy of system software, it should not change any user files, applications, or data aside from system software. Nonetheless it’s critical to have a backup of your data available just in case something goes haywire.

    Reinstalling Mac OS X through Recovery Mode is a tried and true troubleshooting approach for situations where the system software will not function as intended or won’t boot at all.

    If all else fails, you can try restoring the Mac with a backup made from Time Machine to a date prior to installing 10.13.4, assuming you made one anyway (one of the many reasons regular backups are so important!).

    Installation failures and software update failures should drive home the importance of always backing up a computer, particularly before installing any system software update, security update, or other software.

    After macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 successfully installs, you can get a Security Update 2018-001 for macOS 10.13.4 as well, but don’t forget to backup before beginning that process either.

    Did these tricks work to resolve your problems installing macOS 10.13.4? Let us know in the comments below if these approaches worked for you, or if you found another solution.

    Source: OSX Daily

    April 26, 2018 0 comment
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