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Posts tagged with "mac"

Tip Of The Day: Check for App Store Updates With Keyboard Shortcut

For me, the most annoying thing in iTunes is that to check for app updates I’m forced to mouse to the “Check for Updates” button in the lower right corner, and most of the times I miss the little arrow next to it with my cursor. I used to hate this. I’m saying “used to” because thanks to this tip I found over at Finer Things in Mac, now I can check for app updates with a keyboard shortcut.

The shortcut is the usual Command-R. What’s interesting is that the shortcut is used to refresh the web view in the iTunes Store, and Command-R isn’t documented in the iTunes menu.

So, there you have it. Command-R to check for updates. A little trick that’s incredibly useful for me.

Key Codes, Free App To Display Unicode Values

If you’re a developer that always needs access to unicode values and modifier keys state or you simply want to quickly paste keys like ⌘ and ⌥ to your clipboard because you don’t know the proper keyboard shortcut, Key Codes may come in handy. A free download in the Mac App Store and developed by Many Tricks (the same guys behind Witch, Name Mangler and Desktop Curtain), Key Codes displays key code, unicode value “and modifier keys state for any key combination you press.”

A little utility for sure, but useful. Get it here.

The Mac App Store and “Half-Available” Updates

Panic, the developers of popular software for the Mac like Coda, Transmit and Candybar, wrapped up a critical update to their FTP client / file manager / all-in-one solution Transmit 4 on January 6th to fix “important bugs” and correct issues with the Transmit Disk feature and Amazon S3 connection. As they explain in a post on the company’s blog, their original plan was to submit the update to Apple and release it on their website as well once the Mac App Store version got approved.

Apple didn’t approve the update after two weeks, so Panic went ahead and posted the update on the application’s website so that users who didn’t buy the app through the Mac App Store didn’t have to wait any longer to have the bugs fixed. In their own words, Transmit 4.1.5 is now “half-available” as the app in still “in review” for Mac App Store approval. Read more

Autodesk: Mac App Store Doubled Sketchbook Pro Sales in 20 Days

The Mac App Store isn’t even one month old and we have already heard several stories of success from Mac developers. The most notable one comes from Pixelmator, which grossed $1 million in less than 20 days into the new store; we have covered other experiences from developers in our Mac App Store hub. Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD) announced in a private event in San Francisco that the Mac App Store version of Sketchbook Pro, a painting and drawing application, has sold twice as many copies as the regular version did in the entire year. In 20 days. That’s quite an achievement, I would say.

The Loop reports Autodesk also had to ship a different version of Sketchbook Pro in order to be approved by Apple:

For example, Mac App Store apps aren’t supposed to use private APIs, can’t incorporate their own end user licensing agreements, and can’t employ separate copy protection. As a result, sharing code with the iOS version made the process easier, though SketchBook Pro is scaled up to take advantage of the increased processing power and memory footprint of the Mac.

Last year, Autodesk also released a new version of AutoCAD for Mac with an entirely redesigned interface and graphic engine, and shipped a mobile counterpart called “AutoCAD WS” for iPhone and iPad.

Skype 5 Out Of Beta, Group Calling Part Of Premium Package

Skype 5 is official this morning, delivering an enhanced interface and group video calling, which is part of a paid premium package and available with a seven day trial. Otherwise, expect to pay $4.99 a day or $8.99 a month for access to the bandwidth hogging feature. Video calls are also seeing the return of the much requested full screen mode. Trimming down the interface, Skype has reduced whitespace and tightened visual accessibility, and have plans to launch a contest where Skype users can design the perfect interface for the Mac.

You can download the latest update by visiting the announcement post on Skype.com, or by visiting this direct link.

Gmail Notifications Come To The Desktop with Chrome

A few minutes ago Google rolled out a new feature for Gmail and Chrome users: native Gmail notifications. These notifications are only available to Google Chrome users for now, and they’re very similar to Growl in the way they appear on your computer on top of any window you’re currently on. Unlike Growl, though, it all runs natively within Chrome and Gmail.

These notifications, however, seem to be in need of some serious tweaking. Testing them briefly, I’ve noticed that they stick on the desktop, there’s no timeout option (Growl offers this functionality in its preferences) and they’re definitely slower then Growl associated to, say, Mailplane. Also, they don’t work in Safari and Firefox – just Chrome. They work both with new email messages, new “important” messages (in Priority Inbox) and IMs.

To activate Gmail notifications, head over your inbox, then Settings and enable as you can see in the screenshot below.