Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

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Random MacOS questions from a Windows user

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Comments

  • @tja said:
    Another Random Question:

    I opened the Mac App Store App and checked for Updates ... there were no updates available.

    Then, I search for "StrongBox" and noticed, that it shows the "Update" button, so there is a new version available!
    The version is 1.14.5

    Looking into the Updates section again, this is not visible at all!
    What's wrong here?!?

    Why are updates not shown in "Updates"?
    Is there a way to refresh this, like on iOS / iPadOS?

    Yes, you can refresh the Updates page with Command-R (or Reload Page from the Store menu). As with the iOS app store, new updates sometimes take a while to populate into users' available update lists.

  • I don't think this was mentioned yet, but the spotlight search is pretty handy to find things. + space bar brings up the window. Very handy and if you ever need to find your way into the local user library folder from the finder then pressing the option key in the GO menu will get it to show in the destination folder list.
    + k brings up the connect to server window for connecting to servers, remote connections etc.

  • @AlanC3 said:

    @tja said:
    But on the linked URL https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202755 i cannot read this text anymore.

    I can, and it's exactly as you quoted it. My apologies for doubting you. The article has been archived, so who knows if they still follow that policy, but they definitely did at some point.

    @tja said:
    So you need to initiate the recovery process.... whatever that means.
    And does that work? How?

    If you have 2FA activated there are two possibilities:
    Account recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204921
    Using a recovery key: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208072

    The recovery key gets you back in quickly but is dangerous. If you activate it then it's the only way to get your account back: lose the key and you're locked out forever.

    As far as that issue with forgetting the security code or not being able to approve devices it’s kind of a thing still. That was for the security type with the security questions. While that security type is still around, anything requiring end-to-end encryption requires two factor now. So, that article is kind of relevant but more so for someone who just turned on two-factor or signed into a new device and is trying to use iCloud Keychain/Messages in iCloud.

    If you can’t approve it you have to reset all the encrypted data. This advises what uses end-to-end security. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

    Two factor end-to-end just asks for the passcode/login of your “other” device. If you fail too many times it just says to reset it. Same thing if isn’t working you have to reset the encrypted data.

  • edited January 2021

    @DMan said:
    As far as that issue with forgetting the security code or not being able to approve devices it’s kind of a thing still. That was for the security type with the security questions. While that security type is still around, anything requiring end-to-end encryption requires two factor now.

    Apple reintroduced the recovery key for 2FA with iOS 14. If you go to Settings | Your Name | Password & Security then you'll see a switch at the bottom of the section named Recovery Key.

    I recently enabled it for my original Apple ID that's repeatedly getting locked out thanks to some clown who seems to think my iCloud email belongs to him - or maybe, after two months of regular unsuccessful attempts, is just being malicious. With the recovery key I can unlock the account quickly when an unsuccessful password recovery attempt disables it; without it I'd have to go through the multi-day process.

  • @Masanga said:
    Yes, you can refresh the Updates page with Command-R (or Reload Page from the Store menu). As with the iOS app store, new updates sometimes take a while to populate into users' available update lists.

    Many, thanks - even as i was searching the menu, i did not notice the "Reload Page".

  • @tja said:
    Why are updates not shown in "Updates"?

    I've currently got this on one of my macs. I've tried all the usual suspects: refresh the page, log out/in to the AppStore, rebuild the Spotlight index, delete the AppStore caches, delete the AppStore preferences. Nothing works.

    No idea what it is; I have to install the updates manually by checking each app. The other mac running the same version of the OS is working fine.

  • @Masanga said:

    @tja said:

    @Masanga said:

    @tja said:
    I can only move files to "bin" and after that empty the "bin".

    Cannot find an option to directly delete files - can that be true?

    Command-option-delete.

    Thanks, but this leads to a pop-up that asks if i really want to do that :) ;)
    So strange ideas :smile:

    Yes, I don't actually know a way to get rid of the popup – though as you've probably already figured, command-d will dismiss it and delete the file.

    To get rid of the "are you sure" warning when emptying the Trash (bin), go to Finder->Preferences->Advanced and uncheck "Show warning before emptying the Trash":

    (I'm still on High Sierra, so the setting may have moved slightly in later OS versions, but it should be somewhere under Finder preferences.)

  • So (with that preference turned off), the most efficient way to throw something in the Trash (bin) and delete it is:

    Command-Delete (moves item to Trash), followed by Command-Shift-Delete (empties Trash).

    Done!

  • @Lady_App_titude said:
    So (with that preference turned off), the most efficient way to throw something in the Trash (bin) and delete it is:

    Command-Delete (moves item to Trash), followed by Command-Shift-Delete (empties Trash).

    Done!

    This doesn't get rid of the confirmation dialogue on Command-Option-Delete, though. @tja was looking for a way to delete files with a single rather than a two-step action.

  • edited January 2021

    @Masanga said:

    @Lady_App_titude said:
    So (with that preference turned off), the most efficient way to throw something in the Trash (bin) and delete it is:

    Command-Delete (moves item to Trash), followed by Command-Shift-Delete (empties Trash).

    Done!

    This doesn't get rid of the confirmation dialogue on Command-Option-Delete, though. @tja was looking for a way to delete files with a single rather than a two-step action.

    Quite so. And frankly, I don't think a one-step action without a warning is a good idea. But the way I outline is the most efficient means that I know of on macOS. I've done it reflexively for so many years, it feels about the same as one step.

  • @AlanC3 said:

    @tja said:
    Why are updates not shown in "Updates"?

    I've currently got this on one of my macs. I've tried all the usual suspects: refresh the page, log out/in to the AppStore, rebuild the Spotlight index, delete the AppStore caches, delete the AppStore preferences. Nothing works.

    No idea what it is; I have to install the updates manually by checking each app. The other mac running the same version of the OS is working fine.

    Very interesting.

    I only have few Mac Apps installed, so cannot test this as often as on my iPads (with up to 1021 Apps installed), where i have daily updates, multiple times per day :-D

  • Thanks, @Masanga and @Lady_App_titude

    Yes, i was seeking the equivalent of the Windows setting, where you can opt to directly delete something without it ever being moved to the trash first - just delete.

    This does not seem to be possible in the Finder.
    I can still use "rm" in a Terminal, if need be.

    In Big Sur, this option in the Finder preferences is called "Show warning before emptying the Bin".

    Why is that "Bin" now instead of "Trash"?
    Confusing

  • Short comment on AirDrop:

    I can kind of understand, why AirDrop requires Bluetooth.
    But why does it required WiFi, when all devices are using the same network and the Mac is cabled, not using WiFi?!?

    As it seems, i need to cut the cable and run the Mac over WiFi to use AirDrop from the iPads?
    So strange, Apple ...

  • edited January 2021

    @tja you can fool MacOS into not using the "Bin" by actually making the ~/.Trash folder inaccessible.

    This is quite convoluted, but possible:

    1. Go to "Privacy and Security" or so in Settings, and under "Full Disk Access", add Terminal.
    2. Open a Terminal and do rm -rf ~/.Trash
    3. Do touch ~/.Trash

    MacOS will now be confused by ~/.Trash being a regular file, and will instead delete stuff. (at least for me).

    (note that the right-click menu entry still says "Move to Bin")

  • @tja said:

    Why is that "Bin" now instead of "Trash"?
    Confusing

    Change to US English to get the 'Trash', 'Bin' is for UK English.

    As for rm, rm -rf 'drop folders into the terminal window' to do recursive deletion of everything dropped onto the window no questions asked unless it's locked and/or system files that need permission for deletion...

    You could do an Automator exercise and create a shortcut that launches a shell script and deletes everything dropped onto the shortcut for insta-delete without any questions.

    I've heard from other Windows users that the easiest way to really learn MacOS is to not try and replicate the windows way of doing things but rather just ask the simple question what do I want to do? Mac != Windows or vice versa :)

    For the some more hidden tweaks try Onyx and Thinker Tool. Those two will cover a lot of 'maintenance needs' when needed.
    http://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
    https://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html
    (Both apps will request permission to access everything on the system so follow their instructions).

    Cheers & Good Luck!

  • @tja said:
    In Big Sur, this option in the Finder preferences is called "Show warning before emptying the Bin".

    Why is that "Bin" now instead of "Trash"?
    Confusing

    It's a localisation introduced in Catalina; you've evidently ended up with some version of the UK English parlance, where "Trash" has always been a mildly grating Americanism.

  • @Samu said:

    I've heard from other Windows users that the easiest way to really learn MacOS is to not try and replicate the windows way of doing things but rather just ask the simple question what do I want to do? Mac != Windows or vice versa :)

    This. I've made a living supporting Windows at some level or another for 25 years, from Win95 to Server 2019, and switched to Macs for my primary personal workstation a little over six years ago. I still don't feel quite up to the same level, and still get occasionally frustrated by fewer options with things like right-clicking and context menus. Like why can't I right-click a process in Activity Monitor to inspect or kill it? Why can't I right-click in Finder to create a new folder or file?

  • @SevenSystems said:
    @tja you can fool MacOS into not using the "Bin" by actually making the ~/.Trash folder inaccessible.

    This is quite convoluted, but possible:

    1. Go to "Privacy and Security" or so in Settings, and under "Full Disk Access", add Terminal.
    2. Open a Terminal and do rm -rf ~/.Trash
    3. Do touch ~/.Trash

    MacOS will now be confused by ~/.Trash being a regular file, and will instead delete stuff. (at least for me).

    Going to try this:

    root@mini:~ rmdir .Trash
    
    tja@mini:~ touch .Trash
    

    Will see the results only later, thanks :)

  • @Liquidmantis said:

    @Samu said:

    I've heard from other Windows users that the easiest way to really learn MacOS is to not try and replicate the windows way of doing things but rather just ask the simple question what do I want to do? Mac != Windows or vice versa :)

    This. I've made a living supporting Windows at some level or another for 25 years, from Win95 to Server 2019, and switched to Macs for my primary personal workstation a little over six years ago. I still don't feel quite up to the same level, and still get occasionally frustrated by fewer options with things like right-clicking and context menus. Like why can't I right-click a process in Activity Monitor to inspect or kill it? Why can't I right-click in Finder to create a new folder or file?

    Yes, MacOS is often simply inconvenient and less easy to use, it offers only few options.
    It requires more clicks or multiple things to reach some goal.

    One other example is the strange fact is, that i cannot open a terminal on the right and then a webbrowser on the left!

    As soon as i click any of those Applications, ALL of their windows pop to the foreground - preventing me from having the setup i wanted to reach.

    Instead, i now have either 2 terminal sessions or 2 webbrowser windows.
    Why?!?

    Yes, i can go to that overview (over Hotcorner) that shows me all windows and then simple select the one i want to get to the forground.
    But much easier would be, to simple show all Windows in the taskbar, maybe even as stacks, even if i prever single icons for each window.

    Anyway :smile:

  • edited January 2021

    @tja said:

    One other example is the strange fact is, that i cannot open a terminal on the right and then a webbrowser on the left!

    Weird, I'm not sure what you're running into here. That's a very typical workflow for me, and I have multiple Chrome windows with different tab sets open. I basically live in my terminal, and have a browser open for the Azure portal or documentation, and usually have Teams up in addition. I can have a side-by-side layout like you want without surfacing all of my Chrome windows when activating the one I want. That's even without Yabai, which is a pretty large paradigm shift when using its intended tiling mode.

    In fact, I frequently right-click on the Chrome taskbar icon in order to pull up the one I want (or use Cmd-` to select between windows of the active app).

  • @Samu said:

    @tja said:

    Why is that "Bin" now instead of "Trash"?
    Confusing

    Change to US English to get the 'Trash', 'Bin' is for UK English.

    Ah.
    That seems logical, thanks @Samu !

    In "Langauages & Regions" there is only "English", while in the possible languages, there are both "English (UK)" and "English (US)".

    I changed that now to "English (US)" ... not that i don't like the UK, but in operating systems language, US seems more appropriate :smile:

    As for rm, rm -rf 'drop folders into the terminal window' to do recursive deletion of everything dropped onto the window no questions asked unless it's locked and/or system files that need permission for deletion...

    You could do an Automator exercise and create a shortcut that launches a shell script and deletes everything dropped onto the shortcut for insta-delete without any questions.

    That seems to be more effort than appropriate, and I do not understand everything.

    I've heard from other Windows users that the easiest way to really learn MacOS is to not try and replicate the windows way of doing things but rather just ask the simple question what do I want to do? Mac != Windows or vice versa :)

    I do not necessarily want to reproduce anything - if there is a way to do things in MacOS, I am happy to use it!
    But there simply often do not seem to be any ways to do things as fast and reliable as in Windows or Solaris or Linux ... it takes more time, more clicks, more effort - and I will at least try to find ways around this :smile: :smile: :smile:

    For the some more hidden tweaks try Onyx and Thinker Tool. Those two will cover a lot of 'maintenance needs' when needed.
    http://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
    https://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html
    (Both apps will request permission to access everything on the system so follow their instructions).

    Cheers & Good Luck!

    Going to have look, many thanks!

  • @Masanga said:

    @tja said:
    In Big Sur, this option in the Finder preferences is called "Show warning before emptying the Bin".

    Why is that "Bin" now instead of "Trash"?
    Confusing

    It's a localisation introduced in Catalina; you've evidently ended up with some version of the UK English parlance, where "Trash" has always been a mildly grating Americanism.

    Fixed that hopefully with the hint from @Samu
    Thanks!

  • tjatja
    edited January 2021

    You may be interested in the fact, that my above "pmset" setting where not enough to get the system to really sleep - suspend to disk and do nothing at all!

    Over the whole night, there were log-entries in "pmset -g log"!
    The system was still running and doing things.

    I now disable even more things and will check how the system behaves tomorrow:

    root@mini:~ cat pmset.sh 
    #! /bin/bash
    
    pmset -a powernap 0
    pmset -a destroyfvkeyonstandby 1
    pmset -a standby 1
    pmset -a autopoweroff 1
    pmset -a hibernatemode 25   # use 3 to suspend to disk AND let the memory powered on
    pmset -a autopoweroffdelay 0    # not sure if 0 is possiblty, or if 1 would be better
    
    # For now, prevent WakeOnLan:
    pmset -a womp 0
    pmset -a ttyskeepawake 0
    pmset -a tcpkeepalive 0
    
  • tjatja
    edited January 2021

    I was only at reading the first new lines of features from TinkerTool and already knew, that i need to install this!

    Many thanks, @Samu

    It offers many, many things that should be part of the OS!

    BTW, the requirement to first click a window and only then be able to click something in it, is not only weird and disturbing, it is even annoying.

    Sadly "focus" is not listed on the above feature list.
    Going to seek if there is some other solution.

  • Did that with TinkerTool, as first changes:

    Disable sound effects
    Add "Quit" item to Finder menu
    Show selected path in window title
    
    Disable animation when hisding or showing Dock
    Disable delay when showing hidden Dock
    
    Disable fade-in effect when opening
    Disable fade-out effect when closing
    Disable animation when switching between pages
    
    Unchecked Animate opening windows
    
    Don't keep help windows in the foreground
    
    Terminal: Auto-activate windows by mouse cursor
    Don't allow macOS to automatically quit inactive applications (what an idea)
    

    Thats all for now ... and mannnnn ... it is already much better!
    Fantastic App, should be added to the OS!

  • @tja said:
    One other example is the strange fact is, that i cannot open a terminal on the right and then a webbrowser on the left!

    As soon as i click any of those Applications, ALL of their windows pop to the foreground - preventing me from having the setup i wanted to reach.

    Hah, there's one from my list 🥳

    BTW, I have a feeling that if you continue with your pmset experiments, at some point the plume of smoke will be visible around the globe. 😂

    You're even worse than me regarding total control over your desktop experience. I'm sure that on your Linux boxes (if they're for desktop use) you'll favor KDE 🙂

  • @SevenSystems said:

    @tja said:
    One other example is the strange fact is, that i cannot open a terminal on the right and then a webbrowser on the left!

    As soon as i click any of those Applications, ALL of their windows pop to the foreground - preventing me from having the setup i wanted to reach.

    Hah, there's one from my list 🥳

    BTW, I have a feeling that if you continue with your pmset experiments, at some point the plume of smoke will be visible around the globe. 😂

    You're even worse than me regarding total control over your desktop experience. I'm sure that on your Linux boxes (if they're for desktop use) you'll favor KDE 🙂

    Hehehe :D

    Now, i think i used "FVWM" long time ago and after that probably "awesome".

    The window manager only needed to open lots and lots of terminal windows and offer many ways to auto-arrange them.

    "KDE" seems quite bloated :smile:

    "Rectangle" is helping me right now on macOS!

  • @tja Hope you've already figured out the 'force quit' Alt+Command+ESC :)
    It can be pretty handy if apps should get 'stuck' or become unresponsive at some point.

    Onyx also has some nice Tweaks, some of them are also present in Thinker Tool but options are good right?
    (Onyx needs a bit more FIleSystem permissions so you need to drag the app-icon to System Preferences ->Security & Privacy/Privacy 'Full Disk Access' and it may ask you for permission to use Accessibility for the automated tasks).

    Personally I try to keep the system 'as clean as possible' so updates will not cause issues with 3rd party stuff.
    (Both Onyx and ThinkerTool usually get updated after each system update so it's good to make sure the versions are up to date).

    As for file extraction I use the free The Unarchiver (from the Appstore) it unpacks just about anything.
    For generic text-editing I use the free SubEthaEdit (It has some nice optional terminal extensions in case you need to edit files).
    https://subethaedit.net (I'm using the AppStore version to keep it up-to-date).

    I'm also lazy so most of the time I launch applications using SpotLight (Command+Space) and partially type the app name.
    I also leave many applications in fullscreen mode and use expose or two finger swipe on the Magic Mouse to swap apps/desktops when needed. (Also I'm lazy organizing files so I use spotlight to find the files).

    I seldom turn off my MacMini. I just put it to sleep so it's up and ready when I wake up in the morning :)

    Cheers!

  • OnyX is very interesting, @Samu
    It goes partly much deeper than TinkerTool and I did not touch much in it.
    But good to have it!

  • @tja said:
    OnyX is very interesting, @Samu
    It goes partly much deeper than TinkerTool and I did not touch much in it.
    But good to have it!

    I use Onyx roughly every 2 months to clean up all the caches and make some room...

    One of the reasons I put my Mac to sleep rather than turn off is that the Unix stuff under the hood can do its maintenance stuff when I'm not using the computer. By default the cron stuff is scheduled to run somewhere between 2-3am.

    When I need to do manual cleanup I use OmniDiskSweeper. It's not Native M1 or Big Sur but should work pretty good.
    https://www.omnigroup.com/more

    Cheers!

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