Yosemite

How to screen share Yosemite screens using iMessage

Mike Hudson

OS X has included the ability to remotely screen share using a VNC style server for some time now. However, a new feature ‘hidden’ in Yosemite iMessage application is the ability to request a screen share via an iMessage conversation! If you initiate an iMessage conversation with another Yosemite user who is also using iMessage, you can use a built it request facility to view to recipients screen. The ability to share your screen originally appeared within iChat, though required an AIM, Gmail, Jabber or Yahoo account.

Once your recipient has responded to your iMessage request, click on the details link in the top right hand corner of the chat window. This will expand a second box, with the option to FaceTime, Video Call or screen share. Clicking on the Screen Share option will then pop up an additional menu offering to send a request to screen share. The recipient will then receive a popup “Allow [your name] to control my screen”. Should the recipient accept your request the screen share should commence.

iMessage Screen Share

 

This does come with some caveats:

  1. Both users must be using Yosemite or above.
  2. Both users must have an Apple ID
  3. Both users must be signed into Apple ID in the iCloud preferences pain in System Preferences

 

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OS X 10.10.4 BETA 6 Released to BETA testers

Mike Hudson

OS-X-Yosemite-LogoOS X 10.10.4 BETA 6 build 14E36b has been released to all those who are currently registered on the public BETA test program (or who have a Apple Developer account) 10.10.4 focusing on fixing some of the bugs reported in 10.10.3. Most importantly replacing discoveryd networking daemon with the mDNSResponder as seen in Snow Leopard. Discoveryd has been at the forefront of many a complaint of Yosemite users due to its instability.

There’s currently no news on when 10.10.4 will be released as an update to the general public. However, this isn’t unusual for incremental OS X updates. Normally the BETA’s spend a couple of weeks in ‘testing’ before being released.

OS X 10.10.4 BETA 6 is available to download using the normal App Store route, or by logging into the Apple Developer Portal.

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iOS 8.1 Release Imminent

Mike Hudson

iOS8.1On October 16th at the end of the press conference, iOS 8.1’s release was firmed up as being Monday the 20th, iOS 8.1 is thought to bring with it a myriad of bug fixes – including the case of the notification bar that blankly refuses to disappear and a hand full of new features which should please iOS fans who also own OS X based hardware.

There are three features in particular which are causing the most buzz on the news networks – those features are as follows:

(more…)

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Show hidden files Mac OS X 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 and 10.10 Yosemite

Mike Hudson 362 Comments

OS XUnlike Microsoft Windows, by default OS X hides system files from end users. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Some of the files which are hidden, are important and damaging them could prevent your system from booting all together.

However – on the flip side, there is often a valid reason for needing access to those files. Anything from needing to change a system setting to removing files an unruly application has left behind.

There are several ways to show hidden files in OS X, the easiest would probably be to follow this tutorial on how to build an Automator script. This will give you an icon that you simply have to double-click on to show or hide the files.

Alternatively, if you are just looking for something in your Library folder, did you know that if you click “Go” in the menu bar whilst in Finder, then whilst the menu is expanded click the Alt key on your keyboard the Library menu will appear.

Another method would be to run a command in a terminal window to change the system setting. To do this all you need to do is:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Open the Utilities folder
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. Copy and paste the following line in:
  5. Press return
  6. Enter your administrator password when prompted
  7. Press return

You should find the finder window will disappear, along with the icons on your desktop. However, if you now launch a new finder instance you will now be able to see any hidden files or folders. Once you are done, perform the steps above however, replace the terminal command in step 4 with:

If the above is not working for you, you may want to try switching YES/NO to TRUE/FALSE .. Beware that this is case-sensitive!

If you are experiencing issues using the examples above, please post a comment using the comments system below.

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