Tag Archives: dock

Organize Apps, Files & Folders Into Dock-Like Menus On OS X Desktop With DockMenus

by on
Leave a comment
The Dock in OS X is where your favorite apps and folders go, providing quick access to apps and files that you need frequently. Though apart from being limited in capacity, it also wouldn't let you group apps together unless you put them into a folder, and doing so means losing quick, one-click access to them. DockMenus is a Mac app worth $2.99 in the Mac App Store that gives you extra docks. You can create any number of Dock-like menus and add apps, files or folders to them. The menus can be named, set to stay on top of all windows, and snapped to the side where they disappear much like the default Dock’s auto hide feature. The menus can also be ‘pinned’ so that their position isn’t accidentally changed. You can also add Trash to a menu, and dragging & dropping a file its icon will send it to Trash. The opacity of a menu and its background can be changed from one of the presets available in the menu’s settings. Read More

Picmatic: Music Player, Photo Viewer & Clock For Docked iPhone & iPad

by on
Leave a comment
Most smartphone apps are focused around a particular type of content; we generally use separate apps for music playback, photo viewing, and clocks, but Picmatic brings these features together in a single package in a way that actually makes sense. As you might have already figured, this can come real handy in dock mode. Just the way an iPad can display photos on its lock screen in the form of a slideshow, Picmatic has a customizable and dynamic grid consisting of images imported from your device’s camera roll. To add some spice to the whole show, the app offers many photo filters that you can apply to the images. Picmatic runs in full screen and also adds a nifty clock to the mix for your convenience, all while playing music in the background from your local collection. The app supports gesture-based controls so that the collage displayed on the screen remains free from any clutter that conventional music playback controls would cause. Read More

How To Restart The Mac OS X Dock With An App Or Terminal Command

by on
Leave a comment
A majority of end users might not be familiar with the purpose of restarting the OS X Dock. It’s something you need to do at times should you ever decide to go tinkering with the system’s default settings or run a few Terminal commands. The method itself involves the execution of a Terminal command, as the UI provides no way to do so. Where the command is fairly simple, most regular users would prefer a one-click alternative in the form of an app or executable script. If you're looking for such a solution, try DockRestarter, an easy solution that comes in both app and script form. Read More

How To Hide The Dock Icon For Any Mac App While It Is Running

by on
Leave a comment
The Dock is what you would consider prime real estate as far as icons for active apps on a Mac are concerned. It’s a place where you house not just your active apps but some of your frequently used ones, alongside your favorite folders. The point is, the Dock is where apps compete for space and whether you like it or not, most apps that you have running will add a Dock icon even when it is not necessary. While some developers will have the foresight to recognize that the icon is useless and will provide a way of removing it, they are admittedly a very rare breed of developers. If you’ve got quite a few apps that you prefer didn’t have a Dock icon, a little editing of the Info.plist file for the respective app should sweep it under the rug for you. Read More

Remove The Mac Dock Delay When Auto-Hide Feature Is Enabled [Tip]

by on
1
The Dock in Mac provides an easy way to launch your frequently used apps. The space it offers is limited though, and that is why most users reserve it for apps like a text editor or web browser etc. Mac OS X lets you auto-hide Dock when you aren’t using it and access it by simply hovering the mouse pointer. If you choose to auto-hide the Dock, then you may have noticed that it takes a few milliseconds (very long and annoying milliseconds) to reveal itself when you move your mouse to the edge of the screen. The time delay is obviously there to prevent the Dock from reappearing when you don’t intend to use it, but it can get annoying when you do want it to appear. This tip lets you remove that little time delay and have the Dock popping up on the slightest mouse hover. Read More

Make iOS Dock Disappear Using DockHide For iPhone [Cydia]

by on
Leave a comment
One of my favorite Springboard features in iOS is the dock, which makes launching the frequently used apps really convenient. It also sort of completes the main view of Springboard, by underlining all the icons on your iPhone or iPad’s screen. However, if you like symmetry too much, and for some reason think that the app dock makes the Springboard look a little less attractive, then you are sure to like the new Cydia tweak named DockHide. The tweak uses an Activator gesture to hide the dock, and you can repeat the same gesture to make it visible once again. There are also customization options, like letting you space the app icons accordingly if the dock is hidden, so that the freed space can be utilized optimally. Read on to know more. Read More

Conductor Server: Control Your Mac From An iPhone/iPad [Paid]

by on
Leave a comment
A while back, we covered a Mac App, Mobile Mouse Server, which was a feature rich app that allowed you to use your iPhone as a mouse/trackpad replacement with your Mac. The Mac app was free while its iOS client cost $1.99, but the features are definitely worth it. Conductor Server is yet another Mac app that does the same, and likewise the Mac app is free while the iOS client is worth $1.99. Compares to Mobile Mouse Server, this app knocks it out of the park. The app has dedicated media controls, but additionally lets you switch between open windows of any app. You can preview thumbnails of the open windows and bring them to front on your Mac by simply selecting them on your iOS device. The app allows you to add a large variety of gestures and swipes. Read More

Dock Designer: Customize Mac Dock Backgrounds & Switch Between 2D/ 3D

by on
Leave a comment
We’ve reviewed a lot of Mac customization tools in the past; some that allow you to tweak hidden features in OS X Lion, and others that are meant for customizing a particular feature. Dock Designer is a free Mac app that lets you customize the Dock. It lets you switch to a 2D or 3D dock view, allows you to add spaces between apps and folders for a more organized looking Dock, and lets you change the background to any image on your hard disk. The app's interface is simple and, in the event you don’t like the changes, you can revert back to the default Dock using the reset feature. Read More

Screen Shade: Darken Your Screen While Keeping Dock Bright [Mac]

by on
2
We recently covered Brightness Slider and Shady, both of which allow you to adjust your screen’s brightness from the menu bar. While Brightness Slider is simple in its functionality, Shady allows you to use keyboard shortcuts to adjust brightness. Screen Shade is yet another free Mac app that lets you control the screen’s brightness without darkening the menu bar or the Dock. The app can be set to start at login and will remember the previous state it was set to, so that you don’t have to adjust it each time. You can darken the Dock and menu bar if you like by selecting the option from the app’s menu. Read More

iTweaX: Tweak Hidden Mac OS X Features & Run Maintenance Procedures

by on
Leave a comment
Onyx and Deeper are two well known tweakers for OS X. Their main advantage: even a novice can tweak their OS without worrying about going critical mass on a brand new Mac book. For those who think that people messing around with the default settings on a Mac must secretly work for NASA, these apps reveal that they are actually tweaking with hidden (read: built in and totally changeable) Mac features. Similar to those two app is iTweaX, a Mac app that lets you change several default settings on your Mac OS X Lion. The app divides its customization options into three broad categories, i.e., Maintenance (backup scripts), Tweaks (change how the default apps behave) and Cleaning (emptying Caches and logs). A fourth category lets you restore your system from one of the backups that you’ve taken. Read More

Basics To Know Before Moving From A Windows PC To An Apple Mac

by on
17
Changing phones, email providers or web browsers is something that takes a lot of conviction and adjusting to; imagine if you felt compelled to change your OS? The move would definitely be a bigger adjustment and if you’re switching from Windows 7 to Mac, since the adjustment would probably be equivalent to sleeping on the opposite of the bed. This guide helps you ease in to that adjustment. It is neither a feature list nor a comparison between the two operating systems. It was written just to tell you where the electric box is, and how the plumbing works. Briefly, we will look at how you can search for apps, files and folders on your Mac, find and install apps, manage windows and finding system preferences. Read More

SliderDock Now Allows Customizing Rotation & Animation Quality

by on
1
Back in 2009, we reviewed SliderDock, which is a stylish application launcher for accessing applications and websites by selecting them from a rotating ring (via the mouse wheel). What caught our eye back then was its unique UI, which provides a number of customization options for creating application/website shortcuts. Since our review, SliderDock has been updated with a host of new features and improvements. In this post, we will explore the new features of SliderDock. Read More

Multibar: Multi Feature Dock For Windows With Add-on Support

by on
4
Multibar is a skinnable Windows dock that helps you organize your applications, files and folders. It provides instant access to gadgets and shortcuts, and enables searching YouTube, Wikipedia and Google without cluttering your desktop.  Multibar remains hidden by default, and only appears on mouse hover, hence it can house several useful shortcuts without consuming a large chunk of your desktop space. The functionality of Multibar can be further enhanced with the help of add-ons. Read More

HTC Dock Mode Turns Your HTC WP7 Device Into A Clock/ Music Player

by on
Leave a comment
Microsoft might have struck a deal with Nokia, making it their favorite hardware manufacturer, but HTC hasn’t given up on Windows Phone 7 by any means. The latest proof of HTC’s commitment to the metro platform is the spike in apps released for Mango and the renovated HTC Hub (which has lost its excess graphics and added greater functionality). HTC Dock Mode, available in the HTC app zone of the Marketplace, is a free app that essentially turns your phone into a side-table clock and music player in the time that it’s charging or not in use. The app is particularly useful if you have a charging dock for your HTC Windows Phone or your phone has a kick stand (like the HD7) . Although the app is called Dock Mode, your device doesn’t necessarily have to be docked to use this app. All you need is an HTC device running on Mango and you’ll be able to use this app. Read More

DockView Adds Windows 7 Like Customizable Live Preview To Mac Dock

by on
1
Want to bring Windows 7 live window previews of minimized applications to Mac OS X system dock? DockView is a highly responsive utility for Mac OS X which provides you with just that.  The application emulates the very same Windows 7 live preview behavior; it shows the preview of minimized window in dock whenever you hover mouse pointer over it. DockView allows customizing behaviors related to minimized applications thumbnail preview, which include, ignore minimized, hidden and application with only one window and enable/disable full size screenshot on hovering over window preview. Read More

Customize Mac OS X 10.7 Lion System Dock With Docker

by on
3
Since Mac OS X offers a very limited set of options to change different elements of system dock, including, position, icon size, application window minimize effect, etc, many users rely on 3rd party tools to change dock layout as well as its appearance. If you’ve been hanging around multiple tools to overhaul Mac system dock, have a look at Docker. Unlike other dock tweaking tools, Docker is an all-in-one system dock tweaker that caters to almost everything related with dock ranging from Dock Style, Icons, Indicator Style, docked application separator, 2D and 3D Dock Style, Standard and magnified size of items in dock, Disable bouncing icons, Hide in-active applications and more. Read More

Unclutter Mac Dock By Sending Apps To Tab Launcher

by on
Leave a comment
Looking for a way to unclutter your ever growing Mac dock? Since Mac dock bar works perfectly with all the applications and other system functions, using a replacement of dock is not a good idea. Rather than going for alternatives, you could use a third party dock bar to balance the distribution of applications and other pinned windows present in your system’s dock. Read More

DockBarX Is The Best Customizable Application Dock For Ubuntu Linux

by on
2
Lately, we have been seeing a lot Ubuntu launcher applications but nothing can match DockBarX when it comes to customizability. It is a feature rich Ubuntu dock application which is somewhat similar to  the previously reviewed Cairo Dock. However, unlike Cairo Dock and Docky, it has more advanced customization options which allow completely transforming its look according to user preferences. One interesting aspect of DockBarX  is that it can also be used with Awant Window Navigator as a Gnome Panel applet. Read More

Urly – Pin Web Links In Mac Dock To Stack Them Like Windows 7 JumpList

by on
Leave a comment
It becomes quite wearisome to find certain minimized browser windows from an already overcrowded dock. Since each minimized window in dock looks quite similar, one cannot easily identify required window from a long dock overwhelmed with apps and minimized browser windows. Urly offers a simple solution by using Mac native web browser - Safari. It allows you to pin frequently visited websites in dock, sort of similar to Windows 7 jump list. Users can drop as many websites as they want over it, so they can be quickly accessed. A right-click on its icon will reveal all pinned web links (just like Windows 7 jumplist). This means that you don’t have to use Safari each time to view pinned websites. Just select the link from the list and  it will open in your default web browser. Read More

Cairo Dock Is A Mac Style Dock For Ubuntu Linux

by on
7
Unity has no doubt added eye-candy to the Ubuntu desktop, however, it has also made it slightly more recourse intensive. Moreover, there have been functionality issues associated with Unity. A better alternative can be to use Cairo Dock (also known as GLX Dock). It is a Mac style dock for Ubuntu, which has now been upgraded to version 2.3 with new applets. It is fully compatible with the latest Ubuntu 11.04 and I personally found it much quicker than the Unity launcher. You can use it with the classic Ubuntu style or Unity 2D. However, once you have installed Cairo Dock, obviously you wont be needing Unity launcher. Another good feature of Cairo Dock is that it also works as a task manager like Avant Window Navigator. However, it is more feature rich than the former, with a MintMenu, Drop to Share and Messaging Menu applets, keyboard indicator, Ubuntu Me Menu, Network Monitor, weblets, Application Menu, notification area, Power Manager, Terminal,  System Monitor, Shortcuts Administrator and much more. Read More