Blog

For most of us, our Mac’s screen is wider than it is tall, so longer Web pages and documents often benefit from more room from top to bottom. To maximize the amount of usable vertical space and reduce the need to scroll as much, you can set the Dock to hide automatically and appear only when you move your pointer to the bottom of the screen. A better approach is to position your Dock on the side of your screen where it’s less likely to use space you’d prefer to have available for content. Many people prefer the right side, but you can also try the left to see how it works for you.

If you need to convert images to JPEG, PNG, or (unlikely) HEIF, try this hidden Finder feature: Control-click an image in one of those formats or other common image formats like TIFF, GIF, or PSD, and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. A dialog lets you choose the destination format, the image size, and whether you want to preserve metadata. For straight conversions, stick with Actual Size, but if your goal is to shrink the file as well, you can choose a smaller image size. Leave Preserve Metadata selected unless you want to remove things like location metadata for privacy reasons.

Smoke from wildfires is causing significant air quality problems for much of Canada and the US. It’s important to check the Air Quality Index (AQI) before spending a long time outside, and that’s especially true for sensitive populations (children, the elderly, anyone with asthma or other breathing issues) and for those exercising outdoors. Although numerous weather apps report air quality, their data can vary widely.