Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

Your Quick Tip arsenal gets a serious upgrade this week: use the Live Text button to make scanning QR codes easier, resurrect Apple Mail’s Predicted Mailbox when it mysteriously grays out, and run softwareupdate –history in Terminal to see every macOS update your Mac has ever installed. You’ll also hear how one listener’s Shortcuts automation fixes AirPods auto-play, why BBEdit is your secret weapon for editing Excel formulas and tailing log files, and how Safari’s Show Reader option strips the junk from cluttered pages — plus a bonus riff on the real trade-offs between convenience, privacy, and the content you actually want. And yes, Siri AI in the iOS 27 betas is finally impressing people, with real-world examples to prove it.

Then Dave Hamilton and Adam Christianson dig into your questions: why Safari drops website connections (and how ping helps you diagnose it), whether those archive drives sitting in your drawer need regular care (spoiler: don’t get caught trusting a single backup you never spin up), and the smartest path for migrating your custom email domain from Google Workspace to iCloud. You’ll also get the scoop on replacing the aging Paperless app before Rosetta vanishes with macOS 28, and a challenge worth taking: get your AI out of the chat window and into doing actual work for you. Press play, take notes, and Don’t Get Caught.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1152 for Monday, July 27th, 2026

July 27th: Gary Gygax Day

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Quick Tips

00:00:01 Todd-QT-Use the Live Text button to make QR codes easier

00:06:43 Steve-QT-Using Apple Mail’s Predicted Mailbox

Bonus QT: Connect your inbox to your favorite LLM (via an MCP Connector?) and ask it “please tell me the ten most important emails requiring my action today.”

00:09:55 Stephen-Some of Siri AI’s improvements in the iOS 27 betas

00:17:54 Mike-QT-1151-Solve AirPods auto-play issues with Shortcuts

00:19:15 Craig-QT-Use ‘softwareupdate –history’ to see every macOS update your Mac’s ever done.

Adam’s Safe Download Version for XProtect

00:22:41 Mike-QT-You can still buy StyleWriter II cartridges at Staples!

00:24:11 Todd-QT-1151-Edit Excel Formulas in BBEdit

00:25:47 Kiwi Graham-QT-View log tails with BBEdit

00:29:01 Andy-QT-Use Safari’s “Show Reader” option to force reader view

And a bonus conversation about the balance between convenience, privacy, and the entertainment we want

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00:40:59 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/

Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!

00:42:17 David-Why does Safari drop website connections?

ping -t 5 website.com

00:51:44 Using location to help deliver content

00:54:15 GW-Do I need to care for my archive drives?

01:02:30 Jonathan-How do I migrate my email domain from GSuite to iCloud?

01:09:45 Kim-Which Paperless replacement and migration path are you using?

macOS loses Rosetta in 2027 with macOS 28

softwareupdate –install-rosetta

01:16:03 Get out of Chat with your AI

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The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!

Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts

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Fresh off Macstock, you get the full debrief on this year’s gathering before diving into a stacked round of Quick Tips. You’ll learn how to disable Summarize Notification Previews to stop needless battery churn, clear every unread Apple Watch notification in one shot, and weigh whether it’s finally time to move to macOS Tahoe. There’s a heads-up that Mac minis and Mac Studios are back in Apple’s Refurbished Store, a slick Control-Tilde trick to reveal formulas in Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice, the case for a USB-only cable when you’re heading into DFU recovery mode, and clever moves like stretching a Kindle book loan with an old iPad, building reusable packing-list templates, and scheduling an automatic weekly reboot to keep your Macs running clean.

Then you tackle your questions: setting the default audio app on your iPhone, when prepaid mobile data might be the smarter play (and when it’s not!), and a big Don’t Get Caught warning that macOS 28 is dropping support for encrypted HFS+ drives, so decrypt or reformat those external volumes before you upgrade next year. You’ll also hear how Claude Code can become your new macOS troubleshooting partner, including some honest thoughts on leaning on AI to fix your machine.

Cool Stuff Found rounds it out with UDM14 for Google results minus the AI summaries, Backdrop for live macOS wallpaper, Clock Rings for tracking time in decimal, and a cheap camera lens cover that works across your MacBook, iPad, and iPhone. As always, come learn at least five new things.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1151 for Monday, July 20th, 2026

July 20th: National Fortune Cookie Day

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00:02:00 Macstock Debrief

Some new-for-the-first-time attendees

David Pogue

Ken Case

Ken Ray

Paul Conaway

Quick Tips

00:00:01 DLH-QT-Disable Summarize Notification Previews to save battery churn

00:06:16 Pilot Pete-QT How to clear all your unread Apple Watch notifications

00:08:34 Is it time to update to Tahoe?

00:09:25 Mac minis and Mac Studios available again in Apple’s Refurb Store

00:12:31 Companies safeguarding your data

00:16:46 Marina-QT-Control-Tilde shows the formulas in Excel (and Google Sheets, and LibreOffice, but not Numbers)

00:20:03 Tony-QT-Use a USB-only cable for DFU Recovery Mode

00:21:49 Harvey-QT-Use your old iPad to extend your Kindle Book loan period

00:24:40 Todd-QT-1150-Create Packing List Templates and Sections

00:27:50 Don-QT-Schedule a weekly reboot for your Macs

sudo pmset repeat restart U 05:00:00

(“U” means sUnday)

00:33:40 Pilot Pete-QT-Green light Means the Camera is On

Sponsors

00:36:56 SPONSOR: Coveron. One scam can cost you everything – use code “macgeekgab” for up to 76% off at https://coveron.com/macgeekgab to safeguard your identity.

00:38:10 SPONSOR: Shopify. If you’re ready to stop putting off your business and start selling, sign up for your free trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/MGG

Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!

00:39:33 Dave-How can I set the default audio app on my iPhone?

00:45:30 Doug-Why go prepaid for mobile data?

US Mobile (allows network flexibility)

Get $25 to join America’s Super Carrier, plus get 30 days free when you transfer your number!

00:53:10 Gary-DGC-macOS 28 to drop support for encrypted HFS+ drives

00:58:10 Dave-QT-Use Claude Code for macOS troubleshooting

01:03:57 Some thoughts on Troubleshooting with AI

Cool Stuff Found

01:05:35 Mike-CSF-UDM14 to get Google results sans AI summaries

01:09:34 Javier-CSF-1128–Backdrop – Live MacOS Wallpaper

01:11:34 -n-Eric-CSM-Clock Rings to track time in decimal

01:15:39 Pilot Pete-CSF-Camera Lens Cover Macbook, iPad, iPhone

01:18:48 MGG 1151 Outtro

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Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)

The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!

Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts

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This week on Mac Geek Gab 1150, Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton pack an Embrace Your Geekness Day episode with Quick Tips you’ll put to work immediately. You’ll learn how to schedule birthday messages so you never miss one, silence those pesky automatic Shortcuts notifications, and give Apple Intelligence the context it needs to actually help. From automating Theater Mode the moment CarPlay connects, to using your iPhone to check for ticks, to texting “Marco” so your lost iPhone sings until you find it, these are the tips that keep you sharp. You’ll also dig into searching Safari history to retrace your steps, building Smart Folders to hunt down space-hogging files, and using Photos’ Map utility to surface shots from wherever you are.

Then it’s your questions, answered. You’ll find out how to identify and clear runaway RAM, where Messages in the Cloud actually lives, and how to reclaim iCloud storage with tools like PowerPhotos and Gemini 2. You’ll get the real story on Time Machine drives and Spotlight, plus how to speed up sluggish Notes syncing. In Cool Stuff Found, the crew serves up Catchin’ Sync, the OBSBOT Tiny 3 webcam, Hyperspace for reclaiming space with file clones, and imessage-exporter to back up your texts. It’s an hour-plus of geek gold, and if you tune in every week, you Don’t Get Caught missing the fix you needed.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1150 for Monday, July 13th, 2026

July 13th: Embrace Your Geekness Day

MGG Monthly Giveaway – Win a license to Mole

Quick Tips

00:00:01 Jim-QT-Schedule Sending of Birthday Messages

00:04:16 JT Ray-QT-Disable automatic Shortcuts notifications

00:06:33 QT-Apple Intelligence and its context

00:09:26 Todd-Automate Theater Mode when CarPlay is enabled

00:10:44 Troy-QT-Use your iPhone to check for ticks

00:12:49 Larry-QT-Text Marco to your lose iPhone and have it play a song until you find it

00:18:31 Andy-QT-Search Safari’s History to find places you’ve visited

00:20:12 KiwiGraham-QT-Setup Smart Folders to find large files

00:23:38 Greg-QT-Use Photos > Utilities > Map to find photos in your current location (and elsewhere)

Sponsors

00:26:42  SPONSOR: Helix Sleep makes premium mattresses and bedding that are customized to fit your personal needs, and conveniently shipped to your door. Go to https://helixsleep.com/MGG for 27% Off Sitewide.

00:27:50 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at https://clnmy.com/MACGEEK

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Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!

00:30:31 Bill-1148-How do you identify and clear up RAM usage?

iStat Menus

Marco Arment’s Quitter

00:39:23 Gary-1149-Where can I see Messages In The Cloud?

00:44:17 Roy-How can I clean up my iCloud storage?

PowerPhotos

Gemini 2, the duplicate finder (and “similar finder”)

00:53:25 Bill-1148-Turns out you can’t exclude Time Machine drives from Spotlight

00:56:51 Henry-1148-Speeding Up Notes Syncing

Cool Stuff Found

01:01:20 Andy-1149-CSF-Catchin’ Sync

01:02:15 Andy-CSF-Obsbot Tiny3 Webcam

01:08:53 Harvey-CSF-Hyperspace to use file clones to save space

01:11:44 Chris-CSF-1149–imessage-exporter to export your iMessages

01:17:42 MGG 1150 Outtro

MGG Monthly Giveaway

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Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)

The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!

Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts

MGG Merch is Available!

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You learn at least five new things every episode, and this one stacks them fast. Roll your Apple Watch crown instead of tapping it to keep Sleep mode from searing your eyes, then hit Command-Shift-F in the Finder to jump straight to Recents when a saved file vanishes into the void. When a listener asks how to archive iMessages, you’ll meet iMazing, Shottr’s scrolling screenshots, privacy.apple.com, and a public-key-encryption rabbit hole that explains why even Apple can’t hand your texts back. You’ll also learn to Control-click the Printers list to reset the entire CUPS printing system, and to check every app’s Rosetta versus Apple Silicon status before sluggish performance quietly fools you, because Rosetta survives macOS 27 but finally bows out in fall 2027, so audit those Intel holdouts now.

Then the questions roll in. You’ll troubleshoot a PDF that downloads on one Mac but stalls on another (think DNS blocks, CDN handoffs, stale session cookies, and a fast browser swap), wrestle Apple TV lip-sync into line by killing soundbar processing and matching frame rates, and chase a self-dimming iPad back to its ambient-light sensor and screen protector.

Cool Stuff Found delivers a Beelink dock that sidesteps Apple’s storage surcharges and Pixette for reviving an ancient iPad as a photo frame. And when refurb Mac minis sell out in two hours and Apple nudges prices up overnight? Don’t Get Caught letting hope prevail like Dave did, grab it the moment you see it, because that cart won’t hold it for you.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1149 for Monday, July 6th, 2026

July 6th: National Air Traffic Control Day

00:02:47 A quick video from Dave’s daughter’s wedding

MGG Monthly Giveaway – Win a license to Mole

Quick Tips

00:00:01 Jan Landy-QT-Roll Your Apple Watch crown in Sleep Mode to go easy on your eyes

00:06:36 Claire-QT-To Find something you just added, Command-Shift-F in Finder for your Recents list

00:11:02 GW-I wish Apple had a way to archive Messages

iMazing

(and formerly PhoneView)

Remember privacy.apple.com

00:19:09 Message in iCloud and Public Key Encryption

Shottr’s scrolling screenshots

00:23:33 WillRun4Fun-QT-Control-click in Printers list to Reset Printing System

Enable CUPS web page on your Mac

Visit https://localhost:631/printers/

If that fails, open Terminal and run “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” to enable it

00:26:14 TheDaveAbides-QT-Check your apps’ Rosetta/Apple Silicon status

00:35:28 Andrew-QT-Buy your refurbs immediately…don’t just leave in your cart

Refurb Tracker

RefurbMe

AppTamer

Sponsors

00:40:49 SPONSOR: Keeper. Right now, Keeper is offering our listeners 60% off personal and family plans at https://Keepersecurity.com/MGG. This offer is only for podcast listeners!

00:42:10 SPONSOR: Even Realities G2. Use promo code MGG at evenrealities.com to get 10% off Even Ring 1 and/or Even Clip when you add them to your Even G2 order.

00:43:48 SPONSOR: Decagon. Ready to transform your customer support? Decagon helps companies create personalized, concierge-style customer experiences with AI agents across chat, email, voice, and SMS. Go to https://decagon.ai/MGG to get a personalized demo and see what Decagon can do for your team.

Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!

00:45:16 Mike-Why can I download a pdf on ONE computer, but not another?

00:53:01 David-How do I resolve Apple TV lip sync issues?

YouTube A/V sync videos

AWOL 2500 Projector

Sonos Soundbars

01:04:52 Larry-iPad Dims When I don’t want it to

Cool Stuff Found

01:12:44 Mike-CSF-Belkin Beelink Mac mini storage dock (and others like it)

01:14:24 Greg-CSF-1147-Pixette for displaying photos on an old iPad

01:16:55 MGG 1149 Outtro

MGG Monthly Giveaway

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Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)

The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!

Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts

MGG Merch is Available!

Mac Geek Gab iOS app

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Mac Geek Gab 1148 hands you a fresh stack of Quick Tips you’ll actually use. You’ll find out how Mark recovered every one of his accidentally deleted iMessages with Control-Command-4 (or the Recently Deleted view), undo a botched Finder rename with a casual Command-Z, and automate Theater Mode on your Apple Watch so it goes dim and quiet at night without Sleep Focus. You’ll pick up several ways to email a Safari webpage or just its link, learn to strip out distracting page clutter before you share, and finally understand why Apple Music can hijack your Mac’s default speaker output. Then you’ll hear why speakers deserve real thought before you buy a Mac mini, how to coax a stubborn Time Machine disk into ejecting cleanly, and a low-tech trick for AirTags too slippery to grip at battery-change time.

When Doug’s M4 Pro MacBook Pro started beach balling and pausing apps from low memory, you’ll get the full playbook for clawing back storage, from spotting the culprits in your menu bar to pruning Downloads and clearing out bloated Messages and Apple media. You’ll walk through Adam’s step-by-step approach to slimming down iMessage storage, learn how to stop copying and pasting invisible white-on-white text that haunts Contacts and email, and speed up a sluggish macOS Contacts app with a clean iCloud re-sync. Keep these moves in your back pocket and don’t get caught with a full drive and a spinning beach ball.

00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1148 for Monday, June 29th, 2026

June 29th: National Bacon Burnt End Day

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Quick Tips

00:00:01 Mark-QT-You can recover recently deleted iMessages ^Cmd-4 (not 5)

00:03:45 Scott-QT-Cmd-Z works to undo Finder Renames, too!

00:05:06 Larry-QT-Automate Theater Mode on Apple Watch

00:06:36 Hans-QT-Email a Safari Webpage to Someone

00:08:17 Russ-QT-Apple Music can override the Mac’s default speaker output

Volumio

00:11:42 Adam-QT-More on Cmd-I (and Cmd-Shift-I) in Safari to mail a webpage (or the link)

Likely based upon the web page’s print.css

Also File – Export as PDF

00:17:39 Safari – Hide Distracting Items

The (no-longer-actively-developed) Printliminator

00:21:33 Doug-QT-Think about speakers when buying a Mac mini

Insta360 Link 2 Pro

00:28:02 Bill-QT-Try Jettison, Mole, and more to eject resistant volumes

00:30:36 Dom-QT-Use tape or thimbles for slippery AirTags

Sponsors

00:32:06 SPONSOR: Coveron. One scam can cost you everything. Tools reduce risk, Coveron reduces loss. Use code “macgeekgab” for up to 76% off at https://coveron.com/macgeekgab

00:33:55 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin’s OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MGG at https://www.oneskin.co/MGG  #oneskinpod #ad

00:35:22 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support.

Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!

00:36:49 Doug-Beach balling apps made me realize I ran out of storage…what do I do?

iStat Menus to see free disk space in my menubar

How to free up space on your Mac

Run mole…regularly!

Hazel to keep your downloads folder pruned

Run CleanMyMac – Space Lens, especially

Clear out your Apple media

Manage your Email attachments

Clean out Messages

CCleaner

Clean up local snapshots

00:50:51 Adam’s process for cleaning up iMessage storage use

00:56:21 Steven-How can I avoid pasting white text on a white background on my iPhone?

01:02:55 Mark-Speed up macOS Contacts with an iCloud re-sync

~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/Sources/<UUID>/AddressBook-v22.abcddb

Cool Stuff Found

01:13:18 Adam-CSF-Dungeon Crawler Carl

01:18:36 MGG 1148 Outtro

MGG Monthly Giveaway

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Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)

The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!

Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts

MGG Merch is Available!

Mac Geek Gab iOS app

Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page

Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar

This Week’s MGG Premium Contributors

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feedback@macgeekgab.com

224-888-GEEK

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