OS X: Getting rid of Dashboard

How to permanently* remove Dashboard in OS X Mavericks.

Now more than ever, Apple’s Dashboard feels redundant.

When Apple first announced Dashboard Widgets, it was sort of revolutionary to me; all of these mini-apps, adding functionality and usability to my computer with a tap. However, with the numerous innovations that have come about since multi-touch and iOS, Dashboard seems like a slow, unnecessary relic of OSX’s past.

Dashboard was designed before multi-touch mice and trackpad gestures, and was an innovation prior to the iPhone. But it’s still built into the latest Mac OS X release, Mavericks.

Don’t want it anymore? I didn’t. Why have something around that I’m not going to use that just slows down my computer and eats up bandwidth? Here’s how to kill it. Note: you need admin privileges.

Step one: Open Terminal.

Add the following line of code:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean true

Two: Relaunch.

Add the next line:

killall Dock

Three DONE!

Now, Dashboard is finally a thing of the past.

Widgets are mini-apps. iPhone is a mini-computer.

I understand that some people will still benefit from Dashboard, I don’t need a list of reasons why it’s still valid. There are a number of really cool widgets available. Just nothing that I can’t do faster with Safari or more conveniently on my iPad or iPhone, devices that are always right next to me and can function as a second screen, mini-computer. Siri can do just about everything that standard widgets do (I can’t at the moment think of something I’d do with a widget that I can’t just tell my phone to do for me), without changing to a separate space or obscuring my main screen.

Not really permanent.

* However, sometimes we change our minds about things. If you need to bring Dashboard back, simply change true to false —

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean false

Don’t forget!

killall Dock

Dashboard should now be back.

If you like this sort of post or it helps you out, please let me know!

I feel like I shouldn’t have to write this (but lest it become a problem somehow)…

You modify settings on your system at your own risk. Please don’t blame me if something goes wrong or doesn’t work on your system — I’m not there, I don’t know what happened. I’m basically just passing along information that helped me.

Tablets... Game, yes. Work? Not so much.

Mo' blogging options, writing on the run

Even though the iPad market alone is worth like $20B (USD) and tablets are finally being taken seriously, even with millions of apps available on the App Store and Android Marketplace — with millions of people buying apps and downloads every second, still no one has released a decent (or better than) blogging app. There are serious gaps in mobile software.

Mobile gaming is different; there, there's at least six of everything. Anyone know exactly how many tower defense games are available for iOS? I've seen hundreds; maybe a few dozen great ones, twice as many good rip-offs of those great ones, and a plethora of crap. How many versions of Angry Birds do we need? Ten different racing games with the same cars, a dozen FPS offerings, hundreds of sudoku apps... seriously?!

Also, this micro-transaction, in-app purchases (IAP) business is frankly ridiculous — especially the pay-to-pwn model in certain games, such as Glu's Gun Bros. and its clones. The best items cost around $200 USD, and there's really no other way of getting those items other than spending cash. I understand the freemium model; make a game, offer it free, and people can pay for it in increments based on how much they enjoy it. Often, these games have no end, much like MMORPGs — the game is updated to add more, so to continue enjoying the game, players need to spend a few more dollars. Time management freemium games (farming games, building games, restaurant sims) usually offer some IAP that speeds up the process by offering instant gratification. "This plant will take 48 hours to grow, but for $2.50, you can have it now!" This is how hard-earned money is being blown spent.

Freemium is one thing, and some are fair enough that you can play without spending any money. But now there are premium games offering IAP "cheats." Example: Angry Birds offers an instant-win item for $0.99 — an Eagle that automatically clears any level. EA's Dead Space has a in-game store offering power node and credit pack IAPs.

The iPad is clearly a fantastic portable game console; dual processors, large multi-touch screen... there are Android devices with NVIDIA Tegra2 chips that have similar power. Beyond the toy factor, there are a lot of cool utilities and productivity apps. Also, mobile blogging has changed; people use the Facebook wall, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr to share media. That is blogging, though people might not realize it.

There's a market for and a demand beyond casual, social network blogging, however. There are some decent writing utilities for the iPad and some blogging services have released apps (WordPress, Squarespace, LiveJournal), but many of these apps are problematic and lackluster. The Squarespace app is the most complete that I've used (for blogging), but still far from perfect. None of the apps take full advantage of the capabilities of the services and formats. For writing/word processing, Apple's Pages comes close. I could've used it for work far more often if the app supported vector graphics.

I was on the fringes of the Tablet PC community that existed prior to multitouch displays, iOS, Android, Vista and Windows 7. People had inkblogs and used slate and convertible Tablet PCs as primary work machines. On the few occasions that I interacted with some of the GottaBeMobile guys and other tablet enthusiasts, I got the distinct impression that for some, the slate wasn't a passing trend, it was the Grail.

The iPad is my primary computing device. The iPhone 4 has filled my portable point-and-shoot camera desire. With the right software, the iPad could replace notebook computers; it's fast, has front and rear-facing cameras, wireless internet, decent memory and capacity, a good screen and keyboard support. Of all things, it's the apps (and lack of) that retard it.

Mail supports HTML, but it's only usable via copy/paste. The email editor is weak. Safari is restricted to nine windows as a form of tabbed browsing; this might have something to do with memory, but the iPad can run Infinity Blade and Safari with nine pages.

There are some great iOS apps; I've shared and reviewed a few, and with time, I hope this rant becomes irrelevant. ThinkBook is phenomenal, and I'm enjoying Writing Kit, Daedalus, Day One, iA Writer, Penultimate, Wunderlist and Idea Store. Evernote and Dropbox also work well, despite iOS limitations. I can do just about everything on the iPad... but where's Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator for iPad? Where's ecto or MarsEdit, Scrivener or Storymill? Where are the programming tools and font designers? Where's Firefox?!

It's great that the tablet market has made it possible for two-man teams to create and sell apps... I just hope some established developers start taking these devices seriously for something other than gaming.

ThinkBook app for iPad Review

ThinkBook - Write, Plan, Outline and Take Notes ($4.99) is an iPad app by bitolithic that I’ve recently spent some time using, and I must say, ThinkBook IS AWESOME. I will get into app specifics, but first, I want to comment on the wonderful developer, @bitolithic. Emiliano Molina’s responsiveness, support, and attitude has been exemplary, and he is a developer that should be supported. bitolithic is also responsible for Comic Zeal, a universal comic app with great reviews.

Now, to the meat of the ThinkBook quick review!

ThinkBook has custom keys that are extremely usable; adding notes and navigating the app is a breeze.

ThinkBook is productivity application designed to organize large amounts of information (text) into usable chunks. The beauty of this software is that, by design, it’s as simple or as complex as you’d like it to be. You could use this app to organize classes, schoolwork, research, or your entire life.

If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward to-do list application, this app is probably overkill. It could be used to keep track of tasks, but task management isn’t its main strength. (Information on “Wunderlist” at the end of entry)

However, if you are working on a complex project, ThinkBook is perfect.

From the onset, ThinkBook can seem daunting. The learning curve seems steep. Fortunately, after spending about ten minutes with the app, I realized that it is a lot more intuitive than I’d first thought, and quickly fell into a productive rhythm with the program. Still, I recommend reading the built-in manual — to get the most out of the app. 

ThinkBook has a simple, powerful structure, built around a homepage called “Contents.” This overview page is just like the table of contents in an ebook — from here, you can jump to various pages and books within the app. ThinkBook organizes text on individual pages, and books are simply collections of pages. 

All of your text inside of the application can be found using the search tool on the sidebar. Further, ease of use is provided by a cursor on the righthand side of the screen; this tool allows notes to be moved around freely, and can be used to move entire pages as well.

ThinkBook is only going to get better. I have no doubt that Emiliano will continue to support his apps; bitolithic won’t disappear. Also, if you do end up getting this app, don’t hesitate to give your honest feedback — your concerns or criticisms will only help to make the app better!

You could also let bitolithic know that you read this blog entry ^_^

(For a wonderful FREE task manager, check out Wunderlist — available on all iOS devices, iPhone, iPad, as well as Android, Mac OS X and Windows PC. 6 Wunderkinder GmbH has also released a web app version. Wunderlist stays synced across all devices. Definitely Bradtastic Approved!)

Wunderlist is amazing for all.

I just posted a story that I’ve been working on about Wunderlist at my “disability blog,” Bradtastic Defined. If you want to check it out, it’s here. I wrote specifically about how the app helps me, but it’s useful for you, too.

If you have a Windows or Mac desktop, a web browser, and an iOS or Android handheld, Wunderlist will be your best friend. Or rather, you can use it to share lists with your best friend, and you’ll be best friends, forever! And you’ll have Wunderlist (and me) to thank. (You may send me presents.)

Update on 2011-07-31 02:39 by Bradtastic

Unfortunately, I didn’t win. My story was chosen as a runner-up, and the 6Wunderkinder blog says that they’ll send me a t-shirt and some stickers. Joy.

Apple, Stuff of Intrigue

I'll keep this short, because it won't interest everyone.

Apple: In Trouble?

If you follow tech stuff at all, you might know about the lawsuit filed against Apple for their upcoming "iCloud" service. Apparently, there's a company by that name that does stuff with the cloud — and it's similar to what Apple wants to do. I think that it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Apple isn't known for playing nice.

But, I like their stuff.

Particularly, I love my iPad 2. Bradtastic Approved. What a great device... seriously. What makes it really fantastic, however, is the software. The App Store offers some amazing stuff — apps created by some of the coolest developers anywhere. I've personally contacted dozens of them; they've ALL been quick to reply, and each has taken my opinions and suggestions seriously.

Their dedication makes iOS phenomenal. I like to support people and businesses that truly believe in what they offer, and I'm happy to see that success hasn't given them the "greater than thou" mentality.

In closing, I'd like to recommend some apps:

For writers: check out OmmWriter. The new desktop version, Dana II, is available for Mac and PC. You can download Dana I for free to try out the app; however, Dana II has many worthwhile features, and for the price, it's a great deal. I especially like the chroma therapy background and adjustable text area.

If you don't consider yourself a writer, that's okay — OmmWriter Dana I might be a spark. Check it out anyway, and let me know what you think. Better yet, tell the devs!

For Mac owners, Day One (Journal/Diary) is amazing. I've mentioned Momento before, but I prefer Day One, for several reasons. First, it syncs with Dropbox — if you don't have an account, you really should get one. (Please use that link; in doing so, I'll get a little extra storage space for free. It's a wonderful service, and many apps use it for backup.) Second, Day One is incredibly usable. If you have an iPhone and/or iPad, the Day One universal app keeps everything synced with the desktop version, and creating entries couldn't be easier. There aren't any complicated or useless features, and a simple reminder system effectively aids the user to remember to write something.

Writing is a healthy process that people don't always make time for, and Day One is great because it doesn't seem to demand long entries or a particular style. I've exchanged emails with the developer — features will continue to be added, and if you think of something, he's more than happy to receive your suggestion. I've used each version of Day One extensively, and can affirm that each is stable.

I've got a lot of things that I'd like to share (on multiple subjects, too) but I haven't yet made the time to write it all out. I want to convey things properly... and I would like to include more images in my posts.

Also: please don't be shy. If you're reading this, let me know — say "hello!"

Lion and the iCloud

I really want a new iPhone this year, 'iPhone 5,' maybe? Perhaps Apple is waiting for the release of iOS 5 and iCloud, their new cloud service that they say will be free for iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion users. I just keep thinking about how bad call quality is on my AT&T iPhone 4.

It's not that AT&T is cheaper, either. Sprint and T-Mobile both offer unlimited plans that are cheaper than AT&T's very-finite plan offerings. If a new iPhone model were to release, I would hope that a Verizon version would exist — because I'd switch. Meanwhile, I do have a second line (with T-Mobile) setup as a BlackBerry, and I'm eligible to upgrade that phone for something better. I've been seeing a lot of 4G commercials; I winder if it's any good for talking.

It shouldn't be so hard to get a phone designed to be good at voice calls. Wasn't that the primary job of a cell phone at some point, or has it always been about playing 'Snake' or Infinity Blade? It must've been about the calls; I had a Siemens S40, a phone with a blue backlit screen and no games. I used it to talk, and its battery lasted for about five hours of talk time... that was ten years ago, at least.

I think that 'iCloud' sounds promising, but I'm a little upset with these transitions. First .Mac to MobileMe, and now to iCloud. What's next?! I remember reading an article ten years ago talking about Jobs' intent to drag OS X out as long as possible before cashing out of Apple. Back then, I thought that, surely, we'd be using OS XI or XII by now... oops.

I just hope that the reliance on these service doesn't doom our privacy and security. In theory, I like the idea of smaller HDDs, movies streamed from my collection to anywhere. It would mean that iPhone and iPad hard drives could stay small, and the money and development could go to graphics, RAM, battery life and better screens (better cellular reception would be nice, too).

'Lion' will sell for $29.99 through the Mac App Store. Yay, another "250+ features," aka 'padding;' we're going to be encouraged to pay for a fairly nominal upgrade — combine iOS tech with 'regular' OS X.

Perhaps I'll enjoy a Sprint Android phone, enough to use it... as a phone first.

Replacing Japanese Paper with Aluminum and Glass

Over the past year, I've used many different notebook apps for the iPad, and though I tried to love them, none really felt right. Penultimate, a great, highly rated app, has many things going for it, but it lacks the precision that a detail-oriented designer needs. Some apps such as Note Taker HD and Notes Plus also come close to paper, but they're both missing things.

However, iPad owners: I've found the answer — my favorite "notebook" app is "MUJI NOTEBOOK." if you haven't seen it, check out more information. Granted, the style might not suit other so well; the Japanese influence is clear, down to the paper types and formatting.

For true "pen and paper" feel, get a capacitive touch stylus. WACOM recently released a Bamboo stylus, but I haven't used it yet — the demand seems high, and there's a several month wait (I do have one on my Amazon Wish List, however, and my birthday is in three months!). I own styli by Ten One and Boxwave; either is good, but the Boxwave is easily my favorite.

It's not perfect—paper isn't perfect, either

MUJI Notebook has text, writing and drawing support with multiple methods of input. Some are slightly cumbersome; for instance, English handwriting to text is difficult to use effectively because the system doesn't detect letter shape, it assesses stroke order. That said, it's still easily my favorite, and I now take notes in ways I didn't — and couldn't — before, because my iPad 2 is near me so often.

For typed notes, I recommend Nebulous Notes... but my favorite iPad writing app is iA Writer.

Share?

I'd love to hear about your favorite iOS apps, productivity tips and tools, or whatever else you use to get things done on mobile devices. Coming soon: the team behind Day One (Journal) for iPhone and Mac desktop PC released a universal version of their iOS app. Ive played around with it, and believe that there's room for improvement, so I'm going to hold off on a formal review. One of the main new features is the inclusion of "reminders," a feature from the desktop app, designed to help the user remember to write throughout the day at set intervals. Hopefully, I can review OmmWriter for iPad soon as well.

I'll share some more photos and artwork soon, too. If you're curious, you can check out Antipresto, my Tumblr, for photos, videos, links, and other cool things.

Day One Journal, no nonsense.

This app is cool. At $0.99 USD, it’s hard to complain about price. (The same cannot be said for the desktop version, however, at $9.99) DAY ONE (journal) for iPhone is a strong example of a straightforward app uncomplicated by features.

But what about Momento?

How can I not mention Momento? After all, I featured it on this blog. Both are currently iPhone only (as iOS devices go). The two do differ, however. Momento could do everything that Day One does, but it’s not really built for just that. Momento is about capturing feeds and tagging posts; organizing a complex weave of photos, tweets, status updates and memos. Day One doesn’t do photos. It doesn’t do tagging, either. It doesn’t have these things… on purpose. What it does, it does so well; it keeps track of lightweight journal posts and quick thoughts, timestamps them, keeps track of particular favorites, and syncs it all with Dropbox. The app syncs with the expensive desktop version (I don’t understand the ten dollar Mac app price tag — at all. Come on, $4.99 tops, more like $2.99 and it’d be a super app), for those crazy enough to buy it. Momento does offer backups and exporting, but it isn’t super clean and automatic. The (current) lack of a desktop counterpart makes the exports fairly useless, too. Momento is like a personal status archive. Day One is a journal.

What else…

DAY ONE is beautiful. Look at it; it’s stunning. It’s compelling; it makes writing easy, and it never feels clunky. I think that the app could use text markup, specifically bold, italics, strikethrough, but even without, why wouldn’t you use it. Day One journal app is perfect for beginner journal-keepers; paper journals can be daunting for newcomers and anyone who hasn’t actually finished a journal cover-to-cover, and this semi-safe little thing is a perfect tool to capture quick thoughts during downtime. To truly take advantage of its plain text self, Day One can be used with Dragon Dictation: on the go, thoughts can be verbalized, transformed to text, copied, and pasted into Day One with a few taps. Granted, a perfect integration this isn’t, but it’s not that bad. The lack of tagging and feeds is a good thing, I think… at least for some people — maybe most people. Integrating text and images from outside sources can mean clutter, and tagging just isn’t necessary for everyone. The tedium of tagging can be a turn-off; it isn’t useful if it’s only done sometimes, and to tag every single quick post just doesn’t seem (or feel) practical in the real world. Dropbox syncing is a far more practical feature. [If you don’t have a Dropbox account, make one NOW] Entries are therefore self-archiving, and the plain text can then be used wherever with simple copy/paste. Rich text would be neat, but it isn’t always better. Adding some kind of markup could mean loss of flexibility; some apps/websites/tools prefer HTML, some use Textile.

Closing thoughts; Bradtastic Approved?

My recommendation is this: BRADTASTIC APPROVED. If you aren’t currently using a journal app, get Day One (Journal). Even if you do have something else, at $0.99 for an iOS app, the risk is small. Play around with it for a while before investing in the desktop app. I was hesitant of this app at first; I thought (and still believe) that the desktop app was overpriced, that it lacked value, and that there were numerous alternatives. Now that I have it, it’s hard to regret. I see this as a replacement for the now defunct IdeaPad app by Glowfilter. [I have no idea why IdeaPad was removed from the App Store; a copyright issue, maybe, because of the name?] Day One is clean and fast; 2.4mb and four dollars cheaper than Macjournal for iPhone. It’s also better looking by far. [and I actually really like Mariner Software in general] Keeping a daily journal is one of the best simple things anyone can do. Too often, people make excuses — “I don’t have time,” • “I’m not good at writing.” Those are decent reasons not to blog, but this journal can stay private. It’s straightforward and isn’t intimidating. I’ve never had someone I’ve recommended journaling to ever tell me they’ve regretted it, or that it was a bad idea. I do hear about a lot of false starts, however, and I think Day One is a decent countermeasure. [AND: Maybe my unendorsed glowing (fair and honest) review will convince the developers to give me a copy of the desktop app to try!]

Update on 2011-04-21 10:35 by Bradtastic

I’ve been told that I may have the opportunity to review the desktop app for you guys in the near future (a few weeks or less). Also, after learning more about the app from the developer and @dayoneapp at Twitter, I can confidently say that I believe updates will arrive soon that will make Day One easily worth the $9.99 price.

As it is, if the desktop app is as slick and crash-free as the iOS app, it’s not money poorly spent, I think. If you have the means and desire to toss ten dollars at a cool app to support the development of making said app even cooler, by all means, I won’t argue!

As far as features go, I’ve been told that markdown is on the way.

In addition to that, I would appreciate a separate title field for entries, and reminders (a desktop feature) on the iOS app [though that’s not as big of a deal].

Stay tuned!

Update on 2011-05-10 09:38 by Bradtastic

I have indeed given the Mac OS desktop app a thorough “testing;” I’ve been using the app for over one week now. It is brilliant! The concept behind Day One is something that I’ve come to really love: simple is better. 

It’s not-so-much “less is more” as it is “keep it simple.”

D A Y O N E as they like to write it, is completely different from MacJournal. The iOS app differs from Momento. Day One is focussed—there’s no nonsense, no blogging from within the app, no tagging entries or importing feeds. Day One is a simple, put-your-thoughts-into-it tool. That’s why it is great. 

If you like (or need) that sort of thing, get this app. Even if you think $9.99 might be too much for the desktop counterpart, it’s probably worth it for two reasons: you’ll get your value for money when the app is updated, it’s a small price to pay for a tool you can actually use everyday, quickly. 

Day One is not an app that you feel guilty for ignoring when you need to, and you won’t feel bad about simply writing a few sentences (or phrases even), if that’s what is appropriate—or all you have time for. Day One should absolutely be used with Dropbox; not linking the two is such a waste, since Dropbox is free (or cheap, if you want to pay for it).

NOTE: If you’re concerned about privacy, DAY ONE might not (yet) be for you. The iOS app has password protection, but it’s light, and the data stored isn’t encrypted… and it’s easy to find. The desktop app is far less secure, so: if you think someone will try to snoop, find something else—or censor your writing. But if that’s the case… maybe you have a bigger issue to deal with.

iWeb or Dreamweaver on the iPad and iPhone?

Well, why can't we create websites with some tools from the App Store?

It seems like people have thought of everything else! There's an app for virtually anything, but for programming? What are the choices?

There are a few blogging apps (including the one I'm using now, Squarespace on the iPhone 4) that allow updating, but for coding, the options seem limited. I recently downloaded Gusto for the iPad, created by Horse and the Rook. It's the nicest I've seen so far, but it's far from perfect.

Why hasn't Apple released an iPad version of iWeb?

I'd rather have a mobile Dreamweaver, but hey, WYSIWYG is a start. Freeway by Softpress could become a really great iApp. There's a bunch of sites dedicated to making websites for the iPhone/iPad, but what about making a website on the iPad?

Steve Jobs talked about the iPad being the magical third device — not a desktop replacement, nor notebook. It's certainly better than the netbook, but it could be so much more. The next-gen iPad could have a retina display and cameras built-in, or even 3D... but the quality of the device would still be in the software.

I hope more creators pickup the iPad and iPhone and look at it as a new creative development platform. Sketchbook Pro by Autodesk is a great example of what these mobile devices can be used for. There's no reason these tools couldn't be used by programmers.

Many could benefit from an IOS app that allows the regular person to edit and maintain a website. I think it could also be a goldmine.