Technologies
10 Mac Hacks You Should Know About
Make life easier with these Mac shortcuts and hidden features.

MacOS is considered easier to use than other operating systems such as Windows and Linux, according to the digital inclusion consultancy Digital Unite. If you’re one of the millions of Mac users, you’ve probably come across a few MacOS features that have surprised you. There are plenty of hidden features in the operating system that Mac users might not know about, like taking a screen recording on your Mac without having to install additional software.


Here are 10 Mac features, tips and tricks you don’t want to miss out on.
Use Split View
Split View lets you have two apps running side-by-side on one Mac screen without having to resize either window. This saves you from switching between apps and losing your place if you’re working in two different programs.
Here’s how to enable and turn off Split View.
1. Open two apps and place them on opposite sides of the screen.
2. In the top left corner of one app’s window, hover over, or click, the green bubble to open a dropdown menu.
3. Select either Tile Window to the Left of Screen or Tile Window to the Right of Screen. That app will fill that side of the screen.
4. Click the other app on the opposite side of the screen for the app to fill the remainder of the screen.
To exit Split View, click the green bubble again or press Esc on your keyboard. This only exits one app from Split View — the other app will now be in full screen mode on its own Desktop.
Force quit with Option
If an app on your Mac has frozen or isn’t working properly, you can use the Option key to quickly force quit the app. Press and hold Option, then in the dock across the bottom of your screen click with two fingers the app causing you issues. Then click Force Quit to shut down the malfunctioning app.
Use Spotlight for conversions and simple math


Spotlight can make conversions and solve simple math problems.
Screenshot by Zach McAuliffe/CNET
You can use your Mac’s built-in Spotlight feature to perform searches as well as conversions or do simple math. To open Spotlight, press Command + space bar or click the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of your screen in the menu bar. Then, type in a math problem or what you want to convert — like gallons to liters — and Spotlight will do the rest. No Google needed.
Try different shortcuts to take a screenshot
Screenshots are an easy way to maintain receipts for digital purchases or have extra copies of tickets for flights or sports games. On a Mac, there are a few different shortcuts to take screenshots.
Pressing Command + Shift + 3 takes a screenshot of your entire screen. This is a useful way to screenshot a video quickly so you don’t miss a frame.
Press Command + Shift + 4 turns your mouse into a crosshair. This lets you click and drag the frame for your screenshot part of your screen or an app’s window.
If you press Command + Shift + 4 and then press your space bar, your mouse turns into a camera icon and it can take screenshots of the window, application or other element your mouse is over. When your mouse is over a specific element for a screenshot, that element will have a light-blue filter over it to show it’s being selected. Taking a screenshot this way also makes the screenshot look cleaner and gives it a nice shadow.


Taking a screenshot of a window makes the image appear cleaner.
Screenshot by Zach McAuliffe/CNET
Easily take a screen recording
Sometimes people learn better by watching a video than reading instructions. In these instances, taking a screen recording is better than any detailed list you might write.
Press Command + Shift + 5, then in the toolbar that appears near the bottom of your screen, click either of the icons highlighted below. The icon with the dashed border on the right will allow you to set a border to what you’re recording, and the icon on the left will record your whole screen. When you’ve selected which you want to use, click Record. To stop recording, click the Stop icon in your Menu bar across the top of your screen, or you can press Command + Control + Esc.


These two icons enable screen recording on Macs.
Zach McAuliffe/CNET
Save screenshots and recordings in a different location
Screenshots and recordings save to your desktop by default, and they can quickly clutter your workspace. But you can choose a new location to save these files so you can keep your desktop nice and tidy. Here’s how.
1. Press Command + Shift + 5.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, click one of the preselected destinations, like Documents or Messages, or Other Location to save your screenshot and recordings somewhere else, like a specific folder.
Easily preview files
If all your files in Finder or on your Desktop are named something similar or look the same, you can preview your content without opening them. Click a file once and then press your spacebar. Your file is now viewable without opening the Preview app. To close the file, press your spacebar again.
You can also quickly view and exit a file by selecting a file, holding the spacebar to preview it and then releasing the spacebar.
Copy text while previewing files
If you’ve got a document or screenshot full of text, you can copy the content from those files while previewing them. Preview the file by selecting it and hitting the spacebar, then move your mouse over what you want to copy and your pointer will transform into the cursor icon. You can now select and copy text like you normally would. This can be especially helpful if you’ve taken a text-heavy screenshot, like a recipe, and want to convert it into a document for better organization.
Write with emoji online and in apps


You can use the emoji keyboard in more places than just your iPhone.
Zach McAuliffe/CNET
Emoji are a fun way to communicate with people in text, online chats and comments. Most people know how to access their emoji keyboard on their iPhone, and you can access the same keyboard on your Mac, too. You can use the emoji keyboard in certain apps, like Notes, social media chats online and search tools, like Google. However, this doesn’t seem to work on certain sites, like Google Docs.
To access the emoji keyboard in most places on your Mac, click into a text box or other location you’d type a message and press either Function — the Fn key — or Control + Command + spacebar. Both will pull up your emoji keyboard where you can search for the emoji you want, as you would on your phone.
Easily rename files
Renaming files can help keep your folders organized and easily searchable. To easily rename items, select a file and press Return. The file name will be highlighted and you can start typing your new file name.
For more Apple news, check out what’s new on your iPhone with iOS 16.4, the highs and lows of Apple’s Classical Music app and the rumors around Apple’s AR/VR headset.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, April 5
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 5.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword took me a while, and not just because Saturday’s puzzle always has a few extra clues. There are some toughies in this list. 6-Down especially will test your knowledge of the animal kingdom. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Cummerbund, e.g.
Answer: SASH
5A clue: Cheese-covered chip
Answer: NACHO
6A clue: Singer in a synagogue
Answer: CANTOR
7A clue: Like decision-making in a hierarchical organization
Answer: TOPDOWN
8A clue: Where a browser might get cookies?
Answer: BAKERY
9A clue: Mixes, as a drink
Answer: STIRS
10A clue: 10 in a lane
Answer: PINS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Politician on a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour with Ocasio-Cortez
Answer: SANDERS
2D clue: The first «A» of SAG-AFTRA
Answer: ACTORS
3D clue: Flamboyant
Answer: SHOWY
4D clue: Unicorn’s defining feature
Answer: HORN
5D clue: Lap protector
Answer: NAPKIN
6D clue: Raccoon-like mammal of South America
Answer: COATI
7D clue: 1/16 of a cup: Abbr.
Answer: TBSP
How to play more Mini Crosswords
The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
Technologies
Trump Gives TikTok Another 75 Days to Strike a Sale
The president says he’s signing an executive order to push back enforcement of the ban again, pushing back the previous deadline of Saturday.

President Donald Trump is giving TikTok more time to sell its US operations, saying that «tremendous progress» has been made toward a deal and pushing off enforcement of a ban that was set to kick in Saturday.
In a Friday afternoon Truth Social post, Trump said that despite that progress, the deal still needs more work, so he’s signing an executive order giving TikTok 75 more days, taking the deadline out to June 19. The move prevents the wildly popular video app from potentially going dark in less than a day.
Trump went on to say that his administration will continue to work with China and credited the tariffs he enacted earlier this week, calling them «the most powerful economic tool» and «very important» to national security.
«We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark,'» Trump said in his post. «We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.»
Both TikTok and the Chinese government have long opposed a sale of the company’s US operations and it remains unclear as to if their positions have changed. TikTok didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
Read more: TikTok Backups: 6 Similar Apps for Your Daily Dose of Fun
China on Friday reacted to the tariffs Trump spoke of by matching them with its own on US goods, escalating the trade war between the two countries and sending stock markets around the world tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 2,200 points and the Nasdaq composite lost 5.8% in afternoon trading — its biggest drop in five years.
The TikTok ban delay wasn’t unexpected. Several potential bidders for TikTok’s US operations have made their interest known in just the past few days, and Trump has been meeting with administration officials this week to discuss possible deals and ownership structures.
According to recent reporting by The New York Times, one plan included private equity firm Blackstone and the tech company Oracle, while another involved a last-minute bid from Amazon.
Lawmakers in both political parties have long voiced concerns that TikTok could be a threat to national security and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to further China’s agenda. TikTok continues to deny those accusations.
The law requiring the sale was passed by Congress last year with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. Free speech and other groups sued to overturn the law on First Amendment grounds, but it was upheld by the US Supreme Court in January.
So what’s next for TikTok? Here’s what you need to know.
What does the law do?
The law aims to force TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell to a buyer American officials are OK with and guarantee that ByteDance no longer has access to US user data or control over the TikTok algorithm.
TikTok was given nine months to comply, hence the original Jan. 19 sale deadline, at which point the government could require the removal of its app from US app stores and that other tech companies stop supporting the app and website.
TikTok shut down in the US the night of Jan. 18, citing the ban, but came back online the next morning after Trump made assurances that he would not immediately enforce it. Trump later formalized that promise by signing an executive order that directed the attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days, effectively moving the deadline to April 5.
The new executive order pushes the deadline back to June 19, which is Juneteenth, a federal holiday.
Read more: TikTok Loves to Give Financial Advice. But Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
What’s Trump’s take?
After originally calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he wasn’t in favor of one and pledged to «save TikTok,» though he didn’t specify how he’d do that.
Trump told the press on Sunday that «there’s tremendous interest in TikTok.» He added that he would «like to see TikTok remain alive.» The president also said that «we have a lot of potential buyers» and that his administration is «dealing with China,» which has long opposed a sale.
On March 26, Trump said he would consider lowering tariffs on Chinese goods if that country’s government approved a sale of TikTok’s US operations. He also at that time reiterated his willingness to push the deadline back if needed.
Trump also has floated the idea of the US taking a 50% stake in the company as part of a joint venture, but hasn’t given specifics as to how that would work.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew was one of several high-profile tech executives to attend Trump’s inauguration in January, just hours before Trump would sign the order granting the 75-day extension.
Previous to that, during a press conference in December, Trump pointed to the role TikTok played during the election, crediting it with helping him pick up the votes of young people.
«TikTok had an impact, and so we’re taking a look at it,» Trump said. «I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart. I’ll be honest.»
Technologies
Marvel Rivals Season 2: Here Are Emma Frost’s Abilities
Emma Frost is joining the Rivals roster in season 2 as a vanguard with a set of abilities that change depending on her form.

Marvel Rivals players are getting invited to the shores of Krakoa for the start of season 2 on April 11. The game dropped the first trailer for the new season, giving us our first official look at the new heroes, and a developer vision video dropped major news about the future of hero releases.
The trailer features Emma Frost, wearing slightly more clothes than usual, inviting people from across Rivals’ various timelines to the mutant nation of Krakoa, where everyone gets dressed up for a fancy gala — even Wolverine puts on a white tux. The event, however, is unceremoniously interrupted when Ultron shows up preaching extermination.
Emma Frost abilities revealed
Emma Frost joins the roster as a vanguard who can project a shield forward, give herself damage reduction by going into her diamond form and also choke-slam people while insulting them. We got a glimpse at her abilities in her hero trailer and a streamer event on Friday confirmed her full kit.
In Frost’s default form, her primary fire is a beam with damage that ramps up over time and her alternate fire projects a barrier forward. In her normal form, Frost has a Psychic Spear ability that pulls an enemy’s sentience into a crystal form, damaging them by attacking and shattering the crystal.
However, all of these abilities change when Frost transforms into her diamond form, which gives her damage reduction and makes her unstoppable. In diamond form, her primary fire turns into a punch and her alt fire kicks enemies back, dealing extra damage if they hit a wall. Diamond-form Frost can no longer attack people’s sentience but she can lunge forward to grab enemies and slam them into the ground.
Her Psyonic Seduction ultimate has different effects. It damages and stuns enemies in range and locks them out of activating ultimate abilities. Additionally, enemies who are caught in the blast for long enough will be psychically compelled to move toward Frost, making it easier for her to grab them, kick them, slam them, etc. Rivals devs have seen the players’ thirst and seem to be leaning heavily into it.
Ultron is coming in the season 2.5 update, which should be in late May.
Team-up changes and other season 2 balance adjustments
Some team-ups are changing in season 2, including three new team-up abilities that were previewed in the newest developer vision video.
- Emma Frost allows Magneto and Psylocke to create illusions of themselves.
- Doctor Strange teams up with Scarlet Witch allowing her to use small portals to seemingly increase her damage output via a rapid-shooting alternate fire.
- Cap finally teams up with Bucky, allowing the Winter Soldier to leap to allies.
A few existing team-ups are getting adjustments, with Psylocke, Winter Soldier and Doctor Strange being removed from older team-ups in favor of new ones, and Namor is moving from working with Luna’s anchor to Hulk’s to empower his squids with gamma energy. Two team-ups are being removed entirely: Magneto can no longer team up with Scarlet Witch, and Thor is no longer anchoring Cap and Storm.
Rivals announced the full list of season 2 balance changes, including buffs to Peni, Mister Fantastic and Moon Knight, with Strange losing some damage for more survivability (via his new anchor buff) and Rocket getting several adjustments, while Loki and Adam Warlock receive nerfs to their Regeneration Domain and Soul Bond abilities.
Future seasons will be shorter, which means more new heroes
One of the most surprising moments in the developer video was the announcement that, beginning with season 3, seasons will be two months long instead of roughly three. There has been a lot of discussion online about whether Rivals’ pace of new heroes (about eight per year based on three-month seasons) was sustainable. Well, apparently the Rivals devs took that personally and are cranking up that pace to a new hero every month, meaning 12 new heroes per year.
This feels borderline ludicrous compared with other hero shooters that average about three new heroes per year, or even MOBAs like League of Legends, which has averaged about four new champions per year in the past five years. Rivals benefits from having an overflowing stable of Marvel characters to pull from rather than inventing their own hero concepts, and compared with Overwatch, the developers seem less worried about mechanical overlap in their heroes, as seen with many support ultimates. Still, a new hero every month feels unheard of for a hero shooter.
New Krakoa map and competitive changes
Season 2 is adding two new maps, including a Krakoa-themed domination map at the season’s start. Yggsgard: Royal Palace (domination) and Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya (convergence) will rotate out of the map pool for ranked modes, though they’ll still be available in quick play and custom games.
The threshold for competitive picks and bans, which currently only happen in diamond-ranked lobbies, will be lowered to gold 3. Players in Eternity or One Above All ranks will only be able to duo queue, instead of queuing with larger groups — a measure that’s likely intended to keep high-level teams from stomping lobbies.
Speaking of ranks, season 2 will drop everyone by 9 divisions, which is equal to 3 ranks. That means players in Eternity will drop to diamond, and any players at platinum 3 or below will start their climb from bronze 3 again. (AGAIN… AGAIN.)
Rivals developers also announced that individual player performance will be weighted higher when determining competitive progress after a match, meaning if your stats outperform your team’s, you’ll earn more for winning and drop less for losing. This change can help elevate smurfs and other high-skill players in lower-ranked lobbies by getting them into their appropriate ranks faster. However, it can also lead to players stat-farming, instead of playing in a way that is most effective for winning games. Overall, given that Rivals doesn’t use any sort of competitive placement matches, this should be a net positive for the game.
Other announcements
Rivals is adding new skin recolors to certain hero skins and (finally) giving players the option to gift costumes to their friends so they can surprise someone for their birthday, which you definitely did not forget about.
Missions are changing a bit, with the addition of weekly missions and a redistribution of where battle-pass-progressing chrono tokens are earned. The devs framed this as creating a «smoother expectation» of how to earn chrono tokens, but the surface-level description sounds like they’re just making it harder to earn battle pass progress over the season by tucking away more progress under missions with shorter time limits.
The developer vision update also gave us our first look at the competitive distribution, showing how many Rivals players are in each tier as of season 1.5.
The Hellfire Gala trailer says season 2 will start on April 11 UTC. While it doesn’t give a specific start time, expect the between-seasons maintenance to finish sometime in the middle of the night in the US.
For more on Marvel Rivals, check out which heroes and roles you should play and how to get free skins.
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