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Craig Hockenberry

Do you hate how hard it is to get to System Information now? (System Settings… > General > About > System Report…)

Just hold down the Option key in the Apple menu…

@chockenberry I swear that this is due to the new Apple Department of Breaking Things That Were Once Perfectly Fine. They also screwed up the beep-the-iPhone feature on the Apple Watch that was once found by scrolling down and instead moving it to the side click. Imagine spending your life working at Apple making decisions that screw things up. And don't get me going on the new FaceTime gesture feature in Sonoma that happens to mess up anyone using OBS, Ecamm, Vmix, Streamyard, etc. That's from the other Apple group, the Department of Bumbling Incompetence.

And there is absolutely no one at Apple who listens to this stuff.

@jimcarroll @chockenberry Beep the iPhone is the actual name of that feature. I thought I read that it was coming back to the original location as a setting. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@applewise @chockenberry I guess that decision would have come from the Apple Department of Rectifying and Fixing Previous Stupid US Mistakes.

@chockenberry @davidham So obvious. 🙄

It used to be the case that options and features were primed for discoverability. Not once did I ever feel the need to refer to a manual or instructions.

For a short while though, the OS has gotten quite messy. Beautiful? Yes. Experience? Sub-par (compared to once-held-high Apple standards.)

@titociuro @davidham I’ve been using the Option key to expose advanced settings since 1984. 🤷‍♂️

@chockenberry @davidham Or finding easter eggs in About… boxes, like entering “Antler!” in early versions of Stickies (née Antler Notes) 😉

@chockenberry wow, thank you for sharing! didn’t think of trying the Option Key thing there. This safes me several clicks (way too) often. Thanks again!

@chockenberry Alternatively, System Information can be opened from Spotlight.

@chockenberry The Option key is the Mac's superpower.

@chockenberry Great tip.. It's amazing how many "options" are revealed in Safari that I never noticed til now.

@chockenberry or I just never use Apple. That works for me.

@chockenberry Why does clicking “System Report” launch “System Information”? Shouldn’t they have the same name?

@chockenberry such a great tip. I wonder when Apple added it. I know that it goes back at least Snow Leopard.

@chockenberry It is a shame so much of this is slightly hidden, but Option does a lot more. Option + the function keys will open up the relevant pane in System Settings. With brightness you get display, volume gets you sound, etc, etc.

@tommyp At least it can be accessed via the GUI. There is equally as much, if not more, stuff – like the spacing of menu bar items – even more hidden behind "defaults write".

@chockenberry @gruber For a wonderful period of time it was possible to option click the notification icon at the top right to temporarily hide notifications that built up on the right side of the screen.

In Sonoma, it seems to be back.
Next time you have a cluster of notifications, try option clicking the clock. Then option click it again.

🥳

@chockenberry @gruber 😫 I celebrated and shared too soon.

Option clicking the clock has the desired effect of hiding or revealing on screen notifications, but also turns on Do Not Disturb across all my devices

@chockenberry That’s been there forever. Is it still „About this Mac“ without the option key?

I can’t even remember how else you would get to System Information if not like this…

@chockenberry 20+years using a Mac, and I didn't know the 'option key' trick for menus .... thanks!

@chockenberry I just went through this rigamarole yesterday and thought "boy this is harder than it used to be…" THANK YOU for the tip!

@chockenberry has someone created a website for all the things Option key unlocks? 😅

@mamadlin I have a small collection of hidden stuff in the notes app :)

@chockenberry This has been in macOS for many years.