Mac: Apple flipped a switch that makes it so your Mac can now automatically download its newest operating system, macOS Sierra. If you're not a fan of this behaviour, it's easy to disable.

Mac: Tracking your various sensors on your Mac is easy enough with a system monitor, but if you're looking for a free and simple option, VitalSigns dumps info from various sensors into your Notification Center.

Mac: You have a ton of great launchers on Mac and even the built-in Spotlight does a good enough job for most of us. If you're looking for something a little different, Lacona is an app currently in beta that takes a natural language input approach.

Mac: Screen savers aren't as exciting as they used to be, but if you're looking to mix things up a little, WebViewScreenSaver allows you to use any web site you want as a screen saver.

Mac: When you move a file to the trash in OS X, you can't open it unless you drag it out of the trash. That's inconvenient sometimes, but as OS X Daily reminds us, you can just use Quick Look to preview the file.

Mac: It's easy to let the number of Mac apps you have open at any given time spin out of control. Quitter is an app from Instapaper developer Marco Arment that will quit or hide any app you want after a period of inactivity.

iPhone/Mac: Ever wonder if someone's trying to guess your password? Or just curious about exactly how often the cat walks on your keyboard? Blink is a little app that will send a notification to your phone when your Mac wakes up or goes to sleep.

Mac: Macs with a Retina display look great, but most of them do not have the power to run games at that incredibly high resolution. While you can usually change the resolution in-game or on a system level, OS X Daily points to a hidden little option that makes all that easier.

Mac: If you use software like iTunes, Spotify or VOX to listen to music on your Mac, then Background Music is a handy little utility that will pause your music when you start up audio in another program (like Chrome), then auto-resume when it's done.

Mac: Crash reports are nearly impossible for most of us to understand, but that doesn't mean you can't make sense of them. Over on MacIssues, they point to a few things to look for in those crash reports on OS X so you can actually figure out the problem.

Nesting folders is one of the simplest, most common ways to organise files. For some bizarre reason, you cannot nest folders in the Apple Notes app on iOS. MacSparky points out that it's possible from the Mac app though.

Mac: Fantastical 2 is a powerful (but pricey) calendar app for Mac, and today it's getting a lot better for business users with complete support for Exchange servers. Alongside that, it comes with a handful of new features for everyone else.

Mac: In old versions of OS X, you could simply drag any icon you wanted into the toolbar to add it. You can still do that, but as Macworld points out, you'll need to hold down the Command key in modern versions of OS X for it work.

Apple has always packed a lot of decent software into OS X, but long time users may remember when the built-in options sucked so much that you had to install basic alternatives, like a PDF reader or image viewer, just to get something that worked well. Times have changed, and if you haven't looked lately, it's time to try a few of those built-in productivity tools again.

Mac: Make a bootable USB flash drive is the easiest (and fastest) way to get the newest version of OS X installed on multiple machines. However, if you still have one sitting around, TidBits found out that an expired certificate file means they won't work any more.

Mac: Gatekeeper is a great way to lock down your Mac so only approved apps can be opened, but sometimes you need to circumvent that restriction. Six Colours points out a handy keyboard shortcut for doing just that.

Mac: iTerm has long been our favourite terminal emulator for the Mac, and over the weekend the next big update entered into public beta. It's packed with a ton of new features.

Mac: QuickTime's a surprisingly versatile little video player included in OS X, but the most recent version tucks away some features that used to be a bit more obvious. Case in point, Mac Issues points out you can Option+click the advancement arrows to get a little more precision.

The startup sound is a Mac's way of letting you know everything is OK, but sometimes, things go bad and you need to boot into a different mode then usual. Mac's have a bunch of options for this, and all they require is that you hold down a keyboard shortcut at boot.