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Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

By: Dave Hamilton Pilot Pete & Adam Christianson
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 Get answers to your Apple tech questions every week! Dave Hamilton, Adam Christianson, and Pilot Pete share tips, tricks, and troubleshooting advice for your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and more — all delivered in a fun, friendly way that helps geeks and everyday users alike. Don’t Get Caught without your tech working right!The Mac Observer, Inc. 2026 Politics & Government
Episodes
  • That’s Not Multitasking, That’s Cheating

    That’s Not Multitasking, That’s Cheating
    Mar 2 2026
    You drop into an iMessage quick tip and quickly branch into a whole toolkit for running your Apple life smarter. You learn faster ways to edit messages, how Slack’s up-arrow muscle memory carries over, and why platforms limit your edit window. From there, the show rolls into clever NFC and QR workflows for appliance manuals, Time Machine fixes over SMB on Synology, and a deep dive on spam and email hygiene: Fastmail’s undelete safety net, SaneBox’s smart filtering, Apple Mail’s categories, plus when to reach for SpamSieve or even your own chatbot to watch junk folders so you Don’t Get Caught losing important mail. The crew also compares real‑world email providers, DNS setups (Cloudflare, Google, Quad9), and router‑level changes that stabilize your network. You get a reality check on legacy cruft—Trip Mode, MacFUSE, ancient launch agents—still loading after years of Migration Assistant, and how tools like Lingon and CleanMyMac help you audit what’s secretly running. On the fun-and-productivity side, you hear honest impressions of Apple Vision Pro: tabletop-style multiplayer games like Demeo, surprisingly usable virtual desktops, the importance of dual straps and decent cases, and when to skip hotel Wi‑Fi in favor of hotspots or a UniFi travel router so your Macs, iPads, and headsets all “think” they’re at home. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1131 for Monday, March 2nd, 2026 March 2nd: National Banana Cream Pie DayMGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba!Congrats to February’s winners!The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Fernando-QT-Command+E lets you edit your most recent iMessage on the Mac00:07:39 Ian-QT-Put NFC Tags or QR Codes on your tools with links to user manuals iFixIt Repair Guides and Manuals 00:11:03 That’s not Multitasking, That’s Cheating00:13:16 Ben-QT-Select & Move Junk Mail Without Displaying its Content Private Internet Access hides you from spammers 00:15:03 Ernesto-How do you deal with spam email? SaneBox 00:25:20 Fastmail DOES offer a restore-from-backup option00:27:13 Build domain-specific rules to filter spam SpamSieve 00:31:34 David-Which email provider do you use? Dave – Fastmail and GmailAdam – Gmail/Google and iCloudPete – Bluehost and iCloud 00:34:42 Migrating mail to a new provider Sponsors 00:38:24 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG00:39:54 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. Audit your apps, Login Items, and Launch Agents 00:41:22 Pilot Pete-QT-MacOS 26 How I Fixed My Time Machine Backups on Synology after Tahoe00:44:53 Tanel-DGC-Be aware of what you installed years ago MacFUSECleanMyMacLingon 00:54:10 Will-QT-DNS Adjustment fixes Hinky Internet (That’s a Technical Term!) Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1Google DNS: 8.8.8.8Quad9: 9.9.9.9OpenDNS What do you use for Wi-Fi in Hotel Rooms? 01:00:13 UniFi Travel Router01:02:15 Tethering to your iPhone Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 01:06:40 Rob-How do you like your Apple Vision Pro? How do you use it? Demeo on Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest, and moreSyntech Apple Vision Pro CaseBelkin Case for Apple Vision Pro 01:22:06 MGG 1131 Outtro MGG Monthly GiveawayBandwidth Provided by CacheFlyPilot 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) PodcastsMGG Merch is Available!Mac Geek Gab YouTube PageMac Geek Gab Live CalendarThis Week’s MGG Premium ContributorsMGG Apple Podcasts Reviewsfeedback@macgeekgab.com224-888-GEEKActive MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes ListBackBeat Media Podcast Network
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • My Chatbot Ate My Inbox

    My Chatbot Ate My Inbox
    Feb 23 2026
    You start this episode leveling up your daily workflows with fast, memorable tweaks: styling text in Notes with a long press, dropping today’s date into Google Sheets with a quick shortcut, testing your real-world network speed from the Mac, and turning any clipboard grab into a Preview window so you can annotate or export in a flash. You also learn that canceling an in‑app subscription doesn’t instantly nuke Family Sharing, why Safari’s pinned tabs might be quietly chewing resources, and how to right-size your browser use so it serves you instead of hijacking your Mac. From there, you dive into practical tools for real life: apps to tame your family’s book library, a screensaver utility that slows things down, and current router picks spanning UniFi, TP-Link Wi‑Fi 7 options, Eero, and Orbi so your network actually matches your workloads. You hear how to orchestrate multiple AI agents, safely archive and truly back up your mail, and keep your own chatbot from eating your inbox, plus Cool Stuff Found like Omerta, YouTube on Apple Vision Pro, and more—because in the Apple tech world, as in life, Don’t Get Caught without the right tools and backups in place. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1130 for Monday, February 23rd, 2026 February 23rd: Pinocchio DayMGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money!Congrats to January’s winner, Amanda Colyer!The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Tom-QT-Long-press Aa in iPhone Notes to choose text styles00:05:03 Avraham-QT-Use Command-Semicolon to enter current date into Google Sheets00:06:46 Russell-QT-Use your Mac’s networkQuality to test your speed00:10:30 Rob-QT-Paste Clipboard into Preview with Command-N00:11:54 QT-You don’t immediately lose Family Sharing when you cancel an in-app subscription On the subject of browsers… 00:13:28 Allison-1128-Safari’s Pinned Tabs can be resource hogs00:17:18 How much are you using your browser these days, anyway? Sponsors 00:19:30 SPONSOR: Tempo. For a limited time, Tempo is offering my listeners SIXTY PERCENT OFF your first box! Go to TempoMeals.com/MGG.00:20:58 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout.00:22:30 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:23:58 Alan-What software exists to catalog my family’s book library? CLZ BooksLibibBookBuddySofaTap Forms ProGoodreads 00:31:22 Ken-How do I slow down my Mac’s screensaver? ArtSaver 00:34:54 Phillip-Which router do you recommend today? UCG MaxTP Link Wi-Fi 7 Deco BE67 (or BE68 at Best Buy)TP Link BE63 (also Wi-Fi 7)Eero Pro 7Orbi Wi-Fi 7 Reviews 00:45:40 Manhattan Glen-MGG Review-Great Show AI Learned Something! … or … AIn’t It Cool? (Ok, obviously we need a segment name for our AI talk) 00:48:49 William-How do I set up multiple AI agents for my task?00:55:05 Todd-QT-Use Perplexity’s website to download files it has created00:57:09 Your mail might not be as backed-up as you think MailSteward 01:06:57 My Chatbot ate my Inbox OpenClaw Cool Stuff Found 01:16:53 ATC-CSF – Omerta – Don’t Get Caught01:19:42 Eakster-CSF-YouTube for Apple Vision Pro is here! 01:23:18 MGG 1130 Outtro MGG Monthly GiveawayBandwidth Provided by CacheFlyPilot 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) PodcastsMGG Merch is Available!Mac Geek Gab YouTube PageMac Geek Gab Live CalendarThis Week’s MGG Premium ContributorsMGG Apple Podcasts Reviewsfeedback@macgeekgab.com224-888-GEEKActive MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes ListBackBeat Media Podcast Network
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • Shaving With Occam's Razor

    Shaving With Occam's Razor
    Feb 16 2026
    You get a firehose of genuinely useful Apple tips this week, starting with new muscle-memory moves you’ll actually use: cycling app windows with Cmd + `, nodding or shaking to answer AirPods, dragging apps straight from iOS search, and building Focus-specific home screens so the right icons appear at the right time. Edge Light turns your Mac into a cleaner on‑camera rig, Display Buddy tames external monitor brightness, and custom macOS keyboard shortcuts plus Dock CPU meters give you fast, surgical control over your Mac. Then you level up your living room: master the Apple TV remote’s scrub wheel, undo accidental scrubs, jump in precise increments, push video from iPhone to Apple TV, and fling audio to HomePod with a tap. Even Reminders gets a glow‑up so you can punt a pile of alerts in one shot instead of playing whack‑a‑mole. From there, you zoom out to “meta” geekery: backing up critical Notes (or moving to OneNote, Ulysses, or Obsidian), even flirting with a git repo to sync prefs and personal data like a developer. On the road, you learn how to keep CarPlay tappable with gloves, and in the cloud you explore why chatbots forget context, when to bring in tools like Claude, Perplexity’s Comet, Atlas, Gemini, or Claude’s Chrome extension, and how having an always‑on troubleshooting assistant changes how you work. Listener reviews cap it off by framing the show as a kind of PhD in troubleshooting, all so you can experiment, push your tech harder, and, of course, don’t get caught.​ 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1129 for Monday, February 16th, 2026 February 16th: Innovation DayMGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money!Congrats to January’s winner, Amanda Colyer!The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Michael Ilin-QT-Press Cmd + ` to cycle all windows of that app00:03:06 PilotPete-QT-Nod or Shake to answer your AirPods00:05:49 Clif-QT-Relocate iOS apps by dragging from search results Eufy Smart ScaleWithings Sleep Pad 00:07:47 Different home screens for different Focus Modes00:11:16 QT-Use Edge Light for video calls in macOS 26.2-and-later00:16:17 Use Display Buddy to control the brightness of your screen00:18:09 Russell-QT-Map your own keyboard shortcuts in macOS settings Brave Browser’s LEO AI 00:23:03 The value of an always-on troubleshooting assistant Eney 00:26:32 Doug-QT-Set Activity Monitor to show CPU Usage in Dock00:30:40 Apple TV Remote Quick Tip Masterclass EyeDentify-QT-Undo Accidental Scrubs on Apple TVUsing the Apple TV remote’s scroll-wheel emulator to scrub in a fine-tuned wayDouble-tap scroll wheel edges to jump forwards or backwardsUse Siri Commands, too 00:35:16 Dom Bettinelli-QT-Tap iPhone to Apple TV remote to transfer video to Apple TV00:37:15 Tap your iPhone to your HomePod to transfer audio00:37:45 Jeepster-QT-Procrastinate Multiple Reminders at Once Sponsors 00:41:17 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK Don’t Get Caught 00:43:56 Steve-DGC-1128-Duplicate important Notes as backup Microsoft OneNoteUlyssesObsidian 00:54:56 What about a git repo to sync… prefs, notes, whatever? Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:55:53 Steve Hammond-How can I control CarPlay with gloves on? Capacitive Gloves for Screens and Phones 01:00:30 DJ Mac-ChatGPT and others regularly forget what I’ve told them Try claude.ai/giggab for half-price Claude Pro 01:08:16 William-1128-How do I get my browser to surf for me? Perplexity – Comet browserChatGPT – ChatGPT Atlas browserGemini – Gemini in ChromeClaude – Claude in Chrome extension Reviews 01:15:08 gdubs-MGG Review-A PhD in troubleshooting01:16:08 michaefs-MGG Review-A great podcast01:16:57 d32bus-MGG Review-Excellent show 01:17:39 MGG 1129 Outtro MGG Monthly GiveawayBandwidth Provided by CacheFlyPilot 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) PodcastsMGG Merch is Available!Mac Geek Gab YouTube PageMac Geek Gab Live CalendarThis Week’s MGG Premium ContributorsMGG Apple Podcasts Reviewsfeedback@macgeekgab.com224-888-GEEKActive MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes ListBackBeat Media Podcast Network
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    1 hr and 25 mins
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