Customizing A Mac Desktop

Apple iOS and Mac have been created as Proprietary Languages, and have been some of the most closely guarded codes since their release. While vast numbers of apps are available, they are mostly server-side, and customization is generally frowned on client-side. Mojave is the latest release for MacOS on Desktops, and their Fifteenth overall. Mojave has introduced a number of spectacular enhancements, but customization is not one of them. So the following Guide, on how to customize mac desktop, may be quite useful.

Personalize Your Mac

An Apple security feature called SIP (System Integrity protection) prevents deep system changes to customize Mac desktops for personalizing. Comparatively small surface changes are therefore possible only. Here are some easily followed tips on how to customize mac desktop:

  • Adding Spacers to the Dock: After use over a period, any Mac dock gets cluttered with app icons. Invisible tiles can be added as Spacers, or removed at will, by dragging them from the dock. The trick to creating a blank tile, ia to open up Terminal, and enter a suitable command. On execution of command, the dock will first disappear momentarily, then reappear with the invisible tile loaded to create a space.
  • Hot Corners: The User should navigate to Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane, then click on Screen Saver tab. An option called “Hot Corners” is revealed, which can use the four corners of the Screen to initiate certain actions, such as Launch Pad , Notification Centre, and so on. Features can now be activated as desired.
  • Autochange Wallpaper: The Apple symbol at the top left of the menu bar may be used, or, alternatively, the Command Space may be pressed to bring up Spotlight and entering Desktop, to make the selection desired. Random Order box can be used if random change of Wallpaper is desired. Or any folder on the Mac may be used, provided it holds ,more than one image
  • Color Scheme Changes: The MacOS Scheme of Color may not suit the preferences of the User, and the User may desire to change the Highlight from the standard blue to any other color for emphasis. The thong to do is to first navigate to open System Preferences-General. Change the Highlight Color to a color preferred, from the eight colors offered, or use “other” to select any color from the Color Picker.
  • Dock Magnification: Dock magnification is generally not enabled initially, so first the Apple Symbol (at the top left corner of the menu bar) must be clicked, and Dock selected. Then “Turn Magnification On” must be clicked. The option to hide the Dock is also given, and this maximizes screen space. The Dock can be shown by moving the cursor to that part of the screen where the Dock resides. The location of the Dock may be reversed from left to right corner, where it becomes 2D. This is very useful on Laptops with small screens.
  • Menu Bar Time: The Menu bar Time can be made to display seconds and a date as well as Time. To do this, skip to Clock tab, change time from Digital to Analog, display Time with seconds, then use a 24-hour clock to display AM or PM. The day of the week, date, and intervals may also be displayed.
  • Battery Percentage and Life Time: For the smaller screens of devices like the Laptop, the battery Indicator on the menu bar is often nothing more than an icon, but this is not enough. So one neds to Plug in, select Show Percentage, and then inplug Mac’s charging adapter and test instruments to provide this function continuously. For Battery Remaining function, one needs to use a third party utility called Battery Time Remaining (obtainable on GitHub).
  • App Icon Changes: this can be done simply enough on an icon from the internet that is a .icns file. Please note that .png files do not have transparent backgrounds, and so cannot be changed like this. Then select the app to be modified, and click “Get Info” or the keyboard combination of Command-I. Finally click the small icon on the top left hand corner of the app, and click Command-V to paste the new icon. However, to remove a custom icon, select the small one in the Get Info window, and click the Delete key on the keyboard.
  • Setting Regional Variations: the Time Format may change from country to country. The ISO standard allows both Ascending and Descending formats. It can also vary from Region to Region. The Language & Text pane of System Preferences may be entered, and the Region tab clicked. There is a plethora of things that can be done, from chhosing which day to start the week on, to changing Date Format altogether.

So now, the user can start adding customization tricks on his own.…