Apple has always been conservative with its customization options in OS X, but Yosemite lets down its hair a little. Near the top of the General preferences tab you’ll see a checkbox to turn on dark mode, which adds a layer of black paint to the menubar and dock. Now if only OS X 10.11 [...]

Apple hasn't gotten around to adding an LTE chip to our MacBooks, but with Yosemite and an iPhone running iOS 8, you won't need one. When your Mac is within Bluetooth range of your iPhone (and personal hotspot is turned on), you'll see a new network option when you click on the Wi-Fi menu-bar icon. [...]

Apple has integrated iOS and OS X like never before, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Handoff feature. If you're working on something in a supported app on your iPad or iPhone, you'll see an icon appear on the left of the Finder; click on it and your work will instantly be [...]

When our iPhones are in our pockets, we rarely miss a call, but when we’re working at our desks we don’t always hear it buzzing. Yosemite understands this predicament. A notification banner will alert you when a call is coming in on your iPhone, and you can answer it right on your Mac. And you [...]

Back when iOS 8 was released, you might have heard all of the warnings about using iCloud Drive. Once you upgrade to Yosemite, however, there’s no reason not to turn it on. Just head over to System Preferences and flip the iCloud Drive toggle to green and you’ll get access to all of your documents, [...]

Back in the days of iChat, Apple used to allow us to share our screens or let us take control of someone else's, and in Yosemite it's finally bringing the functionality to Messages. Inside the details menu you'll see a new icon that looks like two overlapping squares. Click on it and you'll see two [...]

Whether they're named or not, sometimes you just don't want to be bothered by the incessant back-and-forth of a group message. In Yosemite you won’t have to anymore. Inside the Details window are two ways to put a stop to the distractions: Turn on Do Not Disturb to stop getting notifications every time someone has [...]

When we’re talking with a group of our friends, it’s usually about something specific, and now we can label our conversations accordingly. Click the Details button inside a group message and you’ll see an option to give it a proper name, letting you easily jump to it when you have something new to add. And, [...]

Sometimes words just aren't good enough to express what we want to say, and in Yosemite they don't have to be. Just like in iOS 8, you’ll see a new microphone icon next to the compose window in Messages. Click and you’ll instantly be able to record an audio message and ship it as easily [...]

Messages on Mac does a fine job of syncing our iMessage conversations, but when we’re talking to our Android or Windows Phone friends, we’ve always been forced to use our iPhones. With Yosemite and iOS 8, you can leave your iPhone in its dock: Now, every message you receive will automatically sync with your Mac, [...]