Since joining team Realmac this summer I’ve learned many new tips and tricks from my colleagues that further improve my experience with OS X. I’ve also managed to share some tips of my own and would like to share those with you too.

Now, if you’re not too busy playing with your iPhone 5, let’s get back to the Mac!

Bluetooth Favourites

Using multiple Bluetooth devices and maintaining the connections between them can be annoying. Period.

One of the most common hardware complaints I hear is when someone boots up their Mac only to have to continuously toggle their Magic Trackpad or Wireless Keyboard on and off because they don’t connect automatically. This was a problem that used to annoy me too, until I stumbled upon Bluetooth Favourites.

Setting a Bluetooth device, like a Magic Trackpad, as a Favourite ensures your Mac remembers to automatically connect to the device on startup or when awaking from Sleep.

Stick to the following steps when adding a Bluetooth device as a favourite:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Bluetooth [under Internet & Wireless]
3. Select the desired Bluetooth device in the left hand side of the window
4. Click the cog icon at the bottom of the left pane and select Show More Info
5. Click this cog icon again and select Add to Favorites

This can also save your Bluetooth device from disconnecting when your Mac is in Sleep mode. However, there’s another step you can take to ensure that your devices don’t easily disconnect from your sleeping Mac.

1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Bluetooth
3. Ensure Bluetooth is On
4. Select Advanced…
5. Enable the preference Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer

Of course, these tips help to improve connection but I can’t promise they’ll work 100% of the time. In the unlikely event that your Bluetooth device can’t connect to your Mac after following these tips, remember to check the batteries!

Discreet Volume Adjust

Have you ever had your focus knocked by a co-worker constantly fiddling with the volume on their Mac? If yes, then you’ll appreciate this tip so that you can politely show them how to be more discreet. If not, then your co-workers will appreciate it if you adopt this one!

The default volume adjust sound in OS X is really useful in its own right so it’s worth not disabling it completely. However, if your Mac’s sound output is connected to an AirPlay device, it can be pretty off-putting to others if you’re constantly popping the volume up and down.

Holding Shift while adjusting the volume on your Mac keyboard mutes the audio indication. An on-screen graphical representation is still shown and, of course, your ear will let you know when you’ve got the background music level just right!

If you decide that you really want to mute the default volume adjust sound on a permanent basis, follow the steps below:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Sound
3. Select the Sound Effects tab
4. Uncheck Play feedback when volume is changed

Bonus Tip #1: Fast Audio Output Switching

I love being as productive as possible and if there’s a more efficient way to do something I’ll definitely give it a go. One such example of this is choosing to bypass System Preferences when switching the audio output device on my Mac.

Simply hold Option and select the volume icon in the menu bar to bring up a menu that allows you to quickly switch your audio output to AirPlay devices, speakers on a connected external display or simply route the audio back through your Mac’s internal speakers.

Holding Option while clicking other menu bar icons such as Wi-Fi, Battery and Bluetooth shows additional options and info that could be useful to you. Go take a look for yourself and see what handy things you may discover.

Bonus Tip #2: Incremental Level Adjust

If you’re like me and fussy about those little details, you may have found yourself wanting greater control when adjusting the volume level or display brightness on your Mac? If so, simply hold Option+Shift while adjusting volume (F11/12) or display brightness (F1/F2).

This allows you to adjust levels across 64 increments instead of the default 16 giving you that finer level of control. This also works while adjusting the brightness of your backlit keyboard (F5/F6).

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Hopefully this post has taught you something new or helped you remember a tip that you’d forgotten. Please feel free to give me a shout, I’m @hamishmcneill on Twitter or leave a comment below if you’ve got any tips of your own that you’d like to share. They may even make it in to my next post!

Please note that some of the tips above are for 10.7.4+ only.