TinkerTool

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TinkerTool

Known Issues

There are currently no known issues for this product.

Release Notes

A defect of OS X Mountain Lion can cause your user account to lose some or all login item settings when applications change such settings: Current versions of OS X Mountain Lion are affected by a technical defect which can cause your personal login item settings to be damaged when any application other than System Preferences is changing a login item setting and the operating system is restarted after that. The new setting might be ignored, the affected login item might be removed, or even all login items might disappear. This affects all applications different from System Preferences, including Apple's own OS X components, like the Dock. Because TinkerTool is capable of handling login items, it is also affected by this problem.

Workaround: If you used TinkerTool or any other application to change one or more login items on OS X Mountain Lion, always perform the following steps after that before you restart the operating system:

  1. Launch System Preferences.
  2. Go to Users & Groups.
  3. Select the tab item Login Items.
  4. Verify that all login items are set as intended and quit System Preferences.

If you already have lost some login item settings, TinkerTool can help you to restore them in case the login items had been established before you used TinkerTool for the first time:

  1. Launch TinkerTool.
  2. Select the tab item Reset.
  3. Press the button Reset to pre-TinkerTool state. This will automatically restore all your login items as they were at the time when you started to use TinkerTool. NOTE: This step will also reset all the other “pro” settings you may have changed using TinkerTool.
  4. Launch System Preferences as mentioned in the previous paragraph to review your login item settings.

If you have a backup copy of the files of your user account, you can also recover all your login items by restoring the file

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist

to your personal home folder. Also don't forget to review the items with System Preferences after that step to ensure that OS X is not immediately losing them again.

We made Apple aware of this problem and hope they will fix it in future versions of OS X.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is TinkerTool?

TinkerTool is an application which gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications that come with the system.

TinkerTool does not provide any features itself. Its single task is to give you an extended interface to your personal preference settings. The tool will never change anything in the operating system. For this reason, the integrity of your system is not put at risk. All settings are restricted to the user accounts that launch TinkerTool. If you have multiple user accounts on your computer, settings of different users will not affect each other.

The feature set of OS X varies greatly between different operating system versions. For this reason, TinkerTool must automatically adapt to the system it is running on. The settings available in each system version are listed at the official web page.

When you detect a preference setting that causes a compatibility problem with a third-party application, you can simply reset this or all preferences to their previous values.

Can I have a manual for TinkerTool?

There is no documentation other than this English FAQ list. Because TinkerTool doesn't provide any features, there is not much that could be documented. The tool has a single function: If you click on setting “X”, TinkerTool will change your personal preference setting “X”. Apple may change the meaning of setting “X” any time at their own discretion, so we have absolutely no influence on the effects each setting may achieve.

Is TinkerTool compatible with Mac OS X Server?

Yes, there is no difference between Mac OS X and the corresponding version of Mac OS X Server. The Server version only comes with additional administration and service software. So TinkerTool works the same on both system versions. As of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, this behavior is now openly reflected in the user interface and naming scheme. The Server features have just become an “add-on” to the base operating system. OS X Server is no longer considered to be a separate operating system.

What version of TinkerTool should I use for which version of Mac OS X or OS X?

Versions of TinkerTool are not directly related to versions of OS X. TinkerTool uses unique technology to automatically adapt its user interface to the operating system version you are currently running. In addition to that, there are currently three different applications in the TinkerTool series, designed for three product generations of OS X:

Operating System TinkerTool variant

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

 TinkerTool
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
 TinkerTool Classic Generation 2

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar
Mac OS X 10.1 Puma

 TinkerTool Classic

Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah
Mac OS X Public Beta
Mac OS X Server 1.0

 no longer available

 

Could you please add feature “X” to TinkerTool?

In most cases, the answer is no. TinkerTool does not provide any features, so it cannot add any. The features you are seeing are provided by OS X and controlled by Apple. TinkerTool is only a helper application to activate them.

However, if you know an additional built-in preference setting neither accessible in System Preferences nor in TinkerTool, suggestions are welcome. Note that we sometimes have to deny integration of a preference setting because the setting may have a negative effect on some applications (which is the reason why Apple did not make access to this setting publicly available).

I have enabled double scroll arrows at both ends of scroll bars (Snow Leopard only). Why doesn't this work with iTunes?

All recent versions of iTunes use their own user interface which is basically not fully compatible with the original Aqua design of Mac OS X. Unfortunately, iTunes is not capable of supporting the preference setting to display four arrows in scroll bars.

Are there other unexpected issues when using double scroll arrows at both ends of scroll bars. (Snow Leopard only)?

Yes, there are at least two other effects to be aware of: If a scroll bar is so small, that there isn't enough space to display all four buttons, the scroll bar might disappear completely. If you are using Safari 5.0.5 or later, pressing the uppermost scroll button in a window displaying RSS articles may cause Safari to scroll one page down instead of scrolling one line up.

Are there unexpected issues when removing the title bar from QuickTime Player X?

Yes, if you enable the feature “Don't display title bar” in the section “Appearance” of QuickTime Player X, this will have more consequences than just modifying the window display style. QuickTime Player X will enter some kind of restricted “kiosk” mode, additionally blocking some features of the application: You can no longer close open windows without quitting the entire application, and saving the contents of a window to file might also be difficult or impossible.

Are there alternative ways to restart the Finder?

Yes, in up-to-date versions of OS X, you can hold down the option (alt) key while right-clicking the Finder icon in the Dock. An item to restart the Finder will be displayed in the context menu.

There are .DS_Store files everywhere! Has TinkerTool destroyed my system?

No, you just have enabled the Finder's “show all files” option with TinkerTool. The .DS_Store files are created by the Finder during its normal course of operation but they are invisible by default. The Finder will automatically put a .DS_Store file into every folder you have opened. These files are used to save the positions of icons, the size of the respective Finder window, the window's background, and many more view options. While professional users consider the .DS_Store files to be a design flaw of the OS X Finder, a mechanism like this is necessary when opening Finder windows for exchangeable disk media to give former users of the classic Mac OS the same user experience they had in previous operating system versions. If you don't like to see the .DS_Store files, disable the Finder option Show hidden and system files in TinkerTool, or replace the Finder by a better file management application.

Can I use TinkerTool to change fonts in OS X?

No, this has never been a feature of TinkerTool and this would not be a good idea. Applications such as word processing or layout programs would become unusable if TinkerTool would somehow force them to replace given fonts with other fonts.

The pane “Fonts” is designed to change your personal preferred defaults for fonts. Applications designed in a user-friendly way will not request to use a certain pre-specified font for controls in their user interface, they will select one of OS X's nine font categories instead. For example, an application displaying a headline for some controls in a window will not send the request to OS X to use the font “Lucida Grande, bold, 13pt” for this headline. Instead, it will ask OS X to use the system font the user is currently preferring for the display of headlines. This can be any font of your choice, currently set for the category System (headlines) in TinkerTool. The developers of applications determine for each single use of typographic output if they like to use a specific font, “hard-wired” in the application, or if they like to use a generic font, oriented at the user's personal preferences.

Can I use the default font settings to increase the size of fonts?

Yes and no. You can specify a larger font as your preferred default font for a certain usage category, as explained in the previous section. However, this might not be a good idea for certain applications, because you risk that texts will be clipped by surrounding elements, like boxes, buttons, etc. when they are rendered with larger sizes. Parts of the user interface could become unreadable.

The appropriate way to increase the size of fonts is to enlarge all parts of the user interface. This is possible by modifying the rendering resolution of the interface which is normally fixed at 72 pixels per inch. Different versions of OS X have very different features and limitations to do so and such changes cannot be controlled by simple user preferences. For this reason, this cannot be part of TinkerTool. With the limitations defined by each version of OS X, you can control the overall screen scaling factor by our alternative application TinkerTool System Release 2. Please see the official web page for more information.

When specifying preferred fonts, can I use color, shadow, or other effect settings?

No, OS X does not allow this. Although it is possible to control shadows and similar options via the system's font panel, only font type and font size will actually be set. All other settings you can establish for fonts will be ignored.

Can I set a default font for the menu bar?

No, the menu-bar is a component taken over from the classic Mac OS. The predecessor of OS X, NeXT OPENSTEP for Mach, did not use a menu bar. For this reason, OS X never contained a feature to specify a user's default font for the menu bar.

Why is the Safari option Redirect all links opening new windows into foreground tabs missing when I have Safari 5 or later on my computer?

For Safari 5, Apple made this setting official and even further policies have been added. The pop-up button of Safari 5 at Preferences > Tabs > Open pages in tabs instead of windows supersedes the older inofficial setting. TinkerTool is aware of this and disables the previous setting after you have upgraded to version 5 of Safari.

Can I completely disable font smoothing?

No and yes. Although OS X does not support a feature to disable font smoothing generally, you can use the simple trick to set a very high size limit for the smoothing of fonts. If you set the limit to 144 points, basically all fonts in the user interface will no longer be smoothed.

Why can't I disable font smoothing for the standard font of the OS X user interface?

In all current operating system versions, OS X has lost the feature to change the font smoothing settings for the font Lucida Grande, the default font used in most OS X dialog windows. This problem is not restricted to TinkerTool: Apple's original System Preferences application shows the same problem if you are changing the font smoothing limit in the Appearance preference pane. We made Apple aware of this issue, but they don't plan to fix it.

How can I drag Dashboard widgets to my Desktop (Snow Leopard and Lion only)?

To successfully drag a widget to your Desktop please use the following detailed instructions:

Note: If you are using Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, Dashboard widgets are by default on the Desktop already, but on a different space. To make use of the developer mode mentioned here, you might have to switch to conventional Dashboard display mode first: In System Preferences, ensure that the check mark Mission Control > Show Dashboard as a space is not set.

  1. Make sure the option Dashboard: Enable Dashboard developer mode is checked in the Desktop pane of TinkerTool.
  2. Open Dashboard. If you haven't changed the default keyboard settings, this is done by pressing the F12 key.
  3. Select the widget you want to have on your Desktop. Click in the widget and keep the mouse button pressed.
  4. While the mouse button is still hold down, move the mouse slowly and close Dashboard (by pressing F12 again) at the same time.

The standard widgets will disappear but the widget you are moving will stay on screen. When you release the mouse button, you can use the widget like a normal application. To remove the widget from your Desktop, hold down the option (alt) key and move the mouse cursor onto the widget. A close button will appear which allows you to remove the widget.

Won't it be possible to disable Lion's Resume feature completely, in particular the checkbox Reopen windows when logging back in of the shutdown dialog?

Although this seems to be the most hated and most annoying feature introduced with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, there cannot really be a “harmless” way to switch this function off. Apple explicitly designed this feature not to be controllable by permanent user settings. Only manual intervention by the user on each shutdown can temporarily modify this behavior. The reasoning behind this is that Lion should make unattended restarts possible without the user noticing them. For example, an operating system update could be installed automatically at night, and when the user returns the next morning, she can just continue to work because all running applications have been magically restored to their previous state, as if nothing had happened. Unless Apple changes this maintenance strategy of Lion, it won't be possible to permanently disable the reopen-windows-on-login feature without negative side effects. Only drastic measures could circumvent this, e.g. automatically running scripts on each shutdown that delete the user's Resume data. Such destructive manipulations won't become part of TinkerTool, however.

Why are Microsoft® applications not being listed in the table of the Resume pane?

Most Microsoft® applications use their own document handling which is not hundred percent compatible with Resume. For this reason, these applications don't react correctly on official techniques to control the “Restore windows” feature.

I disabled the “Restore windows” feature of a particular application using the Resume pane of TinkerTool. The next time I started the affected application, it still reopened a document. How come?

For technical reasons, the updated setting might not take effect immediately the next time you start the affected application. You have to start and quit the application once to ensure that no windows are being restored.

When using TinkerTool with OS X Mountain Lion, I sometimes have the problem that a setting doesn't seem to “stick”. How can I avoid this?

When you change a preference setting for an application that is currently running, or you logout or restart the system immediately after having modified a default, it can sometimes happen that OS X Mountain Lion is losing your changes. An affected setting doesn't take effect and TinkerTool shows the old state of the preference again.

This effect is based on a bug in OS X Mountain Lion. Not only TinkerTool, but also all other applications that change preference values for other applications (like System Preferences) can be affected. We have made Apple aware of this issue, but they didn't fix it yet. If you have a problem with a setting that doesn't seem to stick, you can usually avoid this by using the following steps:

  1. If possible, quit the application which will be affected by the setting you like to change.
  2. Use TinkerTool to change the setting.
  3. Wait for about 10 seconds. Don't logout, don't reboot, and don't relaunch the application of step (1) during this time.

OS X should now have recorded your changes successfully.

What is the difference between TinkerTool and TinkerTool System?

The applications share the same user interface and internal technologies. However, the features and target group of the applications are very different: TinkerTool is a utility that allows you to set personal preference settings Apple has built into OS X. TinkerTool is not capable of changing any system settings or other settings that may affect more than your private user account. For this reason, you don't need administrative permission to use TinkerTool. The tool can be used in professional networks where you have limited access, for example students working with the campus network.

TinkerTool System on the other hand is directed to system administrators, consultants or experienced users that need to change and optimize operating system settings. This will affect all users that share a computer. Only user accounts with administrative permission can use TinkerTool System, OS X does not allow access by standard users.

The tools do not share any duplicate settings or features. They complement one another, to have the full feature set you'll need both applications. It is not planned to offer the system tool in other languages than English and German.

How can I remove TinkerTool?

Just drag the application to the trash. Because TinkerTool doesn't install or change anything in the operating system, that's all. You might consider resetting OS X's preferences you have changed via TinkerTool to the pre-installation state before removing the tool. (See the next item.)

I used TinkerTool for a while, then I deleted it. But all of its settings are still effective, what should I do?

As mentioned above, TinkerTool just changes user preference settings of OS X. Applications will respect their settings no matter if TinkerTool is on your disk or not. If you want to reset your configuration, just open the Reset pane in TinkerTool, choose one of the reset buttons, log out and log in.

Why did Apple include so many hidden features in OS X?

Of course we cannot officially speak for Apple, but there are several reasons why some built-in preference settings of OS X are usually kept under the hood:

  1. Settings for professional users: Some settings, e.g. the preference to show hidden and system files in the Finder, are official features of OS X but Apple intentionally does not disclose them to normal end users. Those features are documented to developers or to professional users which read the technical manuals of OS X. This way Apple can keep the user interface simple, at the same time not excluding particular user groups from using advanced features.
    Especially in professional networks, system administrators even don't like the graphical user interface but prefer shell scripts and the Terminal command-line. So there are also cases where Apple considers it too costly to develop a graphical user interface, thinking that most users would not use it.
  2. OPENSTEP settings untouched by Apple: Technically seen, OS X is not a successor of Mac OS but of NeXT's operating system OPENSTEP for Mach. This operating system contained several features which are still part of OS X. In some cases, Apple does not want to touch some of the old features, because this could have the risk of unwanted side effects. For this reason, these functions have never been deactivated but are “sleeping” in the OS.
  3. Features hidden for design and marketing reasons: System developers usually think far ahead while designing their applications. For this reason they prepare or implement many features without a direct order. In some cases they “play” with some features or need them for temporary testing purposes. However, superiors or the marketing division might later decide that a feature is “too advanced”, “not needed by most users”, or “doesn't look right”. Because it can be very expensive and time-consuming to remove program code, those functions are only deactivated, not deleted, and we have another “sleeping” feature.

This list of reasons is not necessarily complete. The strategy of hiding built-in features is not unusual, you can see the same on other operating systems as well. For example, Microsoft® had a tool called Microsoft PowerToys (formerly called Tweak UI) which did a similar job on MS-Windows® XP as TinkerTool does on OS X.