95 INCREDIBLE APP SECRETS Discover the hidden power of your Mac’s built-in tools

Craig Grannell reveals tools and shortcuts that help you get full value from the free apps Apple bundles with every Mac

You would find it difficult not to notice Apple’s fondness for minimalism. After all, it’s not like the iPhone is awash with ports and buttons, and if the new MacBook Pro is anything to go by, all Macs will soon be fitted out with only USB-C and headphone ports, making it rather tricky to plug something into the wrong bit.

In software, it’s a mite tougher to pare things down quite so much; you must strike a balance between making an app accessible and ensuring that it remains intuitive and capable. For the most part, Apple succeeds, but it does sometimes exhibit a tendency to bury important features and interesting settings in places where not everyone would consider looking for them.

This feature is about all these things. We’ll explore the software you get for free with every Mac, and frequently delve into new features introduced in Sierra, as well as long-standing ones that are little-used. The idea is that in spending a short while flicking through these pages, you’ll come out the other side armed with new skills to make working with your Mac faster and more efficient.

Note that for the most part, none of our advice in this feature is especially complex. These tips neither require you to put on your “advanced Mac-head” cap, nor first read a weighty tome on how to use the Mac. Instead, this is about highlighting useful features, options, settings and controls that might have passed you by – but that with a flick of a virtual switch could prove transformative to how you use your Mac.