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macOS command-line tools you might not know about

(saurabhs.org)
2039 points Gadiguibou | 10 comments | 27 Jun 23 12:08 UTC | HN request time: 1.28s | source | bottom
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klausa ◴[27 Jun 23 12:42 UTC] No.36491947[source]▶
`pbcopy` and `pbpaste` are one of my most-loved in the list.

Dealing with some minified json, switching to iTerm, doing `pbpaste | json_pp | pbcopy` and having a clean output is _so_ nice.

replies(28): >>36492008 #>>36492015 #>>36492028 #>>36492101 #>>36492108 #>>36492229 #>>36492265 #>>36492890 #>>36492953 #>>36493037 #>>36493127 #>>36493336 #>>36493457 #>>36493802 #>>36494023 #>>36494242 #>>36494325 #>>36495379 #>>36495894 #>>36496866 #>>36497033 #>>36497293 #>>36497589 #>>36497973 #>>36498181 #>>36498558 #>>36498586 #>>36535798 #
mig39 ◴[27 Jun 23 15:26 UTC] No.36494242[source]▶
It's cool to use pbcopy and pbpaste with your phone! Copy some text on the phone, and you can pbpaste it onto the Mac command line. So cool.
replies(1): >>36494515 #
nojs ◴[27 Jun 23 15:46 UTC] No.36494515[source]▶
It creeps me out when the clipboard is unexpectedly shared between my phone and computer. And since the feature seems to turn on randomly but not reliably when I want it to, I’d rather it just didn’t exist.
replies(5): >>36494567 #>>36494594 #>>36494787 #>>36494871 #>>36495265 #
1. andrei_says_ ◴[27 Jun 23 16:07 UTC] No.36494787[source]▶
For me it’s one of the top benefits of the Apple ecosystem.

The only drawback is that yes it only works most of the time. And when it doesn’t I get infuriated.

Glitches happen without any change to settings or network on my side - it works now, and 5 min later doesn’t.

replies(2): >>36495043 #>>36495639 #
2. comprev ◴[27 Jun 23 16:24 UTC] No.36495043[source]▶
Integration is the primary reason I enjoy using Apple ecosystem. My phone, laptop, tablet and watch all work seamlessly together.

I use most of Apple's "built in" applications like Mail, Notes, Photos, etc. with Firefox (instead of Safari) probably the only exception to that.

replies(1): >>36499151 #
3. e28eta ◴[27 Jun 23 16:58 UTC] No.36495639[source]▶
Some of the “not working” cases may be due to the application you’re copying from setting the items as `localOnly`, ex: from a password manager. I don’t have an explanation for other failures.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uipasteboard...

replies(1): >>36500574 #
4. devilbunny ◴[27 Jun 23 21:51 UTC] No.36499151[source]▶
It’s wonderful when it works. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the Watch unlock for my Mac only works ~10% of the time.
replies(1): >>36501016 #
5. andrei_says_ ◴[28 Jun 23 00:16 UTC] No.36500574[source]▶
Yes it’s 1Password. I use the very old, iOS only non subscription version 7.something. But I think sometimes it works (copy from iOS paste on MacOS).
replies(2): >>36501173 #>>36501395 #
6. pram ◴[28 Jun 23 01:12 UTC] No.36501016{3}[source]▶
There’s a fix for it where you remove all the unlock entries in Keychain, and then re-enable it. Only thing that worked for me long term (but it did fix it 100%)

https://georgegarside.com/blog/macos/fix-apple-watch-auto-un...

replies(1): >>36542828 #
7. Ukudala ◴[28 Jun 23 01:34 UTC] No.36501173{3}[source]▶
Wonder how many of us are out there!? Long live this app and workflow, iCloud sync ftw.
replies(1): >>36508570 #
8. e28eta ◴[28 Jun 23 02:02 UTC] No.36501395{3}[source]▶
I’m on the same version of 1password, probably for similar reasons.

In their iOS app, there’s an entry in Settings -> Security -> Allow Universal Clipboard which lets you opt-in to passwords through the clipboard. I suspect there’s something similar on macOS.

9. andrei_says_ ◴[28 Jun 23 16:12 UTC] No.36508570{4}[source]▶
Yes, I use this app multiple times a day, each time with the added satisfaction of knowing I own the app and not a subscription. Even if my credit card expires I will still have access to my passwords.
10. devilbunny ◴[30 Jun 23 21:48 UTC] No.36542828{4}[source]▶
I tried this yesterday. It... helped. But what I've now found is that if I escape out of the password prompt (which will turn the screen off again) and then try to unlock it a second time, the watch unlock will be triggered. I wonder if it's something about waking from sleep. (I also wonder if it would have worked before to do the same thing, but it never occurred to me to try.)