Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting Cool Stuff Found While Surfing with Agentic Browsers
This week on Mac Geek Gab 1128, you dive into a treasure chest of Cool Stuff Found with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton. From DockLock Lite keeping your Dock in check to Backdrop 2.0’s animated lock screens and BookMacster’s bookmark magic, you’ll uncover smart Mac tricks you didn’t know you needed. The geeks take a nostalgic tangent into podcasting history before jumping into the now: Agentic browsers like ChatGPT’s Atlas and Perplexity’s Comet that are reshaping how you browse today. Safari killing your Tahoe? Find out why Apple’s AI choices might change how your Mac thinks.
Then it’s back to more gems: Bootable clones return with SuperDuper, World Clock Widget makes global time simple, and Fastmail’s new desktop app joins BusyCal and Fantastical in taming your digital life. You’ll also learn how not to get caught with Apple Notes overwriting your data (keep the app open until it syncs!). Wrapping up, apps like Pixeldrop, Shutter Declutter, and Brick help you tidy photos, redact safely, and silence distractions. Plus, creative NFC tag hacks that make your smart home even smarter. As always, the MGG crew makes sure you Don’t Get Caught.
- 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1128 for Monday, February 9th, 2026
- February 9th: National Clean Out Your Computer Day
- MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money!
- Congrats to January’s winner, Amanda Colyer!
- The MGG Merch Store is Live!
- Cool Stuff Found
- 00:00:01 Bruce-CSF-Neo Network Utility
- 00:03:30 Oskar-CSM-Backdrop 2.0 adds Custom Live Wallpapers to the macOS Lock Screen
- 00:04:53 Pensacola Craig-CSF-DockLock Lite to keep your Mac’s Dock from jumping
- 00:06:11 Jim-CSF-1118–BookMacster by Sheep Systems to edit, sort, and sync bookmarks across browsers
- 00:08:26 Tangent: A discussion about how podcasting (and Maccast and Mac Geek Gab) got started
- 00:13:35 PilotPete-CSF-ChatGPT Atlas Browser
- 00:15:00 Using Agentic Browsers is not the future…it’s the present!
- 00:26:04 And Safari might be killing your Tahoe
- 00:28:48 AI integrated into your operating system
- Apple needs to choose wisely
- 00:35:47 CSF-Eney Beta from MacPaw
- Sponsors
- 00:37:21 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout.
- 00:39:42 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG
- MOAR Cool Stuff Found
- 00:41:32 Bruce-CSF-1127–ClipGrab to download YouTube videos (free download)
- 00:42:54 Kirschen-CSF-KeyClu replaces CheatSheet
- Use Brew! brew install –cask keyclu
- 00:45:25 Larry-CSF-SuperDuper WILL do bootable Clones on macOS 26
- Using CCC Backup to create legacy bootable copies of macOS
- Idea: create a bootable external and stop once macOS is installed, leaving it ready for Migration Assistant (or anything else)
- 00:52:36 Andrew-CSF-World Clock Widget app
- 00:56:33 David-CSF-Fastmail Desktop App for Mac
- Don’t Get Caught with notes Syncing
- 01:01:42 DGC-Apple Notes only syncs when the app is open on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- This can lead to sync overwrites if one device makes a change without having the latest copy.
- 01:01:42 DGC-Apple Notes only syncs when the app is open on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Back to Cool Stuff Found
- 01:04:58 Bob-CSF-1107-Shutter Declutter helps process photos
- 01:11:00 rnDoug-Mole, a system maintenance tool
- 01:12:18 DanDXZDB-Pixeldrop for selectively redacting part of a photo
- Don’t Get Caught with your data buried in PDFs
- 01:14:20 DGC-Save redacted PDFs as a single layer so people can’t see your layers
- Back on Track with CSF
- 01:14:50 CSF-Brick to block distracting apps and notifications on your iPhone
- 01:19:38 Creatively Using NFC Tags
- Use NFC Tags with the Home app
- 01:21:48 QT-Re-use NFC Tags that other people send you!
- 01:24:04 MGG 1128 Outtro
- MGG Monthly Giveaway
- Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly
- Pilot Pete’s Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts)
- The Debut Film Podcast – Adam’s new podcast!
- Dave’s Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts
- MGG Merch is Available!
- Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page
- Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar
- This Week’s MGG Premium Contributors
- MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews
- feedback@macgeekgab.com
- 224-888-GEEK
- Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List
- BackBeat Media Podcast Network