Hello, I have a number of hopefully quick questions concerning macOS

[iMore Question]

1. I like to hide the dock. I don't like how long it takes to pop back up. In searching this, I have read a number of sites that show opening terminal and doing just what I would like. (I want to keep animations, just speed the process up... say twice as fast). Is this a safe tweak to do?

2. I may be slow, but I don't see the purpose of Dashboard. I seem to be able to get all the information I need without it. Plus I am not even sure where it is. (Unless I actually look for it). I see many videos where people seem to be swiping to another desktop and there it is (like Notification in iOS) I don't seem to have that (unless it needs to be enabled. QUESTION... if I don't feel I need it, is there some way to delete it? If there is, could someone tell me how (I only have a 512GB HDD, and any space saved would be precious).

3. I have read about a lot of tweaks so that you can have Siri, work hands free, by just saying HEY SIRI. Have you good people done this, and again is this a tweak that is safe to do?

4. When I enabled and downloaded the Enhanced Dictation... does this mean that when I speak to my Mac, none of the speech/text is sent to Apple, thus being a bit more secure?

5. Does iMORE, have a section that goes into tweaks, tips, and other ideas that speed up your Mac, and or make life easier?

Thanks a bunch!!!!!

 

[Rob Phillips]

Welcome to iMore!

1. The tweak is perfectly safe. All it's doing is adjusting the animation speed.
2. Dashboard has been removed by default but can be brought back in Settings. Honestly, I never used it.
3. I'm not sure about this tweak. My only concern would be battery drainage because the mic would have to be activated at all times. That makes me uneasy from a privacy perspective as well.
4. What it means is that the dictionary has been downloaded locally and is available without pinging Apple's servers. Since it has the potential to be used offline, it's inherently a little more secure.
5. iMore has a TON of content. Here's a good one: http://www.imore.com/tag/mac-tips

If you have any follow up questions please join the forum and reply back within this thread.

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