MAC TREAT #188: Open Your Favorite Apps Automatically

This article originally appeared in Kibbles & Bytes issue #791.

While it is not often necessary to shut down your computer, it is not a bad idea to do so from time to time. For example, I am flying to Ohio today and will be shutting my MacBook Pro down completely before I send it through the scanner. Also, for a number of reasons, we shut our computers down every night here at Small Dog.

This means that I need to re-open all the programs that I always leave open each time I start back up. While not an especially time consuming task, it is a little annoying to have to do this every time. Thanks to today’s Mac Treat, I will be annoyed no more.

In order to automatically open programs upon start-up (or when you log in to your user account), follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
  2. Click on Users & Groups in the System section.
  3. Click on Login Items.
  4. Hit the + (plus) button.
  5. Find the application you want to add (the Applications folder is probably where they all are), highlight it and hit the Add button.
  6. Repeat for all applications you want to add.

Similar Posts

  • Summer in Vermont is pretty special, and it looks like this weekend should be downright pleasant! I have a lot of catching up to do from vacation, but I think I will do my share of procrastinating in favor of summertime stuff.

    Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
    _Don, Steph & Kali_

  • FREE iPad in Business Briefing: Coming to NH!

    We’re thrilled to announce that we’re going to be hosting a *free iPad in Business Briefing* on Tuesday, September 17 from 9am – 12pm at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH — open to anyone interested in learning about how to use iPad in a business environment.

    We’ll have a representative from Apple on hand to present, as well as our partners Zco Corp. (App Developer) and Burlington Bank Card (iPad/iPhone POS System) to highlight their solutions.

    Topics will include integration, security, deployment, apps and of course, how using iOS and working with Small Dog Electronics can provide an ideal solution for your business.

    Visit our Seminars page for more details and to sign up:
    “*Smalldog.com/seminars*”:http://www.smalldog.com/seminars

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Vacations are great, but coming home is pretty nice, too! We had an awesome motorcycle tour of the Canadian Maritimes and only hit rain once. What a beautiful ride! When we got home, we immediately jumped into our car to get the dogs. Matt had been watching Hammer, while Hapy and Jessica watched the little ones. I don’t know if they were as happy to see us as we were to see them, though; if I had a tail, it would have been wildly wagging!

    The garden seems to have survived, and I went grazing right away, eating an apple, a bunch of blueberries, and even some Arctic Kiwis from my gigantic kiwi plant.

    We are in the last week of the special financing promotion where you can buy an iPad or Mac and get interest-free “*financing*”:http://www.smalldog.com/finance/affordable-financing-options for 6, 12 or 18 months. We have not yet heard whether this program will be extended, so if you want to take advantage of this and our “*Mac to School*”:http://www.smalldog.com/mactoschool specials, there is no time like the present.

    We also have some great bargains right now in Apple wireless networking gear. We have Apple factory-refurbished “*AirPort Express*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/83765/ at $79.99, “*AirPort Extreme Base Stations*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/83766/ at $139.99 and brand new, discontinued “*2TB Apple Time Capsules*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/74275/ in stock at great savings. If you have been waiting to extend or update your wireless network, these could be the answer!

  • Refurbished AirPort Express

    These little units are incredibly useful and easy to set up. The AirPort Express has a few different basic functions, among them: extending your Wi-Fi network, adding a Wi-Fi printer, and adding AirPlay features to play and control music from your Mac or iOS device through your favorite speakers.

    Setting up for AirPlay can be done in a few different ways. It can be set up the traditional way, using cables, by connecting the wires directly to the main Wi-Fi base station (often an AirPort Extreme). You can also do a wireless setup by enabling AirPlay on an existing Wi-Fi network.

    All you have to do then is simply connect your favorite audio system via a standard 3.5mm plug or optical digital (Toslink) plug, and voila: you have your wireless AirPlay audio system set up and ready to play.

    We now have these little guys in stock at only “*$79.99!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/83765/

    **For more information about using AirPlay with your Mac or iOS devices, check out the Apple Support article here.*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4437