iOS 26 Hidden Gems, Gift Guide Favorites, and the Return of Your Old Nest Thermostat

Mac Geek Gab — Apple Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

You kick off with a blast of rapid-fire tips: instantly saving PDFs from Google Docs, digging photos out of Messages, moving your playlists into Apple Music with iOS 26, tightening up your Digital ID setup, wrangling mail right inside a message, and even retraining Siri when she goes off the rails. Then you dig into listener questions: how to avoid phishing traps, whether segmenting IoT gear actually improves security, and how to bypass that annoying shutdown confirmation. Sleep-tracking follow-ups, auto-opening Safari’s sidebar, and a perfectly absurd detour into fattening up backyard squirrels keep things moving. Through it all, you avoid the pitfalls and, of course, Don’t Get Caught.

From there, the next iteration of the Gift Guide rolls out, finding those products that are so embedded into our lives we forget about them: Hue bulbs for whole-home color, the Snap Grip for better shooting on the go, the Olight for serious flashlight needs, AirPods Pro with live translation tricks, single-ear noise canceling, and Comply tips for comfort. You wrap with Cool Stuff Found, including What Three Words for location smarts and the clever NoLongerEvil workaround to resurrect aging Nest thermostats. Punchy, practical, and full of the good bits you can use right now.

• 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1116 for Wednesday, November 17th, 2025
  • November 17th: National Homemade Bread Day
  • MGG Monthly Giveaway – Your own OpenCase!
  • The MGG Merch Store is Live!
  • MGG CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)!
• Quick Tips
  • 00:00:01 QT-Command+P in Google Docs immediately saves a PDF
  • 00:04:57 P2-QT-Find a Photo in Messages
  • 00:08:45 n-JKDawson-QT-iOS 26 lets you transfer music from other services to Apple Music
  • 00:10:53 QT-Set up your Apple Digital ID
  • 00:16:30 QT-iOS Mail management from within the message
  • 00:18:10 Ben-QT-Retrain Siri if She’s Not working on your Watch
• Sponsors
  • 00:24:22 SPONSOR: Framer. Ready to design, iterate, and publish all in one tool? Start creating for free at Framer.com/design, and use code MGG for a free month of Framer Pro.
  • 00:26:07 SPONSOR: AG1. Head to DrinkAG1.com/MGG to get a FREE Welcome Kit with an AG1 Flavor Sampler and a bottle of Vitamin D3 plus K2, when you first subscribe.
• Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!
  • 00:19:23 Paul-How best to avoid phishing scams?
  • 00:28:27 Dan DXZDB-What are the impacts of putting IOT devices on a separate Wi-Fi network?
  • 00:36:37 Steven-Q-Getting Around the ‘Are You Sure’ prompt when shutting down
  • Shutdown and Restart Keystrokes
    • sudo shutdown -h now
  • 00:41:52 OurStanley-Sleep Cycle Follow-up
  • 00:44:46 Fattening Up The Squirrels
  • 00:45:26 Dick-How to auto-open Safari with the Bookmarks Sidebar visible?
• Sponsors
  • 00:49:06 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use my code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/macgeekgab
  • 00:50:38 SPONSOR: NordLayer. Get an exclusive offer: up to 22% off NordLayer yearly plans plus 10% on top with the coupon code: macgeekgab-10. Try it risk-free—14-day money-back guarantee.
• Gift Guide
  • 00:52:15 GG-Philips Hue Full Color Bulbs
  • 00:56:15 GG-OhSnap Snap Grip
  • 00:58:41 GG-Olight ArkPro Flashlights
  • 01:02:31 GG-Airpods Pro 3
  • 01:02:49 AirPods Pro Live Translation review
  • 01:04:22 AirPods Pro single-ear noise canceling
  • 01:05:51 Comply AirPods Foam Tips
• Cool Stuff Found
  • 01:08:08 Jeff-CSF-What Three Words & Some Use Cases
  • 01:10:25 CSF-NoLongerEvil-Thermostat brings Nest thermostats back online
• 01:19:19 MGG 1116 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
  • [email protected]
  • 224-888-GEEK
  • Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List
  • BackBeat Media Podcast Network