Secrets lets you customize many Mac OS settings that are hidden or incomplete.
Many of these values can harm your system if used improperly. Use it at your own risk.
Requirements
Installing Secrets
- Double click the preference pane to have it installed.
Using Secrets
- Use the RELOAD button to get the latest values from the web
- Hit the X button (DELETE key) to revert to the default value
- Many values require the selected application to be quit before changing them
Could you add a sentence or two explaining what these are about? Some are very clear; others aren't.
How do I UNINSTALL this? You say how to install, but how do I entirely remove it from my system at some later date? I like to know that about something before I just go ahead and install it.
To uninstall Secrets.prefPane, simply right click (control-click) on the icon in the view all part of system preferences. Then click remove in the list (should be the only thing in the list).
I install it, but immediately get the following error - my only way out then is to force quit system preferences:
Data was corrupted: XML parser error:
Old-style plist parser error:I'm having the same issue as @johnlatvia.
Same, as the above two. On a powerpc / G4 / Leopard latest version.
Same as above. Imac Core Duo running 10.5.2
Works fine for me until I attempt to RELOAD then same error as those above. Al iMac 2.4 Ghz/4 GB RAM/10.5.2
There needs to be an explanation of what the different colours mean, as well as why some items are bold and other aren't.
An RSS feed of updates would be nice too.
for unistall remove the file in ~/Library/PreferencePanes?/Secret.prefPane
Safari 3.1 breaks Secrets, update please! :-D Thx!
Same problem as everyone above. On a MacBook? Pro 2.6Ghz/4GB RAM/10.5.2
I think a great feature would be to have new secrets highlited. Because when I click on "update secrets", I have no way to know if there have been some new secrets unless I scroll down the whole list.
But except that, it's a great prefpane, thanks a lot for the good work.
I second romain.pontida's idea -- I had assumed that there's some way to view new additions after updating, but that I just couldn't find it. So if this isn't in there already it definitely would be useful to have.
Ive installed it but I cant update it to get any secrets, it gives me the following error.
Update Error Could not download latest data: Operation could not be completed. (HTTP Status error 500.)
Macbook Core2 Duo
same as carlo
secrets.textdriven.com is down
secrets.textdriven.com is still down
its down man
The secrets server has been down for over a month. Pretty obvious that the author has abandoned it. Damn shame too as it was a great app. The least the author could do is stop by here and let us know what is going on.
secrets.textdriven.com is back up now, as of May 2, so the preference pane works again. :-)
Down again (May 3, 2008 10:23:24). It gives me a "500 - Internal Server Error"
I believe it is an .htaccess file error and that if they would delete it or figure out what the problem is with it the site can be up again.
its up as of right now. i JUST updated secrets and have been trying for weeks to update and it FINALLY went just now!
Update server's down as of now
Still down, as of May 20th, 2008, 9:40 GMT.
Still down. It was a great "hack" and now it is useless.
still down. does anyone know the author's email?
also, if the author is done with it, would someone else equally tech-savvy willing to continue it? that would be a great help because it is awesome when it works.
So I believe that the developer is using Google's App Engine. In the source, the /server/ is python code that utilizes App Engine. Now I know Google App Engine has a limit of how many requests can be made per day, so maybe that's why there are a 500 Internal Error on the website.
Server is still down. I'm just going to uninstall this thing.
The update server is always down, the author has given up on this. Don't bother installing.
Here's a workaround until (if!) the server comes back online. The advantages of having two macs, only one of which just got a reinstall. :-)
Obtain a Secrets.plist file dating from before the server died. Here's mine, dated March 1. (Anyone got newer?) Download it and copy it into ~/Library/Caches (ie: in your home folder, open Library, in that open Caches, and drag Secrets.plist into there.
Start System Preferences and load the Secrets prefpane. It should all be there now. Seems to work too. :-)
Thank you very much! it works
I think that the server is back up.
Dock > Show Shadow won't turn off :'-(
Hi. To my Mac occurred an error: error 500. I don't know what is it, but I erased Secrets. I've got a PowerPC G4 with 10.5.1 ('cause the 10.5.3 did to my Mac a problems. Sorry if I wrote bad: I'm italian.
error 500.. server down again?
I just downloaded it today and got a 500 server down error
Error 500...
Error 500
overquota? damn!
Oh man, what's your host? Also the Error 500. >:o
I successfully launched Secrets and looked at a few options, without changing anything.
Now a solid black box encloses every Finder window, every TextEdit? window, clickable fields in other applications, etc. This weird display issue only occurred after I installed Secrets.
How can I get rid of these annoying black boxes?
The solid black box annoyance I reported a couple of hours ago only appears on the window or finder item that is in focus. So it would seem that the black box is some type of focus indicator. How can I turn this off?
If you turned up your sound, you would hear someone saying whatever's in the focused area. You've turned on VoiceOver? by mistake. Go to System Preferences, Universal Access, and turn off VoiceOver?.
secrets prefpane crashes whenever i scroll to within an inch of the bottom of the list
Right click on Pref Pane does not have remove option, Pref Pane is not in either user/library or /library. Where is it?
Please add a default button
Can anyone help? I installed secrets and not sure what I did, but my dock now has a complete rectangle around it and I don't know how to get rid of it.
Thanks Barb
That's the Dock 3D Glass / 2D Black Box setting under "Dock > Dock Appearance".
Btw, kudos Nicholas another awesome app!
For the love of Steve Jobs, where are the instructions that explain how to use this thing?
I have the secrets prefs pane installed, I can see a few secrets that loaded with the install, but how on earth do I get the secrets that are listed on the web page onto my computer?
The "Update Secrets" button in the prefs pane does nothing!
is this app even being actively developed or looked at? i see no responses in the issue tracker or here or anywhere else...
also have the same question as georgeruddmn has posted..
The HiddenUsersList? array field is very dangerous "as is".
Anyone can type in any value in & the value is taken as a string NOT an array.
The result is that LoginWindow? will crash on load... over and over and over...
Consider this a WARNING!!
Is it possible to see the defaults read ... / defaults write ... call that underpins these knobs?
I'm trying to manipulate the com.apple.sidebarlists domain, because it looks from defaults read com.apple.sidebarlists systemitems | grep ShowServers like there's a way to set ShowServers? to 1 and by so doing cause Finder to display network drives on the sidebar by default, which is exactly what I want to do.
Unfortunately, I can't get a read more "clever" than piping through grep to work (right result, wrong solution), and I can't get a write to do anything useful at all, as the key to manipulate seems to be several levels down in the hierarchy.
Just seeing fuller examples of the syntax for this kind of thing would help -- the defaults manpage doesn't have any good examples, and Google searches aren't helping either.
Thanks!
I used the secret that makes iTunes' arrows redirect to the library. I disabled it but I still get the genre/artist/album browser at the top of the Music and Podcast playlists.
Please help, this is very annoying and entirely unexpected (and seemingly unfixable).
Could we have a secret that could prevent my Mac from opening Aperture every time I plug in my iPhone for syncing? I know there is a way, but it would be so much easier through Secrets.
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/873-tip-prevent-iphoto-from-opening-when-you-plug-in-your-iphone
It all works perfect for me, except that the desktop icon size does not change no matter I change in Secrets.
Hey i was wondering if anyone knew how to save the settings once i change them. Every time my laptop goes to sleep or shuts down the Secrets application reverts back to default settings.
Same question as GeorgeRuddMN,
I have it. Works fine. but how do I update it. I hit the button UPDATE SECRETS and nothing happens. To see if maybe there was something wrong, I downloaded the latest version of SECRETS and installed that (hopefully that replaced the previous one) and when I opened the latest version, I saw NEW SECRETS
so the question is - how do you update? or are other people havin trouble updating? if so, how did u fix it?
My Secrets doesn't seem to work i set the startup delay to 4 min and i don't know how to apply it. Does anyone else have this problem.
I did a little search about the Quartz 2D Extreme and Quartz GL twiks (Although I thought they were the same thing Quartz GL being the new name for Q2DE in Leopard.) Well, this is the only secret I'm interested in and brings me to my question. Do Powerbook g4 1.67 laptops run these settings without kennel attacts ? I read that this twiks is better for the PPC architecture because it causes x86 macs apps running under Rosetta to misbehave. But i dont know, please share your knowledge.
Secrets wont change my account sign in background
can you please release one for tiger? please please please please please
How Can i reset all settings to default?
Any chance of this being updated for snow leopard? as well as making it 64 bit?
works on snow, but please make it 64 bit...
yes 64bit please... thanks!
I added a secret the other day ("Highlight Stack Items on hover (10.6)") and I can find it on the web site but when I click update in the app, the little icon in the status bar spins for a few seconds but my new secret never shows up... anyone know why?
It is there in mine...at the very bottom of the list...
Now that I have 1.0.6 all the new secrets are there. I don't know why the previous version never updated for me.
The website had a glitch in it where new(er) secrets weren't getting posted, I was looking at the wrong one when i posed that, my bad. You're not going crazy, it was in fact screwed up :) but now its fixed :)
Downloaded the new version which failed to install... Getting an error stating that "cannot open secret preferences as it doesn't work on an Intel based Mac" Cannot uninstall this as I get another error stating that "the secrets preference pane could not be removed because of an error occurred" Bit stuck now.. Any ideas?
Is there an old Tiger version around? Because of constraints imposed by a few programs on my system, I can't upgrade beyond Tiger until I get a new Mac (and I gotta get $5000 before I can do that!).
Does 1.0.6 still work on Leopard 10.5.x or have all the secrets been updated to only work on Snow Leopard 10.6.x?
Need to know how to undo all I've done please. I know you can revert one-by-one but that's too time consuming. Thanks.
Hey. I can't seem to get the following to work:
defaults write -g WebAutomaticTextReplacementEnabled? -boolean
I've tried several times both manually and with Blacktree's "Secrets" to no avail. I have to manually right click on the text box and choose Substitution, Show Substitution, and Text Replacement. I'm running the latest version of Snow Leopard 10.6.1
J'ai fait l'essai de supprimer le nom et les signes "<>" dans mail pour le "copier coller" d'adresse et ça ne fonctionne pas (j'avais pourtant quitté Mail avant de le faire). Do not laugh : I tried to delete the names and symbols "<>" in the mail for "copy paste" address and it does not work (yet I left Mail before doing so).
the IncludeDebugMenu? option has no more effect in Snow Leopard (Safari 4 ?). It seems to be replaced with an IncludeDevelopMenu? option.
Not seeing any of the supposed new Quicktime X secrets. I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest build I could find (1.0.6) but nothing.
"Comment by deandmx, Mar 07, 2008 There needs to be an explanation of what the different colours mean, as well as why some items are bold and other aren't."
Please explain this. It's not obvious but should be mentioned somewhere.
ALSO... Any item that is not at its default should somehow be highlighted, and any category that has such items should be highlighted as well.
Oh no! Installed this and changed a few innocent options, and now spot light is gone, no programs startup at login, ALL APPLICATIONS have very limited functionality: no "new" etc. How do I solve this. Very interesting program and I might still use it but I can't even access system preferences any more. I had to write this from my other machine.
Restarting the PRAM did not help.
anyone?! My computer (work computer) is a brick.
Repairing permissions did not help
Suggestion for a new Secrets feature.
In Mail, single page PDF's display inline in the documentation but multi page documents show up as an icon. It would be fantastic to be able to make all PDF's show up either inline or as an icon upon user selection.
Thanks.
Randy
Anyone having issues with the "Use metal appearance in all apps" option under system? I tried it, didn't like it, and wanted to revert back. However, no matter what I do to undo it I still have safari with the "metal" skin and finder shows up with the normal white "Inactive" skin even when active. Doing research, it's only been tested on tiger and is from 2005. WHY IS IT IN SECRETS?
I downloaded the app and I really like what it's done, but someone got onto my computer and went into it and from, doing research, believe that they have disabled the Leopard UI. I tried to reverse it, but System Prefs doesn't boot, and nothing else will open, only Finder, Safari, and iTunes work (because they were running and the time and haven't been shut down since).
So can anyone tell me how to fix this? Thanks
A&I
the dock has lost its "extras" (recent apps, documents; user-defined "pinned in dock"; etc) after ruuing secret perfs!
(1) why? (2) how do i retore? (3) pls add a "defaults" button that ACTUALLY does revert (as opposed to being just an "undo" command for the last unsaved selection!)
thanx.david
ps: pls also the folliwing features: (a) the in-line help/explnantion for each setting needs to be VASTLY improved / completed / expanded! (b) a proper log needs to be created. (c) profiles need to be created which store different combinations in configuration files (plist) (d) a webform (here) that honours line line breaks / paragraphing!
I do NOT check the “Float Help Viewer Window” feature -- but I still get that obnoxious Help Viewer window blocking my view of the app page I'm trying to get help on. Please fix that feature.
(I'm running OS X 10.6.2)
Adium X, Keynote, Cyberduck en Entourage.
Changing the com.apple.screencapture does not change the grab.app fileformat. Sop the Top Secret for grab.app will not work :(
Most, if not all, of the above comments are left by those seeking help... is there another page where some of these issues have been addressed, or are we all on our own here?
Guys (and gals!), this thing, MacPilot?, Cocktail, Snow Leo Cache Cleaner, etc etc etc are not only weak GUI wrappers of command line tools, but in a lot of cases they cause a serious breach of your machine's security. Don't use anything that asks for authentication. Even when it doesn't explicitly say to, Secrets et al. store your admin PW, often in a prefs or other plaintext file, or simply leave the OS open to receiving commands from who knows who/where. I am in no way connected to the developer nor benefit from your DL/use (its free), but I'd caution against continued use of this sort of graphical front end, instead try http://rixstep.com/4/0/clix/ for a tool ('CLIX') that will do all that Secrets, Cocktail, Onyx tc do, and more, and SAFELY. And you will actually learn what you are doing, whether you try to or not. And hey, it IS GUI, no harder to use than these sandbaggers (easier, since it explains EVERYTHING and CLEARLY), and free. I gnu you'd like it :)
Here's something to add to the "Spaces" feature of secrets:
"turn off swoosh animation when switching between spaces"
defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-swoosh-animation-off -bool YES && killall Dock
works in 10.6.5
Great product. Would apprecate it if you could add "startup mode" to system secrets. The command line for this is: nvram boot-args="value?"
Not sure how to enter this into secrets.. But, this:
defaults write -app iMovie allowNV -bool true
allows for network drive importing of video in iMovie '11 & iMovie '09.
Tip is from: http://carryflag.blogspot.com/2010/06/imovie-event-library-on-network-drive.html
This totally needs to be added to Secrets! :)
I wish there was a way to make iChat show the date and time in EVERY message when messages are shown as boxes. Anyone?
This product says it requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. I've read a few posts from people running versions of Snow Leopard but there is no official mention of it anywhere. I'm curious about the compatibility of this application installed on Snow Leopard. Could someone please post some details, either official or personal, of the compatibility?
P.S. I am aware that it installs successfully on Snow Leopard.
Thanks, Zac
Hi, I am using Mac OS X 10.6.6. I have been using secrets for long time, but today i tried to uninstall it. so before that i revert all setting to defaults by selecting one by one and pressing delete key. then I have deleted secrets.prefpane and restart my Macbook. Now I am having serious lag. everything is so choppy like scrolling, travel between spaces, etc. Please Help. Regards, Azimul.
Hi, I noticed that Secrets does not ask for the admin password during installation. A standard or network user is allowed to install secrets without typing in any password. This is very nasty in a company where the users all are network users on a server with only standard rights. They are not allowed to install or update anything, just to not mix up anything. But they are able to install Secrets even for all users on a machine, because Secrets does not ask for a password. This is definitively not wanted.
HOW CAN I PREVENT STANDARD OR NETWORK USERS FROM INSTALLING SECRETS???
Is there is way to create a list of all secrets and their current setting with an indication which secrets were changed away from the default setting?
I added the "Library" in iTunes, and don't really use it. How do I get rid of it?
I agree with above. Admin password to install is vital, and also personally I think it would be a great Idea if you had the "click the lock to make changes" functionality of other systems preferences like security. This is a great and powerful app It should be secured for admin only. good work guys.
Does anyone ever answer anybody's question? This is such a great resource and would be even greater if someone monitored this site all the time and answered the questions. I have a question but I am not sure if someone will answer it.
Send money to author should get a favourable reply
is there a way to tell you guys that a secret isn't working?
Any planned updates for Lion? Looking forward to Lion's Secrets :-D
Also looking to see Lion secrets implemented.
I used this in lion unknowing if it not being compatible. I am now unable to uninstall it and cannot make my system folders set back to hidden. Any help would be great.
I have a suggestion. Why not let us add and remove our own "favorites" to the "Top Secrets" list? There are a lot in there I don't ever use! Yet I find myself using the same ones all the time and have to hunt them down. Would make more sense to let us drag them or right-click on them to add or remove them to/from the list for quick access.
Apple software on Windows uses these too. Why don't you explain how to do these on Windows?
I'm unable to change the values of all the variables with text box inputs.
I am using this app with snow leopard/10.6.8 and it seems to be running fine. The only exception is that in the section where you adjust the finder preferences, the app only gives you the option to quit the finder, and that's exactly what it does. There should be an option to restart the finder as well because once the finder quits, there's no way in the app to restart the finder, which could be a problem for people that don't have a clue how to turn on the finder. HINT: To start up the finder, just click the finder icon in the dock. Maybe someone else should take over the development of this app so that it can be a finished app because it would be very helpful to mac users.
How to revert ALL the changes?
Nice option -TELEPORT ;-)
um, i change the background pic for login and exit and it doesnt save the setting -.- fix?
Server is down :(
CANNOT UPDATE SECRETS. PLEASE FIX. THANKS.
The High Contrast Mode (Black Sidebar) option for iTunes is not on the click list, actually there is no other option except "Arrows link to library instead of store" is there any advice on the fix for this?
OS 10.6.7 iTunes 10.6.3 Secrets 1.0.6
HELLPP!! i have made a mistake i made all the windows like ugly i really need help is there a place i can send pics or something pls help!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A lot of my images have turned RED, how do I disable this, or reset to OS defaults ? http://cl.ly/MumE http://www.cigarshop.co.nz
My secrets is downloaded but whenever I apply a change there is no "apply change" button and nothing happens. It won't work! HELP
how do i donate via paypal — this utility is essential & it's shocking that apple doesn't include it OTB!
please add more a profile system for a more fine-grained control of different cominations of settings (recall 'conflict catcher' in MacOS classic).
at a minimum, pls include a default button for each setting (in a edition to the existing revert command) so that it's easy to start over from the begining if one changes one's mind about a certain configuration
what about some support for applescript / automator?
how would you rate this feature? — possibly / likely / desirable?
thanx: david
re osx compatibility.
a) is there anything about Maverick that should be of special concern? ... if so could you create some kind of UI that alters the user about known issues with 10.9?
b) conversely, is there a beta version of your prefpane that is being optimized to take advantage of new features in 10.9?
thanx: david
re: feeback system (?)
do you respond to each of these questions via a direct email? (cuz i don't see any postings by the owner/mod)
is there an auto-alert via email when there is a response to these comments? tahnx: david
Secrets works perfectly for me. I'm running it on the new 2012 21.5 inch iMac running Mountain lion 10.8.5 and it doesn't have any problems with secrets.
after i installed secrets, I can't access my finder and my documents that I saved. What can I do to make them show and be able to use them?
Are we Mavericks - compatible yet ?
I changed the position of the dock and reverted it right after, but now my mission control won't work. I've tried the mouse shortcut, the mission control button, and ctrl + up arrow, and none of them work. I've toggled the settings in preferences for the keyboard and trackpad numerous times, and restarted my computer numerous times. "killall Dock" does not work, and neither does logging out. I could really use some help
This turned the transparency of my icons to pink, or magenta. The result is that when I open a folder that has "show icon preview" enabled al jpegs and other files are pink squares. I've tried reverting the settings and uninstalling the Secrets pref pane but still have the Pink problem. It effects not only icons but also in other places where transparencies are used.
I have a big problem, I have now mountain lion on my system, before that I had installed secrets and made an autorespond for a workingmail-account. I quitted the job, I deleted the mail account at my mac. The big thing is now, that the man, which took my job and got my old mail, gets all the auto respond, from all the mails of my mac from all mailaccounts. How can I delete that? it is very urgent, because he knows, which customers I wrote to.... HELP! Secrets is already deleted but still....HELP