Drive Genius has two tools that help Mac users clean their hard drives up. The first is the “Find Duplicates” utility. This will help you find files that are stored as duplicates on your Mac. Keep your Mac at its best with iMac Cleaner Cleaner iMac has proven to be one of the fastest tools that helps optimize and organize the Mac. It uses the latest secure technology to quarantine all viruses and suspicious threats that can destroy your computer by reducing it to death. Don’t stop at cleaning your home this season. Clean up your Mac. If you're using macOS Sierra, it has a feature that will help tremendously with your Spring cleaning: Optimize Storage. The next step is to use external tools to help us keep our Mac clean. But to be on the safe side, be sure to back up your system before using non-Apple applications. Connect an external hard drive, open System Preferences – Time Machine, turn it on, and select the drive as the backup location.

1. Best Mac Disk Tools
2. Keeping A Clean House
3. Keeping Clean For Kids

Regardless if you are new to the Mac or an advanced user, Dr. Cleaner will be a good choice for you. Cleaner can help you free up a lot of space, please don’t forget to back up your important files, in case an unfortunate event happens like your hard disk malfunctions. PC cleaning apps are digital snake oil. The web is full of ads for applications that want to “clean your PC” and “make it feel like new.” Don’t pull out your credit card — these apps are terrible and you don’t need them. If you do want to “clean your PC,” you can do it for free. Drive Genius has two tools that help Mac users clean their hard drives up. The first is the “Find Duplicates” utility. This will help you find files that are stored as duplicates on your Mac.

Parenting in the Digital Age

Modern kids have never known a time when they couldn't connect to the entire world via the internet. In fact, they probably spend more time online than anyone else—certainly more than their parents. If you are a parent, this presents a problem, as there are explicit, disturbing, and illegal sites on the web that you don't want your kids to encounter. Furthermore, with the ever-increasing number of devices that kids use to connect, you simply can't supervise every moment they're online on your own. That's where parental control services can help. This software gives you the ability to block unwanted web content, limit screen time, restrict the use of risky applications, and more. Basically, these services are a way to help keep your kids safer on their computers and mobile devices.

That said, parental control software is no substitute for good communication. If you don't want your kids to visit unsafe, unsavory, or inappropriate sites, talk to them about your concerns. We recommend that you also take the time to convince your older kids that you'll respect their privacy while still monitoring their online actions, a promise you should strive to uphold. We prefer software that embraces this kind of collaborative approach, rather than apps that covertly spy on kids. If your kids see you as big brother, it's a safe bet that they'll find ways to outsmart you and evade even the most sophisticated systems. As tech addiction increasingly becomes a problem, it's important to instill the value of good device habits on to your children as well.

The Homebrew project allows you to install tools for the command-line from the Terminal itself. If you are familiar with installing tools with apt-get, apt, yum or other package manager on Linux, this is the Mac OS equivalent of that. A major attraction of Mac OS is its underlying UNIX kernel. Developers love UNIX and its array of tools for development and testing. In Mac OS X to access these tools through terminal, you need to install Command Line Tools. Command line 'j' tool for mac. For most people, the Mac's OS X is all about the graphical user interface. But system administrators and power users know that the Mac's command-line interface can be a powerful time saver and, in.

Best Mac Disk Tools

Monitor Your Child's Devices

Long gone are the days when a single parental control utility on the family PC was sufficient for keeping your kids safe and productive. Modern kids use all kinds of internet-connected devices, and modern parental control systems must keep up.

Before settling on a particular parental control utility, you need to make sure that it supports all the device types in your household. While all the products in the chart above support Windows and Android, compatibility with macOS and iOS varies. That said, Apple has recently announced the new Screen Time feature for the upcoming iOS 12, a set of tools for monitoring and controlling app and device usage. Taken alongside iOS' existing Restrictions settings, when iOS 12 releases Apple will offer a free set of parental controls tools comparable to these paid alternatives, with the added benefit of first-party support.

Note that some parental control utilities leverage VPN technology on iOS devices, running internet connections through a local app to enable content filtering. You'll see the VPNicon when such a utility is active, but it doesn't mean the child's connection is secured by a full-scale virtual private network, nor that the device's IP address is masked.

Check, too, that any limits on the number of child profiles or devices won't be a problem. Large families, for example, will appreciate that Norton Family works on an unlimited number of devices. Most parental control software operates as a subscription service, so pricing tiers tend to align with device limits, though some offer free versions for basic protection on a limited number of devices. If your kids are strictly smartphone users, take a look at our roundup of mobile parental control apps.

If getting parental control coverage installed on each of your family's devices starts to seem too difficult, consider a whole-network solution, such as Circle With Disney or Open DNS. These systems perform content filtering at the router level, so your settings affect every device on the network. Naturally, you don't get the same fine level of control and detailed monitoring that you get with a local agent on each device, but this is a much broader solution.

Web Filters, Time Limits, and Apps

At the very least, a good parental control tool features content filtering—the ability to block access to websites matching categories such as hate, violence, and porn. This type of filtering only really works if it's browser-independent and works with secure (HTTPS) sites. With no HTTPS filtering, a smart teen could bypass the system using a secure anonymizing proxy website or even a different web browser in some cases. Most also have the option to permanently enable SafeSearch. Of course, the most capable solutions also keep a detailed log of your child's web activity.

Access scheduling is another very common feature. Some applications let parents set a weekly schedule for device usage, some control internet use in general, and others offer a combination of the two. A daily or weekly cap on internet usage can also be handy, especially if it applies to all your kids' devices.

The best services apply these two ideas to individual desktop and mobile applications as well. Qustodio, for example, can block apps entirely and set time usage limits. This is particularly useful for children who have a habit of playing games or using social media apps when they should be doing homework.

Messaging and Social Media

As kids get older, content filtering may start to seem pointless. Hey, you let them watch Game of Thrones, right? At some point, you start to worry more about their interaction with the wider world. Sure, if their friends come over in person, you can at least meet them, but what about friends on social media and other contacts your child never mentions? Who are they, really, and what are your kids discussing with them? Although some supervision is acceptable, you still need to respect your child's basic right to privacy and encourage open discussion, rather than using parental control software as spyware.

Many services let you monitor contacts and messages and keep an eye out for potentially dangerous or unsanctioned situations. You can even block new contacts or view message content with some parental control software. Keep in mind that this primarily applies to SMS texts; messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Snapchat typically do not fall under the same scope. Social media tracking can also provide a glimpse into your child's social life, though many services now only monitor Facebook. This kind of oversight usually requires that you either know your child's login credentials or convince them to log in and install the tracker's app. Disabling this kind of data collection is a snap for the child, so here, more than ever, you need to be on the same page.

Remote Notification and Management

Most kids are on mobile devices at least some of the time, and many are almost exclusively accessing the internet on their phones. Fortunately, many parental control services offer a companion app that lets you view your child's activity, set basic rules, and view notifications as they arrive—NetNanny is a particularly noteworthy example. This kind of companion app is particularly useful for responding to access or time-extension requests on the go. Otherwise, you manage everything online, where you have fine control over activity reports and restrictions. Any changes you make should propagate to your children's devices when they connect to the internet.

When your child tries to visit a blocked site, makes a post using iffy language, or otherwise bends the rules it sends you a notification to your preferred channel, such as via the app, web, email, text, or some combination of those options.

Advanced Features

When you get beyond the basics, parental control systems start to diverge, with many advanced features to help them stand out from the crowd. Among these standout features are the ability to track your child's YouTube and Hulu viewing history, check your child's location, or even remotely lock down a device to force them to divert their attention. You'll also find advanced versions of standard features. For example, the best content filters don't just use a database of categories. They analyze page content in real time so that, for example, they can allow access to a short-story site but block the erotica.

Keeping A Clean House

In order to make an informed choice for your own family, check out our full reviews of these parental control solutions. If you have any suggestions for software to try or just want to sound off about a particularly positive or negative experience, please add your comments and join the discussion.

Keeping Clean For Kids

Best Parental Control Software Featured in This Roundup:

• Qustodio Review

  
  MSRP: $39.95
  

  Pros: Cross-platform support. Browser-independent content filter handles HTTPS traffic. Time scheduler for internet, device, and application usage. Location tracking.

  Cons: Expensive. Social monitoring only tracks Facebook. Dated web portal. Some iOS limitations.

  Bottom Line: Parental control app Qustodio is a highly configurable, easy-to-manage tool for keeping track of your child's activity on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

  Read Review

• Net Nanny Review

  
  MSRP: $39.99
  

  Pros: Supports Windows, Mac, Android. Web-based configuration and reporting. Powerful filtering. Cross-platform internet time allowance. App control for Android.

  Cons: No new updates. Expensive. No location tracking. Lacks advanced time management control. Limited iOS features.

  Bottom Line: Net Nanny's web-centric and multi-platform approach to parental control makes it a useful option for the modern world, but it hasn't been updated substantially in years.

  Read Review

• Symantec Norton Family Premier Review

  
  MSRP: $49.99
  

  Pros: Affordable. Excellent web dashboard. Settings apply across all devices. No limit on number of PC, phones, tablets, or children protected. Tracks child's location.

  Cons: Does not work on Macs. No Free version anymore. Does not block HTTPS sites on unsupported browsers. Web extension is easily disabled. Platform-dependent features. Lackluster social media tracking.

  Bottom Line: Norton Family's top-notch web interface and wealth of features make it easy for parents to track and manage their children's activity across their many devices, though it doesn't work on Macs.

  Read Review

• Kaspersky Safe Kids Review

  
  MSRP: $14.99
  

  Pros: Affordable. No limit on devices or child profiles. Flexible control of device and app usage. Robust web filtering. Geofencing. Extensive alert system.

  Cons: Several iOS limitations. Content filtering limited to specific browsers. Social monitoring only covers Facebook and VK. Sluggish web interface.

  Bottom Line: Kaspersky Safe Kids is a full-featured, affordable parental monitoring system for desktop and mobile platforms that doesn't impose limits on the number of devices you can monitor.

  Read Review

• Circle With Disney Review

  
  MSRP: $99.00
  

  Pros: Easy setup. Manages every device on your home network. Category-based content filtering. Can cut off Internet access at bedtime. Pause button for the Internet.

  Cons: Circle Go subscription surprisingly expensive. Matching names to devices can be difficult. Can cause alarming error messages in the browser. Minimal reporting.

  Bottom Line: The Circle with Disney security appliance, controlled by a simple mobile app, provides parental content filtering and time limits for every device in your home network.

  Read Review

• Clean Router Review

  
  MSRP: $149.99
  

  Pros: Parental control and monitoring for every device on your network. Enforces Safe Search. Device-specific Internet time scheduling. Reports all sites visited and blocked. Optional daily activity email.

  Cons: Reports can't identify activity by specific users. Content filter missed some porn sites and secure anonymizing proxies. Performance as a router lags behind competing 802.11ac devices.

  Bottom Line: Have kids on the Web? Clean Router replaces your home router to apply parental control and monitoring to every device on your network.

  Read Review

• Mobicip Review

  
  MSRP: $39.99
  

  Pros: Online configuration and management. Can apply child profiles to multiple devices and user accounts. Powerful content filter. Weekly Internet schedule. App control on Android. Available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Kindle and Nook.

  Cons: Testing turned up some communication problems and delays between online console and local app. Initial configuration slightly awkward. No daily/weekly cap on Internet use. No real-time parental notifications.

  Bottom Line: You configure Mobicip's parental control options online, and a local agent enforces the rules on your children's devices. In testing, we hit a few communication problems, but overall it's a good choice for the modern multi-device family.

  Read Review

• SafeDNS Review

  
  MSRP: $19.95
  

  Pros: Filters dangerous and objectionable websites for all devices on your home network. Optional local agent for Windows PCs. Multiple profiles available, with time scheduling. Reports on sites visited and blocked.

  Cons: Using time-scheduler to actually limit Internet use is seriously awkward. Usage reports include every URL accessed, many of which aren't websites. Usage reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block phishing or malware-hosting URLs.

  Bottom Line: When you configure your router to use SafeDNS, you can filter out dangerous or objectionable content for every device that connects using your home network. Just don't expect a full range of parental control features.

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• OpenDNS Home VIP Review

  
  MSRP: $19.95
  

  Pros: Filters Web content for all devices on the network. All essential features found in free edition, including dynamic IP handling. Report on sites visited and blocked. Can block or allow domains from within stats report.

  Cons: Stats reports include every URL accessed, even those that aren't websites. Stats reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block malware-hosting URLs and blocked few phishing URLs.

  Bottom Line: OpenDNS Home VIP applies parental control and monitoring at the network level, for all your devices, and its essential features are available for free. Consider using it in conjunction with a more conventional parental monitoring tool.

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• uKnowKids Premier Review

  
  MSRP: $100.00
  

  Pros: Unusually comprehensive iOS support. Tracks Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and mobile device use. Notifies parents of risky posts. Tracks child's location, with optional geofencing. Finds hidden social media accounts. Tracks calls and texts on mobile devices.

  Cons: No support for Android tablets, only smartphones. iOS tracking ineffective without regular iCloud backups. Geolocation proved unreliable in testing.

  Bottom Line: A uKnowKids Premier subscription gets you comprehensive insight into your children's social communication via smartphone and popular social networks.

  Read Review