Speed up Yosemite UI Significantly!
I finally gave in and upgraded my Mac to OS X Yosemite (to use XCode 7 Beta for a react-native app build, more on that later).
After I upgraded, I noticed a significant lag on the UI, especially during applications switching and Mission Control. After a google search, the common solution seems to be using “Increase contrast” setting.
So I did. But I’m still unsatisfied. Before following the tips below, make sure you’re using “Increase contrast”, or at least use “Reduce transparency”. Both are in System Preferences > Accessibility > Display.
Here are a few things I did to noticeably speed things up:
1. Increase your keyboard repeat speed
If you type or use your keyboard to move around a lot, changing your keyboard repeat speed will give it immediate boost, especially in any text/code editor.
2. Hidden Settings
There are many settings in OS X that are hidden away, some that can really help turn off some superfluous visual effect on your machine, which results in snappier UI. Here’s what I did:
- Download and open Onyx, a system utility app
- Go to “Parameters > General”, make sure these boxes are unchecked: “Show graphic effect when opening window”, and “Show the rubber-band scrolling”.
Also set “Speed of display of sheets” to “Very Fast”.
- Go to “Parameters > Finder”, uncheck “Graphic Effects > Use window zooming” and “Animate Info Window”
- Go to “Parameters > Dock”, set “Minimize using” to “Scale Effect”
- Go to “Parameters > Mission Control” and uncheck “Turn on graphic effect”. I also unchecked “Turn on Dashboard and its widget” since I don’t use the Dashboard much.
After all that, you should notice a significant speed boost to your Mac. Enjoy the productivity boost!
ps: I don’t recommend messing further with Onyx unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
