Reclaim Your Storage: iCloud, RAM & Space-Saving Secrets

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1150, Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton pack an Embrace Your Geekness Day episode with Quick Tips you’ll put to work immediately. You’ll learn how to schedule birthday messages so you never miss one, silence those pesky automatic Shortcuts notifications, and give Apple Intelligence the context it needs to actually help. From automating Theater Mode the moment CarPlay connects, to using your iPhone to check for ticks, to texting “Marco” so your lost iPhone sings until you find it, these are the tips that keep you sharp. You’ll also dig into searching Safari history to retrace your steps, building Smart Folders to hunt down space-hogging files, and using Photos’ Map utility to surface shots from wherever you are.
Then it’s your questions, answered. You’ll find out how to identify and clear runaway RAM, where Messages in the Cloud actually lives, and how to reclaim iCloud storage with tools like PowerPhotos and Gemini 2. You’ll get the real story on Time Machine drives and Spotlight, plus how to speed up sluggish Notes syncing. In Cool Stuff Found, the crew serves up Catchin’ Sync, the OBSBOT Tiny 3 webcam, Hyperspace for reclaiming space with file clones, and imessage-exporter to back up your texts. It’s an hour-plus of geek gold, and if you tune in every week, you Don’t Get Caught missing the fix you needed.
00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1150 for Monday, July 13th, 2026
July 13th: Embrace Your Geekness Day
MGG Monthly Giveaway – Win a license to Mole
Quick Tips
00:00:01 Jim-QT-Schedule Sending of Birthday Messages
00:04:16 JT Ray-QT-Disable automatic Shortcuts notifications
00:06:33 QT-Apple Intelligence and its context
00:09:26 Todd-Automate Theater Mode when CarPlay is enabled
00:10:44 Troy-QT-Use your iPhone to check for ticks
00:12:49 Larry-QT-Text Marco to your lose iPhone and have it play a song until you find it
00:18:31 Andy-QT-Search Safari’s History to find places you’ve visited
00:20:12 KiwiGraham-QT-Setup Smart Folders to find large files
00:23:38 Greg-QT-Use Photos > Utilities > Map to find photos in your current location (and elsewhere)
Sponsors
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Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared!
00:30:31 Bill-1148-How do you identify and clear up RAM usage?
iStat Menus
Marco Arment’s Quitter
00:39:23 Gary-1149-Where can I see Messages In The Cloud?
00:44:17 Roy-How can I clean up my iCloud storage?
PowerPhotos
Gemini 2, the duplicate finder (and “similar finder”)
00:53:25 Bill-1148-Turns out you can’t exclude Time Machine drives from Spotlight
00:56:51 Henry-1148-Speeding Up Notes Syncing
Cool Stuff Found
01:01:20 Andy-1149-CSF-Catchin’ Sync
01:02:15 Andy-CSF-Obsbot Tiny3 Webcam
01:08:53 Harvey-CSF-Hyperspace to use file clones to save space
01:11:44 Chris-CSF-1149–imessage-exporter to export your iMessages
01:17:42 MGG 1150 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
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