Errata

macOS Sierra: The Missing Manual

Errata for macOS Sierra: The Missing Manual

Submit your own errata for this product.

The errata list is a list of errors and their corrections that were found after the product was released. If the error was corrected in a later version or reprint the date of the correction will be displayed in the column titled "Date Corrected".

The following errata were submitted by our customers and approved as valid errors by the author or editor.

Color key: Serious technical mistake Minor technical mistake Language or formatting error Typo Question Note Update

Version Location Description Submitted By Date submitted Date corrected
Printed
Page 243
Para 2, line 4

Recommend delete "different languages -- and.....using!" and replace by "15 languages. Sometimes it can correctly recognize which one you are using, but for best results, set this in System Preferences > Keyboard > Text > Spelling."

(MacOS has spellcheckers for only a limited number of languages, and the "automatic" feature is pretty unreliable for many users)

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 31, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 247
The Many Languages...Para 2, lines 2 and 3

Replace "20" by "23" in line 2

Replace "five" by "ten" in line 3

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 31, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 247
Second Note

Replace current text by the following: "MacOS and Apple apps are only localized for a certain number of languages. If you use the plus and add buttons to choose one beyond the 42 in the top part of the list, the menus and dialogues will not change."

(The reference to the "Edit List button" is from some ancient version of OS X, not El Capitan or Sierra. And there really is no software you can add to expand the number of localized languages)

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 31, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 248
Figure 6-10 first sentence

Change "about 165" to "34".

(OS X can only be "flipped" into one of the 34 languages listed in its tech specs, regardless of how many you might see in the Preferred Languages menu)

The same error was reported for the first printing of the El Capitan version of Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 249
Note and Figure 6-11

In Note: Replace "colorful flag" by "colorful flag or other symbol"

In Figure 6-11: Use screen shots from Sierra instead of old OS X so that erroneous Greek flag does not appear.

(A large number of input sources are now represented by black and white symbols instead of flags, including Greek. Users no longer see the blue Greek flag shown in Figure 6-9 but a black/white symbol for the Greek alphabet.)

The same error was reported for the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 249
Figure 6-11

Add paragraph at end: "New in Sierra is the checkbox to turn on 'Use the Caps Lock key to switch to and from last used Latin input source,' which provides an quick way to switch between certain keyboard layouts."

(Note this option only appears if you have an input source like Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Devanagari, etc included in your list, so to show it you need to change the screen shot, which in any case is from some old OS X version and not Sierra or even El Capitan).

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 27, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 250
3rd para last line

Replace "Edit > Special Characters." by "Edit > Emoji & Symbols."

(The name of this menu item was changed by Apple back in OS X 10.10.3)

The same error was reported for the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd Printing, 3/9/15

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 252
Tip

Replace "You can make the Keyboard Viewer....Zoom button." by "You can enlarge the Keyboard Viewer by clicking and dragging on the bottom right corner."

(The results with the Zoom button are far too large to be of use to anyone, best not to mention it and recommend the dragging alternative)

This was also reported in the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 252
Gem in the Rough, first sentence, second line

Replace "eight Chinese fonts" by "over a dozen Chinese fonts"

This was also mentioned for the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 281
Bottom table, first column, last row

"all caps," is incorrect. It should be "all caps on," Third column (the example) is correct.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Gregory Garrison  Dec 31, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 285
First bulleted item on page

"Hold down Option+space bar" is only valid if first changed to this key combination in System Preferences --> Siri. By default, Sierra uses Command+space bar.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Gregory Garrison  Jan 01, 2017  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 361
Text Tab

Add at end: "Also the spellcheck/autocorrect language is set here."

(Very important for users to know where this feature is regulated)

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 362
First section, last line

Change 244 to 248.

(Page reference is wrong)

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 405
Last item: Foreign Language Dictionaries

Add the following to the list of Foreign language dictionaries: Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Thai, Danish.

(The current list is the text is correct for Mavericks, but not for Yosemite or El Capitan or Sierra)

The same error was reported for the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017
PDF
Page 802
Physical Recovery Disks section, 2nd paragraph

On page 802, it says:

"The solution is to build yourself a bootable macOS flash drive or hard drive, as described on page 799."
but there isn't a description on "799", it should instead say "792"

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

 Anonymous  Jan 09, 2017  Jan 20, 2017
Printed
Page 825
second item on list

Replace "⌘-space" by "⌃-space" and delete phrase "(You can change....instead.)"

(Apple changed this keyboard shortcut starting with El Capitan. They tell you what it is Control-Space in Sierra in https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25311)

Note that the same error was reported for the first printing of the El Capitan Missing Manual.

Note from the Author or Editor:
fixed in 2nd printing

Tom Gewecke  Dec 26, 2016  Jan 20, 2017