[ilikepi]

macOS has had a "hidden" WiFi diagnostic tool for years. It produces real-time-ish graphs of (IIRC) three different signal strength metrics, and it also dumps the data to a file on the desktop as it's doing so. By holding down the "Option" key and clicking the WiFi icon in the menu bar, the dropdown menu will display additional information about the wireless interface, and it will also include an entry that reads "Wireless Diagnostics..." or similar.

[Zarel]

I've poked around with Wireless Diagnostics in the past and I've never seen any graphs or signal strength metrics. It's only ever created a diagnostics data file (which takes many minutes and can't be cancelled once it's started) and done nothing else.

The diagnostics data file is annoying to read, too...

[js2]

After you open Wireless Diagnostics, select Window > Performance.

There's also tool in the AppStore called WiFi Explorer that may be more what you're looking for.

https://www.intuitibits.com

[wintermutestwin]

Thank you so much for this. I think this is worthy of a separate HN post.

On a related note, these hidden features are really annoying. How hard would it be to have a WiFi diags link in the WiFi dropdown? Why does Apple think that hiding things makes for a better user experience? Is it so that the people in the know get to feel like arcane knowledge masters? As it is, I have started randomly holding down option and command to see if there are hidden options. /rant Does anyone know of a site that catalogs these hidden macos options?

[epistasis]

I think this is a great method for reducing user interface complexity, by taking rarely useful things out of the main flow.

Option-click is pretty much the only trick used for menus, and it's fairly universal across the nearly 80 years of Mac. The incidence of people that would be helped by those graphs, and the people that option-click is pretty high, so this seems like a great combination. It's similar to option-letter for inputting characters not on the keyboard (alt-code on Windows).

Exposing my parents to one more menu item that will never help them, and mostly confuse them and reduce their scanning speed, well, that's really not worth it. Every option has a cost, and different people bear the weight of that cost differently. Some people like having 30 different brands of canned tomatoes to choose from at the grocery store. Others would prefer 2 or even 1, that are more carefully curated. My favorite grocer is like this. It's a tiny store, an eighth the size of a super market or less, but has a better butcher, better basic groceries, and a more extensive selection of rarer ingredients than a Safeway. It just doesn't have an entire aisle of pasta brands. That's not for everyone, but it is for me. The Mac also doesn't have to be for everyone, it for the people it fits, it fits really well.

[quesera]

> it's fairly universal across the nearly 80 years of Mac

  2021 - 1984 == 37

I concur with your other points. :)

[epistasis]

Oops, I thought I had typed 40... 80 would have been in the days of Turing!

[quesera]

It's always good when a surprisingly-large measurement of historical distance is just a simple typo.

Far better than when the surprise fades into realization that the measurement is accurate, and that your internal estimate of time acceleration needs updating!

[wintermutestwin]

The more I think about your points, the more I understand the whys. As someone who is moderately technical and new to macos, I wish there was a global "power user" setting.

[ketzo]

> a global "power user" setting.

You can get shockingly far just by holding the "Option" key while taking a lot of actions/looking at a lot of menus. Always the first thing I try.