MacOS Sonoma is coming. And you’re probably curious about what’s new. While this release isn’t a game-changer from previous versions, it does offer a number of key new features that could dramatically change the way you interact with the desktop, Safari web browser, and more.
Let’s find out what’s new so as not to be caught off guard when Sonoma is released on September 26, 2023.
All about widgets
The biggest change you’ll find in Sonoma is the widgets. Like iOS, you will now be able to add widgets to your MacOS desktop. These widgets will come from a gallery that offers a number of possible options, such as a podcast player, lighting and home automation controllers, or even media players. These widgets are interactive, and others will also be informative, like calendars and to-do lists.
When you add a widget, it is automatically placed in a free space on your desktop and grouped with other widgets. These widgets also adapt to the look of your desktop, based on the color of what’s behind them, while maintaining a high level of readability. Widgets also fade into the background when you’re focusing on something else on your desktop. You can choose to set color preferences for your widgets, in case you don’t like how they look, based on your current desktop wallpaper.
MacOS Sonoma will also allow you to access your iPhone widgets directly from your Mac. Thanks to this feature, you will be able to add the same widgets to your desktop as to your iPhone.
Video conference
A number of improvements will allow you to optimize your video conferences. The biggest change is the new Presenter Overlay feature, which puts you front and center when you share your screen. So instead of conference participants only seeing your screen, they will see your screen and a smaller or larger version of you. The effect more closely replicates the feel of a live presentation and helps to better personalize the conference experience.
The small overlay places you in a floating bubble above the split screen. You can move the bubble to a specific location, so as not to obstruct access to important information.
There’s also a new screen sharing switcher that lets you easily share an app (or multiple apps) during a video call.
The new video conferencing app also gives you more control over the composition of your video. This works whether you’re using a Studio Display or iPhone as a camera and allows you to adjust the frame using zoom or pan controls, or even automatically keep you centered in the frame.
Safari is equipped with profiles
If Safari is your browser of choice, Apple has a very interesting feature planned with Sonoma. The next version allows you to create profiles for specific topics. For example, you can create a profile called “Work” and another “Personal”. Each profile will exist separately, meaning bookmarks, history, extensions, tab groups, cookies, and favorites won’t mix.
You can also easily switch between profiles while you work, so you’ll never have to worry about your work interacting with your personal browsing.
Searching in Safari is also much faster and user-friendly in Sonoma. And for those who like to use web applications, you can add them to your MacOS dock.
The new version of Safari also includes enhanced security in private browsing mode. When you’re not using a private window, Safari locks it. Additionally, the new version of Safari completely blocks known trackers from loading on pages and even removes any tracking information added to URLs while browsing.
Password sharing
The ability to create a group and choose a password (or set of passwords) to share is another feature that many users will find useful. Each password will always stay up to date for the group, so you won’t have to worry about notifying them of the update.
With this feature, you can create a family group and share all the necessary passwords with each member of the group.
Messages
The next version of the Messages app will make it easier to find what you’re looking for. With the ability to combine search filters, you will be able to narrow down your search parameters more easily, which will greatly help those who have a large number of messages to search.
A new catch-up arrow lets you immediately jump to the first message in a conversation that you haven’t yet viewed. The app also lets you swipe right on any message to reply to it.
The new version of the Message app also makes it easier to share your location directly from the More button. And when a contact shares their location with you, you can display it directly in the conversation.
Other new features of MacOS Sonoma
Here’s a list of other features coming to macOS Sonoma.
- View full-width PDFs, directly from the Notes app. You can also link related notes together.
- Start in Notes and end in Pages by sending a note to Pages via the Share button.
- More precise automatic correction.
- Game Mode automatically gives games the highest CPU and GPU priority for better performance and to reduce latency with wireless devices.
- Communication Safety includes protection for sensitive videos and photos.
- Sensitive content warning lets you blur sensitive photos and videos before viewing them.
- Extended Lockdown mode helps protect against the most sophisticated cyberattacks.
- Higher Performance mode in Screen Sharing uses the advanced media engine in Apple chips to improve performance on high-bandwidth connections.
- Reminders automatically sort shopping lists by categories.
- Moving between Apple devices with AirPods is now much faster.
To see the full list of changes to macOS Sonoma, visit the official Apple preview.
On September 26, don’t forget to check if the update is available on all your MacOS devices.
Source: “ZDNet.com”