10 things to try right now on macOS Sonoma. Apple has released the definitive version of macOS Sonoma, the new version of the operating system for Mac. There are various obvious and less obvious innovations. Below is a list of ten things to try immediately:
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Widgets directly on your desktop
Users can now have widgets directly on their desktop, allowing them to interact with them with just one click and, thanks to Continuity, access the complete iPhone widget ecosystem also on Mac.
You can add widgets to your desktop in two ways: by dragging them from the horizontal bar or by pulling them from the drawer at the bottom of the screen.
By calling up the Notification Center (by clicking on the date and time in the menu bar or by swiping to the left with two fingers from the right end of the trackpad), the widgets appear and from here it is possible to call up the Choose widget item: the dedicated gallery appears (divided into categories) and from here it is possible to activate the desired widgets on the Desktop with a click or drag them where we want.
With the right mouse button (or equivalent combination with the trackpad) you can change the settings of some widgets; for example with the weather widget we can select “Small”, “Medium” and “Large” (the size).
Other widgets have various settings; again taking the Weather one, for example, we can choose the location to show, and various settings based on the type of widget.
The widgets shown on the screen do not interfere with the functioning of the operating system, but in our opinion they are probably only convenient for those who have fairly large screens or a multi-monitor workstation.
New screensavers
Apple offers hundreds of wallpapers and screensavers, selectable from System Settings > Wallpaper and System Settings > Screensaver.
Screensavers are divided into categories: Natural Landscapes, Cityscapes, Underwater Environments, Earth, Random Aerial Views, and Other; the Wallpaper categories are identical but in addition to these it is possible to select the options “Colors”, “All photos”, “Images”, “Desktop Wallpapers” and “Download”.
Many of these live wallpapers are the same ones available on tvOS; before beta 7 there were few available, but now there are hundreds, including the new “Sonoma Skyline” wallpaper in the “Natural Landscapes” section, which had already appeared in beta 6 of the new operating system.
The scenarios show locations from around the world, images captured by drones, underwater cameras or the International Space Station.
Wallpapers come alive when your Mac is asleep after a certain period of inactivity; and become static when unlocking is reactivated (from the stop state), with a slowing down effect that seems to transform the animation into a static image.
Simplified attachment management in Mail
macOS Sonoma simplifies the possibility of identifying the origin of a photo or other attachment that we have saved on the desktop or in a Finder folder, showing the icon of a small envelope at the bottom right of the document when we save an attachment from the Mail application.
When we see the small envelope-shaped icon at the bottom right of a document or image, by clicking with the right mouse button (or equivalent combination with the trackpad) on the file we can select the “Show in email” item and open directly the message associated with the file: without having to remember what the original message was from which they saved it.
Details on the origin of the document can also be obtained by selecting the document with the right mouse button / trackad and choosing the “Get information” item: under the name of the file the indication of the sender who sent the attachment appears.
New Screen Sharing features
In macOS Sonoma there are improvements to the screen sharing features (here we explain how to share Mac screens remotely on the same network).
When we connect to a remote computer on the same network, the sharing functionality remembers the last computers with which we connected. A window displays the latest active connections, allows you to connect to the desired remote desktop, locate new Macs on the network and even create groups.
Apple explained in the macOS Sonoma presentation that, by taking advantage of the advanced media engine of Apple chips, the new operating system offers “a new high-performance mode” on the screen sharing app, promising “incredibly responsive remote access” to streams hybrid professional studio and remote workspaces, low latency audio, high frame rates and support for up to two virtual displays.
Still speaking of screen sharing, Apple reported that macOS Sonoma offers improved video calling features that allow you to present and share content “more effectively on any video conferencing app.” An improved Screen Sharing switcher for screen sharing makes it easier to share apps during video calls: simply click the green button in the upper left corner of an app and choose to share it during the call, to show others the contents from windows open.
A specific framework (ScreenCaptureKit) is dedicated to developers which simplifies the creation of apps in which it can be useful to start screen sharing, all as always taking into account privacy and security features.
Creating web apps
Major Safari updates in macOS Sonoma promise to further improve the web experience.
Safari allows you to create web apps that work like regular apps, putting your favorite sites at your fingertips and offering a simplified toolbar similar to the experience offered with real apps. Here’s how to create a web app from Safari:
- Open the site you are interested in in Safari
- Click on the share icon in the Safari bar at the top right and select “Add to Dock”
- A window appears from which you can change the default title and, by clicking on “Add” this will be added to the Dock and Launchpad of macOS, allowing you to quickly access the web app from this moment on.
With some sites it may be necessary to grant permissions for access to the microphone, webcam or location but the process that leads to the creation of web apps is very simple.
The app created is independent and shares nothing with Safari, it behaves in all respects like an independent application, with obvious advantages in terms of security and privacy. All features offered by the browser are supported. Links linked to the same referring domain open in the web app, while for those that refer to external sites, Safari opens (or the browser set as default in the system).
Like a real app, you can open the dedicated Preferences (or rather the Settings) and decide whether to show the navigation controls or not, show the color of the title bar and even change the icon.
Safari remembers the sites for which a web app has been created and, when you visit them, asks if you want to open the dedicated web app.
Safari profiles
Profiles in Safari allow you to keep web activity separate between different topics or projects, and web apps allow quicker access to your favorite sites.
Profiles help you organize by offering a way to separate browsing activities by topic, while also keeping cookies, history, extensions, panel groups, and favorites separate.
The user can log in to the same site with both their work and personal accounts, and switch between them quickly whenever they want. Safari also allows the creation of web apps that function like regular apps, putting the user’s favorite sites at their fingertips and offering a simplified toolbar for an experience similar to what one would get with a real app (but we will talk about this separately, in a dedicated article).
To create a profile, you need to select the “Settings” item from the Safari menu and from there the “Profiles” section. By clicking on “New Profile” you can assign a name, a symbol, choose a color and a possible Favorites folder to use. By clicking on Create Profile, the default background changes appearance (with the predominant color chosen in the previous phase) and from a dedicated window we can also choose any extensions to be used only with that specific profile.
At this point it is possible to switch from one profile to another by selecting the window with the desired profile from the “File” menu (the appears at the top left of the toolbar), keeping navigation activities separate, distinguishing for example company activities and schools. As mentioned, cookies, history and website data will be treated separately from the rest of your browsing information).
News for AirPods users
macOS Sonoma presents a whole series of new features for Airpods users:
- Adaptive Audio offers a new listening experience that automatically switches between automatic noise cancellation and transparency mode based on environmental conditions (AirPods Pro 2nd generation with the latest firmware).
- “Custom Volume” adjusts media audio levels based on your environment and listening preferences over time (2nd generation AirPods Pro with the latest firmware).
- Conversation Detection lowers the volume of media and enhances the voices of people in front of you while reducing background noise (AirPods Pro 2nd generation with the latest firmware).
- You can turn the microphone on and off during a call by pressing the slider
- of the AirPods or the Digital Crown of the AirPods Max (AirPods 3rd generation, AirPods Pro 1st and 2nd generation or AirPods Max with the latest firmware).
- Automatic switching to AirPods has been improved and now detects your Mac up to 2x faster (2nd and 3rd generation AirPods, 1st and 2nd generation AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max with the latest firmware).
Faster and more precise corrector
In applications like TextEdit it is possible to write with the help of a more efficient automatic corrector. The words it corrects remain underlined for a few moments, allowing us to see what has changed, and, if we want to restore the original with one click (it also works with Italian). With some languages, when a word appears, you can press the space bar to complete a word or sentence.
Browse PDFs in a note
Thanks to advanced automatic insertion (“autofill”), it will soon be possible to use the information saved in Contacts to quickly fill in a PDF or scan a document by reviewing intelligent suggestions about recipients. You can view full-width PDFs directly in Notes and move pages with one click. It is also possible to combine multiple PDFs into a single note to have all the linked documents at hand; with linked notes the user can quickly associate related notes such as recipes or tasks.
Shared passwords
Now you can create a group to share a set of passwords with. Each person in the group can add and change passwords to keep them up to date, and because sharing happens through iCloud Keychain, it’s protected by end-to-end encryption. Additionally, one-time verification codes received in Mail are automatically inserted into Safari, making it easy to log in securely without leaving the browser.
