Posts By: Gary Rosenzweig

With more than 100 new features coming to macOS 12, it is hard to talk about them all, especially so early in the beta test cycle. So here are 15 new features that I think will be interesting and useful.

Here's a quick tour of some of the new features. I mention in the video a list of 106 new things I found so far. Here's that list. The asterisks are the things I found the most interesting. FaceTime SharePlay: Listen to music together FaceTime SharePlay: Shared music queue FaceTime SharePlay: Watch TV and movies together FaceTime SharePlay: Share your screen (or a specific app) FaceTime + Messages: Send messages from within FaceTime FaceTime: Spatial audio FaceTime: Voice isolation or wide spectrum mic modes FaceTime: Grid view FaceTime: Portrait mode FaceTime: Links to a scheduled FaceTime session Messages: "Shared With You" sections in Photos, Safari, News, Podcasts and TV apps Messages: Multiple photos appear as a collage or stack * Safari: New tab bar Safari: Privacy, Translate, Reader combined into More button * Safari: Tab groups Safari: Privacy protections hide your IP address Focus: Create Do Not Disturb profiles to switch between Focus: You status is displayed in Messages when people try to contact you Focus: Set an auto-reply for contacts Notifications: Mute app or conversation for hour or day Notes: Quick Note * Notes: Quick Notes can be linked to locations in apps, like a page in Safari Notes: Activity view shows what has been changed in shared notes Notes: Mentions send a notification to someone when you add them * Notes: Add Tags in a note and view in Tag Browser Notes: Smart Folders for tags Universal Control: Keyboard and mouse/trackpad for multiple Macs or iPad Universal Control: Drag and drop between devices AirPlay: Macs are now AirPlay receivers, but screen and audio AirPlay: Wired USB connections supported for AirPlay Photos Live Text: Search for text in photos? Photos Live Text: Click on addresses in photos to go to Maps Photos Live Text: Call phone numbers show in a photo * Photos Live Text: Copy and paste text from a photo Photos: Visual Look Up gets information about objects in your photos Photos: Memories can use songs from Apple Music Photos: Memories can be customized Photos: Memories browse view Photos: Memories new look and interface * Photos: Import from another Photos library Photos: Easier to correct naming mistakes * Shortcuts: A new way to automate things on your Mac Shortcuts: Available in Finder, Menu Bar, Dock, Spotlight and more places Shortcuts: A compatible iOS Shortcut will work on macOS Shortcuts: Some Automator workflows can be converted to Shortcuts Shortcuts: AppleScript, JavaScript and shell scripts allowed Maps: New improved city views with 3D models and landmarks Maps: Night mode for city views Maps: New transit features like nearby departures, pinning favorites routes Maps: New driving features like turn/bike/bus lanes, crosswalks, medians Maps: Interactive globe mode Maps: Filter restaurant searches by cuisine, etc Control Center: Mic indicator and Control Center shows apps with mic access Mail: Reading email hides your IP address and open receipts iCloud: Private Relay iCloud: Create and use email aliases AirPods: Spacial audio supported by macOS Battery: Low power mode * Translation: Translate text in any app with the context menu * Accessibility: Customize mouse pointer color and outline Accessibility: Support for more image descriptions Accessibility: PDF signatures can have descriptions Accessibility: Improved keyboard access for using your Mac without a pointer Accessibility: More languages Developer: Support for Object Capture to create 3D objects from photos Books: New Books app design Books: Reading Goals Books: Want to Read and Reading Now lists Screen Saver: New "Hello" screen sver Desktop: New "Hello" Desktop picture Dictionary: New Indian and Chinese dictionaries Find My: Locations update continuously Find My: More easily locate AirPods Pro or Mac Find My: Return of a Find My Widget Finder: New sidebar item for all iCloud collaborations Finder: New pie chart progress window for long copy times * Finder: Go To Folder has improved autocomplete Finder: Windows resize when switching displays Launchpad: Installed games automatically added to Games folder Game Center: Friend request inbox Game Center: New multiplayer friend selector Dictation: Now on-device instead of online Dictation: No 60-second time limit Memoji: Clothing options Memoji: Eyes can be different colors Memoji: Accessibility hardware Memoji: New glasses options Memoji: New sticker options Memoji: Headwear with up to three customizable colors Memoji: Can be used on login screen News: News feed redesign System Preferences: New "Erase all contents and settings" option * System Preferences: Can access saved password in System Preferences * Passwords: Can import and export Passwords: Built-in verification code function Passwords: Plug-in for Microsoft Edge to use Mac passwords function Podcasts: Personalized recommendations Reminders: Add tags to reminders Reminders: Tag browser and Smart Lists Screen Time: Downtime on Demand Voice Memos: Control playback speed Voice Memos: Skip silence * Mission Control: Swap out one half of Split View for another app * Mission Control: Change Split View to two full screen windows * Mission Control: Can opt to have the menu bar visible at all times

When multitasking on your Mac you often need to switch between apps, open windows and tabs in the current app, and spaces containing desktops and full-screen apps. There are many ways to switch between all of these things using the mouse or trackpad and keyboard shortcuts.

Apple announced macOS Monterey, iOS 15, and iPadOS 15 today with a huge long list of new features. Apps like FaceTime, Notes, Safari, Photos, Maps and Health are getting lots of new things. The Shortcuts app is coming to the Mac and much more.

With a few NFC tags you can create a treasure hunt game that others can play. Put clues on a fre website and link the tags to each page. Design your own game for your kids, students, friends or family.

If you use your Mac to write, then here are some tools that can help, including ways to outline, keep notes, check spelling, look up words, collaborate, and much more.

You can now create links in Pages and Numbers on shapes and images. Small thing, but many people have asked me about this over the years.

Often users of Mac Pages, or any word processor, find they have extra blank pages at the end of their document. These can be there for a number of reasons, but they are easy to remove if you know the cause.

Here are 10 Numbers functions that all beginners and expert users of Numbers should know. Learn how to use functions like SUM, SUMIF, LOOKUP, STOCK and more.

So I got the new iPad Pro. What a perfect machine! (Just maybe not perfect for me).

You can use your iPhone to scan in your vaccination card and then create a Shortcut to display it with one tap. This can come in handy when it isn't convenient to carry your card with you.

If you want to get a second screen for your MacBook or iMac, or the primary screen for a Mac mini, here are some things to think about, including my recommendations for resolution and connections.

When you quickly save a new document, it can be easy to not pay attention to where the file was saved. You can use these methods to locate the file. This also helps when you download a file, save a mail attachment or export a file.

If you know where to look in the System Library, you'll find all sorts of icons you can use or just enjoy.

Apple’s second digital-only developer’s conference will be held from June 7 to 12. It will also again be free to developers, including sessions, forums and one-on-one engineering appointments. Apple will almost certainly detail what the next versions of iOS and macOS will contain, and probably release the first beta versions.

If you don't want to use one of the macOS default alert sounds, you can use your own sound file instead. You can also set this for your Mail app incoming mail sound.

Learn about a variety of Mac tips from usifn the Finder, System Preferences, Safari, working with text and much more.

The Finder doesn't always display the size of folders, but you can use a variety of methods to get the total size of all files in a folder.

If you subscribe to Apple Music, there are many ways for you to discover new songs and artists. You can use one of the curated playlists or charts, check your New Music Mix weekly, listen to radio stations, or even exchange playlists with friends.

GarageBand is a complex app with a lot of functionality, but you can use it just to trim, merge and mix simple audio files. Also learn how to add a fade out and filter before exporting.