New macOS Catalina Features: Shared iCloud Folders And More

macOS version 15.4 includes some new features. You can now share iCloud folders with other iCloud users. There are new ScreenTime options. You can follow along with lyrics in Apple Music. Safari has new tab options. You can import Google Chrome passwords. You can also control your mouse with your head.

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Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today let's take a look at the new features in macOS Catalina 15.4.
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So yesterday, in addition to a new version of iOS, Apple released a new version of macOS as well.This is a major dot release so with it comes new features. Let's take a look. 
Here I am in macOS Catalina version 10.15.4. The first feature I want to show you is something that has been anticipated since last summer because it was in the beta for Catalina and then removed before the final version of Catalina. Finally it's back. We have shared iCloud folders. So I'm going to go into the Finder here and pick a folder that's already in the iCloud drive. So in this case my Documents folder is stored in iCloud. So any folder here in my Documents folder will do. Otherwise if you're not using Documents in Desktop on iCloud you've got to create a folder or use a folder that's already on your iCloud drive.
You can select that and you can get to the sharing options by Control clicking on it and selecting Share and then Add People. You can also click on the Share button here in the Toolbar at the Finder and you'll see Add People there as well. Select that and you get the options that you need. First you have to choose how to share the link to this folder. So you can send an email, send it over Messages, AirDrop it, or just copy a link and that way you could send it anyway you want. I could add some people here but I don't need to to get things going.
I could look under Share options here and I can set who can access. So I can say Only People I Invite, or Anybody with a link. So if it's Only People I Invite I have to enter Apple ID's up here. Otherwise I can say Anyone with a Link and then that's not necessary. Then I could do Permissions and anybody here can now make changes. They could add files. They could alter the files in there or View Only. So they could just View or Download the files. They can't change them on my iCloud drive. So anyway I set this up I just hit Share and then it will share this folder. It will say Share By Me right there. 
If I go back here to Share you'll see Show People brings the controls up again and this is how I can turn it off and this is also how I can change the options. Notice under Share Options I can also Copy Link if I want. So I can copy and paste or I can send link again using one of these methods. Now you can work on a set of files inside a shared folder with somebody else who also uses iCloud drive. 
Another change is a new section under Screen Time. So go into Screen Time and under here you'll see a new section called Communication. You can set limits to Contacts Only or Everyone. You can have things during downtime. Only allow communication with specific contacts. This is mostly meant for parental controls of course. So you can limit who your child can communicate with at various times. Another thing you should be able to do is to set limits on viewing music videos but I haven't been able to find that control in here yet. 
Speaking of music there's a new feature in the Music app. For a while now iOS and iPadOS have had the ability to show lyrics that advanced as the song plays. Now you can do that on the Mac as well. You have to have Apple Music for this. But you can play a song, I have the volume turned down here all the way so I don't get into trouble, and if I go to View, Show Lyrics I'll see lyrics popup here on the right and the lyrics will advance as the song advances. So you'll see it automatically go to the next line there. Now you could also go and scroll through these lyrics and pick a line and jump to it and it will jump to that part of the song. This also appears in the MiniPlayer. If I click here to bring up the MiniPlayer and then I click on the lyrics button there I'll see the lyrics here and I can scroll through them, I can click on one and it will jump to that part of the song too.
There's a couple new Tab tricks in Safari. You now have the ability to duplicate a tab. So if you're at a specific webpage and you want to have a second tab open to exactly the same location you could do it by going to Window, then Duplicate Tab or Control click on the tab here and choose Duplicate and you get another tab set to the same location. Notice when I Control click here there's also now a feature to close a tab to the right of the current tab. 
Another option is for Importing. When you go to File, Import From and say Goggle Chrome you now have the option to import passwords from Goggle Chrome as well. 
Here's something really cool added under Accessibility. You go to System Preferences and then go to Accessibility, then go to Pointer Control, alternate control methods now include Head Pointer. So I'm going to turn that on and then I look under Options and one of the options there is to choose my camera. So I can choose my Webcam here. No problem with that. Pointer speed, distance to edge, pointer moves relative to head, or when facing screen edges. Some other things. Using Switch to Pause or Resume. I can hit OK and now I can, without my hands, move my cursor using my head. Kind of neat!
There are also a few bug fixes and enterprise improvements with this update. You can take a look at the complete list at the Apple site at this page.

Comments: 14 Responses to “New macOS Catalina Features: Shared iCloud Folders And More”

Mike

10 months ago

Gary, did you notice if they addressed the audiobook issue in Books app to add the ability to store your audiobooks on a separate drive like you could with iTunes with the .4 update?

Gary Rosenzweig

Mike: There was no mention of a change to the Books app.

Marc Chamberland

Will it be possible for one person who is authorise to look at one of my file in a share folder, to download that file ?

Marc: Since they are sharing the file with you, they don’t need to “download” it. They already have access to it just like you do. But they can make a copy of it and place it on their local storage or non-shared iCloud Drive folder if they like.

Scott

Hi Gary:
With the new features in iCloud – should I still be using Dropbox to share files between my apple products?

Scott: That’s up to you. One advantage of DropBox is it is cross-platform so if you also have a Windows computer, or often want to share a folder with someone who uses Windows, then DropBox will do it naturally. But otherwise you can device whether you want to use iCloud Drive, DropBox, both, or some other one. They all have slightly different features, costs and advantages.

Bradley Smith

Is there a limit to file size? Also…as documents seem to ‘move’ to the ‘Shared by Me’ folder, would it be better to copy the file there?

Bradley: According to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201104 there is a 50GB file size limit for iCloud Drive. Moving or copying is up to you and what you are doing. It really depends on your situation.

Gene

So when the recipient gets it are any tips on how/where to “store” it?

Gene: Not sure what you mean. Do you mean sharing files? This is sharing, not sending. You both have the same file and can both work on it.

Ron Deghi

I haven’t received notice for a 10.15.4 update on either my 2019 Macbook Pro or my Mac mini.
All my iOS updates are current.
Is Apple not sending out updates to everyone?
Thanks for your podcasts.
Ron

Ron: Are you currently running 10.15.X right now? Did you check in System Preferences, Software Update?

Ben

Hi Gary. Do you know whether having a shared folder is secure? My dad and I wish to have a means of sharing financial information (account details, etc) with each other in case of emergencies. Thanks

Ben: As long as you set it to only allow people you invite. And of course you need to trust those people. Once someone has access to a file in folder, there is no way to prevent them from copying it and putting it somewhere insecure, posting it to the world, etc. So you need to trust whomever you are sharing with. Also, they can edit the file so they can go in and make changes, delete it, etc.

New macOS Catalina Features: Shared iCloud Folders And More

Comments: 14 Responses to “New macOS Catalina Features: Shared iCloud Folders And More”

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