Finder gets an upgrade
Even the Mac’s trusty file manager gets more powerful in Mojave
Cover Flow, invented by artist Andrew Coulter Enright and introduced to iTunes in 2006, was a visual method of browsing files that was so popular — at least inside Apple — that it proliferated through macOS for years like the Japanese knotweed of user experiences. Still an option in High Sierra’s Finder windows, Cover Flow shows files in a sort of fan that you slide left to right, foregrounding the item in the center.
Unfortunately, the more prominent the effect, the more space it wastes. So, after being removed or toned down across much of the Mac’s interface, Mojave’s Finder replaces it with Gallery view. This shows a row of thumbnails below a plain, large preview of the current item, with metadata — file size, creation date, image resolution and even full photo specifications — at the top right. This feels much like using the Library view in a photo editor such as Lightroom CC, especially in Dark Mode. Seeing file info as soon as you land on a file is a big step forward from having to press Cmd+I and then close the standalone Info window again. Quick Actions Icons at the bottom right of the preview offer commands like Rotate, access to Markup, sharing via Mail, Messages or AirDrop, and more advanced operations like trimming an audio or video file. These functions are also available when you press the Spacebar to see the selected file’s contents in Quick Look. New actions created using macOS’s Automator scripting utility can be added too, so you can customize your own shortcuts. We can see ourselves getting a lot more done in Finder!