MASTER NOTIFICATIONS
Sort your widgets and notifications in Big Sur
IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN How to use the Notification Centre and desktop widgets in macOS Big Sur
YOU’LL NEED macOS 11 or later
When Apple first launched macOS Big Sur in 2020, it overhauled the way the Notification Centre works on your Mac. Previously, this was divided between the Today view, which housed your tasks and widgets, and Notifications, which is where app alerts went if you dismissed them from your desktop. With macOS Big Sur, Apple merged the two sections into one.
This makes your notifications and widgets a lot more streamlined but may take some getting used to if you are accustomed to the two sections being separate. However, it also blends in a lot better to your Mac interface, both by improving the look of the whole Notification Centre and introducing things like notification stacks, which save space and declutter your desktop.
Working out widgets
Widgets have been in macOS for a while now, but they were given a new lease of life thanks to their introduction onto the iPhone and iPad with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. On the Mac, you can now position widgets next to each other on a single row, add in different sizes of the same widget, and more.
This tutorial will take you through the basics of using Notification Centre and widgets in macOS Big Sur, as well as some tips on how to go a little deeper and customise this tool to suit you best. By the end, you should have a good grasp of all the new features and tools in macOS Big Sur’s Notification Centre.
Alex Blake