macos Catalina Features
With each release of macos, there are major new features that stand out, but there are many more that you don’t hear about and you run into by happenstance. It’d be nice to know what these features are, so you can get the most out of your Mac. That’s the objective of this list: To show you 25 features you might not know about, and that will help make it easier to use your Mac.
Of the features highlighted here, we didn’t include some major changes that we’ve covered previously, such as Sidecar ( go.macworld.com/scar), which allows you to use an ipad as a second Mac display, or the new Music, TV, and Podcasts apps that replace itunes ( go.macworld.com/rpap). While this list does include some other major changes, it’s mostly comprised of more nuanced features that may not seem so obvious.
FINDER/OS UPDATES
macos Catalina has a few new ways for you to use your Mac. Here are the major changes to look for.
1. Finder access for IOS devices
In previous versions of macos, you used itunes to manage your iphone or ipad. itunes no longer exists in macos Catalina; instead, you manage your device through the Finder.
To see your device, connect it to your Mac using a Usb-to-lightning cable. Then, in the Finder, open a window. If your Mac’s internal storage device is set to appear on the Desktop, you can double-click that icon. If not, you can press Shift-⌘-c on your keyboard.
In the left column of the window, you will find your IOS device under Locations. Click on your device, and you’ll see details appear like they did in itunes. Here, you can back up your device, check for updates and install them, manage your device’s media, and a lot more.
2. Voice control
You no longer have to rely on your mouse and keyboard on your Mac. In macos Catalina, Apple introduces Voice Control. You can use voice commands to navigate your Mac.
To activate Voice Control, go to the System Preferences and click on Accessibility. In the left column scroll down until you get to the Motor section, where you’ll find Voice Control. Click on it, and you can then enable Voice Control by clicking the checkbox. You can also change the language, and you can select which microphone to use.
To get a list of the commands you can use, click on the Commands button.
3. Tint your screen
If you have color vision issues, you can enable a color filter to tint your screen. To do this, go to System Preferences and click on Accessibility. Click on Display in the left column, and then click on the Color Filters tab. Apple provides tints for grayscale, protanopia (red/green filter), deuteranopia (green/red filter), or tritanopia (blue/yellow filter). You can adjust the intensity of these filters, and also create your own custom color tint.
4. Dark and Light Modes auto adjust
Apple introduced Dark Mode in macos Mojave. In Catalina, Apple now lets you select a mode that automatically transitions between Light and Dark Modes. In the General System Preference, you can now select Auto in the Appearance setting. This will automatically change the way your Mac looks as the day progresses.
5. Set specific languages for your apps
Have you always wanted to, say, run Google Chrome in Danish?
Now you can. In macos Catalina, Apple now lets you assign a specific language to an app. This is helpful if you want to practice a certain language, or you have a user who is more comfortable with a language other than English.
To change the language for an app, go to System Preferences → Language & Region. Click on Apps, and a listing will appear. Click on the + button; a pop-up appears, where you select the app you want, and the language you want to use. Click on Add, and the app and its assigned language will appear on the list.
Now when you launch that app, it’ll appear in the language you picked.
6. Use unapproved software
With Catalina, software built for the Mac must be approved by Apple. By default, unapproved software won’t run. If you try to run unapproved software, you’ll see an alert.
There is a way to run that unapproved software, though. Control-click on the app’s icon and choose Open. An alert about malware will appear, and there’s also an option to open the app. Fortunately, once you’ve opened that app, you won’t see the alert anymore.
7. Apple ID info
You can now access your Apple ID information in the System Preferences of macos Catalina. You can adjust your personal info, what apps have access to icloud, payment and shipping info, and a lot more. If you have Family Sharing active, you can adjust those settings here, too.
8. Manage subscriptions
Subscribe to Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, a third-party app that you signed up for through the App Store, or some other Apple service? You can manage those subscriptions in the App Store app. Launch
the App Store and choose Store → View My Account, click View Information, enter your password if prompted, and then under the Manage section, click the Manage button in the line that starts “Subscriptions: number (all time).”
You can then click the Edit button to manage the terms of a particular subscription. You can also cancel a service.
9. Join Personal Hotspots
With macos Catalina, Apple set the OS to automatically join a Personal Hotspot if Wi-fi is not available. You may not want to do this, however. You can’t turn it off completely, but you can set your Mac to ask if you want to join a Personal Hotspot before connecting to it. To turn this option on, go to the Network System Preference, and in the left column, click on Wi-fi. Look for the checkbox for “Ask to join Personal Hotspot” and check it if you want to turn this option on.
10. Restore your Mac
Have you ever installed an OS update only to discover that other software you use suddenly doesn’t work? Catalina now takes a snapshot of the system disk just before applying an update.
You can use that snapshot to revert your Mac back to the previous version of macos and get your software running again.
To perform a revert, restart your
Mac and hold down Command-r while it’s starting up. This puts your Mac into Recovery mode, where you’ll have the option to revert back to the snapshot.
NOTES
The Notes app in macos started off with pretty basic features, but it’s evolving with each new release of the operating system. It has a couple of new features that allow you to let other people work on your notes.
11. Share a note
When you have a note and you’re ready to share it, click on the Add People icon.
After you choose how you want to send your invitation, click on the Permissions pop-up menu. Here, you have two choices, whether to let others make changes or not. Make a selection, and then click the Share button to send the invite.
12. Share a folder
If you have a folder full of notes you want to share with people, all you have to do is find the folder you want to share in the right column, and Control-click (or rightclick) on it. In the pop-up menu that appears, select Add People. You can then invite others to the folder the same way you’d invite people to a note.
REMINDERS
The Reminders app in macos Catalina has new features to make it a more helpful tool.
13. Add Location
You can set a reminder to trigger when you’re at a location or getting in or out of your car. When you create a reminder, an Add Location button appears next to the Add Date and Add Time buttons. Click on Add Location, and a pop-up appears; you can select your current location or getting in/out of your car. You can also start typing a location or address, and Reminders will display possible destinations that match what you’re typing. Select one of these, and the next time you’re in the location you picked, the reminder will appear on your iphone.
14. Create subtasks
If you have a bunch of reminders that are really part of one overall task (for example, specific items on a shopping list), you can make those reminders a subtask of the main one. To make a reminder a subtask of another reminder, click on the reminder and then drag it to the one you want to make the main one. Control-click the subtask and select Indent Reminder. If you want to change it back to a regular reminder, Control-click on it and select Outdent Reminder.
Note that subtasks are only available if all the Macs associated to your icloud account are running macos Catalina and all IOS devices are running IOS 13.
Yes, people still use email, and the Mail app in macos Catalina has new features to make it easier to manage your emails.
15. Mute thread
Stuck in one of those email threads with lots of responses that you’re not interested in? Mute the thread by selecting the email in the left column, and then click on the Mute Selected Conversations button; it looks like a bell with a slash through it. You can use the same button to unmute a thread.
16. Block Sender
The Block Sender feature reroutes emails based on the sender’s email address and puts them directly in the Trash instead of your inbox. To use this feature, view the email and control-click on the sender’s email address. In the pop-up menu that appears, select Block Sender.
FIND MY
The new Find My app in macos Catalina can be used to track your Macs and IOS devices, as well as people. Here’s how to take full advantage of it.
17. Share Location
You can let folks know where you are by clicking Share My Location at the bottom
of the left column. In the window that pops up, you can send an invite to people in your Contacts list, or you can enter an email or phone number for the recipient.
18. Add a person
To add a person you want to track, you need to share your location with them, as described above. Once that is done, go to the left column and select the person you shared your location with. Right-click on that person and choose Ask To Follow Location.
19. Track and find devices
Any Apple device that you use with your Apple ID account is tracked in Find My. In the app, if you click on the Devices button in the left column, you’ll see a list of your stuff. In the main window, you’ll see a map that shows where your items are located.
Right-click on an item in the list, and you
have a few options. If you misplaced an item, you can use Play Sound to make your device emit a noise. If an item is lost, you can select Mark As Lost, which will lock the device, and you can track it. The Erase This Device option wipes out the data.
SCREEN TIME
Located in System Preferences, you can use Screen Time to track user usage and set access limits to software and websites. Here’s a look at some of the features you’ll want to use.
20. Downtime
Downtime allows you to set a time period that limits what you can do on the Mac. You can set what apps can be used during that period, but otherwise, the rest of the Mac is off limits. To set a time period, first select the user you want in the left column for whom you want to set limits. Then select Downtime, and click the Turn On button at the upper right. You can
set a same time period for every day of the week, or you can click on Custom and set a specific time period for each day.
21. App Limits
App Limits lets you set the amount of time a user can use an app. You can set limits on a specific app, or on a category, such as games.
To set limits, select the user for whom you want to set limits in the left column. Then select App Limits and click the Turn On button on the upper right. Click the + button, and then look for the category or app for which you want to set limits (specific apps are found inside the categories listed; click the expand button on the left of the list to see what apps are in a category.)
Once you find your category/app, look at the Time setting under the window listing. Select Every Day and set the time period if you want to have the same time every day. Select Custom to set specific time periods for each day. Click Done when you’re all set.
22. Content & Privacy
You can use the Content & Privacy settings to restrict content, stores, apps, and more. Here’s a quick look at the four sets of settings for Content & Privacy.
Content: You can set what country’s rating systems you want to use, what type of web content to allow, what Siri can show as part of its results, music profiles and posts, and Game Center access.
Stores: You can set what types of movies, TV shows, and apps appear based on age range, whether explicit content is allowed, and app management on IOS.
Apps: You can allow/disallow a user’s ability to use certain apps.
Other: Here you can allow/disallow a user to modify certain setting changes, such as passwords and account changes.
QUICKTIME PLAYER
With Quicktime Player in macos Catalina, there are new features that can enhance your enjoyment of videos that you watch on your Mac.
23. Picture in Picture
The Picture in Picture features lets a video play in a resizable window on your screen, and it won’t get blocked by other windows on your Mac. This is handy if you want to watch a video while doing other tasks.
To play a video in PIP, look for its icon in the playback controller; it’s located in the upper right. Click it and your video will display in a smaller window that you can resize. And it’s always on top, so other windows will appear underneath it.
24. Image sequence videos
If you have a long sequence of photos (perhaps you shot a burst of photos with your iphone), you can use Quicktime Player to compile those photos into a video.
First, put those photos together in a folder, and then name them sequentially if they aren’t already. Then open Quicktime Player and in the File menu, select Open Image Sequence. In the window that appears, navigate to your folder of photos, then click the Choose Media button.
Now set the parameters of your video. You can adjust the Resolution and Frame Rate, and in the Encode section, you pick the file format. Click OK to create the video.
You may need to adjust the settings, but in the end, you’ll have a video of that sequence of photos.
PHOTOS
25. Sort by Years, Months, and Days
In the Photos app, you can now sort your pictures by Years, Months, and Days. There’s also an All Photos view, so you can see your whole collection. What’s more, the app is smart enough to keep your place in the collection when you switch views. ■