Apple at WWDC 2018 announced the next version of macOS which will power the MacBooks, and iMacs.
Last night at WWDC 2018,Apple announced the next version of macOS called macOS Mojave. The OS, which will power the MacBooks, and iMacs, will be reaching consumers in October or September, and is currently available to developers as a beta update. While in terms of looks and feel, the macOS is not that big of a deal, it does come with a few new handy features, particularly aimed at making working on Macs more efficient.
If you ask Apple, here is how the company describes the macOS Mojave. «macOS Mojave is a major update that introduces powerful new features for a wide range of Mac users, from consumers to pros,» said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. «Dark Mode brings a dramatic new look to macOS that puts your content front and center, familiar iOS apps come to the Mac for the first time and the redesigned Mac App Store makes finding new apps easier and more enjoyable than ever.»
Sounds good. But what it does it mean for MacBook and iMac users? we will know more when the Mojave reaches people, but for now I believe here are the five new features in the Mojave that will matter most.
It’s a pain to keep the desktop clean. It’s pain on Windows. It’s pain on Mac. With the Stack feature in the macOS Mojave, Apple is hopping to ease this pain. What the stack feature does is that it stacks all files with similar type, or files with same dates in a stack on the desktop. This means no more a messy desktop screen where the icons and files are all over the place. «Stacks for the desktop can organise even the most cluttered of desktops by automatically stacking files into neat groups based on file type. Users can customise their Stacks to sort based on other file attributes like date and tags,» says Apple.
Federighi says that when Apple decided to name its new macOS Mojave, the company also got inspired by just how beautiful that desert looks in the night. And hence came the dark mode for the macOS Mojave.
«macOS Mojave users can switch to Dark Mode to transform their desktop to a darkened colour scheme Users can toggle between a light and dark desktop, and built-in Mac apps like Mail, Messages, Maps, Calendar and Photos all include Dark Mode designs. macOS Mojave also features a new Dynamic Desktop that automatically changes the desktop picture to match the time of day,» says Apple. Although dark mode is not something unheard of — phones nowadays often have it, and OnePlus 6 is one such example — traditionally computer OS like Windows and Mac have not been on the trend. That is until now. With macOS Mojave now coming with dark mode, hopefully we will such mode in more apps, websites, and probably even in stock Android.
Last year Apple had announced the Continuity feature, which basically lets Apple users start something on Device A and then finish that on Device B. It also allows Apple devices like the iPhone and Mac to work together in a more seamless way, for example by sharing Wi-Fi password.This year Apple is building on top of that announcement with a new feature in macOS Mojave called Continuity Camera. The feature will allow users to scan or take a photo with an iPhone and then immediately edit that on the large screen of MacBook. It sounds impressive and in demo at the WWDC 2018, we saw it works quite great.
Apple is talking about user privacy for a while. The company makes its money by selling products and not by pushing ads. This year at WWDC 2018,Apple rolled out a bunch of new features as part of the macOS Mojave that aim to keep users safer online from the prying eyes of companies like Facebook. «As with all Apple software updates, enhanced privacy and security remain a top priority in macOS Mojave,» Apple notes. So how is it improving privacy of users? It is building new tools through which the Safari browser can more intelligently block tracking of web users that websites like Facebook employ. «In Safari, enhanced Intelligent Tracking Prevention helps block social media «Like» or «Share» buttons and comment widgets from tracking users without permission,» says Apple.
Mojave also comes with enhanced local data protection, and the Mac apps will now «require user permission before using the Mac camera and microphone or accessing personal data like user Mail history and Messages database».
Finder in macOS Mojave is getting smarter. It is getting features like the Gallery mode, which will show users more information about a while in fewer clicks as well as getting enhanced functionality via Quick Actions during preview. «Quick Actions allow users to do things like create and password-protect PDFs and run custom Automator Actions on files right from Finder. Quick Look provides a fast, full-size preview of a file, allowing users to rotate and crop images, mark up PDFs and trim video and audio clips without ever opening an app,» says Apple.
ALSO READ: With new privacy features for Mac and iPhone, Apple declares war on Facebook and Google ad empire
