Apple on Tuesday launched macOS Sonoma, the newest model of the corporate’s Mac working system. ‌macOS Sonoma‌ introduces interactive desktop widgets, internet apps, new videoconferencing options, and up to date capabilities throughout the platform.

On this article, we have chosen 50 new options and lesser-known adjustments which might be price testing in the event you’re upgrading. What do you consider ‌macOS Sonoma‌ up to now? Tell us within the feedback.

When not in use, interactive desktop widgets fade into the background by taking up a monochrome model, permitting you to focus on the lively app or window.

In case you want this look, you may make it everlasting by going to System Settings -> Desktop & Dock. Within the “Widgets” part, set Widget Fashion to Monochrome.

In macOS Ventura, Apple changed System Preferences with System Settings to align it with iOS and iPadOS, however the best way controls have been organized left many customers wanting.

The identical System Settings interface stays in ‌macOS Sonoma‌, however it’s now simpler to navigate by completely different menu screens you might have visited with out frequently scrolling by the sidebar, due to the addition of from side to side buttons.

3. FaceTime Reactions

Apple has modified the best way FaceTime integrates with the menu bar. The video results choices not seem within the Management Middle, and as a substitute have a brand new residence in a devoted inexperienced ‌FaceTime‌ menu bar merchandise, which additionally features a mini webcam view and buttons to set off Reactions.

Reactions embody Love, Like, Dislike, Balloons, Rain, Confetti, Lasers, and Fireworks. Some reactions are even triggered mechanically by the person’s bodily actions: One thumb up triggers a Like, and two thumbs up are attended by Fireworks. Equally, one thumb down counts as a dislike, and two thumbs down initiates a rain bathe.

4. Safari Profiles

Safari has gained a brand new characteristic known as Profiles, which is designed to assist maintain your looking separate for various use instances like Work, College, or Private.

Go to the Profiles part in Safari -> Settings…, and you’ll create customized profiles, select an emblem and coloration for each, and choose a Favorites folder.

Profiles silo your historical past, Tab Teams, and cookies, and it’s also possible to assign particular extensions to completely different profiles to optimize your looking expertise primarily based on the duty at hand.

5. Seamless Keyboard Enter and Dictation

‌macOS Sonoma‌ helps simultaneous use of keyboard enter and Dictation, with none disruption in your stream of thought.

In different phrases, you possibly can maintain typing after hitting the Dictation shortcut (assignable in System Settings -> Keyboard). So each time your fingers want a relaxation, you possibly can full the sentence you have been simply typing by saying it out loud.

6. Presenter Overlay

Whenever you’re in a ‌FaceTime‌ or Zoom name, click-hold the inexperienced site visitors gentle within the nook of an open app window and you will see a display screen sharing possibility, whereas a brand new Presenter Overlay characteristic can be utilized to maintain you on display screen and higher capable of level to particulars.

When on a video name, you possibly can both place your self inside a movable bubble within the nook of the window or desktop that you just’re sharing, or you possibly can convey on-screen content material into the background of your individual atmosphere in order that it seems as in the event you’re standing simply in entrance of it.

7. Dock Net Apps

Due to a brand new possibility in Safari, now you can create standalone internet apps and add them to your Dock, alongside your common apps.

All it’s important to do is go to a web site in Safari and choose File -> Add to Dock…. You possibly can then give the net app a reputation and even change its icon. Whenever you open a docked internet app, it’ll open in its personal separate window that features again and ahead buttons for easy navigation.

8. Caps Lock Is On

If the Caps Lock key in your keyboard is enabled in ‌macOS Sonoma‌, a useful indicator seems proper close to the cursor, so that you’re much less more likely to TYPE LIKE THIS BY ACCIDENT and get your passwords mistaken.

Apple has additionally made the textual content cursor a bit of thicker, and its coloration now adjustments relative to the lively utility, so you will have a greater concept of which window your textual content goes to seem in whenever you begin typing.

9. Open Notes in Pages

Now you can ship notes from the Notes app on to Pages. Merely open the observe, click on the Share button, then select Open in Pages from the share sheet.

From there you possibly can proceed to edit the observe in Pages, then put it aside or export it as a PDF, Phrase file, EPUB, and extra.

Due to Apple’s Continuity characteristic and its potential to sync along with your units, the widget library contains widgets out of your iPhone in all out there sizes.

So even when you do not have the corresponding Mac app, you possibly can nonetheless use the iOS widget proper in your desktop. Merely drag it from the gallery into an out there house.

You probably have multiple ‌iPhone‌, it’s also possible to select which widgets present up in your Mac’s widgets library. Go to System Settings -> Desktop & Dock, and within the “‌Widgets‌” part, click on the ‌iPhone‌ dropdown to pick the machine that you just wish to sync to.

11. Present/Conceal Desktop

By default, ‌macOS Sonoma‌ hides all home windows whenever you click on in your wallpaper. That is useful in the event you are likely to have a bunch of information on the display screen that you just want entry to. However in the event you discover this habits maddening, you possibly can restrict it to occur solely when Stage Supervisor is enabled.

Go to System Settings -> Desktop & Dock. Within the Desktop & ‌Stage Supervisor‌ part, search for the choice Click on wallpaper to disclose desktop, then click on All the time and select Solely in ‌Stage Supervisor‌ as a substitute.

12. Textual content Prediction

Due to improved machine studying expertise, Apple has made macOS much more useful, as a result of it will probably higher predict what you are going to kind subsequent. Apple says it has adopted a “transformer language mannequin” that may even personalize prediction for particular person customers, studying your private preferences and phrase decisions to be extra helpful when typing.

As you kind, the expected textual content seems forward of the cursor. If it has precisely predicted what you wish to kind, press the spacebar and macOS will fill it in for you. After utilizing ‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌‌ for a couple of weeks, it is best to discover that the ideas are a lot better at predicting what you wish to say and presenting phrases so that you can autofill.

In case you discover all of this distracting, you possibly can flip it off. Go to System Settings -> Keyboard. Subsequent to Enter Sources, click on Edit…. Within the subsequent window, toggle off the swap subsequent to Present inline predictive textual content.

13. Managing PDFs in Notes

Whenever you drag PDFs into Notes, they’re now offered full-width within the observe, making it simpler to view and work together with them.

Notes is not restricted to rendering the primary web page of a PDF. Now you can view the person pages of a doc you are reviewing proper contained in the observe, which is actually useful for previewing a number of PDFs in the identical observe. You additionally get a row of thumbnails throughout the highest of the PDF that you could click on to navigate to a particular web page extra shortly.

14. Hyperlink Notes Collectively

Apple has made its inventory Notes app considerably extra helpful by including the easy but highly effective potential to hyperlink notes and join associated notes collectively. With just some clicks, you possibly can create hyperlinks between notes in ‌‌macOS Sonoma‌, making it straightforward to leap from one concept to a different.

A technique of including a brand new hyperlink is by right-clicking on an area, phrase or phrase in any observe and deciding on Add Hyperlink from the contextual menu. You can too use the Command-Okay shortcut. This may allow you to hyperlink to a different observe by typing in its title. Utilizing the “Title” subject, you possibly can create an non-compulsory different title for the hyperlink, or simply follow the unique title for readability. When you’re executed, the hyperlink seems as hyperlink-style underlined textual content in your observe, and clicking it snaps you straight into the observe you linked to.

15. Hyperlink From a Record of Notes

The Notes app additionally provides a further, faster manner so as to add hyperlinks: Typing two greater-than symbols (>>) right into a observe invokes a listing containing your six most not too long ago modified notes, and tapping one immediately provides a hyperlink to that observe.

The identical characteristic could be present in iOS, which means now you can create wiki-style collections of interlinked notes, permitting you to prepare your ideas or uncover new connections and associations between concepts.

16. Studio Gentle and Background Blur

Studio Gentle is now out there in macOS when utilizing video conferencing apps, on Studio Show and Mac fashions with Apple silicon, with out the necessity for Continuity Digital camera. Within the ‌FaceTime‌ menu bar UI, you possibly can darken the background and illuminate your face utilizing the Studio Gentle depth slider.

With the Portrait slider, it’s also possible to management the quantity of background blur, including kind of blur to the depth-of-field impact.

17. Select Middle Stage Digital camera

In ‌macOS Sonoma‌, Continuity Digital camera mechanically detects your face and frames you within the heart, with out you having to allow Middle Stage. Nonetheless, turning on Middle Stage retains you targeted within the digicam body as you progress round.

Select Middle Stage from the Video menu within the menu bar. To change between the rear cameras in your ‌iPhone‌, click on the arrow subsequent to Middle Stage, then select Most important or Extremely Extensive.

18. Discover Messages Quicker

Beforehand in macOS, you would kind a phrase or phrase within the search subject of Apple’s Messages app and it will return matching outcomes, however there was no strategy to filter messages to extra simply discover what you have been on the lookout for.

That is modified in ‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌, and now you possibly can mix a number of filters. In case you’re on the lookout for pictures from a sure particular person, for instance, you possibly can kind in “photographs” after which the particular person’s identify, clicking every search filter to slim down your search outcomes.

19. Take away All URL Monitoring

Safari can take away monitoring parameters from URLs so as to forestall cross-website monitoring. When a monitoring parameter is detected whereas looking or copying a hyperlink, Safari strips the figuring out parts of the URL, whereas leaving the remainder intact. The hyperlinks nonetheless work as anticipated, however not have distinctive identifiers.

To allow the characteristic for all looking, open Safari -> Settings…, click on the Superior tab, be sure the field is checked subsequent to Use superior monitoring and fingerprint safety, then select “in all looking” within the dropdown.

20. Safari Favicons

In Safari 17, when you have the Favorites Bar enabled (View -> Present Favorites Bar in Safari’s menu bar) the favicon for every web site will seem beside its title, permitting you to extra simply spot it within the bar.

Favicons can actually be useful, however they will make your browser interface look too busy and cluttered. One other potential subject with the house they take up is that when you have a full row of internet sites in your Favorites Bar, a few of them might be lopped off the viewable space, and you could have to click on the double chevron icon on the far proper to disclose them.

If this occurs in your case, don’t be concerned. It isn’t apparent, however you possibly can simply forestall favicons from showing within the Favorites Bar. Merely right-click anyplace on the bar and uncheck Present Icons within the pop-up menu.

21. Routinely Shut Safari Tabs

macOS can now shut Safari’s browser tabs in your behalf, primarily based on whenever you final considered them. Choose Safari -> Settings… within the menu bar, then click on the Tabs part.

Subsequent to “Routinely shut tabs” you will discover choices to make the browser auto-close tabs that haven’t been considered After One Day, After One Week, or After One Month.

22. Share Passwords With Household

Staying in Safari Settings, the Passwords menu now has a Share Passwords with Household possibility. This lets you create a bunch of trusted contacts that you could share passwords and passkeys with throughout units. (Passkeys let customers register to apps and websites the identical manner they unlock their units: With a fingerprint, a face scan, or a display screen lock PIN.)

Utilizing the brand new characteristic, passwords and passkeys for shared media accounts, utilities, payments, and extra could be offered to a number of folks, and every particular person within the group can entry, add to, and alter passwords which might be shared.

23. Clear Up Verification Codes

Lately, many web sites and companies use one-time passcodes despatched by way of SMS or over e mail for verification functions, however these one-time codes can quickly clog up your Mail inbox and Messages app.

In ‌macOS Sonoma‌, there is a new choice to have these messages auto-delete after the code is autofilled and used to authenticate a login. Go to Safari -> Settings… and click on the Password part. Beneath “Verification Codes,” you possibly can toggle the swap subsequent to Clear Up Routinely.

24. Set Personal Looking Search Engine

In Safari, you possibly can set completely different engines like google for regular and Personal Looking modes. For instance, you could wish to set Google because the default search engine in common looking mode and a special search engine corresponding to DuckDuckGo in Personal Looking mode for privateness causes.

Go to Safari -> Settings…, click on the Search part, then choose a browser from the Personal Looking search engine dropdown.

25. Personal Looking Authentication

You probably have any Personal Looking tabs open in Safari after which depart your pc, Apple’s browser now requires Contact ID authentication or your Mac password to entry them once more.

In case you do not have a tendency to go away your Mac unlocked or discover the authentication requirement annoying, you possibly can flip it off fairly simply: Go to Safari -> Settings…, click on the Privateness part, then uncheck the field subsequent to Require ‌Contact ID‌ to view locked tabs.

26. Per-Web site Extension Settings

In Safari, third-party extensions now have per-website privateness settings the place related, permitting you to manage entry for all extensions with entry to person information.

Yow will discover these new choices within the Web sites part of Safari’s Settings window.

27. Disable Pointer Acceleration

Players rejoice – now you can disable pointer acceleration in ‌macOS Sonoma‌. By default in macOS, the pointer strikes extra shortly for quick mouse actions and extra exactly for gradual mouse actions. Beforehand there was no strategy to forestall this natively, however that is modified.

Go to System Settings -> Mouse -> Superior…, then toggle off the swap subsequent to Pointer acceleration.

28. Audio Message Enhancements

When recording an audio message, you are now capable of pause after which proceed recording the identical message earlier than sending.

Moreover, when listening to audio messages you acquired, a protracted click on on the play button enables you to choose to play again at as much as 2x velocity. Obtained audio messages are mechanically transcribed, too.

29. Notes Formatting Additions

Block Quote formatting makes it straightforward to visually offset a piece of writing with a quote bar, whereas Monospaced formatting has been up to date to Monostyled, for inset textual content with a definite background.

Yow will discover these within the Notes menu bar below Format, or by clicking the textual content model icon when a observe is open.

30. Simpler Autocorrect Modifying

Autocorrection now briefly underlines autocorrected phrases, and you’ll right-click an underlined phrase to disclose and select the unique phrase that you just typed.

macOS may even study your typing habits over time for every app, and keep away from corrections that you just revert. This additionally applies to express language, which might be added to your private vocabulary listing.

31. Activate Sport Mode

Sport Mode offers video games the very best precedence entry to your CPU and GPU, reducing utilization for background duties. It activates mechanically whenever you fullscreen any recreation by way of the inexperienced button within the top-left nook of the sport’s window. Whenever you enter full display screen on this manner, a Sport Mode menu seems within the menu bar. You should use this menu to substantiate that Sport Mode is turned on to your recreation.

Sport Mode additionally turns off mechanically whenever you cease viewing your recreation in full display screen. You can too flip it off whereas your recreation remains to be in full display screen mode: From the Sport Mode menu within the menu bar, select Flip Sport Mode Off.

32. Excessive Efficiency Display Sharing

Display Sharing is its personal app in ‌macOS Sonoma‌. It is situated in Functions/Utilities, and features a listing of all computer systems you have related to up to now, the flexibility to see all computer systems in your native community with display screen sharing enabled, and the choice to create teams of computer systems.

It additionally contains a excessive efficiency mode when a display screen sharing connection has been established. Click on the data (i) button subsequent to a connection, and alter the Display Sharing Kind from Commonplace to Excessive Efficiency. Excessive efficiency mode means that you can use the native decision of the host pc’s show, reduces latency, improves picture high quality, and options HDR and multi-monitor assist. The characteristic is offered on Macs with Apple silicon operating ‌macOS Sonoma‌ or later.

33. Communication Security

Communication Security is an opt-in characteristic that warns kids when sending or receiving photographs that include nudity. It is enabled by default for kids below the age of 13 who’re signed in with an Apple ID and a part of a Household Sharing group, however dad and mom also can allow it for older teenagers as effectively.

When the characteristic is enabled in System Settings -> Display Time -> Communication Security, photographs and movies containing nudity are mechanically blurred in supported apps together with Messages and ‌FaceTime‌, and the kid might be warned about viewing delicate content material. The warning additionally gives kids with methods to get assist. It makes use of on-device processing to detect photographs and movies containing nudity, making certain that Apple and third events can not entry the content material, and that end-to-end encryption is preserved within the Messages app.

34. Reside Speech

Utilizing the brand new Reside Speech accessibility characteristic, you possibly can kind in your Mac and have your phrases spoken aloud, or straight into apps like ‌‌FaceTime‌‌ audio. Reside Speech could be arrange in ‌macOS Sonoma‌ by going to Settings -> Accessibility -> Reside Speech, the place you possibly can select a voice to make use of, and save generally used phrases.

Alternatively, you possibly can document your self studying and make a Private Voice to be used with Reside Speech. Go to System Settings -> Accessibility -> Private Voice, then faucet Create a Private Voice.

35. Copy iCloud Hyperlink

Now you can share photographs and movies saved in iCloud Pictures by producing an iCloud hyperlink.

Merely choose a photograph or drag a range field over a number of photographs, click on the Share button, then choose Copy ‌iCloud‌ Hyperlink, and it is going to be copied to your clipboard prepared for pasting in an e mail or message.

36. Wallpaper to Display Saver

Sonoma brings all of the Apple TV screensavers to your Mac – they obtain on demand to save lots of on storage, they usually look nice. The best way to get one of the best out of them although, is to make use of the identical video to your wallpaper and screensaver. You are able to do this utilizing the Present as display screen saver / wallpaper toggle in System Settings -> Wallpaper, and Display Saver.

With the toggle enabled, your icons and app home windows fade out and the desktop wallpaper begins to maneuver when the display screen saver comes on.

37. System Settings in Highlight

Sonoma enables you to toggle system settings like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Darkish Mode, Focus Modes, and extra straight in Highlight search.

You possibly can nonetheless entry these settings in Management Middle and the System Settings app, however some customers will discover this technique a bit of faster. It is the identical small but welcome high quality of life enchancment that customers have seen in iOS 17 on ‌iPhone‌.

38. iCloud Passwords Extension

Apple’s ‌iCloud‌ password supervisor can now be utilized in Chrome for Mac, Microsoft Edge, and different Chromium-based browsers, due to an up to date ‌iCloud‌ Passwords extension that works in ‌macOS Sonoma‌.

In different phrases, you need not open Safari or migrate your ‌iCloud‌ passwords to a different password supervisor. The Chrome extension also can AutoFill passwords and one-time codes, save new passwords, and allows you to right-click QR codes to arrange code turbines.

39. Folks & Pets

Common customers of Apple’s Pictures app might be undoubtedly acquainted with the Folks album, which tries to establish faces in your footage so to label folks with their correct names and use that label as an organizing component in your library or as a discoverable tag.

Along with folks, the ‌‌Pictures‌‌ app in ‌macOS Sonoma‌ can acknowledge cats and canine, so you possibly can have your pets mechanically sorted into albums. Accordingly, the Folks album has been renamed the “Folks & Pets” album. To manually assign your furry pals, kind “pets” into the search subject in your library, and you’ll go about figuring out any unnamed pets.

In System Settings -> Management Middle, there are new choices to manage when the menu bar mechanically hides.

Scroll right down to the “Menu Bar Solely” part and click on the dropdown subsequent to Routinely cover and present the menu bar, and you can select from All the time, On Desktop Solely, On Full Display Solely, and By no means.

41. Climate Models

In ‌macOS Sonoma‌, the Climate app has acquired an overhaul, and now contains new options like the flexibility to view the day gone by’s climate, and a brand new moon module that tells you the phases of the moon.

Along with the flexibility to view temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit, it’s also possible to now change the unit measurements for wind velocity, precipitation, strain, and distance: Yow will discover these choices in Climate -> Settings, below the Models part.

42. Reminder Grocery Lists

Apple has added a useful little listing perform to the Reminders app that can assist you whenever you’re out to select up some groceries. Whenever you create a listing with the brand new “Groceries” listing kind (named “Procuring” exterior the U.S), you possibly can enter varied meals and sundries and have them organized mechanically by class. The group makes it simpler to seek out what you want whenever you’re on the grocery retailer, or out buying.

The out there class varieties in Reminders embody Produce, Breads & Cereals, Frozen Meals, Snacks & Sweet, Meat, Dairy, Eggs & Cheese, Bakery, Baking Gadgets, Family Gadgets, Private Care & Well being, and Wine, Beer & Spirits.

43. Reminder Record Column View

The Reminders app additionally contains a new scrollable Column view, making it straightforward to visualise your duties.

Yow will discover it within the Reminders menu bar, below View -> as Columns.

44. Hey Siri

In macOS on machines with Apple silicon, you possibly can simply say “‌Siri‌” to activate ‌‌Siri‌‌, dropping the “Hey” that is been used as a wake phrase for years. ‌‌Siri‌‌ will activate whenever you say the ‌‌Siri‌‌ phrase, so you possibly can converse extra naturally.

If the change is inflicting you to unintentionally wake ‌Siri‌, you possibly can revert it by going to System Settings -> ‌Siri‌ & Highlight, then choose Hear for -> Hey ‌Siri‌.

45. Share an AirTag

The Discover My app now contains the flexibility to share ‌Discover My‌ equipment with a number of folks. As much as 5 different folks can share an AirTag or ‌Discover My‌ community accent. Merely choose the AirTag, then click on Add Individual below “Share This AirTag” to get began.

Everybody within the sharing group is ready to see the merchandise’s location, get instructions to the merchandise, and play a sound to assist pinpoint a shared merchandise’s location when close by.

46. Customise Textual content Dimension Per App

Now you can set your most popular textual content measurement on a per-app foundation, due to Sonoma’s expanded Accessibility settings.

Go to System Settings -> Accessibility -> Show, then merely select the app you wish to customise textual content measurement for and make your level choice.

47. Establish Mail Attachment Downloads

Whenever you obtain an e mail attachment from Mail and think about it in Finder, the file features a new mail image subsequent to it to let you already know it is an e mail attachment.

In case you right-click the attachment, there’s even a “Reply to [name of sender]” possibility within the contextual menu that when chosen will open the Mail compose window, prepared so that you can kind up your reply message.

48. Visible Look Up Enhancements

Visible Look Up in ‌Pictures‌ has been vastly improved, so now you can discover related recipes from photographs of meals, map routes to shops recognized in photographs, and establish the which means of indicators and symbols on issues like laundry tags.

You can too discover out details about issues that seem in paused video frames.

49. Add-Solely Calendar Entry

In System Settings, a brand new Privateness & Safety -> Calendar setting means that you can give third-party apps write-only entry to your calendars.

Choosing this implies apps are restricted to writing new occasions to your calendars, with out having the ability to see your info.

50. Delicate Content material Warnings

With Delicate Content material Warnings enabled in ‌iOS 17‌, incoming information, movies, and pictures are scanned on-device and blocked in the event that they include nudity. The opt-in blurring could be utilized to photographs in Messages, AirDrop, Contact Posters for the Cellphone app, ‌FaceTime‌ messages, and third-party apps.

Notice that that is separate from the Communication Security options the Apple has carried out for kids, and is designed for folks of all ages. You possibly can allow Delicate Content material Warnings by going to System Settings -> Privateness & Safety -> Delicate Content material Warning and turning on the requisite toggle.