At the World Wide Developer Conference 2019 last night, Apple introduced several new updates in their ecosystem including the iOS 13, watchOS 6, tvOS 13 and a new iPadOS. Along with all the announcement, the company also announced the latest macOS Catalina packed with new features, fresh new apps, and powerful new technology for developers.
With macOS Catalina, Apple is replacing iTunes with its popular entertainment apps — Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app. The new Sidecar feature enables users to extend their Mac desktop by using their iPad as a second display or as a high-precision input device across creative Mac apps. New security features keep users better protected and Voice Control lets users control their Mac entirely with their voice.
Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV Apps
macOS Catalina replaces iTunes with three new apps that simplify and improve the way Mac users discover and enjoy their favorite music, TV shows, movies, and podcasts. The new Music app for Mac is fast, fun and easy to use. Apple Music will help users discover great new music with over 50 million songs, playlists, and music videos. And users will have access to their entire music library, whether they downloaded the songs, purchased them or ripped them from a CD. For those who like to own their music, the iTunes Music Store is just a click away.
The new Apple TV app brings together different ways to find and watch movies and TV shows into one app. The Apple TV app features Apple TV channels, personalized recommendations, and over 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows to browse, buy or rent — so users can enjoy 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos-supported movies. The Watch Now section features Up Next, where viewers can keep track of what they are currently watching and resume on any screen. In the coming months, Apple TV+, Apple’s original video subscription service, will be available in the Apple TV app.
Apple Podcasts app offers more than 700,000 shows in its catalog and the option to automatically be notified of new episodes as soon as they become available. The app also features new categories, curated collections by editors around the world and advanced search tools that can find episodes by the host, guest or even discussion topic.
Sidecar
With Sidecar, iPad can be used as an extended display for Mac and a high-precision drawing tablet across supported Mac apps. For users on the go, Sidecar makes it easy to bring an extended display with them so they can spread their work out over two displays wherever they happen to be. When paired with an Apple Pencil, they can use their iPad to draw, sketch or write in any Mac app that supports stylus input. A sidecar is a great tool for editing video with Final Cut Pro X, drawing with Adobe Illustrator or marking up iWork documents. And like all Continuity features, Sidecar can run on a wireless connection, so users can work with greater mobility.
Accessibility
Apple is introducing new assistive technologies to help every user get the most out of their Mac. Voice Control is a transformative technology that enables users who can’t operate traditional input devices to control their Mac entirely with their voice using on-device Siri speech recognition. Voice Control is now also available on iOS and iPadOS, so users can control their device entirely with their voice, even gestures like tapping, swiping and scrolling.
Security
With macOS Catalina, Gatekeeper now checks all apps for known security issues, while new data protections require all apps to get permission before accessing user documents. Approve with Apple Watch lets users approve many security prompts by simply tapping the side button on their Apple Watch. All Macs with the T2 Security Chip support Activation Lock to make them less attractive to thieves. And with the new Find My app, the location of a lost or stolen Mac can be securely and anonymously relayed back to its owner by other Apple devices, even when it is offline.
Screen Time
Screen Time on the Mac gives users insight into how they spend time in apps and on websites, and the tools to help decide how to spend their time. Screen Time is designed for the way people use their Mac, including a new “One more minute” feature that gives users more time to save their work or log out of a game. Users can schedule time away from their Mac and determine how much time they want to spend within apps, websites or categories of apps.
Other features of macOS Catalina
- Photos feature a new browsing experience that intelligently showcases the user’s best pictures.
- Safari has an updated start page that uses Siri Suggestions to elevate frequently visited sites, bookmarks, iCloud tabs, Reading List selections and links sent in Messages.
- Mail in macOS Catalina adds the ability to block email from a specified sender, mute an overly active thread and unsubscribe from commercial mailing lists.
- Notes now has a new Gallery View, more powerful search tools and additional collaboration options.
- Reminders has been redesigned with an all-new user interface that makes it easier to create, organize and track reminders.
Availability
The developer preview of macOS Catalina is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com now and a public beta program will be available to Mac users later this month at beta.apple.com. macOS Catalina will be available this fall for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later. For more news and the latest updates follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
