News – 15 July 2023 – 07:45
It’s July, which is by default the month that Apple releases public versions of its latest system software to testers, such as iOS and iPadOS 17 and MacOS Sonoma. This time with very few changes.
It was already known before Apple’s developer conference at the beginning of June that these would not be major updates. For example, an important part of the developers seems to have worked on the software for Apple’s Vision Pro.
In fact, if you install the public betas you will hardly see any difference with the previous OS, with the exception of Sonoma, where the desktop gets a new gas green background.
As said, most innovations are not immediately noticeable. New in iOS 17 are contact posters, which let you control what your contacts see when you call them. You can create a personal call screen with your own name, photo, memoji and font. But as is often the case with Apple: that of course only works between iPhones.
With the new Standby Mode in iOS 17, the iPhone becomes a kind of smart display. When the iPhone is charging and you hold it horizontally, you get a special view with large widgets. The iPhone must not lie flat, but preferably on an elevation, otherwise the mode will not be activated.
Some extensions are quite useful. For example, Apple introduces a function called NameDrop, with which you can easily share your phone number. You can leave a recorded video message in FaceTime.
The dictation function has also received a major upgrade. You can now use the keyboard while speaking, for example to correct a misspelled name. You can also use Face ID or Touch ID to log in to a website. You don’t have to type in a password anymore.
Note: The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X will be dropped from iOS 17.
iPadOS
Every year the iPad gets a new app and this year it’s the Health app. But users still have to wait (despite insistence) for Apple’s own calculator app, which you could make at least as extensive as the Health app.
Last year, the iPhone was the only one to be able to design completely new access screens with personalized fonts and even widgets. This year it’s the iPad’s turn. For example, in iPadOS 17 you get to choose which clock you want to set on the lock screen. The widgets are now also interactive, just like with the iPhone.
The multitasking feature in Stage Manager has been improved. It’s the part that should make iPadOS more like a PC by placing applications next to each other or bringing them to the front. The windows are now freer to move and easier to resize, but many users prefer the older Split View and Slide Over.
One of the most useful additions is the ability to use AutoFill with PDFs. This function makes it possible to automatically fill in forms with, for example, your name and address details. Adding your signature has also become easier. If you have saved a PDF or scanned document in the Notes app, you can now edit it more easily with Apple Pencil.
Again, Apple is unable to get everything ready for the launch of the new iPhones. For example, the new Journal app, which is also called Diary app, will only appear later. With that app you can record feelings and events of the day. Such apps have been around for some time and their creators are certainly not pleased with what they consider to be unfair competition.
Live VoiceMail, where a voicemail appears as text on the screen, will not be available in Dutch for the time being.
macOS
The most important addition to MacOS is the widgets that you can place anywhere on the desktop. Handy if you work in a different time zone and can, for example, place a clock with the time in the home country. You can even place existing iPhone widgets on the desktop, even if you don’t have the app on MacOS itself.
Apple is making the Apple TV’s animated bird’s-eye view screensavers available on the Mac. It is not yet clear whether this will affect the battery life of MacBooks. These are heavy files that you have to download separately.
Also nice: You can convert almost any website into a web app in macOS Sonoma, with a small toolbar at the top including navigation buttons. This way you can place a site that you visit daily as an app in the taskbar.
With Safari you can choose profiles for personal or business use, where you can, for example, protect business pages with a password. I don’t immediately see the point of it, but there will undoubtedly be people who find it useful.
Of all system updates you can say that there are useful and nice innovations, although only a small part of them will actually be used. How many users will embrace the diary app?
An advantage of the ‘light’ updates is that you can install them reasonably safely. Few real bugs have been discovered. Installing has also become a lot easier in iOS 16. You can select the desired beta version directly from updates. and no need to download a configuration profile or, in the case of macOS, an installer. Caution remains advised. Do not install them on devices that you have to use intensively.
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2023-07-15 05:45:00
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