Juli Clover:
Public beta testers can download the macOS 14 Sonoma update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after signing up on Apple’s beta testing website and opting into the public beta under the Beta Updates section.
[…]
For more on what’s new in macOS Sonoma , including a new Game mode, we have a detailed macOS Sonoma roundup that highlights all of the features in the update.
The public beta is build 23A5286i. I was on Developer Beta 3, and it offered me another “Beta 3” update, which only brought the build to 23A5286g. Then it offered a third “Beta 3,” update, which ended up being the same as the public beta.
Jason Snell:
macOS Sonoma, out in public beta now and due to be released this fall, is an update that feels small in all the best ways. Even in early development, I’ve managed to use it on my main Mac without any serious compatibility issues or major bugs. This means that if you’re desperate for change in macOS, you will be disappointed—but at this point I suspect that most Mac users just want incremental improvements without disruptive changes. Slow and steady wins the race.
My experience is that Bluetooth connections are broken (FB12550887, FB12550939). Otherwise, it seems pretty good, though.
This unsung hero of macOS [Screen Sharing] has gotten a major update. For starters, there’s an actual interface—instead of a simple Connect To start, there’s a proper window listing nearby computers and devices you’ve previously controlled. And there’s also a stunning new High Performance mode, which lets two Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Sonoma connect with low latency, high quality, and even support for two displays. I was able to edit some video in Final Cut Pro using this feature, and while it wasn’t perfect, I was impressed at how well it worked.
John Voorhees:
No single Sonoma feature has had as immediate an effect on how I use my Mac as interactive desktop widgets. I’ve never been a fan of the way macOS Big Sur put widgets in Notification Center, an offscreen panel that is only accessible by clicking on the clock in the menu bar. That’s still available, kind of how the Today view is still a feature of iOS, but migrating widgets to the desktop from Notification Center makes them infinitely more useable.
[…]
Apple’s new autocorrect system is orders of magnitude better than the old system on every OS. Apple is using a new, more accurate language model. The core system works a lot like the old one, but you’ll notice differences as soon as you begin to type in an app. As you go, Sonoma will also suggest the autocompletion of words, and event phrases.
Six Colors:
In recent years, Apple has taken to making more of its new features available across all of its major operating systems. As a result, it’s made less sense for us to cover the same feature in multiple preview articles. Instead, we’ve rolled some of the key improvements you’ll see across macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17 into a single article—this one.
Monica Chin (Hacker News):
Ventura looked a heck of a lot like iOS, and Sonoma looks even more like iOS. I turned my office’s Mac Studio on after installing the developer beta and thought, for a second, that I might be hallucinating my iPhone’s lockscreen. It’s remarkably reminiscent.
Previously:
Auto-Correction Bluetooth Mac macOS 14 Sonoma macOS Beta macOS Widgets Screen Sharing
Jason Snell:
iPadOS 17 uses the extra screen space of the iPad and lets you add a load of lock-screen widgets down the left side. I’ve already stuck a few in there and I’m looking forward to shopping for even more because there’s just so much space.
Another iOS 16 feature picked up in iPadOS 17 is support for Live Activities. These dynamically updated notification boxes can now live on the iPad Lock Screen as well, so you can keep track of a flight in Flighty or a baseball game via the MLB app or a running timer from the Clock app.
[…]
That all changed in iPadOS 17, which allows your iPad to sync health data from your iPhone and display it in the new, iPad-expanded Health app. Now I can have quick access on my preferred device to my health trends, which I never think to look at when I’m on my iPhone. In just a few weeks, I am already browsing my health data—and using it to motivate me—far more than I did when it was on my iPhone.
[…]
So the good news: in iPadOS 17, Stage Manager really will let you put windows wherever you want.
See also: Juli Clover.
Previously:
Health.app iPadOS iPadOS 17 iPadOS Beta Live Activities Lock Screen Stage Manager
Dan Moren:
I’ve been using iOS 17 for several weeks, and while I’ve encountered the usual assortment of rough edges typical of a beta, none have been significant enough to make me wish to go backward.
[…]
Where StandBy really shines, though, is in its other interactions. For one thing, when you play audio, you get a big full screen interface reminiscent of CarPlay. No more fumbling around trying to hit a tiny pause button, or having to wake up your phone to see what’s playing. For another, Apple has finally improved the timer interface, not only letting you set multiple named timers (hallelujah!) but also providing a nice visualization of the countdown with a big, easy-to-read full-screen progress bar. In fact, the whole experience is tuned to be visible from a distance, from the widgets down to Siri’s onscreen responses, and it’s a big help.
There are still some tricky aspects to StandBy. For one, since this is basically a different view of the lock screen, interacting with widgets requires you to authenticate with Face ID. While it’s admirable from a security point of view, that can be awkward if, for example, you have a MagSafe stand that’s not at the right level or angle.
[…]
AirPlay now learns what, when, and where you tend to play on certain speakers.
See also: Juli Clover.
Previously:
Update (2023-07-17): Benjamin Mayo:
Having used iOS 17 for a month so far, you can definitely feel the difference. The corrections are better. It feels like it knows what you meant to type far more than any previous version of the software. It also seems more resilient to typing slang.
[…]
But algorithm improvements are only part of the story. Obviously, it still won’t get it right all the time. But in those cases, the experience of managing autocorrect is also improved through a superior UI. When the system does make a mistake, it is far less punishing as the interface now gives you way to quickly revert autocorrect changes.
Update (2023-09-05): Federico Viticci:
I don’t know who else cares about these things, but as someone who reviews iOS and iPadOS every year, I always find these marketing copy and visual differences between Apple’s splash screens fascinating.
Here’s the iOS 17 Contact Poster intro screen (Beta 1 in June Vs. Beta 8 this week) and AirPods Adaptive Audio intro (Beta 2 in June Vs. Beta 4 in July).
AirPlay Clock.app Design iOS iOS 17 iOS Beta Phone.app StandBy
Dan Moren:
Live Voicemail finally means I can turn on another feature that I’ve been tempted to use since iOS 13: Silence Unknown Callers.
I’ve always been reticent to turn on Silence Unknown Callers because I worry too much about missing important calls. There are simply too many times that I get a call I don’t want to miss from, say, a doctor’s office, or a delivery person, or a contractor.
[…]
But in iOS 17, if you have Silence Unknown Callers active, callers with unrecognized numbers will go straight to Live Voicemail, allowing you to decide whether or not to pick up.
Previously:
Update (2023-07-17): Juli Clover:
Unless you have a custom-created voicemail message, the default iOS 17 voicemail recording asks callers to provide a reason why they’re calling after the tone sounds, and are informed that “the person you’re calling may pick up.” Note that if you had a custom message in iOS 16 , there will be no change, so this impacts people who are using the default voicemail greeting feature.
The “may pick up” wording seems to be confusing some people who are calling iPhone owners that have iOS 17 installed. Two separate Reddit threads feature complaints from Reddit users who have received calls from people who have not understood Apple’s messaging.
iOS iOS 17 Phone.app Visual Voicemail
Dan Moren:
[This] year, the action is on watchOS.
As I wrote several months back, watchOS 10 is a big update that really spends its time re-thinking how we interact with our smartwatches. And now that I’ve spent several weeks using the beta, I can say with some confidence that I’m very excited about this reinvention.
Previously:
watchOS watchOS 10 watchOS Beta
