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Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is the first real step to fixing Mac gaming

tigaman webdesign — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 10:30:00 +0000

Look, Mac gaming is not in good shape. Apple pitched the Mac mini with M2 Pro as a sort of showcase for how great Mac gaming can be, and I wrote about it earlier this year. It can indeed play games respectably, but a similarly-priced Windows PC is more than twice as fast for gaming, and the Mac vs. Windows game catalog is like comparing a cookie jar with a cookie factory. Sure, they both have good cookies, but these things are not the same.

Apple doesn’t seem interested in offering good bang for the buck when it comes to gaming hardware, but at least there’s a real effort to get the software situation into better shape. When announcing macOS Sonoma at WWDC, Apple took time to showcase some new gaming capabilities and even brought famous developer Hideo Kojima out to promote Death Stranding coming to Mac later this year. Nothing says “Mac gaming” more than Apple excitedly trumpeting the Mac release of a four-year-old game.

The new gaming features coming to macOS Sonoma are a good step forward, though. A new Game Mode works with any game to give it higher process priority, reduces AirPods audio latency, and doubles the Bluetooth sampling rate for game controllers. Game Mode is only for Macs with Apple Silicon, but that’s the way everything seems to be going, isn’t it?

But it’s a developer tool called the Game Porting Toolkit that might have the biggest impact on Mac gaming. With a bigger investment from Apple, it could provide a huge boost to the Mac game library.

Game Mode in macOS Sonoma will improve performance and reduce wireless latency.

Apple

Game Porting Toolkit is Rosetta for Windows games…almost

One of the new developer tools for macOS Sonoma is a Game Porting Toolkit that is based on the CrossOver source code from CodeWeavers. Essentially, it takes the x86 code, DirectInput commands, XAudio commands, Direct3D commands, and other Windows gaming API calls and translates them in real time to the appropriate Apple Silicon stuff.

Yes, Apple has a developer tool that will literally let you run a modern, high-end Windows game on Mac without any recompiling or other changes.

That sounds a lot like Proton, the translation tool that Valve developed to run Windows games on Linux for the Steam Deck. And indeed, it is very similar. But Valve maintains and updates Proton as an end-user tool. Like Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs, Proton is meant for everyday people to make use of fundamentally incompatible software without any hassle. Apple’s tool is just for developers to start prototyping.

The big flaw with the Game Development Toolkit’s translation feature is that regular users can’t use it. Developers with Xcode can use it to run Windows games as a first “how does this work on Mac” step, but they’ll still have to go through all the other steps in translating a game to Mac: porting the source code, recompiling HLSL shaders, translating other graphics work to Metal, changing all the input and display APIs to native Mac equivalents, and more. Apple has a new Metal Shader Converter that should help speed along this process, but making a Mac version of a Windows game is still a big effort.

This is too promising to remain a developer tool

Already, enterprising Mac enthusiasts have installed the new Xcode 15 command-line tools and the Game Porting Toolkit to run Windows games on their Macs. One user got Diablo IV running. Another fired up Cyberpunk 2077 and it isn’t exactly smooth but it’s amazing it even works with such fidelity. Others have run Elden Ring, Warframe, Spider-Man, Hi-Fi Rush, and more.

This is all very exciting, but performance could be better, and the steps to do this are beyond regular users. To actually bring these games to Mac, the developers still need to do significant translation work and re-publish a Mac version.

I suggested before that Apple needs a “Proton for Mac” of sorts. Perhaps it could call it Rosetta Gaming or something similar, but the idea would be a user-downloadable tool that lets a bunch of Windows games run directly on Mac without any work from the developers. The Game Porting Toolkit is halfway there. But Valve did a ton of work on a title-by-title basis to fix bugs and problems with specific games and improve their performance, and it continues to do so with regular Proton updates. Apple would need to engage in a similar effort, as well as maintain a list of compatible titles. It’s a lot of heavy lifting.

But just imagine if Apple did it! Hundreds of top Windows games could run on Macs with Apple Silicon just as easily as apps made for Intel-based Macs. Just install a new Rosetta, check a compatibility list, and off you go. You would always get better performance with a native Mac version, but nothing would encourage publishers more than seeing real everyday gamers actually playing their games on Mac.

Apple, Gaming

Here’s How Web Apps Work in macOS Sonoma

tigaman webdesign — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:41:29 +0000

In macOS Sonoma, currently in beta, you can create individual web apps for any website that you frequent in Safari, and have them sit beside other apps in your Dock. Let’s take a closer look at how it all works by turning MacRumors.com into a virtual Mac app as an example.

In macOS Sonoma, any website viewed in Safari can be turned into a web app, thanks to a new “Add to Dock” option in the File menu. In other words, no work is required on the part of web developers to make a site web app compatible, although there are some elements of web apps that developers can have control over (see below).

How to Turn MacRumors into a Web App

In macOS Sonoma developer beta, navigate to MacRumors.com in Safari.

Choose File -> Add to Dock in the menu bar.

If you want, you can change the MacRumors icon by clicking it in the Add to Dock window. You can also edit the web app’s name using the title field – “MacRumors” is more succinct, for example.

Click the blue Add button.

You will now see the MacRumors web app sitting in your Dock, ready for use independently of Safari. The web app works with Mission Control and Stage Manager just like any app, and can also be opened via Launchpad or Spotlight Search.

On opening the web app, you’ll notice its window includes a simplified toolbar with navigation buttons (note: Website developers can control whether these are shown). As you can see in the image, the MacRumors theme color for the site blends into the toolbar for a more seamless look.

In terms of navigation, the scope of the web app is dictated by the host of the webpage – in this case www.macrumors.com – so you can navigate anywhere within the MacRumors website, but if you click a link outside of the host page, such as the MacRumors Forums, which is separately hosted at forums.macrumors.com, this will open the linked webpage in Safari. Therefore, if you are a frequenter of both the MacRumors website and the MacRumors Forums, you should create separate web apps for each.

Web developers have the ability to refine the scope of a web app to a specific path on their site if they wish. For example, MacRumors could theoretically provide a facility to make web apps dedicated to navigating only how-to articles or guides. This is something MacRumors may implement in the future.

Website Logins and Notifications

By default, Safari copies a website’s cookies to its web app. So if you create a MacRumors Forums web app and you were logged into your account at the time, you will remain logged in inside the web app. Even if you weren’t logged in, you can do so within the web app with minimal effort, since Apple has integrated support for Password and Passkey AutoFill.

If a website already supports web push notifications – as MacRumors does – and you have signed up to them, you will receive web app push notifications that display the corresponding MacRumors icon, giving you more context than a standard Safari notification and icon would.

The web app icon in the Dock will also show a badge when a notification is received. Web app notifications are silent by default, although developers can change them to play a sound. However, the end decision over sound and icon badges is left to the user in System Settings -> Notifications.

Web apps also respect Focus modes, so you can include or exclude them from allowed notifications based on what you’re doing. Lastly, with privacy in mind, Apple has added options to control web apps’ access to camera, microphone, and location in System Settings -> Privacy & Security, just like for native apps.

For those who wish to delve further into macOS Sonoma, it is currently available to download as a developer beta, although caution is warranted, as beta versions can be unstable and buggy. For those willing to wait, the official public release is expected to land in the fall.

Related Roundup: macOS Sonoma

This article, "Here's How Web Apps Work in macOS Sonoma" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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macOS Sonoma Tidbits: New FaceTime UI, Safari Profiles, Screen Sharing Improvements, and More

tigaman webdesign — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:44:47 +0000

The first macOS Sonoma beta was released to developers and early adopters this week, and changes in the newest version of Apple’s macOS operating system are still being unearthed. Below are just a handful of notable differences that may have passed you by.

System Settings

In macOS Ventura, Apple replaced System Preferences with System Settings to align it with iOS and iPadOS, but the way controls were organized left many users wanting.

The same System Settings interface remains in macOS Sonoma, but it is now easier to navigate through different menu screens you have visited without continually scrolling through the side bar, thanks to the addition of backward and forward buttons.

FaceTime UI and Reactions

Apple has changed the way FaceTime integrates with the menu bar. The video effects options no longer appear in the Control Center, and instead have a new home in a dedicated green ‌FaceTime‌ menu bar item, which also includes a mini webcam view and buttons to trigger Reactions.

Reactions include Love, Like, Dislike, Balloons, Rain, Confetti, Lasers, and Fireworks. Some reactions are even triggered automatically by the user’s physical actions: One thumb up triggers a Like, and two thumbs up are attended by Fireworks. Similarly, one thumb down counts as a dislike, and two thumbs down initiates a rain shower.

Safari Profiles

Safari has gained a new feature called Profiles, which is designed to help keep your browsing separate for topics like Work, School, or Personal.

Each profile gets its own icon and silos your history, Tab Groups, favorites, and cookies. You can even assign specific extensions to different profiles to optimize your browsing experience based on the task at hand.

Seamless Keyboard Input and Dictation

macOS Sonoma supports simultaneous use of keyboard input and Dictation, without any disruption in your flow of thought.

In other words, you can keep typing after hitting the Dictation shortcut. So whenever your fingers need a rest, you can complete the sentence you were just typing by saying it out loud.

Screen Sharing Improvements

When you’re in a ‌FaceTime‌ or Zoom call, click-hold the green traffic light in the corner of an open app window and you’ll see a screen sharing option, and a new Presenter Overlay feature can be used to keep you on screen and better able to point to details.

When on a video call, you can either place yourself inside a movable bubble in the corner of the window or desktop that you’re sharing, or you can bring on-screen content into the background of your own environment so that it looks as if you’re standing just in front of it.

Docked Web Apps

Thanks to a new option in Safari, you can now create independent web apps that can be added to your Dock.

All you have to do is visit a website and select File -> Add to Dock…. You can then give the web app a name and even change its icon. When you open a docked web app, it will open in its own separate window that includes back and forward buttons for simple navigation.

Other Notable Tidbits

New visual Caps Lock indicator

Mail search prioritizes upcoming travel-related emails

Use the Share button to send a note in Notes into Pages.

New Zoom and Pan controls for Continuity Camera

Developers are still learning what else has changed in macOS Sonoma, so be sure to check back for more coverage here on MacRumors.
This article, "macOS Sonoma Tidbits: New FaceTime UI, Safari Profiles, Screen Sharing Improvements, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

macOS Sonoma Tidbits: New FaceTime UI, Safari Profiles, Screen Sharing Improvements, and More

tigaman webdesign — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:44:47 +0000

System Settings

In macOS Ventura, Apple replaced System Preferences with System Settings to align it with iOS and iPadOS, but the way controls were organized left many users wanting.

FaceTime UI and Reactions

Safari Profiles

Safari has gained a new feature called Profiles, which is designed to help keep your browsing separate for topics like Work, School, or Personal.

Seamless Keyboard Input and Dictation

macOS Sonoma supports simultaneous use of keyboard input and Dictation, without any disruption in your flow of thought.

In other words, you can keep typing after hitting the Dictation shortcut. So whenever your fingers need a rest, you can complete the sentence you were just typing by saying it out loud.

Screen Sharing Improvements

Docked Web Apps

Thanks to a new option in Safari, you can now create independent web apps that can be added to your Dock.

Other Notable Tidbits

New visual Caps Lock indicator

Mail search prioritizes upcoming travel-related emails

Use the Share button to send a note in Notes into Pages.

New Zoom and Pan controls for Continuity Camera

Discuss this article in our forums

iPadOS 17 brings a raft of new features in better-than-expected update

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 23:50:15 +0000

Macworld

At WWDC 2023 today Apple previewed iPadOS 17, this year’s main software update for the iPad. While pre-event rumors suggested this would be a quiet refresh, there were several worthwhile changes and new features that are good news for iPad owners.

Lock screen & widgets

Last year iPhone users got the new ability to customize their lock screens, but tablet users missed out. iPadOS 17 now brings this option to the iPad. You can set photo shuffles or Live Photos as the background, customize the font and colors, and generally stylize the look in the way you prefer: having the clock digits partly covered by an element of the image is a particularly nice effect. The lock screen is also now the home of Live Activities, so you can follow sports scores or the progress of your Uber driver without having to open a dedicated app or even unlock your iPad.

Those numbers must be gigantic!

Apple

The lock screen can also now be customized with widgets, and while these were previously available on the home screen in iPadOS, Apple boasts that iPad widgets will become more interactive this year. Whereas, for example, the Reminders widget in iPadOS 16 effectively just shows your reminders–tapping on the widget then opens the app–the equivalent in iPadOS 17 lets you tick off tasks without having to open the app.

Stickers and audio transcripts: Messages gets interactive

Apple announced some fun and handy updates to the iPad’s all-important Messages app to match those in iOS 17. You can create stickers, including animated stickers based on Live Photos, and drop these into message threads; these are collected in a drawer accessible from the keyboard. There’s a new button to jump to the last read message in group chats, helping you catch up with the conversation. And audio messages are transcribed automatically so you can easily get the gist without having to play them out loud.

Apple

iPadOS 17 doesn’t appear to get iOS 17’s Check-In feature, which lets you set up a contact to be automatically notified when you get home (and can share information with them such as location, battery level, and cell service if things go awry). Presumably, this is less of a priority on the iPad, which is carried around less than the iPhone.

While we’re on the subject of communication, FaceTime in iPadOS 17 gains the option to leave video and audio messages when the recipient doesn’t pick up, and Reactions such as hearts and balloons.

New Health app

We’ve been waiting a long time for this one. Health, which arrived on the iPhone in iOS 8 an astonishing nine years ago, has finally come to the iPad. Granted, the iPad is less obviously a health-related device than the iPhone–it doesn’t get carried around when exercising, it doesn’t (currently) pair with the Apple Watch–but its larger screen is perfect for viewing health data and trends sourced from other Apple devices you own.

Getting clever with PDFs

Here for once is a new feature that hasn’t landed on the iPhone. PDFs are easier to edit in iPadOS 17 because it uses machine learning to identify fields that you’ll want to fill in, then suggests (where appropriate) autofill information scraped from Contacts.

Apple

This also applies to the Notes app, which has been designed to handle PDFs more effectively. PDFs appear full width in Notes in iPadOS 17, and you can annotate PDFs right in the note. If you’re sharing a note with someone else, you can collaborate on PDFs and changes appear in real-time.

Apple

Getting productive with Safari

iPad owners will be able to create multiple browsing Profiles, each of which will have its own history, cookies, and bookmarks. By switching between these you can be more productive when in work mode, personal mode, and so on.

There are also changes to Private Browsing: Apple says this feature now allows you to lock a window with Face ID/Touch ID, and remove cross-site trackers.

Other changes

Let’s go quickfire on some other changes in iPadOS 17:

Multiple timers can run at once.
Stage Manager is more flexible about window layout.
Reminders can make grocery shopping easier by automatically grouping together related items.
In Maps, you can download maps and use them offline.
Visual Look Up can recognize more things, including food and the symbols on laundry labels.
And Siri can be activated by just saying “Siri” rather than “Hey Siri.” We’re extremely unconvinced of the benefits of this, given that Siri already false positives around once a day with the two-word trigger phrase, but hopefully this is optional (or Siri has become more accurate at hearing).

Which iPads will get iPadOS 17, and when?

The first developer beta version of iPadOS 17 is available now, while the full public release will appear in the fall. It will be a free software update for iPad (6th gen and later), iPad mini (5th gen), iPad Air (3rd gen), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd gen), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st gen).

iPad

iOS 17 Locks Your Safari Private Browsing Behind Face ID

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 22:04:22 +0000

Apple is enhancing the security of Safari in iOS 17, and private browsing now requires Face ID authentication or a passcode to access. If you open up a private browsing window in Safari, you will need to authenticate with ‌Face ID‌.

That means someone who has access to your unlocked phone and opens your Safari browser won’t be able to get to your private browsing history without secondary authentication. ‌Face ID‌ or a passcode can be used to access the Safari private tabs.

Private browsing also completely blocks known trackers from loading on pages and removes tracking added to URLs as you browse, improving privacy. Websites are prevented from tracking or identifying your device with these new additions, plus Apple also offers improved extension control.

In private mode, extensions with website access are turned off, and you will need to manually re-enable them. iCloud Private Relay also uses IP address locations based on country and time zone rather than a general location.

Safari in ‌iOS 17‌ is also gaining a Profiles feature so you can keep your personal browsing and work browsing separate, with different histories, Tab Groups, cookies, and favorites.

Related Roundup: iOS 17

Tag: Safari

This article, "iOS 17 Locks Your Safari Private Browsing Behind Face ID" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple previews macOS Sonoma

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:39:57 +0000

macOS Sonoma makes the Mac experience better than ever — from more ways to personalize with widgets, to big updates to Safari and video conferencing, along with exciting new game titles.

Apple today previewed macOS Sonoma, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, bringing a rich set of features that elevate the Mac experience. Stunning screen savers and powerful widgets unlock an entirely new way to personalize. Users can now place widgets right on the desktop, interact with them with just a click, and through the magic of Continuity, access the extensive ecosystem of iPhone widgets on their Mac. In macOS Sonoma, video conferencing also gets more engaging with great new features to help users present remotely, like Presenter Overlay, which places a presenter on top of the content being shared, and Reactions, which enables fun gesture-triggered video effects in cinematic quality. Significant updates come to Safari, taking the web experience to the next level. Profiles keeps browsing separate between multiple topics or projects, and web apps provide faster access to favorite sites. And gaming gets even better, with the introduction of Game Mode, exciting new titles, and a new game porting toolkit that makes it even easier for developers to bring more games to Mac.

“macOS is the heart of the Mac, and with Sonoma, we’re making it even more delightful and productive to use,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, in a statement. “We think users are going to love macOS Sonoma and the new ways it enables them to personalize with widgets and stunning new screen savers, see new levels of gaming performance, and gain powerful productivity for video conferencing and browsing with Safari.”

Get More Done with Interactive Widgets

Widgets are now even more powerful and personal on Mac. Users can place widgets right on the desktop and conveniently access the widget gallery to find the ones they know and love. Widgets blend seamlessly with the wallpaper while users work in apps, so they can stay focused on the task at hand. Through the magic of Continuity, users can also enjoy the vast ecosystem of iPhone widgets on their Mac. And widgets become interactive, allowing users to check off reminders, play or pause media, access home controls, and perform various tasks from their Mac, all directly from the desktop.

Users can personalize their desktop with widgets, and with Continuity, they can even add widgets from their iPhone right on their Mac.

Smarter Video Conferencing Experiences

macOS Sonoma brings enhanced video conferencing features that enable users to present and share their work more effectively within any video conferencing app. Presenter Overlay, a new video effect, elevates a user’s presence by displaying them on top of the content they are sharing. Additionally, Reactions allow users to share how they feel by seamlessly adding balloons, confetti, hearts, and more into the video, which can also be triggered with a hand gesture. The improved Screen Sharing picker simplifies the process of sharing apps during video calls. Users can simply click the green button in the top-left corner of an app and choose to share it in the call, allowing for easy content sharing from their currently open windows.

Major Updates to Safari

Safari, the world’s fastest browser, introduces new features to enhance the browsing experience for Mac users. This year brings a significant update to Private Browsing, which provides even greater protection during browsing both from trackers and from people who might have access to the user’s device. Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections in Private Browsing go even further to help prevent websites from tracking or identifying the user. Private Browsing windows also lock when users are not using them, allowing them to keep tabs open even when they step away from their device.

Additionally, profiles help users stay organized by offering a way to separate browsing between topics, while also keeping cookies, history, extensions, Tab Groups, and Favorites separate. Users can sign in to the same site with both work and personal accounts — and quickly switch between them — ensuring a smooth browsing experience. Safari also enables the creation of web apps that behave like normal apps, putting users’ favorite sites at their fingertips and providing a simplified toolbar for an app-like experience.

With web apps on Mac, it’s now possible to create an app-like experience for any website, complete with an icon in the Dock for faster access, and a simplified toolbar for easier browsing.

Stunning New Screen Savers

macOS Sonoma brings stunning screen savers featuring slow-motion videos of various locations worldwide, such as the sweeping skyline of Hong Kong, the sandstone buttes of Monument Valley in Arizona, and the rolling hills of Sonoma in Northern California. This rich graphical and photographic imagery enhances the Mac experience by shuffling through Landscape, Earth, Underwater, or Cityscape themes. The login experience is now repositioned at the bottom of the screen, making space for the new screen savers, which seamlessly transition into the desktop.

Games on Mac Get Even Better

With the power of Apple silicon, users experience incredible graphics performance on every Mac. And now, tens of millions of Macs with Apple silicon can run demanding games with great performance, long battery life, and breathtaking visuals. Developers continue to take advantage of Metal 3, bringing exciting new titles to Mac, including DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT, Stray, Fort Solis, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, HUMANKIND, Resident Evil Village: Winters’ Expansion, The Medium, ELEX II, Firmament, SnowRunner, Disney Dreamlight Valley, No Man’s Sky, Dragonheir: Silent Gods, and Layers of Fear. To make it easier to port games from other platforms to Mac, Metal introduces a new game porting toolkit, eliminating months of upfront work and enabling developers to see how well their existing game could run on Mac in just a few days. It also dramatically simplifies the process of converting the game’s shaders and graphics code to take full advantage of Apple silicon performance, significantly reducing the total development time.

macOS Sonoma also introduces Game Mode, giving players an edge when performance is measured in precious milliseconds. Game Mode delivers an optimized gaming experience with smoother and more consistent frame rates, by ensuring games get the highest priority on the CPU and GPU. Game Mode also makes gaming on Mac even more immersive — dramatically lowering audio latency with AirPods, and significantly reducing input latency with popular game controllers like those for Xbox and PlayStation by doubling the Bluetooth sampling rate. Game Mode works with any game, including all of the recent and upcoming Mac games.

https://macdailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/230605_Apple-WWDC23-macOS-Sonoma-gaming-230605.mp4

Enhancing Hybrid and Remote Pro Workflows

Leveraging the advanced media engine in Apple silicon, macOS Sonoma brings a new high performance mode to the Screen Sharing app. Enabling incredibly responsive remote access to hybrid in-studio and remote pro workflows, it delivers low-latency audio, high frame rates, and supports up to two virtual displays. This mode empowers pros to securely access their content creation workflows from anywhere — whether editing in Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve, or animating complex 3D assets in Maya. And with support for reference color, it also enables remote color workflows that traditionally could not be performed without dedicated hardware and specialized software.

Enhanced Accessibility Features

macOS Sonoma introduces a range of accessibility features that make Mac even more customizable for all users. For customers with hearing disabilities, Made for iPhone hearing devices can connect to their Mac for calls and media consumption,1 while users who are nonspeaking can use Live Speech to type and vocalize their thoughts during calls and conversations. For users with physical and motor disabilities, phonetic suggestions appear when dictating and editing text with Voice Control on Mac. To assist users with cognitive disabilities, animated images like GIFs can be automatically paused in Messages and Safari. Additionally, users who are blind or have low vision can easily customize text size across Mac apps, and utilize Xcode with VoiceOver, Apple’s industry-leading screen reader.

Additional macOS Sonoma updates include:

• Streamlined PDFs: Enhanced PDF functionality allows for quick form-filling with AutoFill, and smart recipient recommendations.

• Inline PDFs in Notes: Notes now displays PDFs and document scans in full width, and with linked notes, users can quickly connect related notes like recipes or homework.

• Siri: Users have the ability to simply say “Siri” to activate Siri.

• Passwords: Users can now create a group to share a set of passwords. Everyone in a group can add and edit passwords to keep them up to date, and since sharing is through iCloud Keychain, it’s end-to-end encrypted. Additionally, the one-time verification codes received in Mail will now autofill in Safari, making it easy to securely log in without leaving the browser.

• Messages: Users can connect with those closest to them with an all-new stickers experience, enhancements to features like search, reply, groups, and syncing with Messages in iCloud.

• Reminders: Intelligent grocery lists in Reminders streamline weekly trips to the store. Additionally, users can organize lists into sections and arrange them horizontally using a new column view.

• Keyboard: An all-new autocorrect makes corrections more accurate and easier to fix. Inline completions help users quickly finish sentences, while Dictation brings accuracy improvements through next-level speech recognition.

• Privacy and Safety: Communication Safety expands to AirDrop, the Photos picker, incoming calls, and FaceTime messages, further broadening protections for children. Additionally, Sensitive Content Warning prevents unexpected exposure to sensitive images and videos in AirDrop and Messages, incoming calls, and FaceTime messages, while giving the user the option to block the contact or seek further resources for help.

Availability

The developer beta of macOS Sonoma is available through the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com. The release will be available as a free software update this fall. For more information, visit apple.com/macos/sonoma-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions, all languages, or on all devices. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

MacDailyNews Take: Not a giant update, but still nice, including Safari web apps, Game Mode, and, finally, a secure way for users to share passwords!

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Apple previews macOS Sonoma

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:39:57 +0000

macOS Sonoma makes the Mac experience better than ever — from more ways to personalize with widgets, to big updates to Safari and video conferencing, along with exciting new game titles.

Get More Done with Interactive Widgets

Users can personalize their desktop with widgets, and with Continuity, they can even add widgets from their iPhone right on their Mac.

Smarter Video Conferencing Experiences

Major Updates to Safari

With web apps on Mac, it’s now possible to create an app-like experience for any website, complete with an icon in the Dock for faster access, and a simplified toolbar for easier browsing.

Stunning New Screen Savers

Games on Mac Get Even Better

https://macdailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/230605_Apple-WWDC23-macOS-Sonoma-gaming-230605.mp4

Enhancing Hybrid and Remote Pro Workflows

Enhanced Accessibility Features

Additional macOS Sonoma updates include:

• Streamlined PDFs: Enhanced PDF functionality allows for quick form-filling with AutoFill, and smart recipient recommendations.

• Inline PDFs in Notes: Notes now displays PDFs and document scans in full width, and with linked notes, users can quickly connect related notes like recipes or homework.

• Siri: Users have the ability to simply say “Siri” to activate Siri.

• Messages: Users can connect with those closest to them with an all-new stickers experience, enhancements to features like search, reply, groups, and syncing with Messages in iCloud.

Availability

MacDailyNews Take: Not a giant update, but still nice, including Safari web apps, Game Mode, and, finally, a secure way for users to share passwords!

Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Apple previews macOS Sonoma appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple previews iPadOS 17

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:24:46 +0000

iPadOS 17 delivers the most personal and capable iPad experience ever, with a beautiful and useful Lock Screen, easier ways to find and share information, and intelligent new features to help get things done.

Apple today previewed iPadOS 17, delivering entirely new ways for users to personalize the Lock Screen and interact with widgets. Working with PDFs is easier with AutoFill, which intelligently identifies and fills fields in forms, and Notes brings a new experience for marking up and collaborating on PDFs. Messages gets significant updates, including a new stickers experience, and users can now leave FaceTime video and audio messages. The Health app comes to iPad with interactive charts, and HealthKit enables developers to create innovative experiences designed for the iPad display. iPadOS 17 is available as a developer beta today, and will be available as a free software update this fall.

“iPadOS powers our most versatile device and enables users to do so many things on iPad, and now with iPadOS 17, we deliver an experience that’s even more personal and capable,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, in a statement. “With interactive widgets on the Lock Screen, updates to PDFs and Notes, as well as enhancements to Messages and FaceTime, iPadOS gives users even more ways to get things done easier and faster than ever.”

A Personalized and Beautiful Lock Screen Experience

Taking full advantage of the iPad display, users can now customize the Lock Screen to make it more personal, useful, and beautiful. Rich new photo features allow users to set their favorite images on the Lock Screen and stylize them in new ways. Users can select a photo from their personal library, a dynamic set of photos that shuffle throughout the day, or a Live Photo for a smooth slow-motion effect whenever they wake iPad.

Users can choose a wallpaper from the Lock Screen gallery that will look stunning on the large canvas of iPad, pick from a set of expressive font styles and colors to customize the look of the date and time, or create unique designs with their favorite emoji and color combinations.

Live Activities comes to iPadOS, allowing users to stay on top of things that are happening in real time right from the Lock Screen, such as a sports game, travel plans, or a food delivery order.

More Powerful Widgets

Widgets get interactive in iPadOS 17, allowing users to get tasks done with just a tap. For example, users can turn on the lights, play a song, or mark a reminder as complete in the moment, right from a widget. And with updates to WidgetKit, developers can build interactivity into their widgets.

Interactive widgets are now available on the Lock Screen and Home Screen, making it easy to take action and get helpful information at a glance. On the Lock Screen, widgets blend seamlessly with the wallpaper with adaptive tinting to optimize for legibility.

With interactivity, now users can complete to-dos, play or pause their media, access home controls, and more, right from the widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen.

Working with PDFs Is Even Easier

Entering information in PDFs is now easier than ever. iPadOS 17 uses machine learning to identify fields in a PDF so that users can quickly add details, such as names, addresses, and emails from Contacts.

Notes Introduces a New PDF Experience

A big update to the Notes app gives users new ways to organize, read, annotate, and collaborate on PDFs. In iPadOS 17, PDFs appear full width, making it easy to flip through pages, make a quick annotation, or sketch directly in the document with Apple Pencil. Users can now review and mark up PDFs and scanned documents right in their note, and with live collaboration, updates appear in real time when users are sharing a note with others.

Messages Gets More Interactive with Enhanced Communication Tools

Messages offers new ways to connect, including a stickers experience with emoji stickers, and the ability for users to create Live Stickers from their own photos by lifting a subject from the background. Users can also add effects to Live Stickers that help bring conversations to life. Available from the keyboard, a new drawer gathers all of a user’s stickers in one place for easier access across iPadOS.

New Messages features include an expandable menu that appears with a simple tap for easy access to the user’s most frequently used iMessage apps. The search experience is improved with filters — including people, keywords, and content types — that allow more specificity in finding exactly what users are looking for. Users can now easily jump to their last-read message in an active group chat, and replying to a message inline is even simpler and quicker by swiping on a message bubble.

Audio messages are transcribed automatically so users can read them in the moment or listen later. When a user shares their location in Messages, it shows up live in the conversation until the sharing session is over.

More Expressive Ways to Communicate with FaceTime

In FaceTime, users can leave an audio or video message when someone doesn’t pick up the call.

FaceTime calls also get more expressive with Reactions, such as hearts, balloons, fireworks, laser beams, rain, and more. The new effects can be activated through simple gestures, and third-party video-calling apps can take advantage of them as well.

In an exciting update to Apple TV 4K, FaceTime now extends to the biggest screen in the home. Powered by Continuity Camera, users can initiate a video call directly from Apple TV, or start the call on iPad and then hand it off to Apple TV to see friends and family on their television. With Center Stage, users will have perfect framing even as they move around the room.

Safari Helps Users Be More Productive

Improvements to Safari allow users to be more productive than ever. With Profiles, users can keep their browsing separate between topics like work and personal. Each profile has their own history, cookies, Tab Groups, and Favorites, and it’s easy to switch between them.

Private Browsing now allows users to lock the window they’re viewing with Face ID or Touch ID, and removes trackers used for cross-site tracking. The search experience gets even better with increased responsiveness, more relevant search suggestions, and easier-to-read suggestions.

The Health App Comes to iPad

iPadOS 17 brings the Health app to iPad, giving users new ways to see their health data in rich detail. With an optimized design for the iPad display, Favorites has a new look, and users can receive insights into their health data with Trends, Highlights, and detailed interactive charts. Now, iPad users can also track and manage their medications, use Cycle Tracking, log their momentary emotions and daily moods, view their available health records from multiple institutions, and more — all in one central, secure, and private place.

Health and fitness developers can now use HealthKit on iPad, opening up new opportunities to create innovative experiences in their apps that incorporate data users choose to share, with rigorous privacy and data security protocols from the Health app.

The Health app on iPad is designed to take advantage of the large display and gives users new ways to see their health data.

Additional iPadOS 17 updates include:

• Stage Manager adds even more flexibility to the position and size of the windows, giving users more control over their workspace, and supports built-in cameras on an external display.

• Freeform offers new drawing tools; support for hover, tilt, and snap to shape; the ability to add connection lines and new shapes to any object; and Follow Along to guide collaborators around the board.

• Spotlight helps users find information and take action even faster by offering shortcuts to the next action, enhanced visual results, and video search.

• Visual Look Up expands its recognition capabilities to food, storefronts, and signs and symbols on things like the laundry tags on clothes.
Keyboard brings improvements to autocorrect, allowing users to enter text faster and easier than ever before. Inline predictive text helps users quickly finish sentences, and the new speech recognition model in Dictation improves accuracy.

• Siri can now be activated by simply saying “Siri.” Once activated, users can issue multiple commands back to back without needing to reactivate it.

• Sharing content using AirPlay is even easier with on-device intelligence now learning a user’s preferences. AirPlay will also work with supported TVs in hotels, allowing users to easily enjoy their favorite content on the TV when traveling. Built with a foundation of privacy and security, this capability will be available before the end of the year in select hotels, starting with brands from IHG Hotels & Resorts.

• Reminders introduces a new intelligent grocery list experience, making shopping easier by automatically grouping related items into sections, and provides a new column view to display sections horizontally across the screen.

• Maps now allows users to download maps and use them while offline. Users can select an area, search and explore rich place information, and get routes for all modes of mobility, all while offline.

• Privacy updates include the expansion of Communication Safety, adding protections for children as well as a Sensitive Content Warning for adults. Updates to Photos and Calendar permissions help users make more informed choices about what data they share with apps. And a Lockdown Mode update enhances the protections for those who may be targeted by mercenary spyware.

• New accessibility tools make iPad even more accessible. Assistive Access is a customizable interface that helps users with cognitive disabilities use iPad with greater ease and independence. Live Speech helps nonspeaking users type what they want to say and have it read aloud during phone, FaceTime, and in-person conversations. Personal Voice gives users at risk of speech loss the option to create a personalized voice that sounds like them and integrates seamlessly with Live Speech. And in Magnifier, Point and Speak helps users who are blind or have low vision interact with electrical appliances and other physical objects with small text labels.

MacDailyNews Note: The developer beta of iPadOS 17 is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta will be available to iPadOS users next month at beta.apple.com. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad (6th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation and later), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation and later). For more information, visit apple.com/ipados/ipados-17-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions, all languages, or on all devices. For more information about availability, visit apple.com.

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Apple previews iPadOS 17

tigaman webdesign — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:24:46 +0000

A Personalized and Beautiful Lock Screen Experience

Live Activities comes to iPadOS, allowing users to stay on top of things that are happening in real time right from the Lock Screen, such as a sports game, travel plans, or a food delivery order.

More Powerful Widgets

With interactivity, now users can complete to-dos, play or pause their media, access home controls, and more, right from the widgets on the Home Screen and Lock Screen.

Working with PDFs Is Even Easier

Notes Introduces a New PDF Experience

Messages Gets More Interactive with Enhanced Communication Tools

More Expressive Ways to Communicate with FaceTime

In FaceTime, users can leave an audio or video message when someone doesn’t pick up the call.

Safari Helps Users Be More Productive

The Health App Comes to iPad

The Health app on iPad is designed to take advantage of the large display and gives users new ways to see their health data.

Additional iPadOS 17 updates include:

• Stage Manager adds even more flexibility to the position and size of the windows, giving users more control over their workspace, and supports built-in cameras on an external display.

• Spotlight helps users find information and take action even faster by offering shortcuts to the next action, enhanced visual results, and video search.

• Siri can now be activated by simply saying “Siri.” Once activated, users can issue multiple commands back to back without needing to reactivate it.

Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Apple previews iPadOS 17 appeared first on MacDailyNews.