Even though iOS 12 was the highlight of the WWDC 2018 event, Apple isn’t forgetting about macOS users and has announced it’s next desktop operating system, macOS Mojave brings a lot of features to the table that is very inspired from iOS, and Apple’s Craig Federighi quoted that the new update introduces powerful features for a wide range of Mac users, from consumers to pros.
For starters, a dark mode is finally made available to change the bright color scheme of macOS to a darkened color scheme, this will be applied to all default Mac apps such as Mail, Safari, Messages, Maps, Calendars and Photos. The darkened color scheme allows users to focus on the content, especially when working in dark lighting environments, which helps ease the eyes and has been available on mobile devices. macOS Mojave also brings a new Dynamic Desktop, which automatically changes the desktop picture to match the time of the day.
macOS Mojave also aims to solve the woes of a messy desktop, with the Stacks feature the desktop is now able to intelligently sort file types and stack them into one single icon, it works similarly to the Photos app on iOS, which you can also quickly skim through the files similarly. The Finder has also been updated with an improved Preview Pane, it shows all of a file’s metadata to ease managing media assets, quick actions let you do things like password-protect PDFs and run custom Automator actions on files, while Quick Look provides a full-size preview of a file that allows users to rotate and crop images, mark up PDFs and trim video and audio clips without opening the app.
Apple has brought apps from iOS to macOS Mojave, including News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home, the app’s configurations and features are synced with their iOS counterparts over iCloud. These apps are brought over using iOS frameworks adapted to macOS, developers will be able to take advantage of the framework starting in late 2019 to have their apps on iOS to be ported over to macOS, which will definitely increase the number of apps on macOS.
Also, Group FaceTime is also integrated into the current FaceTime app that supports up to 32 participants in a single session. The Mac App Store has also been updated with the same experience as iOS, which features rich editorial content to discover the right Mac app, while tabs such as Create, Work, Play and Develop helps users to find the app for specific purpose. Other new features on macOS Mojave includes new on-screen screenshots controls and new video recording capabilities, Continuity Camera that shows documents or pictures taken with their iOS devices instantly on their Mac, and integrated markup tools into Finder, Quick Look and Screenshots.
macOS Mojave will be available as a public beta in late June, it will be available as a free software update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, and 2010/2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics.
