There are plenty of portable Macs to choose from, but none are quite as portable as this Steam Deck running macOS Catalina.

Valve's portable PC is built with gaming in mind, but there are ways to install Windows if that's something you really want to do. But someone has taken things a step further, upgrading their Steam Deck to run macOS Catalina with surprising success.

macos_catalina_on_steam_deck_steamos_virtualbox from r/SteamDeck

This particular brand of dark magic came after Reddit user Lampa183 managed to get Apple's 2019 macOS Catalina up and running. They say that it does actually work and have provided a screenshot of the desktop, Dock, and more. That doesn't mean that it works well, however, with four-minute startup times likely to put plenty of people off. As if the hoops this person surely jumped through to get this far wasn't enough.

Once the Steam Deck is powered on though, we're told that "performance is normal," although we don't know what method of reference is being used here. Is it normal for an Intel Mac from 2019, or are we talking Apple Silicon snappiness here? Either way, the fact that this works at all is a testament to the Steam Deck, but also to the people who work to make these things happen.

While we don't know exactly which version of the Steam Deck is being used here, the gaming portable features a 7-inch screen and AMD APU chip. It's worth noting that it comes with 16GB of RAM, which is more than the M2 MacBook Air has as standard. Perhaps that's helping performance somewhat.

At seven inches this is definitely the smallest machine we've seen macOS running on in a good long while, and it's definitely smaller than Apple intends it to be used. But if you want the ultimate in portability and don't mind getting the magnifying glass out every once in the while, this could well be the best Mac for you.

With Voice Control in macOS Monterey, users can use speech commands to control their devices. The feature has been designed for those folks with limited agility, mobility, and other conditions available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. However, it also serves as a great new way to interact with your devices.

Voice Control works on all of your favorite Macs, available for your accessibility needs.

How to turn on Voice Controls on Mac

If you're using Voice Control for the first time, you'll need to set it up by following these steps:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.
4. Check the box for Enable Voice Control.

How to wake/sleep Voice Controls on Mac

You can wake and sleep Voice Control by doing the following:

1. Click Wake on the Voice Control icon to wake the tool.
2. Click Sleep on the Voice Control icon to put the tool to sleep. During this time, Voice Control won't work.

How to change the Voice Controls language on Mac

Voice Control uses your default language at startup. To change:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.

4. Click on the pull-down next to Language.
5. Select Customize.
6. Tap the box for the language(s) you'd like to add.
7. Choose OK.

How to select a new language in Voice Controls on Mac

1. Tap the current language noted on the Voice Control icon on the right side of your device.
2. Choose the language you now want to use.

How to enable/disable commands in Voice Controls on Mac

You can enable/disable any command in Voice Control, including those created by Apple and yourself:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.

4. Click on the Commands button.
5. Check the box(es) for the commands(s) you want to enable or uncheck the box(es) for the command(s) you want to disable.
6. Click on the Done button.

How to create custom commands in Voice Controls on Mac

Yes, you can add personal commands to work with Voice Controls. To add Custom Commands:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.

4. Click on the Commands button.
5. Select +.
6. Next, add your command in the When I say box. By default, this command is usable across all apps.
7. To restrict the command to only one app, click on the While Using pull-down menu.
8. Choose the app you'd like to use with your custom command.
9. Choose how this command is Performed from the pull-down menu.
10. Select Done.

You can now use this new custom command as you would others with Voice Control.

How to delete custom commands in Voice Controls on Mac

You can permanently delete any custom command for Voice Controls:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.

4. Click on Commands button.
5. Highlight the command to delete under Custom.
6. Select -.
7. Click Delete to confirm the deletion.

Your custom command is no longer usable through Voice Control on Mac.

How to change the microphone for Voice Controls on Mac

By default, Voice Control will use your Mac's built-in microphone. You can change this to another microphone when available:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.

4. Click on the pull-down menu next to Microphone.
5. Choose the microphone to use.

How to receive an alert when a command is recognized in Voice Controls on Mac

You can receive a sound alert each time a command is recognized:

1. Click on System Preferences on your Mac's Dock.

2. Select Accessibility.
3. On the Accessibility page, tap Voice Control under the Motor section.
4. Click the box next to Play sound when command is recognized.

So much to do

Voice Control works on all the best Macs, including the 24-inch iMac. As you can see, there's a lot you can do simply using your voice on Mac, thanks to the built-in Voice Controls. So start using them today and make your computing life much easier.

Updated April 2022: Refreshed for macOS Monterey.

What you need to know

• Apple has warned macOS Catalina users of a problem related to the new macOS 12.3 beta.
• Installing macOS 12.3 on a separate volume with FileVault enabled could cause a boot loop.
• Users will be unable to get back into the original volume in this scenario.

Apple has warned users of macOS Catalina that installing macOS Monterey 12.3 on a separate volume with FileVault installed could cause the machine to boot loop.

In an updated set of release notes for macOS Monterey 12.3 spotted by MacRumors, Apple has warned users that a very specific set of circumstances could cause machines to fail to boot properly.

Users will effectively be locked out of the original volume in this scenario, leaving them only able to use macOS Monterey.

Apple will likely fix this issue in a future beta and it's important to remember that this macOS 12.3 update is still in the very early beta stages. However, installing beta releases on separate volumes is exactly the kind of thing developers are likely to do so it's possible a number of people have already fallen foul of this bug.

The best Mac beta testing approach is always to keep your real data as far away from whatever you're testing as is possible — let's hope this bug is fixed as soon as possible to allow people to do just that without any issues.

What you need to know

• Apple has released Safari 15.1 for users of macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina..
• The update brings back the old Safari tab design.
• Mac users on macOS Monterey 12.0.1 already have the latest version of the browser.

Apple has officially released Safari 15.1 to Mac users running macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina.

The latest update, which brings some usual bug fixes and performance improvements to the browser, also brings back a much-requested feature that was missing with Safari 15: old-school browser tabs!

When Apple originally released Safari 15 to macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina users, everyone was both cautious and optimistic about its new tab redesign. Over the course of the developer and public beta periods, the company listened to a lot of customer feedback and implemented some notable changes to make the experience better.

While the general consensus agreed that the new Compact design could be beneficial to some users, many users complained that the old tab design was more user-friendly. Users were not happy that Apple took the option away to use a more traditional version of tabs in the latest version of Safari.

Thankfully, with Safari 15.1, Apple has brought back its traditional tab design for those who want to use it. Now, users can change between the Compact design and the Separate tab design when using tabs in the latest version of Safari.

If you've been wanting the old tab design as an option but are still running Safari 15 on macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, now is the time to update! Users running macOS Monterey 12.0.1 already have the Separate tab design as an option.

Is your Mac suddenly lagging? Is its performance slowing down? Then, you might need to clear the computer's memory cache. Here are some steps you can take to manage memory on your computer. You can follow these steps on all of the best Macs.

What is RAM?

RAM, which stands for random access memory, is one of the most important components in computers. It's designed to provide memory storage for current tasks and processes. When used properly, this memory speeds things up on the machine. Unfortunately, memory is often affected by poorly designed apps and web pages. In turn, this slows things down to unacceptable levels.

Years ago, it was easy to upgrade RAM on Apple devices. Unfortunately, those days are long over. Today, only the 27-inch iMac and Mac Pro allow for RAM upgrades after purchase. With this solution off the table for most users, it's important to maximize the size of the RAM on your machine at the time of purchase.

Regardless, you can take steps on your existing machine to manage memory by clearing up the cache and speed things up.

Find your RAM

To find the amount of RAM on your Mac:

1. Click on the Apple logo at the top left of the device.
2. Choose About This Mac from the pull-down menu.
3. Review the amount of memory on the overview tab.

Signs of trouble

When your Mac uses too much memory, you will know it almost immediately because the machine will begin to slow down unexpectedly. Among the signs there is a problem:

• Performance slows
• You'll see the spinning beach ball
• Apps become unresponsive or freeze
• Both apps and web pages fail to load or take a long time to do so
• You see a "Your system has run out of application memory" message

Steps to follow

There are certain steps you can take to improve memory performance on your Mac, including the following.

As a first step, shut down all of the apps and reboot your computer. It's a simple step but is often the one that fixes memory issues.

Install all Mac software updates and all current firmware updates on your Machine. To do so:

1. Choose the Apple icon at the top left of the computer.
2. Select About This Mac from the pull-down menu.
3. Click Software Update.
4. Follow the on-screen directions.

You should also check for app updates in the Mac App Store.

It could be one pesky app or process that is causing memory issues. To find out, check the Activity Monitor. To do so:

1. Choose Finder on your Mac Dock.
2. Select Go on the menu bar.
3. Click Utilities from the pull-down menu.

4. Select Activity Monitor.
5. Click the Memory tab at the top of the Activity Monitor.

6. Sort the table by Memory, so the processes using the most memory are at the top of the list.
7. Highlight unneeded processes that are using a lot of memory. These could include open apps that you're not currently using. If you don't recognize a running process, it's best to leave it alone.
8. Click the X icon at the top of the Activity Monitor to shut down the highlighted process.
9. Choose Force Shut Down to confirm the shutdown.
10. Repeat Steps 7 through Steps 9 as needed.

Memory issues are sometimes connected to an overheated CPU that's caused by a pesky process. To see if this is the case:

1. Choose Finder on your Mac Dock.
2. Select Go on the menu bar.
3. Click Utilities from the pull-down menu.

4. Select Activity Monitor.
5. Click the CPU at the top of the Activity Monitor. (It's the default.)

6. Sort the table by %CPU so the processes using the most CPU are at the top of the list.
7. Highlight unneeded processes that are using a lot of CPU. These could include open apps that you're not currently using. If you don't recognize a running process, it's best to leave it alone.
8. Click the X icon at the top of the Activity Monitor to shut down the highlighted process.
9. Choose Force Shut Down to confirm the shutdown.
10. Repeat Steps 7 through Steps 9 as needed.

Another possible solution is to stop apps from automatically starting when rebooting the device. To do this:

1. Choose the Apple icon at the top left of the computer.
2. Select System Preferences from the pull-down menu.
3. Click Users & Groups.

4. Select the Current User at the left.
5. Click the Login Items tab on the right.
6. Highlight an app you don't want to startup automatically anymore. This does not remove the app from the computer.
7. Choose the - below the list of apps.
8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 to remove other apps from starting up.

Thoughts?

Do you have any additional questions about how to manage memory on Mac or about macOS in general? Let us know in the comments below.

The Music app for Mac launched with macOS Catalina, replacing iTunes, and molded Apple Music and your personal music library into one convenient location. While the death of iTunes was a little painful for some, macOS Big Sur has proven that the Music app for Mac is here to stay.

If you were familiar with iTunes or the iOS Music app, using the Music app will likely feel pretty familiar. Still, if you're new to the Music app, this is a quick refresher on playing music, sorting your collection, and navigating the Music app for Mac. That way, your best Mac can get back to playing the tunes you love. Here's how to use the Music app for Mac

How to play music in the Music app for Mac

It doesn't take long to play music in the Music app, just a couple of clicks, and you're off to the races.

1. Open Music from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click the play button that appears when you hover over the album or playlist you want to play.

3. Click on the album or playlist if you just want to play a particular song.
4. Click on the play button that appears on the song's album art or track number when you hover over it in the tracklisting.

How to use Apple Music in the Music app for Mac

The Apple Music part of the Music app is broken up into three main sections — Listen Now, Browse, and Radio. You can navigate through all of them using the sidebar. Here's how.

1. Open Music from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Listen Now in the sidebar to see your Apple-curated mixes and suggestions, recently played albums and playlists, and what your friends have been listening to.
3. Click Browse in the sidebar to browse through currently-trending artists, new music, Apple's curated playlist selections, the rest of Apple Music's available library.

4. Click Radio in the sidebar to view and play Apple Music 1 radio shows, both live at the moment and previously recorded.
5. Click Music 1 , Music Hits, or Music Country in the Radio section to view and play those Radio stations content.

How to view your music library in the Music app for Mac

Your music library is also baked right into the Music app. You can easily see recently added songs, or you can view your entire collection by artist, album, or song. You can even change the sorting method of your collection based.

1. Open Music from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Recently Added in the sidebar to view albums and songs (but not playlists) that have been added to your library.
3. Click Artists in the sidebar to browse through the musical artists whose music is in your library.
   • Click View in the menu bar.
   • Hover over Sort Albums By.
   • Click Title, Genre, Year, or Rating.
   • Click Ascending or Descending.

4. Click Albums in the sidebar to browse your music collection by albums.
   • Click View in the menu bar.
   • Click Show View Options.
   • Click the drop-down next to Sort by: to choose between Title, Genre, Artist, Year, or Rating.
     • Click the drop-down next to then: to choose between Title, Artist, Year, or Rating

5. Click Songs to view your songs. Many would say this is the classic iTunes view, going back to the original release almost two decades ago.
   • Click the Name, Time, Artist, Album, Genre, or other category bars to sort your songs by those categories.

6. Click on a playlist in the sidebar to open it. Your available playlists are sorted by origin in the sidebar, with your iTunes-created playlists listed first, then any playlists that you've created or subscribed to in Apple Music coming after that in alphabetical order.

How to import music into the Music app for Mac

Importing music into the Music app is very similar to how it was done before in iTunes.

1. Open Music from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click File in the Menu Bar.
3. Click Import.

4. Choose the file or folder that you want to import.
5. Click Open.

How to get song and album info in the Music app for Mac

If you want to customize your collection and change the information on a track (like the album, artist, year, etc.), you can right-click on any track to do so.

1. Open Music from your Dock or Applications folder.
2. Right- or Control-click on a song or album.

3. Click Get Info.
4. Click Edit Items if you're editing more than one song.

5. Edit information under the Details, Artwork, Lyrics, Options, Sorting, and File tabs if you need to.
6. Click OK when you're done editing.

You can even right-click on songs in Apple Music and see information on the track, but you won't change the information.

Updated July 2021: Updated for the most recent version of macOS Big Sur.

What you need to know

• Apple has released Safari 14.1 today.
• The release patches a WebKit security vulnerability on macOS Catalina and Mojave.

Apple has patched a WebKit vulnerability that was affecting Safari on the Mac.

As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple has released Safari 14.1 for users running macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave. The update patches a security vulnerability with WebKit that was fixed earlier this week for users on iOS 14.5 and macOS Big Sur.

While the updates to iOS and macOS Big Sur patched the issue for those users, Apple has now released Safari 14.1 to fix the vulnerability for users running older versions of macOS.

Users on macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave can initiate the update to Safari by going to System Preferences > Software Update.

The Find My app is offered across multiple devices, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The app merges the older Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps. Here's how to use Find My app on macOS Big Sur.

In the market for a new Mac? Check out our best iMac and best MacBook of the year posts.

How to use Find My on Mac

Find My is automatically installed with macOS. It's available on the Mac Dock and in the Applications folder. Use the app to track your friends on devices.

On the People screen, you'll see a listing of people you've been given access to track.

1. Open the Find My app on Mac.
2. Click the People tab.
3. Select the person on the left side of the screen to track. You can view a person on three maps: default, hybrid, and satellite.
4. Click - and + to change the size of the map.

5. Select the location icon to find your current location on the map.

6. Click Share My Location to send your current location to someone new.
7. In the To box, type in the name of the person you wish to share your location.
8. If the person isn't in your Contacts app, add them in the pop-up menu.
9. Once the new person(s) has been added, select Send.

The devices under the Find My app are those tied to your Apple ID, as well as your family members, when applicable.

1. Open the Find My app on Mac.
2. Click the Devices tab.
3. Select the device on the left side of the screen to track. You can view devices on three familiar maps: default, hybrid, and satellite.

4. Click - and + to change the size of the map.
5. Select the location icon to find your current location on the map.

Questions?

Let us know below if you have any questions about Find My on Mac or the rest of macOS.

Updated December 2020: Updated for macOS Big Sur.

There's no best way to organize your Mac desktop. One thing is certain, however. If you feel your desktop is disorganized, it's wise to do something about it. We suggest any number of organizing techniques, including the ones below. Here's how to clean a Mac desktop on macOS Big Sur.

How to add folders to your desktop

Perhaps the simplest way to organize your Mac's desktop is by adding folders, which you can use to separate content based on a purpose. For example, you may want to add folders for personal and work use. Another solution might be to create folders for different projects.

To create a folder on Mac:

1. Right-click in an empty area on the desktop.
2. Choose New Folder. You can also use the Command-Shift-N keyboard shortcut.

3. Click on the title of the folder you just created
4. Change the name of the folder to suit your needs.
5. Click Enter.
6. Repeat Steps 1 through 6 to create more folders on the desktop.

Now you can drag any items you want into the new folder. This is the easiest way on how to clean a Mac desktop.

How to align and sort desktop items automatically on Mac

To add some structure to your desktop folders and files' placement, you can sort them into a grid.

1. Right-click any blank space on your desktop.
2. Click Clean Up By.
3. Choose the option you want. Your options are Name, Kind, Date Modified, Date Created, Size, and Tags.

How to keep all your desktop files in a grid formation on Mac

If your desktop has lost all structure and files are in every corner, you can easily snap them back into a grid formation.

1. Right-click any blank space on your desktop.
2. Click Sort By.
3. Click Snap to Grid.

Now, until you change it, all your files will always snap to a grid. If you want to reverse it, you can follow the same steps listed above. This is one of the best ways on how to clean a Mac desktop.

How to change the grid spacing on the desktop on Mac

1. Right-click any blank space on your desktop.
2. Click Show View Options.
3. Adjust the grid spacing with the slider.

How to adjust the size of desktop icons on Mac

If you think the icons on your screen are too small or too big, you can easily change their size.

1. Right-click any blank space on your desktop.
2. Click Show View Options.
3. Adjust the icon size with the slider.

How to use macOS Stacks to organize your desktop

With the built-in Stacks feature in macOS, you can organize your desktop into stacks of files grouped by categories and keeps it organized as you save new files.

To turn Stacks on:

1. Choose View from the Finder menu bar.
2. Select Use Stacks. You can also right-click anywhere on your desktop, then choose Use Stacks from the shortcut menu.

Each file is now part of a Stack unless it's the only file of its kind on your desktop. Folders appear just below stacks. With Stacks, cleaning up your Mac desktop has never been easier!

How to create multiple Mac desktops

Another solution to organizing your Mac desktop is to split it into two. Or three, and so forth. With Mission Control, you can create different Spaces, which are fundamentally different iterations of your desktop. If you find your current desktop is getting a little crowded, you can create a new Space.

• How to manage your windows like a pro in macOS

Third-party solutions

Finally, there are third-party app solutions to consider to organize your Mac desktop. Three of our favorites include:

Declutter: With this app, you can use smart folders to organize your content by images, videos, documents, and music. Think of it as an advanced version of Apple's Stacks. Declutter is part of the Setapp subscription service.

Magnet: Available in the Mac App Store, Magnet lets you create different workspaces on your desktop. In doing so, you can eliminate app switching and improve your productivity.

iCollections: With this app, also available in the Mac App Store, you can create different areas on your desktop, making it ideal for sorting and arranging icons in a fun and efficient way.

In the market?

Are you looking for a new computer? Check out our yearly recommendations for Mac desktops and laptops.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about macOS Big Sur or how to clean your Mac desktop? Do you have solutions not listed here? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated December 2020: Includes content for macOS Big Sur.

What you need to know

• Apple is releasing Safari 14 ahead of macOS Big Sur.
• The new browser is rolling out to macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave users.
• Safari 14 features customizable start wallpaper, privacy reports, and a new design.

Reported by 9to5Mac, Safari 14 has rolled out as a standalone update for users of macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave.

Safari 14 is one of the big new features of macOS Big Sur, but that has not rolled out to the public as of yet. In the meantime, those who are running macOS Catalina and macOS can enjoy the newest updates to Safari, such as its new design, privacy reports, and support for 4K HDR video from sites like YouTube.

Safari 14 also sports a new start screen which can be customized with a custom wallpaper, Siri website suggestions, your Reading List, and sites currently open on your other Apple devices.

Users running macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave can check the System Preferences app to update to Safari 14. Apple also rolled out iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 to the public today.

What you need to know

• Apple has fixed a USB 2.0 in macOS Catalina.
• Version 10.15.6 resolves the issue, which caused devices to disconnect.
• It doesn't look like Big Sur has received the same treatment.

Apple's latest macOS Catalina update seems to have fixed a USB 2.0 bug that was causing peripherals to disconnect intermittently.

As reported by AppleInsider:

As mentioned, there is no detail beyond Apple having resolved the issue. As AI notes, the problem still persists in the beta of macOS Big Sur. The problem, reported back in June seems to be causing USB 2.0 accessories to randomly disconnect or stop working, in particular when connected to a USB hub. From the original story:

macOS 10.15.6 also brought with it big changes to Apple News, adding local news feeds for San Francisco, the Bay Area, LA, Houston, and New York City.

Apple's Catalyst program allows developers to build Mac apps using the same source code as the iPad. To date, Apple hasn't used the program to replace any of its existing apps. However, that could change soon with the next versions of iPadOS and macOS.

According to 9to5Mac, Messages could become the first native Mac app to get replaced and use iPad source code. If correct, this would represent a massive step forward in the possible/eventual merging of iOS/iPadOS and macOS.

Going back to at least 2011, the mobile version of Messages has picked up a lot of new features that are so far missing from Messages on Mac. These include, but aren't limited to, extensions, iMessage gaming, stickers, and effects. With Catalyst, these omissions would no doubt be removed, making the messaging process the same on both platforms.

Back in 2018, macOS Mojave became the first Mac version to offer third-party developers the ability to bring mobile apps to the desktop through Catalyst. At the time, the company's Apple News, Memos, Voice Memos, and Home apps made the digital leap. A year later, macOS Catalina retired iTunes and introduced separate versions of Apple TV, Podcasts, and Music to the desktop. However, Music remains a Mac version.

Moving forward, I hope Apple also has plans to update FaceTime and Mail for Mac using Catalyst, among others. Both apps feel dated compared to the mobile versions, especially the latter. Still, it's important to note that in some cases, it's the mobile versions that lack many of the features found on Mac versions. That's the case with Mail, which could make it much harder to bring the two versions closer in line with one another.

We should know Apple's plans very soon.

On Monday, June 22, the company's virtual-only Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicks off. During the keynote address, Apple is almost certainly going to reveal new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

What about you?

Which apps, native or otherwise, would you like to see a move from mobile to Mac using Catalyst? Let us know in the comments below.

What you need to know

• Apple just released a supplemental update to 10.15.4.
• This patch is supposed to fix a FaceTime bug that prevented connections with devices on older operating systems.
• There are no mentions of fixing system crashes and random overnight reboots.

Apple has just released the 10.15.4 supplemental update for macOS Catalina, which should improve the stability and security of your Mac. However, it does not mention the issues that people were having, such as random reboots overnight or system crashes. It is, however, supposed to fix the FaceTime connection bug that prevented users running the initial release of macOS 10.15.4 from connecting to devices with iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier using FaceTime.

The original update update for macOS Catalina brings iCloud Drive folder sharing, which allows you to access shared files from Finder. You can control and limit access to these shared files to people you have explicitly invited, or you can grant access to the folder to anyone with a link. Another feature of this folder sharing is that you can change permissions to who can make changes and upload files, as well as who can view and download files.

Another feature that this update brings is more Screen Time communications limits. Specifically, this includes controls for who your children are communicating with throughout the day and during downtime, as well as playback controls for music videos for children.

Apple Music is also getting time-synced lyrics, and you can jump to a specific part in a song just by clicking on a line in lyric view. Safari can now import Google Chrome passwords into iCloud Keychain, and some other improvements. Apple Arcade now has a Recently Played section so you can pick up where you left off, and the App Store is supporting Universal Purchase for apps that have it.

This supplemental update also brings several other overall improvements. Here is the full changelog:

macOS Catalina 10.15.4 supplemental update improves the stability and security of your Mac.

• Fixes an issue where Mac computers runningmacOS Catalina 10.15.4 could not participate in FaceTime calls with devices running iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier
  • Resolves an issue where you may repeatedly receive a password prompt for an Office 365 account
  • Fixes an issue where MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) may hang in Setup Assistant or when disconnecting and reconnecting a 4K or 5K external display
  • Resolves an issue where a USB-C port in your Mac may become unresponsive

We're not sure if this update fixes those issues that people were having where the system crashes or the random reboots overnight. Let us know if this update resolves all of your issues!

"There's an app for that."

I've been into computers ever since I was a young kid, so I've always been interested in software and apps. But it wasn't until the iPhone and the App Store where it really blew up for me. In fact, I began to make my living writing about apps and games on the iPhone, then eventually, it spread to the iPad as well as Mac apps. And over a decade later, I'm still here, writing about apps.

Ever since I got into this industry, I love finding out about new apps, testing them out, and eventually telling people about how great (or not) they are. But sometimes this passion got expensive when there were three separate versions of an app, and lacking one version would give you an "incomplete" experience.

Thankfully we're on the road to truly universal apps with Catalyst, and this is an excellent idea for the consumer.

Before universal iOS apps, you had to buy one app multiple times

Back when the App Store first launched in 2008, it was just iPhone apps, because the iPad wasn't even available yet. Then when the iPad released in 2010, there came a wave of iPad-specific apps and games, and at some point, popular iPhone apps began to get their own standalone iPad versions. But just because you already had the iPhone version didn't mean anything if it was a paid app — you had to buy it again if you wanted it on your iPad.

As much as I love apps, I always found it a bit annoying that you had to essentially pay twice to have certain apps for both your iPhone and iPad. I get that developers needed to make money to sustain their business of making apps, but it just felt like double-dipping into the wallets of customers. And a lot of the time back then, the iPad version of an app could be nothing but a glorified and blown-up iPhone version. There wasn't much of a difference between the two except that the iPad just had a bigger screen.

Some developers got it though and had their iPad versions take full advantage of what the iPad had to offer, including the larger screen estate for more informative views at-a-glance, and the like. But still, it was hard to justify paying again for the iPad version if someone didn't always use their iPad at the time (it was far less advanced back then).

Universal iOS apps were a godsend

At some point, universal apps for iOS became a thing, with one purchase giving users access to the app on both their iPhone and iPad. Eventually, this moved to include Apple TV as well, though that is mostly geared towards games and video streaming. So one purchase of an app or game on your iPhone or iPad, and it would be accessible on your other iPhones, iPads, and even Apple TVs without having to buy it again.

I remember when Fantastical, one of my most-used apps, had separate versions on iPhone and iPad, and there was also the standalone Mac version too. I remember I reluctantly paid for the iPad version of Fantastical 2 way back when, but I used it often when I was working from my iPad. At some point, Flexibits scrapped the idea of having separate iPhone and iPad versions of Fantastical, and eventually just merged them into a single, universal iOS app for about $5. The Mac app was still separate, of course, but at the time, Mac and iOS apps were built differently.

But wouldn't it be great if you just bought an app once and it could be everywhere? With Catalyst, that dream is becoming a reality.

macOS Catalina is the Catalyst for truly universal apps

With macOS Catalina and Xcode 11.4 (in beta), developers are now able to bundle macOS apps with iPadOS and iOS apps, making way for a new wave of "buy/download once, get it everywhere" apps. And coming from a consumer standpoint, this is going to be fantastic.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of useful apps (as well as fun games) that are on the iOS App Store, as well as the Mac App Store. But the problem has always been that they're separate versions, so if they're paid titles, you'll need to dip into your wallet at least twice. But with Catalyst, this may be a thing of the past.

Catalyst essentially allows developers to create macOS versions of their already existing iPad apps. This is because Catalyst brings over UIKit from iOS to the Mac, and lets developers maintain one code base across both platforms. In short — it's a win-win for everyone, mostly.

You may be thinking, "How would iPad apps, with their focus on multitasking and touch gestures, translate onto a Mac, with default keyboard and mouse inputs?" Fortunately, Apple thought of that with Project Catalyst. Any UIKit multitasking gestures get automatically remapped to work with mouse and trackpad inputs. Gestures don't translate well from touch screens to Macs, so those do not get mapped over, but developers can implement hover states for them instead if they desire. Again, most things will be automatic, but some things need to get Mac-ified manually, but still, Catalyst makes it much easier than before.

And with the latest development with Catalyst being the news that developers can bundle macOS apps with iPadOS and iOS apps, we are just one step closer to eliminating App Store headaches. Honestly, I hope to see a lot of the apps I use implement this in future updates because it would make my life a lot easier.

Think about Things. I use Things right now to keep track of tasks that I need to do for work, as well as some personal things I have to take care of. It is my task manager and helps me stay focused on what I need to do, so I have it on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. But because each version is its own thing, I have had to pay for Things three times just to have a task management system that works for what I need.

If Cultured Code goes with the new Catalyst bundling feature, then I could buy or download the next version of Things once, and it will end up on all of the platforms that matter to me. With a mostly unified interface (iPhone will never quite look like the iPad or Mac version because of limited screen size), you'd already be familiar with how an app works, regardless of the platform you're using it on.

But then we reach the tricky part, and that's price.

Universal apps deserve a fair price point for everyone involved

Now, if more developers began to utilize the Catalyst bundling system for their iPadOS, iOS, and macOS apps, what would be considered "fair" for both the developers and the consumers? After all, developers need to make money, but consumers are clearly tired of subscription models for pretty much everything.

Honestly, I prefer the "pay once" upfront price for each major iteration of an app, because the developers will (or should) continue to update the app for a good while. But with this, each version of an app had its own upfront price point. With macOS Catalina and Catalyst apps creating a universal experience, I think the cost of such an app should be the total of each app as if they were sold separately.

So if Things cost $50 for the Mac version, $20 for the iPad version, and $10 on iPhone, then a completely universal Things should be $80 upfront, and you get it on all three platforms. Of course, if you don't have a Mac or an iPad, then you should be able to still pay separately for the versions that you need. With Catalyst universal apps, it seems it just makes things easier for developers to bundle everything together for a unified experience.

Of course, I feel that a lot of developers are going the route of app subscriptions, much to the annoyance of consumers. I get it — developers need to continue to make money, and getting paid once for an app and then continuing to maintain it for years is just not viable for most anymore. But if that's the case, then developers should consider a price point for a subscription that is actually worth the service that they're offering users, and even consider a way for family sharing. This was the issue with Fantastical's new subscription model — even those who wouldn't mind the $40 a year price could not justify it with no way to share a subscription with other family members, and the only solution was to pay for two subscriptions ($80 for a calendar? No way, José!)

If developers must go the subscription route with universal apps, then they could follow in the footsteps of Darkroom. This move was done tastefully, as anyone who had previously bought any in-app purchase (any, even just one pack of filters), will continue to be able to use all premium features for free. No functionality is lost, unlike with Fantastical. New users will have to pay $4 a month or $20 a year to use Darkroom, or pay a one-time fee of $50 and be done with it.

Price is a bit of a tough subject, but if apps are going the route of being truly universal across all of Apple's platforms, then it needs to be fair for everyone involved, including developers and consumers.

Your thoughts?

Are you excited for the idea of truly universal Catalyst apps? What developers and apps do you hope to see go universal across all Apple platforms? What would you consider fair pricing? Let us know in the comments.

What you need to know

• We are ever-closer to truly universal Apple apps.
• Cupertino released the first Xcode 11.4 beta today, February 5.
• The company also released the first developer beta versions of iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4.

This article has been updated to confirm that Xcode 11.4 will allow developers to bundle macOS apps with iPadOS and iOS apps, so that users can by them all with a single purchase.

The first Xcode 11.4 beta includes some big news for developers and Apple device users alike. As of March 2020, developers will be able to distribute and sell their iOS, iPadOS and macOS apps as a single bundle, which means we are closer than ever to universal apps. This means that if the developer enables the feature and you buy their app, your purchase will get you a copy of that app for both Mac and iOS.

By default, universal purchase will be enabled for new Mac Catalyst apps created in Xcode 11.4, and they'll use the same bundle identifier as an iOS app.

Currently, developers can release one app for both iPhone and iPad. By making the changes mentioned above, Apple's definition of universal app could soon officially change to also include macOS.

According to the Xcode 11.4 beta release notes:

First announced in June 2019, Catalyst let developers create iPad apps that can also run on Mac. The software-development tool was officially released with iPadOS 13 and macOS Catalina last fall.

The first Xcode 11.4 beta was released to developers today, February 5, alongside the first beta developer versions of iOS 13.4, iPadOS 13.4, and watchOS 6.2.

What you need to know

• Asphalt 9: Legends is now available in the Mac App Store.
• It's a free download.
• The app is a Catalyst version of the popular iOS game.

Gameloft has brought Asphalt 9: Legends to the Mac as a Catalyst app, just as it said it would at WWDC last June. The game was one of those shown off by Apple to highlight what can be done with Catalyst and while it's taken its time arriving on the Mac App Store, it's here now.

The game is a free download along with in-app purchases just as it is on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. And it offers plenty to keep gamers coming back for more.

Gameloft says that gamers will be able to start their careers on one device and then switch to another thanks to cross-play, while Mac gamers can look forward to a solid 60fps as they get their racing on.

Gameloft is even leveraging "Sign in with Apple" to make it easier for users to get started without the hassle of creating new accounts just to play their game.

Rounding things out, gamers can also look forward to the Mac version of Asphalt 9: Legends retaining feature parity with the iOS version, something that will be music to the ears of the game's hardcore audience.

You can download Asphalt 9: Legends from the Mac App Store right now.

What you need to know

• Mamut AccountEdge will not be getting macOS Catalina compatibility.
• The news was announced in a post on Visma's website.
• It's reported that the move from 32-bit to 64-bit apps is to blame.

Mamut AccountEdge will not be Catalina Compliant according to Visma, after it was informed by Acclivity Software, the programme's developer.

According to their website:

Of course, this will come as a blow to AccountEdge users on Mac who wish to push their devices to macOS Catalina, or who may have already done so. They've offered some solutions, but they're pretty limited and not ideal for most. The obvious one is to not upgrade your Mac to Catalina, AccountEdge works on macOS 10.14 Mojave and will continue to receive updates. But of course, you could be compromising the security of your Mac. If you've already upgraded, they suggest downgrading. Otherwise, you could use an older, secondary computer or use either Parallels, Boot Camp, or a partition on your hard drive so you can run two different versions of macOS on the same desktop.

More information about all those options are available on their support page.

With macOS Catalina, Screen Time is now available on Macs for the first time. The tool, which launched on iPhone and iPad in 2018, records the amount of time a user spends in various apps, from social networking to games. It also contains blocking features to limit usage. There are also parental controls, such as the ability to place limits on communication, particularly from specific contacts. The feature has been designed to improve our digital wellness and get us away from our screens every once in a while.

Here's how it works.

• How to turn on Screen Time on macOS
• How to turn off Screen Time on macOS
• How to share Screen Time on macOS across all devices
• How to add a password to Screen Time on macOS
• How to view app usage in Screen Time on macOS
• How to view notifications sent in Screen Time on macOS
• How to view pickups in Screen Time on macOS
• How to schedule Downtime using Screen Time for macOS
• How to set limits using Screen Time for macOS
• How to set always allowed content in Screen Time for macOS
• How to set content and privacy using Screen Time for macOS

How to turn on Screen Time on macOS

Screen Time is located in System Preferences in macOS Catalina. To get started:

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select the Options button at the bottom left.
3. Click the Turn On button at the top right.

You can now start using Screen Time on Mac.

How to turn off Screen Time on macOS

To stop using Screen Time on Mac:

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select the Options button at the bottom left.
3. Click the Turn Off button at the top right.

How to share Screen Time on macOS across all devices

To get a more accurate picture of how much time you spend online, you can use Screen Time across all of your devices. In doing so, you can view your total Screen Time from the app. You must first turn this on, however.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select the Options button at the bottom left.
3. Check the Share Across Devices box.

How to add a password to Screen Time on macOS

You can set a password in Screen Time on Mac. By doing so, you can secure your settings and also use the password to extend the time for users when necessary.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select the Options button at the bottom left.
3. Check the Use Screen Time Password box.

How to view app usage in Screen Time on macOS

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select App Usage on the left side.

From this screen, you can see your app usage by day, apps, and categories. When there are limits (see below), you'll also see them here.

How to view notifications sent in Screen Time on macOS

Are receiving notifications on your Mac each day slowing down your work? Do you wonder who's sending all of those alerts? Screen Time can help.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select Notifications on the left side.

Look how many notifications you've received by who by day or week.

How to view pickups in Screen Time on macOS

If you're sharing Screen Time information across your Apple devices, you can see the number of times you pick up your mobile device(s) through the Mac app. Lifting to see your devices excessively each day could become a distraction.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select Pickups on the left side.

How to schedule Downtime using Screen Time for macOS

During Downtime, only apps you choose to allow will work plus phone calls, when applicable. To set up a Downtime schedule:

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select Downtime on the left side.
3. Click the Turn On button to activate Downtime.
4. Using the radio buttons, select Every Day or Custom depending on the schedule you'd like to set.

With Every Day selected, Downtime is enforced during the same time each day. With Custom picked, you can adjust the time for each day of the week or uncheck the box next to a day to turn Downtime off for that day.

How to set limits using Screen Time for macOS

In Screen Time for Mac, you can set time limits according to app categories.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select App Limits on the left side.
3. Click the Turn On button to activate App Limits.

4. Select the + to add an app category.
5. Next, check the box next to the app category you'd like to limit.
6. With the app category highlighted, set the limit using the radio buttons. You can set the limits Every Day or using a Custom schedule.

7. Repeat Steps 5-6 for each app category you'd like to limit.
8. Click Done to complete.

To remove app limits:

1. In Screen Time for Mac, select App Limits on the left side.
2. On the right, uncheck the box next to each app category you no longer want to limit.
3. To turn off app tracking, click the Turn Off button.

How to set always allowed content in Screen Time for macOS

You might want specific processes available on the Mac all the time, regardless of other restrictions. This can include communication with certain people or apps.

To set always allowed content:

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select Always Allowed on the left side.

3. Check the box next to each of the items to always allow.

How to set content and privacy using Screen Time for macOS

You can also restrict content and privacy using Screen Time.

1. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
2. Select Content & Privacy on the left side.
3. Click Turn On to activate Content & Privacy.

4. There are four sections here: Content, Stores, Apps, and Other. Under each, check the box. See samples below.

Final questions and comments

Do you have any questions about Screen Time? How about macOS Catalina? Let us know below.

Updated December 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina.

First launched in October 2019, macOS 10.15 Catalina offers lots of new features, including Sidecar, the move from iTunes to Music, and much more. If you haven't yet upgraded your device, you're probably asking yourself whether now is the right time. Have the glitches been worked out? Are there any major bugs? Are there any additional reasons not to upgrade?

Should you upgrade?

After the launch of macOS 10.15 Catalina, some early would-be adopters reported installation and compatibility issues. Since then, the company has released macOS 10.15.1, which will soon be followed by macOS 10.15.2.

These updates, like all software updates, include bug fixes and new features. For example, the macOS 10.15.1 update fixed issues relating to the Photos, Messages, Contacts, and Music app, among others. At the same time, it added 70 new or updated emoji.

Keep in mind that software is never bug-free. Recently, a vulnerability was discovered by Apple IT-specialist Bob Gendler in Apple's Mail application for macOS. Apple has plans to fix this bug soon, although the issue doesn't affect many users. The vulnerability isn't macOS Catalina-specific, however. The problem reportedly affects Mojave, High Sierra, and Sierra also.

The bottom line: Most people with a compatible Mac should now update to macOS Catalina unless you have an essential incompatible software title. If that's the case, you may want to use a virtual machine to keep an old operating system in place to use the outdated or discontinued software.

Who can use macOS Catalina?

Apple has designed macOS Catalina so that it works with a large number of devices, including:

• MacBook, 2015 and later
• iMac, 2012 and later
• MacBook Air, 2012 and later
• iMac Pro, 2017 and later
• MacBook Pro, 2012 and later
• Mac Pro, 2013 and later
• Mac mini, 2012 and later

How to update

Please sure to check out our ultimate guide to updating from macOS Mojave to Catalina. Also, check out these other macOS Catalina-related posts:

What you need to know

• There are some reports that updating to Catalina is causing bricking with some Macs
• The issue seems to be a result of an EFI firmware update.
• Initial reports suggest the issue is only affecting a very small number of devices.

A report via 9to5Mac suggests that a very small number of Mac users may be experiencing bricking when updating to macOS Catalina.

According to the report:

Many of the reports seem to concern older Macs from 2014 and 2015. All the reports tell the same story of upgrading to Catalina, only to be greeted by Apple's black screen and the "?folder" icon. One user reported that an unofficial service center directly programmed the EFI with a special tool, which fixed the problem. This would seem to confirm the suggestion from several of the reports that corruption of the EFI firmware may be to blame.

At this stage, there are a very small number of reports, so whilst it no doubt seems to be an issue, the scale of the problem seems to be very limited at this juncture.

What you need to know

• Reports suggest that Apple has added support for the AMD Radeon RX 5700 in macOS Catalina 10.15.1 beta 2.
• Release notes advised of changes to graphics card support to include RDNA architecture.
• Testing seems to confirm AMD RX 5700 compatibility.

A report today suggests that Apple has added support for AMD's Radeon RX 5700 to macOS Catalina with the release of 10.15.1 beta 2. According to AppleInsider:

The news seems to indicate that users will be able to use the RX 5700 via an external graphics card enclosure. Due to the way compatibility works with eGPUs in macOS, there's no 'plug-and-play' option, with users being limited only to cards supported by macOS.

As AppleInsider notes, this news is a good indication that other RDNA cards may get support going forward.

RDNA-based cards feature in Apple's new Mac Pro, with options to include the Radeon Pro Vega II and Vega II Duo available to users. This latest compatibility update should give Apple some hands on experience with the combination prior to the launch of the Mac Pro.

One of the most impressive new features with macOS Catalina and iPadOS 13 is Sidecar. The new feature allows you to extend your Mac display to your iPad. In doing so, you can use Apple Pencil with your Mac for the first time and perform everyday tasks like drawing and sketching or marking up screenshots and PDFs.

With Sidecar, you can use native and third-party macOS apps on your iPad, including Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Photo, ZBrush, and many more.

• Macs that support Sidecar
• iPads that support Sidecar
• Requirements to using Sidecar
• How to set up Sidecar on Mac
• How to set up Sidecar on iPad
• Customizing Sidecar on Mac
• How to customize Apple Pencil options

Macs that support Sidecar

To use Sidecar, you must have one of the following Macs:

• iMac 27-inch (Late 2015 or newer)
• MacPro (2016 or newer)
• Mac mini (2018)
• Mac Pro (2019)
• MacBook Air (2018)
• MacBook (Early 2016 or newer)

Apple never officially announced an official list; instead this comes from Steve Troughton-Smith who did some sleuthing.

iPads that support Sidecar

To use Sidecar with your iPad, your tablet must support either the first- or second-generation Apple Pencil. These include:

Apple Pencil:

• iPad Air (3rd generation)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad (7th generation)
• iPad (6th generation)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation)
• iPad Pro 10.5-inch
• iPad Pro 9.7-inch

Apple Pencil (2nd generation):

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)
• iPad Pro 11-inch

Requirements to using Sidecar

In addition to having a Mac and iPad that support Sidecar, you must also be signed into the same iCloud account on each machine.

For Wi-Fi use, the following additional requirements apply:

• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Handoff turned on.
• Both devices are within 10 meters (30 feet) of each other.
• The iPad isn't sharing its cellular connection.
• The Mac isn't sharing its internet connection.

How to set up Sidecar on Mac

You must first activate Sidecar on Mac and iPad to use the new tool:

1. On Mac, click on System Preferences in the Dock.
2. Click on Sidecar.

3. Click on Devices under Connect to.
4. Select your iPad from the dropdown menu.

If you don't see your iPad in the list of devices to connect to, try plugging your iPad into your Mac.

How to set up Sidecar on iPad

At this time, it appears the only requirements for using Sidecar on iPad are that both devices must be using the same iCloud account, and connected directly or through Bluetooth. There are no additional Sidecar settings on your iPad.

Customize Sidecar on Mac

There are different ways you can use Sidecar on Mac. These include deciding whether to use the Sidebar on the left or right and whether to show your Mac Touch Bar on the top or bottom of your Mac, when applicable.

To customize:

1. On Mac, click on System Preferences in the Dock.
2. Click on Sidecar.

3. Use the checkbox to turn Show Sidebar on or off.
4. If Show Sidebar is on, use the toggle to select Left or Right.

5. Use the check box to turn Show Touch Bar on or off, where applicable.
6. If Show Touch Bar is on, use the toggle to select Top or Bottom.

How to customize Apple Pencil options

There are two settings you can customize for Apple Pencil on Mac:

1. On Mac, click on System Preferences in the Dock.
2. Click on Sidecar.

3. Use the checkbox to turn Enable double tap on Apple Pencil on or off.
4. Use the checkbox to turn Show pointer when using Apple Pencil on or off.

Any questions?

Let us know if you have any questions about the new Sidecar feature below.

Updated October 2019: Includes newly released requirements for Sidecar.

Apple's macOS Catalina first found a home on my MacBook Pro in June soon after Apple's latest operating system for Mac was revealed. In haste, I elected to go all-in on the update and installed the first beta version on my computer's primary container. Since then, I've put it through the paces of everyday life and celebrated when the first official version of macOS Catalina was finally released earlier this month.

Four months after replacing the mostly ho-hum macOS Mojave with macOS Catalina on my laptop, I remain incredibly happy with the update for many of the same reasons Rene Ritchie explained in iMore's official review. My positive impression mostly relies on the introduction of three new features, including Sidecar, Mac Catalyst, and Approve With Apple Watch.

When macOS Catalina is long gone, it will forever be remembered for Sidecar, an official way to extend the Mac desktop to an iPad. Though third-party solutions have long been available that do the same, Sidecar makes the process so much easier for the casual user. And let me just rave about the nearly non-existent latency, even when the two devices are attached wirelessly.

As Eric Shashoua, CEO and Founder of Kiwi for Gmail and G-Suite notes about Sidecar:

And thanks to Sidecar, Apple is finally making it possible to use Apple Pencil on Mac. Touch Bar, only ever physically available on MacBook Pros, is also now open on any Mac that supports Sidecar. That one-two punch can benefit you on both iPad and Mac.

I've also been impressed with the efficient rollout of Mac Catalyst, a new software tool that allows iPad app developers to create Mac apps with ease, then let end users drag and drop content across both systems. Assuming a boatload of developers jump on board now that macOS Catalina is out, Mac Catalyst is likely to usher in a new era of Mac software across numerous categories, including gaming, banking, education, project management, and more.

Already, early macOS Catalina users are getting to know Twitter in a familiar way on Mac, and also the annoyingly, yet funny Carrot Weather. Watch for other iPadOS apps to make to jump to macOS in the coming weeks and months.

Finally, I offer kudos to Apple for thinking outside the box in launching Approve With Apple Watch. Being able to authenticate installations and unlocking notes and passwords on Mac from your wrist doesn't sound like a big deal. Try it for a while, and you'll realize it's a game-changer no one saw coming. Though this is technically a new Mac feature, it confirms that Apple continues to see Apple Watch has much more than a fitness wearable device.

Shashoua explains:

Beyond this, I hope Mac users who have already installed macOS Catalina have come to realize Apple didn't kill off iTunes but rather reimagined it (for the better) as three separate, but snappier apps called Music, Podcasts, and TV. And isn't the odd-sounding, yet accurately named Find My app much better than the two apps it replaced?

Finally, I don't usually advocate more apps for Mac. However, in the case of Apple Arcade, that's precisely what's needed. Burying Cupertino's latest money maker in the Mac App Store is the strangest of moves made on Apple's part. However, it's one that will almost certainly get corrected in a future version of macOS. Tweaks are one of the reasons for yearly macOS updates, no?

You can download and install the free macOS Catalina update from the Mac App Store on your supported Mac.

Questions

What's your favorite macOS Catalina feature? Let us know below.

After updating to macOS Catalina, you might discover a new folder called Relocated Items on your desktop. Don't worry; there's nothing wrong with your computer. Here's what you should know about this folder -- and what to do with it.

What is the Relocated Items folder?

During the upgrade process to macOS Catalina, your computer might determine that some files can't get moved to a new location or may not be compatible with the update's new security settings. When this occurs, it places these unedited files into the Relocated Items folder on your desktop.

You shouldn't delete this folder sight unseen. Instead, take some time and look at the files in question. Move essential data to a new location while leaving everything else in place.

Okay, let's delete this folder

After reviewing the contents of the Relocated Items folder and moving important files to a new location, it's time to delete the folder from your desktop.

Depending on the contents of the folder, deleting it might be as simple as right-clicking and selecting Move to Trash. If, when attempting to do so, you get an error message, deleting the folder might take a few more steps. Error messages could include wording such as "this folder can't be modified or deleted... " or "the operation can't be completed ..."

To delete the folder under this scenario, you'll need to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP).

1. Choose Restart from the Apple logo at the top-left of your computer.
2. Hold down the Command-R keys during reboot to enter Recovery Mode.
3. Click Go from the Mac Toolbar.
4. Choose Utilities.
5. Select Terminal.

6. Type of the following command syntax: csrutil disable .
7. Hit Return to disable SIP.
8. Reboot your computer as you normally would.
9. Delete the Relocated items folder from the desktop.

Finally, it's time to re-enable SIP:

1. Choose Restart from the Apple logo at the top-left of your computer.
2. Hold down the Command-R keys during reboot to enter Recovery Mode.
3. Click Go from the Mac Toolbar.
4. Choose Utilities.
5. Select Terminal.

6. Type of the following command syntax: csrutil enable .
7. Hit Return to disable SIP.
8. Reboot your computer as you normally would.

That's it; the Relocated Items folder is now gone forever on your macOS Catalina-enabled device!

Questions?

Let us know below if you have any questions about macOS Catalina or the Relocated Items folder.

Image via Blackmagic

What you need to know

• macOS Catalina seems to be causing issues with eGPU setups.
• AppleInsider has reported failures to boot and freezing when using some units
• Most common problems affecting Mac mini and Radeon 570 and 580 eGPUs.

It appears that macOS Catalina is causing problems for users with external GPU setups. According to reports, certain combinations of Mac and eGPUs are experiencing issues including failure to boot up and freezing. As reported by AppleInsider:

The report notes that it seems likely the issue is tied to Polaris AMD card. Certainly Twitter is awash with reports of compatibility issues, including references to a buggy Polaris driver. The issues seem to be just a bug at this state, and it's likely to be patched up in an imminent Catalina update. However, you may want to consider holding off on macOS Catalina if you do use an eGPU, just in case..

What you need to know

• Report suggests Catalina may be experincing data loss issue within Mail App
• Moving emails between inboxes can result in blank messages which are eventually deleted.
• Data store failing to pull large numbers of messages from Mojave to Catalina.

A blog post by Michael Tsai via MacRumors is today suggesting that macOS Catalina seems to be experiencing a data loss issues.

According to the report, users on macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (build 19A583) are reporting problems when updating Mail's data store from Mojave to Catalina, and when moving messages between inbox.

So not only is data store failing to recover large numbers of messages, moving messages between inboxes appears to be turn some emails into blank messages. When devices on your iCloud see these blank messages they delete them, which in turn results in the message being deleted on your Mac as well.

The report notes that the best defence against this currently (apart from not updating to Catalina) is to ensure you have a Time Machine backup of all your Mail Data.

It is unclear at this stage whether Catalina 10.15.1, released in beta form on Friday to developers, has resolved this issue. In the meantime, anyone who relies on Apple's Mail App is strongly advised not to upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Sidecar is one of the most prominent new features in macOS Catalina, allowing your iPad to extend or mirror your Mac's display. You can also use it with the Apple Pencil, which also lets you use your iPad as a connected drawing and markup tablet, much like a Wacom or similar accessory.

But Sidecar isn't the first time this sort of feature has been available for the Mac. Apps like Duet Display and Luna Display have been offering this type of functionality for years. Luna Display, in particular, is great for turning your iPad into a second, interactive wireless display for your Mac. You just need the hardware accessory.

Though Sidecar is free with macOS Catalina, are there reasons to choose Luna Display instead? Let's find out.

What are Sidecar and Luna Display?

Sidecar and Luna Display are, at a conceptual level, the same sort of thing: they turn your iPad into an extension or mirror of your Mac's display. Both of them work wirelessly (though you need a dongle to achieve this with Luna Display) or over a wired connection.

Both also allow you to use touch, and it's in this area that Luna is actually the more full-featured product. Luna has been engineered to take advantage of your iPad's large touchscreen and apply its utility to the Mac. While Sidecar also allows for multitouch, and has unique controls of its own, its support for using multitouch functionality with macOS isn't as robust.

It's important to note here that Luna Display isn't just a free iPadOS app with a companion on macOS. It's also a hardware product, and the two really can't be separated. Luna Display works by plugging into your Mac and uses its GPU directly to provide a smooth user experience no-to-very low lag. This is opposed to different software-based second display solutions that trick your Mac's graphics card into thinking that a second display is connected. Luna gets the benefits of graphics acceleration because it works properly with your GPU.

Though both Sidecar and Luna Display seem to prefer wireless connections to your Mac, both can be used in a wired configuration. This is achieved by some version of USB-to-USB-C or USB-to-Lightning cable. But there are certain caveats that you need to understand before you plunge on in.

The first limitation of a wired connection applies to both Sidecar and Luna Display. You need to plug your iPad directly into your Mac, rather than indirectly through a dock or hub. This means that you'll need to have at least one USB port open in order to get Sidecar or Luna to work.

The other limitation is one that only applies to Luna Display. Even when using a wired connection, you'll still need to have the Luna Display hardware plugged into your Mac. That means you'll be taking up two of your Mac's ports, though this might not be much of a difficulty depending on how you're using Luna Display and which model of Mac you're using. More on that later.

Sidecar vs Luna Display: The basics

If your Mac is running anything older than macOS Catalina, and will do so for the foreseeable future, then Luna Display is your only choice of these two. Sidecar requires macOS Catalina, so you'll need to update to macOS Catalina first if you want to use that feature. Otherwise, Luna's your best bet here.

Even if your Mac runs macOS Catalina, you might still be out of luck for Sidecar. You need to be running a Mac from 2016 or later in order to connect using Sidecar. On the flip side, Luna Display only requires Macs from 2011 or later. Luna also supports iPads going all the way back to the iPad 2 in 2011, while Sidecar needs either any generation of iPad Pro or an iPad, iPad Air, or iPad mini released in 2018 or 2019. If you use some older hardware that still runs well, Luna is a great solution.

Sidecar has two mains strengths over Luna Display: it's built directly into macOS, and, related to that, it's free. If you do have a newer Mac and a newer iPad, it's a very convenient option for using your iPad as a second display, and even as a drawing tablet if you have an Apple Pencil. There's no extra hardware to buy, and no companion apps that you need to install. The functionality is all just there in macOS and iPadOS. For a lot of people, Sidecar is going to be the right solution.

For more advanced users, however, even with newer Macs and iPads running Catalina and iPadOS 13.1, there are reasons to choose Luna over Sidecar.

One of the biggest differences between Sidecar and Luna Display is the hardware they support. Sidecar requires newer Macs and newer iPads. Here's the full list:

Macs

• MacBook introduced in 2016 or later
• MacBook Air introduced in 2018 or later
• MacBook Pro introduced in 2016 or later
• Mac mini introduced in 2018 or later
• iMac introduced in late 2015 or later
• iMac Pro introduced in 2017 or later
• Mac Pro introduced in 2019

iPads

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 11-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (6th generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

Meanwhile, Luna Display is compatible with hardware that's getting close to a decade old. You need a Mac from at least 2011 running macOS 10.11 El Capitan or later, as well as an iPad 2 or newer (including all models of iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini) running iOS 9.1 or later.

Extending your Mac

Sidecar and Luna both extend your Mac's desktop environment to a second display. Sidecar is actually fairly strict about keeping the iPad as a second display. Conversley, Luna lets you, if you so choose, use your iPad as your primary display. In fact, once you've set it up with using another external monitor, you could potentially use your iPad as your only display for your Mac.

Third-party apps can add support for Sidecar, including special toolbars and other interface elements that pop up on the bottom of your iPad's screen when you're using an optimized app. These tools can include things like brushes or a color picker in artistic apps, or different pen strokes or styles in a note-taking app, and can let you focus on using your iPad without having to navigate back your Mac's primary display to change tools.

For Luna Display, that story is a little more complicated. The Luna app doesn't have any additional controls, functioning only has a display, albeit one with a little extra capability. The app connects to a companion applet

Luna Display on the App Store

Luna is developed by the creators of Astropad and Astropad Studio, apps that turn your iPad into a drawing tablet for your Mac. As mentioned previously, Luna Display is a piece of hardware along with an app, and that hardware works (and improves the drawing experience of) Astropad and Astropad Studio. If you're looking to primarily use your iPad as a drawing tablet, you don't even need the Luna Display app. You can just download either Astropad app and use that with the Luna hardware for graphics-accelerated artistic endeavors.

The Astropad apps support pressure sensitivity and tilt from the Apple Pencil, where Luna Display does not. Astropad also features customizable controls for each app, and you can customize every part of your artistic workflow as needed.

The biggest hurdle for perspective Luna Display and Astropad users will be cost. The Luna Display hardware already costs $70, but Astropad Standard is on the App Store for $30, while Astropad Studio is free to download, but then has a $12 a month/$80 a year subscription. If you're a dedicated artist, pro or not, this may be worth it for the overall richer experience Astropad provides, but for more casual or occasional users, it'll be hard to swallow.

• Astropad on the App Store
• Astropad Studio on the App Store

Touch and Apple Pencil

Both Sidecar and Luna Display support Apple Pencil out of the gate. It's great for drawing in apps like Affinity Design or Pixelmator Pro, or for writing out notes in GoodNotes or Notability, or making precise edits to photos in Affinity Photo. Sidecar takes advantage of Apple Pencil features like pressure and tilt sensitivity, while Luna Display doesn't, with that functionality available in the company's Astropad apps, as mentioned above.

Where Luna really excels over Sidecar in this are is with multi-touch. As the company says, Luna turns your iPad "into a touch Mac that works over Wi-Fi." Use one finger to click, two fingers to scroll, pinch, and zoom, and more. Touch support in Luna is excellent and turns your Mac into the touchscreen device that many have wanted for years. While Apple Pencil support isn't as full-featured, it's easy to use for precise actions, such as grabbing the edge of a window for resizing, or clicking on a small object like a windows close button. As a pure pointing and navigation device, the Apple Pencil actually works quite well.

When it comes to touch and Sidecar, the results are...less impressive. It's pretty much limited to two-finger scrolling (it's not even inertial, so what you're scrolling through will stop exactly when you do), as well as clicks using the Apple Pencil. For Sidecar, it's apparently second display, art tablet, or nothing.

Luna Display: The hardware issue

As I've mentioned several times before, Luna Display is a hardware product in addition to an app. In fact, it's primarily a hardware product that connects to three apps (Luna Display, Astropad, and Astropad Studio). The hardware is necessary to get features like GPU acceleration, which helps provide a smooth experience, and to use the Luna Display app. It also costs $70. If you really have your heart set on using a touchscreen display with your Mac, you'd be hard-pressed to find something better, so I'd say to go for it.

Also, if you're a professional or even aspiring artist that already uses Astropad or Astropad Studio with your iPad, and you're wondering about switching to Sidecar or getting the Luna Display hardware to speed up your work, I'd say spend the money on the Luna Display for better performance and stick with the system you already know.

Having used Luna Display, it really is an excellent piece of hardware that provides a great wireless second screen experience. And what's more, it comes in two variants. One is USB-C and plugs into Macs with USB-C ports. The other plugs into older Macs via a Mini DisplayPort connector. So if you're like me and have Thunderbolt 2 ports on your MacBook, while you won't be able to use Sidecar, you can use Luna Display.

Which one is right for you?

Assuming you're not already using Luna Display or similar software, the answer to this question is going to really depend on what you want to do with it.

If you want a second display with extended functionality like a touch bar or other controls, and only plan on using your iPad like that when you're at your Mac, then Sidecar is probably the right choice. This is also true if you want to use its app extension functionality for some photo editing or light drawing.

But if you're a digital artist, I'd seriously consider going with Luna Display. As it's primarily a hardware device, the limitations of the Luna app are fairly secondary. The Astropad apps are purpose-built tools for artists that allow them to use their existing iPad to unlock the artistic power of their Mac in a way that Sidecar just doesn't, at least not yet. What's more, apps don't need to update to support Astropad, where to get the most out of Sidecar, they do.

Perhaps more importantly, Astro HQ (the developers of Luna Display and Astropad) is preparing to take Luna and Astropad cross-platform. If you're an iPad user looking for a cross-platform solution, Luna Display isn't ready just yet, but the work is underway. Sidecar, meanwhile, isn't coming to Windows.

Wrapping it all up

Most users are going to be just fine with Sidecar. It's a great way to add a second display to your Mac and expand your iPad's utility. More advanced users, those that want to really bring multi-touch to the Mac or have an artist-focused experience, really should take a look at Luna Display and the Astropad apps.

Sidecar is free with macOS Catalina as long as your Mac and iPad support it. The Luna Display hardware is available directly from Astro HQ for $70.

$70 at Luna Display

Questions?

Let us know if you have any questions about using Sidecar or Luna Display in the comments.

What you need to know

• OmniDiskSweeper has been updated with Catalina support.
• It's awesome and it's free.
• Stop reading and download it!

OmniGroup makes some of the Mac's best productivity apps, but it also makes one of the best disk cleanup apps, too. OmnniDiskSweeper might have one of the most difficult app names to type, but it's a great way of reclaiming disk space. It's free, too. Oh, and now it supports macOS Catalina.

The OmniDiskSweeper v1.12 update is now available for download, as announced on The Omni Blog. It's fully Catalina compatible, including a gorgeous Dark Mode implementation. But as the team over at Omni points out, you can expect to see a few warnings the first time you run this thing. You can thank Catalina's new security settings for that.

Because the app needs to dip its toes into every corner of your drive Catalina will shout about it, making sure you know what's happening. That's Catalina doing what it's supposed to so don't worry when the dialog boxes start flying.

We've been using OmniDiskSweeper on our Macs for years and thankfully that's going to continue with this update. If you're short on disk space we'd suggest you take it for a whirl, too.

What you need to know

• The release of macOS Catalina introduced a weird change for UK users.
• The Trash can is now going by the name "Bin."
• The change makes sense, but it's still sad to see the "Trash" moniker go.

With macOS Catalina out, we're slowly discovering the little under there radar changes Apple introduced with its newest Mac software. One of the most comical changes that has been discovered is the renaming of the Trash can to the "Bin" in the UK.

First spotted by Reddit user MrGray99, he posted a picture of the trash can with the name "Bin." Technically, Apple's new name makes more sense because it is actually a bin. Trash is what you put in it.

However, since it has been officially called "Trash" for so long, it's kind of a weird change.

In the past, Apple has made a big deal of the Trash can. When it unveiled the OS X (10.10) Yosemite complete redesign, it noted how long it took it to design a proper trash can with the new minimalist aesthetic that ditched the aluminum trash can of yesteryear.

This seems to be a slow effort on Apple's part to rename the trash can. A user in Australia noted Apple changed the name to Bin with macOS Mojave. Now the change has expanded to the UK with Catalina. Who knows where else the new name will reach next. Possibly the U.S.?

Regardless, the newly minted Bin will always be known as Trash in the hearts of UK Mac users.

Everything you need to know about macOS Catalina

What you need to know

• DragThing has been around since 1995.
• It was a 32-bit app that isn't being updated.
• People can still use it on macOS Mojave.

If you're a Mac user from the bad old days, you'll probably be very aware of DragThing. Created by TLA Systems – founded by James Thomson – DragThing arrived in 1995 and was the Mac community's answer to the need for a Dock long before Apple made one of its own.

The app hasn't been updated in years but it continued to work with each and every macOS update. Until now.

With the arrival of macOS Catalina Apple has closed the door on 32-bit apps for good. If an app isn't updated, it simply won't run on Catalina. And DragThings falls into that category.

Ultimately, the work required to make DragThing a 64-bit app just isn't worth it. TLA Systems says it would take at least a year to achieve, and that's just not going to happen.

DragThings was much loved by the community and John Gruber even says he thinks the app "was a much better launcher than Apple's own system Dock ever has been." That's quite the compliment, especially consdiering Thomson also worked on Apple's Dock for a time.

Now if you'll all gather around, take a moment, and pour one out for a deal friend. We'll miss you, DragThing.

One of the most significant new features of macOS Catalina is Sidecar. The feature lets you use your iPad as a second display for Mac. For years, Duet Display has offered a similar paid product for many years. As Sidecar and macOS Catalina launches, here's a look at the critical differences between both tools.

What is Sidecar?

First introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June as part of Apple's macOS Catalina unveiling, Sidecar works wirelessly and wired between a macOS Catalina-supported device and tablet with iPadOS 13 installed. The Sidecar functionality is currently not available on iOS 13 or any iPhone.

Out of the box, Sidecar provides many different use cases. The first of these is as a second Mac display, which allows you to extend the computer's real estate or act as a mirror. Further, you can place one app on each screen, or put your main canvas on one display and your tools and palettes on the other.

Sidebar's second big highlight is that it brings Apple Pencil quasi-support to Mac for the first time. It does so by letting you use the input device on your tablet to control Mac apps on your connected computer. Desktop apps like Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer and Photo, CorelDRAW, Sketch, and many more, now support this with others expected to go online in the coming months.

There's also convenient sidebar and Touch Bar controls available that allow you to interact with multi-touch gestures to pinch, swipe, and zoom. Newly created iPadOS text editing gestures are also supported with Sidecar, including copy, cut, paste, and more.

Sidecar requires Macs with Skylake processors and later, as well as iPad models that support Apple Pencil.

Macs

• MacBook introduced in 2016 or later
• MacBook Air introduced in 2018 or later
• MacBook Pro introduced in 2016 or later
• Mac mini introduced in 2018 or later
• iMac introduced in late 2015 or later
• iMac Pro introduced in 2017 or later
• Mac Pro introduced in 2019

iPads

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 11-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (6th generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

Continuity Sketch and Markup are two Sidebar-related features that work on any Mac that supports macOS Catalina, plus any tablet with iPadOS 13 and iPhones with iOS 13.

Continuity Sketch lets you create on your mobile device a sketch that easily inserts into any document on your Mac. With Continuity Markup, you can sign documents, correct papers, or circle important details in images using either your Apple Pencil on iPad or finger on iPhone.

Sidecar is free to use, assuming your devices are supported.

• Free, no subscription required
• No app required
• Easy setup for casual users

• Limited gestures
• Won't work on iPhone or older devices

What is Duet Display?

Created by former Apple engineers, Duet Display lets you turn your mobile device into a second display for Mac or PC. Until the introduction of Sidecar, Duet Display only supported Apple mobile devices. That support now extends to Android devices. Duet Display also works on Chromebooks.

What Duet Display offers varies greatly according to your subscription level, for which there are three. To get started, you must first buy the Duet Display app for iOS or iPadOS. You can install the $10 app across multiple Apple mobile devices; the Mac version is free to download from the Duet Display website. Android users must download a Duets Display app from Google Play separately.

A free Duet subscription lets you use your iPad as a second screen for your Mac or PC. It includes touch screen capabilities, including iPad Keyboard support. However, your devices must be wired to work.

For $20 per year, you can purchase a Duet Air subscription, which adds wireless support, plus everything in the free version. You also gain a remote desktop connection that's accessible from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

Available for $30 per year, Duet Pro has been designed for digital artists and includes features that Sidecar does not. These include full gesture support, more resolution options, remote desktop support, customizable pressure curves, customizable performance (battery efficiency vs. performance), predictive line lead (which predicts the characteristics of lines, then rendering them without going to the Mac), shortcuts such as undo/redo, and more.

Both Duet Air and Duet Pro come with a one week trial.

• Works across multiple devices and platforms
• Advanced characteristics and features
• Best for Pro users

• Must buy for advanced features
• Perhaps overkill for casual users

Comparing both services

Who should use Sidecar

No doubt, Apple has designed Sidecar for the casual user who wants a second screen option for their Mac or has the ability to use Apple Pencil on Mac apps. As a first release, however, it doesn't go much further.

For example, Sidecar doesn't offer a remote desktop feature, nor can you adjust the settings for Apple Pencil, performance, or resolution. For the everyday user, however, these extras aren't necessary. However, in time, more advanced tools might be necessary to push Sidecar to a new level.

What about Duet Display?

If you own a Mac and iPad and are only looking for second screen capabilities, go with Sidecar. As is said often with Apple software on Apple devices, it just works.

However, if you also own Android or Windows devices, want some flexibility when it comes to set up and performance, and are already comfortable with using Duet Display, stick with it even though it costs some money. For less than $3 per month, you'll get advanced features that you can use across multiple devices and operating systems.

Questions?

Do you have any concerns or questions about Sidecar and macOS Catalina? How about Duet Display? Let us know in the comments below.

What you need to know

• PCalc dev James Thomson spoke with Bloomberg.
• He spoke about Catalyst and the issues it has.
• Bringing iPad apps to macOS still takes too much work.

James Thomson is a name that many will recognize. He's the man behind PCalc among many things and he's been speaking with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman about the difficulty of turning an iPad app into a Mac app using Catalyst.

The selling point of Catalyst, when Apple announced it during June's WWDC event, was that developers would be able to get iPad apps running on a Mac without starting afresh. Apps would require some work, but wholesale changes wouldn't be needed. But when Thomson set about moving PCalc to macOS it didn't take long to realize that it would be a big undertaking.

That friction between working on a Catalyst app or getting PCalc ready for the new features that iOS 13 would afford is something a lot of developers would have had to deal with. Ultimately, developers and their apps go where the eyeballs – and dollars – are. Getting PCalc running on macOS is one thing, but getting it running correctly and making it look like a Mac app still takes time. And it's time that developers often don't have.

John Voorhees of MacStories, himself a recovering developer, is right when he says that it's Catalyst that needs to grow to help developers use it. Not developers who need to cope with Catalyst's faults.

But as with so many attempts at making macOS attractive to developers, there's no guarentee Apple will follow through.

What you need to know

• macOS Catalina launched to all users yesterday
• Apple Support's YouTube channel has released new how-to videos
• The videos focus on Sidecar and managing you devices in Finder

Apple released macOS Catalina to the public yesterday, bringing Apple Arcade, Sidecar, the new Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV apps, and a host of other new features to the Mac. As part of the launch, the Apple Support YouTube channel has debuted a few how-to videos to help you get upgraded and use what the new software has to offer.

The first video shows you how to use Sidecar, a new feature in macOS Catalina that allows users to use their iPad as a second display for your Mac. It's a handy feature that now lets anyone have a second, interactive display for the Mac whether you are at home or on the go. The how-to explains how to connect your iPad and your Mac and how to navigate and use its controls.

The other two videos focus on how to backup or restore your iPhone or iPad on macOS Catalina. Managing your iPhone or iPad on your Mac has moved from iTunes, which no longer exists in Catalina, to the Finder app. Now you can backup, restore, and manage your devices without iTunes popping up unwanted every time you plug it in.

These videos will be helpful to those who can't use iCloud for everything and still need plug in every once in awhile.

If you'd like to learn even more about macOS Catalina, Rene Ritchie has put together an extensive review covering everying from Sidecar to the new Apple Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV app, and anything else you want to know about what Catalina has to offer.

What you need to know

• Adobe said Photoshop and Lightroom Classic users may run into compatibility issues on macOS Catalina.
• Older versions of both apps aren't supported, because they use 32-bit licensing components and installers.
• Adobe said it's working to resolve some known compatibility issues.

Photoshop and Lightroom users eager to take macOS Catalina for a spin are being urged to wait. Adobe this week (via The Verge)updated support documents saying there are "known compatibility issues," which could interrupt some workflows.

Adobe warns users on older versions of Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, which use 32-bit licensing components and installers, aren't supported by macOS Catalina at all. (I've already run into an issue where I'm unable to open the Adobe Application Manager, which is 32-bit, although Lightroom and Photoshop work fine.)

Meanwhile, in Photoshop (20.0.6), Adobe said file naming options don't work correctly in the Save As dialog. The company recommends editing the name's extension manually to match the format as a workaround. There are other compatibility issues, which Adobe lists on its website.

Adobe also noted Lightroom Classic (8.4.1) users won't be able to run the Lens Profile Creator, which is currently 32-bit. The company said it's currently investigating updating the utility to be 64-bit.

Finally, Lightroom Classic users may run into a problem tethering their Nikon cameras. Apparently, the software is unable to detect Nikon cameras "when the camera is turned on after invoking the 'Start Tether Capture…' command."

In general, Adobe says all of its current products are 64-bit, but the apps haven't been designed or fully tested for Catalina, so the company is recommending users wait to update. If you rely on either app for a living, it's in your best interest to wait until Adobe resolves all known issues.

What you need to know

• Now that macOS Catalina is out, people are trying out Sidecar for the first time and they love it.
• Sidecar lets users turn the iPad into an extra monitor for a Mac.
• People have taken to social media to praise how easy the feature is to use and how convinient it is.

This week Apple released macOS Catalina along with all the new features it offers. The most intriguing one of them all is Sidecar, which turns the iPad into an extra monitor for your Mac.

We've outlined guides on how to use the feature, but now we're taking a look at user reaction. The feature promised to be a revolutionary tool for your Mac and iPad, so has it been that so far? The answer is a resounding yes.

Here's some of the early reaction to Sidecar.

https://twitter.com/iamEldridge/status/1181406552504143872?s=20

https://twitter.com/Gillian2Point0/status/1181583981441114112?s=20

Looking through user reaction on Twitter confirms the feature is a hit with Mac and iPad users. It has transformed a spare iPad into a monitor, something that wasn't previously possible, and in the process introduced a truly useful tool.

Not all feedback is positive though, as some users lament that Sidecar is not available for all Macs and iPads. Even so, the response to Sidecar seems to be overwhelmingly positive.

If you have used Sidecar on macOS Catalina, let us know what you think in the comments down below. Has it been useful or has it been disappointing?

How to turn your iPad into a second screen using Sidecar on Mac

What you need to know

• A new report highlights the frustration developers feel about Apple's Catalyst.
• Catalyst is designed to allow developers to port iPad apps to Mac.
• Apple's one-click messaging, however, is more complex than originally thought.

When Apple debuted macOS Catalina, one of the most exciting features was Catalyst, a new set of tools that allows developers to port their iPad apps to Mac with ease. Many developers, however, are finding it's not as easy as Apple made it seem.

A report from Bloomberg says developers are frustrated by Catalyst at this early stage, with some even rebuffing taking part in the technology altogether — at least for now.

Developers have said they had to worker much harder than expected in order to port their iPad app to Mac. There also seems to be a lack of documentation surrounding Catalyst, making it tough for iOS developers who are unfamiliar with Mac to create a working Mac app. That contrasts with Apple's messaging about Catalyst; the company has made it sound like all it takes is checking a box.

So far, there are only a few Catalyst apps available in the Mac App Store, although many more are expected to be released in the coming days and weeks.

In the early stages, problems are expected to arise — just look at the release of iOS 13. But developers have found Apple's one-click messaging for Catalyst is a little misleading, leaving many frustrated. It's to the point where some app developers and service providers, including Netflix, are waiting to see how Catalyst develops in the coming months.

That's unfortunate for Apple users who expected a flood of new Mac apps and instead got a small stream. Kevin Reutter, who ported Planny to Mac, summed up the situation by calling it "sad."

There are a few dozen or so Catalyst apps available for Mac as of this writing. Hopefully, that number grows over the coming weeks as developers continue to familiarize themselves with Apple's tools.

What you need to know

• The initial roll out of Catalyst apps has been shaky to say the least.
• Developers continue to voice their concerns regarding the way creating Catalyst apps will work.
• Two major developers, Asphanlt 9 and DC Universe, that were headlining the Catalyst release have backed out.

Updated 10:40 am PT: Gameloft provided Bloomberg with a comment on the story saying Asphalt 9 for Catalyst has been "slightly delayed."

Apple released macOS Catalina this week along with Catalyst. It was supposed to usher in a new era of app porting, but instead it has been a bumpy ride with two major developers already backing out of offering Catalyst apps.

According to Bloomberg, Asphalt 9 and DC Universe—two developers Apple said would headline the Catalyst app catalog during WWDC 2019—have backed out of offering Catalyst apps amid developer concerns. Apple has removed their names from its site.

Developer Steve Troughton-Smith notes that the focus of Catalyst isn't on gaming, so it makes it difficult for developers to port games without the proper features.

Netflix has confirmed it will not be making a Catalyst app.

Most of the concern relates to the process of porting apps over and its consequences, such as making customers pay twice for the same app.

Additionally, PCalc developer James Thompson said the process of creating a Catalyst version of his app was more complicated than he thought it would be.

It's a rocky start for Catalyst, but its end goal still provides a bright future for the Mac. At least, it will once Apple fixes all of the initial hurdles that have come up.

What you need to know

• Backblaze has a new macOS update out.
• Official Catalina support is added.
• As is unlimited version history.

Backblaze is one of the most popular online backup solutions around and with good reason. It offers unlimited backups for just a few dollars a month and the Mac app is native, so it won't grind your system down. And now that app has been updated to version 7.0.

With this update Backblaze gains official macOS 10.15 Catalina support along with improved handling of macOS system messages. The app now deals with Catalina's more restrictive security settings, too.

Backblaze has also made sure that nobody will ever lose a file thanks to unlimited version history. It's a paid upgrade to the standard Backblaze plan, but if you need to be able to undo changes to files without a time limit the fees are a bargain. Especially compared to the potential risk of losing data.

Existing users are being upgraded to Backblaze 7.0 in the coming weeks, but you can manually kick the update off by clicking the Backblaze icon and seleting "Check for Updates".

What you need to know

• macOS 10.15 Catalina is here.
• But some first-run experiences aren't as great as they should be.
• One user's Mac looked more like a Windows Vista PC.

Apple released macOS 10.15 Catalina to the public yesterday. Despite the smart move being to hold off updating for a day or two, many of us jumped on the new update. Developer Tyler Hall was no different. But when they returned to their Mac they faced something chilling. Something nobody should ever have to see.

Their desktop looked like something out of a Windows Vista-shaped nightmare.

Overly dramatic intro aside, you can check the screenshot out and make up your own mind. But we'd suggest that this isn't something anyone should be faced with after performing a macOS update.

As Tyler mentions in a blog post, this all came about after Catalina continued to throw dialog boxes at them after updating from macOS 10.14 Mojave.

As Tyler says, it's possible that the sheer number of messages here is down to the specific apps they have installed, but the messages are system-generated. Could they not be handled better?

Presumably once all of these messages and dialogs were dismissed things went back to the usual, clean, functional macOS we and Tyler have come to expect. But Apple absolutely needs to do better in a number of regards here, not least making sure that the first-run experience of a new version of macOS doesn't look like this. No matter which apps are installed on the system at the time.

Image via MacRumors

What you need to know

• Apple's website suggests iCloud Folder Sharing for macOS Catalina will now be released in Spring
• Feature has appeared in Catalina and iOS 13 betas.
• Release for iOS still listed as "later this fall".

iCloud Folder Sharing in macOS Catalina will not be arriving until this spring, according to Apple's website. As noted by MacRumors, the iCloud Drive folder sharing feature now appears with an asterisk which at the bottom of the page states "Coming this spring".

The full description of the feature states:

This feature was available to users in the Beta of iOS 13 and early versions of Catalina, where right-clicking a folder on iCloud Drive gave users the options to generate a private link to a folder that could be shared through, Mail, Messages, AirDrop or even your contacts.

It now seems that Catalina users will have to wait a bit longer for the new feature. It was also removed from the final version of iOS prior to release, and the iOS 13 page of Apple's website pegs the release as "Coming later this fall."

This fall, macOS Catalina, iOS 13, and iPadOS 13 will offer greater interoperability between Mac, iPhone, and iPad than ever before, with new features like Sidecar allowing your iPad to serve as a second screen for your Mac. And while Sidecar as a whole seems limited to newer Macs, some features will be available to a larger range of them.

For instance, you will now be able to sign documents on your Mac using your iPhone or iPad. Using the macOS markup features in Quick Look or Preview, you'll be able to add a signature directly from your iPhone or iPad. This is great, especially if you have an iPad from 2018 or later, as they all work with some version of the Apple Pencil, allowing you to create a completely accurate signature for use on your Mac.

• How to sign a document on Mac with your iPhone or iPad in Quick Look
• How to sign a document on Mac with your iPhone or iPad in Preview

How to sign a document on Mac with your iPhone or iPad in Quick Look

1. Open a Finder window on your Mac by clicking the Finder icon.
2. Find and click once on the file you want to sign.

3. Press the space bar on your keyboard. Your document will come up in Quick Look
4. Click the Markup button.
5. Click the signature button.

6. Click iPhone or iPad.
7. Click Select Device.

8. Click on your chosen iPhone or iPad from the device list.
9. Sign your name on your iPhone or iPad.

10. Tap Done on your iPhone or iPad.
11. Click the signature that now appears in the signature menu on your Mac.

12. Move your signature to where it needs to be in the document.
13. Click Done.

And you're done. If you're happy with the signature you've created, you just have to the next document you have to sign.

How to sign a document on Mac with your iPhone or iPad in Preview

1. Open Preview on your Mac.
2. Open the document you want to sign.

3. Click View.
4. Click Show Markup Toolbar.

5. Click the signature button.
6. Click iPhone or iPad.

7. Click Select Device.
8. Click on your chosen iPhone or iPad from the device list.

9. Sign your name on your iPhone or iPad.
10. Tap Done on your iPhone or iPad.

11. Click the signature that now appears in the signature menu on your Mac.
12. Move your signature to where it needs to be in the document.

13. Save your document.

What you need to know

• Apple's Mac App Store is highlighting new apps following the launch of macOS Catalina.
• These apps were brought over using Apple's new Catalyst feature.
• Some of the apps include Carrot Weather, LookUp: English Dictionary, and Allegory.

MacOS Catalina is out, bringing with it several new features, including support for Sidecar. The new software also paves the way for developers to bring their iPad apps to Mac — and Apple is highlighting some of the newest releases available now.

There's now a story in the Mac App Store highlighting new Mac apps that started off life on iOS. Apple explains:

Some of the apps highlighted by Apple include Carrot Weather, LookUp: English Dictionary, Allegory, and Rosetta Stone. There are others available, and plenty more are expected to start populating the Mac App Store in the coming days and weeks, including the return of an official Twitter app.

MacOS Catalina is now available as a free update.

Check out our review of macOS Catalina

With iTunes breaking out into dedicated apps in macOS Catalina, Mac is getting its very own Podcasts app. In this app, you'll subscribe to, search for, and manage your podcast library. If you're familiar with the iOS Podcasts app, you'll likely be pretty familiar with the interface, but if you're completely new to the app, here's a handy step-by-step guide to get you started!

• How to play a podcast in the podcast app
• How to search for a podcast in podcasts app
• How to search for a podcast in your library the Podcasts app
• How to subscribe to a podcast in the Podcasts app
• How to unsubscribe to a podcast in the Podcasts app
• How to delete a podcast from your library in the Podcasts app
• How to play a podcast next in a queue in the Podcasts app
• How to delete a podcast from your library in the Podcasts app
• How to view the top charts in the podcast app
• How to share a podcast in the Podcasts app
• How to change the order episodes get played in the Podcasts app

How to play a podcast in the Podcasts app

Playing a podcast, whether you already have it downloaded, or are just browsing new ones, is just a click away.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Click on the podcast photo of the podcast you want to hear.

It doesn't matter what tab you're in, whether you're browsing for a new podcast, or you're you want to listen to the last podcast you started, anytime you click on a podcast the app will play that podcast for you.

How to search for a podcast in the Podcasts app

Heard about a new podcast you want to check out? Search for using the sidebar.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Click search bar in the sidebar.

3. Enter your search term.
4. Hit Enter/Return on your keyboard.

Here you'll see all the options for shows and episodes that relate to your search term.

How to search for a podcast in your library the Podcasts app

If you're looking for a podcast or an episode from a podcast that's in your library, you can search your library any time in the Podcasts app.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Click search bar in the sidebar.

3. Click the Your Library tab.
4. Enter your search term.
5. Hit Enter/Return on your keyboard.

How to subscribe to a podcast in the Podcasts app

Subscribing to a podcast will automatically put that podcast in your library, meaning you can see when new episodes are released, and always listen to the newest episodes.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast you want to subscribe to.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.

4. Click the options button. It represented by three dots.
5. Click Subscribe.

How to unsubscribe to a podcast in the Podcasts app

If you no longer want to be subscribed to a podcast, you can unsubscribe from a podcast at any time. Unsubscribing will not remove it from your library but will prevent new episodes from automatically be added to your library.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast you wish to unsubscribe in your library.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.

4. Click the options button. It's represented by three dots.
5. Click unsubscribe.

How to delete a podcast from your library in the Podcasts app

If you want to delete a podcast and all the associated episodes from your library, you can do so at any time.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast you want to delete in your library.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.

4. Click the options button. It's represented by three dots.
5. Click Delete from library.

How to play a podcasts next in queue in the Podcasts app

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast episode you want to play next in your library.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.

4. Click the options button. It's represented by three dots.
5. Click Play Next.

How to view the top charts in the Podcasts app

If you want to know what's hot and trending in the podcasts world, you can find it all in the podcasts app.

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Click Top Charts in the sidebar.

Here you'll see the top shows and top episodes of podcasts that are being listened to by other Podcasts users.

How to share a podcast in the Podcasts app

If you want to send a podcast to a friend via messages, email, AirDrop, Notes, or another method, you can do so with any show!

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast you want to share.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.

4. Click the options button. It's represented by three dots.
5. Click Share Show or Share Episode.

6. Click the sharing method you want.

From here, depending on which method you chose, you'll need to put in some additional information. It's different for each method, so follow the appropriate prompts to share your podcast.

How to change the order episodes get played in the Podcasts app

1. Launch the Podcasts app from your Dock, Launchpad, or Applications Folder.
2. Find the podcast you don't want notifications from in your library.
3. Hover over the podcast photo until the play and options buttons appear.
4. Click the options button. It looks like three dots.

5. Click Settings
6. Click the option you want for your episodes. Your choices are as follows:
   • Play in Sequential Order
   • Play Most Recent First
   • Only Keep the Most Recent Episodes
   • Custom Settings

Updated September 2019: Updated for macOS Catalina release.

Any questions

Do you have any other questions about the Podcasts app? Let us know in the comments down below.

What you need to know

• TripIt on Monday released a new app for Mac.
• The app provides users with itinerary updates and access to neighborhood safety scores.
• The app's arrival comes on the heels of macOS Catalina's launch.

Following the release of macOS Catalina, TripIt on Monday launched a new app for Mac. The app promises to provide TripIt users with the same experience they've come to expect from their mobile offerings.

Here's what Jen Moyse, director of product for TripIt from Concur, said about TripIt's new Mac app.

The whole draw here is TripIt's new app for Mac provides users with access to all their travel details. You'll be able to manage your itinerary with offline access, neighborhood safety score, and more.

Here are the big features in TripIt for Mac:

In addition to releasing TripIt for Mac, the company also announced support for Dark Mode in iOS 13, as well as improvements to its neighborhood safety scores. Now, users will be able to see day and night safety ratings for neighborhoods they're visiting.

TripIt for Mac is available now as a free download.

With macOS Catalina, Apple says goodbye to iTunes and hello to the Music app. An official Apple Podcasts app is also available on the free update.

What's new with macOS 10.15 Catalina?

There are dozens of new features on macOS 10.15. Some are bigger than others, of course.

Apple has split iTunes into three fresh apps and retired the iTunes name, at least as an app. The apps are: Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV.

Music is a lot like iTunes and even more like the Music app on iOS 13. It offers syncing capabilities for those who still like to sync iPhone and iPad with Mac. For those who love buying music, there's a store built into the app. That store is called ... the iTunes Store!

• How to use the Music app for Mac
• How to sync your iPhone and iPad with your Mac

Apple Podcasts offers an interesting search feature that uses machine learning to help you find a podcast you heard about but forget its name by title, topic, guest, host, and more. Apple says there are now over 700,000 podcasts available.

• How to use the Podcasts app on Mac

Finally, the new Apple TV app supports 4K and Dolby Atmos-supported films for the first time on Mac. It looks similar to the iOS version of the Apple TV app.

• How to use Apple TV app on your Mac

All three apps — Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV — sync your content through iCloud across your devices. Or sync it from each of the apps if you prefer using a cable.

Existing Mac apps like Reminders got minor updates in macOS Catalina.

In Notes, there's a new gallery view that displays your notes as visual thumbnails, which makes it easier to find specific content. There's also the ability to share notes or entire folders as view-only. With new shared folders, you can collaborate on a folder level with ease. Look for more powerful search functionality as well.

• How to use Notes on Mac

Reminders is completely new in macOS Catalina and includes a new design and more powerful features. These include enhanced Siri intelligence, the ability to add attachments, new edit buttons, and more.

• How to use Reminders on Mac

In the Photos app, you'll now find a new Photos tab, larger photo previews, day, month, and year organization, and auto-playing of Live Photos and videos.

• Photos app: The ultimate guide

With Sidecar, you can use your iPad as a second display for Mac! This feature works wirelessly and wired. Sidecar also lets you use the same Multi-Touch gestures with your Mac that you do with your iPad. Draw and sketch are also supported.

The surprise news here is just how many third-party apps already supporting Sidecar on day one. These include Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer and Photo, CorelDRAW, Sketch, and many more.

• Sidecar Explained

In macOS Catalina, Screen Time makes the leap from iOS. Among the features is the ability to combine limits based on app categories, specific apps, or websites. Screen Time for macOS also lets you control who your child can communicate with and who can communicate with them. There's also One More Minute, a simple way to give your children 60 more seconds before things go dark.

• How to use Screen Time on your Mac

On macOS Catalina, there's Voice Control, a new way to fully control your Mac, iPadOS, and iOS devices with your voice. It's just one of many new accessibility features in macOS Catalina.

• How to use Voice Controls on Mac

The native web browser for Mac picks up a few new features in macOS Catalina, beginning with the start page. Joining links to your favorites and frequently visited websites, this page now includes Siri suggestions. These links are based on your overall browsing history, recently visited sites, bookmarks, and more. Safari on macOS Catalina also offers weak password warnings, which pops up when you attempt to create a new password. When doing so, it will help you replace the password with a stronger one. Safari also includes Picture in Picture (PiP) from the tab audio button for the first time.

• How to start using Safari on Mac

Find My iPhone and Find My Friends have been merged on both Mac, iPhone, and iPad as Find My. The combined app lets you locate the people and devices that are important to you.

• How to set up and use Find My on Mac

Available on all Macs with a T2 Security Chip, Activation Lock allows you to erase and deactivate your Mac in the event that it's stolen. It's similar to a feature already available on iPhone and iPad.

One year after it arrived on iOS, ScreenTime is coming to macOS too. The controls allow you to keep track of your usage on Mac and also restrict the content that's available. You can also use ScreenTime to turn off features at certain times of the day.

• How to use Screen Time on your Mac

You can soon double-click the side button of your Apple Watch to authenticate on your Mac. In doing so, you can unlock a locked note, approve app installations, and view your passwords in Safari preferences without having to enter one.

• How to use Approve on Apple Watch in macOS Catalina and watchOS 6

With Sign In with Apple, in iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina, you can use an encrypted "burner" email address (if you will) to sign up for and into services that support third-party sign-on services online. It's a single sign-on service, similar to the way Google and Facebook allow you to use your account credentials to sign up for and sign in to apps and services.

• How 'Sign In with Apple' works in iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina

The native email app on macOS can now block all mail from specified senders. From there, the emails are automatically sent to your trash folder. The Mail app also (finally) lets you unsubscribe to emails -- just like you can do in iPhone.

Your system files on macOS are now kept in a dedicated, read-only volume that's separated from your other data. This makes it harder for you to overwrite critical files accidentally.

When can I download the official version of macOS Catalina?

macOS Catalina is a free update available in the Mac App Store.

My Mac is old, can I upgrade to macOS Catalina?

The latest Mac operating system will run on the following devices:

• MacBook (2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (2012 or newer)
• iMac (2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2013 or newer)

Lots to see

Which macOS Catalina features are you most excited about seeing?

In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, not only bringing Steve Jobs back to the company he co-founded, but bringing with him all the engineers and technology that would be used to replace the classic Macintosh operating system with Mac OS X, now, macOS.

Catalina, which has been available in beta form since its introduction back in June, and which goes into general release today, is the 15th version of that operating system, of the brain that runs every modern Mac.

It's legitimately one of the most exciting macOS launches ever. But it's also one of the most turbulent.

Let me explain.

macOS Catalina review: In Brief

Because there's no next NeXT for Apple to move to, the company has been doing what a responsible, mature platform company should do — step by step, year over year, methodically replacing older components with new ones. 32-bit to 64. OpenGL to Metal. Objective-C to Swift, HFS+ to APFS, AppKit to SwiftUI. These are the biggest examples but there are innumerable smaller ones.

It's a process that takes time, and one that can be messy and painful. Especially for people who have known and depended on the older technologies and implementations for years, for decades even. But also for those waiting for the new technologies to mature, to be polished up.

Not every app moved to 64-bit or was re-written in Swift year one. Not every volume was migrated to APFS immediately. And many developers won't be able to make full use of this version's new technologies like Catalyst, never mind SwiftUI, just because Catalina has shipped. We're in the midst of multiple massive paradigm shifts, each of which will take several versions to play out. Some, we're finishing up with Catalina. Others, we're just beginning.

Likewise, security. Gone are the days when the ubiquity of Windows provided the best virus protection imaginable for the Mac. The threat levels have changed, as have the threats themselves. So, Apple is being forced to go back and try to balance the traditional openness of the Mac while retro-fitting the defense-in-depth that was built into iOS from the beginning. And, while they try to find that balance, casual users might be annoyed by increased privacy disclosures and power users, increased root-level restrictions.

At the same time, Apple's scope is growing. Services new and established, from Arcade to Music, TV+ to News, are launching and venerable old iTunes simply can't keep up. So, it's now been broken up into its constituent parts. Many will love the new sleekness but some may well miss the old monolith.

Throw in some new apps and updates, ports, and new user-facing features that continue to leverage the full Apple ecosystem by letting iPads serve as secondary displays and iPhones work as a massively distributed Find My network for Mac…, and awesome new accessibility features like Voice Control, and we have macOS Catalina.

An update that shows Apple is getting better and better at leveraging everything that's come before while continuing to push forward, but still struggling with just how many landings they can really stick, year over year.

I've already done the deep technical dive. You can find 11,000 words and a full hour of video on that linked below. What I want to do here, now, is talk about the implementation and the experience.

Not how it works, which is chock full of really smart, really cool technology, but how well it works for the humans at the other end of the machine.

Read all the technical details about macOS Catalina in the deep-dive

macOS Catalina review: macOS Catalina Beta

Quick note: If you've been on the macOS Catalina Beta train but now, with the official release, you want to get off, just launch System Preferences, click on Software Update, click on the tiny Details… text at the bottom left under the big gear icon, and then click on Restore Defaults.

Do that, and your next update will be the next release version. Otherwise, you'll stay on the beta and can keep testing for as long as you like.

How to download and install macOS Catalina

macOS Catalina review: The End of 32-Bit Apps

The Mac has been shipping with 64-bit processors since before the Intel transition of 2005 and 64-bit was a headline feature of macOS going all the way back to Leopard in 2007.

Now, with macOS Catalina, the transition is complete. 32-bit apps, dragged along this past decade, will now launch no more.

You can see if you're still running any 32-bit laggards prior to updating by clicking on the Apple icon in the menu bar, clicking on About this Mac, hitting System Report, Applications, and then going through the list of apps. If any of the 64-bit (Intel) fields say no, it means that app isn't going to survive the upgrade.

If you don't do that, or if you upgrade anyway, the macOS Catalina installer will still check for you and give you a list of apps that you can't take with you. At that point, you can choose to stop and wait until you can find updates or alternatives, or to continue and leave them behind.

I'm sure there are all sorts of critical, niche apps that, despite a decade of warning, still haven't gone 64-bit. Especially abandonware. And those affected by it will no doubt be super salty that they're now officially end-of-line.

But, killing the past is what Apple does to better embrace the future and, more than a decade of writing-on-the-wall later, 32-bit apps deserve to die.

macOS Catalina review: The End of iTunes

Imagine iTunes as a bridge that carries not just billions of media files across it a year, but billions of dollars in transactions.

At any given moment, it has to let you buy Taylor Swift's new album, rent the latest John Wick movie, stream millions of songs at the drop of a Siri, download the latest episode of the Vector podcast and sync it to that old iPod nano you still use to go running with every morning, rip and catalog all of Jim Dalrymple's 84 versions of every Ozzy song, make available all the new media Sony just uploaded to launch, and maintain a ton of playlists, backups, and other data – all at the click of a button.

Oh, and be compiled to run on Windows as well.

Yeah, it was a quirky old battleship of an app that would somehow still beachball on an 18-core Xeon box, but we all somehow still worked and we all understood more or less how. And one thing you just don't do with a working bridge is tear it down. Not before you've even begun construction on a new bridge.

Well, macOS Catalina finally has that new bridge. Several new bridges, actually.

Now, I've said before, nothing is being deleted. Nothing is being canceled. Apple isn't closing the iTunes Music or Movie or TV Store. Apple isn't coming to your house to delete all your downloads.

Everything you could do in iTunes yesterday you can still do with macOS Catalina today. There's just no monolithic, Mesozoic iTunes app to do it all in any more.

Now, it's split across new (and new-ish) Music, TV, Podcasts, and Books apps, and an extended Finder app. In other words, it's more like iOS now. Just on the Mac.

The Music and TV apps are still traditional Mac apps. So much so, they feel like the old tabs were just torn off and given new, separate shells. But, with that legacy code also comes legacy support for everything from ripping CDs to transcoding audio.

It's all been fine for me, but I'm not a heavy Music user. I subscribe to Apple Music and my use case is almost exclusively "Siri, play…" whatever I feel like listening to at any given moment. I don't do playlists and, while I still subscribe to iTunes Match, and that's all still there as well, I really can't recall what I ripped a decade ago and what's just in the online catalog today.

Yeah, I'm the music worst.

So, there may well be database features and views that haven't all been brought over from iTunes to Music, and I really wouldn't notice. But I'm willing to bet a bunch of other reviews will cover all that in excruciating detail for you. So, I'll retweet them as I find them.

For me, the only thing really missing is polish. The interface is a little awkward teenage years. For example, click into any content and a whole new row appears up top just to contain a single, solitary back button. The loneliest back button.

In iOS, the way it works is similar but the implementation is much better: When you tap in, the master page title shrinks and becomes the back button label in the new detail view. And the pages don't fade white to transition, they slide over to maintain a sense of spatial positioning.

The new TV app is similar. It's terrific to have it on macOS. It just doesn't have the astonishingly great card experience of the Apple TV version of the app. Also, because regional licensing deals are demented, the Apple TV app will often kick me out into a local apps, like CTV, that'll then demand a cable subscription before it'll play the show I want to watch. Which is infuriating.

Podcasts is both new to the Mac and built using new technology for the Mac — it's a port of the iPad Podcast app. More on that later. The highest compliment I can give it is that it looks and feels pretty much identical to the traditionally built Music and TV apps.

Even going so far as to the implement that lonely, lonely back button the same way the Music and TV apps do.

Again, that's a nitpick and these are early days, but that I'm picking nits shows how far it's all come in just a year.

I really like device management moved over to the Finder. It makes sense being there and just works like it's always worked. Plug in, and your iOS device shows up in the sidebar. Click on it, then click the blue Trust button, unlock, tap trust, and Passcode in on your device, and you're in business.

You've got a General tab for management, which includes updates, restores, and backups, and then tabs for all your content. It's not pretty UI by any stretch of the pixels, but it's functional.

And, I think, for anyone who hasn't given up the cable for the cloud already, that's the important part.

The End of iTunes: macOS Catalina media strategy explained

macOS Catalina review: Apple Arcade

I posted a complete Arcade preview back in June. Link and video below. But, with macOS Catalina, Apple's new subscription gaming service comes fully to the Mac, and that's kind of a big deal.

iOS has never had a problem with games, quantity or quality. Though it's always been skewed almost completely towards the casual. The Mac, though, has spent pretty much all of its existence in the shadow of PCs and consoles both.

Arcade doesn't change the latter. There's nothing new that would really appeal to the hardcore shooters or simulators, custom rig builders or VR drivers. But it does begin to address the former.

For years, developers had to worry about whether or not their more creative, more experimental, more up-front game ideas could even survive in the increasingly free-to-play, franchise-driven, micro-transaction laden economy of mobile app stores. Never mind when or if they could one day even think about bringing a version to the Mac.

Now, with Arcade, indie and even studio developers are being incentivized by Apple to not just make the games they want to make, great games, but to make them great across all of Apple's platforms — including the Mac.

That includes its own tab and placement opportunities in the App Store, some of the most valuable real-estate in software.

So, you probably won't get the biggest, baddest franchises in the game, but you are getting some of the biggest labors of love by indies and studios both. And you can play them with the keyboard, the mouse or trackpad, and in many cases, the Xbox or PlayStation controllers macOS Catalina has just added support for.

I'm not sure how many people will pay the $4.99 per family subscription fee just to have Arcade on the Mac, but I think a lot of people who subscribe for iOS will find that, like Apple TV, also having Arcade on the Mac is an absolute delight.

Why people will pay to play in 2019: Apple Arcade explained

macOS Catalina review: New and Updated Apps

In addition to all the new and updated architectures and features — and there are plenty of both still to go over — some of the biggest updates in macOS Catalina are the other new, or newly updated apps.

The updated Photos app is great. Like the similarly updated iOS version, the main views now all filter out duplicates and clutter like screenshots or document captures. Then, they use machine-learned "saliency" — a fancy way to say relevancy – to focus on the people, faces, and highlights of each photo. Finally, they grid them up in different sizes, with videos and Live Photos in motion, to make for a really immersive browsing experience.

The idea is to present you with your "best shots". And, in an age where most of us take so many photos so always, we can barely remember what we took this week, never mind over the last few years, it really cuts through a lot of clutter to make something closer akin to old fashioned albums. Not in how it works but in what it means for our memories.

Speaking of which, Apple's auto-generated Memories movies proper, can now be tweaked on the Mac as well. Make them dreamy, make them epic, make them extreme. Long, medium, or short, all with a couple clicks.

Sadly, we're not getting all the new video editing capabilities Apple just added to Photos for iOS. They are simply nowhere to be found in Photos for macOS. No rotating videos, no adjustments or filters.

And to really paper cut us and pour some lemon juice on it, the edit button is right there. It even lets you click on it. But, all the actual editing features are grayed out as soon as you do.

Hopefully, at the very least, that means they'll be coming in a future update.

Also, while computer vision powered search keeps getting better and better, I still find it weird that I can't type in iPhone or iPad, even tablet, and find all the photos of Apple gear. And typing in Phone is just kinda broken. I realize that's a problem only people like me probably encounter, but when so much works the stuff that doesn't really stands out.

Mail lets you mute threads now, which is great but please don't tell any of my family, friends, and colleagues about it. Ok?

I've also been using the new block senders and unsubscribe from mailing lists features left and right. It hasn't really put a dent in the tons of ham email I get every day, but it's just so damn cathartic to do.

Safari has an updated start page that blends your frequently visited sites with Siri suggestions from your history, bookmarks, reading list, iCloud tabs, and links sent to you over iMessage. Basically, a machine learning surfaced buffet of what it hopes will be all the places on the web you're likely to want to go.

It's been kind of hit and miss for me, though. Sometimes showing relics of devices and tabs past, other times pulling up something I was just messaged. Given how many devices I review and re-review all the time, my usage pattern is probably all the deviations away from normal, so I'm interested to see how tries to learn and cope going forward.

QuickTime has a souped up inspector that shows color space, including HDR format, bit depth, aspect ratio, and scale. If a video has time coded embedded, QuickTime will show it right in the onscreen controls. It also now supports alpha channels so you can export from ProRes 4444 to HEVC and preserve transparency.

Open Image Sequence is also making its triumphant return, so you can create H.264, HEVC, or ProRes movies in the resolution and frame-rate of your choice simply by opening a folder filled with sequential images. So good.

Also, QuickTime now has a picture in picture mode so, with a click, you can leave QuickTime and keep watching your video in a floating, resizable, reposition-able window all its own.

Notes for macOS has always had a gallery view but, previously, it was restricted to image and sketches. Now, in Catalina, it shows you all notes, and all of the note, as a thumbnail so if you're more keyed into visuals than snippets of text, you can more easily find the note you're looking for. Especially, you know, if that note contains images or sketches.

There's also a new search that uses similar computer vision technology as Photos to find objects or scenes within your notes, which is great. And, there's OCR — optical character recognition — text in images, including notes you've photographed from real life or receipts you've scanned in. Which is beyond great. It was the one feature I really liked in Evernote and now it works in Apple Notes.

If you like to organize your notes into folders, you can now share an entire folder if you want to share all the notes inside it. Yeah, it's all or nothing when it comes to folders, so organize and share carefully and accordingly.

I've been doing a ton of writing in Notes and while it still lacks the plain text mode that I would personally cherish, and sometimes the sync between devices isn't as fast as I'd like, it's been a terrific workhorse.

The only thing really holding it back on the Mac, at least for me, is how abysmally side-by-side apps have been left to languish on the platform. There's a new interface for creating workspaces in Catalina, which is nice. But you still can't swap apps around within them. You have to destroy them and start over. Every time. It's depressing, especially in comparison to how much love they've gotten in iPadOS over the years.

There's an all-new Reminders app in Catalina. It uses natural language parsing to translate what you write into actionable tasks and to-dos. Even if you're writing in the Messages app, if it reads like something that would be good to remember, Siri will offer up as a suggested reminder.

If you tag someone in a reminder, the next time you're messaging with them, you'll be reminded about whatever it is you tagged them into. Also, you can add sub-tasks to your reminders and add attachments like photos, docs, or links that'll help you get all your things done. And there's a new edit button that lets you quickly and easily update and expand your reminders with times, dates, locations, flags, attachments, tasks — whatever it is.

I'm not a huge to-do user. I've always felt they were the Gym membership of apps. A New You resolution you sign up for every once in a while to feel better about ultimately not doing much else.

I use them kind of how I use Music — I tell Siri what I want to be reminded about and when and then hope and pray I actually get reminded about it at the right time. Which is almost always the case.

But, for people who do want more granularity without making task management yet one more task to be managed, and for whom Things or OmniFocus are still too much to-do, Reminders now strikes a much better balance.

Find my Mac and Find my Friends have merged, yes, like Voltron, to make something that feels like it will eventually be much greater than the sum of its parts.

Like Podcasts, it's a port of the iPad version. And, the interface actually translates over really well. Functionally, it's everything I expect. People and devices, all pinned in place.

I especially love that I can see battery status for my devices, so I know if I need to hurry up and track them down so I can charge them up.

The sidebar does reorder when it refreshes, seemingly at random, though, which also makes the map zoom in and out for no good reason. That could be the quirks of GPS, but if Apple could keep it from dancing it'd be a lot less distracting. Not that I leave it open much.

Rumor has it there'll be a lot more coming to the Find My app and Apple's Find My network in the future, and I can't wait.

There's Voice Control, which in theory will let you do everything on your Mac with power words, like right out of Dune or Dungeons and Dragons. It's still a little hit and miss for me, and I have to resort to calling up the numbers more often than I'd like, but as it solidifies it'll be one of the best accessibility enhancements ever to hit the platform.

Screen Time is also now on the Mac. So, no more hiding your social stalking or gaming breaks from the tracker.

It's not a standalone app. Rather, it's in the system preferences much as the iOS version is in settings. It's also got all the same features. So, depending on how much control you want, especially parental control, it still may not be enough for you.

But, I'll repeat this part again: What I like about Apple's approach to Screen Time compared to some others is that it doesn't fell like it's pandering or infantilizing anyone.

It gives you data and then helps you act on it when and how you want to, for yourself and for your family.

New and updated apps: Hidden gems in macOS Catalina explained

macOS Catalina review: Sidecar

Sidecar is a lot of fun. In most cases, I'm just fine using my iPad on its own. It's the best truly mobile computer I've ever owned. But, in two specific cases, Sidecar lets it perform double duty in ways that truly enhance the Mac.

The first is as a second screen. I don't usually do this on the Mac because I dislike turning my head from side to side while I work. But, if I'm working in Final Cut Pro X, which I do a lot, and I need to jump into a conference call or keep track of something in Twitter or Slack, offloading those windows to the iPad display makes a world of difference. Just so great. Especially while traveling, where it's much easier to carry an iPad with you than a Pro Display.

The second is as drawing pad. I used to use Wacom tablets back when I worked as a designer. They were great, but Apple Pencil just blew them away. No digitizer, no air gap, no reticule. Just Pencil to iPad goodness.

For Continuity Markup and Sketch, which are good examples of Apple really leveraging the integration between devices and operating systems, I can see the convenience if you're already using your Mac and you don't want to switch devices. But, honestly, I'm fine just using the iPad as an iPad.

Where it comes in handy though, is for the apps that aren't on the iPad. Then, I can just pick up my iPad, in Sidecar mode, walk over to the sofa, sit down, Pencil-push things around, and then go back to my Mac. At least in theory. In practice will come as more and more apps add better and better support for it.

iPad is the new Mac: Sidecar Explained

macOS Catalina review: Security

Apple's lofty goal for macOS is to make the system as secure as iOS while maintaining all the traditional flexibility of the Mac. And… that's easier said than done. With iOS, Apple got to start fresh and lock everything down since day one. The Mac, by starkest of contrasts, has been relatively open for decades.

For many years, that was fine. Thanks to the market share and attack surface of Windows, it made far more economic sense for bad actors to go after Microsoft users and leave Apple users alone.

But, now we have the web, we have phishing and spear phishing, ransomware and spyware, we even have ad trackers and social networks and the ability and eagerness of bad actors and unscrupulous companies to target any and every platform and person, including those of us on the Mac.

So, Apple has been carefully hardening macOS against exactly those kinds of attacks. Carefully, because people who are used to the Mac being open are concerned — legitimately sometimes, completely paranoid others — that Apple is going to impose the same type of control it has over iOS.

In a perfect world, Apple would be able to go back and implement everything from bit one. But we don't live in a perfect world and so, while I think some will find these new defensive layers as necessary and responsible, others will find them as blunt, maybe even aggressive.

For experts, there's going to be a lot to parse, from Gatekeeper now checking bundles launched via Terminal as well as files opened in the GUI, to the read-only system partition and the firmlinks that try to make the process as transparent as possible, to DriverKit and Extensions kicking just about everything right out of kernel space.

Where casual users are going to see and feel it more are with all the new privacy protection alerts. Basically, if an app — any app — wants to access anything it didn't create itself, it has to ask. And ask. And ask. And ask. And… you get the idea. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask.

On one hand, you want this type of accountability so that malware can't just grab anything it wants, any time it wants, without your express permission. On the other hand, it can feel so annoying, and be so overwhelming, that you won't even bother reading it any more and just click away as fast and furiously as you can.

To avoid a Windows Vista-like death-by-a-thousand-dialogs situation, Catalina will try and leave you alone if you do something deliberate and intentional, like double-clicking a file in Finder, dragging and dropping a file, or use the standard open or save file function.

But, if you try to download a file from the web, it will ask you to confirm. For every site. Depending on your point of view, that can be a huge safety net. Or a huge annoyance.

It's at its worst when you first update to macOS Catalina, because literally everything will ask you for permission as soon as it can. It never goes away completely, though.

And that's good and bad. For example, I want to be notified and protected against key loggers. I don't want to be made scared of hotkeys. That requires really good explanations from legitimate app makers, not as to what they want, but as to why they want it.

Nerdier, Mac-as-POSIX-box users are going to hate it, as they've hated a lot of the security changes over the last few years. For example, the ability to set Gatekeeper to allow any app download off any website, signed or not, is gone from the GUI. To re-enable it, if you really want to, you have to go to the Terminal. I think that's a pretty damn clever compromise, but I realize not everyone will.

Overall, though, for the vast majority of users, I think it's all for the best. Complacency is the enemy of security. But it's going to take some fine tuning, a little from Apple, a lot from developers, to make it not just as tolerable as possible for users, but as valuable and as insightful as possible, going forward.

There are some cool new conveniences to mitigate some of the new security measures. Like the new, unified Apple ID pane. Or, Authorize with Apple Watch is my favorite.

Previously Apple Watch could unlock your Mac and approve your Apple Pay transactions. Now it can do almost anything Touch ID can do. Which is especially great on all the Macs Apple still hasn't added Touch ID to — which includes every desktop Mac.

• The Great Mac Balancing Act: macOS Catalina security explained
• Big Business: macOS Catalina in Enterprise Explaied

macOS Catalina review: Catalyst

Problem: There are a ton of apps available for the iPad that simply don't exist on the Mac. Developers may have Mac apps on their nice-to-have lists, but since their iPad apps are built using UIKit and Mac apps are built using AppKit, and since no one has the time or resources to learn and support yet-another-thing, especially for a smaller market, that's just exactly where they stay — on the nice-to-have list.

Solution: Make it easier to bring iPad Apps to the Mac.

With macOS Catalina, Apple's is starting to do just that — but in two very different ways. First, with Catalyst, which essentially lets UIKit apps run on the Mac. Second, with SwiftUI, which will one day abstract away a lot of the interface differences between iOS and the Mac.

SwiftUI is probably the right set of tools for the job, but Catalyst is the right now set. Or, at least, the right-now-er.

In theory, you check a box in Xcode, your iPad app build almost instantly for the Mac, and then you polish it up to be a great Mac app.

Like I said in the preview, there are three broad classes of apps that are good candidates for Catalyst:

1. iPad apps that either don't have Mac equivalents or for which the Mac equivalent has fallen fallow or been previously abandoned. For them, a unified codebase makes creating or replacing the Mac app far more efficient. CARROT Weather is an example of the former, Twitter for Mac the latter.
2. iPad apps that have relied on a website for Mac support. Here, native frameworks allow for far more features and far better performance. Netflix is on a lot of wishlists here, but TripIt is shipping now.
3. And then there are the cursed Electron apps. The ones actively wasting my memory and destroying my battery life just to wrap themselves in Chromium for that oh-so-not-so-native look and feel anyway. Those, like Slack and Skype, desperately need to switch to Catalyst and fast. But there's no sign they're doing anything of the kind. At least not yet.

I say in theory because Catalyst feels a lot like Swift and APFS: Something that will take a few years to really solidify.

There are a bunch of Catalyst apps coming at Catalina's launch. But they're not the ones I've been looking forward to most.

Those, the ones by the really artisanal indie developers, haven't arrived yet. Because, not every framework they need is there yet, and what's there isn't always supported or documented the way they need it to be yet, to make the apps they want to make — and we want them to make.

Also, they can't offer universal bundles yet, so they can't sell one app for all Apple platforms, all at once. Not every developer wants that, not at all, but for the ones that do, it currently works for all apps except the Mac apps.

Apple also hasn't gone back to redo the interfaces for the original Catalyst test apps from last year, the odd assortment of Home and News and Voice Recorder and Stocks. And they haven't brought over apps that are still missing basic functionality compared to their iOS counterparts and, arguably, need Catalyst the most — looking at you, Messages. (sent with Lasers).

If Apple is serious about Catalyst, the way they were about 32-bit apps, Swift, and APFS, all of that should change for the much better over the next year or two.

That is, unless and until SwiftUI becomes the future of all of Apple's platforms. More on that as it develops.

UIKit on Mac: Project Catalyst on macOS Catalina explained

macOS Catalina review: Conclusion

Last year, Apple put a lot on pause to really deliver not just a few new features but a ton of refinement. This year, it feels like Apple tried to make up for some lost time and maybe bit off just a bit more than they could chew, with different updates coming at different times and a whole lot of bug fixes coming in one after the other. Next year, hopefully, they'll find a better balance.

For now, macOS Catalina is one of the most important updates we've ever gotten. It not only dismantles iTunes and sets up all of Apple's new services, but with Catalyst and SwiftUI, it sets up the future of apps, and ensures the Mac will continue to be a first-class part of that future.

I love the technology, the vision, and the direction, but it's still unpolished in parts and frustrating in others, and that'll take continued time and effort to fix.

If you're at all concerned about release version bugs or worried about app compatibility, by all means, wait and see. Let the rest of us be your testers, and when the point releases start coming, choose whichever one makes you comfortable enough to jump on.

For me, I'm all on board. I even updated my production video machine to Catalina, I missed it enough when I wasn't using it, and that's something I usually wait months to do.

What's more, with so much of the foundation of macOS now re-set, I'm most curious to see what all Apple will be building up on them next.

Adding a volume to an Apple File System (APFS) container on your Mac is a pain-free process and comes with one significant benefit over traditional disk partitioning. With Space Sharing, volumes contained in the same container can grow or shrink as needed, thereby maximizing your device's storage. Something like this wasn't possible during the days of disk partitioning. Let's learn more about adding a volume to an APFS container.

• Adding a volume to an APFS container
• Removing a volume to an APFS container

What is APFS?

APFS is the default file system on Macs with solid-state drives. By definition, it features secure encryption, space sharing, snapshots, fast directory sizing, and improved file system fundamentals. You can also use APFS on older Macs that include traditional hard drives and external, direct-attached storage — beginning with macOS Mojave, APFS also supported Fusion drives.

APFS was first introduced with macOS High Sierra and replaced the older HFS+ file system. APFS made its debut on iPhone and iPad with iOS 10.3. It's also the file system on Apple Watch and Apple TV.

• Apple File System (APFS): What you need to know
• Removing a volume to an APFS container

APFS and storage

For macOS users who use partitions, AFS fixes a long-standing limitation. APFS sidesteps the issue of one partition running out of space when there's free space elsewhere on the drive-by creating a container around all the partitions. If a partition needs more space, it can claim it from the container, regardless of whether or not that space is physically adjacent to the partition.

Adding a volume to an APFS container

Before adding a volume, you should back up your Mac as a precaution. From here, follow these steps to create a new volume on your computer:

1. Select Go on your Mac's Toolbar.
2. Click Utilities.
3. Choose Disk Utility.

4. Click View at the top left of the Disk Utility screen.
5. Select Show All Devices.
6. Choose an existing APFS container in the sidebar. In this example, it's called Container disk1.

7. Click the Add Volume button.
8. Enter a name for the new APFS volume.
9. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format. See below.

10. Tap Size Options if you want to manually manage APFS volume allocation. The optional reserve size ensures that the amount of storage will remain available for this volume, while the optional quota size limits how much storage the volume can allocate.
11. Click OK when done.
12. Choose Add
13. Click Done.

You can now use your new volume just as you would any other on your Mac.

The different APFS formats are:

• APFS: Uses the APFS format
• APFS (Encrypted): Uses the APFS format and encrypts the volume.
• APFS (Case-sensitive): Uses the APFS format and is case-sensitive to file and folder names. For example, folders named "iMore" and "IMORE" are different.
• APFS (Case-sensitive, Encrypted): Uses the APFS format, is case-sensitive to file and folder names, and encrypts the volume.

Removing a volume to an APFS container

If you decide you no longer need a volume on your APFS container, you can delete it using Disk Utility.

1. Select Go on your Mac's Toolbar.
2. Click Utilities.
3. Choose Disk Utility.

4. Click View at the top left of the Disk Utility screen.
5. Select Show All Devices.
6. Right-click on the volume you want to delete.
7. Click Delete APFS Volume.
8. Choose Delete.

The APFS volume is now deleted.

Any questions?

Let us know below whether you have any questions about APFS or macOS.

What you need to know

• With the launch of macOS Catalina imminent, Apple is reminding developers about some changes.
• Apple reminded to submit their apps and also remember notarization.
• macOS Catalina recently launched the developer GM.

With the public release of macOS Catalina imminent, Apple is reminding developers to get ready. The company on Thursday published new developer updates with some helpful information about what changes are in store.

First and foremost, Apple has reminded developers to submit their apps to the Mac App Store.

The second thing is apps must be notarized for macOS Catalina. As 9to5Mac points out, Apple has relaxed certain notarization requirements in the new update, but there are still certain restrictions.

Announced at WWDC, macOS Catalina features a number of notable changes, including new standalone apps for Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV, as well as a new feature known as Sidecar, which will allow people to use an iPad as a second display.

You can read about other changes coming to macOS Catalina in the link below.

Everything new in macOS Catalina

Image via Riot

What you need to know

• League of Legends may not work with macOS Catalina on release.
• Riot is unsure of compatibility due to broad release date.
• The issue will not affect users who have the game already installed, only new downloads.

Riot games has announced that users may not be able to install League of Legends on macOS Catalina upon its release. Riot has said that due to the "broad release date" of Catalina they are unsure as to whether the game will be supported. In a post yesterday it said:

It's important to note that this could affect both League of Legends and spinoff Teamfight Tactics, which requires the LoL client in order to play. To recap, the issue will not affect any players who already have the game installed. So, if you are a LoL player with the game installed, there's nothing to worry about. If you're about to jump into the game for the first time on Mac, Riot strongly recommends that you should download the game before you install macOS Catalina (whenever that is released).

As noted by Riot, it is unclear at this stage whether this is going to be an issue when Catalina is released. It is also unclear at this stage how long the problem might persist if indeed it does take effect. Most recent reports suggest Catalina could be released Friday, October 4, however Apple is yet to confirm a release date.

Some of the biggest updates Apple pushes out every year aren't new features or even part of the new operating system at all. They're new and updated apps that Apple ships alongside the new operating system.

Sure, Apple could add new apps and updated existing ones at any time, especially if they ever chose to take full advantage of the App Store as a fully decoupled distribution system. Sometimes the new apps and updates are tied to new functionality coming with the new operating system. Other times they're just timed to make the biggest event splash possible.

Either way, there are a bunch of them, new apps and updates both, shipping alongside MacOS Catalina this fall.

At WWDC 2019, Apple introduced a freshly updated Photos app for iOS. It has a new organization, still based on time by default, but instead of moments, collections, and years, it breaks things into days, months, and years.

The layout is less grid and more like memories, but in real time. Years just has big old thumbnails. Months, a mixture of big and small. Days, though, is where the magic starts to happen.

Photos filters out duplicates and clutter like screenshots or document captures. Then it uses saliency, which is a fancy way to say relevancy, which uses machine learning to figure out the best part of your photos — the figures, the faces, to highlight, so it's not just an endless, repetitive grid of the rocks or trees that just so happen to be dead center in every shot.

Then, Photos figures out which photos to highlight bigger and larger than the rest, including and especially the shots it thinks are most relevant to you at the moment. It'll even play and animate videos and Live Photos as you scroll buy to make the grid that much more alive and dynamic.

There's also the good old All Photos view that just lets you see everything. But, cleverly and thankfully, if you have a photo highlighted and you switch views, that photo stays highlighted and animates between them, so you stay spatially oriented and contextually placed.

And best of all, most of it is also coming to the Mac in the newly updated Photos for macOS app.

Coming with it is Memory Movie editing. You can now change the mood, title, and duration of the movies right on your Mac, and the changes will sync back to your iOS devices.

Not coming, sadly, is the regular video editing that Apple's adding to Photos in iOS 13. The handy stuff like rotating videos, and the fancier stuff like adjustments and filters.

Sure, it's much faster and easier to round trip video to iMovie or Final Cut Pro X on the Mac, but it'd be even faster and much easier not to have to round trip it at all.

Mail is getting a few quality of life improvements. It's not the major, next-generation, artificially intelligent redesign some of us have been hoping for years, but it is just a little more zen.

You can mute threads now, which is great for when someone replies all and everyone spends the next hour replying to all that you shouldn't reply to all. Seriously, they should confiscate keyboards for that.

You can also block senders, which puts their email straight into the trash. It's great for that first person who so always replies all about replying all. Works the same way as Messages. Just click the senders name in the header and drop the ban hammer.

For mailing lists, data detectors will highlight the unsubscribe link in the header so you can easier ask them to stop sending you the junk mail what you never asked them to send you.

Safari gains support for Login with Apple, of course. As well as warning for weak passwords if you try to create one instead of letting Safari auto-generate a strong password for you, like you absolutely should let it do.

There's also an updated start page that blends your frequently visited sites with Siri suggestions from your history, bookmarks, reading list, iCloud tabs and links sent to you over iMessage. Basically, a machine learning surfaced buffet of what it hopes will be all the places on the web you're likely to want to go.

QuickTime Player is getting a pro-centric update in MacOS Catalina meant to enhance productivity and accelerate workflows.

There's a souped up inspector that shows color space, including HDR format, bit depth, aspect ratio, and scale. If a video has time coded embedded, QuickTime will show it right in the onscreen controls.

QuickTime now supports alpha channels so you can export from ProRes 4444 to HEVC and preserve transparency.

And, hoorah, QuickTime now has a picture in picture mode so, with a click, you can leave QuickTime and keep watching your video in a floating, resizable, reposition-able window all its own.

With iCloud Drive in Catalina, in addition to the previous file sharing, you can now share entire folders.

It works just like you'd expect, like it has in other online storage systems for years. Generate a link, share it, and whomever you share it with can access everything in the folder and add, remove, and change as they see fit.

And if there are any iWork docs in the folder, they automatically become collaborative documents as well.

It's… I mean, realistically, I don't think it's going to convert any Google docs users who didn't already covert long ago over privacy concerns alone. But, depending on how well it all works at launch, it might just convert some Dropbox users upset about the new pricing and implementation, and even Google Drive users who just don't want sensitive folders on Google Drive anymore.

Notes for macOS has always had a gallery view but, previously, it was restricted to image and sketches. Now, in Catalina, it shows you all notes, and all of the note, as a thumbnail so if you're more keyed into visuals than snippets of text, you can more easily find the note you're looking for. Especially, you know, if that note contains images or sketches.

If that's not enough, there's a new search that uses Apple's computer vision technology to find objects or scenes within your notes, so you can search for them the same way you've been able to photos in… Photos.

It'll also OCR — optical character recognition — text in images, including notes you've photographed from real life or receipts you've scanned in. It was the one feature I really liked in Evernote and now it works in Apple Notes.

If you like to organize your notes into folders, you can now share an entire folder if you want to share all the notes inside it. Yeah, it's all or nothing when it comes to folders, so organize and share carefully and accordingly.

There's an all-new Reminders app in Catalina, re-designed, re-engineered, rebuilt, re-imagined, re-mindered? To match the feature set of the similarly re-invented Reminders app for iOS 13 and iPadOS.

It uses natural language parsing to translate what you write into actionable tasks and to-dos. Even if you're writing in the Messages app, if it reads like a something that would be good to remember, Siri will offer up as a suggested reminder.

Also, if you tag someone in a reminder, the next time you're messaging with them, you'll be reminded about whatever it is you tagged them into.

Smart Lists automatically organize and filter your reminders so you quickly see just the reminders for the day, just the scheduled reminders, just the super important flagged reminders, or all of your reminders.

You can add sub-tasks to your reminders, if you want to break down a big chore into more manageable chunks, and add attachments like photos, docs, or links that'll help you get all your things done.

And there's a new edit button that lets you quickly and easily update and expand your reminders with times, dates, locations, flags, attachments, tasks — whatever it is.

That way, you don't have to worry about adding or triaging things rapidly on the go on your iPhone. You can clean things up and flesh them out when you get back to your Mac.

Find my Mac and Find my Friends have merged on iOS like peanut butter and chocolate to make something greater and tastier — well, maybe not tastier in this case, but certainly more convenient — than the sum of their previous parts. And, thanks to Catalyst, both have now arrived on the Mac.

The way it works is clever, especially on the Mac where there's still no cellular option. So, let's say you lose track of your Mac. Basically, any Apple device with offline finding enabled will use Bluetooth low-energy to detect any other potentially lost Apple device within range. If it detects your Mac, it'll use Wi-Fi mapping and cellular triangulation, if available, to anonymously report an approximate location back to Apple.

Both their device and your Mac are anonymized, and the report is end-to-end encrypted, so you'll never have any idea who owns the device that pinged your Mac, and they'll never know who owns the Mac they pinged — or even that they pinged a Mac if they don't happen to physically see or notice it at the time.

Then, if and when you launch the Find My Mac app on MacOS Catalina, you'll see that location report, or the aggregate of as many location reports that have been collected by that time.

And there's no need for anyone, finder or findee, to worry about any impact on battery life or cellular data usage. Apple uses things like network coalescence to piggyback off of other activity so any and all extra usage is kept to the barest minimum.

So, for example, when a notification comes in or when someone texts, the location support will fire off at the same time, so the processor and radio aren't being woken up any more than they would be otherwise.

And macOS is also getting iOS-style Activation Lock, so if anything does happen to your Mac and you can't find it, you can remotely erase it, and no one without your Apple ID can log in and reactivate or restore it.

Screen Time launched on iPhone and iPad last year as part of iOS 12. This year, it's coming to the Mac with MacOS Catalina. Now, yeah, Screen Time is more feature than app but I'm including it here for the sake of expediency. Similar to the iOS version, you can use Screen Time to inform and set controls around how much you or your children are able to use your devices.

First, reports will show you how much you or yours are using the Mac, including apps and websites. Once you understand that, if you think you or yours are fine, you can just keep an eye on the reports but otherwise keep on keeping on. If you're concerned about usage, though, there are a few things Screen Time lets you do.

You can schedule downtime, which prevents you from using certain apps during certain periods. You can also limit how much time you spend in certain apps, categories of apps, websites, or a combination thereof.

There's also a new communication limits system so you can control which people are allowed to interact with your kids over Phone, FaceTime, or Messages. Big sis study time, no problem. Uncle Gamesalot, sorry. Blocked. Savage.

If your kids have their own Macs instead of or in addition to a family Mac, you can use Family Sharing to set up everything, everywhere as well.

And, thanks to iCloud sync, you can't cheat by switching devices. Your Twitter or Insta or game time is counted on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Whatever you own.

Yes, you can't escape Screen Time. It's everywhere now. But what I like about Apple's approach compared to some others is that it doesn't fell like it's pandering or infantilizing anyone.

It gives you data and then helps you act on it when and how you want to, for yourself and for your family.

Just… do me a favor and downtime YouTube after you finish this video. And, you know, before the next one comes out.

Thanks!

VoiceOver gets access to the new, more natural Siri voice, and custom punctuation preferences will now sync over iCloud, which makes for a better, more consistent experience.

Navigation across tabs has been simplified, and there are additional international Braille tables.

Also, VoiceOver support has been improved in Xcode, so you can now hear warnings, line numbers, and break points.

There are a couple of cool new zoom features as well. With Hover Zoom, hit control when you've got your cursor over some text and a new window with zoomed in, high-resolution text, links, fields, and menu items appears.

With Display Zoom, you can put a standard sized interface on one display and a zoomed in one on a secondary display, or vice versa if you're giving a presentation with a projector.

Hit command+option+F5 Display color filters let you shift the colors on your Mac screen to help you better distinguish between any you find problematic.

You can also tint the entire display if that makes it easier to read text, for example.

And then there's Voice Control which, three weeks after Apple first showed it off, still feels like something out of sci-fi.

It was designed so that you could take full control of your Mac entirely with the power of your voice.

It starts with Siri powered dictation, which uses a new, machine learning speech-to-text engine for transcription. It's all processed right on your Mac as well, so what you say stays personal and private.

You can add custom words to it, if you're working in a specific field or on a specific topic, or, I guess if you just want to make sure it recognizes totes dope and hella or finna flex and yeet.

Voice Control also recognizes commands, and can understand both dictation and commands even when you move back and forth between them.

If you or dictation makes a mistake, you can use Voice Control to correct it. You can select text with it and delete or replace the text you select. And when you do make a selection, you'll get word and emoji suggestions to try and speed up replacement.

You can navigate by name, if what you want to do is named, and many things are. That includes opening apps, clicking buttons or links, scrolling lists or collections, and so on.

If you don't know the name of something, you can tell Voice Control to Show Names, to see all the labels on all the things you can interact with.

That includes complex tasks like dictating an email and specifying which fields to dictate into, including the recipient and the subject.

Which means as long as developers have done their jobs, or busily do them now, this summer and make sure everything is properly labeled, Voice Control should just work with pretty much any and every app.

If something isn't named, or the name is complex like a snapshot in Photos, or duplicative, you can tell Voice Control to Show Numbers. That way, every item gets a number and you can trigger commands based on the number.

If even numbers aren't enough, for example if you want to interact with a specific area of an image or map, you can tell Voice Control to Show Grid. Every section of the grid has a number and you can use those to trigger commands. You can even zoom in to get a tighter grid and more precise control.

If you have trouble moving between dictation and commands, you can set Voice Control to command mode only.

You can also pause and resume Voice Control by telling it to go to sleep or wake up.

It's still in beta. It hasn't shipped yet. But if Apple delivers on Voice Control, not only will it be the most impressive feature in Catalina, it'll be one of the most important in macOS history.