iTunes Is Being Eliminated
Apple’s iTunes app will no longer be a part of macOS Catalina. Instead, there will be three different apps to replace it – Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts. Apple Music will cover your entire music library, whether you download your songs from Apple Music or rip them from CDs. Apple TV is similar to the iOS Apple TV app and will offer TV and Movie content. For viewing your podcasts, Apple’s new Podcasts app will come into use, which will allow you to browse your library, view charts and download new podcasts.
Support for iPad Apps
macOS Catalina introduces support for third-party iPad apps. Using the new Project Catalyst development tool, developers can create apps for both the new iPadOS and macOS without spending too much extra effort. Hence, if the app supports it, you’ll be able to use an app on both your Mac and iPad.
Apple Sidecar
A lot of power users are fans of connecting their Mac to a secondary display screen for easier use and better graphics. This appeals mostly to video editors or graphic designers who need more screen real estate to get their work done efficiently. If you have an iPad with you at your home or office, you will be able to use it as a secondary screen for your work. Similarly, you can use it as a drawing screen with the Apple pencil if you’re fond of drawings or sketches and don’t want to purchase a third-party accessory to do that.
Find My App
Apple’s iCloud features a very handy utility known as the “Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac” service, which allows you to locate all your devices (logged in with your Apple ID), no matter wherever they’re present. If they’re connected to the internet, you can check their current location, and sound an alert or remotely lock them if you think that they’ve been stolen. The new “Find my” feature, which will also be available in iPadOS and iOS 13, brings the “Find my Mac” and “Find my Friends” technology to a Mac app. This will allow you to track your devices even when they’re offline, by using Bluetooth and the devices of other people who might be around your lost or stolen device, relaying its location securely and anonymously back to you.
Screen Time
Apple’s Screen Time feature which has already been present on iOS for some time now will now be available for macOS. This will allow you to track your device usage across all of your devices for better device time management analysis.
Security Updates
macOS Catalina features some privacy and security improvements. Gatekeeper will check all apps for known security issues. New data protections will also require apps to get permission before accessing your documents, contacts etc., similar to what’s already present on iOS.
Dashboard Will Now Be Eliminated
Apple has officially removed Dashboard from macOS Catalina. 32-bit apps will also no longer be supported. This shouldn’t be much of an issue for regularly updated apps. Your old apps that haven’t been updated by their developer(s) in a long time might not be supported in macOS Catalina.
App Updates
Photos, Notes, Reminders and Safari have gotten some design updates and will look better than ever.
When Is It Releasing?
Apple hasn’t announced a specific release date for macOS Catalina yet, but has announced it’ll be releasing this fall. The following devices are supported and will be able to run macOS Catalina:
Macbook (2015 or later)Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, Mac Mini or iMac (2012 or later)iMac Pro 2017 or laterMac Pro 2013 or later
As is the norm, the developer betas for MacOS Catalina are now available for app developers. Public betas will most probably be releasing in July, followed by the final release in the fall. Are you excited for macOS Catalina, or has Apple disappointed you with this upcoming update? Let us know about your thoughts in the comments section below.
