macOS Sonoma Introduces Widgets to Desktops
Sonoma is the name of the most recent macOS update, which focuses on enhancing productivity and widget organization, while also providing some leisure features. The updated operating system enables users to move widgets around the desktop and place them wherever they prefer. When one widget is active, the others will become less prominent.
Sonoma – or macOS 14 – also communicates with widgets on your iPhone via Continuity. With your iOS device close at hand, you can access and interact with all of your phone’s widgets on your desktop, without having to install them directly on the big device.
With Sonoma, Mac video conferencing gets a Presenter Overlay mode that puts you in the foreground of the content you’re sharing, leaving it in the background. You can also use hand gestures to add video effects like balloons and hearts to your calls, and these gestures work in Zoom, Teams, and other popular apps.
Safari updates focus on privacy. Sonoma adds Safari profiles with disaggregated cookies, history, extensions, favorites, and tab groups. Private browsing in Safari is tighter in Sonoma, with an additional tracking system and a feature that closes private windows when not in use.
Now that the productivity features are out of the way, it’s time for some fun stuff. In particular, Sonoma has improvements for Mac gaming. The new operating system introduces a game mode that reduces background tasks and prioritizes CPU and GPU performance, all in the name of smoother operation and higher frame rates. Game mode also reduces audio lag on AirPods and input lag on gamepads, doubling the system’s Bluetooth sampling rate. Game Mode works with any game, including future Mac versions. In related news, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is coming to Mac this year, along with all of Kojima Productions’ upcoming projects.
Sonoma is available today in beta for developers and will enter public beta in July. It is scheduled to arrive in the fall as a free software update.
Last year’s update, macOS Ventura, was released in October and included Stage Manager, which organizes apps and windows based on what you’ve already been using. Safari and Mail have also seen some updates to improve compatibility with iOS 16.
