Apple spent about 18 minutes of WWDC’s keynote speech discussing key new features in macOS 13 Ventura – and many were packed into this short segment. But many were missed. This means that there are some new features that are not mentioned, but you will find them very useful. Here are a few unmentioned features that stand out.
USB-C security of accessories
Apple is always looking for new ways to lock your Mac’s security, and to that end macOS Ventura has added an extra layer of security to your Mac’s USB-C port. When a USB or Thunderbolt accessory is plugged into a port, a warning will appear asking if you want to allow the accessory to connect. Users will then be able to choose to ignore or enable the device.
This warning is optional. You’ll find the setting for this in System Preferences> Privacy & Security> Security, and you can set it to ask every time, ask for new accessories, automatically enable the accessory when the Mac is unlocked, or always enable accessories. According to the notes to the Ventura edition, the approved accessories will remain approved for three days, and the accessories attached during the operating system update are allowed automatically.
(By the way, there’s still no setting to stop the “Disk isn’t ejected correctly” pop-up window if you turn off a flash drive without first removing it from Finder.)
Background sounds
Some users like to have “white noise” play in the background to keep in focus and use Apple Music, YouTube, or some other audio playback method. With Ventura, there is now a setting in System Settings> Accessibility> Audio to play one of six different background sounds:
- Balanced noise: White noise similar to low static
- Bright noise: static with less bass
- Dark noise: Static with heavier bass
- Ocean: Sounds heard while walking on the beach
- Rain: Moderate to heavy rain
- Flow: buzzing flow (which usually makes me want to go to the toilet)
Background sounds continue to play if you play other media, such as Apple Music or YouTube. Apple has added a hearing menu bar icon and a hearing aid module to the Control Center so you can quickly turn off background sounds without diving into system settings.
Clock and time applications
The iPhone and iPad have always had a watch app, and now the Mac is finally getting one too. The Mac version is essentially the same as the iPad with a time card that appears in the World Clock section. The clock can be set to track different time zones and has alarms, a stopwatch and a timer.
The iPad Clock app (above) has been ported to a Mac.
Foundry
The Mac also gets a weather app, and it’s essentially the iPhone’s Weather app, but redesigned to take advantage of the screen size, like the iPadOS 16. You can see the current temperature, hourly conditions, and 10-day forecast. It also has information modules on air quality, rainfall, UV index and more.
Application for enhanced notes
The Notes app is finally getting some much-needed sorting features. Smart folders are now available that use rules that you can set to automatically organize your notes, and you can filter for some or all of the criteria in a smart folder as well as a bookmark browser. Notes also have chronological categories, so you can see notes grouped by when they were last modified.
Notes now offers the option to lock notes with your login password instead of creating a new password each time. And now you can create a note link that you can pass on to others that will give that person access.
Better reminders
Reminders have several new features for better maintenance lists. Lists can now be fixed, and you can save templates if you prefer designs for certain lists. Notifications can be set to alert people when a shared list has changed and it is now much easier to see your completed lists through the Full Smart List.
Other characteristics of the ecosystem
There are a few new unmentioned features that are not only new to macOS Ventura, but also cover iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. These include:
- Locked hidden and recently deleted photo folders that require Touch ID login
- Hide the availability of my email in third-party applications
- More Memoji features
- Live captions for audio content (which was previewed in May)
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