If
your Mac starts talking back to you this fall, it doesn't mean you
should lay off the wine coolers — though that probably wouldn't hurt.
It's actually just Apple's Siri voice assistant, which will make its way
to the company's Mac and MacBook computers later this year along with a
host of other updates to its OS X operating system.
Well,
actually, it's not OS X anymore. Apple has gone ahead and changed the
name of its desktop operating system to fit the naming conventions it
uses for its iOS and watchOS offerings. OS X is now macOS. Of course,
the company is still naming the operating system after a location in
California. So this time around the software is called macOS Sierra.
But
what's in a name anyway? You want to know what upgrading means for you.
So buckle up, because these are the five best new features of macOS
Sierra.
1. Siri on the desktop
Yes,
Siri has broken free of its mobile confines and has finally made the
leap to the world of Mac. You'll be able to access the voice assistant
by clicking the Siri button in Dock at the bottom of your Mac's screen.
You can then ask the disembodied voice to perform a litany of tasks
including searching for files on your computer and looking up nearby
movie times.
In
a stage demo, Apple's senior VP of software engineering (and three-time
most luxurious hair award winner) Craig Federighi showed how you can
call up folders or specific files using Siri. Results are displayed in
the top right corner of the screen alongside the Spotlight search
magnifying glass icon.
Siri is finally on your Mac.
Federighi
also demonstrated how you can ask Siri to perform a web search for
photos. The voice assistant then displayed the results as it did the
native files Federighi had searched for. He was then able to pull them
directly from the search results box and place them on his desktop in a
snap.
Naturally,
Siri will perform all of the same tasks you already don't use it for on
your iPhone. So you'll be able to message friends, look up sports
scores, and make dinner reservations.
A
desktop-based voice assistant isn't a first, though. Microsoft's
Cortana voice assistant has been available as part of its Windows 10
operating system for a year. And while it's useful, I still feel
incredibly awkward sitting in my room asking my computer to do something
I can do on my own with a few keystrokes.
I
could, however, see myself using Siri to control my smart home
appliances, which it will be able to do when the Home app launches for
iOS later this year.
2. Continuity
Both
Google and Microsoft already make it relatively easy to access files
and software across various devices without much hassle, and now Apple
is getting on the bandwagon too. MacOS Sierra will offer a variety of
continuity features that let you move files and access features from
your Mac on your iPhone and vice versa.
You can now see your Mac's entire desktop on your iPhone with iCloud Drive.
The
first change comes by way of iCloud Drive, which in addition to already
letting you save and access files in the cloud, will let you see all of
the files you have saved on your Mac's desktop on your other Macs and
iOS devices. That's especially convenient considering most people have a
tendency to simply save their files to their desktop only to realize
later they needed to save them to their iCloud Drive to access them on
the go.
Apple
is also making it a bit easier to use Apple Pay on your laptop or
desktop by moving the authentication step to your iOS device. For
example, if you're on the checkout page of a website and click the Apple
Pay button, you'll automatically get a prompt to use the Touch ID
sensor on your iPhone to verify your purchase. This sounds helpful in
theory, but I also don't want to have to jump between devices just to
buy 52 boxes of Devil Dogs.
You can now authorize online purcahses from macOS with your iPhone.
Even
the most boring task of typing in your Mac's password is getting a
continuity upgrade. Now instead of tapping keys to enter a password like
some kind of Neanderthal, your Apple Watch can automatically recognize
that you're approaching your Mac and unlock it without you ever having
to touch a button.
3. Storage optimization
Running
out of storage space on your Mac is genuinely annoying. Not only do you
have to delete scads of disparate files, you have to make sure you're
not accidentally getting rid of important things like photos and
documents. And when you're deleting tens of gigabytes of files, that can
be an especially time-consuming task.
So
Apple is giving macOS Sierra carte blanche to manage your Mac's storage
drive with Optimized Storage. Whenever your drive becomes full, macOS
will take certain steps to free up some space. For instance, it will
automatically delete anything that's been in Trash for more than 30 days
and move infrequently used files off of your Mac and into the cloud. It
will also remind you to delete old temporary, duplicate and app
installer files.
For
people who are awful at managing their computer's storage and then fly
into an indignant rage when they run out of space, this should prove to
be an indispensable feature. My one concern is that when macOS uploads
your files to the cloud, you have to redownload them to get them on your
desktop. And if you don't have an internet connection that's a no go.
But most people have internet access readily available while using their
Macs, so it shouldn't be much of an issue.
4. App tabs
I
usually write using Microsoft Word, and when I'm working on multiple
articles at the same time that means having a bunch of different Word
windows open at once. The same happens when I'm editing multiple photos,
which ends up becoming a real problem. To address that, Apple is adding
tabs to existing first- and third-party apps.
You can view disparate app windows as tabs in a single window.
So
now when I've got three Word windows open, I'll see them in a single
Word window with three tabs; ditto my photo editing app. That's going to
be a huge help, especially for Mac owners who spent 95% of their day
shuffling between different windows trying to find the spreadsheet they
were just working on.
5. Picture-in-picture
Lastly,
macOS Sierra is bringing picture-in-picture viewing to your desktop.
That means you'll be able to watch a video in a moveable, resizable
window while still working on your important work project in the
background. Just make sure your boss doesn't catch you watching “Game of
Thrones” in the middle of a budget meeting.
