MacOS Catalina is here.
Screenshot Clifford Colby/CNET
I’m NEVER gonna use all this cool stuff that pay people to think off…
I’m glad they seem to have fixed some operating software bugs that have had me and my family members have to physically stop from breaking a thousand dollar phone into little tiny pieces….
Every September, Apple offers the world a new update of its iOS software for iPhones. This year’s version, iOS 13, didn’t exactly have a graceful landing; since its release in September, Apple has produced no fewer than five follow-up versions intended to fill feature holes and fix bugs. A sixth version, 13.2, is in beta testing now.
But never mind all that. Apple has said plenty about what it considers the most important new features: Dark Mode, which gives all your apps a slick, white-on-dark, inverted-colors look; QuickPath, which lets you type by swiping sloppily across the relevant keys instead of tapping them, as you can on Android phones; and a rewritten Maps app.
But when you give thousands of software engineers a whole year to improve your phone software, you wind up with dozens of features that don’t get a lot of press. Here, then, is a treasure map to the hidden gems of iOS 13.
Voice Control
You can now do everything on the phone by voice alone: tap and drag, operate buttons and sliders, edit text, even “push” the buttons on the edges of the phone. The feature is intended for disabled iPhone fans. But it’s so complete, easy, and fast, it might appeal to other kinds of people, too: those whose hands are wet or grubby, for example, or those who are reclining and tired….
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A Reminders Overhaul
The Reminders app is a far more competent To Do manager in iOS 13. One welcome touch: you can now create “subtasks” for a reminder. For example, for a reminder called “Tonight’s hot date,” the indented subtasks might be “Shower,” “Pick up dry cleaning,” and “Get braces removed.”
To create a subtask, long-press the subordinate item’s name and then drag it beneath the primary one. It indents itself…
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Text-Editing Gestures
There’s no more Loupe — the magnifying glass that has made placing the text-insertion point easier for the last 12 years. Instead, you’re supposed to drag the blinking insertion point with your finger. It gets larger as you drag it into position….
Note….
Apple is ALREADY releasing updates to the Catalina basic update ….