MacFormat UK – June 2019

Many recent

improvements

take away

friction from

common tasks

Quicker
web search
on macOS

There’s no direct macOS
equivalent to the feature in step 2,
but you can get the same effect:
select a suggestion with the keys/
put the pointer over it, press
‘ then the spacebar and
carry on typing.

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APPLE SKILLS macOS/iOS

48 | MACFORMAT | JUNE 2019

New features from Apple

Discover the welcome improvements added in recent system updates

Apple’s release of macOS

10.14.4 and iOS 12.2 isn’t just

about fixing bugs and security

issues. Install these updates and

you’ll benefit from the improvements listed

on these two pages, many of which reduce

the friction in common tasks.

There are no big new features added in

these releases, but they will make your Mac,

iPhone and iPad even nicer to use. Search

suggestions in Safari are made more

interactive; Screen Time’s Downtime option

offers improved granularity; and Siri and

AirPlay are smarter at doing what you want.

On your Mac, the reach of Dark Mode

is extended beyond affecting just apps

themselves. And if you’ve bought an external

graphics processor (eGPU), it can be put to

greater use across all your displays – even

a built-in one. Alan Stonebridge

Genius tip!

With an eGPU plugged

in, you get an extra

option in Finder’s Info

window. It lets you tell

individual apps to use

the eGPU no matter

which display they are

running on. See bit.ly/

prefegpu for more info.

HIGHLIGHTS... The latest updates

1

Dark Mode for websites

This one is macOS-only, at least until iOS

gains a system-wide Dark Mode. Web designers

can implement special style sheets to make

pages easier on the eyes when Dark Mode is

turned on in macOS 10.14.4 or later.

2

A smarter search field

When you type in Safari for iOS’s Smart

Search Field, notice the arrows at the end of

some suggestions’ rows. Tap one of those to

fill that suggestion into the search field, then

continue typing any additional terms you want.

3

More noticeable insecurity

Safari shows a lock icon in the search field

when the site you’re viewing is using a secure

connection. The new version explicitly shows

‘Not secure’ there to tell you when a site poses

a risk – through password entry forms, say.

4

Screen Time granularity

When you’ve set App Limits, you can

temporarily turn off all or specific limits using

the switches at the top of Settings > Screen

Time > App Limits and within each limit you’ve

set. You can also set different limits per day.