iCreate - UK (2019-09)

Introducing macOS Catalina

Apple never stops looking for waystoimproveyoursecurity

Mac security improves even further

Mail receives some minor and useful improvements

T

he fact that Apple is already some

distance ahead of rivals in terms

of privacy and security is not

stopping the company from doubling

down on its efforts to make everything

even more secure. In Catalina you have

more integration with the T2 Security Chip

which will ensure that no one else apart

from you can reactivate or erase your

Mac. It also ensures you are only running

M

ail has received multiple gradual

improvements over the years

yet it still looks similar to how

it did in the early days. There is only so

much you can do with email and Apple is

aware that the growth in communication

is elsewhere. Social networking, iMessage

and tools that favour instant responses

have taken over with email largely

contained in the business world above all

other areas.

Still, the improvements continue in

Catalina Mail with the ability to mute a

thread – a huge bonus if you find yourself

trapped in a group conversation in which

you only occasionally need to offer

input. You can now block senders just

as you would in Messages and we are

sure that this will be a popular feature

for a variety of obvious reasons. Also,

the hugely useful unsubscribe feature is

now included which is yet another move

towards parity between iOS and macOS.

So many features moved over from

macOS to iOS and now we are seeing

some rebound back to the Mac for even

more consistency.

secure and trusted apps which is vital

for any computing system and of course

Touch ID and payments are authenticated

using it. Catalina uses a separate system

volume for storing important system files

and it cannot be adjusted by outside apps

or software due to its read-only nature.

Also, there are new requirements for third-

party apps when they try to access your

files which means you will have to give

them permission and the same applies to

capturing keyboard movements or photo

and video captures of your current screen.

Some of these may seem obvious

security safeguards but they are not

easy to implement and it is likely that

equivalents are not built-in or turned on

by default in rival systems. Background

improvements like these make each new

macOS release a must-install event.