iOS goes dark
At last, a system–wide
Dark Mode like in macOS
Screen Time
on the Mac
Set yourself some
screen–break time
Simple to describe but complicated to
implement, Dark Mode inverts the default of
black text on a white background, giving a
more restful display, with icons and labels
adapted to suit. Individual apps can still use
their own color schemes, but providing this
as a standard system–wide option could
make a big difference to the experience of
using your iPhone. You can switch manually,
or set Dark Mode to come on in the evening.
Screen Time, introduced last year in iOS 12,
optionally charts how much time you spend
in each app or category of app each day,
showing whether your usage is going up or
down. It’s now part of macOS 10.15 too, so
you can see if sitting at the Mac actually
means work getting done.
To change habits, you can set yourself
time limits for apps and times when you
want to be away from the screen, with
options to override or take an extra minute
when your time’s up. You can consolidate
stats and limits across devices. Family
Sharing features let parents choose what
content kids can access, and who they can
communicate with.
Reminders is one of those apps that
can’t seem to please everyone, largely
because the way we like to manage
tasks is a very personal thing.
Apple is revamping it this year on
both platforms, with a quick toolbar
to add elements like times, dates and
locations to tasks as you create them.
Scanned documents and attachments
can also be incorporated. Smart lists
organize upcoming reminders, and
there’s new integration with
Messages, so Siri’s AI can suggest
when an iMessage should prompt you
to create a reminder. If you tag a
contact in a reminder, Siri will prompt
you to mention it next time you’re
iMessaging them. Third–party to–do
apps probably aren’t doomed just yet,
but this does look promising.Throughout this year’s WWDC,
Apple stressed its protections
for user data. An unexpected
bonus was Sign In with Apple,
an alternative to logging in to
services via Google or Facebook.
While the whole point for those
companies is to help track the
user, for Apple it’s to make that
impossible. With Sign In, the
information that platforms can
gather about you is severely
limited, and it’ll even generate
a dummy email address for you
each time.
iOS 13 defeats more tricks used
by public Wi–Fi tracking systems,
and there’s a new Allow Just Once
option for releasing location data.
HomeKit also gains privacyfeatures (see page 28). In macOS
10.15, apps will need your explicit
permission more often.KEEP SAFE
In macOS, Gatekeeper checks that
any new app you run has been
“notarised” (approved) by Apple,
or at least digitally signed by
a known developer. In 10.15,
notarization will be mandatory
for developers.
You can still opt to run unknown
software, but not old 32–bit apps,
which end with macOS 10.14. If
your Mac has a T2 chip (2018
MacBook Pro and Air, Mac mini,
iMac Pro) and is lost or stolen,
you can use Activation Lock to
remotely disable it.Reminders, redesigned
Smarter ways to keep track of your tasks
Enhanced security and privacy
Stop data getting out and malware getting in
maclife.comAUG 2019 21WWDC 2019