Overshadowed by the stunning new Apple Vision Pro headset, Apple did in fact unveil a brand new macOS operating system in macOS Sonoma at WWDC 2023. The new update looks absolutely fantastic, with some amazing new screensavers and awesome desktop widgets.
One update that might have slipped under your radar, however, is web apps. Safari got a big upgrade with some new Private Browsing changes and profiles to help you keep your work and home life separate, but web apps are where it’s at this year. Let me tell you why.
iPhone users have long enjoyed the Add to Home Screen feature for websites that don’t have apps. If you want to app a website to your iPhone’s Home Screen, you can do that, and now macOS is getting the same feature. Web apps will let you turn any web page into its own app, complete with a streamlined toolbar, for your surfing pleasure.
The example Apple provides is Pinterest, where a user can now create a Pinterest “app” in their dock complete with an icon for faster access. Clicking on it opens Pinterest in Safari but without all of the usual web browsing paraphernalia. Web apps “behave like normal apps” according to Apple, and could be a great way to simplify using a Mac and improving access to sites without developers having to devote time and resources to creating a Mac app, which probably isn’t all that high on their priority list.
You can turn any web page into an app from the File menu on macOS, and you can even receive notifications from web apps too!
There were so many awesome macOS upgrades to choose from at WWDC this year. Another personal favorite of mine is screen savers. These are awesome slow-motion landscapes that seamlessly transform into your desktop background when you log in.
Another long-awaited feature is widgets, which can now be placed directly on your desktop. More impressive still, you can access iPhone widgets on a Mac using Continuity without having to install the app on your Mac, for instance performing tasks on your Mac in an iPhone app like Pixelmator.
Finally, video conferencing got a massive upgrade with Presenter Overlay, which puts you at the center of a presentation on apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams while you present content.
macOS Sonoma is coming later this year and is available now as a developer beta.