5 issues I wish to see added to macOS 16 later this yr

macOS, in its varied incarnations, has been round within the PC house for many years. By way of the years, Apple has fine-tuned the working system, endowing it with a staggering variety of options and utilities. Whereas I really like most features of Apple’s flagship desktop OS, there are nonetheless some sore spots that would profit from some critical tender love and care.

With Apple’s large WWDC26 software conference slated to happen from June 9 to 13 this yr, the corporate has the proper alternative to rectify some long-standing macOS gripes. Listed here are 5 features of the fashionable Mac expertise that I hope to see Apple tackle sooner slightly than later.

1 The introduction of App Library

Apple has already laid the groundwork for this one

There are a selection of various strategies out there for launching apps on macOS. Apart from looking by way of Spotlight or navigating to the Purposes folder in Finder, Launchpad stays the primary user-facing app launching expertise for many customers.

Sadly, Launchpad hasn’t aged significantly properly. There is no option to arrange apps alphabetically, sorting icons is time-consuming and clunky, and its paginated design feels antiquated. Apple has really solved this downside already, within the type of the App Library on iOS and iPadOS. With out eradicating Launchpad from the equation, I might like to see the corporate port App Library onto macOS in its place app launching expertise.

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2 A greater System Settings expertise

Group is a multitude, and the window is hardly resizable

Apple redesigned the Mac’s settings software with the discharge of macOS 13 Ventura in 2022. The corporate ditched the traditional management panel-esque design in favor of an iOS-inspired interface, a lot to the dissatisfaction of many long-time Mac customers like myself.

I am not against a modernized System Settings expertise in precept, however Apple’s redesign has left one thing to be desired. Apart from breaking my muscle reminiscence, essential settings are confusingly positioned and obfuscated behind layers of navigation pages.

Worse but, the brand new design is not versatile — you may’t resize or maximize the window, which is a disgrace. For the subsequent macOS launch, I might hope Apple fine-tunes the settings expertise, or, higher but, supplies a easy toggle to change again to the legacy interface.

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I should not need to depend on third-party instruments for this performance

Over on Windows, it has been potential to put system tray applet icons right into a devoted overflow part for a few years. Sadly, macOS’s Menu Bar does not embody this small-yet-mighty interface consideration. This turns into an actual downside when you begin downloading and putting in tons of utility-style apps, which regularly include Menu Bar icons for fast entry to their respective features.

There are some nice third-party options on the market that rectify this downside, however I actually should not need to depend on a devoted app to get the job completed. It would be a wonderful high quality of life enchancment if the subsequent model of macOS have been to easily embody this performance out of the field.

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4 The return of Cowl Movement

Authorized points however, Cowl Movement stays pure eye sweet

In older variations of macOS, Cowl Movement was a characteristic discovered inside the Finder file supervisor that made perusing by recordsdata a stunning and visually pleasing expertise. The characteristic was additionally utilized in different Apple merchandise — I’ve fond recollections of tilting my iPod Nano fifth technology sideways, and utilizing the scroll wheel to flick through my albums one after the other.

It is a little bit of a tricky one, as Apple was reportedly pressured to take away Cowl Movement from its working techniques after settling a patent dispute with an organization referred to as Mirror Worlds. Nonetheless, I dream of a day wherein I am going to be capable to as soon as once more scroll by my Mac’s picture and music albums in a gorgeously crafted flip-style interface.

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5 A ‘conceal desktop icons’ button in Management Heart

I hate having to dig into System Settings every time

On Home windows, hiding desktop icons, recordsdata, and shortcuts is as straightforward as right-clicking the display, after which hitting View > Present desktop icons. Sadly, with out the usage of third-party instruments, the method is much more tedious on macOS. To take action, you want to launch the System Settings app, after which navigate to Desktop & Dock > Desktop & Stage Supervisor > Present Gadgets.

As somebody who makes use of my desktop as a digital scratchboard for in-progress work, the power to rapidly conceal all icons on a short lived foundation is instrumental to sustaining my sanity. Typically I simply wish to clear all of the muddle for a time frame, and macOS makes it a chore to take action. I might like to see a fast entry toggle for the characteristic integrated straight into the Mac’s Control Center in a future replace.

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