5 issues I wish to see added to macOS 16 later thi...

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 points of Apple’s flagship desktop OS, there are nonetheless some sore spots that might profit from some severe tender love and care.

With Apple’s huge WWDC26 software conference slated to happen from June 9 to 13 this 12 months, the corporate has the proper alternative to rectify some long-standing macOS gripes. Listed here are 5 points of the trendy Mac expertise that I hope to see Apple deal with sooner reasonably 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. Other than looking out by way of Spotlight or navigating to the Purposes folder in Finder, Launchpad stays the principle user-facing app launching expertise for many customers.

Sadly, Launchpad hasn’t aged notably effectively. There is not any technique to set up apps alphabetically, sorting icons is time-consuming and clunky, and its paginated design feels antiquated. Apple has really solved this drawback already, within the type of the App Library on iOS and iPadOS. With out eradicating Launchpad from the equation, I would like to see the corporate port App Library onto macOS as a substitute 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 basic 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. Other than 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 possibly can’t resize or maximize the window, which is a disgrace. For the subsequent macOS launch, I would hope Apple fine-tunes the settings expertise, or, higher but, supplies a easy toggle to modify again to the legacy interface.

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

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

There are some nice third-party options on the market that rectify this drawback, however I actually should not must depend on a devoted app to get the job carried out. It might be a wonderful high quality of life enchancment if the subsequent model of macOS had been to easily embrace this performance out of the field.

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4 The return of Cowl Stream

Authorized points however, Cowl Stream stays pure eye sweet

In older variations of macOS, Cowl Stream was a characteristic discovered inside the Finder file supervisor that made perusing by means of information 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 era sideways, and utilizing the scroll wheel to flick thru my albums one after the other.

It is a little bit of a tricky one, as Apple was reportedly compelled to take away Cowl Stream from its working methods after settling a patent dispute with an organization known as Mirror Worlds. Nonetheless, I dream of a day by which I am going to be capable of as soon as once more scroll by means of 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 Middle

I hate having to dig into System Settings each time

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

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 brief foundation is instrumental to sustaining my sanity. Generally I simply wish to clear all of the muddle for a time frame, and macOS makes it a chore to take action. I would 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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