After a week of intensive use, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and macOS Sonoma have proven to be much more than they appear at first glance. All of them, versions of the operating system that feel renewed in several key points, with improvements that, although subtle in many cases, are designed to improve our productivity and user experience quite noticeably.
Performance typical of a fourth beta and very few bugs considering the amount of changes.
Starting with macOS Sonoma, the highlight is how it has integrated some of the best features of iOS 17. From improvements to video conferencing to the ability to share passwords to the separation of Safari browsing into profiles to changes to the Messages app, Sonoma learns from the iPhone.
And it has a lot to learn, as in iOS 17 the communication applications, such as Phone, Messages and FaceTime, receive a number of very interesting updates. For example, the ability to customize our poster to introduce ourselves in a more personal way when we call someone. Or the feature of real-time transcription of messages in voicemail, very useful, although for the moment only available in English.
Returning to the Mac, in the field of productivity, we must highlight the arrival of widgets on the Mac desktop. Something that we had already seen in iOS and iPadOS and that, thanks to the screen size and capabilities of our Macs, takes on a new meaning in Sonoma. Useful information at a glance. The widgets, to top it off, are now interactive. That is to say that, both on the Mac and on the iPad or iPhone, they allow us to interact with our applications directly from them without having to open them. Whether we’re talking about pausing playback, marking a task as completed, turning on the air conditioning or running a shortcut, it’s now easier than ever.
To finish on the Mac, we must talk about PWA, the Progressive Web Apps, which allow us to use any website as if it were a standalone application. And all this, at least in this first week of use, consuming less energy than its predecessor, macOS Ventura.
We have to talk about watchOS 10 separately. This is the most important update that has passed the operating system of our watch since we could put the first Series 0 on our wrist. The redesign of the operating system is noticeable everywhere. From the new way of accessing applications to the new Activity, Bag or Noise app, to give just a few examples. The new widgets allow us to enjoy any dial without worrying about complications, as a rotation of the digital crown brings back all the information we need.
On the Apple Watch Ultra screen it looks simply spectacular. With more space for quick access buttons to certain parts of the system and with the information displayed at a larger size and with an order that was not possible before. Yes, we can say that it is still noticeable that we are talking about a beta. There are some minor bugs, for example in the customization of widgets, and battery consumption is slightly higher than usual. Something, which is not so noticeable in iOS 17, by the way, where practically no error is detected, although the system does go somewhat more loaded than in a stable version.
Considering that we are talking about a first beta, the work Apple has done is really impressive. Versions with a large number of changes, distributed throughout the system, and with very few bugs. Changes, moreover, that are going to touch key functions and completely transform the experience, in most cases. In short, the updates you’ve been waiting for.
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