Beta 2 Updates and iPhone Mirroring

Yesterday, Apple released the second beta of the new operating systems, as announced at WWDC.

There are still no signs of Apple Intelligence. The most interesting addition is the ability to mirror your iPhone to your Mac via Continuity. I’ve just started testing it, and the feature feels solid enough for an early beta. Interestingly, the feature doesn’t work if your iPhone is active, which makes sense.

A Mac desktop with a gray background showing a Drafts window on the left side, and an iPhone visible using the new iPhone mirroring app available in the beta two version of macOS Sonoma.

There are some limitations. I tried to use Whisper Memos to record dictation onto the iPhone app via the Mac in mirroring mode, but it didn’t take. Nevertheless, keeping your iPhone on your Mac screen is excellent.

About this Folding Mac Rumor

There is a new rumor that Apple is working on a foldable, keyboard-less Mac for release in a few years, which will get a 20-inch display in something resembling a 13-inch MacBook Air footprint. That would be impressive, but it would also raise many questions.

First, what about the keyboard? Once you take away a keyboard, is it still a Mac? I’d say it is so long as it’s running macOS. A lot of folks tend to like their keyboards. At the same time, voice-to-text dictation is moving rapidly as artificial intelligence kicks into high gear. I also can’t help but note the irony that I am typing this out on a virtual keyboard on my 13-inch iPad Pro without any trouble.

Second, if Apple released an all-screen Mac, wouldn’t it make sense to include a touch screen and maybe even Apple Pencil support?

Something different, for sure.

Find and Delete Duplicates on Your Mac with Gemini

During MacSparky Labs events, I often get asked about how I manage duplicates on my Mac. I use Gemini from MacPaw, part of my Setapp subscription.… This is a post for the Early Access and Backstage MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?

Record Anything with Audio Hijack

With Audio Hijack, you can record any audio on your Mac. Save audio from individual applications such as Safari or Zoom, record from hardware audio devices like microphones and mixers, or even capture the audio output of the entire system. Whatever you need to do with audio on your Mac, Audio Hijack can help.

– Record conversations from Zoom, FaceTime, and other VoIP apps

– Create podcasts, both remote and in-studio

– Save streaming audio from the web

– Digitize vinyl

– And so much more

I use Audio Hijack daily. I don’t know how I’d be able to do my work without it. It’s powerful, stable, and constantly improving. If you want to do just about anything with audio on your Mac, this is the app you’ll need.

Check out the latest version of the award-winning Audio Hijack today. Through the end of September, MacSparky readers can save 20% when purchasing using coupon code MACSPARKY20. Learn more and download a free trial on the Audio Hijack site.

Apple’s New Autocorrect and Predictive Text (MacSparky Labs)

Here’s a demonstration of the new autocorrect and predictive text features coming to the Apple operating systems this fall… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

MacWhisper 3.0

MacWhisper, the app that uses an AI Large Language Model to create transcripts, just got its third major update. Improvements include:

New full transcript mode
Podcast mode, which can transcribe a podcast by adding the audio files for each host.
System App transcription. Record and transcribe your zoom meetings or any other audio source on your Mac
Faster speed (up to 40%).

I can’t help but feel that we are at an inflection point with voice to text and it is getting a lot easier to use and implement. MacWhisper is part of this wave.

Paul Mayne on Day One and Apple’s Journal App

Day One’s creator wrote a blog post about Apple’s new journaling app and its relationship to Day One. It’s too early to tell exactly how deep the Journaling app will go, but I doubt it matches the Day One feature set, which has been growing for years. I generally agree with Paul in that I don’t think the Journal app will “Sherlock” Day One. Indeed I could see many folks starting with the Journal app and then moving up to Date One once they get it about journaling.

The Worst Default Setting on the Mac

Found under the Mission Control System Preference, “Automatically rearrange Spaces based on recent usage” takes any Spaces you’ve set up and scrambles them every time you open a new app. So it just adds a bit of chaos to your day. I’ll never understand why this is turned on by default.

P.S. I just checked. It’s also turned on by default with a macOS Ventura install.

A Few Notes on High Sierr

It’s kind of hard to believe that Apple released a major update to macOS this week. It just didn’t move the needle much in geek circles. I remember when we used to go to the Apple Store on the night of a new Mac OS X release and it was a big deal. (I still have my 10.4 Tiger T-shirt somewhere.)

All that said, I’ve been kicking the tires on the beta for a bit and here’s my collection of notes.

My APFS transition on both the laptop and iMac went off without a hitch. I know APFS is much better its predecessor and once you get on the APFS, your data is safer. However, you really won’t notice any performance differences until you start making copies of files
Duplicating files with APFS is jarring. I keep waiting for the progress bar but it never shows up, because it’s not necessary. (APFS doesn’t need to save until you make changes to the copy.)
While everyone talks about the importance of Metal 2 at the high end, I’m curious about what it does at the low end. Will these developments make smaller Macs (with long battery lives) a viable option?
Photos gets the most improvement. That makes sense in light of the fact Photos is a relatively new product. While there are several new features, I think people will be surprised at significant improvements of the advanced editing tools. It still isn’t Aperture but it’s a lot closer.
At the other end of the spectrum, for people that don’t know what editing curves are, more Moments is good. I’ve observed a lot of non-geek family members spending time with Photos’ Memories feature. The feature solves a problem that we all have with way too many photos. I expect even more of that going forward.
Another relatively young app that made progress this year is Apple Notes. For two straight years Apple Notes has seen significant attention and it shows.
I like all the improvements to Safari but stopping auto-play video gets a special place in my heart.
It’s taken years but the way Apple Mail handles replies and composing while in full screen finally gets it right.
For a more in-depth review of High Sierra, check out Stephen Hackett’s weighty review.

In answer to the emails I’ve received asking whether you should upgrade, I’d say you are fine upgrading (provided you have a few backups first). I expect High Siera adoption will be slower than some of the prior Mac operating system updates. High Sierra has a lot more under-the-hood tuning than fancy paint and chrome. However, those features that were added, like the new photo and video formats and Notes improvements, are also on iOS so leaving your Mac behind could get frustrating.