Last Updated on June 9, 2022 by srinivas
Apple spent about 18 minutes of the WWDC keynote talking about the major new features in macOS 13 Ventura — and a lot was crammed into that short segment. But a lot was also left out. That means there are several new features coming that weren’t mentioned, but you’ll find very useful. Here are a few unlisted features that stand out.
Security USB-C Accessory
Apple is always looking for new ways to lock down your Mac’s security, so macOS Ventura has added an extra layer of security to your Mac’s USB-C port. When a USB or Thunderbolt accessory is connected to a port, a warning appears asking if you want to connect the accessory. Users can then choose to ignore or allow the device.
This warning is optional. You can find the setting for this in System Settings > Privacy and Security † Safety, and you can set it to prompt for new accessories every time, to allow the accessory automatically when the Mac is unlocked, or to always allow accessories. According to Ventura’s release notes, approved accessories remain approved for three days and accessories confirmed during an OS update are automatically allowed.
(By the way, there’s still no setting to stop the “Disk not ejected properly” popup if you unplug a flash drive without removing it from the Finder first.)
background noises
Some users like to have “white noise” in the background to keep the focus and use Apple Music, YouTube or some other method to play the audio. With Ventura there is now a setting in System Settings > Accessibility † audio to play one of six different background sounds:
- Balanced noise: White noise similar to low static electricity
- Clear noise: Static with a lighter amount of bass
- Dark noise: Static with heavier bass
- Ocean: Sounds heard while walking on a beach
- To rain: Moderate to heavy downpour
- Current: a babbling brook (which usually makes me want to go to the toilet)
Background sounds continue to play when you play other media, such as Apple Music or YouTube. Apple has added a Hear menu bar icon and a Hear module for Control Center so you can quickly turn off background noise without diving into System Settings.
Clock and Weather apps
The iPhone and iPad have always had a Clock app, and now the Mac is finally getting one too. The Mac version is basically the same as the iPad with a time card that appears in the World Clock section. The clock can be set to follow different time zones and has alarms, a stopwatch and a timer.
Foundry
The Mac also gets a Weather app, and it’s basically the iPhone’s Weather app, but redesigned to take advantage of the screen size, like the one in iPadOS 16. You can view the current temperature, hourly conditions, and a 10-day forecast. to see. It also has informative modules for air quality, precipitation, UV index and more.
Improved Notes App
The Notes app is finally getting some much-needed sorting features. Smart folders are now available, which use rules you can set to automatically organize your notes, and you can filter by any or all criteria in a smart folder, as well as in the tag browser. Notes also has chronological categories, so you can see notes grouped by when they were last modified.
Notes now offers the option to lock notes with your login password, instead of creating a new password every time. And you can now create a link for a note that you can pass on to others who give that person access.
better memories
Reminders has several new features to better support lists. Lists can now be pinned and you can save templates if you have preferred designs for certain lists. Notifications can be set up to alert people when a shared list is changed, and it’s now a lot easier to view your completed lists via the Complete Smart List.
Other ecosystem functions
There are several new unlisted features that are new not only to macOS Ventura, but also iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. They include:
- Locked hidden and recently deleted folders in Photos that require Touch ID login
- Hide My Email Availability in Third-Party Apps
- More Memoji Features
- Live captioning on audio content (previewed in May)