Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2022 (also known as WWDC 2022 or WWDC22) was the 33rd annual conference held just for its developers. Along with notable mentions of Apple announcing the next generation M2 chipset and redesigned MacBook Air (both great for business and consumer users) macOS Ventura has Apple refocusing on the core functions we use consistently for productivity. Below we’ll show you some of our favorite features for businesses, and what you can expect from them Fall 2022.
The Desktop is the stage and the Apps are all the actors.
To be or not to be productive? This is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer working in one window at a time, or to take on the overwhelming troubles of remembering which apps you wanted to split screen between the 10 options you opened to start work that morning.”
– Hamlet (if working in 2022)
Think of your computer’s desktop as a stage. As we work, we move from scene to scene incorporating actors needed (our apps) to make the scene successful so it progresses the storyline (or in this case, our workday). To set up each scene or workflow, users must click on an app before the scene can start. This can become time consuming, having to manage each workflow instead of a pre-crafted scene or workflow, ready to step in from off-stage when needed.
There are many ways users can multitask on a Mac. Eventually, users develop a go-to method which can encompass looking at one, two, or more app windows at one time, limiting the amount of screen real estate they have.
In macOS Ventura, we will receive “Stage Manager” offering a new way to solve our dilemma for lost productivity.
How this breaks down: Stage Manager allows the active apps a user has on their desktop(s) to be automatically organized and pushed off to the side in their own, still visible, “off-stage” area. From this visible area, the user can choose to click and allow one (or a bundled group of windows) to “take the stage” from the available open apps that are waiting just off-stage. If there was a window already on-stage, they would gracefully move off-stage to allow the summoned window to enter the focus of the user (hello productivity!).
Lastly, if the user needs to access a file located on their desktop, they simply need to click just outside the window that is currently “on-stage.” The windows will move to their off-stage locations, allowing the user to access anything living on their desktop to open to bring “on-stage.”
Not only will you see Stage Manager in macOS Venture but in iPadOS 16 as well.
Continuity Camera, you’ve never looked more professional.
No matter the make or model, webcams found in today’s business-class laptops aren’t exactly inspired by cinema.
Now, if you have a Mac running OS Ventura and an iPhone running iOS16, the iPhone’s often lauded rear-facing camera can be used as the Mac’s webcam. This gives the users the ability to take advantage of video features like Portrait Mode and Center Stage, but also allows for a new Desktop Mode (which can be great for demonstrations or collaboration among teams when working remote).
Beyond FaceTime calls, this functionality is available with meeting applications like Zoom, Teams, and Webex and while using a 3rd party adapter, an iPhone can sit securely at the top of a laptop, desktop, or even portable displays.
Passwords are a thing of the past. Now “open sesame” with just a look or a touch.
The thing about passwords is that they’re easy. Easy to create, easy to forget, easy to misplace, and easy to hand over to someone else. So the challenge becomes: How does a password become more difficult for others to obtain, but remain easy for the user to setup and manage?
Personal biometrics paired in conjunction with advanced cryptography techniques have come together to create the “Passkey”. Passkeys are created solely for the website or app they are designed for and live securely on the Apple devices (which, according to Apple, cannot be phished or leaked). Businesses may consider switching to using Apple IDs in sync with iCloud Keychain, providing more security, and building the foundation for their organizations into the password-less future.
Better than snail mail.
After many requests, businesses using Apple devices will be able to consider using new features like: scheduled send and undo send for outgoing emails, automatic follow-up suggestions and reminders on specific emails to revisit if waiting for a return response.
These are just some of the great business-minded updates coming in macOS Ventura. Because it’s free to most Macs, there should be no reason not to update and take advantage of them when it releases in the Fall, along with other updates like ones we talk about in our iOS 16 & WatchOS 9 blog post.
FTTS is a part of the Apple Consultants Network® and has over 50+ combined years of experience working with Apple® products. Let us help you with your company’s Apple® device needs: Reach out here.
