nine things to do in one case yous finally install Big Sur

Hither are ix macOS Large Sur features that should exist of interest to people using their Macs for work.

Apple, Mac, Big Sur, macOS, HOw to
Apple

After some other busy WFH calendar week, once you finally manage to install Big Sur despite Apple's launch-twenty-four hours issues with downloads, here are ix things to try commencement.

Check your passwords immediately

Safari already stores your passwords and lets you know if you've re-used any of them on multiple sites and services. In Big Sur, it adds a new characteristic called information alienation monitoring.

To practise this, Safari uses potent cryptographic techniques to regularly check a derivation of your passwords confronting a list of breached passwords in a secure and private way that doesn't reveal your countersign data to anyone — even Apple doesn't know.

If Safari spots a potential breach, it will warn you then help you update your password. Given the sophistication of phishing and other scams, checking your passwords with this tool should be on the must-practice listing for every enterprise user upgrading to Big Sur.

Customize your Control Center

The new macOS has a new Control Center that works far more than like the 1 you use on iPhone or iPad. Information technology includes controls for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Practise Not Disturb, Now Playing and many more functions. You can also add controls, including items for  Battery power, Fast User Switching and more. Y'all can also choose to host controls in Control Middle, in the Dock or both. Set things upward as you like in System Preferences>Dock & Carte du jour Bar.

Naturalize Notifications

Notification Middle at present puts most contempo notifications on elevation and populates the space beneath with a range of Today widgets you tin can configure to match your needs. They accept also go more interactive, so you lot can reply to emails or cheque your schedule from within the infinite, for case. You can also add together new widgets or move existing ones around.

Apple has also opened upwardly Notifications so developers tin now build their own widgets with Swift UI, which may come in useful — some enterprises may cull to create inventory-level or order-condition widgets, for example.

Share a Reminder

While I imagine virtually enterprises may already use a more powerful grouping working solution, Apple has made several useful improvements to Reminders in Big Sur. The ability to assign reminders lets you share them with others. Just tap the I button to set this upward. Reminders will too automatically propose dates, times, and locations, based on like reminders yous've created in the past and will scour Mail to automatically surface potential reminders you may demand your retention jogging almost.

Set your Safari beginning page

I don't care how busy you lot are or how professional yous've go, information technology's yet nice to see a smiling face of someone you lot care for — parent, child, spouse, lover or your family dog. Safari'south make new and information-packed Start page lets you choose such an prototype that will announced every bit the background whenever you open up a new browser window.

To customize the page, open up a new Safari browser window and scroll downwards until you come across the gears icon at the lower correct. Tap this and yous'll be able to set which fields you see on that folio and choose an paradigm to utilize there. (This characteristic is sectional to Safari 14, which also runs on earlier editions of macOS.) While you're in Safari, go to Carte du jour>Safari>Safari Extensions and take a look at those.

Translate a web folio

The world is full of contrasting views. To expose yourselves to how people in different nations are thinking, it's adept to read websites written in those languages — except we can't, every bit we don't all speak other languages. Enter Safari: Open a page in any supported language, (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, French, German language, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese) and yous should run across a translation icon appear to the correct of the accost bar. Sadly, this feature isn't available everywhere.

Exist the y'all inside

A new Memoji editor in Messages lets you create a small graphic that matches your personality and mood. You can select from across a wide range of head shapes, hairstyles, headwear and other options, so you terminate up with more a trillion potential combinations.

Create a Guide in Maps

Apple tree has created a new feature called Guides. These are created by Apple'southward own experts and will guide y'all effectually new places with useful recommendations to restaurants, places of interest and more. Merely yous can besides create and share your own guides.

An enterprise user tin can call up creatively about this. The HR department might create local guides to share when on-boarding new employees or to assist inform those travelling from offices in other countries, while B2B knowledge workers might create guides for business organisation contacts to help them go more out of the experience when they visit for the next meeting.

To create a Guide:

  • Open Maps and in My Guides tap the + button.
  • Right click the new guide widow that appears, tap Edit Guide, proper name information technology and so populate the guide.
  • To add a place to the guide correct-click the guide's proper name and select Add new Place and search for the location, or drag items from the Map into the new guide.
  • Once you've created and populated the guide you can sort it past proper noun, distance or date.
  • Share information technology with others via the Share menu.

Browse documents directly to your Mac

Apple tree has improved scanning in Notes. Yous've e'er been able to use Continuity Photographic camera to use your iPhone or iPad equally a source camera to scan items to your Mac, but the scans you have are now more precisely cropped and volition transfer automatically.

Delight follow me on  Twitter, or bring together me in the AppleHolic'southward bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Jonny is a freelance writer who has been writing (mainly most Apple tree and technology) since 1999.

Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.