Apple announces macOS Sonoma, adding support for desktop widgets, a new Game mode that reduces latency, Safari updates, pinning web apps in the Dock, and more
new video conferencing tools for help presenting material and give reactions to speakers. It will detect a double thumbs up and give a special background [image] @csuwildcat : @jensimmons @codemonkey85 So how is a Mac ‘Web App’ dealing with the install flow, icon images, etc.? Is it a waterfall type strategy where if the Manifest is there, it uses that and supports those more precise declarations/features, and if not, it fails over to using the favicon, meta tag links, etc.? Jason Aten / @jasonaten : Video presenter updates: Overlay looks very cool. I mean it's hard to make video calls less bad but this seems like a real improvement. Even works in zoom and webex and MS teams. #WWDC23 [image] Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi : Please. No more widgets. Tayyab / @cstayyab : @jensimmons a.k.a. Non-Standard PWAs (That's the most we can expect from Apple, non-standardized stuff) Ilya Miskov / @ilyamiskov : Presenter Overlay is going to kill many indie apps #WWDC23 [image] Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : I like how the first feature listed on the macOS Sonoma page is... Screen Savers. I think Apple was busy with visionOS. @film_girl : Literally no one plays AAA games on Mac and this changes nothing. And will change nothing. @segphault : @film_girl It also doesn't help that Apple has thoroughly alienated the company that makes one of the most popular 3D game engines for AAA games Jesse Bunch / @bunchjesse : You read that right. Linked notes and real-time collaboration in PDFs. Congrats to the team on this huge accomplishment. Notes has never been better. https://www.apple.com/... [image]
Context & Ripple Effects
Sonoma extends interface patterns Apple had already brought to iPadOS, including more prominent, flexible widgets, while Apple’s shared-chip architecture had made it possible for Macs to run iOS apps natively in the Mac App Store. The update therefore continues a broader effort to make the Mac feel more integrated with Apple’s other platforms.
The package also treats the Mac as both a work and entertainment endpoint: web apps can live in the Dock, and system-level video tools are designed to work with Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams. Later coverage found widgets and gaming changes among Sonoma’s more consequential additions, even as the release offered fewer new features for Intel Macs.
First-order effects
- Mac users gain desktop widgets, Dock-pinned web apps, Safari changes, and presentation features that can augment calls on major conferencing services.
- Game Mode makes lower-latency behavior a named macOS capability, giving game developers and players a clearer platform-level performance feature to evaluate.
Second-order effects
- Dock-pinned web apps give browser-based services a more native-looking presence on Macs, increasing the importance of install flows, icons, and web-app polish for developers targeting Apple users.
- Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams must coexist with Apple-controlled presentation overlays and reactions, shifting some meeting-call differentiation from the app layer into the operating system.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues carrying interaction patterns across its devices, Mac software design may increasingly converge with iPad and iOS conventions rather than remain a distinct desktop experience.
- System-level gaming and conferencing enhancements point to operating systems taking a larger role in performance and collaboration workflows, potentially reducing the scope for app makers to differentiate solely through basic platform features.
The trend: Sonoma is one data point in Apple’s gradual convergence of Mac, mobile, web, gaming, and collaboration experiences around OS-level capabilities.