Best Apps For Macos Catalina

1. Best Apps For Macos Catalina Island
2. Macos Catalina App Compatibility List
3. Macos Catalina Download
4. Apple Macos Catalina Download

MacOS Catalina's 3 best features in the public beta. The iTunes replacements, iOS apps on Mac and Sidecar highlight our hands-on look at Apple's new MacOS 10.15 beta. Dec 27, 2019 We’ve compiled a list of some of the best software available for Apple’s Mac, from email and shortcut apps to window organizers and multimedia players. Airmail 3, Alfred, Bear, LastPass.

Apple's latest version of macOS, Catalina, officially ditches 32-bit app support, but you can still run the software you need by following these steps.

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Apple's latest version of macOS, 10.15 Catalina, looks a lot like earlier versions of the operating system, but is vastly different under the hood. The biggest change is that Apple ripped out all the code that, in earlier versions, made it possible to run older 32-bit apps in Apple's 64-bit operating system. Apple warned us years ago that this change was coming, and there's no doubt that an all-64-bit OS like Catalina is more efficient than an OS that runs both 32-bit and 64-bit code. Still, for many users, Catalina blocks apps that they've relied on for years. Here, we show you how to run 32-bit apps on an OS that isn't designed for them.

Before you update to Catalina, find out whether you're using any 32-bit apps that you can't do without. The easiest way to do this is to click the Apple icon in the upper left, then About this Mac, then System Report, and scroll down to Software/Applications. Your Mac will take a while to gather information about your apps and then displays a list of all the apps on your machine. Find the column headed '64-bit (Intel)' and click on the column heading. All your 64-bit apps will show a Yes in this column. All the 32-bit apps will show a No. You may be surprised by how many 32-bit apps you have. Study this list, and if you find 32-bit apps that you need, you'll have to find a 64-bit update or replacement—or you can implement the workarounds below.

The 32-bit apps you find on your machine are typically of two kinds: older Mac apps that have been abandoned by their developers (or that developers are slow to update) and apps based on the Wine software project that lets Macs and Linux computers run Windows software. (Wine stands for 'Wine Is Not an Emulator,' but, effectively, it emulates Windows features so that Macs and Linux boxes can run some, but not all, Windows applications.)

SEE ALSO: What's New With Thunderbolt 4? It Won't Be Faster, But Other Specs Scale Up

If you need to run a 32-bit app, Apple unofficially recommends either that you keep an old Mac on hand that runs a pre-Catalina version of the OS or that you partition your current Mac so that it can start up with an older macOS version as well as Catalina. Both methods work, but both seem to me inconvenient and time consuming. There are, however, better alternatives.

Best Apps For Macos Catalina Island

The easiest method is this (but keep in mind that it costs money): Buy a copy of Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion if you don't already own one. These prorgrams are designed mostly for running Windows on a Mac, but you can also use them to create a virtual machine that runs macOS in a window on your Mac desktop. Parallels is easiest to use, but VMware Fusion isn't far behind.

The steps are different depending on whether you're still running macOS Mojave or have already upgraded to Catalina. Let's start with the steps to take if you're still running Mojave. Each step corresponds to a screen in the slideshow.

1. Launch Parallels Desktop

From the File menu, choose New… to open the Installation Assistant panel. In the Free Systems section, scroll to the right and click Install macOS 10.14.6 Using the Recovery Partition. (It may show a different version number on your system.) If you've upgraded to Mojave from an earlier OS version, you may see options to install that earlier version. Choose whichever version you feel most comfortable with.

2. Create a New Virtual Machine

The next page in the Assistant is headed macOS 10.14.6. Click the Install button. Parallels launches the macOS installer and creates a new virtual machine. When it's done, you see a screen asking you which language to use to interact with your virtual Mac. Choose your preferred language and continue.

3. Prep the macOS Mojave Installation

The macOS Recovery Environment now opens in the virtual machine. (This is the screen that every Mac displays when you hold down Cmd-R at startup.) In the macOS Utilities menu, click Reinstall macOS. The next screen will offer to install macOS Mojave. Click Continue. On the license agreement screen, click Accept, and then click the Accept button in the pop-up menu.

4. Install macOS Mojave on the Virtual Disk

Don't be terrified by the next screen, which offers to install Mojave on a hard disk named Macintosh HD. This is not your Mac's hard disk, but a virtual hard disk in the virtual machine that Parallels created. Click Macintosh HD and then Continue. Now wait while Mojave installs itself on the virtual disk. This may take more than a half hour.

5. Set Up macOS Mojave

The virtual Mojave will display the same setup screens that the Mac normally displays when you install an OS.

6. Complete the macOS Mojave Installation

When the installation is complete, you'll see the default Mojave desktop. From your actual Mac's top menu (not the topline menu within the virtual machine) choose Actions, then Install Parallels Tools.

7. Install Parallels Tools

Follow the prompts to install the Parallels Tools in your virtual Mojave machine, and then restart the virtual machine.

8. Transfer Your 32-Bit Apps

Drag your 32-bit applications from your real Mac into the virtual Mojave system. Double-click them to run them. If you're running Mojave and not an earlier version, you'll see the familiar pop-up warning that your 32-bit is not optimized for macOS and will need to be updated. Ignore the warning.

9. Upgrade the OS

Now you can upgrade to Catalina. When the upgrade is complete, start Parallels Desktop and your virtual Mojave machine. (In this screenshot, Mojave is running at night, so it's showing the nighttime desktop image, but it's the same virtual machine shown in earlier screens. Here, I'm running a 32-bit app that won't run in Catalina itself.

10. Wrap It Up

With a 32-bit app running, go to the Parallels top menu and choose View/Enter Coherence. The 32-bit app appears in its own window on your Mac desktop, and a second top-line menu (the menu for the virtual Mac) appears beneath the top-line menu of your main macOS installation. As you can see in this window, my Mac is running Catalina, but a 32-bit app is running in a window that looks like any other app window. The virtual machine's dock is visible at the foot of the screen, but it's easy to turn that off from the virtual machine's System Preferences.

You can now explore the Parallels options for fine control over your apps and use the System Preferences app in the virtual Mojave to make one or more 32-bit apps start up automatically when the virtual machine is launched. (Go the Users & Groups preference pane, then the Login Items tab.)

Another Catalina Option

But what if you've already upgraded to Catalina, or you have a new mac that runs only Catalina, and you can't install Mojave into Parallels with your Mac's recovery partition. All is not lost. You'll need to download the Mojave installer from the Mac App Store and use it to install Mojave in Parallels.

Now that Catalina is released, Apple doesn't display an option to download Mojave from the App Store, but it's still on Apple's servers. If you search deeply enough on Apple's web site, you can find the web address that opens the App Store page where you can download the Mojave installer. I did the search so that you don't have to. Simply visit this Mojave page, and the App Store will offer the Mojave installer for downloading. Or, if you prefer to download and install the previous operating system, visit the High Sierra page.

Choose the cloud icon to download the installer. Your Mac will ask if you really want to download it; confirm that you do, and wait until it gets downloaded to your Applications folder. Don't run it! Instead, start Parallels Desktop, use the File/New… menu to open the Installation Assistant. Click on the center icon, 'Install Windows or other OS from a DVD or image file.' The next screen may show the Install macOS Mojave installer; if it doesn't, drag the Installer into the window and follow the prompts to create and use a Mojave virtual machine, as in steps 4 through 10 above.

If you have VMware Fusion, you'll need to use the same procedure whether or not you've updated to Catalina. Start Fusion, click New… on the menu to open the 'Select the Installation Method.' You'll see an option to 'Install macOS from the recovery partition.' Don't be tempted to use it, because it will tell you that it couldn't find any recovery partitions, even if you know perfectly well that a recovery partition is there. I've asked VMware about this bug, and maybe it will get fixed in a future version.

So, instead of using the Recovery Partition, you'll need to download a Mojave or High Sierra installer, as described above, and drag it into the Select the Installation Window. Follow the prompts to install a virtual machine. When the new virtual system starts up, use the Virtual Machine/Install VMware Tools menu to install the VMware Tools. After restarting the virtual machine, drag your 32-bit apps into it and run them in the same way you can run them in Parallels. VMware uses the name Unity for the same option that Parallels calls Coherence; it runs an app in a virtual machine in a way that looks as if the program is running in a window of your main macOS installation.

You Can Run Wine-Based Apps, Too

What if you're using a Wine-based app to run a Windows game or app? In almost every case, the Wine-based app won't run in Catalina. The easiest solution is to install Windows in Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion and run the app in Windows. This costs money—you have to pay for a copy of Windows—and can be slow and complicated, but it's the only solution right now. The most prominent vendor of Wine-based software, CodeWeavers, plans to release a Catalina-compatible version, but the job isn't easy and it isn't clear when the new version will arrive.

There's one exception to the rule that Wine-based apps won't run in Catalina: If, and only if, you're running 64-bit Wine, and if, and only if, your Windows app is a 64-bit app and one that's simple enough to run under Wine, then Wine can run it in a window under Catalina. The most effective way I've found to accomplish this is to use the brilliant Wineskin Winery app—an open-source project by a programmer who uses the name doh123—in the form of its unofficial update by a programmer who uses the name Gcenx. (The original Wineskin Winery won't run under Catalina.) If there's enough interest in this subject, then we'll post a how-to guide here, but there are probably too few 64-bit Windows apps that are usable under Wine to make it worth your while. Interested readers can search for 'Unofficial Wineskin update' to get started, but be prepared to bang your head on the table a few times until you figure it out.

Apple hasn't made it easy to run 32-bit apps under Catalina, but it's still possible. If you've found other ways to make it happen, please let us know in the comment section below.

Macos Catalina App Compatibility List

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At WWDC 2019 Apple released the latest version of macOS. Dubbed as macOS Catalina, the new version of macOS might not bring as many new features as that latest version of iOS, iOS 13 does, but it still has enough to keep us Mac lovers engrossed. I installed that macOS Catalina on my primary MacBook Pro, the day Apple released the developer beta. The developer beta of macOS Catalina is far buggier than the developer beta of iOS 13, so I recommend that you wait for the public beta to install this on your device if you don’t have a spare Mac. With that said, let us see the best feature of macOS Catalina.

Note: macOS 10.15 Catalina is under development so you need an Apple developer account to install it on your device. That said, the beta is buggy and I suggest that you wait for the public beta which will come out in July before installing it on your device.

Macos Catalina Download

Best macOS Catalina Features You Should Know

1. Music, Podcasts, and TV apps

One of my favorite moments of WWDC 19 was Apple making fun of iTunes and how bloated it has become over the years. With macOS Catalina, iTunes is now dead and three new apps are coming to replace it. Now, there are three different apps for Music, Podcasts, and TV. Both Music and Podcasts apps offer a very similar design. The only difference between the three apps is that both Music and TV apps use AppKit while the Podcasts app is using the UIKit (Project Catalyst, popularly known as Marzipan).

This is very important as Podcasts app and Music apps are similar despite the Podcasts app using Project Catalyst (more on this later). This shows how developers can use Project Catalyst to create Mac apps which feel native to the operating system. I am happy with the new apps as they make it easier to listen to my favorite music and podcasts and watching shows and movies than iTunes. One big feature of the new TV app is that now it supports 4K HDR playback on compatible Macs, which includes all models introduced in 2018 or later that have 4K screens.

2. Project Catalyst

Apple Macos Catalina Download

Project Catalyst, codenamed Project Marzipan in the leaks last year, is finally here. This new project allows developers to port their iPad apps to Mac. This should cause the rejuvenation of the Mac App Store which has grown stale when compared to the booming iOS App Store. We are already seeing some popular developers bringing their app to Macs with Twitter being one. This is a tool that developers will love. Now even smaller development teams have the potential to launch Mac apps as they will be able to port their iPad apps to Mac.

However, for a Project Catalyst app to be good, the core iPad app should be good in the first place and should support all the new features such as multi-window support, drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts, and more. While Project Catalyst paints a good picture for the Mac App Store, its success still lies in the hands of third-party app developers.

3. Sidecar

One of the biggest features that is coming to Macs with macOS Catalina is Sidecar. Sidecar allows users to use their iPads as secondary displays for their Mac. We can establish the connection both with wire and wirelessly up to 10 meters. Note that Sidecar is a Mac first feature, that means you cannot start this from your iPad. This is great news especially for professional designers and graphics artists as they can now use the iPad as a drawing surface. The feature is still under development and there is still some lag when using it. But as far as first impressions go, it’s a damn good feature and users who own both an iPad and Mac will enjoy it a lot.

4. Activation Lock

macOS Catalina brings the iOS “Activation Lock” to Macs. Now, if your Mac gets stolen, no one will be able to get it to work unless you allow access with your Apple ID. The new feature is coming to only those Macs which come with Apple custom-designed T2 security chip installed.

5. The Death of 32-Bit Apps

Apple announced the death of 32-bit apps for Macs quite a while back and now it is coming to pass. Once you upgrade your Mac to macOS Catalina, all the 32-bit apps will stop working. You will get a prompt whenever you open a 32-bit app saying it’s no longer supported. It will even warn when you are installing macOS Catalina.

The installer will show you a list of apps that won’t be supported once you make the upgrade. You can manually check an app’s status by clicking on the Apple Menu and going to About this Mac → System Report → Applications (under software) and then clicking on the name of the application. The details will show whether that app is a 32-bit or 64-bit app.

6. Voice Control

Now, there’s a robust “Voice Control” accessibility feature which will allow users to control their Macs just with their voice. You can do almost anything thanks to a system of grids and labels. You can see the feature working in the video below. This is a great feature and will help the physically challenged Mac users.

7. Screen Time

Apple introduced Screen Time for iOS devices with iOS 12. The app allows users to track their usage and place limits on apps they are wasting too much time on. Now the feature has made its way to macOS Catalina. You can access it by going to System Preferences → Screen Time. You will be able to share your Screen Time data to all your devices to get a combine usage results. Screen Time is also getting new features such as contact based limits and more. Sadly for me, it’s not working at all in the first developer beta.

All the Rest

macOS Catalina is bringing a ton of other improvements most of which we have already discussed in our iOS 13 Hands-on article. Here are brief descriptions of all those features.

First Party App Updates

Several first-party apps are getting new updates. Reminders now looks beautiful and is more functional. It brings features like natural language processing, the ability to create sub-tasks, the ability to flag reminders, and more. The new Photos app is bringing better editing features with video editing. It is also featuring new days, months, and years view which make it easier to find your old photos.

There’s a new Find My app which combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single app. It can now even track offline devices with the help of Bluetooth LE connections and nearby Apple devices. The Notes app now has a gallery view and supports shared folders and view only sharing. Search in Notes has become more powerful. It can recognize objects or scenes within the images you’ve added to your notes. It will also OCR any scanned document which you have scanned using iOS 13’s native scanner and make it searchable.

Sync Your iPhone Using Finder

Now that iTunes is dead, all your sync and iOS updates will be handled by Finder. Once you connect your iPhone to your Mac, it will show up in Finder’s sidebar. From here, you can easily click on it to open all your sync, backup, and update options.

Apple Watch Authentication

Apple Watch authentication is getting more access with macOS Catalina. Now apart from allowing you to unlock your Mac, your Apple Watch can be used anytime a password is required. You will only need to double tap on the Apple Watch’s side button and it will negate the need of entering a password.

iCloud Drive Folder Sharing

You can now share folders saved in your iCloud with other users using private sharing links. Anyone who has access can see the folder in iCloud Drive, add new files, and get the latest versions of files.

Apple Mail Enhancements

Mail can now block all email from specified senders and move their messages directly to the trash. You can also mute email threads now to disable specific notifications. The Unsubscribe button now appears above the email header making it easier to find. And there’s an update to the classic mail layout.

macOS Catalina Features: Final Thoughts

While the new macOS 10.15 is not as major an update as iOS 13 or iPadOS, it is bringing a ton of cool features and under the hood improvements. I installed the developer beta, macOS Catalina, the day it was available and am really happy with it. My only complaint is that it’s a little too buggy right now. In my experience iOS 13 has been a far more stable beta than macOS 10.15 Catalina.