By Dan Moren
March 27, 2017 10:59 AM PT
Apple software updates galore: iOS 10.3, macOS 10.12.4, more
Note: This story has not been updated for several years.
Apple’s released one of its deluge of updates today, with new versions of operating systems for Macs and iOS devices, as well as revisions across the board to the iWork suite of apps. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s out there and what’s new.
macOS 10.12.4: The One with Night Shift
The Mac gets the Night Shift feature introduced in iOS 9.3. Basically, at night it’ll shift to the “warmer” (read: yellower) end of the light spectrum, to go easier on the eyes. As on iOS, you’ll be able to set a schedule. Other additions include cricket scores and stats in Siri, dictation support for Shanghainese, and bug fixes for PDF rendering and annotation problems.
iOS 10.3: The One With Find My AirPods
If you have Apple’s wireless earbuds, you can now use your phone to play a sound on them when you inevitably misplace them, via the Find My iPhone app. It’ll also save the last known location of your iOS device when the AirPods were connected. Also in iOS 10.3 comes the ability for developers to respond to customer reviews, a new settings view for your Apple ID, the ability to report calendar invites as junk, and—trumpets—Apple’s new APFS file system. (So be extra sure to make a backup before you update this time around.)
watchOS 3.2: The One With Theater Mode
Now you won’t annoy those around you while you’re wearing your Apple Watch in the movie theater: enable Theater Mode and the display won’t light up when you move your wrist, though you’ll still get haptic feedback, and you can turn it on by pressing the Digital Crown or tapping the screen. The update also adds SiriKit support for watchOS.
tvOS 10.2: The One With Better…Scrolling?
I guess you can swipe through longer lists more effectively. (MacRumors says a longer swipe on the Siri remote “activates the new scrolling mode.”) Most of the other improvements are under the hood.
Pages 6.1/3.1 for macOS/iOS: The One With Bookmarks
Now you can create bookmarks in Pages, which let you link between different parts of your document. There’s also LaTeX and MathML notation, RTF import/export, and TouchID security for documents. (Obviously you’ll need a new MacBook Pro on the Mac side.)
Numbers 4.1/3.1 for macOS/iOS: The One With Stock Functions
If you’re looking for a way to track your investments, apparently Numbers is now an option. You can now add current or historical stock info to spreadsheets and there’s a new My Stocks template. When collaborating, you can now work with sheets, and on iOS there’s a new action menu and a new editing interface. Plus it gets the same Touch ID security features as Pages.
Keynote 7.1/3.1 for macOS/iOS: The One With Interactive Presentation Posting
Hey, you can now post interactive presentations on Medium, WordPress, and other websites. Schmancy. Plus, presenter notes on a black background on the Mac and an improved rehearsal view on iOS, Keynote 1.0 import support, and the aforementioned Touch ID security features.
Apple TV Remote 1.1 for iOS: The One With iPad Support
Yep, you can now use Apple’s revamped TV Remote app—which came out in August of last year—on your iPad. There’s also a revamped Now Playing interface, with lyrics and playlists for music, plus chapters, audio tracks, and captions for movies and TV shows.
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]
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