16 Best macOS 12 Try the hidden features of Monterey on your Mac

macOS Monterey is a breath of fresh air. In addition to new features such as Universal Controls, SharePlay, Quick Notes, and Facetime links, Apple has secretly added tweaks and subtle changes throughout the new update to further improve the operating system.

I’ve been playing on macOS Monterey for about a month and have noticed a lot of these tweaks. In this article, let’s take a closer look at all the hidden features of macOS12 Monterey.

1. AirPlay from iPhone and iPad to Mac
2. Quickly convert images and photos on Mac
3. Emoji animation and customization
4. M1 iMac Hello Screensaver
5. Customize mouse pointer
6. System-wide translation
7. More informative copy and paste window
8. Low power mode, detailed battery percentage for Bluetooth devices
9. iCloud shared folder
10. iMessage photo save button
11. Improved password manager
12. Apple Books Improvements
13. Microphone and camera indicators in use
14. Playback speed with QuickTime Player
15. Digital legacy
16. Reset and erase your Mac

1. AirPlay from iPhone and iPad to Mac

If you own an Apple TV or HomePod, you know how useful AirPlay is. The ability to “cast” something from the iPhone to another screen is underrated and useful over and over again.

The new macOS Monterey offers the ability to stream videos, photos and music directly from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac screen.

Now if you have a Mac running macOS Monterey and an iPhone running iOS 15, your Mac will AirPlay compatible device.

When you select a Mac from the AirPlay selection screen, a window playing the video will pop up on your Mac. You can then play it in PiP or full screen, depending on your preference. When streaming music from iPhone, the music will play in the background of Mac.

It’s similar to Spotify’s “Connected Devices” feature, but it works for all apps and most streaming services.

If you also like the MacBook Pro speakers, there’s another reason to stream more music.

2. Quickly convert images and photos on Mac

In many cases, you need to back up your photos from iPhone to Mac to make sure they are copied in HEIC format. Also, some images on the internet are only available in WebP format.

You can also convert WebP to JPG and HEIC to JPG on Mac, but macOS Monterey has a new feature that allows you to quickly convert images without having to download or install a third party app.

Now you can convert to JPG, PNG, or HEIF by right-clicking on HEIC, WebP, or any other image format. New options are available when: right click Select an image in Finder and Quick action.

3. Emoji animation and customization

Apple has extended the ability to customize Memoji to the Mac. With macOS Monterey, you can choose emoji outfits from over 40 products, change styles and moods according to the season, and add more accessories.

In addition, Apple has added interactive memos to the lock screen. If you set Memoji as a profile icon in macOS Monterey, Memoji interacts according to the cursor position.you can Customize emoji By going to System Preferences Click edit The button below the profile icon.

4. M1 iMac Hello Screensaver

Remember that the iconic Hello screensaver comes with Apple’s new M1-based iMac? Apple has extended the availability of the “Hello” screensaver to all Macs with macOS Monterey. You can now go to and set up a new Hello screensaver on all your Macs. System Preferences-> Desktop and Screen Saver-> Hello.

If you’re not running macOS Monterey on your Mac, don’t worry. You can download the macOS Monterey wallpaper here.

5. Customize mouse pointer

The Mac cursor was always black and uninteresting. Apple last added functionality to the mouse in 2015 when it added the ability to quickly find the cursor by shaking it quickly. On macOS Monterey, Apple has added some customizations to the mouse to make it look more personal.

You can now change the cursor fill color in macOS Monterey. System Preferences → Accessibility → screen → Pointer → Point fill color.

6. Translation of the entire system

Apple has extended system-wide translation from iOS 15 to macOS Monterey. Now you can translate any text in any app across macOS just by selecting the text → translation. You can set the translation to run offline or online, depending on your Mac variation and storage capacity.

7. More informative copy and paste window

The copy and paste progress window has been the same since the introduction of macOS. “Estimated time” is written below the blue bar that progresses when the transfer is complete.

Apple is new on macOS Monterey Copy and paste progress A window that is more detailed than the current window. This feature isn’t available in the current macOS Monterey beta, but will be available soon in the next beta buildset.

The contents of the official function note are as follows.

A new pie chart progress window gives you a better idea of ​​when to copy files. You can also stop or cancel a long copy session and resume it later.

8. Low power mode, detailed battery percentage of Bluetooth device

Apple also Low power mode From iPhone to Mac with macOS Monterey. If your battery is low, you can enable low power mode to extend the battery life of your laptop. Enabling this will reduce screen brightness and CPU clock speed, which may cause loading to be slightly slower or slower, but with some savings.

Unlike the iPhone, there is no setting to automatically enable it at 20%. However, you can configure the shortcut to take effect for a particular battery percentage.When it comes to percentages, macOS Monterey also supports details Battery life indicator For Bluetooth devices such as earphones.

9. iCloud shared folder

If you install macOS Monterey on your Mac, you’ll notice something new. share folder It’s in the bar on the left side of the Finder. This new section makes it easy to track shared files and documents in one place. You can also see who last modified the file, the status of collaboration invitations, and other metadata.

10. Save photo button in iMessage

The messaging app is getting easier to use.Previously, double-click or right-click an image you received in iMessage Save it Navigate to your photos or downloads folder. On macOS Monterey, Apple has added a save button right next to the message.

11. Improved password manager

Dedicated to macOS Monterey Password manager In System Preferences. Apple has made it easy to import and export passwords from other password managers. Previously, you had to manage passwords via Keychain Access or Safari. However, setting a new password makes it easier.

There is also a new built-in verification app for 2FA. For websites and apps that support 2FA code, you can save the code to your ‌iCloud‌keychain and have it auto-filled when you log in.

12. Apple Books Improvements

Each year, Apple makes some changes to its core macOS apps. In addition to Safari, FaceTime, and Voice Memos, Apple Books has made significant updates this year.

The new features are: Reading goals, I want to read, When Read now.. The search function has also been improved so that the results are displayed when you start typing.

13. Microphone and camera indicators in use

Apple is increasingly making the user experience the same across operating systems. This introduced Control Center from iOS to MacOS with Big Sur, and macOS Monterey introduced camera and microphone indicators from iOS.

Whenever the app uses it microphone or camera, An indicator is displayed in the upper right. You can also open the Control Center to see which specific apps were using the resource.

14. Playback speed with QuickTime Player

macOS Monterey’s QuickTime player natively supports a variety of playback speeds.Well, when you play a video with Quicktime, click → Click the button to change the video playback speed.

15. Digital Legacy

Apple announced Digital Legacy this year. With this feature, you can safely pass data such as photos, videos, notes and other information to trusted friends and family. To add legacy contacts to your Mac, follow these steps:

1. Open System Preferences On Mac.
2. click Apple ID Located in the upper right corner.

   

3. next, Password and security → Legacy contact → management.

   

4. select Add legacy contacts Add the desired contact.
   macOS suggests contacts that are part of you Family sharing..

   

   

5. Then the contacts will be displayed access key, You can download and share.

   

Thanks to iCloud, when you add Digital Legacy contacts to your Mac, they will automatically sync with your iPhone. However, you can also add legacy contacts via iPhone. Here’s how to set up Digital Legacy in iOS 15.

16. Reset and erase your Mac

You know how easy it is to turn off your iPhone. Just click a few buttons and you’re done. But not so much on the Mac. Every time you need to reset your Mac, you have to perform some complicated steps, which is quite difficult for a layman to perform.

One of the hidden features of macOS Monterey is the new Erase setting in System Preferences.

Now you can “Erase all content and settings” Mac like iPhone. This will delete all your Mac data, including files and apps.

Huh! They were a hidden feature of many macOS Monterey. Which of these did you like? Did you discover other hidden features that aren’t on the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

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