macOS Sonoma 14.2 imminent as Release Candidate arrives

Apple on Tuesday released the macOS Sonoma 14.3 beta to developers. This beta release comes after Apple released the Sonoma 14.2 beta 2 on November 14. It includes the new iMessage Contact Key Verification.

macOS 14.2: New features

PDFs: Enhanced AutoFill allows you to securely use Contacts data to fill out a PDF or scanned document.

Messages: Contact Key Verification automatically and cryptographically verify that you’re messaging only with whom you intend.

Weather: You can now see precipitation amounts and a wind map.

Clock: Users can now run multiple timers

macOS 14.2: Release notes

This update introduces enhanced Autofill for PDFs and improvements to Messages and Weather. This release also includes other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.

PDFs

  • Enhanced AutoFill identifies fields in PDFs and other forms enabling you to populate them with information such as names and addresses from your contacts

Messages

  • Catch-up arrow lets you easily jump to your first unread message in a conversation by clicking the arrow visible in the top-right corner
  • Add sticker option in the context menu lets you add a sticker directly to a bubble
  • Contact Key Verification provides automatic alerts and Contact Verification Codes to help verify people facing extraordinary digital threats are messaging only with the people they intend

Weather

  • Precipitation amounts help you stay on top of rain and snow conditions for a given day over the next 10 days
  • New widgets let you choose from next-hour precipitation, daily forecast, sunrise and sunset times, and current conditions such as Air Quality, Feels Like, and wind speed
  • Wind map snapshot helps you quickly assess wind patterns and access the animated wind map overlay to prepare for forecasted wind conditions for the next 24 hours

Clock

  • Multiple timers let you run several timers simultaneously and create a name for each timer
  • Timer presets help you quickly start a timer with a range of preset options
  • Recents makes it easy to restart your recently used timers

This update also includes the following new features:

  • Favorite Songs Playlist in Apple Music lets you quickly get back to the songs you mark as favorites
  • Use Listening History in Apple Music can be disabled in a Focus so music you listen to does not appear in Recently Played or influence your recommendations
  • Shazam Music Recognition allows you to quickly identify songs playing online or around you, even when wearing AirPods
  • New keyboard layouts provide support for 7 additional Sámi languages
  • Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices.

How to install the macOS Sonoma 14.2

If you are already part of Apple’s developer program or Apple’s public beta program, you can install the update through System Settings > General > Software Update.

Original Article