The new version of macOS is now officially available after several months of beta testing. Along with a new interface and improvements to Safari and Messages, here’s everything you need to know to use macOS Big Sur like a pro.
That’s it. macOS Big Sur is now available and installable for free on all compatible macs. This new version of Apple’s operating system, which marks the transition from Intel processors to Apple Silicon chips, broadly benefits from a graphic overhaul of the interfaces, now lighter, more colorful and adopting new effects of transparency.
Big Sur also inaugurates certain features already present on iOS, such as the arrival of a control center, or the integration into Messages of functions already present on the iPhone.
1. Customize macOS highlight and accent color
With Big Sur, Apple has decided to modernize the interface of its OS a bit by adding new customization options. Now it is possible to change the accent color of windows (buttons, menus, etc.) as well as the highlight color, when you select text, for example.
Open macOS System Preferences, and go to the General menu. In addition to being able to customize the appearance mode, you will be able to select one of the predefined colors or choose a custom one for accentuation or highlighted elements in the OS.
You can take the opportunity to check the Allow coloring of the wallpaper in the windows option so that the transparent interface elements slightly adopt the colors of the image set in the background.
2. Customize the control center and menu bar
Among the big novelties inaugurated in Big Sur, the arrival of the control center, as on iOS, should simplify things a lot when it comes to managing wireless connections, activating do not disturb mode or even to manage the brightness of your screens.
But the control center as it is may not be right for your needs. As on iOS, it is possible to customize it to add the elements that you need to keep at your fingertips.
To do this, open System Preferences and enter the Dock menu and menu bar. In the left column, you will find all the elements relating to the control center. The former, which cannot be disabled from the Control Center, can, if desired, be pinned or disabled from the Big Sur menu bar. For each item, you just need to check or uncheck the Show in menu bar box.
Still in the side column, a little further down, you will find the Other Modules as well as the elements relating to the Menu bar only. Review each option to decide whether or not to add them to the Control Center. It is also from the section dedicated to the battery that you can activate the display of the battery charge percentage.
3. Media player in the action center
The arrival of the Control Center in Big Sur is also an opportunity to offer a new way to control the playback of multimedia content on your Mac.
If you haven’t already, open macOS System Preferences, go to Dock and menu bar, then in the side column, go to the Now Playing option to Show in menu bar the icon used to display the mini player.
You will then only have to click on the play icon displayed in the taskbar to display the listening content.
4. Add widgets in the action center
For Big Sur, Apple has decided as on iOS to redesign its widgets. Click on the time from the menu bar to display the notification center and access the widgets present by default.
At the bottom, click Edit Widgets to access the full catalog of widgets available on your machine. You will only have to drag and drop them from the catalog to integrate them into the notification center.
5. Activate or deactivate the startup “bang”
Some like it, some don’t. The very distinctive startup sound played by your Mac when powered on, can now be turned on or off.
Open System Preferences, enter the Sound menu and check or uncheck the Play sound on startup option, depending on your preference.
6. Monitor the battery charge
Like on iOS, you can now monitor your Mac’s battery charge and discharge. Big Sur includes a Battery menu, entirely dedicated to the settings and configuration of your machine’s power supply in System Preferences.
You will then be able to view the charge / discharge history for the last 24 hours or the last 10 days.
7. Search Safari tabs
If you have multiplied the open tabs in Safari and you can not find your way around, you can always get your hands on the right page by launching a search in the open tabs. To do this, click on the button to Show tabs preview at the top right of Safari.
In the overview of tabs open in the browser, you should find a Find tabs field to launch a query and find the page you want.
8. Translate pages on the fly in Safari
Not everyone is lucky enough to be a multilingual. If you have a little trouble with foreign languages ​​and you happen to go to sites that you do not understand the idiom, you can ask Safari to translate the page for you.
When you arrive at a web page for a site in a language other than that used by the system, Apple’s browser should automatically display a Translate icon in the Safari address bar.
9. Preview web pages when hovering over tabs
Also in Safari, you can now see a quick preview of the contents of open tabs. All you have to do is hover over each of the tabs, which will bring up a thumbnail displaying a thumbnail of the page open in the tab.
10. Watch for trackers in Safari
Now, Apple’s browser includes a protection system against trackers and allows you for each site consulted to display the list of trackers that have been blocked.
You can find this option by clicking on the shield icon, displayed to the left of the Safari address bar. Clicking on the “i” button will also allow you to display the full Privacy Report in which the history of all trackers that have been blocked is recorded.
11. Configure a profile picture in Messages
As on iOS, it is now possible to personalize Messages by creating a real profile and associating a photo to it. To do this, click on the Messages menu, and enter the Preferences of the application. You can choose your own photo or select a Memoji that your contacts can see when they receive a message from you.
12. Pin conversations in Messages
In the same way that it is possible to choose a profile picture in Messages, you can now, like on iOS, pin your most important conversations (nine at most) in order to access them more quickly. To do this, you will only have to right-click on a conversation to choose to Pin it.
13. Mention contacts
Indispensable in group conversations, Messages now allows you to mention a contact in a conversation. By entering the contact’s name, Messages recognizes it and normally displays a bubble displaying the contact’s name on which you just have to click to validate the mention. It is also possible to use a simple @ followed by the name of the contact to mention it in a message.
14. Respond specifically to a message in a conversation
Another novelty of instant messaging, it is now possible to reply directly to a specific message within a conversation. This new function, again borrowed from iOS, will make it possible to see a little more clearly in a discussion since the responses can be directly linked to the original message. To use it, just double click on the message you want to reply to.
15. Edit your videos in the Photos app
Photos, the macOS photo and video library can now edit videos.
And it is not a question of making simple cuts, the application integrates a real tool kit allowing to adjust the light, to achieve a color balance, to apply a black and white, to modify the curves and to play on noise reduction and much more.