macOS Sonoma and More Widgets

This year’s release of macOS 14 is getting dubbed Sonoma, after the California wine valley region. Along with the new name are some stunning new screensavers, which naturally includes one of the rolling hills of Sonoma.

In case it wasn’t obvious by now, widgets are a big focus this year, and that’s extending to the Mac, where you’ll be able to place widgets anywhere on your desktop, not just in the right sidebar.

Since a Mac has a more complex user interface than an iPad, Apple has had to get creative with the design so that widgets don’t become too distracting. They’ll fade into the background when another app has focus and tint based on the color of your background wallpaper.

What’s more interesting is that through the magic of Apple’s Continuity features, widgets from iPhone apps can also be added to your Mac, where you’ll be able to interact with them anytime your iPhone is nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network — even if there’s no corresponding Mac app available.