10 Tricks for macOS 12 Monterey that (maybe) You Don’t Know

macOS 12 Monterey integrates small and big news. In this article, we report ten tips and tricks not probably known to all, useful in various situations.

Initialize content and settings like on iPhone

Among the novelties of macOS 12 Monterey, there is the new item “Initialize Contents and Settings” from the System Preferences menu. The function in question is similar to that already present for years on iOS and iPadOS. It is handy for resetting a computer before selling, transferring, or exchanging your device.

By opening the item in question from the System Preferences menu, the administrator user password is requested. At this point, a screen explains that settings, media files, data, and other items will be removed. It is now possible to log out of the Apple account and confirm to proceed after a further request from the system.

Arriving at the bottom of the procedure, it is possible to find yourself with the Mac emptied of everything concerning our data – and those of any other accounts – which will restart showing the procedure that guides the user to the first installation. The system is left intact. It will only wait for the creation of a new user account.

Use a memoji on the login screen

In macOS Monterey, you can use a memoji on the login screen. Just go to System Preferences, select “Users and Groups,” click on your account icon and choose the desired image or memoji. From here, it is also possible to change pose and style. It is useless, but it is a system beautification feature. Your digital alter ego will come to life when you turn on the Mac. If you delay the opening (not typing the password), your alter ego falls asleep.

To see the emoji at startup, log out (Apple menu> Log out) or disable automatic login (System Preferences> Users and Groups> Login Options and disable “Automatic login).

As always, from the User preferences section of Users and Groups on the Mac, you can change your account settings on the Mac. The administrator user can also change the settings for other users who use the Mac.

Check passwords from System Preferences

In previous versions of macOS, you can find stored passwords by opening the Keychain Utility. Similar information is now available in System Preferences> Passwords. From here, you can view those of your interest, add or change the usernames and passwords we have saved for the websites. Useful is the “Detect compromised passwords” option. It allows you to receive a message if any of your passwords are on known lists of exposed or hacked passwords.

Hide your menu bar in full-screen mode

When you use a full-screen app, you can complete the menu bar by moving the pointer to the top of the screen.

Open System Preferences, select “Dock and Menu Bar”; the last section (“Menu bar”) allows you to choose whether to always display the menu bar or not.

Interactive globe

On Macs with Apple Silicon CPUs, by launching the Maps app, you can discover the natural beauty of the Earth with an interactive 3D world map that shows details of mountain ranges, deserts, forests, and oceans.

It is possible to move the globe with the mouse/trackpad and zoom/reduce the view with the mouse wheel (or equivalent combination with the trackpad). It is also possible from the Maps app to explore cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London, visualizing reliefs and details of streets, trees, buildings, and monuments.

Find out if an app uses a microphone or webcam

From the Control Center, you can see which apps have access to your Mac’s microphone. And thanks to a new software feature, the camera’s light also turns on to alert you that an app is using the microphone. An orange dot appears to the right of the icon in the control center (in the top-right menu bar); a click on the icon allows you to identify which app is using the microphone.

Change the color of the mouse cursor

A small change that will be appreciated by those who love to customize the operating system or those who have difficulty distinguishing certain shades is the ability to change the color of the mouse cursor. The new option is available in the Accessibility section of System Preferences.

From here, as before, you can choose the subsection “Cursor,” activate the option “Shake the mouse pointer to locate it” (useful for temporarily enlarging the pointer to find it), increase or decrease the size of the pointer and now also change the color of the pointer (both the border and the fill color). The “Initialize” option allows you to restore the default colors. As can be seen from the fact that the option is available in the Accessibility section.

Take advantage of AirPlay

With macOS 12 Monterey, you can take advantage of AirPlay technology to play, present and share data from iPhone and iPad on the Mac screen. You can even use the audio or speakers connected to the Mac as AirPlay speakers.

You can play music or podcasts from iOS or iPadOS on your Mac, stream video, pictures, music, or other media from one device to another, or use your Mac as a secondary speaker for multiroom audio.

AirPlay works both wireless and using USB. This last connection is beneficial when you don’t want latencies or a WiFi connection available.

AirPlay with Mac is compatible with:

• MacBook Pro 2018 and later, 
• MacBook Air 2018 and later, 
• iMac 2019, 
• iMac Pro 2017, 
• Mac mini 2020, and later, 
• Mac Pro 2019.
• iPhone 7 and later.
• iPad Pro 2nd generation and later, 
• iPad Air 3rd generation and later.
• The iPad 6th generation and later, 
• iPad mini 5th generation and later.

Activating Airplay

To activate AirPlay, just open System Preferences> Sharing, and in the “Service” section, enable “AirPlay Receiver.”

The procedure for sending screen and audio to Mac is very simple. You must install iOS 15 must on the iPhone and macOS 12 Monterey on the Mac.

1. Swipe the iPhone Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen.
2. Click on the control center icon (the two rectangles)
3. If your Mac appears, select it to duplicate the screen.
4. At this point, whatever you do on your phone will be reflected on the Mac screen.

You can use it to play apps that run normally on your phone on the larger screen.

To stop duplicating, press the Esc key on your Mac. Alternatively, you can quit duplicating by opening Control Center again, swiping up from the bottom of the screen, or tapping Stop Duplicating.

Keep in mind that both the Mac and the iPhone must – of course – be connected to the same WiFi network.

If, instead of the whole screen, you want to send the content of an app, for example, you can do this with certain apps. With the YouTube app for iOS, for instance, you need to open the video of your interest, select the icon with the square and the “waves” at the bottom left, choose “AirPlay & Bluetooth device,” and select the Mac as the screen to view the contents and press Play.

Ignore silence in the Voice Memos app

Voice Memos app allows you to create recordings on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac and iCloud, syncing them across all devices. Among the novelties of the app in question on macOS 12 Monterey, the ability to increase or reduce the playback speed of voice memo recordings and ignore silence.

In other words, automatically ignore silent pauses in recordings. Start the Voice Memos app, open a recording and click on the Settings icon (top right). You can enable or not the “Ignore silence” option.

Privacy protection in emails

Mail on macOS 12 Monterey allows you to protect your privacy by hiding your IP address. It cannot be linked to your online activity or used to know your location. This prevents those who write to you from seeing if and when you have opened their email. Another useful function is the ability to hide your email.

When you fill out a form on the web or subscribe to a newsletter, if you prefer not to enter your actual email address, you can instantly generate unique and random addresses that you will forward to your inbox. Personal mail. The “Hide my email” feature is integrated into Mail, Safari, and iCloud Preferences.

To take advantage of the function that hides your actual e-mail address, you need to sign up for iCloud +. It is a new subscription service that replaces existing storage plans, offering additional functionalities. iCloud + offers all the options of iCloud and new features such as iCloud Private Relay, “Hide My Email,” and extended support for HomeKit safe videos.