Last year, the built-in Messages app for the Mac caught up to its iOS cousin with some much-needed additions, like iMessage effects, GIF search, Memoji stickers, and more. This year, macOS Monterey brings even more features to enhance your messaging experience on the Mac.
If you're someone who often uses your Mac to respond to text messages when you're away from your iPhone, you have all the reasons you need to be excited about the next major update.
Here are all the new features coming to the Messages app with macOS Monterey.
1. Shared With You
This particular Messages feature, which focuses on sharing, will work with several other Apple apps installed on your Mac, like Safari, Photos, Apple Music, Apple News, and more. So, how exactly does it work, you ask?
When you're normally texting your friends, they share all kinds of content with you. These could be photos, songs, links to articles on the web, TV shows, and so on. Apple has found a way to segregate all these shared content across its apps.
For example, let's say someone shares a link with you, but you were too busy to check it out right away. Apple will put this link in a separate Shared with You section in the Safari app. And the next time you open Safari, you'll find this link on the home page, ready to be viewed when you're free.
Similarly, if someone shares a playlist with you, you'll find it in the Music app's Listen Now section. Or, if someone shares a news article, you'll find it in the News app as content that's shared with you. Isn't this feature amazing?
Think about it for a minute. You wouldn't have to scroll through hundreds of messages or browse through attachments to find the content you need. They're all ready for you within their corresponding apps. The only downside here is that the feature is limited to Apple's apps, at least for the moment.
2. Photo collections
This is a feature that some of you may have always wanted. Currently, if someone shares multiple photos with you, they appear one by one in the Messages app. Each photo takes up a ton of screen space, and you have to scroll a lot to view all of them.
When you update your Mac to macOS Monterey, the bulk photos you send or receive will appear as photo collections. For example, let's say your friend shares 10 images with you; they'll appear on your screen as a single stack you can easily flip through. And, if you want to view them all at once, you can click on the stack to enter a grid view.
The feature works differently for a smaller set of images. Instead of a photo stack, you're shown a glanceable collage. This will allow you to look at a maximum of three images simultaneously on the same page.
3. New Save Button for Photos
More often than not, you'd want to save the photos you receive in the Messages app. To do this right now, you have to open the images first and then save them. This could be a hassle if you have multiple photos to save.
Well, Apple is finally removing this unnecessary extra step with the updated Messages app in macOS Monterey. You'll see a new save button next to each image or a photo collection in the conversation thread. All it takes is a single click to add the content to your iCloud photo library.
More to macOS Monterey Than Just Messages
Three new features may not seem like a lot for a major software update. However, if you look beyond the Messages app, macOS Monterey brings many incredible features to the table. For instance, FaceTime is getting a slew of improvements this year, with features such as Portrait mode during video calls, SharePlay, Spatial Audio, and more.
It doesn't end there. Safari is also getting a major redesign.Aand a new feature called Universal Control will allow you to use your Mac's keyboard and mouse to control your iPad. How cool is that?