💻 Finer Tech Newsletter #80: The Full Mont... erey!

Alright finer readers, I’ve been swamped with travel and client projects, but I’m finally back with the all-Mac issue I promised. Monterey is a great upgrade with lots of big and little details sprinkled just about everywhere, so let’s dive in.

Mmm, sprinkles.

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Cover photo via my Flickr

I regret nothing about that terrible Full Monty joke.

Remember how the Mac got Split View a little while ago? Simply mouse over the green button in a window, choose a Tile Window option, then pick a second open app or window for the other side. In Monterey, it’s easier to replace one of the apps. While in Split View, mouse up to the top to reveal the window title bar, mouse over the green button again, and choose Replace Tiled Window. This will reveal all open apps and windows, but not any hidden apps or minimized windows.

Tab Groups are one of my favorite new features across all Apple devices this fall. I have one group called Gaming with stuff for Destiny, wiki guides, and the like, and another called Bear for my work with those folks.

A quick way to switch between tab groups is from the menu in the upper left of Safari. I swear it wasn’t there during the pre-release betas. But it’s a nice option instead of manually opening and closing the sidebar.

Right-click a link in any Messages chat (including groups), and chose Pin. Now, when you click the info (i) icon, those links will rise to the top of that section so they’re easier to find.

Side Tip: That info (i) button is a great place to find shared photos, links, and files from conversations; instead of manually scrolling back forever just to find something.

FaceTime is now for everyone… as long as you make a link for them. Grab one in the app (pictured), or create a new event in Calendar and choose FaceTime in the Add Location or Video Call section, just below the event title. Click the FaceTime button that appears to copy or share the link wherever you like.

In Monterey, the Passwords preferences section from Safari graduated up to an official System Preferences panel. I presume this might allow macOS to fill passwords in more apps and other places beyond Safari, but I haven’t tested it much yet.

In System Preferences you can now import and export passwords, but be careful with this one—it only exports as a plain text CSV, which isn’t very safe. This panel also offers the option to monitor and alert you if it notices any of your accounts have been compromised, but I’m not sure how thorough this feature is. I’m still a happy 1Password customer (disclaimer: I worked there for around five years), and their similar Watchtower feature is a great monitoring solution.

What’s there to say? It’s been a great way to extend battery life on the iPhone for years, and it was a no-brainer to bring to the Mac (and iPad, for what it’s worth).

I have a niggle, though (besides how long this feature took to get here): the only way I can find so far to toggle this feature is to go all the way into System Preferences > Battery. There’s a shortcut to that panel from the battery menu bar item, but it would’ve been nice to have an option to add this to Control Panel, similar to iOS and iPadOS.

How did you like this issue? Was it useful and bite-sized enough? Are there certain kinds of tips or apps you’d like to see here? Let me know what you think via email and Twitter.

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