Key Takeaways
- Apple released macOS Sequoia public beta for early access, but key features still require developer beta updates.
- Safari Highlights and Video Viewer are new features added in the third developer beta for improved browsing experience.
- Apple Passwords can now be easily accessed from the menu bar with shortcuts for added convenience and security.
Apple finally released the macOS Sequoia public beta this week, and everyone can get early access to the operating system before it officially releases in the fall. However, if you want the absolute newest features, you’ll still need to keep an eye out on the developer beta releases. macOS Sequoia developer beta 3 isn’t a major update, and Apple didn’t share anything of importance in its release notes. Apple Intelligence still isn’t here yet, but there are a few hidden features and changes in the latest developer beta. The biggest feature additions include Safari 18 upgrades and a new way to quickly access Apple Passwords.
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3 Safari Highlights
Your browser can now pull key information from sites — well, sort of
There were a few Safari announcements at WWDC, but they didn’t appear in the macOS Sequoia beta until this release. One key feature is called Highlights, and it’s supposed to intelligently pull information from websites. There’s also a new smarter Reader view, which is intended to make using the Reader more appealing, with a summary and table of contents available. Here’s how Apple describes the feature in a press release:
Safari, the world’s fastest browser, now offers Highlights, an even easier way to discover information on the web, such as directions, summaries, or quick links to learn more about people, music, movies, and TV shows. A redesigned Reader includes even more ways to enjoy articles without distractions, featuring a streamlined view of the article a user is reading, a summary, and a table of contents for longer articles.
Up until macOS Sequoia developer beta 3 was released, there wasn’t a trace of these new features in Safari. Now, there are bits and pieces of Highlights. When you click on the Reader button on a supported site for the first time, you’ll see a new overlay explaining Highlights present. You’ll then have the option of turning the feature on, turning it off, or learning more. Unfortunately, the feature doesn’t appear to do anything yet. The Reader view menu is noticeably different, offering a new UI that we haven’t seen before. It’ll show website settings and permissions, too. You can see everything that’s new for yourself in the screenshot gallery above.
This is how Highlights in Safari will work when the feature is fully ready. / Source: Apple
So, the redesigned Safari user-interface that’s intended to facilitate Highlights is newly added to the third developer beta, but the website-specific deals still aren’t available. I tried plenty of websites, including hotels and restaurants. These are the places where Apple says that Highlights will come in handy, pulling out details like an address, for example. If I had to guess, the full Highlights feature probably won’t work until Apple Intelligence becomes available. Regardless, this UI change is still a big deal for people who use the Reader view, and foreshadows what’s to come.
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2 Safari Video Viewer
Easily play videos in the center of your screen, every time
Another minor, but useful, feature available for Safari is the Video Viewer. It wasn’t available in macOS Sequoia developer beta 2, or the Safari 18 beta — the latter of which you can install on macOS Sonoma and Ventura devices. However, it’s fully featured and working in the third developer beta. When you start playing a video on any website in Safari, you’ll notice a “Video Viewer available” message in the address bar. Then, you can enable it by clicking a button in the new Reader user-interface we just went over. Video Viewer pulls out the video, places it front-and-center, and gives you Safari controls that are consistent throughout the browser.
It’s a neat way to watch videos without fiddling with every site’s unique video player. It even works on XDA, as depicted above, so you can try it with one of our videos if you’re running macOS Sequoia developer beta 3. Plus, it just goes to show how much the Reader menu is changing with macOS Sequoia. It used to be just for the Reader, but it’s now a home for Highlights, Video Viewer, and more.
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1 Apple Passwords
The biggest change is the ability to use the Apple Passwords app in the menu bar. To be fair, this may have been in prior betas, but it was buried in the Passwords settings menu and was only spotted following the release of the third macOS developer beta. In that menu, there’s a toggle called Show Passwords in Menu Bar. It does exactly what you’d expect. You can click the Passwords icon to reveal a menu bar window with your saved passwords, or enter the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + P.
When you have the Passwords menu bar window open, there’s a search bar that lets you find the saved password you need. It’ll also give you a shortcut for adding a new saved password, so you can enter a username/password combination manually from anywhere. There’s a lock button that you can use to secure the menu bar window, preventing others from accessing it. Finally, you can click the window button to open the page you’re viewing in the regular Passwords app.
This looks to be the best way to use Apple Passwords, especially on a Mac with Touch ID. You can access your database with the keyboard shortcut or the menu bar item and authenticate it with your fingerprint. In fact, you might never need to open the regular Apple Passwords app. If you just need to find a password in your iCloud Password Keychain, that’s never been easier than with this new menu bar item.
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What’s next for macOS Sequoia?
Some of the biggest macOS Sequoia upgrades are part of Safari 18, which is the beta version of Apple’s next in-house browser. They include things like Highlights and Video Viewer, and these were added to the third developer beta in some form or another. Looking ahead, Safari will likely continue to be bolstered as part of macOS Sequoia. The Highlights feature still isn’t working completely, and I’d bet that full functionality won’t appear until Apple Intelligence is ready.
So, we’re back where we started — we’re waiting for Apple Intelligence. It’s tough to rule on whether macOS Sequoia is a fine update or a great one until we see all the AI features debut. We have that to look forward to, plus all the gaming features that are set to hit the best Macs in the coming months.
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