macOS Catalina gives you more of everything you love about Mac. Experience music, TV and podcasts in three all-new Mac apps. Enjoy your favourite iPad apps now on your Mac. Extend your workspace and expand your creativity with iPad and Apple Pencil. And discover smart new features in the apps you use every day. Now you can take everything you do above and beyond.
Music, TV and podcasts take centre stage.
Any audio, everywhere. Stream any audio from your Mac all around your network. Send music services like Spotify or web-based audio like Pandora wirelessly to all sorts of devices, including the Apple TV, HomePod, Google Chromecast, Sonos devices, and Bluetooth speakers. None of the older versions would run on the latest Mac OS so I tried to get a newer one. Searching for 'Kindle' got me Kindle for Windows and dozens of totally unrelated products but no Kindle for Mac. Another search for Kindle + Mac brought it up and going to that page I saw two download links. I tried one, nothing happened. The downside is that these run locally, so if your Mac is offline, they won't work. Overall, Apple's Mail app is fine, but I am hopeful the company begins to add new features to help drive the.
iTunes forever changed the way people experienced music, films and podcasts. It all changes again with three all-new, dedicated apps — Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts — each designed from the ground up to be the best way to enjoy entertainment on your Mac. And rest assured: everything you had in your iTunes library is still accessible in each app. iCloud seamlessly syncs everything across your devices — or you can back up, restore and sync by connecting the device directly to your Mac.
Presenting Apple Music on Mac.
The new Apple Music app is the ultimate music streaming experience on Mac.1 Explore a library of 60 million songs, discover new artists and tracks, find the perfect playlist, download and listen offline, or enjoy all the music you've collected over the years. And find it all in your music library on all your devices.
Apple TV. Premiering on Mac.
The Apple TV app for Mac is the new home for all your favourite films and Apple TV+.2 Watch everything directly in the app or enjoy it offline, and discover the best of what's on in the Watch Now tab. You can even pick up where you left off on any screen, across all your devices. And for the first time, 4K3 and Dolby Atmos4–supported films are available on Mac.
Listen up. Podcasts on Mac.
The best entertainment, comedy, news and sport shows are now available on your Mac with Apple Podcasts. Search for podcasts by title, topic, guest, host, content and more. Subscribe and be notified as soon as new episodes become available. And in the Listen Now tab, you can easily pick up where you left off across all your devices.
The apps you love.
Now on your Mac.
Experience your favourite iPad apps now on your Mac. With Mac Catalyst, developers can easily create Mac apps from the iPad apps you already know and love. They run natively alongside your existing Mac apps so you can drag and drop content between them. They take full advantage of the larger screen and powerful architecture of your Mac. And because they are built from their iOS versions, they provide a seamless experience across your devices. Enjoy a broad range of Mac apps — from travel, entertainment and gaming to banking, education and project management.
The Twitter for Mac app takes full advantage of the native Mac features like multiple windows, drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts, and more. See more of what's happening on a larger screen and easily work alongside your other Mac apps.
Morpholio Board for Mac lets interior designers create their mood boards on a larger screen with much more detail. Users can scroll through a huge library of furnishings; use new editing, composition, curation and organisation tools; and work alongside web browsers, notes and email.
With the Post-it® App on Mac, users can easily organise all their notes on the big screen. Grouping and sorting is much faster using a keyboard and mouse or trackpad. And importing boards from other users is even easier.
With Jira for Mac, manage projects like a boss. Take advantage of native Mac features and move through Jira faster than ever, push notifications, keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop, custom menu bar, and more.
The American Airlines app for Mac lets users check in and choose their seats, see three-dimensional renderings of their seats powered by SceneKit, and even view traffic to the airport provided by Maps.
With TripIt on Mac, you can review all your plans in one place, edit and share your trip details, and research your destination, all while multitasking with other Mac apps. Your itinerary is even available offline, whether you're at your desk or at 35,000 feet.
The Crew app for Mac is the first communications app designed for workers who don't have easy access to communication technology on the job. Managers often use Mac computers in the back of house at stores, so users can access the experience they expect on the platform they prefer.
This popular language-learning solution opens a whole new world on Mac. The desktop is wonderfully suited for focus and learning. Rosetta Stone is tightly integrated with the Mac microphone and includes an offline mode for a seamless app experience that's just not possible on the web.
Proloquo2Go on Mac is designed for people with communication challenges who are unable to make themselves understood using their own voice. The app lets parents, teachers and therapists customise the app vocabulary using the keyboard and provide new words without requiring access to their child's device, which may be at school or at home.
Even more amazing Mac apps. Even more amazing Mac apps
Developers are continuing to build for Catalyst as many more of your favourite iPad apps will be coming to Mac.
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The apps you use every day, made extraordinary.
With macOS Catalina, the apps you love are now more beautiful and intelligent than ever. So your everyday tasks are easier than ever.
Focus on your best shots.
Photos has a new immersive, dynamic look that showcases your photos and memories. See only the best shots in your library, without the duplicates and clutter. Browse your favourite photos by days, months and years, and get larger previews of all your photos. And Photos is even smarter, so it can highlight important moments like birthdays, anniversaries and trips.
Easier to find. And easier to share.
A new gallery view and more powerful search help you find your notes quicker than ever. Shared folders let you collaborate on entire folders of notes with another person or a group. And new checklist options let you move completed items to the bottom, quickly reorder items using drag and drop, and more.
Organisation.
Reorganised.
The Reminders app has been completely rebuilt, with an all-new design and new ways to easily create, organise and keep track of reminders. Add attachments to reminders, create or change reminders with the quick edit buttons and let Siri suggest new ones found in Messages. Smart lists automatically organise and display your upcoming reminders. And if you tag someone in a reminder, you'll be notified the next time you're chatting in Messages.
Start browsing.
Faster.
An updated start page helps you easily and quickly access your favourites and frequently visited sites. And Siri suggestions select bookmarks, iCloud Tabs and links from your reading list, as well as those you receive in Messages.
Play extraordinary.
Unlimited access to over 100 ad-free games for your Mac — all in a game subscription service unlike any other. Start playing on your Mac and jump to your iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.
Extend your desktop. With iPad.
Sidecar lets you extend your workspace by using your iPad as a second Mac display.6 Work in one app while you reference another, or view your artwork on your Mac while you use tools and palettes on your iPad. You can also mirror the screens so they both display the same content, making it perfect for sharing exactly what you see with others.
Express your creativity. With Apple Pencil.
Bring the ease and precision of Apple Pencil to your favourite creative Mac apps with Sidecar.7 Just drag your app window from your Mac to your iPad as you would with any second display. Then use Apple Pencil to design in Illustrator, edit photos in Affinity Photo or create 3D models in ZBrush. The handy sidebar puts essential Command, Control and Shift keys right at your fingertips.
Make your mark on Mac.
Use Apple Pencil for everyday tasks like drawing and sketching, or marking up screenshots and PDFs. You can easily insert a sketch from your iPad into any document on your Mac.
Powerful apps. Made even more powerful.
Discover all the amazing apps that are compatible with Sidecar, including illustration, photography and 3D apps.
Affinity Photo
Maya
Screen Time.
Now on Mac.
macOS Catalina brings all your favourite Screen Time features to Mac, giving you greater insight into how you're spending your time. Monitor usage, schedule downtime, and set limits for both apps and websites across all your devices. And with Family Sharing, you can set app and communication limits for your kids to help them focus on the right things.
Communication Limits
Communication Limits let you choose who your children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime, so you can make sure they're always reachable.
Combined Limits
With Combined Limits, you can combine individual apps and websites, and even whole categories, into a single, easy-to-manage limit. Set a limit for a group of apps and websites, like gaming or your favourite streaming apps.
One More Minute
Need an extra minute to wrap up what you're doing? You'll get a notification when you've reached your time limit, so you can quickly wrap up a conversation, save a file or close a game session before your time runs out.
Increased security.
Greater privacy.
With macOS Catalina, there are enhanced security features to better protect macOS against tampering, help ensure that the apps you use are safe, and give you greater control over access to your data. And it's even easier to find your Mac if it's lost or stolen.
More secure hardware.
The Apple T2 Security Chip keeps your Mac secure by ensuring that you're running trusted software and automatically encrypting your stored data. It also provides secure authentication for Touch ID. And now macOS Catalina features Activation Lock, so only you can erase and reactivate your Mac.
Safer-running software.
macOS Catalina runs in its own read-only volume, so it's separate from all other data on your Mac and nothing can accidentally overwrite your system files. And Gatekeeper ensures that new apps you install have been checked for known security issues before you run them, so you're always using good software.
Data protections.
Apps must now get your permission before directly accessing files in your Documents and Desktop folders, iCloud Drive and external volumes, so you're always in control of your data. And you'll be prompted before any app can capture keyboard activity or a photo or video of your screen.
The new Find My app combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single, easy-to-use app on Mac, iPad and iPhone. Find My can help you locate a missing Mac — even if it's offline and sleeping — by sending out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by Apple devices in use nearby. They can then relay the detected location of your Mac to iCloud so you can locate it in the Find My app.
It's all anonymous and encrypted end-to-end so no one, including Apple, knows the identity of any reporting device. And because the reporting happens silently using tiny bits of data that piggyback on existing network traffic, there's no need to worry about your battery life, your data usage or your privacy.
Approve with Apple Watch
Double-click the side button on your Apple Watch to authenticate on your Mac. Unlock a locked note, approve app installations and view your passwords in Safari preferences without having to enter one.
Powerful features to empower everyone.
macOS Catalina includes new features to help everyone get the most out of Mac. Tools for users with low vision allow you to zoom in on a paragraph of text or the entire screen.
Zoom Display
If you have two screens, you can keep one screen zoomed in close while the other remains at a standard resolution. It's great for everyday work and giving a presentation.
Hover Text
Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your Mac display. Just hover over any text with your cursor and press Command. You'll get a dedicated window with large, high-resolution text. You can even choose the fonts and colours.
macOS Catalina
The power of Mac.
Taken further.
Featuring all-new, dedicated apps for music, TV and podcasts. Smart new features in the apps you use every day. And Sidecar, which lets you use iPad as a second Mac display.
See if your Mac can run macOS Catalina.
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Learn moreNew tools to build new worlds.
If you can imagine it, you can create it. ARKit 3 gives you new tools to build incredible experiences on the world's largest AR platform.
Develop for macOS Catalina.
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Just because you're a Mac person doesn't mean you have to settle for less with your accounting software. Check out these 6 great options.
A few years ago, we published an article on the best accounting software options for Mac users. This is an update of that article, but here's the thing: There's no such thing as 'accounting software for Mac' anymore.
Sure, there's plenty of accounting software that you can use on your MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, etc. But while there used to be Mac software and PC software, it's now virtually all the same with the ever-increasing expansion of cloud-based software that works seamlessly in any browser.
In other words, you'd have a much harder time finding accounting software that doesn't work on your Mac than a program that works only on Macs. In fact, with more than 100 million active Mac users, if you found an accounting program that somehow wasn't compatible with Mac, that alone would be cause for alarm.
Cloud software is here to stay, and the market is only getting bigger. Gartner predicts that by 2022, 28% of enterprise IT spending will have shifted to cloud applications, up from 19% in 2018. (Full report available to Gartner clients.)
6 user-friendly accounting software options for Mac
Rather than giving you a generic list of accounting software that works on Macs (which would basically just be our accounting software directory), I decided to determine which top factors users have for choosing Mac over PC and then find accounting software that best suits those users.
- Macs are typically high-end machines with consistently strong reviews from users, so I included only accounting tools with an overall rating of 4.5/5 stars or higher in our directory (based on verified user ratings) and with at least 100 reviews.
- In general, Macs are considered easier to use than PCs, so I'm including only products with an ease-of-use rating on our site of 4.5/5 or higher.
- Finally, I included only products with a native iOS app with a user rating of 4/5 or better on the App Store, since Mac users typically use iPhones and iPads as well as their desktop or laptop computers.
With those factors in mind, here's what I found, listed in order of rating and reviews from highest to lowest:
Jump to:
QuickBooks
FreshBooks
Accounting by Wave
Zoho Books
FreeAgent
Kashoo
1. QuickBooks
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:14,700+ |
It's no surprise that the big name in accounting software is available on Mac operating systems. QuickBooks has even had a desktop-only (not cloud-based) option available for Macs since at least the mid-1990s, making the company something of a pioneer for cross-platform functionality. Interested in software with comparable features? These QuickBooks alternatives are a good place to begin.
Now, any of QuickBooks' cloud-based offerings will work fine on your Apple device, and Intuit even still offers a desktop version for Mac. The desktop version for Mac even has a few features designed specifically for Mac users:
- QuickBooks for Mac 2020 takes advantage of the Mojave OS Dark Mode.
- You can upload text searchable images with the iPhone scanner.
- Documents can be automatically shared through iCloud.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks is available on virtually every device, so whether your team has Macs, PCs, or smartphones, you know that everyone can use it together. | QuickBooks has very attractive entry-level pricing, but it doubles after three months. |
| With hundreds of integrations, QuickBooks is highly customizable. | QuickBooks is an enormous company, and some reviewers find that the customer service isn't as hands-on as they'd like. |
How much does QuickBooks cost? | |
| QuickBooks Online starts at $25/month. QuickBooks Desktop for Mac is a one-time payment of $299. | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| The QuickBooks iOS app has a 4.7/5 rating on more than 100,000 reviews. It allows users to create invoices, manage expenses, and view reports. |
The QuickBooks Online dashboard (Source)
2. FreshBooks
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:3,000+ |
Designed specifically for small businesses and the self-employed, Toronto-based FreshBooks has been around for more than 15 years. FreshBooks also has Mac users in mind. They say that their easy-to-use accounting software works on any device—desktop, mobile, or tablet—and 'plays nicely' with Mac. Want to find software solutions with comparable features? These FreshBooks alternatives are a good place to start.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Users rave over FreshBooks' customer support, and the company stakes their reputation on it. | If your company is rapidly growing—for example, if you plan on going public—you may quickly outgrow FreshBooks. |
| Even though it's targeted at smaller companies, FreshBooks has all the important accounting features you would need, so it can handle much more than lemonade stands. | Freshbooks does a great job of keeping your books clean, but if you love forecasting and crunching numbers, it's a little skimpy on the reporting side. |
How much does FreshBooks cost? | |
| FreshBooks starts at $15 per month for five clients and goes up to $50 per month for 500 clients. *At the time of writing, FreshBooks has a fall sale of 60% off for six months on all plans. | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| The FreshBooks app has a 4.8/5 rating on almost 8,000 reviews. It allows you to run invoices, record expenses, track time, and accept payments, all while you're away from your computer. |
The Invoices dashboard in FreshBooks (Source)
Love Your Dog Mac Os Update
3. Wave Accounting
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:800+ |
Wave Accounting is one of the youngest tools on this list, having launched out of Toronto in 2010 before being acquired by H&R Block earlier this year. Its biggest differentiator is that it has a completely free version, as long as you don't need to use it to accept payments or run payroll (those are optional, paid features). If you want to take a look at products with similar features, these Wave Accounting alternatives might be what you are looking for.
So what makes Wave an attractive option specifically for Mac users? As mentioned, it's free, so it'll help you save for the next iPhone or MacBook upgrade. It also scores high for ease of use, making it fit in nicely with the intuitive Mac ecosystem.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It's free without limitations on users or transactions as long as you don't need to accept payments or run payroll. | Wave is missing an audit trail feature, leaving it vulnerable to fraudulent employees. |
| Wave offers above-average reporting features for a free tool. | The free version offers only email support, and even if you pay for payments or payroll you still only get access to chat support (no phone support). |
How much does Wave cost? | |
| Wave is free. Payments are 2.9% + 30 cents per credit transaction, or 1% per bank transaction. Payroll starts at $20 per month plus $4 per employee. | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| Invoice by Wave passes the user review test, clocking in at 4.6/5 with almost 2,000 reviews. It doesn't completely replace the web version of Wave, but it does allow you to keep an eye on your business finances wherever you are. The biggest complaints that users have seem to be related to customer service, which is not unique to the app. |
Recent transactions in Wave Accounting (Source)
4. Zoho Books
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:380+ |
If you're looking for the peace of mind of an established, international company offering Mac-friendly accounting software and you're trying to avoid QuickBooks for whatever reason, Zoho Books might be for you. Zoho has been releasing business software since 1996, and Zoho Books is specifically tailored for Mac users, as it is designed to work with iMessage, Apple Maps, Siri, and 3D Touch. It even has an app for the Apple Watch. Interested in software with comparable features? These Zoho Books alternatives are a good place to begin.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Zoho Books is one of the most user-friendly options out there. In fact, it placed fourth—better than any other option on this list—on our Top 20 Most User-Friendly accounting software report earlier this year. | Zoho Books offers integrated payroll in California and Texas for now, but if you're in any other state you'll have to use a separate payroll app. |
| Starting at $9 per month, Zoho Books is one of the best values in accounting software this side of Wave, which is free. And unlike Wave, Zoho has almost universally praised customer service. | Zoho Books is optimized for use with Zoho's customer relationship management system, Zoho CRM, so if you're already using a different CRM, it won't work as efficiently. |
How much does Zoho Books cost? | |
| Zoho Books starts at $9 per month or $90 per year for 50 contacts and two users and goes up to $29 per month or $290 per year for unlimited contacts, 10 users, and more features. | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| As mentioned above, the Zoho Books iOS app takes full advantage of iOS-specific features such as messaging and voice assistant, and users love it, giving it a 4.7/5 rating on almost 150 reviews. While some accounting software apps have minimal features, allowing you to basically just check balances and view transactions, Zoho Books allows you to create and send invoices, manage expenses, track time, view reports, and share numbers with your accountant. |
Managing invoices in Zoho Books (Source)
5. FreeAgent
Love Your Dog Mac Os Catalina
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:110+ |
FreeAgent accounting software is based in the U.K. Attack mac os. and originally designed for British businesses, but they also have versions customized for U.S. and global businesses, and the software has full multicurrency support. Like any good cloud-based software, FreeAgent works like a breeze on the Mac platform, and its iOS app is a fan favorite. Not convinced? If you are interested in products with comparable features, these FreeAgent alternatives could be what you are looking for.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Users are quite pleased with FreeAgent's recurring invoice and receipt scanning features, which help take repetitive tasks out of small business accounting. | FreeAgent is designed for small businesses, so if you're growing fast, you could outgrow it relatively quickly. |
| Users also have good things to say about FreeAgent's customer service, which is available by email or phone. | FreeAgent is 50% off for your first six months, but after that it's $24 per month, which is a little high compared to other options on this list. |
How much does FreeAgent cost? | |
| FreeAgent has a flat-rate of $12 per month for everything (unlimited users and clients) for the first six months, then goes up to $24 per month after that. | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| FreeAgent's iOS app has an average rating of 4.7/5 on 20 reviews. It allows you to view your accounts, manage expenses by snapping pictures of receipts, create and send invoices, and track time. |
The main dashboard in FreeAgent accounting for iPad (Source)
6. Kashoo
| User rating: 4.5/5.0 Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0 Reviews:110+ |
Once you've stopped giggling about the name, you'll see that Kashoo is a comprehensive accounting tool that is easy to use right from the start on any web-connected device, including Macs. One of Kashoo's standout features is their customer support: You get free phone and web support with your subscription, which is much easier than standing in line at the Genius Bar. If you are looking for software solutions with similar features, these Kashoo alternatives are a great place to start.
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The free phone and web support is a real plus for those of us who like to have some expert guidance. | Kashoo integrates with Square for payments and Paychex for payroll in the U.S. (and PaymentEvolution in Canada, where it's based) but beyond that, it doesn't have much to offer as far as customization. |
| Kashoo has a flat rate, so you get every feature in the basic plan. | Some users have reported issues syncing multiple bank accounts with Kashoo, so it's a good thing they have easily accessible customer support. |
How much does Kashoo cost? | |
| Kashoo is $19.95 per month, or $16.58 per month if you pay for an entire year up front ($199). | |
What about the iOS app? | |
| Kashoo's iOS app has a 4.3/5 rating on more than 50 reviews. It allows Kashoo users to view reports, manage and send invoices, accept payments, and scan receipts. |
The tax management interface in Kashoo (Source)
What's your favorite accounting software for Mac?
Are you an accountant (either accidental or professional) and a power Mac user? If so, what's your weapon of choice, whether it's listed above or something else? (There are plenty of other options out there with iOS apps, as you can see by filtering for iOS deployment in our accounting software directory.)
I'd love to hear what you use and why you use it so I can recommend it to others. Just let me know in the comments or connect with me on Twitter @AndrewJosConrad.
Note: Listed pros and cons are derived from features listed on the product website and product user reviews on Gartner Digital Markets domains (Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice). They do not represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Capterra or its affiliates.
Note:The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.
Looking for Accounting software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Accounting software solutions.
