With rare exceptions, most Mac apps seem happy with Sonoma

Posted:
in macOS

So far, it looks like macOS Sonoma's rollout has not been plagued with widespread reports of app compatibility issues -- but there are a few holdouts worth noting.

macOS Sonoma is out - are your apps ready?
macOS Sonoma is out -- are your apps ready?



For instance, Apple's own Configurator app is need of an update. This isn't a major crisis for most users, but it is a problem for enterprise mobile management. Configurator is used by IT administrators in business and education to help mass-configure iPads and iPhones.

"On a Mac with macOS Sonoma installed, Apple Configurator will fail to add apps from the App Store to iPhones and iPads," said Apple. The company recommends that customers continue to use macOS Ventura or earlier, and advised that "a future update" to Configurator and Sonoma would resolve the problem.

Frequent offenders Microsoft and Adobe seem to have their ducks in a row already, too.

Microsoft noted that Microsoft 365 supports Sonoma with the September 2023 update (16.77). The company recommends updating to the latest releases of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote for best results. The company also noted that previous releases will soon require macOS Monterey or later, in case you're running an older macOS version.

Adobe says that Lightroom Classic 12.5 or lower versions don't show shadow watermarks in the correct direction. The company said it's working on a fix but advises Lightroom Classic customers to stick with Ventura until then.

On the other hand, also-frequent offender Intuit is having issues.

Customers of Intuit's QuickBooks Desktop for Mac software are still waiting for a fix for Sonoma compatibility. Company support reps acknowledge issues, but have thus far been unable to tell their users when an update will be forthcoming.

Running macOS is only part of the issue for many of us who rely on Virtual Machine (VM) software to run non-native apps, games and operating systems.

To that end, Parallels has released a major update to their virtual machine (VM) software to run Windows and other operating systems on the Mac. Parallels Desktop 19 "is optimized for macOS Sonoma," according to the developer.

macOS Sonoma removes some of the Mac's last vestiges of built-in PostScript support, which causes problems for earlier releases of Parallels Desktop, the developer noted.

"As a response, our engineers re-engineered the Shared Printing feature to use Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) which is the most popular printing method nowadays," said Parallels.

CodeWeavers has announced the release of CrossOver 23.5, their compatibility layer software for the Mac and other systems. The new release adds a new "D3DMetal" option to run DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games using both CrossOver and components from Apple's Game Porting Toolkit.

"We are happy to report that this new D3DMetal option improves quality, compatibility, and performance for many games on Macs with the M1 chip or later, including Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk 2077, Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, Mortal Kombat 1, Deep Rock Galactic, Satisfactory, Monster Hunter Rise, God of War and Batman Arkham Knight. Note that Elden Ring and Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon default to launching with Easy Anti-Cheat disabled," said CodeWeavers.

Sonoma users interested in customizing their Mac's menu bar should take note that Bartender, the popular Menu Bar reorganization tool, has been updated to version 5. Older versions are not optimized for Sonoma and some features are unavailable, according to the developer.

Look before you leap



We say variations on this every year, but it bears repeating that discretion is the better part of valor.

Before you upgrade to macOS Sonoma, it's a good idea to check with the makers of the apps you depend on to make sure they'll work with the new operating system. Make sure to hit the Mac App Store also, since many apps have been recently updated with Sonoma compatibility, and to expose new Sonoma-specific features.

Have you run into any show-stoppers with Sonoma and third-party apps? Let us know in the comments.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    Is Rosetta support still in Sonoma?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 15

    "On the other hand, also-frequent offender Intuit is having issues."

    "Frequent offender" is right. I gave up on Intuit many years ago when it kept stalling off bringing out an OS X version of Quicken. It made promises to keep out competition but failed to deliver. That put Intuit on my 'never buy' list. They could not give away something I'd get.


    FileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 15
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,928administrator
    TomPMRI said:
    Is Rosetta support still in Sonoma?
    Yes.
    Alex1NwilliamlondonTomPMRIFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 15
    My Epson printer control app broke. 
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 15
    My Epson printer control app broke. 

    Curious, what does the app provide that the built-in driver support not offer?
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 15

    inkling said:

    "On the other hand, also-frequent offender Intuit is having issues."

    "Frequent offender" is right. I gave up on Intuit many years ago when it kept stalling off bringing out an OS X version of Quicken. It made promises to keep out competition but failed to deliver. That put Intuit on my 'never buy' list. They could not give away something I'd get.



    The mistake that these companies tend to make is not having a truly passionate Mac development team. They half-ass it, applying Windows influences onto their Mac apps, and the result is usually a terrible experience.

    williamlondonFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 15
    Does anyone know if Adobe InDesign 18.2.1 is working on Sonoma?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 15
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,598member
    Does anyone know if Adobe InDesign 18.2.1 is working on Sonoma?
    I don’t know, but if you’re not on InDesign CC by now, your days of using a current Mac are extremely low-numbered. You should be looking for an alternative option and getting used to it now, before you HAVE TO.
    edited September 2023 mainyehcwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 15
    Delicious library 3 is totally broken. I can't see any of my shelves. May finally be time to find a replacement. If anyone has one to recommend please let me know.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 15
    Oh, you wanted a showstopper? I'll give you a showstopper: Sonoma completely borked Time Machine for me, because of… some Cloud Files syncing bug, when all my cloud services are working fine and properly updated (and in always-available in offline mode instead of in on-demand/streaming mode, no less)…?

    Completely ridiculous. I've been using Time Machine continuously for EIGHTEEN YEARS now, and I had never seen anything like this. I've seen reports of this bug on Reddit and over on the competition's forums (MacRumors, you can go and check my posts there if you want), and just spent more than half an hour on the phone with an Apple Care representative who confirmed that they're also getting internal reports of this through the official feedback channels.

    I think that an update to this article, and maybe to the one about the 14.1 developer beta, is in order.

    For reference, here's what it looks like: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/15pb8x8/sonoma_time_machine_some_of_the_files_on_your_mac/

    I mean, what kind of stupid behaviour is this? Even if one of my cloud services was acting up, an incomplete backup is better than NO backup. Ffs 🤦‍♂️
    edited September 2023 muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondon
  • Reply 11 of 15
    mainyehc said:
    Oh, you wanted a showstopper? I'll give you a showstopper: Sonoma completely borked Time Machine for me, because of… some Cloud Files syncing bug, when all my cloud services are working fine and properly updated (and in always-available in offline mode instead of in on-demand/streaming mode, no less)…?

    Completely ridiculous. I've been using Time Machine continuously for EIGHTEEN YEARS now, and I had never seen anything like this. I've seen reports of this bug on Reddit and over on the competition's forums (MacRumors, you can go and check my posts there if you want), and just spent more than half an hour on the phone with an Apple Care representative who confirmed that they're also getting internal reports of this through the official feedback channels.

    I think that an update to this article, and maybe to the one about the 14.1 developer beta, is in order.

    For reference, here's what it looks like: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/15pb8x8/sonoma_time_machine_some_of_the_files_on_your_mac/

    I mean, what kind of stupid behaviour is this? Even if one of my cloud services was acting up, an incomplete backup is better than NO backup. Ffs 🤦‍♂️
    To be clear, though, this is what beta testing is for, right? You're on the beta to help Apple find bugs like this so the rest of us won't have to when Sonoma is released, right?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 15
    PC: MacBook Air M1 2020 / 8GB / Sonoma 14.0 (23A344)

    Monitor: Philips PHL 346B1C

    Laptop connected to monitor through USB-C cable.

    Everything works, display, power delivery, USB peripherals connected to my monitor (mouse + keyboard), except for sound.

    The MacBook shows the monitor as an option in the sound settings, and I can select the monitor, but there's no sound being pushed to the monitor. The volume slider is also greyed out in sound settings.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,928administrator
    Macpple1 said:
    PC: MacBook Air M1 2020 / 8GB / Sonoma 14.0 (23A344)

    Monitor: Philips PHL 346B1C

    Laptop connected to monitor through USB-C cable.

    Everything works, display, power delivery, USB peripherals connected to my monitor (mouse + keyboard), except for sound.

    The MacBook shows the monitor as an option in the sound settings, and I can select the monitor, but there's no sound being pushed to the monitor. The volume slider is also greyed out in sound settings.
    The greyed out sound settings are normal for DisplayPort audio -- which is essentially what this is. What do you have connected to the headphone jack?
    edited October 2023
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Installed MacOS Sonoma (not a Beta) 13 Oct 2023...auspicious date ... on my MacBook Air and since then Photos cannot find my Library...it was working fine on 12 Oct.  On clicking on settings, it indicates it is pointing to a file "Syndication.photoslibrary" located in /Users/johnkearley/Library/Photos/Libraries.  On search, that file is eleven months old therefore not current, and since Library is not finding my photos, it is not the right file. What is the name of the correct file and where should it be?  There is a Photos Library file in my iCloud Drive; it is one week old.  Both iPhone and iPad are having no problems with "seeing" all my pictures.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    @lz13 As of macOS 14.1.1 Delicious Library 3 is working again for me (MacBook M1).
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