Apple's macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update fixes Mail, Photos bugs

AppleInsider · December 10, 2019 7:04PM

Apple has released macOS Catalina 10.15.2 to the public, bringing with it a selection of smaller updates to the Mac that refines Apple News, Stocks, Photos, Mail, and other apps and features alongside typical performance improvements.

Released on Tuesday alongside similar updates for iOS 13.3, iPadOS 13.3, tvOS 13.3, and watchOS 6.1.1, the update for macOS Catalina 10.15.2 arrives after going through four beta-testing cycles, with the most recent occurring on December 6.

Users can install the update by navigating to System Preferences then Software Update. After confirming an update is available, users have to select Update Now to commence the download.

The change logs for macOS 10.15.2 reveal a number of areas the update fixes, as well as stability and performance improvements. There don't appear to be any major features added to the operating system at all.

The Stocks app now offers links to related stories from the same publication at the end of articles readable within the app itself. There are also "Breaking" and "Developing" labels for Top Stories, with users in Canada also able to view stories in English and French.

The Apple News app has been updated with new layouts for Apple News+ stories from the Wall Street Journal and other major newspapers.

For Music, there is a restoration of the Column Browser view for managing a music library, and fixes for issues that prevent album art from appearing and occasional resetting of the music equalizer settings during playback.

The iTunes Remote adds support for using an iPhone or iPad to remotely control the Music and TV apps on a Mac.

The Photos app resolves an issue where some AVI or MP4 files appear as unsupported by the app. An issue that prevents new folders from appearing in Albums view is fixed, along with one where manually sorted images in an album may be printed or exported out of order, and a problem preventing the zoom-to-crop tool from working in a print preview.

A bug in the Mail app that causes Mail Preferences to open with a blank window has been resolved, along with one that can prevent "using undo from retrieving deleted mail," according to the changelog.

indieshack · December 10, 2019 7:11PM

Less interested about changes to Apple News, more interested if it fixes the constant app verifications that Catalina does on my 2016 Macbook Pro.

macaccuser · December 10, 2019 7:11PM

What about fast user switching which was destroyed by Catalina?

cobby10 · December 10, 2019 7:36PM

I am really REALLY happy to hear column browser is back in the Music app.

I’ve been emailing Tim Cook and posting on every discussion thread on Apple support about this. I know my nagging probably didn’t actually make changes. But I’m glad somebody listened to the crowd!!

I have over 35K of songs in Apple Music/iTunes app. Without the column browser the Music app was useless to me. I actually started to load my music onto an old junk windows laptop just so I can keep using iTunes that still had the column browser.

MplsP · December 10, 2019 8:15PM

“The Stocks app now offers links to related stories from the same publication at the end of articles readable within the app itself”

Finally! Now I can upgrade!

Seriously, the headline says they fixed the mail app but then describes a couple of relatively minor bugs - what about the bug that would cause mail to be deleted from the server and lost?

hexclock · December 10, 2019 8:27PM

cobby10 said:

I am really REALLY happy to hear column browser is back in the Music app.

Absolutely!
Now, about that disappearing mouse cursor in Safari when using multiple monitors... wishful thinking probably.

Mike Wuerthele · December 10, 2019 8:31PM

indieshack said:

Less interested about changes to Apple News, more interested if it fixes the constant app verifications that Catalina does on my 2016 Macbook Pro.

That's an odd one. Haven't seen that before. Sounds like you've got a permissions screwup -- which isn't supposed to happen.

jabohn · December 10, 2019 8:40PM

AppleInsider said:

The Stocks app now offers links to related stories from the same publication at the end of articles readable within the app itself. There are also "Breaking" and "Developing" labels for Top Stories, with users in Canada also able to view stories in English and French.

I'm curious because these points about the Stocks app seem to be talking about the News app. Unless there are stories and articles in the Stocks app?

ShapeshiftingFish · December 10, 2019 9:18PM

I upgraded early this time (10.15.1) but I thought I was safe after waiting a bit and I swear I will never, ever, ever, ever repeat that mistake. Ever. Again. No upgrading before x.x.4. I’ve had so many problems, on a brand new hardware (2019 MacBook Pro), I felt back in Windowslandia. Generally, Apple is getting very glitchy, especially with anything iCloud related. I update my Apple hardware often and it just saddens me how unstable the ecosystem is becoming.

razorpit · December 10, 2019 9:39PM

ShapeshiftingFish said:

I upgraded early this time (10.15.1) but I thought I was safe after waiting a bit and I swear I will never, ever, ever, ever repeat that mistake. Ever. Again. No upgrading before x.x.4. I’ve had so many problems, on a brand new hardware (2019 MacBook Pro), I felt back in Windowslandia. Generally, Apple is getting very glitchy, especially with anything iCloud related. I update my Apple hardware often and it just saddens me how unstable the ecosystem is becoming.

Haven't made the jump on Mac OS, however iOS 13 is a just a pain. I spend time reporting bugs, and sometimes it takes longer to do that than use the device for whatever.

SnickersMagoo · December 10, 2019 9:58PM

cobby10 said:

I am really REALLY happy to hear column browser is back in the Music app.

Get Roon and ALL your troubles will disappear......iTunes could not hold Roon's jock! Do yourself a favor and check it out....You will never regret it!

ca_mac_mini · December 10, 2019 11:47PM

Got to see if my Siri is fixed on HomePods where my iTunes Match is concerned ... she thinks half of my stuff is not there and tries to go to iTunes Music instead which I don't subscribe to, yet half of my music iTunes Match do play, really weird. Please post what you find, have the same problem.

Wgkrueger · December 11, 2019 12:20AM

macaccuser said:

What about fast user switching which was destroyed by Catalina?

It’s fully restored and functional.

johnwhite1001 · December 11, 2019 12:39AM

It is really sad that a very basic problem of sleep not working at all for 2012 Mac Mini with clean install is still not fixed. Worked with every other OS released since 2012. Never a problem. Now it does not even attempt sleep. And others have reported it also. Apple is supposed to be a "green" company yet sleep is consistently screwed up with every new OS release. For 10.14 my iMac 2015 was screwed up. This time it is Mac Mini. I have had far better luck with Windows and power management. Apple must do very little testing or not attempt to fix what problems are found. They just do not find power management to be a priority. Yet complain about global warming. They are a part of it.

qookhoo · December 11, 2019 12:49AM

Hi, anyone encountered the Catalina fried MacBook 12” (2015) video card?

prairiewalker · December 11, 2019 1:46AM

Anyone know where I can download just the Safari 13.0.4 Security update for Mojave 10.14.6?

StrangeDays · December 11, 2019 5:03AM

johnwhite1001 said:

It is really sad that a very basic problem of sleep not working at all for 2012 Mac Mini with clean install is still not fixed. Worked with every other OS released since 2012. Never a problem. Now it does not even attempt sleep. And others have reported it also. Apple is supposed to be a "green" company yet sleep is consistently screwed up with every new OS release. For 10.14 my iMac 2015 was screwed up. This time it is Mac Mini. I have had far better luck with Windows and power management. Apple must do very little testing or not attempt to fix what problems are found. They just do not find power management to be a priority. Yet complain about global warming. They are a part of it.

Hyperbole much? Macs consume some of the least power of any popular computer. Sorry you’re having trouble with yours, but after decades of Windows I can assure you Mac power management is superior. Case in point, I have a brand new Dell notebook at work, and if I close its lid and toss it in my bag, it will be stone dead within hours. I even tried it by issuing the Sleep shutdown command with similar results. Meanwhile, my MBP can sleep for weeks, and my iMac consumes 1w when it sleeps on a nightly schedule.

tiger2 · December 11, 2019 5:39AM

Remote still not working for me. Updated macOS and iPad OS. It shows my library and all the playlists, albums, etc, but nothing works. Click on Now Playing and it says Not Playing. But, it is playing on my iMac.

Add me to the list of very long time Mac users who are increasingly frustrated with software issues. When I attempted to update to 10.14.6 my iMac would not reboot. Finally got it going using a backup. Updated to 10.15.1 and same problem.

Fatman · December 11, 2019 12:22PM

Hey AppleInsider - I realize this may take a lot of time to manage - but with all of the responses to this article, many pointing out ‘issues’, it would help to keep a list of top gripes with software that can be voted on to fix/improve. This could also get the attention of Apple to prioritize.

Mike Wuerthele · December 11, 2019 12:31PM

Fatman said:

Hey AppleInsider - I realize this may take a lot of time to manage - but with all of the responses to this article, many pointing out ‘issues’, it would help to keep a list of top gripes with software that can be voted on to fix/improve. This could also get the attention of Apple to prioritize.

We do keep a running list with sources running far beyond the forums. Very, very few have more than one or two complaints.

llama · December 11, 2019 4:04PM

No combo?

Apple's macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update fixes Mail, Photos bugs

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