5 Reasons macOS Ventura’s System Settings Is a Downgrade
One of Apple’s biggest software releases for 2022, macOS Ventura, brings a host of new features to the Mac. These features range from robust accessibility options to productivity-oriented additions like Stage Manager.
However, the most noticeable differences are in System Settings, known in the previous macOS versions as System Preferences.
While there have been changes, we can all agree that not all of them are good. So, before you update, you should know what we didn’t like and what we feel is missing—especially when compared to macOS Monterey.
1. iPad and iPhone Design on a Mac
At first glance, it’s obvious that Apple drew heavy inspiration from the iPhone and iPad’s Settings app when designing the System Settings app for macOS Ventura. The landscape-oriented System Preferences window has changed here to a vertical style you would find on an iPhone.
This change is a downgrade from a UI perspective because the Settings app in iOS/iPadOS devices is difficult to navigate already. Most people search their settings on their phones instead of tapping through rows and rows of options.
While unifying the settings in this manner can make it easier to tell people how to navigate settings across all their devices, the problem is that a Mac doesn’t typically serve the same function an iPhone or an iPad would. Apple seems to have forgotten that.
Priority of Settings
Generally speaking, it is fine for Apple to copy the style used in the iOS Settings app. However, Apple didn’t consider changing the priority of items to suit a Mac better.
For example, Focus and Screen Time are part of the top items in System Settings, just like they are on iPhones and iPads, and this shouldn’t be so. But these aren’t necessarily the most-used features on a Mac.
Here’s a look at System Settings in macOS Ventura:
Below, you can have a look at the Settings app on iOS 16:
However, macOS Monterey not only displays the Settings app items horizontally but also gives you the option to toggle on the list if you prefer it that way.
Switches Instead of Checkboxes
As part of adapting the iPhone and iPad Settings, Apple also brought in more switches. The little animation that slides when you select or deselect an option. While this is pretty neat on a touchscreen device, it doesn’t have the same effect on a Mac, which needs a pointer.
Instead of using switches, macOS Monterey uses checkboxes, which is more computer UI-friendly.
Horizontal Scrolling
Another annoying UI design in System Settings is horizontal scrolling, which is necessary when you have to scroll sideways to see the items on a list. Just like switches, this is fine on touchscreen devices but not Macs.
For instance, System Settings uses horizontal scrolling to display desktop pictures in the Wallpaper section. You have to scroll sideways on the trackpad to see items on the list.
This means that a non-Apple mouse cannot effectively scroll through the wallpaper section of System Settings without clicking theShow Allbutton. Also, horizontal scrolling limits how many items you can see at any time, which is an unwelcome UI downgrade from Monterey’s default vertical scrolling.
2. Missing Battery Settings
Typically, when someone attempts to “upgrade” something, it usually means making it better by building on what’s already there. However, Apple seems to have done the opposite by removing parts of the settings altogether.
The most noticeable is in the power and battery settings. For example, the Battery section in macOS Monterey is robust, offering ways to schedule a shutdown andturn your Mac on and off automatically.
But that’s not all that’s missing. For example, Optimized battery charging, theputting hard disks to sleepbutton, power nap, and energy modes all seem to have disappeared from the settings completely.
Apple has moved most display-related energy-saving settings to the Display section. You can find these energy-saving settings inDisplays>Advancedin System Settings.
3. No More Keyboard Search Focus
Frankly, most of us hardly go through the long process of clicking through sections of settings to get to the item we want. What most of us do, is type out what exactly we are hoping to find in the search bar.
macOS Monterey’s designers had this fact in mind. When you open up System Preferences, the focus shifts to the search bar, and you can immediately type in what item in the settings you hope to find. If you’ve gotten used to doing this, you’ll have to unlearn it once youupdate your Macto macOS Ventura.
We hate that typing on the keyboard causes focus to shift to an item on the left pane that starts with the first letter you type. For example, typingLhighlights theLock Screenmenu in System Settings. However, typingOwill only give you an error sound since no item in System Settings’s left pane starts with an O.
4. Trackpad Videos Are Gone
For users new to macOS, theMac trackpad gesturesyou can use to manage your desktops and windows can be a bit overwhelming. For this reason, Apple thought it was a good idea to show users how exactly they had to swipe or click their fingers on the trackpad to achieve a result.
While this feature is still in macOS Ventura, we no longer have the live-action human hand videos showing us how to move across the trackpad. Now, Ventura has replaced these videos with an animation using only circles.
The animation itself isn’t bad; it’s just not as good as an actual human hand moving across the trackpad.
5. You Can No Longer Sort or Customize Items in Settings
For those who aren’t aware, you canrearrange and customize items in macOS Monterey’s System Preferences. Unfortunately, Apple has removed this quality-of-life feature from macOS Ventura’s System Settings.
So, you can no longer restructure your preferences to prioritize items you use more than the others—or even just arrange them alphabetically. This is worse because Apple’s own settings priority isn’t ideal for a Mac.
Think Twice Before Upgrading to macOS Ventura
As a new OS update, macOS Ventura is still not perfect, and it might not be until a couple more patches. So, if you’re thinking of updating, and the possible bugs won’t stop you, then the lacking System Settings app just might. Sticking to macOS Monterey might just save you a headache.
Hopefully, Apple will address some, if not all, of the issues we listed here at some point down the line. Additionally, we’d like to see quality-of-life improvements that would be vital for a desktop operating system.
Apple’s macOS Ventura update may have all the bells and whistles to tempt you to upgrade, but should you? Let’s find out.
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