This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensure that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.


iWork Updates Bring Professionally Drawn Artwork, New View Options, and More

Today Apple released updates for its entire iWork suite across iOS and macOS. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers each received several improvements, some of which are shared and others of which are unique to certain apps.

The most significant update found across all three apps is that over 500 professionally drawn shapes have been added for use. These shapes span a variety of categories, including: Objects, Animals, Nature, Food, Symbols, Education, Places, Activities, Transportation, Arts, People, and Work.

Each new category joins the existing assortment of shapes previously found in iWork. They can all be accessed by hitting the standard plus button in the navigation menu then selecting the shapes submenu. Finding the shape you’re looking for is made easier thanks to a fast, fluid search feature.

Beyond the new shapes, the only other additions that exist across all three iWork apps are the ability to reply to comments and join threaded conversations, and a set of new options for auto-correction.

Among the app-specific updates, the two that stand out most involve additional view options inside Keynote and Pages. Keynote includes a Light Table view where all slides are placed on a full-screen grid, making it easier to see the content of each slide at once and rearrange as needed. Pages includes something similar with its new thumbnail view, where each page of a document is listed in a left sidebar, making it easier to navigate between different pages.

Out of the other updates found in individual apps, a couple are focused on restoring basic functionality that was previously lost when collaborating on a document; examples of this include page layout options in Pages and print preview in Numbers. Rounding out the updates, Keynote allows you to edit presenter notes while viewing slides and has improved support for Hebrew and Arabic languages, Numbers has updated its stock and currency functions, and Pages enables exporting documents as fixed layout ePubs and adding linked text boxes.

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.