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WWDC 2019: Apple's Project Catalyst brings iPad apps to the Mac

Project Catalyst will bring iOS apps to the more than 100 million active Mac users.
Written by Stephanie Condon, Senior Writer

For developers who want to bring their iPad apps to the more than 100 million active Mac users, Apple on Monday announced Project Catalyst. Announced at WWDC, it's available now with the beta version of MacOS Catalina.

"One development team for the first time can build a single app that can span iPhone to iPad to Mac," Craig Federighi, SVP of Software Engineering for Apple, said during the conference keynote address.

For developers that want to get a head start creating Mac versions of their apps, they can simply check a box in Xcode, the macOS development environment, to automatically create fundamental features such as cursor controls or password autofill.

Twitter and Atlassian already have plans to bring iOS apps to the Mac, Apple announced. 

The new version of macOS also features a new way to find your Mac, should it get lost or stolenThe new "Find My" app effectively combines the Find My Friends app with the Find My iPhone app, Federighi explained, and can even locate devices that are offline. It uses a secure bluetooth beacon, which other Apple devices can use to relay its location. With end-to-end encryption, there's no need to worry about privacy, Federighi  said.

There's also an activation lock for Macs, so if it's stolen, it can't be used.

Apple also officially put an end to the iTunes era, replacing it with three apps -- Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts. 

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