MacID update brings improvements for iOS 10, watchOS 3, and macOS Sierra

MacID Unlock Mac With Touch ID or Apple Watch

An important update for the popular MacID utility for iOS and macOS has been released this week with improvements for iOS 10, watchOS 3, and macOS Sierra.

The utility is known for its ability to let you securely unlock your Mac with the Touch ID sensor on your iPhone or iPad, but it also has built-in features that let you unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch over Bluetooth or with a Tap to Unlock gesture on the trackpad.

The new version 1.3.5 update is available for both the iOS app and the Mac app, which are each separate downloads.

New for iOS and watchOS

New in the iOS version of the app, MacID now has an updated look and feel for the widget that appears in Spotlight and Notification Center so it blends in better with many of your stock widgets.

The iOS app also has a new animation when tapping on the Settings button that runs smoother on older devices and gets rid of an annoying animation flicker that affected users after installing iOS 10.

The rest of the update seems to focus mostly on the Apple Watch and brings a much more reliable complication to the Apple Watch, as well as added support for the Dock in watchOS 3 that now lets you keep track of your iPhone’s network connection.

The full change log for the iOS and watchOS MacID app is provided below:

•  MacID for iOS’ Settings “ripple” animation flicker on iOS 10 is fixed and replaces the blur effect with a color from the current color scheme. Not as pretty, granted, but it sure does perform better on older devices and stops the flickering.
•  Updates the MacID Widget to look nicer on iOS 10.
•  Updated the MacID Widget to look a bit better in collapsed mode.
•  The MacID for watchOS complication has been massively improved for reliability. MacID was blitzing through it’s daily allocation of updates from the system way to quickly, and that’s been changed. You can see this yourself because:
•  You can now see how many complication updates are remaining today in MacID for iOS’ Settings under “Watch” if you’re on iOS 10.
•  Seeing as watchOS 3 does away with Glances, your iPhone’s network connection info is now is now displayed on the main screen of MacID for watchOS, which updates as you scroll to it in the Dock.
•  MacID for Apple Watch also implements some of the background refresh APIs to keep itself up to date before you get back to it.
•  Removes MacID for watchOS haptic play “on load” option. Two reasons: 1, the haptic plays when the app is in the background sometimes, and 2, watchOS 3’s Dock and the new super zippy Apple Watch make this a bit redundant. (You ARE keeping MacID in the Dock on your watch, right?)
•  Fixes a crash on launch when running watchOS 2.2

New for macOS

The Mac version of the MacID app has gotten its own set of improvements and in version 1.3.5. There really aren’t any new features in this release, as it focuses primarily on stability and reliability.

This update does away with a graphical bug that could happen on the Lock screen while trying to use Tap to Unlock, fixes a problem that could require you to enter your macOS Sierra twice to log in, and gets rid of an issue that could cause your device to appear in the setup window.

Other minor bug fixes are also present in this update; the full change log for the Mac version of the app can be found below:

•  Fixes an issue where it could take two attempts to enter a password on Sierra.
•  Fixes an issue where a device could wrongly show in the setup window if macOS is having trouble finding the proper MacID service.
•  Fixes Tap to Unlock lock screen UI glitch.
•  Reduces change that MacID for macOS (and iOS) show the German version for English users.
•  Prevents proximity features from trying to activate while the device is still connected but the macOS account is currently not active. (That is, if someone else is also logged in)

If you’re already a MacID user, you can download the update from the Updates tab in the App Store on your iPhone and can go to MacID (Menu Bar) → Updates → Check for Updates on your Mac to update the Mac app.

If you’re not already using MacID, it’s a $3.99 download from the App Store and the Mac companion app can be downloaded for free from the developer’s website.