Strange behavior in System Settings of macOS Sonoma 14.4

[q3anon]

Hi,
In "System Settings" of macOS Sonoma 14.4, if I select the option "Require an administrator password to access systemwide settings" in "Privacy&Security-> Advanced", when I want to change an option in "Firewall" in "Network", if I select "Ok" it do not allows to do anything. If I select "Cancel" it asks me for my password and then lets me make the change I wanted. Don't you think this sequence is wrong? Shouldn't it ask for the password when making changes to the Firewall?
Thanks

P.S.: Please see video

attached

 

[q3anon]

Anyone? Thanks.

 

[svenmany]

Anyone? Thanks.

It's a bug. The system settings app was written by children. There are a lot of bugs in it.

 

[fisherking]

It's a bug. The system settings app was written by children. There are a lot of bugs in it.

as opposed to which version of mac OS? there are always bugs.

meanwhile, which children? how many? and what's your source for this? 😉

 

[svenmany]

as opposed to which version of mac OS? there are always bugs.

meanwhile, which children? how many? and what's your source for this? 😉

It's subjective. Certainly someone wouldn't agree with my evaluation of the app if they haven't stumbled over the bugs; I've stumbled over many, many bugs. I guess I formulate my opinion based on my level of frustration. I was never frustrated with the previous System Preferences application.

Some of the bugs were a travesty of software development; consider https://www.macrumors.com/2023/08/17/apple-releases-macos-ventura-13-5-1/.

 

[fisherking]

It's subjective. Certainly someone wouldn't agree with my evaluation of the app if they haven't stumbled over the bugs; I've stumbled over many, many bugs. I guess I formulate my opinion based on my level of frustration. I was never frustrated with the previous System Preferences application.

Some of the bugs were a travesty of software development; consider https://www.macrumors.com/2023/08/17/apple-releases-macos-ventura-13-5-1/.

got it. personally, everything i need to do is either set already, once... or easy to find. either way, i don't spend much time in system settings, and when i need it, i find things, and they work.

but not saying there aren't bugs!

 

[q3anon]

It's a bug. The system settings app was written by children. There are a lot of bugs in it.

I agree with you. This makes no sense. I don’t know why, but macOS Sonoma is for me the most buggy version of macOS that I already used. I miss the old days of System Preferences.

 

[fisherking]

I agree with you. This makes no sense. I don’t know why, but macOS Sonoma is for me the most buggy version of macOS that I already used. System Settings is a pain in the ass to find something.

as it stands at this moment, sonoma is one of the best experiences i've had on an apple OS; here, it's stable and fast. all my apps work. and a consistent bug i've experienced previously seems fixed.

once you adapt to system settings (just as we adapted to all the OS changes in the past), it's easy to navigate, and there's always the search function.

 

[q3anon]

as it stands at this moment, sonoma is one of the best experiences i've had on an apple OS; here, it's stable and fast. all my apps work. and a consistent bug i've experienced previously seems fixed.

once you adapt to system settings (just as we adapted to all the OS changes in the past), it's easy to navigate, and there's always the search function.

Maybe you are right, but Systems Settings is really strange, for example, to see battery percentage on menu bar, why that option is not on Battery menu?

 

[fisherking]

Maybe you are right, but Systems Settings is really strange, for example, to see battery percentage on menu bar, why that option is not on Battery menu?

it's part of the control center, and the option to remove it from the control center is in... the control center options. once you know this, you'll always know this (until, some day, apple changes it all up again 🤣).

things change, and we adapt (or, as the macrumors forums clearly show, ppl whine a lot). i personally find that adapting to change is more useful (altho, to be fair, sometimes enough people complaining does generate change... ie the ios safari address bar...).

 

[q3anon]

it's part of the control center, and the option to remove it from the control center is in... the control center options. once you know this, you'll always know this (until, some day, apple changes it all up again 🤣).

things change, and we adapt (or, as the macrumors forums clearly show, ppl whine a lot). i personally find that adapting to change is more useful (altho, to be fair, sometimes enough people complaining does generate change... ie the ios safari address bar...).

For me there are changes that are welcome, for example, the compact address bar on Safari for macOS and the address bar at the bottom on Safari for iOS. However, Control Center in macOS for me do not make any sense like widgets on macOS or on iOS. I want to remove Control Center from macOS menu bar, but it is impossible and I don’t like that. It’s just a question of tastes, but at least macOS should allow to personalize the menu bar.

Relatively to battery percentage, it is not part of the Control Center. We could allow to show the battery percentage in Control Center, but I do not want that, I just want the battery icon with percentage on menu bar!

macOS is not being developed with power users in mind, but for people that waste most of their time in social networks!

 

[svenmany]

I agree with you. This makes no sense. I don’t know why, but macOS Sonoma is for me the most buggy version of macOS that I already used. I miss the old days of System Preferences.

I can't argue with someone who experiences more bugs in one release versus another; everyone uses their computer in different ways and encounters different bugs. For me, Sonoma is about the same with respect to bugs as other recent macOS versions. System Settings is slightly better in Sonoma than it was in Ventura, but it's still abysmal.

My main problems with System Settings are in the Network section. The new bug I encountered last week prevented me from changing from DHCP to manual assignment. I'd change the setting to "Manually" and begin to enter the IP address. Shortly after I started typing, it set itself back to DHCP. I happened constantly over a number of days. I needed to work on some new routers and this really got in my way. I should have just switched to the terminal to do it, but didn't think of that until I started typing this post.

 

[q3anon]

I can't argue with someone who experiences more bugs in one release versus another; everyone uses their computer in different ways and encounters different bugs. For me, Sonoma is about the same with respect to bugs as other recent macOS versions. System Settings is slightly better in Sonoma than it was in Ventura, but it's still abysmal.

My main problems with System Settings are in the Network section. The new bug I encountered last week prevented me from changing from DHCP to manual assignment. I'd change the setting to "Manually" and begin to enter the IP address. Shortly after I started typing, it set itself back to DHCP. I happened constantly over a number of days. I needed to work on some new routers and this really got in my way. I should have just switched to the terminal to do it, but didn't think of that until I started typing this post.

Completely agree. If you are a power user System Settings is full of bugs and completely time consuming to find anything. At least the find option on System Settings works relatively well.

Anyone that uses macOS as a power user will find lots of bugs since System Settings was introduced.

I hate Settings on iOS because is organized in a not natural format. The same happens to System Settings in macOS.

I understand the path that Apple is doing, let’s see if things become better in a near future.

I’m waiting that Apple do not use the notch on MacBook Pro to buy one. Until then I will stay with my MacBook Pro 16” bought in 2020.

 

[fisherking]

For me there are changes that are welcome, for example, the compact address bar on Safari for macOS and the address bar at the bottom on Safari for iOS. However, Control Center in macOS for me do not make any sense like widgets on macOS or on iOS. I want to remove Control Center from macOS menu bar, but it is impossible and I don’t like that. It’s just a question of tastes, but at least macOS should allow to personalize the menu bar.

Relatively to battery percentage, it is not part of the Control Center. We could allow to show the battery percentage in Control Center, but I do not want that, I just want the battery icon with percentage on menu bar!

Completely agree. If you are a power user System Settings is full of bugs and completely time consuming to find anything. At least the find option on System Settings works relatively well.

Anyone that uses macOS as a power user will find lots of bugs since System Settings was introduced.

I hate Settings on iOS because is organized in a not natural format. The same happens to System Settings in macOS.

I understand the path that Apple is doing, let’s see if things become better in a near future.

I’m waiting that Apple do not use the notch on MacBook Pro to buy one. Until then I will stay with my MacBook Pro 16” bought in 2020.

you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but you also, certainly, don't speak for all 'power users'.

personally, i find settings on my iphone to be logical (not sure any of this would be described as 'natural'), and have no real issues with settings on mac OS.

we all have an opinion, and, obviously apple, whose OS this is, feels the design makes sense. & that's fine by me 👍

 

[q3anon]

you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but you also, certainly, don't speak for all 'power users'.

personally, i find settings on my iphone to be logical (not sure any of this would be described as 'natural'), and have no real issues with settings on mac OS.

we all have an opinion, and, obviously apple, whose OS this is, feels the design makes sense. & that's fine by me 👍

Of course it's my opinion. I don't speak for others. However, in my opinion, with SwiftUI Apple don't make an interface that makes sense and without bugs, I don't know how Apple expect other programmers do it. In my circle of friends, programmers at big tech companies, many of them have already switched to Linux. I don't intend to change for now, but if things don't change, in the near future I'm not saying it won't happen.

 

[svenmany]

Of course it's my opinion. I don't speak for others. However, in my opinion, with SwiftUI Apple don't make an interface that makes sense and without bugs, I don't know how Apple expect other programmers do it. In my circle of friends, programmers at big tech companies, many of them have already switched to Linux. I don't intend to change for now, but if things don't change, in the near future I'm not saying it won't happen.

I've been running Debian with KDE Plasma on the side. It's quite beautiful and in some ways it blows macOS out of the water. Linux is way more enjoyable to me than Darwin. I can get so much done that I struggle with on macOS. But, I just can't make the switch for a few of reasons.

- I couldn't survive without the high quality third-party applications I use on the Mac. (I don't find Apple's own application that great.)

- I really want the integration with all my Apple devices; I have a good number of them.

- The basic windowing system of macOS is exquisite. I always have a ton of windows open in a bunch of applications. It's so easy to get around; everything just rolls off my fingertips.

- I want to keep using the gorgeous Apple hardware. I get goosebumps when I open the lid on my MacBook Pro.

As far as my work as a developer goes, Linux and macOS are interchangeable with respect to all the applications I need for that. I have a feeling Linux would be nicer for development, but I haven't really tried it out. So, I do understand why some of your friends made the switch.

 

[q3anon]

I've been running Debian with KDE Plasma on the side. It's quite beautiful and in some ways it blows macOS out of the water. Linux is way more enjoyable to me than Darwin. I can get so much done that I struggle with on macOS. But, I just can't make the switch for a few of reasons.

- I couldn't survive without the high quality third-party applications I use on the Mac. (I don't find Apple's own application that great.)

- I really want the integration with all my Apple devices; I have a good number of them.

- The basic windowing system of macOS is exquisite. I always have a ton of windows open in a bunch of applications. It's so easy to get around; everything just rolls off my fingertips.

- I want to keep using the gorgeous Apple hardware. I get goosebumps when I open the lid on my MacBook Pro.

As far as my work as a developer goes, Linux and macOS are interchangeable with respect to all the applications I need for that. I have a feeling Linux would be nicer for development, but I haven't really tried it out. So, I do understand why some of your friends made the switch.

You touched on all the reasons that still keep me on macOS. In parallel with macOS I also use Debian with the Cinnamon graphical environment. I confess that, from a professional point of view, I'm starting to use Linux more than macOS. I think that the golden age of macOS occurred with Steve Jobs, but let's see how it evolves. For me System Settings is a clear example of what happens when you put designers doing the work of engineers.