Apple is working to bring a privacy feature to macOS that is already available on its mobile operating system, iOS/iPadOS. The upcoming feature improves pasteboard (clipboard) privacy for macOS users, displaying alerts when an app tries to access the pasteboard on the device.
As the name suggests, a pasteboard is a system-wide shared space that stores data when you copy/paste it from one place to another. It is technically known as 'UIPasteboard' on iOS and 'NSPasteboard' on macOS and can be used to exchange data within or between apps.
"Prepare your app for an upcoming feature in macOS that alerts a person using a device when your app programmatically reads the general pasteboard. The system shows the alert only if the pasteboard access wasn’t a result of someone’s input on a UI element that the system considers paste-related," Apple wrote in a developer documentation first spotted by BlueSky user Sindre Sorhus.
In other words, the feature will alert the user when an app fetches something from the pasteboard without the user explicitly initiating a "paste" action, such as pressing Command-V or clicking a "Paste" button.
However, Apple is developing new methods for macOS apps to determine the contents of the pasteboard without actually reading them and triggering the alert. While the system can prevent unexpected pasteboard access, unwanted notifications might disrupt the user's workflow.
That's why the system is smart enough to detect whether an app programmatically reads the pasteboard or is a user-initiated paste action. The upcoming privacy feature will also allow users to control programmatic pasteboard access per app, configuring it always to allow, never allow, or prompt an alert requesting permission.
These new capabilities are expected to arrive with the macOS 16 update later this year. Apple talks about new features and updates at its WWDC annual event, which is scheduled from June 9 to June 13.
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