Beta

Apple seeds first beta of iOS 10.1 with new Portrait camera mode

Apple on Wednesday issued the first beta for iOS 10.1. Registered developers can grab the new software via the over-the-air update mechanism in the iOS Settings app, or via Apple's online developer portal.

Perhaps the most significant change in this first 10.1 beta is the addition of Portrait camera mode— a software feature for the iPhone 7 Plus Apple showed off earlier this month that creates a 'bokeh' effect.

Apple releases iOS 10 Golden Master

Since launching a developer-only preview of iOS 10 at WWDC back in the summer, public beta testers and developers have been able to test-drive a plethora of cool new features coming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this fall. Well, Apple's now finished work on its most significant iOS software update in years as iOS 10 just reached a Golden Master status.

Apple pushes new music discovery feature to beta testers ahead of iOS 10 release

First announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, a pair of forthcoming music discovery features went live on Apple Music this past Friday for iOS 10 beta testers.

Rechristened from “Discovery Mix” to “My New Music Mix” and available through the For You section of the Music app on iOS 10, this new curated playlist suggests tunes based on your previously played music.

As a bonus, you also get another personally curated playlist—“My Favorites Mix”. These two auto-updated playlists should take the pain out of discovering new artists and music from Apple Music's vast content library, as first reported on by AppleInsider.

Tweetbot creators invite you to beta-test Pastebot clipboard manager for the Mac

Tapbots, the makers of Tweetbot, the popular Twitter client for iOS and macOS, today released the first public beta of Pastebot for Mac. Fans of Tapbots' work will remember Pastebot for iPhone, which allowed you to copy and paste text between iOS devices and Macs.

I've used past tense because Pastebot for iOS is no more: the app was discontinued more than two years ago as developers reshuffled their roadmap. Well, Pastebot for Mac is the successor to the phased-out iOS app and you can now take it for a spin.

A new beta of macOS Sierra has been seeded to developers and public beta testers

Seven days following the release of a seventh beta of macOS Sierra, Apple today seeded an eighth beta of the upcoming software to its registered developers and public beta testers. Both macOS Sierra beta 7 for members of the Apple Developer Program and macOS Sierra beta 7 for members of the Apple Beta Software Program are now available through the Mac App Store on computers with an appropriate configuration profile and as standalone downloads on Dev Center.

Apple also seeds tvOS 10 beta 7 to developers

In addition to seeding iOS 10 beta 8 to developers and iOS 10 beta 7 to public beta testers, Apple today made available a seventh beta of tvOS to its registered developers. tvOS 10 beta 7 (build number “14T5329a”) is available as an over-the-air update via the Software Update mechanism on the fourth-generation Apple TV.

Apple issues iOS 10 beta 8 to developers & beta 7 to public beta testers

Apple today released an eighth beta of iOS 10 (build number “14A5346a”) to members of the Apple Developer Program and the seventh beta of iOS 10 to public beta testers who are signed on the Apple Beta Software Program. It's worth repeating that iOS 10 beta 8 for developers and iOS 10 beta 7 for public beta testers contain the same features.

The devices on a prior beta can be updated in Settings → General → Software Update, but some users are reporting issues trying to update to beta 8.

Apple seeds macOS Sierra beta 7 to developers, beta 6 to public testers

Apple on Monday seeded the seventh beta of macOS Sierra to developers. Registered Mac developers running the latest betas can update via the Mac App Store, or access the standalone download in the developer center.

Today's release comes a week after Apple issued beta 6 of macOS Sierra to developers and 3 days after beta 7 of iOS 10 was released. Apple has entered the fine-tuning stage as it prepares to release the updates to the public.

Apple seeds iOS 10 beta 7 to developers, beta 6 to public testers

Apple on Friday seeded the seventh beta of iOS 10 to developers. Registered developers running the latest betas can access the update via the OTA mechanism in iOS, or as a standalone download via Apple’s developer center.

Today's release obviously comes as a surprise, given that Apple just issued beta 6 on Monday. The timing suggests that Apple has entered the fine-tuning stage, as it prepares to release iOS 10 to the public in the next few weeks.

Video walkthrough: changes in beta 6 for iOS 10, macOS Sierra & watchOS 3

As you know, Apple yesterday seeded a sixth beta of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra to its registered developers and public beta testers along with developer-only builds of watchOS 3 and tvOS 10.

As we're now weeks away from their tentative fall release, small wonder the latest betas lack new outward-facing features. Here's Andrew's hands-on video detailing changes in the latest betas of iOS 10, macOS Sierra and watchOS 3.