Beta

Apple releases iOS 7 beta 4: this is what’s new

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2013

As expected, Apple has released the fourth beta of iOS 7 this morning. The update comes three weeks after the release of beta 3—longer than the the time period between previous betas due to a lengthy Developer Center outage caused by a security breach.

Beta 4 is available now to all registered Apple developers via OTA (over the air update), which can be installed by visiting the Software Update section in the Settings app of devices that currently have iOS 7 installed. And it should post soon to the dev portal...

Netflix’s user profile feature now rolling out to Apple TV

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

In April of this year, Netflix announced that it would be introducing some new family-oriented features to its video streaming service over the next several months. Among those mentioned was a new $12 family plan, and a new user profile option for multiple accounts.

Netflix hasn't launched the $12 plan yet, which allows families to stream different shows on up to 4 different devices (instead of 2). But it has started beta testing the personalized profile feature with a number of its users. And tonight, it starting rolling out to Apple TV...

Apple may post three more iOS 7 betas before Golden Master seed in September

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 29, 2013

Now that Apple's Dev Center is live again after an eight-day outage, the company is getting ready to release the fourth iOS 7 Beta later today, if prominent bloggers and Twitter are to be believed.

In fact, a bunch of inactive download links for iOS 7 Beta 4 seem to be already up ahead of the official release on the Dev Center.

And if you ask BGR, Apple will release just three more betas for developers before the Gold Master version is ready for prime time in early September...

Apple seeds Apple TV 5.4 beta 3 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2013

Alongside iOS 7 beta 4, Apple has seeded beta 3 of Apple TV 5.4 software to developers this morning. The update isn't nearly as expansive as its iOS device counterpart, but it does bring about a number of improvements and bug fixes.

Interestingly enough, the new beta also appears to allow users running iOS 7 to setup their Apple TV with their iPhone or iPad after a full restore or resetting all settings (iPhone 4 and iPad 2 not supported). Release notes after the fold...

iTunes 11.1 Beta 1 drops with built-in iTunes Radio

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 29, 2013

Alongside today's release of iOS 7 Beta 4, Apple has also seeded a new version of iTunes to its registered developers. The first beta of the upcoming iTunes 11.1 is now available via Apple's Dev Center (the current iTunes build carries a version number of 11.0.4). The beta software contains the iTunes Radio feature, which on desktop is currently available only in the United States on OS X 10.7 or later Macs...

Apple Seeds OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

Apple has seeded the 4th developer preview of OS X Mavericks, and it's available for download right now. The download, which comes in at about 1.27GB for users of OS X Mavericks DP 3, can be found via the Mac App Store app. For those of you not yet running OS X Mavericks, the download would normally be available through the Mac Dev Center, but it's been down as a part of a well publicized security breach.

OS X Mavericks: How to use Safari Shared Links

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Safari has received a miniature overhaul in OS X Mavericks, and one of the most outstanding new features is Safari Shared Links. This is a features that takes links shared with from people you follow on Twitter or Linkedin, and makes them easily accessible directly within Safari for your consumption. In a world dominated by social networking, Safari Shared Links makes sense, and I find its implementation to be well done. Take a look inside as I guide you step by step through its usage on video...

iOS 7 Beta 3 could drop on July 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 2, 2023

On Monday, Apple seeded iOS 7 Beta 2 to its registered iOS developers. The second beta arrived precisely two weeks after the launch of iOS 7 Beta 1, which was made available right following the June 10 WWDC 2013 keynote.

Now, you might recall that an hour before Beta 2 hit Apple's servers we ran an article saying the software could drop that day. The same source that called for it is at it again, now claiming the third beta of iOS 7 will see release on Monday, July 8.

It's kinda bad news for developers who must be looking to some time off for Independence Day. If true, July 8 would make iOS 7 Beta 3 available exactly two weeks following the launch of the current iteration of the software. Starting to notice a pattern here?

Apple dogfooding iWork for iCloud Beta to all employees

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2013

Along with a host of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks announcements, Apple spent some air time during its WWDC 2013 keynote talking about the much-improved cloud component of its iWork productivity suite for Macs and iDevices.

iWork for iCloud, as it is called, for the first time provides rich Pages, Keynote and Numbers web apps that run smoothly in a web browser like Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer, much like Google's Docs suite.

After making iWork for iCloud Beta available to its registered developers via the beta.icloud.com web page, the company has just started dogfooding the software to all its employees...

Apple enables direct Google Contacts sync in iOS 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 25, 2013

Google last September killed native sync for Contacts and Calendars on iOS devices. The announcement was part of Google's phasing out of Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync protocol in favor of CardDAV and CalDAV, which represent HTTP-based WebDAV client/server protocols for contact and calendar items, respectively.

Now, Apple actually adopted CalDAV and CardDAV with the release of iOS 4 nearly three years ago, but setting up Google Contacts sync on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices via CardDAV was anything but hassle-free.

With iOS 7, Apple appears to have implemented native Google Contacts sync. I'm guessing the feature works behind-the-scenes via CardDAV because it requires no setup and acts as a true two-way sync. It works like a charm, really, let me show you how...

iOS 7 allows developers to detect blinking and smiling in photos

Cody Lee ∙ June 25, 2013

As the tech community continues to dig through the iOS 7 betas, a new feature has been discovered. Apple's next-generation mobile operating system contains new APIs that allow developers to detect blinking and smiling in photos.

Now, iOS has had basic facial recognition for a couple of years now (since version 5). But according to a new report, Apple has added new image detectors in iOS 7 that are capable of identifying certain facial expressions in photographs...

iOS 7 Beta 2 enables HDR photography on iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 25, 2013

As Cody mentioned yesterday, iPad support is among the headline changes the newly-released iOS 7 Beta 2 has brought to the table. Jeff did a nice video tour of iOS 7 running on an iPad, highlighting key features such as Control Center, Notification Center, App Switcher, Photo Booth and more. In addition to these, the iPad versions of iOS 7 also enables High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, an advanced imaging technique previously available only on iPhones and iPod touches...