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Apple releases second OS X 10.10.3 pre-release w/ latest Photos app version, new Emoji, more

Photos for Mac iCloud Photo Library

Earlier this month, Apple released the first OS X 10.10.3 pre-release update to testers with a beta version of the iPhoto replacement app called Photos. Today an updated build is rolling out to testers through the Mac App Store. Apple has also released a new beta of iOS 8.3 for testers. We’ll dig in.

The build number in the latest release has raised to 14D87h from 14D72i in the initial release. OS X 10.10.3, which is expected to become available to all users later this spring, also includes changes to how and which special Emoji characters are presented. Google services users will also notice an improved sign in process.

With the new pre-release version of OS X 10.10.3 comes a newer build of the bundled Photos app as well. The first version that shipped to testers carried the build number 203.38.0 while the latest version comes in at 205.34.0 with a more streamlined experience for adding new Faces.

A new bar along the bottom of the window presents recommendations of new people to add to your Faces albums which you can vertically scroll through or minimize altogether. Previously, the process was a bit slower as it meant going through a separate window.

Photos Mac Beta

Today’s release also includes Xcode 6.3 beta 2 with Swift 1.2 (build 6D532l) and OS X Server 4.1 Developer Preview (14S1050d).

While we saw a preview of the changes coming to the Emoji character set in the last build, the current build includes the racially diverse character set which allows users to pick from various skin tones on several different characters.

The technology category of Emoji also sports updated iOS devices and a fancy new Apple Watch:

Screen Shot 2015-02-23 at 1.14.39 PM

The latest build also highlights WiFi and Screen Sharing as focus areas for testing improvements.

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Comments

  1. Fernando Bernard - 9 years ago

    Not available via OTA too…

  2. The Gnome (@gnomehole) - 9 years ago

    I don’t get why I see the update seed on one Mac, but not 3 others. All logged into the same account, all using same seed enabled settings. Strange.

  3. Zoheb Khan - 9 years ago

    not for public beta testers :/ waiting to use photos app…

  4. eastpointvet - 9 years ago

    the new emoji are present

  5. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    Can’t wait to try this. Hopefully Photos is a little more stable on this build.

  6. spykd889 - 9 years ago

    The faces interface in Photos changed. The suggested faces are now in the bottom and infinitely scrollable instead of seeing about 8 at a time. Also when you hover a face when naming a face it zooms in on the face instead of showing a hover bubble

  7. virtualstorm - 9 years ago

    Every release there is a WiFi bug fix! When are they gonna fix it for real?

  8. No love for the black iPhone…. Its always 1 step forward and 2 steps back Apple

  9. Ronnie Roy - 9 years ago

    The new Photos App has added a faces feature now. It allows you to tag faces, like you could in Aperture and iPhoto Previously.

  10. ryanmorano - 9 years ago

    Is the cigarette emoji gone? I heard they were removing it

  11. GARY WILSON (@PICWILSON) - 9 years ago

    So what does this photos app do to my photo stream that I use on my phone and iPad because I don’t want to mess that up at all?

  12. Jan Ackenhausen - 9 years ago

    Does anyone know if this update also includes system wide gTLD’s? Up until now only Safari supports them, making it impossible to set up eg. Exchange accounts using the new gTLD’s… The filter in the accounts settings won’t let you use a gTLD…

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.