Apple is rolling out the first pre-release seed of OS X 10.10.3 to testers and developers today including the all-new Photos app with support for iCloud Photo Library beta. Previously, iCloud Photo Library was only available for desktop users through iCloud.com using a web app. The new Photos app replaces iPhoto while Aperture is also no longer being developed. Apple first announced the new Photos app at WWDC 2014 and later added that development would no longer continue on either iPhoto or Aperture. Adobe released a tool last fall to help Aperture users migrate photos to their pro app Lightroom.
– OS X Yosemite users with access to pre-release seeds can find the update through the Mac App Store.
– The pre-release seed is also available through the Mac Dev Center for developers.
– Build 14D72i for first pre-release seed up from OS X 10.10.2 build 14C109.
– New Photos app description:
All new for OS X, Photos automatically organizes your photo library and helps you perfect your photos with comprehensive editing tools. You can also store your photos and videos in the cloud using iCloud Photo Library, and access them on all your devices.
Photos lets you:
– Browse your photos by time and location in Moments, Collections, and Years views.
– Navigate your library using convenient Photos, Shared, Albums, and Projects tabs.
– Store all of your photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library in their original format and in full resolution.
– Access your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iCloud.com with any web browser.
– Perfect your photos with powerful and easy-to-use editing tools that optimize with a single click or slider, or allow precise adjustments with detailed controls.
– Create professional-quality photo books with simplified bookmaking tools, new Apple-designed themes, and new square book formats.
– Purchase prints in new square and panoramic sizes.
– Apple says the new Photos app will be released publicly this spring, OS X 10.10.3 will be a free update to Yosemite users
iCloud Photo Library offers users the ability to keep a single photo collection in sync across iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, and Macs. Edits to photos including crops and filter additions are even synced across devices unlike the alternative My Photo Stream feature. Albums you create and photos you delete are also synced across devices.
Also unlike My Photo Stream, iCloud Photo Library does count against your iCloud storage space. Apple gives each account 5GB for free, but if you have any real amount of photos in your library, you’ll likely want to upgrade to a larger storage plan. iCloud storage plans range from 20GB to 1TB starting at 99¢ per month up to $20 per month.
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I’m embarrassingly nervous about the functionality and performance of this new app. Looks like it has great potential, but the way the iPhoto (which is heavily integrated into the OS) is working so poorly on my MacBook os quickly becoming a deal breaker. They’d better get this one right!
So far initial previews seem pretty positive;
http://www.macworld.com/article/2880099/first-look-photos-for-os-x.html
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7982735/apple-new-iphoto-announced-photos-app-for-mac
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7982517/apple-photos-mac-iphoto-replacement-explainer-faq
Agreed. I’m hopeful, but not yet optimistic, about this new app.
Just crashes at startup for me when trying to import the existing iPhoto library (around 50,000 photos).
“Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” “Then don’t do it.”
Same for me….
Not a good start! I have several iPhoto libraries (eg work and home). Will I be able to convert them to the new format and keep them separate?
@Michael Paine, yes it supports the multiple library functionality that was present in iPhoto, iTunes and other apps. Just hold the option key down on launch.
Same for me. I select my existing iPhoto library and the process immediately terminates. :(
you have to choose the iPhotoLibrary by starting the Photos-App with pressing “alt”… it works fine!
The first opening the app I was not ask after importing iPhoto .Can you somehow get the photo app again on this?
Currently I am running now would import iPhoto and photos parallel.Manuell work but it would be all messed up!
you have to choose the iPhotoLibrary by starting the Photos-App with pressing “alt”… it works fine!
As Pesche says you have to press Alt. I would also add that iPhotosLibrary has to be on it´s default location for it to be imported. I used to have it somewhere else and had to place it there.
Did I miss something? I have a iOS developer account and last time there was a OS X beta I could download it in the developer section .. This time not?
If you have your developer account logged into your mac the update will just show up in the App Store.
Logged in and nothing .. strange
iOS devs got access to OS X betas in the dev center during beta periods of 10.10. Since 10.10 is public now, only OS X devs have access through dev center.
Everybody has access through https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/mac/index.action
Guessing they roll it out incrementally, it should show up at some point today.
I believe you have to sign up here: https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/
iOS devs got access to OS X betas in the dev center during beta periods of 10.10. Since 10.10 is public now, only OS X devs have access through dev center.
Be sure to have the configuration utility installed on your machine. You can find it on the developer website.
I have it now, needed some time to shop up apparently
Im an iOS and OS X developer…. I just went to app store and updates and 10.10.3 appeared as a software update for me… downloading and restarting now.
I’m eager to hear some of the people who install this beta, who also use Aperture, to provide a blow-by-blow of what’s new, what’s missing, and what’s crippled, in comparison to Aperture…
from this Verge article;
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/5/7982517/apple-photos-mac-iphoto-replacement-explainer-faq
“THIS ISN’T AN APERTURE REPLACEMENT”
The Verge isn’t a good source of journalistic reporting… I’ll wait until A) More developers, who are also photographers, start taking it for a spin, and B) let’s wait and see how many features will appear later on in the beta program.
Unfortunately, The Verge is right – this is a replacement for iPhoto, not Aperture. I played with Photos for some time and it is absolutely not a replacement for Aperture. So many features a missing…
Not surprising though – if you really do want a heavy weight replacement for Aperture then one would be better off just going to purchase Lightroom. I’m wondering, after years of providing middleware, that Apple is stepping back in favour of creating rudimentary core functionality and allowing third parties to come in and fill in the gaps rather than Apple providing the whole experience. Makes sense though because at some point you want to move back to focusing just on the OS and some basic functionality whilst encouraging a health third party ecosystem that feel secure knowing that you (Apple) aren’t going to come in and trample over them in the future.
Well it supports extensions for one… which means Adobe or pixelmatr or any other developer can throw their extension in it.. which could make it even more powerful than aperture (if Apple’s API’s are good) but also cost more perhaps… or not. We’ll have to see.
*ears perk up* I like the sound of this :)
Pretty sure this isn’t really an adequate Aperture replacement. This is an iPhoto replacement with a way for Aperture users to get their photos migrated.
In The Verge’s review: “Now, if you were one of the people who loved Aperture because you like adjusting every possible little setting, and having things like a loupe for pixel-peeping, adjustment brushes for fixing dust spots or blown highlights, and plug-ins to add extra features, here’s some bad news: none of these things are present in Photos.”
I take what The Verge writes with a grain of salt, as their journalistic quality is low, and they are often biased against Apple, or just down-right Apple haters…
Also, this is the first beta, so those features may sneak back in as the development cycle progresses.
@Edison Wrzosek: Bias against Apple? most of their product reviews of Apple products end up giving on average a 9/10 for their products. Personally I think Apple is drawing a line in the sand and picking their battles – is it worth going up against Adobe with a Lightroom clone or just allowing the third parties to develop an ecosystem to cater for the high end and niches Apple isn’t interested in catering for.
See my other comment for my quick and dirty review of Photos as an Aperture user. The bottom line is that I can’t imagine any real user of Aperture being content with Photos. In terms of general functionality, there’s not much difference in Photos for Mac versus Photos for iOS. This will please most iPhoto users, but very clearly, Aperture users need to move to Lightroom or cling on to Aperture until the very last breath.
And while features will be brought into Photos in future versions along with UI improvements, it’s pretty clear that there’s no intention for the foreseeable future of Photos getting to Aperture level or being competitive with Lightroom.
Edison, don’t get your hopes up. From what I saw in the video on the Verge, the functionality closely resembles the Photos app on iOS. Including of course iCloud Sync, shared iCloud libraries and the legacy Photo Stream service, along with slideshows and several print order options like iPhoto had.
This is a worthy iPhoto replacement in every way, but not an Aperture replacement. It’s weird Apple marketed it as such. But here’s what COULD save it: support for extentions. Pixelmator already has an OSX extention (their great repair tool) and there’s much more to come. Imagine if other apps would do the same. Photos could gain more functionality through these plugin-like extentions than Aperture ever had on its own.
Extensions won’t help because you’ll still be stuck with the same lame, amateur-level UI. One of Aperture’s most vaulted features is it’s deep image management features, all of which have been dumped in Photos. Photos is a slick, fast, convenient consumer programme. It’s just the iOS Photos app with a little lipstick. There is nothing professional about it whatsoever.
Have they fixed the VPN proxy issues yet or are we going to have to wait for 10.11.x?
What happens to be the issue? do you use Safari, Chrome, Firefox?
i was enrolled for the Public Beta Program of Yosemite and always received beta version of it, but i don’t get this on the App Store. Why?
Same here. I received all beta updates until 10.10.2 full version was released. Nothing now.
same
Same, I got 10.3.3 on my primary mac. Installed the OS X Beta Utility on my secondary mac using the same account and 10.3.3 won’t show up in updates ???
No way I’m entrusting my photos with Apple after recent performance. Someone else can beta test it for me
Don’t worry… thousands will.
I’ve been using the iCloud Photo Library Beta since launch, and so far it’s been extremely reliable on my iOS devices. As long as you use Time Machine to backup your Mac, even if it screws up, you’ll still have a backup of your photos, so not much to worry about.
True I’m just losing faith, still can’t use Bluetooth and it been 4 months now
does time machine backup the photos app? if so is it backup up “optimized” images or the full res ones? I guess you would have to specify that in the settings.
why not showing on app store i try to many times for updates ?
No fair, I’m a tester and it isn’t in the App Store. :-(
Be sure to have the configuration utility installed. Go tot he developer site and download to be sure.
I’m not a developer, I am an AppleSeed tester.
Nothing for me yet either :( maybe its only devs for this release
No I’m not a developer and I just got the email. Checked to app store and the update is there.
@monty – they emailed you?
@Brandon – Yes didn’t you get the memo?
No :-( !!!!!
You are not alone. Nothing in “App Store” for me either.
I want and need control of my images and will continue to use the latest version of Aperture until I need to switch to Lightroom. I am pissed and disappointed that Apple is abandoning this pro tool. Shame on you Apple.
Does the app order function to merge iPhoto Library with iCloud Photo Library?
At the beginning you can choose to import your Aperture, iPhoto libraries or create a new one. You can add your iCloud Photo library by going to the settings once the App is et up.
I am so glad this is finally coming on. Certainly one of the features i have been waiting for since the start of Yosemite.
So…despite it being quite early on 10.10.3’s dev anyone care to comment on Mission Control performance when working on multiple Spaces with several Safari windows open compared to 10.10.2? Yosemite in general caused huge lags on my 27” iMac11,1 to the point that considered switching back to Mavericks at one point…And then there’s the infamous issue with Safari building up memory pressure and swap pages gradually over time, regardless of using the actual app or not..Things that haven been reported since day one that have to do with the actual practicality of using the system and have not been addressed yet..
this program can be installed on Mac OS X 10.10.2
it works!
where can u download it??
download update Mac OS X 10.10.3 (1.59Gb)
http://downloadbox.org/apple-os-x-yosemite-10-10-3-build-14d72i/200978/
extract the file “Photos” (Pacifist for Mac)
Please do tell! LOL
It didn’t work for me :( Photos app says on launch that I’m not a developer…
Same, I got it working on one of my macs as an early beta tester (not developer), I copied the app to the other one and it said the same thing ‘not a developer’. I installed the OS X Beta Program Utility on my second mac and it still didn’t allow me to install it or download 10.3.3.
Can someone confirm is it for beta testers too? have any beta tester got the update??
I have an iOS Dev account, but not a Mac Dev account. OS X 10.10.3 is available on my Mac which had Yosemite Preview, not available on my Mac that didn’t participate in the public beta.
I’m sorry that you’re “embarrassingly nervous” about the follow-on to iPhoto. That would concern me. You should consider professional help.
So there you have it they dumbed down, enjoy.
Has Apple ever commented or have there been leaks regarding why Apple continues to offer such pitiful cloud storage space, as well as high fees for additional space – when compared to box, dropbox, etc? Seems pathetically minimally for a company that makes 10’s of billions per quarter to charge a high rate for cloud storage.
When it was originally announced, it wasn’t out of line with others, and in some cases, depending on plan, it was cheaper (and still is). I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring the price down (perhaps when Photos launched).
Thanks – hoping thats true! They sure can afford it, especially when they can scale it with that new data center they are converting from the former AZ sapphire plant.
‘pitiful cloud storage… high fees… makes 10’s of billions’ Well *gosh
Was there a point to that comment there?
anyone can confirm if the Smart Albums created, are synched to iOS? so can I create an smart album with a logic that every Print Screen is stored in that album that works on the iphone? O.o
On the other hand, albums will work as folders or as “tags” as they work on iOS?
I really can’t wait for the final build to be released. I hate iPhoto and its bloat. Let’s hope this is a ton better.
Well just imported one Aperture library and all I can say is this is embarrassing. If you are moving from Aperture you might as well go out and buy Lightroom now as this is just poor. UI seems all over the place, goes from gray to black when editing a picture. Scrolling flickers and no way to sort by anything. Ok it’s a beta but CPU at 50%.
Feedback for long processes is poor – looks like they copied from Windows Phone.
As a pro I was hoping that apple as usual do something similar to adobe products but with much better interface.
Something like FinalCutPro X.
Most professional needs to import RAW files, have big set of tools to edit them and then export them with specific settings.
App should be quick&easy, and gives photographer simple way to work with it his pictures.
New Photos App probably will be good for amateurs but It’s not revolutionary, innovative or modern.
It is just another boring program but with cloud based library.
I’m very disappointed that Apple ditched pro users completely. I didn’t bought macbook pro to use Windows Apps on it.
I have this working across iOS (Phone and iPad) and OS X. Nice feel to it, sleek and far less clunky than iPhoto.
Early days i know, but i have switched on ‘iCloud Photo Library’ on iOS devices and done some trial albums. They sync nicely across all devices and any changes are mirrored so it seems. The editor looks good for simple editing. I am no pro but for general fixes, it seems neat and sleek.
Only thing I cannot figure out is recently taken photos. These seem to just be all thrown into an album titled ‘All Photos’ which has, as the title suggests, every photo in (including album sorted photos). Delete out of here and it deletes out of the album and vice versa. I’m just a little uncomfortable with everything going in here… it seems difficult to tell which snaps have been sorted into albums and any deletions made in here are affected across all devices.
Anyone have any ideas on how to keep ‘new snaps’ separate to ‘organised photos’? Can a smart album be synced so that is shows maybe only recent 14 days of photos?
Thanks :)
Dang Im late to the party….did I get here before the trolls claimed Apple erased their newborn babies first photos forever?
For those wondering…
iCloud is optional:
iCloud is completely optional in Photos. It’s off by default, and there’s not annoyance or anything to turn it on. They’ll be marketing iCloud as a feature, but it entirely optional.
You could use other cloud services:
Simply store your library in the cloud syncing directory such as Dropbox. But keep in mind, you’ll need Photos on OS X to open that library as a library. Otherwise, you’d need to navigate within the package which is messy and you certainly wouldn’t want to edit there.
Almost everything from iPhotos in in Photos:
iPhotos users should be happy with the transition to Photos. The big exceptions comes from things like what you could do with Faces and Places.
Much is missing from Aperture:
I can’t imagine any true Aperture user being satisfied with Photos. You’d have to have been someone who was really on the iPhoto side of the fence with Aperture to be content with Photos. Clearly Lightroom is the intended transition path for Aperture users.
There’s not much reason to use Photos on a Mac versus Photos on an iOS device:
They share much of the same UI and functionality. There are some advantages on the Mac, but little that I could see that differs from what you could do on an iOS device. Faces is more functional on the Mac version. On the other hand, since few extensions are available on the Mac version yet, advanced editing may be stronger with iOS for now.
Import from iPhoto or Aperture:
Importing from iPhoto or Aperture is easy and painless but… you can’t go back with the library. Duplicate your library and import that into Photos first and keep the original just in case.
Sharing:
All the old sharing features are still there… Facebook, Flickr, etc…
Multiple libraries:
Still there, just hold down the option key on launch.
Non-destruction:
You can revert back to the original… even on a library imported from iPhoto/Aperture, but you can’t undo any previous single edit done in iPhoto/Aperture.
While this is still beta, I’m not expecting Apple to add many if any significant feature before launch, and certainly not expecting them to add anything that makes this Aperture level anytime in the foreseeable future.
Edit: let me know if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them.
10.10.3 killed my Mac mini and forced Time Machine restore. Pretty pathetic.
10.10.3 almost killed my Retina iMac which had to be hard reset during install.
“BUT ITS BETA”. Apple Betas are not supposed to brick Macs.
No issues on retina iMac here nor my rMBP. I did see 10.10.2 first two beta bricking my iMac but they fixed it later. No issues yet with 10.10.3.
I installed on my MBP and retina IMac. I lost internal audio on the Imac. Are you having this issue by any chance? I have no audio devices listed.
No issues with output via headphone and speakers on both Macs. They are listed in the out section. No missing input devices (microphone) in the input section as well.
Is this a joke? Did they need all this time to build this Photos App? Wow!
You are more than welcome to build the same app and sell it.
If you notice the other article, Apple actually built a new private framework for the app as well. Building a whole new app from the ground up takes a lot of time, and having a large budget doesn’t change anything.
Shut up, loser!
Such a mature response.
@mikhailt People with your logic are annoying! By that logic, I can’t criticize anything because, obviously, I can’t make a car, a phone, a TV, a camera, a laptop etc..
My logic is based on the fact you’re criticizing Apple on the amount of time it takes to build an app rather than explaining what the issue is with the app. What is it that you’re shocked that it took Apple this long to build? Apps like this often take several months to optimize for speed. Apple only announced Photos at 2014 WWDC, so it is less than a year.
From my time with it, Photos really is a big improvement in the performance compared to iPhotos. However, for Aperture replacement with the editing and advanced photography stuff, it blows.
You can criticize all you want, just provide more details as to why you’re criticizing, so we can agree or disagree with you.
Just yelling out “Is this a joke? Did they need all this time to build this Photos App? Wow!”
is going to get “How about you build your own simple app and sell it in less time” type of responses.
If you said “Wow, that interface is so barebone, why can’t Apple do better UI, this is a joke”, I’d reply “yes, I agree. The flat white theme is ugly”.
Why don’t they focus on fixes the issues already present, as they are severe (wifi, Safari causing systems to lock up and crash, mail memory leaks, etc.), rather than potentially introducing a whole bunch of new issues to deal with? Are the devs and testers at Apple on vacation?! Yosemite is garbage!
Cool! iPhoto was a piece of crap from the beginning, good Apple has realized it’s unfixable and is starting from scratch.
They should really do that for all their software. Throw out the old and start over. iTunes??
Is there a reason why I (in Australia) am not able to access this? I’m an Apple Seed tester as well as registered developer?
is there still a way to just download the photos that I recently took with my iPhone just like in iPhoto? I don’t want all of the photos on my mac beeing synced to iCloud…
Could someone with access to the beta please answer these questions:
– When you have information in the photo description field, will this be available in Photos once you imported the pictures from iPhoto? Is this field searchable from iOS devices?
– Does the old face recognition from iPhoto still work? What about all the faces that were already recognized?
One thing I really miss from my iPhone 5… The “years” and “places” view.
Well, I will be able to transfer I photo library to photos for os x? I have my iPhone library on external hard drive
I just updated to 10.10.3 and Photos. I created a small library in Aperture and imported it into Photos. The import went without a hitch. Anyone familiar with Photos on iOS will be immediately familiar and proficient with the app on the Mac. Indeed, Photos for Mac seems like nothing but Photos for iOS with a little lipstick. It is fast, efficient, and extremely easy to use… if you’re a rank amateur photographer who takes snapshots and wants to share them with everybody else, and likes a minimalist interface. There is not a SINGLE feature of Photos that will be of any use to a high level amateur, prosumer or professional photographer. NONE! For professionals in particular, its hard to see Photos as even a basis for a professional level application in the future. Photos is extensible for 3rd parties, but I think it would be impossible to add enough plug-ins to even remotely replicate what already exists in Aperture. For pro photographers who hoped that like Final Cut X, we would be in for bumpy ride that would eventually become a usable pro application in the future, unfortunately I suspect the future lays elsewhere… and outside Apple’s vaunted ecosystem. Like iPhoto before it, Photos has now been deleted from my Mac. Oh, and a telling point. The familiar Leave Feedback menu item is nowhere to be found. I guess they don’t want to know.
Which application is the photographer using in the iMac 5k video ? Is it Photos or Lightroom ?
Apparently you need to also have a OS X developer membership, not just iOS, which is what I had. Drop another $99 specifically for the “OS X dev program” and there are magically more links under the download section, the topmost being 10.3.3, with accompanying caveats. I don’t have a spare machine right now, so I don’t know how bad I want to try it out just yet, myself. :-P
Odd. I don’t have an OS X developer, just the iOS, and am in the seed program. One of 5 Macs got it, the others aren’t seeing it. All got the previous seeds and builds just fine. Perhaps its still taking time to roll out?
They better have fixed the continued problem of “com.apple.geod (not responding)” in 10.10.3 or what’s the use!
I’m not coding-savvy, but I’m not computer illiterate either!
I believe com.apple.geod was hanging up from time to time even after I updated to 10.10.2.
Why should I have to to Apple Support and do the work around, erasing libraries or whatever the hell I have printed out at home that others on Apple Support have said to do to fix the problem.
It’s Apple’s problem. THEY should fix it!
Any comments appreciated!
Apple should revoke beta access to anyone already bitching about the beta code. If you use it, send your reports to Apple.. don’t complain in public as if its a public release. Go back to Windows if you are going to act that ignorant.
Will this new release allow consolidation of multiple iPhoto libraries to a single or several albeit large library w/o depending/paying for iCloud Photo. Namely consolidation to an external drive. I have several libraries totaling well over 1TB.
I did this but the app would not let me send the diagnostic tests or even run it. Still needs work but looks like it is going to be sweet!
Can’t see photos in iCloud. Other than that, it works great