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Apple releases first OS X 10.10.3 Public Beta with new Photos app

Apple today released the first Public Beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.3. The new release includes the iCloud-based Photos application for the Mac, new Emojis across the system, and simpler login to Google accounts for profiles with two-factor authentication enabled. This beta is labeled as build 14D87, which is the same as the second 10.10.3 beta for developers, which was released a week ago. The Public Beta is available in the Mac App Store Software Update tab for registered beta users. Apple plans to release the first Public Beta of iOS 8.3 in mid-March, according to sources. Thanks, DJ!

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Comments

  1. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    Have to say, the Photos app is definitely in advanced beta stage…my experience with it is nothing but very solid so far.

    • It is, but it’s lacking some basics. Like edit in 3rd party app…

      • tplants - 9 years ago

        That is definitely not a “basic.”

      • “Open with…” Isn’t basic? iPhoto had it…

      • r00fus1 - 9 years ago

        Can’t say I’ve ever used “open with” in iPhoto. Consider me a very basic user.

    • verizon2828 - 9 years ago

      I agree. Downloaded it a few hours ago and I’ve been going through my photo library deleting all of the images I don’t care about. Got rid of about 1900 and now it’s sorting through about 7000 photos. Going to choose the option to optimize storage on the Mac and upload the originals to iCloud just like I have set up on my iPhone and iPad. Loving it so far though…marking favorites, navigation, etc. The best part is that soon this library will be synced with my iPhone and iPad. I’m already loving that on my iPhone and iPad. Photo stream was so damn counterintuitive when you had multiple Apple devices.

  2. Glen Flanders - 9 years ago

    Im not seeing it as an available update. I was a Yosemite public beta tester. Am I missing something?

    Thanks

    • Andrea - 9 years ago

      Check in you system preferences → App Store if you computer is still set to receive pre-release software

      • Andrea - 9 years ago

        Forgot to add…

        If the option is not there, then you have to go to https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/ and download again the beta test utility.

      • chaityacshah - 9 years ago

        I am a registered beta tester. I saw 10.10.3 public beta update initially but didn’t download it then. I just checked the Mac App Store and the update is there no more. I even tried check for updates using About this Mac but it didn’t help. How can I get the update back?
        Want to try the photos app.

    • Marco De Lucchi - 9 years ago

      same here, I dont get the update but I was a Yosemite public beta tester :(

      • Marco De Lucchi - 9 years ago

        Solved, go here –> https:// appleseed.apple .com /sp/betaprogram/redemption

  3. Howie Isaacks - 9 years ago

    I’ve been testing the developer betas, and the new Photos app has worked really well. I like how fast it opens. Before upgrading, you should backup the iPhoto library. Photos will convert it to a new library file type that is likely not compatible with iPhoto. Should you want to go back, you will need that original library file.

    • fishbert (@fishbert) - 9 years ago

      Yes … backup the iPhoto Library (and everything else) before upgrading.

      No … Photos does not change your iPhoto Library; it creates a new one and hard-links to the master image files in the iPhoto Library to save space.

      • Matt P. (@mateus109) - 9 years ago

        So iPhoto will still work, running along side Photos? If so, is it safe to clean up the iPhotos library? For example, any photo iPhotos rotates (based on meta tags from the camera) are copied into the Modified folder. Can I finally delete these duplicates without screwing up Photos? In fact, can I delete the who Modified folder (as I use Photoshop for editing)?

      • David Krug - 9 years ago

        Matt P, both app will still work, but once you “convert” your library with Photos, if you add new images or edit images in one app, those changes won’t appear in the other.

  4. Jared (@GunningGunny) - 9 years ago

    When can we expect iOS 8.2 to be released? Alongside 10.10.3 possibly?

  5. Henry Aidasani - 9 years ago

    They have to fix Safari it’s very buggy. Does a lot of random things on my rMBP.

  6. Eurofag (@Eurofag) - 9 years ago

    Is the status bar still broken? It was all over the place with the same dev build.

  7. Does anyone know if the file sizes for Photos is similar to what it currently is in iPhoto? My iPhoto database is about 21 GB big and I’m curious if it will be the same size or smaller/larger in Photos. Not crazy about needing a 20GB (or more) monthly plan from Apple but I guess we’ll see. In a related, but incredibly stupid question, I’m hoping there is a way to download a lot of the photos/videos from my Photos in the cloud to a local drive so I don’t have to keep dealing with iCloud storage limits as I take more pictures/videos going forward.

    • philboogie - 9 years ago

      There really aren’t any storage limits as Photos can also work completely without the Internet. Simply sync over photos to/from another device over WiFi or a cable.

    • Daniel Perván - 9 years ago

      iCloud is actually more of a syncing service than storage. The photos will of course be saved in the cloud as long as you have enough storage, but every device can then choose to either store all of the original photos locally or only store low resolution thumbnails and temporarily download the ones you look at.

      • Thanks….that makes sense and as I discovered today when transferring my iPhoto database over, there is an option in Preferences to download a copy to the Mac so there will be a physical backup stored on the machine as well as in the cloud. Makes much more sense. Now if I can just figure out why it’s stuck n uploading 1776 photos for the last 7 hours, I’d be set…oh well, beta issue I guess. Thanks again!

    • Wesley Hatler - 9 years ago

      Not sure if you got it uploaded or not, but i was having the same problem, it said 7,345 items to upload and just sat there. Every once in a while it would say adding 450 items. Couldn’t figure it out and when i was in town i decided to hook my rMBP to my LTE network on my iPhone. It has download speeds of like 18Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps. Unlike my home internet which AT&T restricts to 6Mbps down and like .69Mbps up. As soon as i was connected to the faster internet it started to upload them. Not that fast but it did it. So i am going to assume if it is using slower internet it might just take a while, i left mine over night and all through the day for about 4 days and only got 2,000 uploaded, but as soon as i used my internet through my iPhone it all uploaded within hours. Now though i don’t want to think about the fact that i might have to do that every time until i get faster internet option at home. Sorry if this doesn’t help, but it was what was causing my slow upload and connecting to a faster internet solved my problem. (:

  8. azchad - 9 years ago

    I can’t select iPhoto library, do I need to import?

  9. brianbarreraa - 9 years ago

    do you thinks it’s a bad idea to install this beta on your primary mac?

  10. The photos app is horrible. Hard to believe, but a big step downward from iPhoto. Aperture users will be good and P.O.’d.

  11. Yaestro (@yaestro) - 9 years ago

    I’m trying to upload a photo in Safari, but can’t access my photos in the Photos app. am I missing something? Please help.

    • Wesley Hatler - 9 years ago

      I’m having the same issue, i contacted Apple support but of course they had no clue about it since its a beta. I then left feedback through the feedback app so hopefully its something they fix. Until then we have to live in Snow Leopard days where we had to copy the images out of iPhoto to upload them through Safari. At least thats how i used to have to do it on my Mac Mini and now with Photos. Definitely a step backwards! ):

  12. fookes74 - 9 years ago

    Don’t ask me how (as I don’t know!) but I seem to have multiple libraries (iPhoto and Aperture). Will the new ‘Photos’ app scan all libraries to upload to iCloud?

  13. Does anyone know how to “split events” like you used to be able to do?

    • Eric Johnston (@EBone) - 9 years ago

      Sadly, it appears Events is gone. And that’s how I organize all of my photos. Hopefully it’s something that will return in the final release if enough people make enough noise.

      • Alexander Celeste - 9 years ago

        Personally the event-less organization of Photos is beginning to grow on me. All existing iPhoto Events become Albums stored in an “iPhoto Events” folder. Since you could organize events on your own, and also albums, it just makes more sense to me that those are merged. It doesn’t seem that you can split albums, but you could select the photos you want to split out and add them to a new album, then delete them from the existing album. The root organization in Photos is the automatically-managed Moments, Collections, and Years rather than Events. I think that Apple won’t back away from that regardless how many people complain. But as soon as you get over Events as Events and think of them as nothing more than other Albums the organizational structure of Photos makes sense. It will take time for everyone to get used to, as any new software does, but in time we’ll all like it.

  14. Christian Fadel - 9 years ago

    The beta works pretty well. However, I have noted several bugs with Safari and the App Store. It seems like these two apps don’t really want to connect to the internet. Safari keeps “loading” the page without showing anything. The App Store, on the other hand, doesn’t show the apps.

    In order to fix this, I have to restart my Mac every time it happens.

    • verizon2828 - 9 years ago

      The Photos app seems to be working very well for me. Maybe a little slow to pull up shared photo streams but that’s about it. Syncing with my iPhone, iPad and Mac are working. And it feels great to be able to save a photo on my iPhone and then a different photo on my iPad but have them both sync to the devices.

      The 10.10.3 update did knock out my wireless printing capability though. I have an HP 6510 e-printer and couldn’t print to it. I had to clear my printers and add it again using the IP address and the jetdirect socket. All good now though!

      Also, I have the CrashPlan backup service and the conversion to the new Photos library took my library size from 28.57GB to 42.18GB. In iPhoto’s defense, I haven’t opened iPhoto for a few months ever since I moved to iCloud Photo Library. Maybe I added more photos and videos???

  15. Thor Morgan - 9 years ago

    I have dowloaded the 10.10.3 update but its showing that I am still 10.10.2 and the photo app will not launch says I need 10.10.3? Every update shows installed in the app store? Can anyone help?

    • kirk w (@kirk21) - 9 years ago

      I’m having that same issue. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

    • Aaron McCoy - 9 years ago

      Having the same problem – did you get this resolved?

    • johnftessier - 9 years ago

      I have this same problem. I’m running on a Late 2012 Mac Mini. Says I’m running 10.10.2 even after installing the beta and Photos refuses to launch saying I need the beta. No further updates are available. I was really looking forward to giving Photos a look-see.

    • Shaun Craill - 9 years ago

      I have the same issue

    • Jeroen Arends (@JeroenA) - 9 years ago

      Got the same issue.. is there a way to force a reinstall of 10.10.3 ? I cannot install it again because in the App Store it says installed but looking at system “About this Mac” it says 10.10.2 and the Photo app won;t start saying it needs 10.10.3

      • Ash Dean Wells - 9 years ago

        Found a fix for the system still says 10.10.2 google how to edit SystemVersion.plist

        Here you can change it to 10.10.3 and the new photo app will work

    • Ash Dean Wells - 9 years ago

      Found a fix for the system still says 10.10.2 google how to edit SystemVersion.plist

      Here you can change it to 10.10.3 and the new photo app will work

  16. Wesley Hatler - 9 years ago

    Can anyone let me know if its safe to uninstall iPhoto and delete the iPhoto library that i upgraded to Photos since Photos creates a whole new library. Its not space that I’m worried about since i do not store my library on my Mac, its on a 1TB external drive so space isn’t an issue i just don’t see the point in them still being on the drive and my Mac if i am no longer using them. So is it safe to get rid of iPhoto and its library and just keep the backup of that said library?

  17. Ash Dean Wells - 9 years ago

    Found a fix for the system still says 10.10.2 google how to edit SystemVersion.plist

    Here you can change it to 10.10.3 and the new photo app will work

  18. chaityacshah - 9 years ago

    I am a registered beta tester. I saw 10.10.3 public beta update initially but didn’t download it then. I just checked the Mac App Store and the update is there no more. I even tried check for updates using About this Mac but it didn’t help. How can I get the update back?