Apple today released the sixth beta of the upcoming Xcode 7 to developers. The new version is available in Software Update from the Mac App Store, as with all past betas this time around. Xcode 7 is the new SDK version to correspond with the upcoming releases of iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and WatchOS 2, the first version of the Apple Watch operating system that supports native applications. Apple has not released new iOS 9 and WatchOS 2 betas since early August, while the latest El Capitan seed was provided just last week. Thanks, Joseph.
Apple today released Xcode 6.3.1 with bug fixes. According to the release notes, the release includes fixes for debugging, Interface Builder, and Playgrounds. The update is available via the Mac App Store and on the Mac developer center. Xcode 6.3 was released earlier this year with significant enhancements to Swift and the Xcode application.
Apple will begin providing select retail store employees access to upcoming versions of iOS in order to widen its pre-release testing program, according to multiple sources. The program will begin in the near-future with an upcoming iOS release, perhaps version 8.2, which is slated to be released alongside the Apple Watch…
Apple today seeded the second beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 update to registered developers and participants in the AppleSeed program. The update is available for these users in the Software Update tab of the Mac App Store.
As with the first beta, Apple asks developers to focus their testing on WiFi-connectvitiy, Exchange accounts in the Mail app, and Notification Center. Apple has not indicated when OS X 10.10.1 will be released to the public, but the first point updates to OS X typically arrive within a month of the original version.
The numbers are small as yet, but early indications are that Mac users are keen to get their hands on the new Yosemite features. Social sharing tool AddThis, which collects analytics data from 13 million websites, is reporting that Yosemite adoption is already running at 2%, versus 1.2% for Mavericks in the same timeframe … Expand Expanding Close
Apple made a minor over-the-air change to the Mac App Store today on OS X Yosemite. The company updated the icons to be more in line with the new design aesthetic. The top bar is the new version, while the bottom is the old one that can still be seen on OS X Mavericks. The new icons also better match up with those on the iOS version. Apple will launch Yosemite next month for free.
In June, we noted that Apple is adding a handy new feature to the upcoming OS X Yosemite: the ability for iMessage/Apple ID users to screen share via the Messages app. Screen sharing was a hallmark of early versions of Apple’s Mac “iChat” application, but it has always required an Aol Instant Messenger (AIM), Gmail, Jabber, or Yahoo account. With Yosemite, users can have the same screen sharing experience with just an iMessage/FaceTime/or Apple ID account. Apple activated the feature in this week’s beta release, and it brings some new tricks not found in earlier implementations:
Right on schedule, Apple has released the sixth preview of the upcoming OS X Yosemite to developers today. This new seed comes two weeks following the previous release, and it likely continues to bring performance enhancements, interface tweaks, and bug fixes. We’ll be updating this post with the changes in Preview 6 as they are discovered. If you find something new, you can let us know at tips@9to5mac.com. The release version of Yosemite is currently scheduled for the later half of October, and it will ship separately from iOS 8, which is not seeing a new beta today. Here’s what’s new:
In addition to issuing updates to the iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite betas, Apple has released a new beta version of the Apple TV software. While earlier Apple TV betas did not bring more than new Family Sharing and iCloud Photos support, today’s update brings a refined look to the Apple TV Home screen. Taking cues from iOS and OS X, the new update brings completely redesigned icons to the Apple set-top-box and a new thinner font first introduced last year with iOS 7. A couple more images of the new interface are below:
Apple this morning has released OS X 10.10 Yosemite Developer Preview 5. The new update brings various performance improvements and bug fixes. The previous Developer Preview brought some minor user-interface enhancements and significant speed improvements. Apple also released iOS 8 beta 5. We’ll be updating this post live with new discoveries as they are made. You can send us what you find to tips@9to5mac.com. You can find what’s new in this developer preview, below:
Although OS X Yosemite is still a few months out from public release, the public beta and developer seeds means the OS is already seeing wide adoption — hence, apps for Yosemite are already starting to surface. In fact, the unreleased OS already makes up 18% of Mac users on 9to5Mac, already the second most popular version of OS X.
Apple has started sending out OS X Yosemite builds for Beta Program, as announced yesterday. The build is being sent out to a million Beta Program members. Participants can get a redemption code from the site, to redeem in the Mac App Store.
Apple has said that Apple will not update the Beta Program Yosemite builds as often as the developer seeds (which come out every two weeks, usually), but participants will be able to upgrade to the final public version of Yosemite seamlessly through the App Store, when it is released. The seed released in the beta program is one build newer than the one released to developers on Monday.
This data has to do with the new iCloud storage APIs in iOS 8 and Yosemite as well as with the upcoming iCloud Drive online storage feature. It’s best to safely store anything of importance before tomorrow’s wipe:
CloudKit Note: All public CloudKit databases are scheduled to be emptied on Tuesday, July 22nd.
Update: Apple has emailed developers about the wipe, noting that iCloud Drive, Photos, and other iCloud-related products besides CloudKit storage will not be wiped:
As expected, Apple has released OS X 10.10 Yosemite Developer Preview 4. It is available via the Mac App Store Software Update tab for developers running earlier versions of Yosemite. Apple has also released a revamped iTunes 12 to developers (full gallery here). Previous updates previously brought various design tweaks and feature enhancements, and Preview 4 is likely to do the same thing. Yosemite launches this fall with updated Mail, Messages, and Calendar apps, in addition to a system-wide redesign and improved integration with iOS Devices. We’ll be updating this post as new changes are discovered, and you can let us know what you find at tips@9to5mac.com.
As part of the updates to the Yosemite and iOS betas today, Apple’s new coding language Swift has received several major improvements and tweaks to make the language more consistent and help developers make better, safer apps. The intricacies of the changes are very gibberish to non-developers, but the fixes resolve many of the issues that developers had been requesting. In particular, the new value type model of arrays fixes several inconsistencies and prevents many potential code ‘gotchas’ that could arise in previous Swift builds.
Apple has also updated the ‘Introducing Swift’ iBook to reflect the improvements, if you want to learn in more detail about the changes.
Alongside beta 3 of iOS 8, Apple has released the third preview of OS X 10.10 Yosemite to developers. The update is available in the Mac App Store and under Software Update. We’ll be updating this post with new discoveries. You can let us know what you find at tips@9to5mac.com.
Apple has just informed developers that it will be wiping all CloudKit-based data stores on July 7th. This includes iCloud Photo Library, Mail Drop and iCloud Drive. Apple warned developers that this might happen with the release of the first iOS beta and it is not uncommon for wipes to happen several times during iOS and OS X beta cycles.
Dear Developer,
We will be performing a server-side data wipe on all CloudKit public and private databases for iOS 8 beta and OS X Yosemite Developer Preview users on July 7, 2014. The following iCloud features will be affected: iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and Mail Drop.
Photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library will remain on their original iOS 8 devices and will upload to iCloud Photo Library again automatically. iCloud Drive can be re-enabled from Set up Assistant after upgrade. If you choose to store your documents in iCloud Drive, your Documents & Data will automatically be copied to iCloud Drive. iCloud Drive will not update across earlier seeds or operating systems. Attachments sent through Mail Drop will expire and need to be resent after you upgrade.
If you have any questions, visit the Apple Developer Forums.
Best regards,
Apple Developer Technical Support
Affected files for Mail Drop and iCloud Drive will not transfer across automatically on the release of the next beta seed. Photos and videos will automatically restore, however, as they are not deleted from local storage. It is likely that new seeds of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite will follow this data wipe, as new seeds of these operating systems are already due.
Alongside the second beta of iOS 8, Apple has provided an update to the OS X Yosemite Developer Preview. Yosemite brings many new features to the Mac, including a new design, Continuity features, and enhanced applications. We’ll update this post with new discoveries in the new preview as they are found. You can let us know what you find at tips@9to5mac.com.
In addition to the comprehensive redesign, OS X Yosemite could have made a significant change to how the Mac operating system functioned since it originally shipped just over thirty years ago. The above image from a source shows a March build of OS X Yosemite that featured a Control Center panel. The panel did not end up shipping in the first beta of Yosemite and was not announced on the WWDC stage last week, but Apple definitely considered including it.
In fact, developers have located numerous code strings in the first Yosemite build that confirms Apple’s testing of an OS X variant of Control Center:
Apple has posted the video about OS X Yosemite’s new design from the WWDC keynote. The video gives a look at the system’s new inherent translucency, cleaner layout, redesigned icons, and new buttons. You can watch it below:
In a throwback to Apple’s Think Different campaign, the icon used by OS X for Swift files, Apple’s new programming language. Swift documents have the file extension ‘.swift’.
The code seen in the icon makes reference to the iconic speech, with functions named ‘heresToTheCrazyOnes’ and ‘villify(troubleMaker: NSObject)’. The code also generates collections of ‘misfits’, ‘rebels’ and ‘troublemakers’.
Apple has added a handy feature into OS X to easily capture the screen of an iPad or iPhone on the Mac itself. Apple positions the feature as a way to help developers quickly make app previews, which Apple introduced as part of iOS 8’s improvements to the App Store, but there is no reason why this couldn’t be used by others for different purposes.
When plugging an iPad or iPhone running iOS 8 into a Mac running OS X Yosemite via USB, the iOS device now shows up as a standard camera input. This means any video app can be used to record the screen of the iOS device without the need for additional hardware.
Although Apple is targeting the feature at developers in its documentation for making app previews, it is not limited to being a developer-only feature.
