Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers [Update: Public Beta Testers Too]

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,252
39,053



Apple today released the sixth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. macOS Sierra beta 6 comes one week after the release of the fifth beta and two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers can download today's beta update using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center.

macossierrabeta-800x450.jpg

macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.


macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

Update: There's also a new version of macOS Sierra for public beta testers.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Sixth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers [Update: Public Beta Testers Too]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/15/apple-seeds-macos-sierra-beta-6-to-developers/
SandboxGeneral said:
I wonder if I missed it somewhere, but it would be equally nice if we could do this with an iPhone too.
Click to expand...
This isn't currently a feature and I don't expect it will be. The watch is always unlocked as long as it remains on the user's wrist, unlike the iPhone which is locked as soon as the display sleeps. To auto-unlock with the iPhone then, the user would still have to locate the iPhone (which may or may not be a big deal, depending on where the phone is at any given moment), authenticate with TouchID, and then they would have access to their Mac. For many people this isn't likely to save them a great deal of time over simply typing in their password. My phone is generally in my pants. I can type my computer user password faster than I can retrieve my phone from my pocket and touchID it.
Many people keep their phones in a purse or bag. That's an even bigger imposition than a pocket! Really the only people who would save time with auto-unlock via iPhone would be those people who happen to have the phone in their hands as they sit down to their computer. This is probably a lot of people at any given moment, but probably NOT a majority.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris, Cosmoknot, n8cousins and 4 others
jbachandouris said:
Not sure why they make the Public Beta testers wait an extra day when iOS 10 is up for both developers and public beta testers.
Click to expand...

I would guess that if there is a problem with the installation they would rather have the devs find it then the public who would inundate them with calls.

Unfortunately, many public beta testers don't understand what 'beta' means and just want to be cool using the latest release, until there is a problem then they go crazy and say apple and the os sucks.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris and ABC5S
redheeler said:
Only 10% of iPhone owners have a Watch, and Apple has plenty of them to sell.
Click to expand...
Sure this is a part of it. The watch is a much better tool to unlock your Mac with than the iPhone, so the resources required to create the feature are better off directed towards the watch. Auto-unlocking with iPhone just wouldn't be a great experience under most circumstances, at least not relative to the Watch. It does, of course, make the watch just that much more compelling as a side-effect. Isn't it funny how that works?
 
scottisloud said:
This isn't currently a feature and I don't expect it will be. The watch is always unlocked as long as it remains on the user's wrist, unlike the iPhone which is locked as soon as the display sleeps. To auto-unlock with the iPhone then, the user would still have to locate the iPhone (which may or may not be a big deal, depending on where the phone is at any given moment), authenticate with TouchID, and then they would have access to their Mac. For many people this isn't likely to save them a great deal of time over simply typing in their password. My phone is generally in my pants. I can type my computer user password faster than I can retrieve my phone from my pocket and touchID it.
Many people keep their phones in a purse or bag. That's an even bigger imposition than a pocket! Really the only people who would save time with auto-unlock via iPhone would be those people who happen to have the phone in their hands as they sit down to their computer. This is probably a lot of people at any given moment, but probably NOT a majority.
Click to expand...
I dock my iPhone next to my iMac, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that. Being able to use Touch ID instead of a password would save me time and wear on my keyboard.
 
redheeler said:
I dock my iPhone next to my iMac, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that. Being able to use Touch ID instead of a password would save me time and wear on my keyboard.
Click to expand...
I think it is necessary to consider the situation at a more macro level. What is the number of people who have their phones handy (docking, or literally in hand) as they sit at their Mac, and at what frequency?
My guess is that the number of people who have their phone handy as they sit at their Mac is rather small, and the percentage of those people who do so regularly even smaller. Just because YOU frequently (though surely not always) have your phone handy when you sit at your Mac doesn't mean this is how it is for many people most of the time.

Conversely, how many Apple Watch users have their apple watch on and unlocked when they sit at their mac, and at what frequency? My guess would be this number would approach nearly 100% of Apple Watch users nearly 100% of the time.

Of course, if we looked at absolute numbers, there are far more iPhone users than Watch users (which are, by definition, a sub-set of iPhone users), so whatever the percentage of iPhone users is that has their phone handy at their mac the majority of the time may well outnumber the near-100% of Apple Watch users, but it seems fairly clear that the iPhone would offer a poorer experience even in those cases compared to the watch, and if it happens to make the watch a more compelling product at the same time, then why spend resources on creating a so-so experience for a minority of iPhone users?
 
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris and mdelvecchio
If Siri can delete my files that I request without having to manually get all those extended files....i would be happy.....very happy.

"Siri, delete my xxx app."
"yes, i'll will...including all the files related to the app."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tucom
Guys, I can't even update to macOS Sierra public beta 4.

The App Store shows that an update is available, but clicking on the update button does absolutely nothing...
 
  • Like
Reactions: clunkmess
scottisloud said:
I think it is necessary to consider the situation at a more macro level. What is the number of people who have their phones handy (docking, or literally in hand) as they sit at their Mac, and at what frequency?
My guess is that the number of people who have their phone handy as they sit at their Mac is rather small, and the percentage of those people who do so regularly even smaller. Just because YOU frequently (though surely not always) have your phone handy when you sit at your Mac doesn't mean this is how it is for many people most of the time.

Conversely, how many Apple Watch users have their apple watch on and unlocked when they sit at their mac, and at what frequency? My guess would be this number would approach nearly 100% of Apple Watch users nearly 100% of the time.

Of course, if we looked at absolute numbers, there are far more iPhone users than Watch users (which are, by definition, a sub-set of iPhone users), so whatever the percentage of iPhone users is that has their phone handy at their mac the majority of the time may well outnumber the near-100% of Apple Watch users, but it seems fairly clear that the iPhone would offer a poorer experience even in those cases compared to the watch, and if it happens to make the watch a more compelling product at the same time, then why spend resources on creating a so-so experience for a minority of iPhone users?
Click to expand...
Having to take an iPhone out of your pocket is not as intuitive as unlocking with the Watch, but it's still an improvement on the current password-based method that would reach many more users.

For Apple it's a feature not worth developing, because they see the potential to sell more Watches. For the average user, there isn't any reason it shouldn't be possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandstorm
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back