Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Allowing Non-Developers to Apply for OS X Beta Program
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hopefully this doesn't break my NDAbut the 10.9 DPs after 10.9.0 were almost complete waste of time. While they did fix some of the stuff I submitted, they still seem to be advancing at a snail's pace and barely any changes can be felt. They certainly haven't fixed a huge amount of problems that have been here since the earliest betas.
For anyone considering using the DPs, I would just stay with stable. It's one of the least exciting beta tests in the history of software development.
Agreed...
Dumbest statement by Apple yet.
"Is the pre-release software I am installing confidential?
Yes, the pre-release software is Apple confidential information. For example, dont install the pre-release Apple software on any systems you don't directly control or that you share with others, dont blog, post screen shots, tweet or publicly post information about the pre-release Apple software, and don't discuss the pre-release Apple software with or demonstrate it to others who are not in the OS X Beta Seed Program."
Anybody can install it but no talking about it..
"Is the pre-release software I am installing confidential?
Yes, the pre-release software is Apple confidential information. For example, dont install the pre-release Apple software on any systems you don't directly control or that you share with others, dont blog, post screen shots, tweet or publicly post information about the pre-release Apple software, and don't discuss the pre-release Apple software with or demonstrate it to others who are not in the OS X Beta Seed Program."
Anybody can install it but no talking about it..
Very good news. Makes a lot of sense to have this for OS X, though I don't think they need to do it for iOS at this point as it seems as if there are far more more developers working on that platform and it's simply less complex. OS X is proving to desperately need more people identifying bugs, so this is very welcome news.
Appleseed and betaseed...kind of makes me wonder if this devalues the $99 a year developer fee. Also, will they qualify for developer previews of major releases of OS X?
Wonder if we'll see the same with iOS seeing how easy it was to get on board iOS 7 beta last year.
Translation:
"We know you're going to do it and generally don't care. In the event that we start caring, we have recourse."
Go to the FAQ page:
https://appleseed.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/faq
scroll down to this section and click the Leave Program link:
How do I leave the OS X Beta Seed Program?
To leave the program, visit the Leave Program page and follow the instructions to remove your Apple ID and your computers from the OS X Beta Seed Program. This will stop pre-release updates from appearing in the Mac App Store on your computers.
It's free for non-developers. Also, for developers paying $99 a year for participating development program, they receive lots of developing tools, tips, and supports from Apple site.
Not without backing up all your important data beforehand, no. Though I've never had a situation where the OS crapped out on me and took everything with it, you're still risking the chance of it happening just because it's untested beta software. If you want to jump in on the action, treat the worst case scenario as an inevitability, and plan accordingly. If that worst case scenario does come to pass, you're already prepared, and you won't have anything to worry about.
Really, the one best thing to do when goofing around with beta OSes is to slap it on an external drive by itself, far away from your main OS.
I´m no developer, I´ve never payed those 99$, and i was already in this beta program for a few months already. only thing you had to do was download the beta bla bla bla .dmg torrent and you were already in. Apple has allowed this for over a year now, just never anounced it or show publicly the how to do it, but it's no news.
And BTW it's quite annoying. Beta's are publiched 2-3 times per month, and if you have you apple crapware apps inside different folders, not in the root of the applications folder, the apps do not upgrade, and you have to delete the new files which do not work because they are just the new code, not the whole app. you have to change permissions in each one of them, and only then you can delete them. a lot of work for nothing. apple should improve this...
And BTW it's quite annoying. Beta's are publiched 2-3 times per month, and if you have you apple crapware apps inside different folders, not in the root of the applications folder, the apps do not upgrade, and you have to delete the new files which do not work because they are just the new code, not the whole app. you have to change permissions in each one of them, and only then you can delete them. a lot of work for nothing. apple should improve this...
Dropbox *might* be problematic, since it could push corrupt files. If you catch it in the first 30 days or have longer snapshots, you'd be fine.
Between git, Dropbox and offsite backups I'd do well. I'd lose a few things, which is why I unplug my photo library and Time Machine backup before I install a seed.
----------
They have. Apple's bundled applications in /Applications are not user serviceable. Finder won't move or delete them. Don't touch them; you're more or less opting into trouble. Sucks, but true.
Even more so... I just CCC my current install to an external hard drive and install betas on top of that. Noting of course that I keep regular backups separate to this.
This way I can see what happens when all the "things I messed with that I probably shouldn't have" and "leftover bits of intrusive software I installed" interacts with the installed beta/final so I know what to expect.
----------
Since I know you are probably going to mess with them anyways...
Code:
chflags hidden /Applications/Calculator.appIt doesn't remove them, it just hides them. Change it to nohidden to revert the change.
A slightly easier way is:
Code:
chflags hidden [drag file from Finder into terminal window here]Because I can never remember how to deal with spaces in the terminal.
Note that will likely still pop back up when you install an update (you will have to do the commands again), but this hides them so you at least won't have to look at them. If you're doing this for the small amount of disk space saved you are on your own.
Disclaimer: Stuff may break, but less of a chance than deleting or moving them. No warranty, etc.
Not just yet given that this isn't for iOS (hopefully it will apply to it as well).No more threads asking about UDID registration! Woohoo!!!
Not being a dev isn't the problem, pointing it out here is.
Pointing out a bug in a public forum of a released version of OS X or iOS makes sense, because people will more likely need to know about it. But pointing out a beta bug does nothing, because beta software is assumed to have bugs, and people shouldn't be running it in general (that's why it's beta!).
You should be pointing it out to Apple, though. That's your obligation as a beta tester. And if there's a forum dedicated to beta testers, that's a good place to discuss it as well (after all, it might not be a bug, but a misunderstanding by the user, or it might be something other beta testers are having trouble with, and it's good to know).
But what we end up getting are jackasses who start threads like, "C'mon Apple, iOS 7 sucks, you can't even read the text!"
Yeah, no duh. That's why they are testing it!
Any confidentiality type of things aside, discussing the issues in a forum for a "rumors" site doesn't really present a wrong way of going about it if you just want to talk about it with others who want to talk to you about it.
Just like Microsoft
It took years for it to happen but Apple has realized that Microsoft's beta model is worthwhile: use a much larger base to aid in testing beta OS releases.
Just keepin' it real....
It took years for it to happen but Apple has realized that Microsoft's beta model is worthwhile: use a much larger base to aid in testing beta OS releases.
Just keepin' it real....
But so far there is no such forum for public beta testers - unlike the full appleseed and developer programs where there are such forums.
So should apple make a forum for public beta testers?
Whoops, misread the title as iOS. I'd be surprised if they don't do this with iOS 8 either.