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

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,105
40,131



Apple has sent out invites to multiple AppleSeed testers to invite them to participate in a "AirDrop Test Fest" to fix any potential bugs in the file sharing service ahead of the launch of OS X Yosemite.

airdroptestfest.jpg
AppleSeed and the AirDrop engineering team would like you to join us for an AirDrop Test Fest. What's a test fest? At Apple we often hold test fests when we want to focus our efforts on a new feature or enhanced function of OS X. Now we want to bring that experience to our seed participants. We would like you to help us test the new AirDrop in OS X Yosemite.
According to 9to5Mac, invited users will see a notice located in the Feedback Assistant app bundled with the public beta of Yosemite. Testers are given guidelines for testing the feature, including two Macs running Yosemite.
What do I need? To participate in the AirDrop Test Fest you will need at least two Macs from the following:

- 2012 Mac or later for new AirDrop

- Any Mac for Legacy AirDrop (old Mac to Mac only)

The Macs will need to be running the latest seeded build of OS X Yosemite. If you also want to test with your iPhone or iPad you will need device with a Lightning connector running iOS 7 or iOS 8.
Apple's "AirDrop Test Fest" will last from today, September 24, until Sunday, September 28. Apple has set up a special discussion topic for the event, inviting testers to contribute observations and results, and the company will be providing a "special AirDrop survey" that guides users through usage scenarios the company would like to explore.

Article Link: Apple Launches Yosemite 'AirDrop Test Fest' For AppleSeed Members
 
Hopefully I will soon have reliable information how to get AirDrop working on my 2011 iMac.
Come on, a new iMac when I can add a BT 4.0 dongle to my Mac? Yeah right, pass me the terminal command/config file fix/any other hack I'll need.

Glassed Silver:mac
 
My 2011 Mac mini won't support it? Even though it has BT4.0 built in and MIMO 802.11N dual band?

And even though all Mac mini's after it are a downgrade since they were stripped of the dedicated gpu option?
 
What do we need to be a member? More than a half a brain the tester have that tested the new iOS 8 and iOS 8.1!!! Must have been Samsung sleeper cells that all join that testing!!!
 
drop-test videos

Great. Everyone's gonna rush out and drop-test their Macs now.
 
Where was 8.0.1 field beta testing? Oh right it was released to the masses.

They field tested it alright. They tested it by turning people's phones into $650+ and $750+ iPod Touch's. Good thing the normal consumer will know how to fix that...

Pro-tip: They won't.

I love my many, many Apple products so much... But this product cycle has been a mess.
 
They field tested it alright. They tested it by turning people's phones into $650+ and $750+ iPod Touch's. Good thing the normal consumer will know how to fix that...

Pro-tip: They won't.

I love my many, many Apple products so much... But this product cycle has been a mess.

And this is why having an Apple store to visit and get help is so great.
 
I agree. I love Apple's customer service and help process. But I doubt you want to see a Genius Bar and the phones not even been out a week.

Sometimes bad stuff just happens. I remember my seat stopped working after my car hit 27 miles on the odometer! Had to take it back to the dealer. The car was so new they didn't have parts for it yet. The factory had to order it from the OEM.

----------

I do hope they enable older Macs to use handoff via LE bluetooth adapters
 
I think a main issue is only very recent computers have Bluetooth 4.0
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/06/17/yosemite-handoff-bluetooth-le/
So, most Mac installed base can't use THE Yosemite tent-pole continuity feature (Handoff, SMS, phone calls, Instant Hotspot, Airdrop, etc).

For such computers, perhaps Apple could make continuity work with regular bluetooth or wi-fi? or by requiring a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle (http://amzn.to/1n8O1rE)? However, currently, such dongle has only limited success (allows phone calls, but not hand off etc).

Because Test Fest is limited to 2012 Mac or later, so far, it does not seem Apple wants to hear about, let alone resolve, this issue.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
AirDrop in iOS 7 hardly ever works for me. Whatever dumb school wifi network we're on always kills it, and it doesn't seem to fall back to Bluetooth or ad-hoc wifi like it's supposed to in that case. As a result, nobody even tries it and emails everything instead :/
 
Grr seems like confirmation the MacBook air 2011 won't support it despite having BT 4
 
I can understand apple requiring certain types of wifi and bluetooth but to not allow us to use adaptors on older hardware is just plain wrong.
 
They field tested it alright. They tested it by turning people's phones into $650+ and $750+ iPod Touch's. Good thing the normal consumer will know how to fix that...

Pro-tip: They won't.

I love my many, many Apple products so much... But this product cycle has been a mess.

The normal consumer wouldn't have updated.....8.0.1 was only out there OTA for about an hour. Most people don't bother updating until they get home from work at the earliest.

Its those of us who jump on every update and know when they are coming that go screwed. And we DO know how to fix it.

But by all means, follow the rest of the group off the cliff......

It was a poor decision to release 8.0.1.....but at this point, there's a relatively simple fix and Apple will have it patched by the end of the week.

Let's all just calm down.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.