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
68,667
39,555



Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina update to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the first public beta and a day after seeding the third developer beta.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the macOS Catalina beta through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile. Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.

test-macOS-10.15-800x522.jpg

Potential beta testers should make a full Time Machine backup before installing macOS Catalina, and it may not be wise to install it on a primary machine because betas can be unstable and often have many bugs.

macOS Catalina eliminates the iTunes app, which has been a key Mac feature since 2001. In Catalina, iTunes has been replaced by Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. The new apps can do everything that iTunes can do, so Mac users aren't going to be losing any functionality, and device management capabilities are now handled by the Finder app.

macOS Catalina has a useful new Sidecar feature, designed to turn the iPad into a secondary display for the Mac. It can work as a traditional second display or with a mirroring feature. Apple Pencil support works with Sidecar, so you can turn your iPad into a drawing tablet using apps like Photoshop.

sidecarmacoscatalina-800x477.jpg

For those with an Apple Watch set up to unlock the Mac, there's now an option to approve security prompts in Catalina by tapping on the side button of the watch. Macs with a T2 chip in them also support Activation Lock, making them useless to thieves much as it does on the iPhone.

There's a new Find My app that lets you track your lost devices, and previously, this functionality was only available via iCloud on the Mac. There's even a new option to find your devices even when they're offline by leveraging Bluetooth connections to other nearby devices, something that's particularly handy on the Mac because it doesn't have a cellular connection.

findmy-800x528.jpg

Apple is expanding Screen Time to the Mac in Catalina, letting Apple users track their device usage across Mac, iOS, and iPad for a better overall picture of time spent using electronics.

For developers, a "Project Catalyst" feature lets apps designed for the iPad be ported over to the Mac with just a few clicks in Xcode and some minor tweaks. Apple's ultimate goal with Project Catalyst is to bring more apps to the Mac.

Photos features an updated interface that better highlights your best pictures, Safari includes a new start page with Siri Suggestions, Mail has a new feature for blocking emails and another new option for muting threads, and the Reminders app has been overhauled and is now more useful.

macoscatalinaphotos-800x466.jpg

Before installing macOS Catalina, be aware that it does away with 32-bit app support, so some older apps that have not been updated in some time may stop working. For more on macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup.

Article Link: Apple Releases Second Public Beta of macOS Catalina to Public Beta Testers
 
I’ve heard nightmare install stories with this beta from developer friends. Any confirmation?
 
I’ve heard nightmare install stories with this beta from developer friends. Any confirmation?

For the most part it seems to work fine, but then all of a sudden you might be logged out, apps may crash. Don't install it if it's your only computer! It's really aimed at those who are willing to put in the effort and time to identify bugs.
 
I’ve contributed a lot to the thread on working apps. Downloading now on my MacBook Air 2018 so I’ll update this thread. For me the previous PB release worked fine overall. Ironically the only problems I had were sending Feedback. It would cause my system to hang but it recovered after a restart.
 
I’ve heard nightmare install stories with this beta from developer friends. Any confirmation?

Cant be as worse as when I tried to install High Sierra beta on my 2012 iMac and tried to convert my fusion drive to APFS. That was my nightmare. But Catalina install on said same machine went pretty good considering.
 
Cant be as worse as when I tried to install High Sierra beta on my 2012 iMac and tried to convert my fusion drive to APFS. That was my nightmare. But Catalina install on said same machine went pretty good considering.

I haven’t had any major show stoppers yet. Installed on both my iMac and MacBook.

Curious why no iOS drop..
 
  • Like
Reactions: ikir and Aldaris
I’ve heard nightmare install stories with this beta from developer friends. Any confirmation?
Catalina is unstable and slow in my case. I need to force quit finder once a while, Photos are syncing some pics double to my iPad with no reason and next syncing just add one more each time. Don’t install it on your main machine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rumormiller
None of my six (6) pending app updates will download. My iCloud desktop is still gone and I can't sign into my App Store account. on the plus side after the update I can now open and save Office 365 files. I haven't tried PDF expert yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rumormiller
Omg, don’t login from the account screen what ever the screensaver is from that, it’s beautiful

It’s the new drift screensaver
 
Last edited:
Blah blah. How do you know how many computers I have?? I have four and only installed on one. That's why it's unplugged for now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ikir
Blah blah. How do you know how many computers I have?? I have four and only installed on one. That's why it's unplugged for now.

Yes, people make some weird assumptions based on their 'expertise'. I too have had myriad iCloud syncing problems with Catalina, particularly iCloud Drive not syncing properly and files being multiplied, with originals vanishing, and the remaining files with sizes of 'zero bytes'. The worst part about this is that the messed up iCloud Drive is being propagated via syncing to all non-beta devices. I too have turned off the beta machine because of this. I don't mind it messing things up on the computer, but not all my other devices via corrupt syncing!
 
  • Like
Reactions: rumormiller
I just got prompted to install it about a half hour ago. It claimed that auto update was on. It is most certainly NOT on. This is my only Mac and this is the first time I've ever hesitated installing a beta on it.
 
I just deleted the non hfs+ partition from my boot disk and its macOS. For now I'll stay on an older macOS that works well.
 
I’ve heard nightmare install stories with this beta from developer friends. Any confirmation?

Working great for me, no issues yet (well no album art in mini player, but that’s petty)
[doublepost=1562209638][/doublepost]
None of my six (6) pending app updates will download. My iCloud desktop is still gone and I can't sign into my App Store account. on the plus side after the update I can now open and save Office 365 files. I haven't tried PDF expert yet.
Reset your App Store, I had that problem as well. Google how to do it, something like deleting caches in library/ caches/com.apple.appstore. Or there snouts, seriously google it worked for me
[doublepost=1562209727][/doublepost]
Installing. Wonder if Apple Music will work this time.
Apple Music worked fine last beta, except for art in mini player, but that’s petty
 
  • Like
Reactions: kingspointer
Yes, people make some weird assumptions based on their 'expertise'. I too have had myriad iCloud syncing problems with Catalina, particularly iCloud Drive not syncing properly and files being multiplied, with originals vanishing, and the remaining files with sizes of 'zero bytes'. The worst part about this is that the messed up iCloud Drive is being propagated via syncing to all non-beta devices. I too have turned off the beta machine because of this. I don't mind it messing things up on the computer, but not all my other devices via corrupt syncing!
Not doing that for me. It’s working fine. Must be something reading havok. Mine is all backed up, so of course no problems
 
Working great for me, no issues yet (well no album art in mini player, but that’s petty)
[doublepost=1562209638][/doublepost]
Reset your App Store, I had that problem as well. Google how to do it, something like deleting caches in library/ caches/com.apple.appstore. Or there snouts, seriously google it worked for me
[doublepost=1562209727][/doublepost]
Apple Music worked fine last beta, except for art in mini player, but that’s petty

I don't think Apple Music in the beta is working properly yet internationally for everyone. You get errors that Apple Music links are not available when on some non-US connections. You can download and play any music already added in your library though.
 
Working great for me, no issues yet (well no album art in mini player, but that’s petty)
[doublepost=1562209638][/doublepost]
Reset your App Store, I had that problem as well. Google how to do it, something like deleting caches in library/ caches/com.apple.appstore. Or there snouts, seriously google it worked for me
[doublepost=1562209727][/doublepost]
Apple Music worked fine last beta, except for art in mini player, but that’s petty
Didn't work for me. The For You, Browse and Radio sections all stayed blank.
 
I don't think Apple Music in the beta is working properly yet internationally for everyone. You get errors that Apple Music links are not available when on some non-US connections. You can download and play any music already added in your library though.

That is an important fact not to leave out of a post - internationally. Could explain why some people are encountering issues, and for others, like me, it is working fine. And I link to International (Mexican, French, Japanese, Korean....) songs. Just saying. If there are issues, it might be better to describe them in succinct detail and not paint the whole process with the pall of doom.

so thank-you for your clear explanation.
[doublepost=1562214780][/doublepost]
Didn't work for me. The For You, Browse and Radio sections all stayed blank.

I think it is re-indexing or something. they stayed blank for me for a bit as well, until they populated, then everything is fine (so far)
 
None of my six (6) pending app updates will download. My iCloud desktop is still gone and I can't sign into my App Store account. on the plus side after the update I can now open and save Office 365 files. I haven't tried PDF expert yet.

Here's my post on how I got App Store App Updates to work again #267
 
  • Like
Reactions: kingspointer
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.