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beta testing and using Primary Apple ID

C

chama98

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 13, 2014
355
194
London
I would like to try the public beta of the new OS and my question is this:

Is it ideal to use your primary Apple ID to use the beta or create a new one for testing purposes only?

When installing the beta on a separate partition will it convert all my partitions to APFS?

Many thanks
 
Speaking for myself, I would never let Apple beta software touch my iCloud account. I would be way too scared of the potential for data loss or corruption and being left without the power to fix it (since the data is on Apple's servers which you have no control over).

And, no, it should only convert the partition you're actually installing it on.
 
I've done it on probably the last two or three macOS updates on my test partitions. Never had any issues.
 
MacBookSteve said:
Nothing will happen if you use your primary ID.. It's fine. People that are scared of betas shouldn't really be using computers until their fully trained on the basics to be honest..
Click to expand...

That’s good to know. I have been tempted I have spent the afternoon installing on a partition using an old Apple ID but obviously it’s lqckinf things like FaceTime etc. So might risk it.
 
MacBookSteve said:
Nothing will happen if you use your primary ID.. It's fine. People that are scared of betas shouldn't really be using computers until their fully trained on the basics to be honest..
Click to expand...

Agree. Nothing bad should happen. If you're running a beta, put on your big boy pants.
 
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lungbutter said:
Nothing bad should happen.
Click to expand...
Famous last words. ;)

You guys have a lot more
trust in the quality of Apple’s (beta) software than I have. I guess it‘s good that some people are testing iCloud functionality with real data - just make sure you also report the bugs back to Apple.
 
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tkermit said:
Famous last words. ;)

You guys have a lot more
trust in the quality of Apple’s (beta) software than I have. I guess it‘s good that some people are testing iCloud functionality with real data - just make sure you also report the bugs back to Apple.
Click to expand...

Have you ever actually heard of someone's iCloud data getting wrecked this way? I haven't.
 
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TitanTiger said:
Have you ever actually heard of someone's iCloud data getting wrecked this way? I haven't.
Click to expand...
I've heard of people getting their data wrecked even using Apple's production software to the point of having to start over with a new Apple ID because even Apple was unable to restore the account to its full functionality. It's reasonable to assume that the chance of something going wrong is higher if you're using beta software. I'm not saying it's likely or claim to know the exact likelihood, just that there's obviously always a higher risk with beta software.
 
I currently use my main Apple ID for the beta. For Mojave nothing seems to change that much on iCloud.

In previous betas this has been a problem. I almost upgraded my iCloud storage to iCloud Drive in the Yosemite beta, which would have lost me access on my phone and main Mac to all my iCloud documents.

They updated the Notes app way of saving notes in El Cap I think, where I did end up accidentally upgrading, which lost me my notes for a few months on my other devices.

My warning would be to look out in future betas for changes to iCloud, those are the ones where it could get dangerous.
 
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I've always used my primary Apple ID when running betas over the years and had zero issues with data loss or corruption. This includes using iCloud Desktop and Documents storage since the day it was released in beta form and accessing my documents from a mixed environment of beta and production machines using iOS and macOS.
 
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MacBookSteve said:
Nothing will happen if you use your primary ID.. It's fine. People that are scared of betas shouldn't really be using computers until their fully trained on the basics to be honest..
Click to expand...
I remember reading people’s iCloud Photo Library getting nuked when they first had betas of it.

Because of issues like that, I will never sign into my iCloud account on a beta.
 
I have been using my primary AppleID with all Apple beta software at least since Snow Leopard/Lion era and I've never had an experience of losing any online data.
Now local data is a different story as I am pretty much always ready to do a complete format of my systems if needed.
I also will do upgrades from one OS to a new one as well as doing a complete format/reinstall and test if any "gremlins" carry over through the upgrade process.
 
tkermit said:
Famous last words. ;)

You guys have a lot more
trust in the quality of Apple’s (beta) software than I have. I guess it‘s good that some people are testing iCloud functionality with real data - just make sure you also report the bugs back to Apple.
Click to expand...

Indeed.
 
tkermit said:
Famous last words. ;)

You guys have a lot more
trust in the quality of Apple’s (beta) software than I have. I guess it‘s good that some people are testing iCloud functionality with real data - just make sure you also report the bugs back to Apple.
Click to expand...

For me, it's not so much whether I trust Apple's betas but I trust my backups as they've already been tested in case of disaster.
 
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