beta

What were you listening to most this year? Was it Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road, one of the catchiest songs of the whole year? Or were you — like Cult of Mac writer Luke Dormehl — only listening to music made before 1997, after which he claims everything got unlistenable? Or perhaps you were hooked on the inexplicably popular Coldplay?

If you did all your listening on Apple Music, then you can easily check your top 100 songs of 2019, and also other years past. You just need to check your Apple Music Replay playlists. Only it’s not quite as easy as you might have thought…

Apple today made its first iOS 13.3.1 and macOS 10.15.3 betas available to developers.

The minor updates don’t have patch notes yet. But they likely fix a serious flaw in Communication Limits, which can allow messages to be received from unauthorized contacts, among other bugs.

New betas are also available for HomePod, iPad, and Apple TV.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s big beta dump, Apple is back with one more beta software update for macOS Catalina.

macOS 10.15.1 beta 3 was seeded to developers this morning, bringing a host of new bug fixes for the Mac following the public launch of macOS Catalina just earlier this month.

Apple today rolled out iOS 13.1 beta four ahead of the update’s public release on September 30.

The latest release is available to both public and developer testers. It doesn’t appear to make any obvious changes, so likely focuses on performance and stability improvements.

Are you running the iOS 13.1 beta? Right now, it’s pretty pretty much ready to use, for most people. But with the official release coming up soon, how do you switch from the beta to the official, regular version? The good news is that it’s easy. Here’s how.

Microsoft Edge is now “ready for everyday use.”

The next-generation version of the browser, built on Chromium, is still in beta for Windows and macOS. But Microsoft says it’s stable enough to become your primary window to the web.

Apple Music for Android is getting a brand new dark mode and time-synced lyrics support.

The two new features, which are scheduled to debut on iOS this fall, are available to those testing the beta version of the Android app.

If you want to continue to enjoy Fortnite on your iPhone and iPad, you should avoid upgrading to iOS 13 and iPadOS for now.

Epic Games has warned users that there are “stability concerns” with Apple’s latest betas. Installing them early could mean that you’re no longer able to play the its battle royale game.

The first closed beta test for Minecraft Earth will begin this month — just weeks after its first unveiling at WWDC.

You can sign up for early access to the game today. A new beta trailer gives us a sneak peek of what to expect during the test.

Apple’s latest watchOS 6 beta, released to registered developers on Tuesday, lets you delete stock Apple Watch apps for the first time.

Alarms, Breathe, Timer, Stopwatch, and Walkie-Talkie are just a few of the many that can now be removed. Any deleted titles can later be re-downloaded from the Watch App Store.

We’ve explained why it’s really not a great idea to update to the iOS 13 and iPadOS public betas right now — and the same goes for macOS Catalina. Not only is it unstable in its current form, but some things don’t work properly.

One of those is multiple iTunes libraries. As things stand, you will have access to only one. And if it’s not the right one when you first install Catalina, there’s nothing you can do about it.

Apple just dropped its first public beta builds of iOS 13 and iPadOS, making it easy for anyone to try them out months ahead of their official launch. But you should really resist the urge to install them right now.

Don’t assume these betas are ready for everyone just because they’re available to the public now. If you upgrade your primary iPhone and iPad early, you’re almost certainly going to run into frustrating problems.

I’ve suffered all kinds of issues since upgrading — and I’m not the only one.

iOS 13 and iPadOS now warn you if you attempt to delete apps with active subscriptions.

The new popup, which was introduced in Apple’s second beta builds on Monday, also includes a “Manage Subscription” button that makes it easier to cancel subs you no longer need.

Apple’s second iOS 13 and iPadOS betas are now available to registered developers. They come exactly two weeks after the first beta builds and should eliminate some of the teething troubles testers have experienced so far.

Apple has today seeded a bunch of new beta updates to registered developers.

A fourth iOS 12.4 release, the third tvOS 12.4 and watchOS 5.3 releases, and a second macOS 10.14.6 release are available now. Sadly, there are no new iOS 13, iPadOS, or watchOS 6 betas just yet.

You won’t need iTunes to install the iOS 13 and iPadOS betas when they go public, Apple’s Craig Federighi has confirmed.

Registered developers who want to get their hands on the software now must download the update package and restore their device through iTunes. They must also have the new Xcode 11 beta installed.

That won’t be the case when Apple expands the reach of its betas next month.

Apple is finally doing away with the App Store’s cellular download limit in iOS 13.

The cap was increased from 150MB to 200MB just last week, but as of this fall, you should have the option to ignore it altogether.

iOS 13 will finally bring a revamped volume indicator to iPhone and iPad.

One of Apple’s designs for the less intrusive overlay has been revealed in a new leak — but the final result will likely be a little different.

Nintendo has finally kicked off its first Mario Kart Tour beta test.

A lucky few have received invites to play the game early ahead of its public release this summer. Nintendo hopes the test will help “improve the quality of the game” before every Mario Kart fan gets their hands on it.

Apple today rolled out its sixth iOS 12.3 beta for registered developers. It comes just days after testers got their hands on a fifth release.

It’s unlikely we’ll see any significant changes in this update. But there’s lots to look forward to in iOS 12.3 — including a revamped TV app with support for Channels.

Update: A version of this latest beta for the public was just released as well.

Vizio has started inviting TV owners to test AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support.

The invites come just over a month after users started registering their interest in the beta. Apple’s frameworks are baked into Vizio’s new SmartCast 3.0 platform, which is managed via an iOS app.

Apple has one more major update for iOS 12 before it unveils iOS 13 at WWDC 2019.

Developers just received the first beta build of iOS 12.3 this morning, bringing a bunch of new features and bug fixes to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. There is also a new beta for tvOS 12.3 available.

UPDATE: The public beta is out now too.

Apple is back with an all-new iOS 12.2 beta for developers, just one week after the iPhone-maker released iOS 12.2 beta 5 into the wild.

iOS 12.2 beta 6 could be the last beta build Apple puts out before making it available to the public. The new beta build packs a ton of bug fixes and performance improvements for iPad and iPhone to go with some UI changes and new features Apple added in previous builds.

Safari AutoFill in macOS Mojave is about to get even more convenient, thanks to Touch ID support.

The first macOS 10.14.4 beta reveals you’ll be able to log into websites simply by scanning your fingerprint. This feature has long been available on iOS, but it will be a first for Mac.

Registered developers can now get their hands on Apple’s fourth macOS 10.14.2 beta.

It comes just two weeks after the release of the third beta, and it focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements. It doesn’t look like Apple has made any significant changes in this release.