“Apple is rolling out the eighth macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing,” Zac Hall reports for 9to5Mac. “The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac.”
“macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is currently only available to developers and public beta testers,” Hall reports. “Public beta versions usually come a few days after developer versions if not the same day.”
Hall reports, “macOS 10.12.4 beta also includes changes to Siri, Dictation, and Apple’s PDF API.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Buh-bye, Flux.
This is the most revisions I have seen on a dot release. Maybe this is related to the Wikileaks thing????
No, it’s most likely due to feature implementation ossues on older hardware. When you get past 5-6 public betas it is typically because a feature isn’t working properly, or certain configurations are causing issues. Night shift had similar problems last year during iOS 9 beta development.
Apple has not actually released eight betas of 10.12.4 to testers. A number of beta versions remains inside Apple for their own purposes. If my counting is correct, I’ve only been offered 4 of the 8 betas.
And no, 10.12.4b8 still doesn’t stomp all the bugs in Sierra. 😛
Oh and yeah, there will be significant security patches in the final version of 10.12.4, have no fear or uncertainty or doubt… 😉
Without getting it to trouble – I have gotten all 8.
I suspect that I only got 4 because I’m not a developer. I’m a mere AppleSeed.
Appleseed too.
Then apparently I’ve been skipping over beta announcements in my email or Apple hasn’t bothered to send them all to me. I certainly don’t hover in the App Store app waiting for new betas either.
I get emails and auto downloads then install. Many times I have woken to a morning where my system has rebooted. At the moment beta 1 and 2 have scrolled off my list but I did install them. If you don’t catch every single update, that’s okay, it depends on what your focus is. I have dialed down betas to my newest system only, because my iMac has taken on more important role and I don’t want to reboot as often or risk incompatibility. It hasn’t been a real problem before, but I don’t have the same leeway anymore.
I like to repair and backup before each update, so have not automated the installations.
You have to admit, Apple updates of beta or production, have been pretty solid. I used to have to repair permissions etc, before each update, but since Mavericks this hasn’t been a real issue. I understood that repairs were built into the process. As far as backup, that’s already there, as a nightly process for volumes, and Time Machine on my main volume. Only one time ever, have I had to roll back a beta and it was a first beta install after WWDC. I was using Time Machine back then too and the restore was painless.
Certainly for 10.12.4 the betas have all been solid, albeit that some bugs remain.
F.lux still has its benefits and uses. Considering that F.lux has been FREE (donationware) all these years and has been the INSPIRATION for Apple’s Night Shift, lets offer THANKS! and APPRECIATION! to f.lux Software LLC. Ideally, Apple should toss them some thanks in the form of their own donation.