Apple distributes second macOS 10.14 Mojave public beta for testing

Posted:
in macOS edited October 2019
Arriving the day after the second iOS 12 public beta, Apple made the second macOS 10.14 Mojave public beta available to download for testing on Friday, with beta participants able to update the first beta installed on their Mac to the new release.




The second MacOS 10.14 Mojave public beta surfaces ten days after the first was offered for download, and in the same week as the third developer beta. The contents of the second public beta is expected to be identical in content to Tuesday's third developer beta.

Participants in the beta program can download macOS Mojave initially from the Apple Beta Software Program website, along with public betas of iOS and tvOS, after registering. Existing installations can be updated from within the first beta, by entering System Preferences and using the Software Update option, instead of downloading the operating system again.

MacOS Mojave's features list includes a number of productivity-focused improvements starting with Stacks for automatic grouping and sorting of files on the desktop. The Finder has a new Gallery view showing media and metadata, with contextual quick actions also triggerable.





Markup can now be invoked within Quick Look without leaving the menu, with the feature also allowing for videos to be trimmed without using an editing tool. The screenshot interface makes it easier to take images of the desktop, as well as to record video, with a reduced workload on the processor compared to earlier methods.

Continuity Camera can be used to take a photograph using an iPhone or iPad and insert it into a Mac app, without manually transferring the file between the devices.

Push to enable iOS apps in macOS has led to Apple converting some of its own apps to the platform, including News, Stocks, Voice Memos, and the Home app for managing HomeKit devices. The Mac App Store has been updated with a new interface that borrows elements from the iOS App Store.

Other notable macOS additions include Create ML and Core ML2, and a new Dark Mode.

Both Apple and AppleInsider strongly advise against installing beta releases onto mission-critical hardware, due to the possibility of a loss of data. It is suggested those wanting to try the beta to do so using secondary devices, and to retain backups of any important data before installation.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    This beta is noticeably faster than the first beta. It screams.
    libertyforallAlex1N
  • Reply 2 of 9
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member
    This beta is noticeably faster than the first beta. It screams.
    How stable is it though and how much do you get the beachball hang?  What Mac are you running it on?  
    edited July 2018
  • Reply 3 of 9
    flyingdpflyingdp Posts: 45member
    Has anyone else lost the "bong" startup tone when booting Mojave?
    Small issue -- but kind of a reassuring (classic) sound when firing up.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    This beta is noticeably faster than the first beta. It screams.
    All the betas have been faster than High Sierra on my Macs. This 3rd beta seems to have resolved all major productivity issues I've had, and the bugs I submitted have been resolved as of beta 3. The only issues remaining are very minor issues that don't affect productivity or are issues with a single 3rd-party app (which is probably the app developer's concern).

    I did have an issue after installing beta 3 and then restarting that didn't allow Apple Remote Desktop or file sharing to connect even though the headless Mac showed up in the  Finder sidebar. Disk Utility's First Aid showed some errors I hadn't seen before so I booted into the Recovery partition, per its request, and ran First Aid again. Now everything is working as it should be. This isn't too uncommon with any update, even point updates.

    This beta is noticeably faster than the first beta. It screams.
    How stable is it though and how much do you get the beachball hang?  What Mac are you running it on?  
    1) All the betas have been hella stable. Even more so than many GMs Apple has release under both Cook and Jobs. But as usual, these are still betas so install at your own risk since anything can change at any time and different configurations can yield different results.

    2) People stills get beachballs in macOS?
    libertyforallAlex1N
  • Reply 5 of 9
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    flyingdp said:
    Has anyone else lost the "bong" startup tone when booting Mojave?
    Small issue -- but kind of a reassuring (classic) sound when firing up.
    That went away a couple years ago, but it looks like you can re-add it if you wish.

  • Reply 6 of 9
    dr. xdr. x Posts: 282member
    Has anyone gotten this message when trying to update, I've tried twice and gotten the same message. I have fiber so my connection should be pretty fast. Thanks.



    edited July 2018
  • Reply 7 of 9
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    About to install the latest so I can't comment on the third beta.  Both installations of Mojave for me on a TrashCan 6 core Mac Pro and a 2017 Mac Book Pro + Touch Bar, in volumes (not partitions) on the main internal SSD, have had the same issue; the restart / installation stopped part way through.  A forced quit and restart completed the installation without issues on both machines.  I will be interested to see if I see this happen again.  Both machines have the latest High Sierra betas in another other volume in the same container so I am not sure if this could be connected.
    Alex1N
  • Reply 8 of 9
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    dr. x said:
    Has anyone gotten this message when trying to update, I've tried twice and gotten the same message. I have fiber so my connection should be pretty fast. Thanks.

    [Image]
    I'd click on Details and Restore Defaults to remove yourself from the program. Restart, and then download and install the program to re-add yourself to the beta program to see if that fixes the issue. My guess is that it's a SW glitch with the Software Updater, not your ISP bandwidth.
    edited July 2018 Alex1N
  • Reply 9 of 9
    dr. xdr. x Posts: 282member
    Soli said:
    dr. x said:
    Has anyone gotten this message when trying to update, I've tried twice and gotten the same message. I have fiber so my connection should be pretty fast. Thanks.

    [Image]
    I'd click on Details and Restore Defaults to remove yourself from the program. Restart, and then download and install the program to re-add yourself to the beta program to see if that fixes the issue. My guess is that it's a SW glitch with the Software Updater, not your ISP bandwidth.

    Thanks for responding, It ended up working after a while, like you said, it probably was a SW glitch. Thanks though.
    Soli
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