Apr 27

Apr 27 Apple Beta Psychedelic Funkin'

Third Round of OS Updates Out to Developers

27 APRIL 2022 - Apple’s caravan of software betas rolls on. Last week, Apple released the second betas of iOS/iPadOS/tvOS 15.5, watchOS 8.6, and macOS 12.4 to both developers and public testers. Now a couple of pieces from Apple Insider say the third betas of the macOS update and the rest are out to developers. While we’ve no timeline on public release, there is interesting news around the betas, starting with a potential fix from pricey hardware.

Latest macOS Beta Improves Studio Display Webcam

Almost as soon as Apple Studio Displays landed on people’s desks, people started complaining about the quality of the hardware’s built-in webcam. Kind of… muddy and subpar. Just as quickly, Apple said the problem would be fixed in a future software update. Much less quickly, that seems to be finally happening. A piece from The Verge has an Apple spokesperson saying that:

…an update to the Studio Display firmware is now available with [Tuesday’s] beta release of macOS Monterey 12.4. This beta update has refinements to the Studio Display camera tuning, including improved noise reduction, contrast, and framing.

I’ve already seen one article that says even after the beta, the camera is still subpar. Worth noting though, it is a a work in progress, hence the whole “beta” thing.

Cordoning Off “Memories”

The other change of note has Apple playing with your memories, specifically ‘Sensitive Locations’ for Memories in Photos. A piece from 9 to 5 Mac says the third beta of iOS 15.5 appears to block such locations from the feature. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, the piece explains:

…Memories is a feature of the Photos app on iOS and macOS that recognizes people, places, and events in your photo library to automatically create “curated collections” with a slideshow.

Tends to feature happy things. Trips to the beach, trips to Vegas, stuff like that. But some memories aren’t so happy. According to the report:

…the Photos app now has a list of “Sensitive Locations,” so that any photos taken there will never be added to a memory. Interestingly, all the places banned in this version are related to the Holocaust.

Certainly you’d want to remember going to the US Holocaust Museum, for example. Probably though, you don’t want pictures from the Holocaust Museum turning up in a slide show with happy music playing underneath.

It’s a strange change. Probably not a bad one.