Apple Releases Beta 8 For watchOS 4, tvOS 11, macOS High Sierra

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Apple has pushed the eighth betas for three of its four main operating systems out to developers. Here are the main changes you can look forward to in watchOS 4 Beta 8, tvOS 11 Beta 8 and macOS High Sierra Beta 8.

Here’s what’s new in watchOS 4 Beta 8

Apple hasn’t issued release notes to go with watchOS 4 Beta 8, but as with all the bega versions, it’s expected that this one will be a combination of minor changes, bug fixes and incremental rollouts of new features coming to watchOS 4. The company seeded watchOS 4 Beta 8 to developers on Thursday, and developers are reporting details on any major changes they discover.

One of the more recent additions was full-screen celebration effects when users achieve new Activity milestones. However, other features that are expected to be coming in watchOS 4 eventually, like support for payments through Apple Pay, have not yet arrived.

One of the biggest, most obvious changes in watchOS 4 Beta 8 is the addition of four new watch faces, one of which is a Siri watch face. Apple is adding a flashlight and new app doc to watchOS with version 4. The company is also enhancing its Music and Workout apps.

At this point, only developers have access to watchOS 4 Beta 8, as Apple doesn’t offer public beta versions for the operating system for the Apple Watch.

Here’s what’s new in tvOS 11 Beta 8

Registered developers can also access tvOS 11 Beta 8 for testing on their Apple TV set-top boxes, as can those who are enrolled in Apple’s public beta testing program. Apparently, for the last few beta versions of tvOS 11, the company has been seeding the free public beta version of tvOS 11 on the same day it seeds the developer beta versions. However, the public beta version of tvOS is typically released a few days after the developer beta.

The eleventh iteration of the Apple TV operating system is expected to bring a syncing feature for the Home screen, automatic light and dark modes, and full support for AirPods and CarPlay 2, among other changes.

Here’s what’s new in macOS High Sierra Beta 8

At this point, macOS High Sierra Beta 8 is only available for registered developers to test. It’s likely that Apple will hold off on releasing the public beta version for a few days, as is standard operating procedure. However, it’s possible that the company will seed the public beta on the same day, just as it has done with the most recent beta versions of macOS.

macOS High Sierra Beta 8 is expected to bring another batch of bug fixes and interface tweaks. The final version of the operating system is expected to be released within the next two months.

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