Apple have seen fit to release a premier version of the forthcoming Photos for Mac app alongside the newest release of the OS X Public beta.
While the app was first seen in the Developer Preview version of OS X which was released in February, yesterday marked the first release of the new photo organiser to the general public through the Cupertino firm’s new AppleSeed program.
Through the AppleSeed program, Apple invites members of the public to test budding software builds before they see a general release. Apple had stated earlier that a general Photos for Mac beta would arrive via AppleSeed ahead of a general release in the coming Spring.
Photos for Mac releases it’s nearly 13 year elder, iPhoto, which was formerly part of Apple’s iLife suite which saw a general release alongside each new edition of OS X.
While iPhoto was heavily critiqued for a frustrating user interface and the later half-hearted addition of cloud capabilities once Apple unveiled iCloud, Photos for Mac seeks to remedy these issues by introducing a more iOS-style approach for greater congruency across platforms.
In contrast to iPhoto, which used Photo Streams to share specific photos throughout an iCloud account, Photos for Mac brings with it the iCloud Photo Library, a catalog of all a user’s taken or added pictures which is stored on Apple’s servers and distributed across all devices linked to an iCloud account. As with Photo Streams, images on an iCloud Photo Library can be shared with others.
iCloud Library further stores high-quality images online, leaving only low-res photographs on devices. iCloud Photo Library can also be opted-out of, should a user prefer to store all such images on their Macs only.
The indication that Apple has released a public beta of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 with Photos for Mac seems to imply a general release is imminent.
Apple will additionally cease selling Aperture, the company’s pro photo editor and management app, once Photos for Mac has been officially released.
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