14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has seeded its vast developer community with new betas of the forthcoming iOS 4.3 software update for iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads, as well as new Xcode and iOS SDK 4.3 betas.
It has already been discovered that the second beta in the 4.3 milestone delivers a fair amount of changes from push notifications in Ping (Apple’s music-centric social network), to evidence of camera-equipped next-generation iPads, and a new folder titled “Media Stream”.
Weighing in on the latter, 9to5mac cites various alerts and .plist files as being indicative of Apple’s plans to let iPhone users set up “Photo Streams” that friends could “subscribe” to.
Privacy preferences were also spotted in the files scattered around the Media Stream folder, suggesting users will be able to choose who is allowed to view their “Streams” and who is not.
Apple already has Ping as a social network, but it hasn’t had a good start.
The iPhone makers may have realized that a photo-sharing function akin to that of Facebook might finally get people talking.
Additionally, developers seem convinced that Apple will not be implementing support for the newly-emerged Multi-Touch gestures in the public version of iOS 4.3 for iPads.
Apple reportedly told them, “This feature will not be enabled in iOS 4.3 for customers, but we are providing this preview to gather input on how these gestures work with your apps.”
As usual, the new Xcode and iOS SDK 4.3 beta is considered pre-release software as part of the complete Xcode developer toolset for Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Developers are advised to review the release notes before installing.
Apple seems dead serious about dropping support for old-generation hardware such as the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch devices, as the iOS 4.3 Beta 2 supports only iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3rd- and 4th-generation.
Those enrolled with Apple's paid developer program can download the new betas from the company's web site, by signing in with their Apple ID.