14 DAY TRIAL // Safari 8.0.1, 7.1.1, and 6.1.1 are now available as betas to the developer community for testing and bug reporting. Apple provides a lengthy list of focus areas (at least compared to previous seeds) and outlines a couple of Yosemite-specific developments.
Announced on the News and Announcements area for developers, Safari 8.0.1 for OS X Yosemite goes onto OS X 10.10 or 10.10.1 systems, Safari 7.1.1 is to be used on OS X 10.9.5 (Mavericks) computers, and Safari 6.1.1 can only be installed on Macs running OS X 10.8.5 aka Mountain Lion.
Focus areas, bugs in dire need of fixing
As you might have already guessed, Apple is preparing to release new and improved versions of Safari for the three most used OS X versions. But not without some solid testing first. As it is customary for the Cupertino company, the betas are accompanied by release notes that outline the focus areas and details about bug reporting.
Safari 8, released alongside Yosemite in September, brought a number of features that promised to enhance the user experience. For the most part, it does. However, some features – like extensions – require some maintenance.
Case in point, Apple asks developers to focus their testing efforts around extension compatibility and general website compatibility. This is (in part) to ensure that things like site extensions accurately provide updates (headlines and thumbnails) based on their respective RSS feeds.
WebGL graphics on Retina displays is also an area of interest in the new Safari builds, and so is Password AutoFill, especially when it involves passwords synced across multiple devices, according to a person who is familiar with the seed notes.
Finally, testers have been asked to look into syncing history between devices and importing usernames and passwords from Firefox, both of these aspects targeting Yosemite computers only.
“The best browser for your Mac”
Although users have very different tastes in browsers, Apple assures Mac owners that the best way to go to ensure a great experience is to choose Safari. It makes sense to do so, considering it’s designed in-house to be perfectly optimized for the Mac, and even more so when it comes to MacBooks (where battery life is crucial).
“The best browser for your Mac is the one that comes with your Mac,” Apple says. “Safari is faster and more energy efficient than other browsers, so sites are more responsive and your notebook battery lasts longer between charges.”
“Built-in privacy features are stronger than ever. It works with iCloud to let you browse seamlessly across all your devices. And it gives you great ways to find and share your favorites. Put it all together, and no other browser offers such a rich web experience,” the Mac maker adds.
To download the new Safari betas, visit Apple’s developer portal with your developer credentials in hand.
