14 DAY TRIAL // Photos for Mac undoubtedly took the spotlight in OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, but there are other things to look at in the beta, now that things have cooled off a bit.
Developers with access to the software have noticed a major change in the Special Characters department, which under 10.10.3 is called Emoji & Symbols.
More focus on the popular emojis
Emoji & Symbols can be found in the same place where 10.10.2 and earlier versions of OS X currently display Special Characters. Under 10.10.3, which is still in development and won’t be released to the public for at least a few weeks, the new Emoji & Symbols section offers a clearer view thanks to a scrollable interface.
Making efforts to support the Unicode 8.0 standard - which has just been drafted and is now on its way to roll out in beta - Apple has instated new skin tone modifiers. Any emoji that supports multiple skin tones is marked with a small arrow pointing downwards. Once clicked, this tool brings up a plurality of different skin tones for the selected face / character.
Various slots in the list of characters are blank, indicating that Apple has yet to include all the planned emojis and special characters and symbols.
Potential April launch
Apple tends to publish its planned updates in bulk, mainly because of the strong correlation between iOS and OS X.
If rumors about a planned Spring event hold true, OS X 10.10.3 could roll out alongside iOS 8.2 and the Apple Watch around April (going by Tim Cook’s claims that Apple hopes to launch the wearable that month).
iPhoto's replacement
By far the most exciting new feature in OS X 10.10.3, the Photos Mac app promises to make photo management and editing much easier.
Currently only available in this early 10.10.3 beta and accessible only by registered developers, the Photos app is impressively well built and one of the most intuitive pieces of Apple software to date.
