Apple Releases Third Public Beta of macOS Ventura 13.1

Apple today seeded the third beta of macOS Ventura 13.1 to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to try out the new features ahead of the software's release. The public beta comes one week after Apple released the second public beta.

macos ventura roundup header
Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.1 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Ventura 13.1 introduces the Freeform app, which Apple has designed for creative collaboration. The app can be used for brainstorming, planning out ideas, jotting down notes, and more. Users can insert drawings, sticky notes, shapes, text boxes, photos, videos, PDFs, links, and other documents, with Freeform serving as a blank canvas.

Freeform "boards" can be shared with other people and discussed over FaceTime, with updates from all participants synced to everyone in real-time.

The update also introduces support for an updated Home app architecture that improves performance for smart home devices.

Related Forum: macOS Ventura

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Top Rated Comments

ItWasNotMe Avatar
35 months ago
Just put Freeform on the App Store. It's not part of the OS. I've enough bloatware as it is
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiPa Avatar
35 months ago

Just put Freeform on the App Store. It's not part of the OS. I've enough bloatware as it is
ummm, move to trash if you don't want it. Hard to find a complaint in this
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
35 months ago
Actually really looking forward to FreeForm, especially on Mac. Hopefully it becomes popular, it seems like it could be super useful.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roncron Avatar
35 months ago

Is Freeform shared only through FaceTime? This might be useful for education if it could be done with 20+ people at the same time.
I teach at a small college and see a lot of potential in a tool like Freeform.

But it's only for Apple devices, right? Only about 4 in 10 of my students have Macs, 1 in 10 have iPads, most have Windows laptops and a few have non-Apple tablets.

So unless Freeform becomes available for non-Apple platforms, I won't be able to use it.

But there are already other products that work across platforms and provide similar functionality as Freeform.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
35 months ago

How many betas do these usually have? Wondering whether it will release next week (before Thanksgiving) or early December. I'm waiting for its release to upgrade from Monterey.
Monday Dec 12th its when it is expected to be publicly released. (last 2 years were Dec 13, Dec 14)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
35 months ago
Been using beta 3 for a day, had no issues. Its macOS 13.1 beta 3 (22C5050e)
[SPOILER="macOS Ventura 13.1 Beta 3 Release Notes"]
[HEADING=2]Endpoint Security[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Third-party security products using the Endpoint Security API might lose Full Disk Access authorization and stop functioning, even though the product remains visible in System Settings. This issue doesn’t affect authorization granted via MDM. (100857507)
Workaround: Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access, select the security product, use the minus (-) button to remove, and then use the plus (+) button to re-add the affected security product. A system restart might be required to restore expected functionality.

[HEADING=2]Freeform[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Fixed: Can’t delete boards while offline, or if iCloud data is disabled for Freeform. (100294085)
* Fixed: Adding or removing collaborators can fail while attempting to change share settings. (101186059)
* Inserting a sticky or a file might result in an unexpected error. (100883621)
Workaround: Quit and relaunch Freeform.

[/SPOILER]
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)