Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Sonoma 14.2

Apple today seeded the first public beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.2 update, allowing non-developers to test out the software ahead of its release. The public beta comes a day after the first developer beta.

macos sonoma 4
Beta testers can opt-in through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. Under Beta updates, simply toggle on the Sonoma Public Beta. Note that you must sign up to participate on Apple's beta testing website.

‌macOS Sonoma‌ 14.2 adds Messages sticker reactions, which make it quicker to add a sticker or an emoji to an iMessage. It also includes support for collaborative Apple Music playlists, allowing multiple people to add songs to a single playlist.

There's a new Favorites ‌Apple Music‌ playlist as well, better support for Messages in iCloud syncing, and iMessage Contact Key Verification for people who face extraordinary digital threats.

Related Roundup: macOS Sonoma
Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18 Available Now With These 8 New Features For Your iPhone

Sunday September 15, 2024 10:09 am PDT by
Following over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 was finally widely released to the public on Monday, September 16. The update is available in the Settings app under General → Software Update on the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18, and Apple shared a complete list of new features and changes last week. Note that Apple...
iOS 18 Public Beta Thumb 1

Here's When iOS 18 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone

Monday September 16, 2024 3:56 am PDT by
It's that time of year again. Apple is about to release iOS 18, which promises to bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and the company is expected to release it sometime today – Monday, September 16. Based on past releases, the update is likely to drop at around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/1:00 p.m. Eastern...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID Single Camera Hole

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday September 13, 2024 2:40 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

M4 Macs, New iPad Mini, and iPad 11 Expected at Upcoming Apple Event

Sunday September 15, 2024 5:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated...
16 pro

iPhone 16 Pro Demand Has Been Lower Than Expected, Analyst Says

Sunday September 15, 2024 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store. Kuo estimated that sales of all four iPhone 16 models reached...
iphone 16 pro apple intelligence

Apple Intelligence Features Expected to Roll Out in This Order Between iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.4

Friday September 13, 2024 1:01 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will be released to the public on Monday, but the first Apple Intelligence features will not be available until iOS 18.1 is released in October. Apple Intelligence features will continue to roll out in iOS 18.2 and beyond, with the expected roadmap outlined below per Apple's website and rumors. Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro model or any iPhone 16 model, and it will...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
12 months ago
The install of 14.2 beta 1 on top of 14.1 RC was fairly quick. Not seeing anything really amiss with my two AS Macs.

What was released yesterday to devs/PB testers today

* iOS 17.2 beta (21C5029g)
* iPadOS 17.2 beta (21C5029g)
* macOS 14.2 beta (23C5030f)
* tvOS 17.2 beta (21K5330g)
* watchOS 10.2 beta (21S6331f)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
12 months ago

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Don't forget about the Alphabetical list view in Mac System Settings. While the below image is from Ventura, Sonoma is the same.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
achtung! Avatar
12 months ago
Finally, Apple Music has received more updates. I am looking forward to seeing what's in store for the future. There's plenty of room for improvement.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mudflap Avatar
12 months ago

What's the overall consensus with Sonoma? I'm curious as to how stable it's been.
Sonoma is solid for me.

This is the first macOS in quite some time that worked with all of my software out of the box. Adobe CC has a couple glitches here and there but it works, generally. And of course — although I'm going to sound like a borked record — the screensaver/wallpapers are absolutely stunning, especially in HDR on a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro. I do miss the third party Mail Receipt plugin for Mail.app; Apple got rid of plugins altogether and are moving to extensions. So maybe we'll have an alternative in the future but for now, nope.

Apple Remote Desktop is noticeably more responsive administering a couple Mac minis I have set up as audio and video servers. That was a very pleasant surprise!

I just installed it yesterday, waiting until I was finished with a big project to be safe. The only issues I've seen so far; sometimes an app's window is stuck behind or in front of another window. I might update to 14.2b to see if that fixes it, as long as it doesn't introduced other problems. And I swear everything really does feel a little zippier on my 14" M1 Pro.

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr.Mozi Avatar
12 months ago
Journal app maybe?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jbmelby Avatar
12 months ago

Sonoma is solid for me.

This is the first macOS in quite some time that worked with all of my software out of the box. Adobe CC has a couple glitches here and there but it works, generally. And of course — although I'm going to sound like a borked record — the screensaver/wallpapers are absolutely stunning, especially in HDR on a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro. I do miss the third party Mail Receipt plugin for Mail.app; Apple got rid of plugins altogether and are moving to extensions. So maybe we'll have an alternative in the future but for now, nope.

Apple Remote Desktop is noticeably more responsive administering a couple Mac minis I have set up as audio and video servers. That was a very pleasant surprise!

I just installed it yesterday, waiting until I was finished with a big project to be safe. The only issues I've seen so far; sometimes an app's window is stuck behind or in front of another window. I might update to 14.2b to see if that fixes it, as long as it doesn't introduced other problems. And I swear everything really does feel a little zippier on my 14" M1 Pro.

BTW, I still despise the new System Setting introduced in Ventura. Real, genuine hatred. I thought it would grow on me and I'd develop some muscle memory after more than a year, bit I still can't remember where anything is. I used to be able to get to 80% of what I needed with one click. Now it's at least two, sometimes three or four clicks.
Solid as a rock for me.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)