macOS Sequoia 15.3 Beta 2 - Bug fixes, changes, and more

[Adora]

But how is 1Password working for you? It crashes on me multiple times a day. I deleted it late last night and installed a new copy. We'll see how today goes.

I am still using 1Password 6 because I don't like subscriptions and forced online accounts and there wasn't a single problem with any 15.x beta, also the mini app in the menu bar is still working. Even the old Firefox extension is still working more or less in the latest Nightly version.

And I use iCloud sync to 1Password7 on my iPhone with iOS 18.3. It is still in my app purchases list, seems it was a free upgrade from 6 and is separated from the new 1Password app.

But I have to copy mostly everything manually. Also on macOS. Saving new logins is working fine in Firefox still, but the filling of logins is not really working anymore.

I tried a 1Password 7 trial lately and it also worked. Sadly I didn't get one of the one-time purchase licenses when it still was possible if you asked for it. Would be better to have a version that is supporting Apple Silicon and not emulated Intel like version 6 is.

 

[Adora]

Adora: Once again thank you for the help. I'm hoping one of these days we'll get a stable release and I can turn off betas and go back to the normal public releases.

When the final 15.3 is released, I'm going to reformat, install the OS, then install each program one by one. In other words, I'm going to bypass Time Machine and do a full clean install, which is what I did when I went from Sonoma to Sequoia. I've got tons of external space, so it's nothing to copying all my data files back and forth. I also copy the Library folders that contain things like the cover art from songs in Music:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.APMArtworkAgent/Data/Documents

And over time I've built a database of over 600 screen shots of various applications' settings screens. While it does take a good bit of time to make everything fresh, it's the only way I know to get everything going without bringing a ton of junk from the past. Too bad more programs, like GraphicConverter, do not have a way to save their settings to a configuration file.

I did a clean install on my new Mac mini. I didn't have that much problems before. The ones I had stayed. But that was still Beta 1.

 

[JUMA55]

I am still using 1Password 6 because I don't like subscriptions and forced online accounts and there wasn't a single problem with any 15.x beta, also the mini app in the menu bar is still working. Even the old Firefox extension is still working more or less in the latest Nightly version.

And I use iCloud sync to 1Password7 on my iPhone with iOS 18.3. It is still in my app purchases list, seems it was a free upgrade from 6 and is separated from the new 1Password app.

But I have to copy mostly everything manually. Also on macOS. Saving new logins is working fine in Firefox still, but the filling of logins is not really working anymore.

I tried a 1Password 7 trial lately and it also worked. Sadly I didn't get one of the one-time purchase licenses when it still was possible if you asked for it. Would be better to have a version that is supporting Apple Silicon and not emulated Intel like version 6 is.

I don't particularly like the direction 1Password has been going for the past few years, but since I have tons of data in the program, I don't know there's much I can do but play the game. I haven't had a crash in the last 24 hours or so that gives me a little hope.

 

[JUMA55]

I did a clean install on my new Mac mini. I didn't have that much problems before. The ones I had stayed. But that was still Beta 1.

I think I have used every version--release, public beta and developer beta--since Sequoia was released. Near as I can tell, very few problems have been fixed. I'm using a 2019 iMac 5K. I started with Macs in 2008 and haven't had a serious problem with the OS until now. My wife's iMac M3 runs great. I'm thinking Apple should have never allowed Intel machines to run Sequoia.

Right now I have following issues:

The Cryptex disk still shows up in Disk Utility. I'm not sure it hurts anything, but I don't know what it does.

Wifi keep disconnecting. I do not think this is a wifi issue as there's an Apple TV about three feet from my iMac, and it doesn't have issues, neither does my iPhone, iPads, etc.

I keep getting a part my internal that gets corrupted. I don't think it's an issue with the SSD. DriveDX doesn't report any problems and running Disk Utility at the container level doesn't show any problems either. But within a day of a reformat, Disk Utility will report problems with the Time Machine Resource Forks, whatever those are, then it will say part of the internal is corrupted and needs repairing. It claims to have repaired the issue, but it shows up the next time I run Disk Utility. The good news is a haven't found any corrupted data.

Path Finder keeps crashing. I've written the Path Finder people. No response.

Lots of web pages take much longer than they once did to open, then lots of time I get incomplete pages once the page has finished loading.

I think that's it. I'd like to get these things fixed. I might be retired and have the time to jack with this stuff but there are other things I'd rather be doing.

 

[Adora]

I don't particularly like the direction 1Password has been going for the past few years, but since I have tons of data in the program, I don't know there's much I can do but play the game. I haven't had a crash in the last 24 hours or so that gives me a little hope.

Yes it annoyed me so much that I missed the time frame to buy at least a license for version 7. It was possible when you asked, especially when you owned licenses before. But I didn't want to give them money anymore. When I lately installed the trial it looked so much better and colorful, that it really made me sad. Maybe I find license file anywhere if I search enough for it.

I have something similar to the new 1Password in my Proton subscription now, it's possible to import everything there. But it doesn't look good and some categories are missing. And I also don't want it. Although I got it for "free" with VPN, better Mail and a 500GB drive. All in all it's a good offer, but the drive is making problems. Could be the macOS beta. I don't know. I mostly use just the VPN.

 

[Adora]

I think I have used every version--release, public beta and developer beta--since Sequoia was released. Near as I can tell, very few problems have been fixed. I'm using a 2019 iMac 5K. I started with Macs in 2008 and haven't had a serious problem with the OS until now. My wife's iMac M3 runs great. I'm thinking Apple should have never allowed Intel machines to run Sequoia.

Right now I have following issues:

The Cryptex disk still shows up in Disk Utility. I'm not sure it hurts anything, but I don't know what it does.

Wifi keep disconnecting. I do not think this is a wifi issue as there's an Apple TV about three feet from my iMac, and it doesn't have issues, neither does my iPhone, iPads, etc.

I keep getting a part my internal that gets corrupted. I don't think it's an issue with the SSD. DriveDX doesn't report any problems and running Disk Utility at the container level doesn't show any problems either. But within a day of a reformat, Disk Utility will report problems with the Time Machine Resource Forks, whatever those are, then it will say part of the internal is corrupted and needs repairing. It claims to have repaired the issue, but it shows up the next time I run Disk Utility. The good news is a haven't found any corrupted data.

Path Finder keeps crashing. I've written the Path Finder people. No response.

Lots of web pages take much longer than they once did to open, then lots of time I get incomplete pages once the page has finished loading.

I think that's it. I'd like to get these things fixed. I might be retired and have the time to jack with this stuff but there are other things I'd rather be doing.

I had the same problems with Path Finder. Don't know if it was better on earlier versions of macOS. I got it with Setapp when I already was on Sequoia Beta.

My iMac still has those formatted empty ex-cryptex disks appearing even on the Desktop and even if Intelligence is turned off. I thought that was the only problem, because they always appeared when I went into the settings of it. But there seems to be another reason for those to appear.

On my new Mac mini I haven't seen any of those until now and I already activated Intelligence for a short while.

 

[Adora]

Full installer for Beta 2 is now in App Store:

‎macOS Sequoia Beta

‎Hol dir eine Vorschau auf das nächste wichtige Release von macOS. Wenn du die macOS-Betaversion installierst, kannst du zukünftige Apps, Funktionen und Technologien ausprobieren und uns mitteilen, was du davon hältst. Mit der integrierten App „Feedback-Assistent“ kannst du dein Feedback bequem...

apps.apple.com

 

[JUMA55]

Yes it annoyed me so much that I missed the time frame to buy at least a license for version 7. It was possible when you asked, especially when you owned licenses before. But I didn't want to give them money anymore. When I lately installed the trial it looked so much better and colorful, that it really made me sad. Maybe I find license file anywhere if I search enough for it.

I have something similar to the new 1Password in my Proton subscription now, it's possible to import everything there. But it doesn't look good and some categories are missing. And I also don't want it. Although I got it for "free" with VPN, better Mail and a 500GB drive. All in all it's a good offer, but the drive is making problems. Could be the macOS beta. I don't know. I mostly use just the VPN.

ExpressVPN has a built in password manager. I don't know how good it is as I've never looked. Like I said, I have so much stuff in 1Password it would be difficult to move. For example, when I buy a program, take Airy for example, I not only put in the purchase information along with the login and password, but I put in a copy of the invoice or anything else pertaining to the program. Getting all of that into another program would be difficult.

 

[JUMA55]

I had the same problems with Path Finder. Don't know if it was better on earlier versions of macOS. I got it with Setapp when I already was on Sequoia Beta.

My iMac still has those formatted empty ex-cryptex disks appearing even on the Desktop and even if Intelligence is turned off. I thought that was the only problem, because they always appeared when I went into the settings of it. But there seems to be another reason for those to appear.

On my new Mac mini I haven't seen any of those until now and I already activated Intelligence for a short while.

Path Finder hasn't crashed the past couple of days and neither has 1Password, so perhaps there is hope.

My wife has an iMac M3 running 15.2. She does not have the Cryptex disk when I look at Disk Utility. I'm not sure if she's using File Vault and I am using it, and that's what makes the Cryptex disk. It's don't know if she's used Apple Intelligence or not. I'm not since I have an Intel machine.

 

[Adora]

ExpressVPN has a built in password manager. I don't know how good it is as I've never looked. Like I said, I have so much stuff in 1Password it would be difficult to move. For example, when I buy a program, take Airy for example, I not only put in the purchase information along with the login and password, but I put in a copy of the invoice or anything else pertaining to the program. Getting all of that into another program would be difficult.

I got a free year of NordVPN lately. It also has a password manager now. Seems to be a new trend. I did not test it, but I am sure it needs a login to use it and everything is stored online.

I also put invoices and other documents or files in 1Password. Even its own license file is stored in it. So when I do a clean install it is already in the trial and I can activate it after it got all data out of iCloud. And there is even a cloud free WLAN sync available.

In Proton Pass there is at least this option:

And I only need an "extra password" to open it like the "master password" in 1Password. But the data is stored online too and at least one time I have to login when installed new.
Also every time I delete my browsing data including all cookies the extension needs a new login. That is really annoying because I do it very often. So I disabled it and won't import my 1Password or Keychain data there.

In Safari I use just Apple Passwords, I am logged in to my iCloud account anyway always... But that is missing many things from 1Password so I don't use it in my main Browser too.

I'll stay with 1Password 6 as long as it works and then have a look at this one, what I already have installed:

KeePassXC Password Manager

KeePassXC Password Manager

keepassxc.org

 

[Adora]

Path Finder hasn't crashed the past couple of days and neither has 1Password, so perhaps there is hope.

My wife has an iMac M3 running 15.2. She does not have the Cryptex disk when I look at Disk Utility. I'm not sure if she's using File Vault and I am using it, and that's what makes the Cryptex disk. It's don't know if she's used Apple Intelligence or not. I'm not since I have an Intel machine.

Maybe the Cryptex thing has to do with my external boot drive. It wasn't there before. I don't use the iMac at the moment. Can't decide if i put it next to the mini with the former second display again or buy another display. Keeping two Macs always in sync is more annoying than just having one display.

 

[JUMA55]

I got a free year of NordVPN lately. It also has a password manager now. Seems to be a new trend. I did not test it, but I am sure it needs a login to use it and everything is stored online.

I also put invoices and other documents or files in 1Password. Even its own license file is stored in it. So when I do a clean install it is already in the trial and I can activate it after it got all data out of iCloud. And there is even a cloud free WLAN sync available.

In Proton Pass there is at least this option:

View attachment 2472070
And I only need an "extra password" to open it like the "master password" in 1Password. But the data is stored online too and at least one time I have to login when installed new.
Also every time I delete my browsing data including all cookies the extension needs a new login. That is really annoying because I do it very often. So I disabled it and won't import my 1Password or Keychain data there.

In Safari I use just Apple Passwords, I am logged in to my iCloud account anyway always... But that is missing many things from 1Password so I don't use it in my main Browser too.

I'll stay with 1Password 6 as long as it works and then have a look at this one, what I already have installed:

KeePassXC Password Manager

KeePassXC Password Manager

keepassxc.org

The only thing I use the Apple password manager are news sites and some software forums. Anything involving money goes in 1Password.

 

[JUMA55]

Maybe the Cryptex thing has to do with my external boot drive. It wasn't there before. I don't use the iMac at the moment. Can't decide if i put it next to the mini with the former second display again or buy another display. Keeping two Macs always in sync is more annoying than just having one display.

I don't have an external boot drive. I do have six external drives attached, however. The only one that I know is encrypted, other than the internal, is the Time Machine drive.

 

[Adora]

I don't have an external boot drive. I do have six external drives attached, however. The only one that I know is encrypted, other than the internal, is the Time Machine drive.

I also have many other external drives for backups. The one I used for booting was just for trying out how it works and if it is faster, but I got the wrong enclosure that didn't support faster speeds than the internal drive had.

You can encrypt your drives simply with a right click on them and choose a password, if nothing happens it uses the login password automatically. But I think you can choose one.

Encryption can take very long with much data on the drive. But it runs in the background while the drive is still usable. You can even turn off your Mac and it will continue where it stopped. But I wouldn't recommend that. The only time I noticed this was when activating FileVault before it was standard.

Sometimes it's faster to copy the data elsewhere and just reformat the drive encrypted.

But this only works if they are APFS or HFS (the old macOS format). But HFS can't be encrypted anymore so it will be converted to APFS without any warning about it. If it's already encrypted you see decrypt in the menu. If you connect your drive to an old Mac before High Sierra it can only read HFS. Maybe Sierra too but it wasn't fully implemented there if I remember correctly.

If you have an NTFS drive for Windows or an EXT drive for Linux you need for example TrueCrypt, I haven't used it yet but found it free to download and use on a Mac.

If it's FAT/ExFAT formatted I think it can't be encrypted.


P.S.: Sorry @ all others for off topic.

 

[Adora]

The only thing I use the Apple password manager are news sites and some software forums. Anything involving money goes in 1Password.

I don't know what's more secure. I try to keep more and more only saved offline and use less cloud features. I trust Apple a little more, so I kept iCloud sync activated for the old 1Password.

 

[JUMA55]

I also have many other external drives for backups. The one I used for booting was just for trying out how it works and if it is faster, but I got the wrong enclosure that didn't support faster speeds than the internal drive had.

You can encrypt your drives simply with a right click on them and choose a password, if nothing happens it uses the login password automatically. But I think you can choose one.

Encryption can take very long with much data on the drive. But it runs in the background while the drive is still usable. You can even turn off your Mac and it will continue where it stopped. But I wouldn't recommend that. The only time I noticed this was when activating FileVault before it was standard.

Sometimes it's faster to copy the data elsewhere and just reformat the drive encrypted.

But this only works if they are APFS or HFS (the old macOS format). But HFS can't be encrypted anymore so it will be converted to APFS without any warning about it. If it's already encrypted you see decrypt in the menu. If you connect your drive to an old Mac before High Sierra it can only read HFS. Maybe Sierra too but it wasn't fully implemented there if I remember correctly.

If you have an NTFS drive for Windows or an EXT drive for Linux you need for example TrueCrypt, I haven't used it yet but found it free to download and use on a Mac.

If it's FAT/ExFAT formatted I think it can't be encrypted.


P.S.: Sorry @ all others for off topic.

My internal, which is an SSD, is APFS, as is Time Machine because Apple makes it so. My TM drive is a 4TB LaCie 2big enclosure with two 2TB spinning drives. All of my other true hard disks are HFS with the exception of one that I share with my sister and its ExFAT. Once. upon a time I formatted everything APFS. Then I read several places that wasn't good for spinning drives, so I reformatted them. All externals have been running for five plus years with nary a problem.

 

[JUMA55]

I don't know what's more secure. I try to keep more and more only saved offline and use less cloud features. I trust Apple a little more, so I kept iCloud sync activated for the old 1Password.

I do trust the 1Password people, but I think they might be pushing more resources to Extended Access Management considering the issues I've had with the latest version.

OTOH, I might just be a total blank-up and all of this is my fault.

 

[srbNYC]

The only thing I use the Apple password manager are news sites and some software forums. Anything involving money goes in 1Password.

Why?

 

[JUMA55]

Why?

What the man said here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/why-apples-passwords-app-is-huge-security-risk.2446906/?post=33664318#post-33664318

He said what I thought.

 

[WilliApple]

Beta 3 thread is right here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-sequoia-15-3-beta-3-bug-fixes-changes-and-more.2447535/?post=33681180#post-33681180