Apple Releases OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 – Includes Photos for OS X, Emoji Updates

As we expected, Apple on Wednesday released OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, bringing the new Photos for OS X and an expanded set of emoji along for the ride.

The OS X 10.10.3 update can be downloaded via the “Update” tab in the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.10.3 is the first Yosemite release to bring major new features to the operating system. OS X 10.10.1 and OS X 10.10.2 brought mostly under-the-hood improvements, with few visible changes.

Photos for OS X is designed to be a replacement for both iPhoto, Apple’s consumer level photo editor, and Aperture, which was aimed at professional users. The app was first announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2014, and was promised for an “early 2015” release.

Photos for OS X offers a more Yosemite-like design, and integrates with both the iCloud Photo Library, and the Photos for iOS app.

Photos for OS X Features

With Photos you can:

  • Browse your photos by time and location in Moments, Collections, and Years views
  • Navigate your library using convenient Photos, Shared, Albums, and Projects tabs
  • Store all of your photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library in their original format and in full resolution
  • Access your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iCloud.com with your web browser
  • Perfect your photos with powerful and easy-to-use editing tools that optimize with a single click or slider, or allow precise adjustments with detailed controls
  • Create professional-quality photo books with simplified bookmaking tools, new Apple-designed themes, and new square book formats
  • Purchase prints in new square and panoramic sizes

OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Features

The OS X 10.10.3 update also includes the following improvements:

  • Adds over 300 new Emoji characters
  • Adds Spotlight suggestions to Look Up
  • Prevents Safari from saving website favicon URLs used in Private Browsing
  • Improves stability and security in Safari
  • Improves Wi-Fi performance and connectivity in various usage scenarios
  • Improves compatibility with captive Wi-Fi network environments
  • Fixes an issue that might cause Bluetooth devices to disconnect
  • Improves screen sharing reliability

Enterprise content

For enterprise customers, this update includes the following:

  • Addresses an issue that could cause Macs bound to an Active Directory server to become unresponsive at startup
  • Provides the ability to set a umask that’s respected by GUI apps
  • Fixes an issue installing a configuration profile for 802.1x with EAP-TLS
  • Resolves an issue where folders from a DFS share point might “disappear” when viewed from the Finder on some Macs

We’ll keep you posted on any improvements or changes that have flown under the radar.

Chris Hauk

Chris is a Senior Editor at Mactrast. He lives somewhere in the deep Southern part of America, and yes, he has to pump in both sunshine and the Internet.