If you want to play with the "early AF" release of iOS 12, or run around in the deserts of macOS Mojave, you normally have to give Apple $149 for the privilege of developing apps for its platform - apps it will ultimately take a 30 per cent cut of (unless you offer a subscription and keep a user for longer than a year, but now I'm getting minute).

You really shouldn't preorder video games. Getting some shiny, exclusive item when the game arrives isn't worth gambling $80 or more for an experience that's buggy on launch day or not as fun as you thought it would be once you start playing.

Apple released the second public beta of iOS yesterday, I've got it running on an iPad Air 2 and it fixes a couple of the annoyances I had from the first beta but adds a few new "learning opportunities" for the developers.

Following the release of iOS 11 into public beta earlier this week, Apple has followed up with the first public beta of macOS High Sierra. As an update focussed on refinement rather than lots of new features, it shouldn;t cause too much grief but a new file system and changes to how some some data is handled makes me think this one needs a "Handle with Care" label.

Apple has opened up their public beta of iOS 11. Given this is the first public beta, it’s not a good idea to install this on a device you rely on for real work. Here’s how to get it, who it’s for and what to watch out for.

Android: If you prefer Microsoft's OneDrive to backup your photos, you can now save space on your phone. When you upload more than 1GB of photos, the beta version of the app will ask if you want to delete the local copies.

Mac: A "Netflix for software" model might sound a little weird on paper, but Setapp is a new service launching today in public beta that hopes to be just that.

Chrome: Google's web version of the Play Store is handy, but it's still missing a few features after all these years. Toolbox for Google Play Store helps fix a lot of minor issues to make it easier to use your apps.

Regardless which productivity system or method you prefer, Zenkit is an all-in-one webapp that can help you manage your big projects and activities using the system that works for you. It's free (for now, it's in beta), but it looks good -- minimal and distraction-free, but powerful under the hood.

iOS/Android/Web: Any.do is rolling out an update to its to-do apps to include an AI-driven smart assistant thats goal is to help you complete tasks as soon as possible. Also included in the update are an integrated calendar and real-time sync.

Windows/Mac/Linux: The PS4 controller is a pretty popular Bluetooth controller, but for whatever reason, getting it to play nice with Windows has always been a bit of a chore. Steam is making that a little easier with a new feature in its beta version that brings along PS4 controller support.

Android: WhatsApp is one of the biggest chat apps in the world, but it's still been missing one key feature until now: Video calling. If you're running the WhatsApp beta, you can try it out.

WhatsApp is easily one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. Until today, though, if you wanted to invite someone to join a group chat, you had to do so one person at a time. The new beta changes that with public group links.

Android: Unless you use YouTube Red, playing videos in the background on Android is probably pretty rare. That's changing in the new Chrome Beta, which allows you to play videos from web pages in the background. Yes, even YouTube.

The Chromecast is a little miracle of a device that keeps getting better over time. If you want to be the first to try out new Chromecast features, Google's created a preview program just for you.

Mac: Over the years, dozens of clipboard managers have popped up and most do one simple thing: store a history of what you copy and paste. Tapbot, developers of the popular Twitter client Tweetbot, have a slightly different idea with Pastebot.

Android: The latest beta of Google Maps has a handy new feature that we've been wanting for a long time. You can now organise your places into lists. Unfortunately, most of us will still be waiting, unless you're a level four Local Guide.

The newest version of Apple's operating system, macOS Sierra, won't drop until spring, but a public beta is open to anyone gutsy enough to install it right now. If you'd rather leave your Mac alone but you're still curious about what's new, don't worry, we'll take a look at all the new features.

iOS/Mac: Last month, Apple dished out the details on iOS 10 and the newly rebranded macOS Sierra. Today, they're both available as public betas that you can download right now.