Apple withdraws HomePod 18.1 beta 2 after reports of bricking
The latest beta test version of HomePod 18.1 has been withdrawn by Apple after multiple reports have surfaced of the devices crashing after install.
William Gallagher
Apple Historian & Senior Editor
William Gallagher started out in the 1980s using Macs on a UK freesheet newspaper while also working for BBC Local Radio, and writing computer manuals for McDonnell Douglas on a Mac SE/30. He wrote assembly language routines for a professional publishing app in the mid-1980s, and contributed to BBC Television's Micro Live in 1987.
Working in London as features editor on PC Direct from 1990, he wrote technology articles for Macworld UK, PC Magazine, and Computer Life. He edited Educational Computing & Technology magazine and wrote about television drama for the British Film Institute and Paramount Comedy Network's teletext service.
Moving to the BBC's teletext service in 1994, he was a freelance broadcast journalist for BBC Ceefax, then BBC Digitext, and BBC News Online. Simultaneously, he was a producer on the BBC's Radio Times website, and he wrote the Radio Times television history column On This Day for five years.
In 2005 he launched one of the earliest podcasts, UK DVD Review, which charted in the top ten of all podcasts, in all categories, around the world. The show ran for five years and was favorably reviewed on BBC News and The Sunday Times. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and the UK's The Independent.
William Gallagher continues to freelance for the BBC, and makes regular contributions on BBC Local Radio stations around the country. In 2012, his first book about television drama was published by the British Film Institute, and it's been followed by 18 further titles on drama, writing, and technology. His books include four best-selling ebook titles about Mac and Apple software.
Alongside writing about technology and its uses for AppleInsider, he runs extensive workshops for writers, musicians, actors and journalists. Including his work with young writers, and roles at UK literary festivals, he's made 790 public speaking appearances since 2012.
Since January 2020, he's produced and presented over 170 weekly editions of 58keys, a YouTube podcast series for writers who use Macs, iPhones and iPads.
