Today, along with the release of the second developer betas for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and CarPlay. Apple has also released the first SDK for visionOS. The latest Xcode features a visionOS simulator, and I took a deep dive to see what we are getting with Apple Vision Pro next year.
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday, ahead of the soon-to-be-released iOS 15.4 RC update, Apple released the fourth developer beta of iOS 15.4. Beta 4 features a primary focus on implementing anti-stalking measures for AirTags.
As noted previously, Apple is taking steps to help keep users alerted about potential AirTags stalking, and to warn would-be bad actors about possible criminal misuse of the Find My Network. Watch our hands-on video for the details, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more.
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday, Apple released the second developer beta of iOS 15.4 with a few changes and refinements. The initial beta included several well-received features, including the ability to unlock your iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask. What iOS 15.4 beta 2 changes and features are brought to the table? Watch our hands-on video for the details.
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday, Apple released the second developer beta for iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5. Like the initial beta, this update comes with lots of new additions, including new emoji and several notable Music app updates. In this video, we go hands-on with new iOS 14.5 beta 2 changes and features. Be sure to subscribe to 9to5mac on YouTube for more videos.
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday Apple released the fifth developer beta for iOS 14. Included in this latest beta are several new user-facing features, including an enhancement to the ability to hide specific photos in the Photos app. Watch our brief hands-on video walkthrough for the details.
Expand Expanding Close
As we inch closer to iOS 14 GM release, we can expect less new features and changes in each beta release, and more focus on stability and refinement. That’s not to say that there won’t be any new changes found in this and forthcoming beta releases, however. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough as we explore a handful of iOS 14 beta 4 changes and features.
Expand Expanding Close
Earlier today Apple released the third iOS 14 beta to developers, and as expected, it comes bundled with several new changes and features. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough as we explore what’s new in iOS 14 beta 3 and iPadOS 14 beta 3. After watching, leave a comment with your thoughts, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more videos related to all of the upcoming Apple software releases.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Yesterday Apple released a new developer beta for iOS 13.6. This release is a follow up to last week’s release of an iOS 13.5.5 beta to developers and public beta testers. Apple renamed the beta and is henceforth referring to yesterday’s release as iOS 13.6 beta 2.
Naming strategies aside, this new iOS 13.6 beta 2 release comes bundled with a few user-visible changes and features. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for the details.
Expand
Expanding
Close
After yesterday’s release of iOS 13.4 beta 3, 9to5Mac spotted signs of a new feature called OS Recovery. Like Internet Recovery available on the Mac, this feature, if it ships, will allow iOS users to recover their devices over the air, bypassing the need to connect to a Mac or PC.
Yesterday Apple released the second iOS 13.2 beta for developers. The update brings several noteworthy changes to the table, including brand new emoji, along with the ability to delete Siri & Dictation history associated with an iOS device. Watch our brief hands-on video as we step through the latest iOS 13.2 beta 2 changes and features.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The Dock in watchOS 3 was arguably the biggest new feature to hit the Apple Watch at WWDC 2016. It’s a feature that allows you to find and switch to your most used apps. It takes the best of the Glances model from previous versions of watchOS and merges it with an updated and actionable interface.
The Dock promotes using apps in a way that no such feature on the Apple Watch has until now. In my opinion, it breathes new life into the Apple Watch, providing practical functionality that was missing in previous iterations of watchOS. Have a look at our hands-on dive into the Dock as we explore this exciting new feature.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Apple today started inviting its retail employees to participate in testing macOS 10.12, the latest version of Apple’s Mac operating system unveiled earlier this week during a press event at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. An excerpt from Apple’s memo to employees below:
Apple’s new iOS 9.3.2 beta 2, which just shipped to developers a few minutes ago, lets users once again easily enable Low Power Mode and Night Shift at the same time. With each previous release, Apple seemed as if it was tightening the reigns on the ability to use both features together, which forced users to resort to tricks. Now, with the latest 9.3.2 beta 2, the two features can once again exist in relative harmony.
Expand
Expanding
Close
After announcing a deal in September to produce a Pokémon Go games with Nintendo and Alphabet-owned Niantic, the Pokémon people are today showing a little more about how gameplay will work and giving us a first look at the title coming to both iOS and Android devices.
The game uses augmented reality features to blend real world objects and locations with the gameplay, and the company today gave the run down and a look at how exactly that will work:
Public beta testers can now try the new OS X 10.11.4 prerelease that first hit developers earlier this week. New features include Live Photo viewing and sharing in Messages, secure password protection for individual notes in Apple’s Notes app, and other improvements. Check out our full coverage of OS X 10.11.4 and other betas released earlier this week below:
The public beta version of iOS 9.3 for non-developer testers is now available. The first iOS 9.3 beta was first released earlier this week to registered developers and includes a number of new mid-cycle features and enhancements. These include secure passwords and Touch ID protection for Notes, a new Night Shift feature to adjust display temperate in the evening, and expanded 3D Touch quick actions on the latest iPhones. iOS 9.3 Beta 1.1 is also available for registered developers.
Apple has released new betas across the board for all things. Today, we’ll discuss what new features come along with them and how they may impact your usage, new details about the rumored 4-inch iPhone and upcoming iPhone 7, plus much more.
The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/241791356″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]
Personally, I’m a coward where betas are concerned. Trying one on a secondary device is fine, but I tend to steer clear of them on my daily drivers.
But the iOS 9.3 beta, released yesterday, was a big one! There was Night Shift, that gradually warms the colors on the display to match our natural circadian rhythms, making it easier to fall asleep after staring at the screen until late. Notes secured by Touch ID. Better access to health data. Improved Apple Music integration within CarPlay. Improved personalization for News. And additional 3D Touch functionality for the stock apps.
Not only that, but our usage so far suggests that it’s an extremely stable beta, with no issues at all noted yet …
Apple has seeded the second beta of iOS 9.2.1 for developers and pre-release testers, a minor enhancement and bug fix release for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The new seed has a build number of 13D14, a small bump over the previous seed. iOS 9.2.1 was released to developers on December 16th. The same build is also available to Apple Beta Program members.
As always, we’ll update this post if we spot anything new and notable …
Apple today released the second iOS 9.2 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to registered developers. iOS 9.2 beta 2 follows the initial iOS 9.2 beta release just one week ago. The update is available over-the-air through the Settings app for developers already testing the release. The prior release contained few changes including extension support on Safari View Controller. The release notes only highlight bug fixes and improvements.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Update: Apple has also today released the first OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan beta build to public beta testers. This build follows the public launch of OS X 10.11.1 last week. You can sign up to join the public beta program on Apple’s beta testing website
Following this week’s release to developers, Apple has seeded the first version of iOS 9.2 to public beta testers. The update brings some important changes to the Safari View Controller, which serves as the in-app browser for many apps in iOS 9.
Those changes include the ability to reload a page without content blockers and the option to use any type of Safari extension (previously certain kinds of extensions would not be offered in the share sheet).
Yesterday, Apple updated its iWork apps for iOS and OS X with added features including Split View for iPad, 3D Touch for iPhone 6s, and bonuses for El Capitan. Missed at the time was the fact that Apple also deemed the web-based version of iWork worthy of full consumption by the public, too. Apple removed the ‘beta’ label from iWork for iCloud, while also adding a number of new features. The browser-dependent iWork suite now supports commenting on documents, and has support for ten new languages.
As well as removing the ‘beta’ labels, Apple has also created new splash pages for each of the new web apps showing off some of the new features. Apple lists the previously mentioned upgrades, as well the following:
Pages
Numbers
Keynote
If you want to check out the new web-based apps for yourself, head on over to iCloud.com.
Apple today released a new OS X 10.11.1 beta build to developers and public testers, making it the fourth pre-release version of the upcoming software. The 10.11.1 update will bring bug fixes to the desktop operating system, along with a set of new emoji icons.
