iOS 14: Download, new features, and compatibility

If you once had an iPod with Click Wheel, you might remember a mini game called Music Quiz, which consists of correctly guessing which song is being played. With iOS 14, Apple has quietly revived this game as a complex shortcut — and it works just like the old version running on iPods.

Following Facebook’s multiple warnings including a recent public post about concerns over lost ad revenue due to the iOS 14 privacy changes, other digital publishers have shared similar fears. Like Facebook anticipating up to a 50% drop in revenue, one publisher estimates ad rates on iOS could fall as much as 40%.

App Clips is one of the main features of iOS 14, as it allows users to download a smaller version of an app to do a specific task. Although it was presented at WWDC 2020, some users and developers may have wondered how it will work since App Clips were not available until iOS 14 beta 5. Read on as we explain how the feature will work on iOS 14 when it is officially available to the public.

This week, Apple released the sixth beta for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, and like last week’s beta 5 release, beta 6 includes several new changes and features. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for a look at what’s new.

Facebook continues to warn advertisers about the effects of the privacy and tracking changes that Apple has planned for iOS 14. While a pair of earlier reports indicated Facebook’s concerns, the company has now published a blog post detailing how advertisers will be affected by iOS 14’s new anti-tracking features.

Apple announced some great new features for the Shortcuts app with iOS 14, including new trigger types, an Apple Watch app, and a redesigned interface for the iPad. Today, with the sixth beta release of iOS 14, Apple has added a new option in the Shortcuts app that allows Apple TV users to easily switch accounts on tvOS 14.

Apple today has released iOS 14 beta 6 and iPadOS 14 beta 6 to developers. This release comes one week after iOS 14 beta 5 was released to developers and public beta users, signaling a shift from the two-week release cycle to weekly releases. Read on for a roundup of what’s new.

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.

Apple has released the fifth beta of iOS 14 for public beta testers. The update arrives two weeks after the fourth public beta and just a day after the latest iteration arrived for developers. Beta 5 includes a few notable changes and even a new ‘Hidden Album’ toggle for the Photos app.

Apple has officially released iOS 14 beta 5 and iPadOS 14 beta 5 to developers. This week’s update brings a few small but notable changes to the iOS 14 experience, including the return of the scroll wheel for picking times and a new Apple News widget option.

Apple today will release the fifth betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to developers. Today’s release of iOS 14 beta 5 comes two weeks after the release of beta 4, which included features such as new TV app widgets, support for the COVID-19 Exposure Notification API, and more.

Update: iOS 14 beta 5 is now available to developers.

An iOS 14 feature that has gone a bit under the radar is the Precise Location toggle for Location Services. This new toggle gives the user more control over which apps can access your current location, and to what granularity.

Before iOS 14, you could grant an app access to your location whilst using the app, or always. However, if location access was allowed, the app would always get an exact coordinate. A lot of apps don’t actually need such precise location information, and iOS 14 offers that flexibility, including asking the user upfront in the permissions dialog.

One of the key privacy features in iOS 14 is a new option that allows users to disable tracking between different applications. During its quarterly earnings call last month, Facebook pointed out that the new tracking setting could impact its advertising revenue, and a new report from The Information today goes into more detail.

Most tech communities spend the summer working through the iOS and macOS betas ahead of the fall releases. For something that’s been happening for the last few years, it feels like fall software releases have been part of our lives for decades. As fun as these updates are for general consumers, they can be a significant source of stress for IT departments. As you work through these beta updates to verify compatibility, you’ll want to plan how you will roll out these updates to your inventory. If you are wondering when to install iOS 14, read on to here my testing plans.
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Apple will release fourth public betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to testers today. This comes after Tuesday’s release of iOS 14 beta 4 to developers, bringing changes such as new widgets for the TV app, COVID-19 Exposure Notification API support, and more.

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.

Apple has released the fourth developer betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, bringing additional improvements and changes to the new iPhone and iPad features. iOS 14 beta 4 adds support for the Exposure Notification API, restores 3D Touch functionality, and more.

Apple today will release the fourth betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to developers. Today’s release of iOS 14 beta 4 comes two weeks after the release of beta 3, which included new features such as new Clock app widgets, Apple Music changes, and more. Today’s update will continue to make refinements to iOS 14 for iPhone and iPad users.

Update: iOS 14 beta is now rolling out to registered developers.

We have already provided an early look at how you’ll be able to change default apps on iOS 14, although Apple itself hasn’t disclosed details about this new feature. This week, however, the company has shared the documentation of the new API with more details on how it will work and the guidelines that developers need to follow.

The iOS 14 beta comes with no shortage of high profile changes and features, but there are also quite a few hidden elements that help make up our list of the top iOS 14 sleeper features.

Needless to day, iOS 14 is loaded with tons of big standout features like the compact call interface, App Library, and Widgets, but there are many hidden iOS 14 features that deserve recognition as well. In this hands-on video walkthrough, we’ll explore 10 of our favorite iOS 14 sleeper features.
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This piece, my iPadOS 14 review as of public beta 3, changed as I wrote it. What I expected to write as the final part of my iOS 14 Diary is that it’s all a bit underwhelming.

In a sense, I still think that. Apple’s keynote presentation was full of pizzaz, while the reality is much more prosaic. iPadOS 14 is very much an incremental update rather than a revolutionary one, and I still think Apple is a very long way short of taking full advantage of the capabilities of the hardware.

But as I mapped out the changes I like, I realized that though they may be individually rather small, most of them make a surprisingly big difference. Take all of them into account, and I think it’s a solid and welcome update, with five notable upgrades…

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