is ios 16 beta out?
iOS 16.5 beta 2 is now rolling out to registered developers. This release comes two weeks after the release of the first iOS 16.5 beta, which introduced a few minor changes. Head below for the full details.
Update April 12, 2023: Now available to public beta testers.
iOS 16.5 beta 2 will be available today to registered developer beta testers. As the update rolls out over the air within the next hour, you’ll be able to install it by going to the Settings app, choosing General, then choosing Software Update. The build number for today’s update is 20F5039e.
As attention starts to shift to iOS 17, which will be introduced in just two months at WWDC, iOS 16.5 doesn’t include many notable changes.
iOS 16.5 adds new screen recording commands to Siri, which allows you to start or stop a screen recording using the virtual assistant. The update also adds a dedicated Sports tab to the Apple News app, something that has been highly-requested among sports fans in the past.
Finally, code found within iOS 16.5 also suggests Apple has been working on a new quad-box picture-in-picture feature for the TV app, specifically for streaming multiple sporting events at the same time. Apple currently offers things like MLS Season Pass and Friday Night Baseball for live sports. Quad-box picture-in-picture for sports would match the experience offered by other streaming TV services.
Apple will likely release iOS 16.5 to the general public sometime in May. A new public beta will be released later this week as the company continues beta testing ahead of that general release.
Alongside iOS 16.5 beta 2 today, Apple is also rolling out the following new betas for developers:
Spot any changes in today’s software updates? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter. Stay tuned for our full hands-on coverage with the new releases right here at 9to5Mac today and throughout the rest of the week.
Beta 6 for iOS 16 became available to developers yesterday (August 15), a week after iOS 16 beta 5 debuted. There was a 12-day gap between the beta 4 and beta 5 releases and an even longer wait between beta 3 and beta 4.
Even more noteworthy: iOS 16 beta 6 is already available the public. Usually, there's a longer wait between the release of a developer beta and a public one.
The quickened pace — and lack of extensive new additions to the iOS 16 beta — suggests that the focus now is on stability and ironing out bugs, as Apple gets closer to the likely September launch of its new iPhone software. Apple typically rolls out its full iOS update right before the new iPhones come out. And a rumor emerged last week that Apple is eyeing a September 6 date for its annual fall product launch, where it would be expected to unveil the iPhone 14.
Whether that happens at the beginning of September or at some other point in the fall, the clock is clearly ticking on a finalized version of iOS 16. So it seems likely that updates to the beta from here on out are going to focus on getting the software release ready for a general audience.
To that end, here's the not-so-lengthy list of new additions to iOS 16 beta 6.
You may remember that iOS 16 beta 5 brought back the ability to display the percentage of remaining power in the status bar — a feature that had disappeared with the arrival of the iPhone X in 2017. Prior to iOS 16 beta 5, if you wanted to see the battery percentage on an iPhone with a notch, you had to swipe your way into the control center.
That feature is still there in iOS 16 beta 6, but with a twist — you have the ability to turn off the percentage indicator when your phone is in Low Power mode.
You access the battery percentage indicator by launching the Settings app and selecting Battery. On the subsequent scree, you'll find two toggles at the top — one turns on the battery percentage, and the other activates Low Power Mode.
If you find that percentage too distracting when you're in LowPower Mode, simply slide the battery percentage toggle to the left. The percentage then disappears from the status bar.
Your iPhone lock screen is due for a lot of changes in iOS 16, highlighted by the ability to customize the look of your screen while also adding widgets. Among the iOS 16 widgets Apple has planned is one called a Live Activity widget: the idea is that for persistent alerts like sports scores and the status of ride sharing vehicles, a widget will live at the bottom of your lock screen keeping you notified of any changes.
In iOS 16 beta 4, a Live Activities API appeared, presumably to give developers a chance to test the feature with their own apps. As of iOS 16 beta 6, though, there's no longer support for live activities for third-party apps according to a developer posting on Twitter (opens in new tab).
The Live Activities feature wasn't expected to arrive at the same time as the rest of iOS 16, with Apple saying it would go live in a later update. Still, it's surprising to see support disappear, as you'd imagine app makers would like to continue testing the capability.
If you haven't already tried out iOS 16, you can still download the iOS 16 public beta. All you'll need is an iPhone 8 or later. Refer to our iOS 16 public beta hands-on to see what to expect once you install the beta on your iPhone.
After seeding beta 7, Apple is now releasing the fifth iOS 16 public beta. As the company has reportedly finished the development of iOS 16, the operating system looks almost ready for its official release in a few weeks from now – probably after the September 7 event.
Today’s build is the same as of iOS 16 beta 7. Alongside this version, the company is also making available new public betas of iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and HomePod 16 Software Version. Here are the top features.
For iOS 16, one of the most notable changes was with iMessage, which had its editing features updated:
With the iOS 16 beta 5, Apple brought a new battery percentage icon. With that, some iPhone users can now finally see the percentage of the battery in the status bar for the first time in five years – you can learn more about it here.
If you’re interested in signing up for Apple’s public beta testing program, you can do so via Apple’s website right here. Apple’s new software version won’t be complete until the fall, at which point it will be released to the general public. Testers should still expect performance and stability issues when running the iOS 16 public beta on primary devices for the time being.
Apple does warn about running the iOS 16 public beta.
Learn more about what’s new in iOS 16:
After announcing its big yearly operating system update in its WWDC keynote on June 6, 2022, and following months of beta testing, Apple made iOS 16 available to be installed on iPhones on September 12, 2022, followed by iPadOS 16.1 on October 24.
