IOS 14.6 Release Candidate Now Available To Public Beta Testers - Forbes

ios.indah.link

iOS 14.6 Release Candidate

Anthony Karcz

Apple stuck to their unusual beta release schedule for the iOS 14.6 Public Beta, pushing out the release candidate to developers and Beta Program Participants earlier today. Favoring Friday and Monday releases instead of the traditional mid-week release was certainly a change, but at least it's not weekend releases like we got last year! 

So did we find out anything new in the final release notes? Actually, yes we did. Let's take a look. 

What's New?

As I speculated last week, iOS 14.6 is where Apple takes the wraps off Apple Card sharing. You'll be able to share one Apple Card with up to 5 members in your Family Sharing group, with the option to merge accounts if there's more than one existing Apple Card. The card can also be shared with users as young as 13 (but via Apple Pay only, users under 18 won't get a physical card). There's a lot more to cover here, so I'll save that for its own article. 

There are a few additional iOS tweaks as well:

• You can now subscribe to channels as well as individual shows in the Podcasts app.
• Voice Control users can unlock their device with their voice upon restart. 
• The icon for the Apple TV Siri remote has been updated to the new version (just in time for Friday's release).
• You can now enter an email address or a phone number when enabling lost mode on your Apple AirTags.
• If you tap an AirTag in Lost mode with an NFC device, you'll see the partially masked phone number of the owner. 
• If you have a beta profile on your iDevice when there's a release candidate available you'll now have the option of installing it and retaining your public beta profile. Once the release candidate has been installed, iOS will ask if you want to remove the beta profile from your device. It's a great way to get your device back to a solid release but not leave the beta program. 

What's Fixed?

There are actually a few fixes in iOS 14.6 that will be welcome news to the general public. While we only saw one or two of these noted during the beta, the release candidate notes have even more.

• Unlock with Apple Watch now works after using Lock iPhone on Apple Watch
• Reminders no longer appear as blank lines
• Call blocking extensions appear in Settings as expected
• Bluetooth devices no longer disconnect or send audio to a different device during an active call
• iPhone users will no longer experience reduced performance during startup

MORE FOR YOU

Not a huge list, but it's always good to see a few bug fixes in a release. Anyone who's ever developed, well, anything, could tell you that no product is ever perfect. 

As always, if you find a bug in the release candidate that snuck past the devs in Cupertino, report it with the Feedback app!

What's Next?

With new iPad Pro devices shipping this week for release on Friday, it's likely that the general public will see iOS 14.6 sometime between Tuesday and Thursday. Then it'll be off to iOS 14.7! 

As far as what will be in these late betas (by my estimation we should see at least two more iOS 14 beta cycles), it's anyone's guess. iOS 15 will be revealed at WWDC in less than a month and developers will be able to start testing on or around June 7. The public beta could start the same week as WWDC but it's not likely. Usually developers get their hands on the very first release and it's opened to public testing with the second or third release. 

But even as iOS 15 starts up, the iOS 14 beta program will still be kicking, with developers splitting time between versions to fix bugs and get things ready for the late summer/early fall release. 

At any rate, now is a great time to dive into the Apple Beta Software Program. You'll get to test out future features and see what's coming before anyone else. Just keep in mind that betas don't have stability guarantees. Your favorite app might not behave right or your device could stop working entirely (unlikely, but it's happened). Make backups and proceed with caution.

I'll be back next week once iOS 14.7 is announced! Till then, enjoy that new Apple hardware!

The Link Lonk


May 18, 2021 at 02:00AM
https://ift.tt/33VElk1

IOS 14.6 Release Candidate Now Available To Public Beta Testers - Forbes

https://ift.tt/2ZaIe2Q
iOS