Malcolm Owen
Apple is now on the fifth — and possibly final — round of betas for iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, tvOS 15.1, and watchOS 8.1, with developers now able to get the fresh builds of the operating systems.
The latest builds can be downloaded by developers in the beta-testing scheme via the Apple Developer Center, or as an over-the-air update for hardware already using earlier beta builds. A public beta version of the releases is expected to start arriving soon, and will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program website.
The new fifth builds — which are labeled as release candidates — arrive after the fourth, which were distributed on October 13. The third round took place on October 6, with the current beta process starting from the first builds released on September 21.
The new betas of iOS and iPadOS have build number 19B74.
The beta of iOS 15.1 brought back features that were absent from the eventual release version of iOS 15.1. These changes included items like SharePlay, though there was also the addition of a new feature for the Wallet, allowing users to add verifiable COVID vaccination cards to their collection.
Both AppleInsider and Apple itself strongly advise that users don't install any betas on "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is always a small chance of data loss or other issues. Testers should instead only put betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to ensure there are sufficient backups of important data before updating.
Find any changes in the new betas? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at andrew@AppleInsider.com.
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
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William Gallagher
2 Comments
Is there a description of what is required on the vendor side for the verified card system to work? thats long been the barrier, from what I can see, to ApplePay acceptance, vendors being resistant to spending money on more hardware.
Public beta is out