Apple seeds third iOS 16.1, tvOS 16.1, watchOS 9.1, fourth iPadOS 16.1 betas to developers

Apple is on yet another generation of betas, with third builds of iOS 16.1, tvOS 16.1, and watchOS 9.1, and a fourth for iPadOS 16.1, now available to try by developer testers.

New builds can be downloaded by developers enrolled in the beta-testing scheme via the Apple Developer Center, or as an over-the-air update for hardware already running beta builds. Public beta versions of the releases usually arrive shortly after their developer counterparts, available through the Apple Beta Software Program website.

The third betas of iOS 16.1, tvOS 16.1, and watchOS 9.1, along with the fourth of iPadOS 16.1, arrive after the previous betas, which arrived on September 20. The first landed on September 14.

The first beta of iPadOS 16.1 landed on August 23, on the same day that Apple confirmed the first public release of iPadOS will be 16.1, not version 16, and would arrive in October.

By skipping iPadOS 16 in favor of 16.1 being the first official release, the betas are now practically in version lockstep, with only a slight difference in build numbers and generation of build.

The new iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 beta build number is 20B5056e, replacing build 20B5050f.

The third tvOS 16.1 and HomePod software version 16.1 beta build number is 20K5052c, in place of 20K5046d. The watchOS 9.1 build number is 20S5055e, taking over from 20S5049d.

Both AppleInsider and Apple itself strongly recommend users don't install the betas on to "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is the remote possibility of data loss or other issues. Instead, testers should install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to make sure 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.

5 Comments

wood1208 2932 comments · 10 Years

About 2 years ago

So how many 16.1 IOS betas before final release ? Looks like Apple aligning final release of IOS/iPadOS 16.1 to October event.

fsugino 3 comments · 15 Years

Oddly, the Settings General/iPadOS Version number is 16. If you tap for more info, it says iPadOS 16.1.

Al1RIV 4 comments · 2 Years

i hope it will fix my Notes issue on my iPhone because since iOS16.0 and later iOS16.0.2 I can’t use my Notes on my iPhone because the Apps is collapsing after 2 to 15 sec depending on the weather….

iOS16.0 is full of bugs!

and bo real support from Apple for the moment since the 14/09…. Erazing was useless and all the previous try

dewme 5737 comments · 10 Years

wood1208 said:

So how many 16.1 IOS betas before final release ? Looks like Apple aligning final release of IOS/iPadOS 16.1 to October event.

They will have as many betas as they think they need to hit the quality metrics required for release at the committed target date. If they’ve known for a while that they are up against the wall on the schedule they’ve probably been cutting stuff from the beta builds (delaying features to future releases) for quite some time and refocusing on stabilizing other features that are absolutely needed to support the target hardware, which may include something yet to be announced. At various points along the way they accumulate enough changes to the still-not-ready-for-release code to justify doing a beta release and ship it out.

It’s not an open loop because they have obviously committed to a date or date-range. It is a closed loop with feedback and the betas provide an important part of that feedback (as does their internal testing). It’s a very deliberate and painstaking process, but one that does not necessarily run like clockwork or that is entirely predictable.

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