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Apple Seeds Third iOS 9.3 Beta to Public Beta Testers

Wednesday February 10, 2016 9:59 am PST by Juli Clover
ios93Apple today released the third beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3 update to public beta testers, just a couple of days after seeding the third iOS 9.3 beta to developers. iOS 9.3's third public beta comes three weeks after Apple released iOS 9.2.1, a minor update, to the public.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the third iOS 9.3 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas. For an in-depth walkthrough on downloading the iOS 9.3 beta, make sure to check out our how to.

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iOS 9.3 is a major update to the iOS 9 operating system, introducing a long list of new features and improvements. iOS 9.3's biggest new feature is Night Shift mode, which is designed to automatically cut down on the amount of blue light an iOS user is exposed to at night by shifting to more yellow tones for the iPhone or iPad's display. With iOS 9.3, there's a number of changes for educational users, and the iPhone is now able to pair with multiple Apple Watches.

The update also includes new 3D Touch Quick Actions for stock apps like Weather, Settings, Compass, Health, App Store, and iTunes Store, plus it introduces password protection for individual notes in the Notes app. News in iOS 9.3 includes in-line video playback, landscape mode on the iPhone, and more personalization, while the Health app introduces a new Apple Watch-style "Activity" interface. iOS 9.3 beta 3 adds support for Verizon Wi-Fi Calling and introduces a fix for a T-Mobile bug that prevented apps from loading over a cellular connection.

A full list of changes in iOS 9.3 can be found in our "What's New" post. iOS 9.3 will launch to the public this spring.

Tag: iOS 9.3
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RadioGaGa1984
40 months ago

does it brick phones with replaced touch id?


Give it a rest.
Rating: 19 Votes
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JimmyHook
40 months ago

does it brick phones with replaced touch id?

It better. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't.
Rating: 7 Votes
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marecej
40 months ago
does it brick phones with replaced touch id?
Rating: 4 Votes
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marecej
40 months ago
If anyone is interested, it didn't break my 5S with unauhorised touch id replacement :)
Rating: 3 Votes
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bbrks
40 months ago
So, beta 2 was OK and you think that beta 3 will destroy your phone.....interesting :)
Rating: 3 Votes
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XTheLancerX
40 months ago
Holy crap. My mini 2 is so smooth now. Got to be rivaling or beating 8.4.1 now. I know iBooks is smoother, control center and rotating iBooks has always been a mess and now it's all perfect. Spotlight is perfect, that was bad on iOS 8. App switcher is great, not perfect, but definitely not bad by any means. Control center is even smooth in the app switcher. That annoying jerk when closing the last app in the app switcher is gone. Keyboard animation is better and quicker.

I can't get wifi calling to work on my iPhone 6 but I'm using school wifi right now so that probably doesn't like it, airplane mode wouldn't force wifi calling. I'll try when I get home.

The split keyboard is still junk though, and key tap indicators don't work with increase contrast. App Store, spotlight, and power down screen still chop badly when you rotate them as well as the keyboard but other than that I don't have anymore smoothness complaints. Nothing new to iOS 9 at least, and nothing that isn't being nit-picky.
Rating: 3 Votes
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TheAppleFairy
40 months ago
Love the beta cycle
Rating: 3 Votes
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Hamsterhjulet
40 months ago

I guess they dont release them together so their servers dont get slammed.

I think it's to avoid a possible catastrophe. Imagine a critical bug in the beta and it was released to the public, people would panic and spam apple with support mails about how the latest beta destroyed their devices. The developers often know more about troubleshooting than the average public tester, so therefore they should test it to be sure that nothing is completely off.
Rating: 3 Votes
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nathanalf
40 months ago
Verizon WiFi calling!! Finally!!
Rating: 3 Votes
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thatanonymoususer
40 months ago
And the biggest, most convenient change to me: being able to add songs to a playlist from Apple Music without the need to add it to your iCloud library. No more cluttering my iTunes library with a billion singles.
Rating: 2 Votes

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