Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of iOS 9.3 to Developers

ios93Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third iOS 9.3 beta and more than two months after the public release of iOS 9.2, the last major update to iOS 9. iOS 9.3 has been in testing since January 11.

The fourth iOS 9.3 beta is available as an over-the-air update and through the iOS section of the Apple Developer Center.

As a major .1 update to the iOS 9 operating system, iOS 9.3 introduces several new features. There's a Night Shift mode to reduce the amount of blue light iOS users are exposed to in the evening by shifting the iPad or iPhone display to a warmer (yellower) color spectrum, and there are several features designed to improve the iPad for Education program, such as multi-user login. Multi-user login, while an appealing feature, is limited to MDM customers and is not available to the general public.


Multiple apps and features are also seeing updates in iOS 9.3. Apple News includes more personalized recommendations, faster updates, a landscape view on the iPhone, and support for in-line video, while Health includes a new Apple Watch-style "Activity" view, Notes has an option to password protect individual entries, and third-party apps can add songs to Apple Music.

Apple Music for CarPlay offers "New" and "For You" sections for better music discovery, and a Nearby Feature in CarPlay Maps offers more information about what's close by. Paired with watchOS 2.2, an iPhone running iOS 9.3 is able to support multiple Apple Watches, and for iPhone 6s users, there are new Quick Actions for Weather, Settings, Compass, Health, App Store, and iTunes Store.

The second iOS 9.3 beta added a Control Center toggle for the Night Shift feature, while the third iOS 9.3 beta focused on fixing bugs and added Verizon Wi-Fi calling. New features found in the fourth beta will be listed below.

What's new in iOS 9.3 beta 4:

Night Shift - The Control Center icon for Night Shift has been redesigned. It's now a moon inside of a sun instead of a moon inside of an eye.

nightshiftcontrolcentericon

Tag: iOS 9.3
Related Forum: iOS 9

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils First New Products of 2026

Monday January 26, 2026 1:55 pm PST by
Apple today introduced its first two physical products of 2026: a second-generation AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch. Read our coverage of each announcement to learn more:Apple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and More Apple Introduces New Black Unity Apple Watch BandBoth the new AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided...
iPhone 5s

iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch

Monday January 26, 2026 3:56 pm PST by
Alongside iOS 26.2.1, Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12 for devices that are still running that operating system update, eight years after the software was first released. iOS 12.5.8 is available for the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6, meaning Apple is continuing to support these devices for 13 and 12 years after launch, respectively. The iPhone 5s came out in September 2013,...
Apple Creator Studio

Apple's Next Launch is Today

Tuesday January 27, 2026 2:39 pm PST by
Update: Apple Creator Studio is now available. Apple Creator Studio launches this Wednesday, January 28. The all-in-one subscription provides access to the Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage apps, with U.S. pricing set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. A subscription to Apple Creator Studio also unlocks "intelligent features" and "premium...
apple silicon 1 feature

Apple Responds to Skyrocketing RAM and Storage Chip Prices

Thursday January 29, 2026 2:40 pm PST by
On an earnings call with equity analysts today, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to fast-rising RAM and SSD storage chip prices in the supply chain. Prices for RAM and NAND storage chips are surging lately due to high demand from companies building out AI servers, resulting in supply constraints. Cook said that rising memory chip prices had a "minimal impact" on Apple's gross margin in the...

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
130 months ago
Hope it has the new much requested anti-FBI feature.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dephibio Avatar
130 months ago
New Night Shift icon.

Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aldrinjtauro Avatar
130 months ago
Hopes for fixing... 1970 begin....
Sorry, there's no fix for stupidity.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
\-V-/ Avatar
130 months ago
Hope it has the new much requested anti-FBI feature.
It already does.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
130 months ago
Better.
Still ugly. The lamp was better.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sbailey4 Avatar
130 months ago
Better, but not as good as bedside lamp.
Well does the icon actually turn on a lamp? If not perhaps that wouldn't be as good. Just saying. Unfortunately if Apple asked 1000 people about an icon they would get 1000 different answers. Seems no one will ever really agree on what THEY would put there.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)