Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 11.3 to Developers With New Animoji, Business Chat, Health Records, iCloud Messages and More

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 11.3 update to developers, one week after releasing iOS 11.2.5, an update that focused primarily on bug fixes and security improvements.

Registered developers can download the iOS 11.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

ios113beta
Apple this morning shared a preview of iOS 11.3, outlining all of the new features we can expect to see in the update.

iOS 11.3 will bring four new Animoji characters to the iPhone X, like a lion, bear, dragon, and skull, giving iPhone X users new characters to play with, and it reintroduces iCloud Messages, a feature that was removed from the initial iOS 11 release.

new animoji 11
The software update includes improved ARKit tools for developers. ARKit 1.5 can recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces and it can more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables. ARKit is able to recognize the position of 2D images like signs, posters, and artwork, integrating them into AR experiences. Museums, for example, can be filled with interactive exhibits or a movie poster can be brought to life. The real-world view through the camera when using AR also offers 50 percent greater resolution (1080p) in ARKit 1.5 and supports auto-focus.

Apple AR Experience 01232018
Business Chat, a feature that first debuted in iOS 11, is officially launching in beta capacity this spring with support from businesses like Discover, Hilton, Lowe's, and Wells Fargo. You'll be able to have customer support chats with these companies right within the Messages app.

business chat
In the Health app, Apple is adding a new Health Records feature to make it easier for customers with a participating medical institution to access their records right on their iPhone, even when those medical records are spread across multiple providers.

health records ios 11
Supported providers include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cedars-Sinai, Penn Medicine, Geisinger Health System, UC San Diego Health - San Diego, California, UNC Health Care , Rush University Medical Center, Dignity Health, Ochsner Health System, MedStar Health, Ohio Health, and Cerner Healthe Clinic.

A later beta of iOS 11.3 will feature new, more detailed information about the health of a device's battery. The change comes following controversy over power management features implemented in older devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns. Those power management features throttle iPhones with degraded batteries at times of peak power usage to maintain stable performance.

The update should provide a lot more data about battery health, and there will also be an option to let customers turn off the power management feature entirely, though Apple does not recommend disabling it. The new features can be found in Settings --> Battery and are available for iPhone 6 and later.

Other new features included in iOS 11.3 include support for streaming unlimited music videos in Apple Music without ads, a new "For You" video of the day in Apple News along with improved Top Stories, HomeKit software authentication to make it easier for accessory makers to add HomeKit support into existing devices, support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user's current location when making a call to emergency services in supported countries, a new name for "iBooks," which is now just "Books," and an update to the App Store updates page, which now shows the version number and download size of all updates.

Today's beta is limited to developers, but Apple says a public beta will be released for public beta testers soon.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

obitow Avatar
67 months ago
Messages in iCloud

Attachment Image
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
67 months ago
Waiting for Messages in iCloud is like waiting for Copy Paste for two years (even though never promised)

Ah, the memories...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
67 months ago
Any word on the possible dark mode that was rumored for 11.3?
Doesn't really seem like anything like that was rumored.

Maybe Apple can come out with "iOS Professional" version where is leaves out all this emoji, Animoji, iMessage stickers apps, etc.
I believe that's just called not using those things.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
McFreggle Avatar
67 months ago
The .3 releases are lately the bigger, better ones.

Although they should stop this silly game where there needs to be a major new version every year. Quality seems to suffer from it. Just give us 11.4 in May, and announce 11.5 on WWDC in June. iPhone 11 can ship with iOS 11.6 or whatever they want to call it.

Same goes for macOS.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DNichter Avatar
67 months ago
Messages in iCloud has been reserved for iOS 20 as a groundbreaking revolutionary magical feature
It's in this beta
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
67 months ago
Eh same reason Force Touch only came to 6S (because “hardware” limited it from the 6). Sure it probably could be used on other devices (like the app you mentioned) but Apple has always had a habit of limiting features to the newest devices because: business and marketing.
Errrrr. How would you implement 3D Touch without hardware support?

And while you can achieve some level of face tracking with a camera, which every iPhone since the 4 has had, the X adds infra-red and can thus make a 3D model of your face, making the tracking far more accurate. Hence Animoji working far better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Monday March 20, 2023 8:33 am PDT by
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro. Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...
voice isolation

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:01 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today. Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa. Voice...
iPhone 12 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Feature

iPhone 12 Pro vs. 15 Pro: New Features to Expect if You've Waited to Upgrade

Friday March 17, 2023 10:29 am PDT by
While year-over-year iPhone upgrades are not always groundbreaking, new features can begin to stack up over multiple generations. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro. If you are still using an iPhone 12 Pro and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro when it launches later this year, we have put together a...
top stories 18mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Pricing, New iOS 16.4 Beta, Siri vs. ChatGPT, and More

Saturday March 18, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's high-end iPhone models have started at $999 in the U.S. since they first launched back in 2017 with the iPhone X, but could this finally be the year that starting price sees an increase? This week also saw some more rumors about Apple's upcoming headset and the company's explorations in the booming AI industry as well as the release of a new round of beta updates, so read on for all...
smart monitor m8 samsung

Deals: Samsung's iMac-Like Smart Monitor M8 Drops to Lowest Price of Year So Far With $250 Discount

Monday March 20, 2023 8:27 am PDT by
Samsung today kicked off a special "Discover Samsung" event, which will be a week-long savings event focusing on Samsung monitors, smartphones, TVs, appliances, and more. While some deals will stick around the entire week (through March 26), others will refresh every day. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...