Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple Seeds Third Beta of iOS 11.3 to Developers
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the second beta and one month after releasing iOS 11.2.5, an update that focused primarily on bug fixes and security improvements. The update also comes just a day after the release of iOS 11.2.6, which fixed a bug that caused iPhones and iPads to crash when a character from the Indian language Telugu was rendered improperly.
Registered developers can download the new 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.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
iOS 11.3 is a major update that introduces a long list of new features, like Messages on iCloud for storing your iMessages in the cloud, and ARKit 1.5, a new, upgraded version of ARKit that can more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces and recognize and place objects on vertical surfaces like walls.
There are four new Animoji on the iPhone X (dragon, bear, skull, and lion), and in the Health app, there's a new Health Records feature that aggregates all of your medical records in one easy-to-access place. Health Records are limited to participating institutions, though.
AirPlay 2 features have been introduced in iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3, allowing audio to be played to multiple Apple TVs, and for HomeKit, iOS 11.3 introduces official support for HomeKit software authentication options.
As of iOS 11.3 beta 2, the update includes a new "Battery Health" feature that's designed to provide iOS users with more information about their batteries.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Battery Health offers details on maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability, and for devices with degraded batteries, it provides information on if and when a device is being throttled with performance management features. It also provides a way for customers who do have a device with a degraded battery to turn off performance management all together.
By default, iOS 11.3 disables performance management on the iPhone, and the feature is only re-enabled once a device experiences an unexpected shutdown.
Other features in iOS 11.3 include a new "For You" section in Apple News that displays the top videos of the day, support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) for more accurate location when placing an emergency call in a supported country, more information about app size in the Updates tap in the App Store, and a new Privacy screen and icon that will show up whenever Apple asks you for info.
iBooks has also had the "i" removed from its name, so it's just "Books" now, and the App Store now lets you sort reviews by most helpful, most favorable, most critical, and most recent, a handy change for better finding the app info you're looking for.
Business Chat, which will let you interface with businesses like Wells Fargo, Delta, Hilton and Lowe's right in the Messages app is coming when iOS 11.3 is released, and improvements to Apple Music will bring better support for music videos. Users will be able to stream music videos without ads and create and view music video playlists.
iOS 11.3 will be released to the public in the spring. Spring kicks off on March 20, so iOS 11.3 will be in testing for at least another month.
What's new in iOS 11.3 beta 3: The newest beta of iOS 11.3 adds support for the iPod touch, and it removes AirPlay 2 features that were present in previous betas. There's also a new option in the Settings app under Privacy --> Analytics to share Health Record analytics with Apple.
Registered developers can download the new 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.
iOS 11.3 is a major update that introduces a long list of new features, like Messages on iCloud for storing your iMessages in the cloud, and ARKit 1.5, a new, upgraded version of ARKit that can more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces and recognize and place objects on vertical surfaces like walls.
There are four new Animoji on the iPhone X (dragon, bear, skull, and lion), and in the Health app, there's a new Health Records feature that aggregates all of your medical records in one easy-to-access place. Health Records are limited to participating institutions, though.
AirPlay 2 features have been introduced in iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3, allowing audio to be played to multiple Apple TVs, and for HomeKit, iOS 11.3 introduces official support for HomeKit software authentication options.
As of iOS 11.3 beta 2, the update includes a new "Battery Health" feature that's designed to provide iOS users with more information about their batteries.
Battery Health offers details on maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability, and for devices with degraded batteries, it provides information on if and when a device is being throttled with performance management features. It also provides a way for customers who do have a device with a degraded battery to turn off performance management all together.
By default, iOS 11.3 disables performance management on the iPhone, and the feature is only re-enabled once a device experiences an unexpected shutdown.
Other features in iOS 11.3 include a new "For You" section in Apple News that displays the top videos of the day, support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) for more accurate location when placing an emergency call in a supported country, more information about app size in the Updates tap in the App Store, and a new Privacy screen and icon that will show up whenever Apple asks you for info.
iBooks has also had the "i" removed from its name, so it's just "Books" now, and the App Store now lets you sort reviews by most helpful, most favorable, most critical, and most recent, a handy change for better finding the app info you're looking for.
Business Chat, which will let you interface with businesses like Wells Fargo, Delta, Hilton and Lowe's right in the Messages app is coming when iOS 11.3 is released, and improvements to Apple Music will bring better support for music videos. Users will be able to stream music videos without ads and create and view music video playlists.
iOS 11.3 will be released to the public in the spring. Spring kicks off on March 20, so iOS 11.3 will be in testing for at least another month.
What's new in iOS 11.3 beta 3: The newest beta of iOS 11.3 adds support for the iPod touch, and it removes AirPlay 2 features that were present in previous betas. There's also a new option in the Settings app under Privacy --> Analytics to share Health Record analytics with Apple.
[ 68 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
20 months ago
Unless it’s just a temporary bug, they’ve ruined Books, or iBooks, or whatever they’re calling it now. I read almost exclusively from my iPad. Previously, there were several settings for how you view books. One, All Books, showed everything all the time, including PDFs. Books showed all books other than PDFs. When you made a new category (a folder with a name you would put books in, like an individual author), that book could be taken out of the Books area, and put into the folder. Then there would be no books in the Books area, or, just a few that you didn’t make a category for, because you only had one of the type.
So you would just end up with a few nooks there, at most. When you got a new book, it was easy to find, and read. When you finished, you would put it into the category you wanted it in, and it would leave the Books area. This was very good for tracking new books, books you didn’t yet categorize, and for books preordered that hadn’t come in yet.
But now they’ve eliminated the All Books area, and the Books area now contains everything. I’ve got over 200 books and PDFs. I have to look through everything. It’s very confusing. Did I put a particular book in a category, or didn’t I? I have to look through the category to tell. Finding a book you were reading but had to close because of needing to read a PDFs manual is now lost amongst everything else. A book you ordered several months ago, but just came in is now lost somewhere, and you have to look again through everything to find it, if it did come in.
It’s a real mess!
So you would just end up with a few nooks there, at most. When you got a new book, it was easy to find, and read. When you finished, you would put it into the category you wanted it in, and it would leave the Books area. This was very good for tracking new books, books you didn’t yet categorize, and for books preordered that hadn’t come in yet.
But now they’ve eliminated the All Books area, and the Books area now contains everything. I’ve got over 200 books and PDFs. I have to look through everything. It’s very confusing. Did I put a particular book in a category, or didn’t I? I have to look through the category to tell. Finding a book you were reading but had to close because of needing to read a PDFs manual is now lost amongst everything else. A book you ordered several months ago, but just came in is now lost somewhere, and you have to look again through everything to find it, if it did come in.
It’s a real mess!
20 months ago
Can confirm. This beta is smoother than a baby’s bottom.
But is it smoother than an android’s bottom? I think not.
20 months ago
Animations are so much smoother.
Additional emojis.
Safari snappier.
Increased battery life with high-usage apps.
Great update.
Additional emojis.
Safari snappier.
Increased battery life with high-usage apps.
Great update.
20 months ago
Animations are so much smoother.
Additional emojis.
Safari snappier.
Increased battery life with high-usage apps.
Great update.
Praise the lord!
20 months ago
I don't understand the move to generic app names like "app", "music", "books" - it makes it so much harder to look for advice or help on the internet. Just google "books +iOS" and you won't get lucky.
20 months ago
I still can't wrap my head around the fact the iPhone X looks that bad.
The design team conceived that idea, it got approved, they made it, marketed it, and sold it.
Just an absolute disgrace in industrial design.
And functionally that extra 8mm of screen does nothing for improvements, I really really hate that phone.
I'm honestly in such disbelief that this phone was created.
The design team conceived that idea, it got approved, they made it, marketed it, and sold it.
Just an absolute disgrace in industrial design.
And functionally that extra 8mm of screen does nothing for improvements, I really really hate that phone.
I'm honestly in such disbelief that this phone was created.
20 months ago
Strap in. Hopefully we’ll see more stability in battery life (not expecting anything crazy).
I'd love to see it update the HomePod firmware and introduce stereo pairing for those of us on beta. I currently have access to a 2nd unit I need to return in the next few days and would LOVE to test for a bit in the interim.
Edit: no firmware updates available :( Bummer.
[ Read All Comments ]
Microsoft today announced the launch of a beta version of its upcoming Microsoft Edge browser, which is available today for Windows and macOS users.
Previously, the Microsoft Edge browser was...
In an email to developers today, received by MacRumors, Apple has announced that apps marked as having "Frequent/Intense Simulated Gambling" will be rated 17+ in all countries and regions...
Apple Music today launched an all-new playlist of emerging songs that are receiving the most shazams around the world, called the "Shazam Discovery Top 50." The playlist will be updated every...
Best Buy has returned this week with a new set of discounts on the Apple Watch Series 3, offering up to $175 off of select models. In the sale you'll find GPS + cellular versions of the 2017...
Yubico, a company that makes physical security keys for two-factor authentication, today announced the launch of its Lightning-based YubiKey device that's designed to work with Apple's...
Bill Stasior, Apple's former head of Siri development, has joined Microsoft as corporate VP of technology, reports The Information.
Starting this month, Stasior will lead an artificial...
Earlier this summer, Mophie announced and launched a new line of Juice Pack Air cases for the iPhone XS and XS Max, which promise to add extra hours of battery life to your iPhone while providing...
After offering a look at its upcoming streaming service Disney+, and announcing a bundle with ESPN+ and Hulu, Disney today confirmed the devices that will support Disney+ at launch. For Apple device...
