Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming iOS 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third beta and two weeks after the release of iOS 11.2.6, an update that addressed a bug causing 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.
iOS 11.3 is a major update that introduces a long list of new features, like Messages in iCloud for saving space and syncing messages across devices, and ARKit 1.5, a new version of ARKit able to more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces, recognize images, 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.
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.
Early betas of iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3 included support for AirPlay 2 features, allowing audio to be played to multiple Apple TVs, but these features were removed in iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3 beta 3.
Other features in iOS 11.3 include a "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, software authentication for HomeKit, 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.
iOS 11.3 will be released to the public in the spring. Spring kicks off on March 20, so the update will be in testing for at least another couple of weeks.
Update: In iOS 11.3 beta 4, the renamed "Books" app has reverted to its original "iBooks" name.
Update 2: Apple has also seeded a fourth beta of iOS 11.3 for public beta testers.
Top Stories
Apple Acquires Weather App Dark Sky
Seemingly Unreleased Version of Logic Pro X With Live Loops Appears on Apple's Education Site [Updated]
Bloomberg: Apple's 5G iPhone Still on Schedule for Fall Launch, But Future Products Could Be Delayed
Case for Upcoming Low-Cost iPhone Shows Up at Best Buy With Alleged April 5 Stock Date
Testing Brydge's New Pro+ Keyboard With Trackpad for iPad Pro
Apple's Work on New Upcoming Products Progressing Normally as Employees Adjust to Telecommuting
Apple Releases ProRes RAW Beta for Windows
2020 iPad Pro Teardown Provides Closer Look at LiDAR Scanner and Confirms Incremental Update
Apple Configurator 2 Updated With New Features, Including Support for Restoring Firmware on 2019 Mac Pro
Top Rated Comments
(View all)They've had almost a year... I genuinely don't understand how it can be this delayed.
Because you’re not a developer for a massive company with millions of users and devices that could feck up if you make a mistake...So no AirPlay 2?
Probably not, and that’s okay. I’d rather they work on making sure it works 99% of the time than throw it out to meet a deadline.Would anybody with an iPad Air 2 want to comment on how well 11.3 is running by now?
Almost no difference to me and I use my Air 2 and 10.5 Pro daily side by side. However I am not one of those people that stop time to spot 0.000001 lagYou’d prefer them to release it full of bugs?
I'd prefer them not to announce features a year before they're ready. It's obvious at this point that it wasn't even close to being done when they announced it at WWDC last year. This is the closest thing to vaporware I've ever seen from Apple. I do have confidence it will be released eventually, but the delay on this has been ridiculously long. I mean let's get real here, it's not even in the betas anymore.They've had almost a year... I genuinely don't understand how it can be this delayed.
Easy. Sending audio over WiFi to separate speakers is not as easy as it sounds. You need to make sure that both (if you have a stereo pair) get their audio at exactly the same time. Even the slightest delay in unacceptable.Note that by delay I’m not talking about large obvious delays like the sound not syncing up with a movie where their lips are moving and their voice is completely out of whack. I’m talking about tiny millisecond delays. Our ears localize sound based on the volume and phase (time delay) that sound reaches our ears. If the signal is out of phase slightly (because of a slight time delay) it can have a significant affect on the sound.
I’m really very curious how Apple is going to deal with this.
They've had almost a year... I genuinely don't understand how it can be this delayed.
The PowerBook G5 understands.