Apple Seeds Sixth Betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 to Developers

Apple today seeded the sixth betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 to developers for testing purposes, with the updates coming one week after Apple released the fifth betas.

iOS 15 icon on phone
Registered developers can download the profile for the iOS and iPadOS betas from the Apple Developer Center, and once the profile is installed, beta updates will be available over the air.

iOS 15 is a major update that introduces a slew of new features focused on cutting down on distractions and spending more time with friends and family.

FaceTime has a revamped interface with new SharePlay features for listening to music, watching videos, and sharing your screen with your friends and family members, and in Messages, if something like a url, photo, news article, or song is shared with you, you can see the content in Apple's dedicated apps.

Focus lets you create custom notification modes that hide irrelevant apps and notifications when you're doing things like working or spending time with your family so you can better focus on the activity at hand, and there's a new notification summary that de-prioritizes less important notifications so you're not constantly inundated with information.

Maps includes a new 3D view in select cities that lets you see 3D landmarks, there are immersive AR directions when walking, and driving directions are better than ever, especially at complex interchanges.

Safari now supports Tab Groups for improved organization, and extensions can be used in Safari for iOS devices for the first time. Later this year you'll be able to add your ID card to the Wallet app in some U.S. states, and Apple is making it easier to add key cards for hotels, smart home locks, and more to the Wallet app.

Spotlight is better than ever and can bring up more tailored search results, and Photos has a "Live Text" feature that lets you take a photo of something with text like a receipt to translate it into typed text on your iPhone. ‌Photos‌ can also identify landmarks, books, plants, and pets, so you can snap a photo of a plant and get information on what it might be.

Apple has also added multiple privacy improvements, such as a new App Privacy report coming to the ‌iPhone‌ that will let you know how often apps access sensitive info like your location, a Mail feature that hides your IP address, and Siri processing that's done on device.

For a complete overview of everything that's new in iOS 15, we have a dedicated roundup that walks through all of the new features, and Apple has been adding feature refinements throughout the beta testing period. The fourth beta, for example, further tweaked the design of Safari, added MagSafe Battery Pack support, and more, while the fifth beta added smaller tweaks.

Related Forum: iOS 15

Top Rated Comments

ProfessionalFan Avatar
23 months ago
Safari bar back at the top, as it always should have been
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
23 months ago
Safari on iPhone got a major redesign. Again.

The latest look is very similar to a mock-up done by one of the MR users (can’t remember his username).

Finally it looks clean and neat. Love it.




Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
23 months ago

iOS devices
Prev build 19A5318f
New build 19A5325f
That is such a small difference.

The only change is probably one new Memoji.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdclifford Avatar
23 months ago
Maybe just adding CSAM ?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pcd213 Avatar
23 months ago
Option present in this release to revert to the old Safari design with the bar at the top. I was convinced I would love the lower bar design until I started using it. I just couldn't get used to it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pcd213 Avatar
23 months ago

I kind of like the address bar at the bottom, but sometimes it gets in the way of buttons underneath. I’ll probably revert back to top bar.
When using the proposed design, I was reminded of Jobs' comment about design being about how it works and not how it looks. The 'design' with the bar at the bottom just did not work for me, especially at each first open of the app. I also found myself accidentally tapping the refresh button all of the time when I merely wanted to tap into the address bar.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)