Apple Seeds First Public Betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16

Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 to public beta testers, opening up the iOS 16 beta testing process to the general public for the first time since the Worldwide Developers Conference. Developers have already had three betas, and the first public beta coincides with the third developer beta.

ios 16 lock screen feature2
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and iPadOS 15 updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.

iOS 16 brings an overhauled Lock Screen with customizable wallpapers, time, and widgets, plus notifications have been updated to roll in from the bottom of the display. Multiple Lock Screens are supported and can be linked with Focus modes.

The Messages app supports editing and deleting messages as well as marking messages unread. SharePlay is no longer limited to FaceTime, so Messages can be used for communication between people sharing content with one another. ‌FaceTime‌ calls can be handed off from one device to another, and the Health app gains a new Medications feature for tracking the vitamins and medicine that you take.

Apple is replacing passwords with Passkeys, and Safari now supports Shared Tab Groups for collaborating. In the Mail app, you can schedule emails, cancel sending, and receive follow-up reminders, and the Maps app supports multi-stop routing.

iCloud Shared Photo Library offers a convenient way to share a photos with family members, and Apple Pay Later will let users pay for ‌Apple Pay‌ purchases in fee-free installments. For the iPad, iPadOS 16 brings a Weather app and a new multi-tasking system called Stage Manager, but it's only for iPads with Apple silicon chips.

There are tons more features in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, with a full rundown available in our dedicated roundups.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Top Rated Comments

DinkThifferent Avatar
24 months ago

Imagine paying a premium for an iPhone with stable software to beta test buggy software for free...
it's not like Apple is forcing all 1,2 billion active devices to do a beta test for them.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
olives9 Avatar
24 months ago

Imagine paying a premium for an iPhone with stable software to beta test buggy software for free...
Imagine paying a premium for an Android phone, only to find out you really want to go back to iOS? Even if it's Beta, still is more stable than Android.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Silverstring Avatar
24 months ago

Imagine paying a premium for an iPhone with stable software to beta test buggy software for free...
Imagine paying a premium for an iPhone only to not be able to beta test buggy software if that's what you want to do.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rkdiddy Avatar
24 months ago
I see nothing...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
srbNYC Avatar
24 months ago
I'm going to tell you all when I'm downloading because I know you care.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MuGeN PoWeR Avatar
24 months ago

Imagine paying a premium for an iPhone with stable software to beta test buggy software for free...
no software in the world is stable and bug free! so if you paid *premium* for an iPhone with a stable software then you are already dreaming!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...