Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 to Developers

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming two weeks after the release of the first betas.

iOS 16
Registered developers can opt in to the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to Software Update, tapping on the “Beta Updates” option and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta.

iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 lay the groundwork for iMessage Contact Key Verification. It is meant to let Apple device owners verify that they are messaging with the people they intend to message rather than a malicious entity that has intercepted a message or is eavesdropping on a conversation.

The feature is designed for Apple users who are facing “extraordinary digital threats.” Apple intends for iMessage Contact Key Verification to be used by journalists, human rights activists, government officials, and others who are in danger of malicious digital attacks from state-sponsored attackers or other malicious actors.

Apple said that iMessage Contact Key Verification would be available on the iPhone and other Apple devices at some point in 2023, and it is one of the last features we are expecting to see in iOS 16. In the first beta, hints of iMessage Contact Key were available, but the option was not fully enabled.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
12 months ago
Released today
iOS 16.6 beta 2 (20G5037d) - May 31, 2023
iPadOS 16.6 beta 2 (20G5037d) - May 31, 2023
macOS 13.5 beta 2 (22G5038d) - May 31, 2023
watchOS 9.6 beta 2 (20U5538d) - May 31, 2023
tvOS 16.6 beta 2 (20M5538d) - May 31, 2023
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
12 months ago
Availability of iOS/IPadOS 16.6b2 is well timed, gives the PB to be out tomorrow likely still an additional day before everything goes WWDC.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
12 months ago
[HEADING=2]iOS & iPadOS 16.6 Beta 2 Release Notes[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Pairing a first Matter accessory in a new Apple Home will fail when paired by selecting an accessory from the nearby accessories list. (109905770)
Workaround: Pair a first Matter accessory by scanning the QR code on the Add Accessory card in a new Apple Home. Subsequent matter accessories can be paired using the nearby accessories list.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3166792 Avatar
12 months ago

Can we just get Airplay 2, please...
Came out almost exactly 5 years ago.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fatwalrus93 Avatar
12 months ago

The current 16.x releases are one to two days after the dev release, unless there is something preventing seeding. If you mean to ask about WWDC next IOS 17 announcements, then the public beta recipients won't see any seeding until almost July or a bit afterwards. (usually beta 3 by then) Then the same delay would for apply for incremental PB betas some time later from dev seeds as stated first sentence.
Thank you!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
12 months ago

How long does it usually take for a new iOS iteration to go from announced to being able to download the beta version?
The current 16.x releases are one to two days after the dev release, unless there is something preventing seeding. If you mean to ask about WWDC next IOS 17 announcements, then the public beta recipients won't see any seeding until almost July or a bit afterwards. (usually beta 3 by then) Then the same delay would for apply for incremental PB betas some time later from dev seeds as stated first sentence.
Score: 1 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...
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....
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...
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

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...