Apple Releases Second Public Betas of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, Revised Developer Beta

Monday July 31, 2023 1:20 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today seeded the second betas of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the software ahead of its launch. The second beta comes a little over two weeks after the first beta. The second public beta features the same content that's in the fourth developer beta released last week, although Apple has also seeded a revised version of that developer beta today.

General iOS 17 Feature Blue Green
In addition to iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, new public betas of tvOS 17, watchOS 10, and HomePod software 17 are also available.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates by opening up the Settings app, going to General, tapping on the Software Update section and toggling on the iOS 17 Public Beta option.

iOS 17 adds a new StandBy option for the iPhone, allowing it to serve as an information hub when it is in a horizontal position and connected to a charger. StandBy mode displays the time, Live Activities, incoming notifications, and tons of widgets.

Speaking of widgets, widgets you use on the Lock Screen and Home Screen are interactive, so you can do things like control a smart light or check off a Reminder without opening an app. Autocorrect is smarter than before, and it's easier to correct mistakes with a quick tap.

AirDrop has a new NameDrop feature for quickly sharing contact information with a person nearby, and the Phone app has customizable Contact Posters that let you choose what people see when you call them.

Live Voicemail shows the voicemail that someone is leaving right on your Lock Screen so you can pick up if it's important, and the Messages app has a refined look and a Check-In feature that's meant to help you get to your destination safely.

FaceTime supports video messages so you can leave a video voicemail if someone misses a call, plus you can use it on the Apple TV. Safari has a locked private browsing window and a password sharing feature, and better tracking prevention. The Maps app now works offline, the Photos app can recognize your pets, and Visual Look Up works with food, symbols, videos, and more.

There's a new mood tracking feature available in the Health app, and later this year, Apple also plans to add a journaling app.

For a complete overview of all of the new features in iOS 17, we have a dedicated iOS 17 roundup. iPadOS 17 also has some iPad-only features like a revamped Lock Screen, with details available in our separate iPadOS 17 roundup.

Apple has also released new public betas of tvOS 17 and watchOS 10.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

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Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️

42 months ago

Check out the new iOS 17 Public Beta 2 and iOS 17 Dev Beta 4 Re-release video. 🤩

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

matthew1128

42 months ago

Well, in public beta 2, they adjusted the lowest lockscreen font thickness to be slightly thinner than dev beta 4. That's a plus for me. I hate thick fonts. At lowest level now, it's the almost as thin as ios 10 through 15's lockscreen time.

However, I do wish they would let us have the ultra thin ios 7 type that they were allowing in public beta 1 and up 'til dev beta 3. Maybe in final build?

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Smigit

42 months ago

Who uses voice mail????

Me. Unless a number is recognised or I’m expecting a call due to say having a delivery booked, then I will not answer my phone. I get enough unsolicited calls that I’d rather people leave a message if they really need me, and I’ll call them back.

My phones for personal use so I have no need to answer every time an unrecognised number pops up.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

alexonline

42 months ago

Who uses voice mail????

A lot of people… and even more will use it when they know what they’ve said has been or is being live transcribed. It is cool to see that feature coming to iOS 17. Just because some people don’t use voicemail doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t use voice mail :-)

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)