Apple Releases iOS 16.5 Beta 4 For Developers - New Features on iOS 16.5
Introduction
Apple is seeding the fourth beta version of iOS 16.5 for all developers. The iOS 16.5 betas seem to be focusing more on stability and not on the release of new features unless Apple has saved the best for later. The build number of today’s beta is 20F5059a.
Apple also released the 4th developer beta versions for iPadOS 16.5, tvOS 16.5 and watchOS 9.5.
Public Beta versions are also expected to become available soon.
Update to iOS 16.5 Beta
The beta update process is now quite simple after iOS 16.4. Users are no longer required to download a beta configuration profile and install it on their device. You just simply go to Settings - General - Software Update and select Developer or Public Beta if you want to update your device on your latest beta. You can always select “Off” to opt-out.
New Features
In general iOS 16.5 beta 4 seems not to be a major update unlike iOS 16.4. We have been using iOS 16.5 since beta 1. Battery life and performance seem on par with iOS 16.4. However, Apple has added some smaller scale new features on iOS 16.5.
New “Pride” Wallpaper Category
Apple introduced a new wallpaper category dedicated to “Pride” wallpapers. Currently, this category includes only last year’s version but is expected to be updated later this month. This new wallpaper category was added in beta 4.
Apple News New Sports Tab
From the first hour with it we can see that Apple added a new Sports tab in Apple News and changed slightly the bottom bar UI as 9TechEleven reported first on Twitter.
New Sports Tab on Apple News app in iOS 16.5
Use Siri to Start a Screen Recording
You are now able to use Siri to quickly start and stop a screen recording directly on your iPhone running iOS 16.5. Interestingly enough, the UI of the Screen Recording is different when it’s enabled with the assistance of Siri, vs when following the traditional manual process.
This feature is unavailable for several users since iOS 16.5 Beta 2, which make it blurry if Apple will actually release this or not when public release becomes available.
Other Changes
Steve Moser has also identified some smaller scale changes in the code of iOS 16.5 as well.
