iOS 13 continues to be updated on a semi-regular basis. The company is currently beta testing the next major update to the mobile operating system.
Update: Apple has also seeded the corresponding public betas of iOS 13.2, iPadOS 13.2, and tvOS 13.2.
The original article continues below.
This one, like the iOS 13.1 update before it, will certainly squash bugs and improve the overall performance of the software. However, t’s mostly a vehicle to bring a new feature to the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. In this case it’s the camera-focused feature Deep Fusion, which will make the already impressive photos captured by Apple’s newest smartphones even more impressive.
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The fourth developer beta of iOS 13.2 is available now for registered developers. After the appropriate profiles have been installed, the latest software update can be installed over-the-air or directly from Apple’s developer website.
However, the hero feature of this software update is Deep Fusion, which was previously detailed in a separate report. Deep Fusion is a complicated feature that’s meant to work in the background, running through several different tasks while the iPhone 11/iPhone 11 Pro owner takes photos with their smartphone.
Here’s how the background tasks were described in that earlier report:
- By the time you press the shutter button, the camera has already grabbed three frames at a fast shutter speed to freeze motion in the shot. When you press the shutter, it take three additional shots, and then one longer exposure to capture detail.
- Those three regular shots and long-exposure shot are merged into what Apple calls a “synthetic long” — this is a major difference from Smart HDR.
- Deep Fusion picks the short exposure image with the most detail and merges it with the synthetic long exposure — unlike Smart HDR, Deep Fusion only merges these two frames, not more. These two images are also processed for noisedifferently than Smart HDR, in a way that’s better for Deep Fusion.
- The images are run through four detail processing steps, pixel by pixel, each tailored to increasing amounts of detail — the sky and walls are in the lowest band, while skin, hair, fabrics, and so on are the highest level. This generates a series of weightings for how to blend the two images — taking detail from one and tone, color, and luminance from the other.
- The final image is generated.
The telephoto lens will mostly use Deep Fusion, with the Smart HDR feature only taking over in a shot when there are very bright scenes.
The standard wide angle lens, meanwhile, will rely mostly on the Smart HDR feature for bright to medium-bright scenes, and Deep Fusion will kick in with the medium-to-low light scenes.
Finally, the ultra wide lens will never use Deep Fusion or Night Mode, because it only supports the Smart HDR feature, and neither of the other features.
Check out the results of Deep Fusion in the photo captured below, which Apple likes to show off with people wearing sweaters:
If there are any other discoveries made in this beta of iOS 13.2, we will update this post accordingly.
Apple also seeded the corresponding iPadOS 13.2 beta to developers as well.
The fourth tvOS 13.2 beta was also seeded to developers today. This is a minor update, aiming to squash bugs and improve overall performance.
Finally, Apple seeded the fifth watchOS 6.1 beta to developers as well. The software will patch any lingering issues since the launch of watchOS 6 to the public, and will also improve overall performance.
There was quite a bit added in a previous beta seed of iOS 13.2. That includes a quick and easy way to delete Siri and dictation history. iOS 13.2 beta 2 also includes new emoji, a new animation to change noise cancellation features in a pair of upcoming, but still unannounced, AirPods. A new way to delete apps using Haptic Touch, and much more.
There is no word on when this latest software will be available to the public, but, hopefully it will be soon. It’s rumored that iOS 13.2 could launch before the end of October, though.