Apple seeds Golden Master of iOS and iPadOS 13.5 to developers

We continue to move right along towards a full, public release of iOS 13.5. And to get there, Apple has seeded the Golden Master of iOS 13.5 to developers ahead of that full release.

On Monday, Apple seeded the Golden Master version of iOS 13.5 and iPadOS 13.5 to developers. With this seed, Apple is letting developers know that iOS 13.5 has effectively gone gold and is ready for the public release. With that in mind, it looks like iOS 13.5 and iPadOS 13.5 will be released to the public this week — perhaps as soon as Tuesday, May 19.

Apple made the leap to the higher version number recently as it adopted the code necessary to run the new Exposure Notification system it has developed with Google in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. This software includes the code necessary to run those apps, which Apple recently outlined for developers.

For the general consumer, the first developer beta of iOS 13.4.5 did add a quick and easy way to share songs from Apple Music to both Instagram and Facebook Stories. This feature will see the light of day for the end user when Apple launches iOS 13.5 to the public at some point in the near future.

In addition to that, we also know that iOS 13.5 will be making a couple more important changes. First, we know that the new software will make it possible to disable “Automatic Prominence” in Group FaceTime calls, which means the person talking won’t suddenly be in the largest box in the video conference call. We also know that Face ID is getting a bit smarter, or at the very least faster. With iOS 13.5 it will be easier to skip Face ID and quickly enter your passcode while you are wearing a mask.

The most recent beta seed also altered the opt-in interface for the COVID-19 exposure notification system, making the process clearer for iOS users. A previous beta also made it possible to automatically share Medical ID information while making an emergency call.

Finally, iOS and iPadOS 13.5 also features a patch for a couple of different vulnerabilities that were discovered related to the Mail app.

Apple also seeded the Golden Master version of tvOS 13.4.5 to developers as well, along with the Golden Master version of watchOS 6.2.5. The latter adds irregular heart rhythm and ECG notifications for the Apple Watch to users in Saudi Arabia.

If you’ve been awaiting the arrival of iOS and iPadOS 13.5, you don’t have much longer to wait.