It’s only been a few days since Apple last seeded a beta of its next major platform updates to developers. But here we are, marching towards the inevitable public launch, and Apple’s working on refinements. Which is why, today, we’re seeing yet another beta seeded to developers ahead of the wide release for the next major updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
Update #1 (08/31/2021): Apple has issued the corresponding public betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to public beta testers. If you are already part of the program, you can update your registered device(s) as you would any other over-the-air update, via the Settings app. If you are not already registered but would like to be, you can sign up over at the official Apple Beta Software Program site.
Update #2 (08/31/2021): The company has also seeded the latest public beta of macOS 12 Monterey to public beta testers.
The original article continues below.
Today, Apple has seeded the eighth betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8 to developers. As is par for the course with these prerelease versions of the platforms, it’s not wise to download and install them on a primary machine. And, of course, these betas are also designed for registered developers. Corresponding public betas will be released at some point in the near future. When that happens, we will update this post accordingly.
For registered developers, the latest betas are available to install now.
Resource: How to install the iOS 15 beta
What’s new
iOS 15
- FaceTime sees major improvements, including SharePlay and updates to video and audio.
- Apple updates Notifications to give even more granular control, and updates the UI
- Messages gets even more collaborative with Shared With You
- Safari gets a new Tab experience
- The Photos app now supports Live Text, which can be searched for and directly interacted with
- Spotlight gets improvements, can be used to find Live Text in Photos
- AirPods Pro and AirPods Max get better Find My support
- Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos launch in Apple Music
- And much more
Need to know: iCloud Private Relay feature will launch as a public beta
iPadOS 15
- Split View and a new Shelf make multitasking easier on iPadOS
- There are several new keyboard shortcuts available
- Widgets get a new size option, and the ability to place on the Home Screen
- The App Library is available
- And more
watchOS 8
- watchOS 8 includes an improved Photos app
- Sharing content in Messages is easier than ever before
- There is a new Portrait watch face, which can be interacted with using the Digital Crown
- watchOS 8 supports the App Shelf
- watchOS 8 offers more Health-related features, including better fall detection
- There are even more Workouts
- And more
The new betas, which includes the latest beta for tvOS 15, are available now.