iOS 15.3 beta leak hints at no big changes coming in next update to the mobile OS

With the public launch of iOS 15.2, Apple welcomed a few different features into the mix. And while there are still some features that Apple hasn’t launched to the public since first unveiling them at this year’s WWDC, it doesn’t look like the next update for iOS is going to bring them to the fore, either. At least, that’s based on a leaked version of the first beta of that update, anyway.

MacRumors has the report this morning. The publication says that it has been able to get its hands on the first beta of iOS 15.3, which Apple will likely seed to developers in the near future. Based on that leaked build, though, the report tells us that Apple isn’t going to be adding major new features this time around.

It turns out Apple will be making some changes, though. Namely, there will reportedly be some alterations to the wording associated with the new Communication Safety/Child Safety features that Apple launched with iOS 15.2. Apple also modified some text regarding the automatic downloading of magazines via Apple News+, and made some small alterations to the Podcasts app.

And that’s about it, apparently. The publication does say that there has been a general uptick in the devices running iOS 15.3 visiting the site, though. And even some running iOS 15.4, too:

MacRumors analytics have shown an increase in devices on iOS 15.3, with the uptick happening around the beginning of the month. Likewise, those same analytics show a stable and consistent pattern of visits from devices running iOS and iPadOS 15.4. The latter could be a more significant update, with more front-end users changes than what iOS 15.3 is seemingly poised to be.

One of the aforementioned features that Apple announced at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference is Universal Control. Apple initially aimed to get it out into the world alongside the public launch of iPadOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, but that didn’t pan out. And now, the feature isn’t expected to arrive until sometime in the spring of 2022.

That could line up with the public launch of iPadOS 15.4, depending on how long it takes to prepare the update for the public.

Either way, we’ll have to just wait and see how it all pans out. As it stands, it doesn’t look like iOS 15.3 is going to be a software update that adds a bunch of new, forward facing features to the mix.