Apple seeds fifth iOS 9, watchOS 2 betas to developers, third public iOS 9 beta [u]
Apple on Thursday released a fifth beta of iOS 9 to developers, arriving a little over two weeks after the previous one. The company simultaneously released a matching beta of watchOS 2.
The new version of iOS 9, identified as build 13A4325c, can be downloaded as an over-the-air update or in its entirety through Apple's official Developer Center portal. It's so far unknown what changes the beta may contain.
The previous beta restored full Home Sharing features, and made tweaks to components like Apple Music, Handoff, and Apple Pay. Apple disabled Home Sharing's music support in iOS 8.4, but later promised to fix the issue with iOS 9.
Some users of iOS 9 beta 4 complained that the software introduced bugs affecting battery life and Bluetooth connections, in other cases causing a device to crash. These flaws could be addressed in the latest code.
The final version of iOS 9 is due to launch sometime this fall, presumably alongside new iPhones. It will include features such as a News app, public transit directions for Maps, and a much-improved iPad experience with Slide Over, splitscreen multitasking, and keyboard enhancements like Mac-style shortcuts.
watchOS 2 is also due in the fall, and will add features to the Apple Watch like native app support, new faces, a Nightstand mode, and third-party complications. Developers can install the latest beta using the Apple Watch iPhone app.
Update: Apple has also launched a third public iOS 9 beta, identical to the developer code.
The new version of iOS 9, identified as build 13A4325c, can be downloaded as an over-the-air update or in its entirety through Apple's official Developer Center portal. It's so far unknown what changes the beta may contain.
The previous beta restored full Home Sharing features, and made tweaks to components like Apple Music, Handoff, and Apple Pay. Apple disabled Home Sharing's music support in iOS 8.4, but later promised to fix the issue with iOS 9.
Some users of iOS 9 beta 4 complained that the software introduced bugs affecting battery life and Bluetooth connections, in other cases causing a device to crash. These flaws could be addressed in the latest code.
The final version of iOS 9 is due to launch sometime this fall, presumably alongside new iPhones. It will include features such as a News app, public transit directions for Maps, and a much-improved iPad experience with Slide Over, splitscreen multitasking, and keyboard enhancements like Mac-style shortcuts.
watchOS 2 is also due in the fall, and will add features to the Apple Watch like native app support, new faces, a Nightstand mode, and third-party complications. Developers can install the latest beta using the Apple Watch iPhone app.
Update: Apple has also launched a third public iOS 9 beta, identical to the developer code.
Comments
iOS Public Beta 3 is also out.
Pretty quick and responsive overall.
Threadjack:
Here's an iOS/WatchOS app I'd buy: From Siri, I can speak a very explicit code phrase I control to activate an action. The feature I'd really be after is that I can send an emergency message immedately, and populate it with data. For example: "Hey Siri. Code red red red." Siri then dials 911 (or other number depending on the code), and initiates a voice recorded loop (presumably in Siri's voice) "Eightzero has initiated an emergency call, and needs police assistance at <GPS or Map coordinates.> The call back number is (number). Message repeats..."
We return you now to your regular thread.
Unfortunately, Apple's bug reporting software doesn't give enough diversity in how we can respond in some issues.
I could never even install iOS9 beta on my iPhone 6 as it would crash during the update and then go through endless cycles of restarting and shutting down. It was the same for my iPad initially, but then the update worked. I've had to do countless DFU restores the past few weeks from both iTunes and iCloud (unfortunately iCloud did not have my apps backed up). Now I am restoring my iPad as my iPhone because I didn't have an iOS8.4 backup on iTunes for my iPad (if this doesn't work, I'll go into Time Machine and restore a backup from over a month ago).
It's too bad, because I did like some of the new features in iOS9 that I was able to test. I guess I will have to wait until the official release is available. I probably need to cull some apps on my iPhone and iPad in the meantime since I have accumulated quite a bit (>1400), but nowhere has Apple imposed a limit on the number of Apps.
becaise
Why are they holding back the watchOS 2.0 from the public beta?
Because the previousl watch betas were still a mess. Built-in apps sometimes fail to launch. Some days it burns through the batteries at an alarming rate. Third party apps are hit and miss, etc. Hopefully the new version today is a lot closer to public beta quality.
Anyone tested iOS 9, Beta 3 out on an iPad 3rd Gen?
Beta 2 was just too slow and unresponsive on mine, even with animations and motion turned off. I reverted back to 8.4.
Another feature that I was really hoping for was the ablilty to select my own default apps and assign a default app to a file extension, ugh, no such luck.
I know this one will always be a long shot but I also really want a traditional file-system, I absolutely hate that files are saved under the apps that created them. How will Apple ever implement multi-user support with this current model. Yes I know that Apple is now pushing iCloud as their file-manager system but I would still like the ability to just zip up my user directly and upload it to my backup drive. This method is still by far the fastest and most secure. I also like having my user directories exactly the same on every device that I have, which they are, including my phone, that is, except for my iPads.
I know a lot of you work just fine without these things but there an absolute must for any device that I use for work. Even play, I want to be able to stream a movie to my TV using whatever technology the TV comes with, mostly Miracast and be able to minimize the video app without having the movie stop because you can't run apps in the background. I've heard that iOS doesn't allow this because of battery drain and performance, well I'm still able to get a full day with my phone and I use it very heavily. I just wish we could decide what we can or can not do with our devices. They could have easily made some sort of limititer app where one can select how many apps are allowed to run in the background or even select which ones can. Like the inability to select our own default apps (which if Microsoft or Google did this on their mobile OS's, you guys would be all over them like flies on sh$%&), Apple is just making to many assumptions on our behalf.
I tried it, so far I like what I'm seeing but I was really hoping that besides the ability to run two apps at once, in a side by side view, that I would also finialy be able to run apps in the background, besides just those few audio and GPS that can already run in the background. I would love to be able to open up a terminal, connect to my servers, start a compile job and than minimize the terminal app without the system terminating the connections because of some arbitrary allowed time. I would also like to be able to stream a movie to my TV and still be able to use my tablet without having to keep the video app in the foreground. When I create a mix with Cross DJ and I still want to be able to listen to it while the app is minimized. Side by side apps is a start, I can see it being useful for video chat. Example, I really enjoy surfing with my sister while we talk, shopping on Fancy, laughing about funny articles, watching kitty videos, etc. Since the iPad doesn't multitask, I just never thought of using it for anything other than music creation. Even than I had to buy 3 iPads just so I could create live music, now that I can run two apps at once, I might be able to get by with just two now, maybe, depends on the latency.
Another feature that I was really hoping for was the ablilty to select my own default apps and assign a default app to a file extension, ugh, no such luck.
I know this one will always be a long shot but I also really want a traditional file-system, I absolutely hate that files are saved under the apps that created them. How will Apple ever implement multi-user support with this current model. Yes I know that Apple is now pushing iCloud as their file-manager system but I would still like the ability to just zip up my user directly and upload it to my backup drive. This method is still by far the fastest and most secure. I also like having my user directories exactly the same on every device that I have, which they are, including my phone, that is, except for my iPads.
I know a lot of you work just fine without these things but there an absolute must for any device that I use for work. Even play, I want to be able to stream a movie to my TV using whatever technology the TV comes with, mostly Miracast and be able to minimize the video app without having the movie stop because you can't run apps in the background. I've heard that iOS doesn't allow this because of battery drain and performance, well I'm still able to get a full day with my phone and I use it very heavily. I just wish we could decide what we can or can not do with our devices. They could have easily made some sort of limititer app where one can select how many apps are allowed to run in the background or even select which ones can. Like the inability to select our own default apps (which if Microsoft or Google did this on their mobile OS's, you guys would be all over them like flies on sh$%&), Apple is just making to many assumptions on our behalf.
What had you read on any forum or Apple site that made you hope any of those things were going to show up in iOS 9 aside from the side by side apps?
A girl can dream, can't she. I don't really care if the iPhone receives anything from my wish list as I long ago gave up on the platform but the iPad, I still have hope.