iOS 15.5 is rapidly approaching completion, and iOS 16 will follow in early June.
This time it didn’t happen immediately, the beta phase for iOS 15.5 only started three weeks after the release of iOS 15.4 – the associated operating systems such as iPadOS, tvOS and watchOS have also had betas since then, now on a weekly basis. In the meantime, on March 31st, there was a security update to iOS 15.4.1. With iOS 15.4, Apple had released almost all of the features announced for iOS 15. Until iOS 16 there was not much left to do other than implement some cosmetic changes.
Apple released the first beta of iOS 15.5 on Tuesday, April 5th. The second beta followed two weeks later, on April 19th. the
the third and fourth beta each appeared a week later
. The increased clock suggests that the final version of iOS 15.5 will be ready soon, with WWDC just around the corner. The last beta, in Apple-speak Release Candidate, came out last night, so expect the final version to be out for everyone next week.
amazing enough
but Apple found quite a lot of bugs in its release notes, but also added new features
. However, these are rather extensions to the existing options in iOS 15.4. Apple is expanding its Passkey passwordless technology. With iOS 15.5 it will be possible to log in to websites on Mac and iPad whose passkey is saved on the iPhone. iOS 15.5 will support new control features of Playstation Dualsence Controller. Additional vaccinations can now be added to the EU vaccination certificates in Health and Wallet. In the third beta the same changes and bugs remained,
Apple has probably adjusted texts for various buttons in some places
. In iMessage, the developer changes the label from Apple Pay to Apple Cash. With Car Keys it is explained in more detail that the iPhone not only has to be held by the key, but also roughly to the car door in order for the car to open.
New features of iOS 15.5
Apple Cash card: request and send
In the Wallet app, large “Request” and “Send” buttons are visible when accessing the Apple Cash card (
not yet available in Germany
,
Anm. d. Red.
)
iTunes Pass = Apple Account balance
iTunes Pass, a long-standing feature to store and manage iTunes wallet balance, is being renamed to Apple Account or Apple Account. The card in Wallet works the same as before and shows the unused balance on the Apple account. The name only better reflects that it can be used for App Store and in-app purchases, among other things. However, the name change is not yet included in the first beta version of iOS 15.5.
Sports Kit and Baseball
A new “SportsKit” framework has been in the works for some time, with hints going back as far as iOS 15.2. While not yet available to developers, the framework will be enhanced in iOS 15.5 to better support information such as baseball scores for specific innings. Just in time for Friday Night Baseball! (
does not exist in Germany either, but is certainly less missed here, ed. editor
)
Apple Classical
Apple acquired the classical music service Primephonic in August 2021 and promised: “In the coming months, Apple Music Classical fans will get their own experience with the best features of Primephonic, including better browsing and search capabilities by composer and repertoire, detailed views of metadata of classical music, music and new features and benefits.”
Apple has yet to make this standalone Classic experience, but there are several references to “Apple Classical” in the iOS 15.5 code, so an introduction may come along with the final release.
Universal Control failed
In the release notes for the current beta, there is still a bug with Universal Control: The seamless control of Macs and iOS devices in the first beta is not compatible with macOS 12.3 and iOS 15.4. Apple recommends bringing the corresponding devices to iOS 15.5 and macOS 12.4 beta.
Apple Podcast
In the final beta of iOS 15.5, Apple brought better control over downloaded podcasts. You can now limit the maximum number of programs that can be stored on the iPhone. The system can determine the older ones, delete them and load current episodes instead. If you subscribe to a podcast but don’t listen to it regularly, the app can quickly take up a lot of space on the device. The new controls will anticipate this.
How to get the iOS 15.5 beta
To download the iOS 15.5 public beta, on the device you want to run the beta operating system on, you need to
beta.apple.com
walk. Sign up for the beta, then download the profile.
After getting the profile, go to Settings > General > VPN and device management to activate the profile, which requires restarting your iPhone or iPad. After rebooting and activating the profile, go to General > Software Update to download and install iOS/iPadOS 15.5 Beta.
Registered developers can download the developer beta profile by visiting developer.apple.com/download on the device they want to install the beta on.
When will iOS 15.5 be the final version?
If you look at the pattern of iOS releases and compare to last year, iOS 15.5 is roughly the same as iOS 14.6 in terms of timing and feature set. This version went
Beginning of May 2021 into the first beta
and became on
May 24, 2021 released to all
. Since Apple started the keynote a little earlier this year and consequently the next iOS version, it can be assumed that the final version of iOS 15.5 will be ready by the end of April or mid-May at the latest.
