Apple made available on Tuesday (06) the third public betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18. The new versions reached users enrolled in the company's testing program shortly after the launch of the fifth operating system betas for Apple Developers.
With test updates, users can expect performance improvements and various bug fixes that make the operating system experience more fluid. iOS 18 beta 3 has some significant changes, including refinements to the new gallery app design and improvements to Safari.
The company removed the "carousel" at the top of the Photos app, which previously allowed you to swipe horizontally between your library and other image sections, such as the "Favorites" and "Portraits" folder. In addition, the "Recent Days" section will now include images recently downloaded from the web or received by applications.
According to the company, these changes were implemented in response to feedback from users who tried the first public betas of iOS 18. It's worth remembering that the Photos app brings some of the most drastic changes compared to iOS 17 — in addition, of course, to the new dynamic icons that can have custom colors.
Another change is the debut of the "Thanos" feature on Safari, which allows you to hide annoying parts of websites — such as overlays or invasive ads that disrupt page viewing — so that the user can focus more on the content. These features are also coming to iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 Sequoia.
In the latest beta version of tvOS 18, users discovered a new feature that shares links from Apple TV to iPhone, iPad, or Mac via AirDrop. For now, no changes have been found in watchOS 11 beta 3. VisionOS 2 will not enter Apple's public beta program. Therefore, it will be restricted to developers.
It is worth remembering that Apple Intelligence, Apple's suite of AI tools, is only available on iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1, so it can only be tested with a developer account. Furthermore, the technology is only compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac models with "M" line chips.
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♦ What about macOS?
Apple released,
this Monday (08), the third beta version for developers of iOS 18, iPadOS 18,
watchOS 11, visionOS 2 and tvOS 18. The new versions of the operating systems
were announced during WWDC 2024 in June and are in the testing phase, with a
launch scheduled for September.
At the time of this publication, beta 3 of macOS 15 Sequoia is not yet available for Mac users. The new test version of the operating system may be released later this week to fix bugs and improve the software's performance.
▪▪ The build numbers for the new beta versions are:
▪ iOS 18 beta 3 and
iPadOS 18 beta 3: 22A5307f
▪ watchOS 11 beta 3:
22R5309f
▪ tvOS 18 beta 3:
22J5315e
▪ visionOS 2 beta 3:
22N5277g
With beta 3 of iOS 18, users can find improvements in the design of icons that automatically adjust to dark mode. At the end of the operating system's testing cycle, developers are expected to create their own customized versions of the icons with a more polished look for the darkened theme.
Improvements are also made to Photos and Messages. Users will now be able to find more information about RCS, a messaging protocol that finally reached the system after pressure from the European Union. Additionally, new dynamic versions of native iOS 18 wallpapers will adjust based on the time of day.
There are no significant details regarding the changes made in the new beta versions of the other platforms. Still, the updates may likely be limited to bug fixes and performance improvements compared to beta 2, released on June 24th.
Apple Intelligence, Apple's suite of AI tools, has yet to be available in beta versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, or macOS 15 Sequoia. The company intends to release the first intelligent functions for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac in mid-September 2024 — still in the testing phase, and exclusively in US English.