Apple seeds third public beta of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5

Apple today unveiled the third beta of new iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 updates for public beta testers, with the new beta appearing two weeks after the release of the second beta and just a day after Apple released the third beta software provided to developers.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta test program can download the iOS and iPadOS 14.5 updates over the air after installing the correct certificate from the Public Beta website on an iOS device.

iOS 14.5 adds a new feature that lets you unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch while wearing a mask, thus alleviating the need to use an access code to put on an ‘iPhone’ with Face ID when you wearing a mask. Using this feature requires both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4, and it’s subscriber. It can be activated in the Settings app under Face ID and password.

Dual-SIM 5G support is now available worldwide on iPhone 12 devices, so if you have connected more than one phone number to your ‌iPhone‌, both lines can now benefit from 5G networks. Previously, Dual SIM features were limited to LTE in all countries except China.

With iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4, AirPlay 2 support is available for Apple Fitness +, which allows a workout played on the ‌iPhone‌ or iPad to be played on an ‌AirPlay‌ 2 compatible smart TV or set-top box can be.

The latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers are compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ after updating, and there’s a new feature that allows Siri to make an emergency call for you.

iOS 14.5 includes a Waze-like crowdsourcing feature to report accidents, hazards, and speed checks along a route in Maps when you get directions.

There’s a new “Report” button available in the Apple Maps app that lets you tap to report an accident, danger, or speed trap in your location in the ‌Apple Maps‌ app, which is a feature that the Waze app offer. It is available directly on the ‌iPhone‌ and in CarPlay.

iOS and iPadOS 14.5 add a new feature for selecting a standard streaming music service to use with ‌Siri‌. For example, if you prefer Spotify over Apple Music, you can now select Spotify as the default application to use with ‌Siri‌, and all ‌Siri‌ song requests will go through Spotify without having to add ‘on Spotify’ at the end of ‌Siri‌ requests add.

Although not yet updated, iOS 14.5 has a code that indicates that Apple Family Sharing features will be added to the Apple Card so that multiple users can share a single card. iOS 14.5 is the update where Apple will enable official app tracking transparency, so developers will need to ask and receive permission from a user to track their activities across apps and websites for advertising targeting purposes.

There are new emoji characters, new shortcuts, ‘Apple Music’ customizations and more, with a full list of changes in iOS 14.5 available in our iOS 14.5 guide.

The iOS 14.5 beta addresses the green tint issue experienced by some iPhone owners, and Apple confirms that the beta has ‘optimizations’ to help with the issue.

“iOS and iPadOS 14.5 beta 2 include optimization to reduce the appearance of a dull glow that may appear at lower brightness levels with black backgrounds,” reads Apple’s iOS 14.5 beta notes.

Some iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models show a gray or green gleam when they see black backgrounds, which Apple said were already investigated in November. For some users there are improvements thanks to the optimization, but for others it seems that the problem still exists, so Apple can still do work.

Apple has said that iOS 14.5 will be released to the public in early spring, so we can expect to see a launch at some point in March, with the spring season officially starting on March 20th. Apple has also released a new beta of tvOS. 14.5 to fourth and fifth generation Apple TV users signed up for the public beta.