Apple Seeds First Beta for iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 for public beta testers

Apple today released the first beta versions of the upcoming iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 updates to public beta testers, a day after providing the beta to developers.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program can download iOS and iPadOS‌ 14.4 updates per antenna after installing the appropriate Public Beta website certificate on an iOS device.

Combined with the HomePod 14.4 beta which is only available for a limited number of testers, iOS 14.4 adds a new HomePod mini feature that takes advantage of the mini’s U1 chip.

There are now visual, audio, and haptic effects when songs are transferred from a HomePod mini to an iPhone 11 or an iPhone 12. U1 compatible. When an iPhone is close to the “HomePod mini”, it begins a soft touch rhythm that is getting faster and faster as the PiPhone‌‌ approaches until the interface opens to transfer a song between the ‌‌HomePod mini‌‌ and the ‌‌iPhone‌‌.

This feature will make transfer faster and more reliable on a ‌‌HomePod mini‌‌ and an ‌iPhone 11‌ or ‌iPhone 12‌, all equipped with U1 chips that allow devices to better understand where they are with each other.

No other features or new changes were found in the first beta for developers. The update is likely to focus on bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance enhancements that could not be included in the previous update.