Apple Seeds Third Public Betas of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5

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

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program can download iOS and iPad OS‌ 14.5 updates per antenna after installing the appropriate Public Beta website certificate on an iOS device.

iOS 14.5 adds a new feature that allows you to unlock your iPhone with the Apple Watch when you wear a mask and alleviates the need to use a password to access an ‌Iphone‌ with Face ID when you have a mask turned on. Using this feature requires both iOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4, and is enabled. It can be activated in the Settings app in Face ID and Password.

Dual SIM 5G support is now available worldwide on iPhone 12 devices, so if you have more than one phone number associated with your ‌iPhone‌, both lines can now take advantage of 5G networks. Previously, dual SIM functionality was 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 you to play a workout on the iPhone or iPad on an ‌AirPlay‌ 2 compatible TV or a set-top box.

The latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X drivers are compatible with the ‌iphone‌ and ‌iPad after the update, 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 crashes, hazards, and speed checks along a route on Maps when getting 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 to your location on the Apple Maps app, which is a feature that offers the Waze map application. It is available directly on the iPhone and CarPlay.

iOS and iPadOS 14.5 add a new feature to choose a default music playback service to use with ‌Siri‌. So if you prefer Spotify over Apple Music, for example, you can now choose Spotify as your default app for use with ‌Siri‌ and all ‌Siri‌ song requests will go through Spotify without the need to add “to Spotify “at the end of ‌Siri‌ requests.

While not yet featured in the update, iOS 14.5 has code that suggests Apple is adding Family Sharing functionality to the Apple card, allowing multiple users to share a single card. iOS 14.5 is the update in which Apple will officially enable application tracking transparency, so developers will need to request and receive permission from a user to track their activity through apps and websites for ad targeting purposes.

There are new emoji characters, new shortcuts, “Apple Music” settings and more, with a full list of changes to be introduced to iOS 14.5 available in our iOS 14.5 guide.

The beta version of iOS 14.5 addresses the issue of the green tone experienced by some iPhone owners and Apple has confirmed that the beta has “optimizations” to help it.

“iOS and iPadOS 14.5 beta 2 include an optimization to reduce the appearance of a faint glow that could appear at reduced brightness levels with black backgrounds,” reads the beta note of Apple iOS 14.5.

Some iPhone 11 and “iPhone 12” models show a gray or green glow when black backgrounds are seen, a problem Apple said it was investigating in November. For some users, there are improvements thanks to optimizations, but for others, the problem still exists, so Apple may have some work to do.

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