A week after seeding the fourth beta of iOS 17 to developers, Apple is now releasing the second public beta of this operating system, of iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, macOS Sonoma, tvOS 17, and HomePod Software Version 17. In addition, Apple released a new build of iOS 17 beta 4 to registered developers.
With that, enrolled public beta testers can enjoy the latest updates, including improvements to performance, battery issues fixes, and more.
iOS 17 introduces a revamped Phone app. It brings personalized Contact Posters, which provide a new way for users to express themselves by customizing how they appear, bringing a completely new look to incoming calls. They can choose treatments for photos or Memoji and eye-catching typography and font colors. With beta 2, Apple enabled NameDrop, which lets you share your contact by just approaching two iPhones.
watchOS 10 public beta brings a major update to the Apple Watch, as this marks the tenth update cycle for this operating system. Apple says all Apple Watch apps use the entire display to create new places for content, so you can see and do more, which is especially useful for larger displays. In addition, Apple added two new Watch Faces, Pallet and Snoopy.
macOS Sonoma public beta focuses on videoconferencing functions. Presenter Overlay keeps you part of the conversation when sharing your screen on a video call. You can choose between two overlays, large and small. While the large overlay keeps the spotlighting you, with your screen framed next to you on a separate layer, the small option puts you on a small bubble floating on the presentation.
There’s even a new screen-sharing picker that lets you share an app or even multiple apps when on a video call, and with your Studio Display or iPhone as a camera, you can adjust the frame with zoom and pan controls or use Recenter to automatically place yourself in the center of the frame in a call.
While tvOS 17 public beta brings an all-new FaceTime app, a revamped Control Center, and support for Dolby Vision 8.1, HomePod Software version 17 focuses on the Enhance Dialogue feature, which Apple says analyzes audio being played and separates the actors’ speech from effects or background music.
All the new operating system updates are expected to release to all users later this September, which means Apple still has around five to six weeks to go. Below, we teach you how to install the public beta of iOS 17 and the operating system if you haven’t done that.
