A week after seeding the fourth public beta of iOS 18, Apple has now launched version 5. According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, this will likely be the latest version before Apple seeds the Release Candidate version ahead of its official release in September.
While Apple Intelligence is only available for iPhone 15 Pro users testing the iOS 18.1 beta, there are several features available to everyone. In the last iOS 18 public beta, Apple added the Thanos snap feature. Actually called “Distraction Control,” it’s available in the Reader toggle in Safari and lets you hide distracting items, such as cookie pop-ups and other parts of websites. Apple says this doesn’t work as an ad blocker, but it helps hide distracting items from a page.
Based on user feedback, Apple has also removed the Carousel from the Photos app and tweaked the “All Photos” section, with more images now appearing on the photos grid. The “Recent Days” tab also includes “Recently Saved.”
Besides that, iOS 18 public beta 5 introduces a revamped Home Screen. You can place app icons and widgets wherever you like. You can also quickly transform an app into a widget by long-pressing it. This level of customization makes my Home Screen even more unique.
Speaking of customization, the new Control Center also makes my iPhone even more useful. With it, you’ll be able to customize your Control Center, add more Home shortcuts, and even see some of the settings more easily.
The new Passwords app makes it easier to access your passwords, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes. I can’t wait for Apple to add support for credit cards.
Finally, we’ve got SharePlay screen sharing. With it, users can take over other people’s iPhones remotely by using SharePlay screen sharing over FaceTime.
In addition to the iOS 18 public beta 5, Apple has seeded the fifth public beta version of iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and HomePod Software. Below, you can learn more about the latest changes through this beta cycle.
