Apple on Tuesday seeded the second betas of iOS 10.1, watchOS 3.1, and tvOS 10.0.1 to developers for testing. The releases come two weeks following the initial developer beta releases of the upcoming operating systems.
iOS 10.1
Today’s second iOS 10.1 beta seed – build 14B67 – is available as an over-the-air update to developers who have the beta configuration profile installed on their iOS devices.
The initial iOS 10.1 beta seed included:
- The promised Portrait bokeh feature for iPhone 7 Plus.
- A fix for motion handling. Developers will be able to access barometric pressure data for iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro.
We’ll report any further findings in this space.
watchOS 3.1
The second watchOS 3.1 beta – build 14S464 – can be downloaded through the dedicated Watch app on an iPhone running the iOS 10.1 beta by going to “General” -> “Software Update.” The Apple Watch must have 50% battery life remaining, be placed on an Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 3 introduced a number of significant changes to the Apple Watch operating system. A new dock, several performance improvements, new navigation features, watchfaces and apps, new fitness-related features, and much more are available in the new version. Currently, it isn’t known what changes are present in the first beta of watchOS 3.1, but we’ll keep you posted in this space.
tvOS 10.0.1
The second beta seed of tvOS 10.0.1 – build 14U66 – is also currently available to developers.
tvOS betas are a bit more involved to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Users must connect the Apple TV to to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, and install the update via iTunes or Apple Configurator. However, once a beta profile has been installed on the device, new beta releases are available over the air.
tvOS 10 brought a number of new features to users of the fourth-generation Apple TV, bringing enhanced Siri capabilities, offering topic-based search, Live Tune-In for live channels, and improved HomeKit abilities.
tvOS 10 also offers a dark mode for an improved viewing experience in dark rooms, and new features for Photos and Music. Single sign-on, which will allow Apple TV viewers to sign in once with their cable subscription credentials and then access all the live cable content included with their cable subscription, doesn’t appear to be included in this beta.
Currently, we don’t know what changes are included in the first beta seed of tvOS10.0.1, but we’ll keep you posted in the space as we find out more.
Alongside the second betas of iOS 10.1, watchOS 3.1, and tvOS 10.0.1, Apple also released a new developers seed of Xcode 8.1 (build 8T46g). Yesterday saw the release of the third beta of macOS Sierra, 10.12.1 (build 16B2338c) to developers.
